Mets 5, Expos 4 (47-47, 3 GB)

David Wright is the New York Mets third baseman. A few thoughts occurred to me as I was watching last night. It's weird to see a career begin like we're seeing with Wright. Provided he's the star everyone's making him out to be, it could be possible that 25 years from now, we'll see Wright's number 5 go up with all the other Mets' retired numbers. Ideally, 5 would go up with 7, as The Greatest Ballplayer Who Ever Lived Jose Reyes and Wright retire together. And their numbers would hang with all the Mets championship banners from 2004-2029. (OK, that's a stretch, the Mets would probably get beaten out twice in that span of years.) But in this day and age, it's pretty much near impossible for those two guys to stay with the Mets their entire careers, and for those careers to be productive too. But it sure is fun to think about right now.

Last night's game is just what the Mets needed. Finally, a break went their way. That hasn't been happening much lately.

Bottom of the 8th, Ty Wigginton on second, Todd Zeile pinch-hitting, he grounds it to third, it looks like the game's going to stay tied into the 9th....but Nick Johnson drops the ball at first!!! I remember that happening to the Mets early in the year. Maybe their luck is changing. Braden Looper got a big double play in the ninth to finish off his 20th save of the year.

Mike Stanton, again, was not effective. He relieved Jae Seo (who pitched very well, but tired) with two men on, and promptly surrendered a 3-run home run to the first batter he faced. Way to go Mike. Luckily, the Mets survived.

The Mets need these games against Montreal. MSG showed an interesting graphic during last night's game - everyone in the NL East has been beating up on the Expos. The Mets need to follow suit, because they haven't shown that they can dominate against other teams in the division. So far, so good. I wouldn't mind a couple of blowouts, though.

David Wright was 0-for-4 in his big Mets debut, but he looked pretty good in the field. He ended the first inning with a nice play moving to his left, snaring a grounder, then throwing a strike to first base. I'd like for him to get a hit one of the next couple of nights just so he's not pressing very long for his first major league hit.

The addition of Wright forced a couple of changes for the Mets. First, Dan Wheeler was sent to the minors so they could bring him up. That was (obviously) not based on performance, because Wheeler has been one of the more reliable pitchers the Mets have coming out of the bullpen. But everyone else who would have been a candidate to go to the minors has some kind of stipulation (out of options, in contract, etc.) in which it couldn't happen. So expect a trade soon so the Mets can clear a roster spot and bring Wheeler back up.

Secondly, expect that trade to include Ty Wigginton. All he's done now is shown he's valuable at another position, after playing so well at first base last night. And before the game, when asked about moving to first for Wright, Wigginton flat out said he wasn't happy about it. Wigginton is not the type to cause trouble around the clubhouse, but he's not happy, and as my friend Steve said recently, let's face it - this is about as good as he's ever going to play. So the Mets might as well deal him and get something good for him while his value is so high. The question now is, what are they going to get in return, with the deadline less than 10 days away??