WRIGHT ON, PADRE!

Mets 12, Padres 0 (NYM: 49-46, 4.5 GB; SD: 50-46)

The Mets wanted a hot streak, they went out and got themselves on a hot streak. Now they need to keep it up.

Thursday afternoon's game was never in doubt (OK, that's sort of a lie - Kaz Ishii started, so it wasn't a guarantee). But Ishii pitched himself out of a few jams, and the Mets got to San Dieo ace Jake Peavy...in a big way.

You knew it was going to be a good game for the Mets when the first bats to get going were Doug Mientkiewicz and Ramon Castro. Mientkiewicz opened the scoring with a solo homer early on, and Castro added a two-run laser in the fifth. The Mets broke the game open with seven runs in the sixth, including two hits in the inning from future Hall of Famer David Wright.

Wright was celebrating his first year in the majors. He was called up on July 21, 2004, in a game against the Montreal Expos. Wright's numbers over that year - in 161 games he hit about .290, with 28 homers, and 87 RBI. The Mets announcers said those numbers compared very favorably with current (within the past 15 years or so) superstars in the majors - actually ranking Wright fourth statistically, behind Vladimir Guerrero, Mike Piazza, and Nomar Garciaparra. I think all of those guys hit over .300...and Wright's numbers were better than current young stars like Miguel Cabrera.

The Mets not only had a huge sweep against the first-place Padres, but also picked up big ground on the Nationals - now just four-and-a-half games out of first place. The best part about this is that now I'm not the only one who thinks the Mets have a shot at winning the NL East - now the Mets are starting to think that way too. The Nationals lost to Houston Thursday night, and the turmoil continues to build in Washington, D.C. The latest saga involves Livan Hernandez, who said Wednesday night after he lost his start that he was going to have season-ending surgery on his troublesome knee, and said he was mad about something, which he'd fill reporters in on after the season was over. Hernandez came back on Thursday to say that he would NOT shut it down for the year, in an expletive-filled tirade to reporters. He apparently said he was misquoted too. I doubt it, for some reason. The Nationals, by the way, are still trying to talk Barry Larkin out of retirement. And, at the top of their worry list - they are no longer alone in first place - the idle Braves moved into a tie for first with the Nationals' loss.

Hopefully the 12-0 win was a sign that the Mets bats are alive and well - they need to keep up that offense...especially when Kris Benson is pitching. He's been the hard-luck pitcher of the year - pitching very well, but getting no decisions or tough losses. Another good sign out of the Padres series is that Cliff Floyd has gotten hot again - he had cooled off right before and after the All-Star break..but looks good again.

The Dodgers are in New York for a weekend series - with the way the Mets pitching lines up, this too is a very sweepable series.

ELTRAN*'S: Carlos Beltran* was 0-for-3 Thursday, but he did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the 2nd half, he is 7-for-27 (.250-ish) with 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 runs, and 0 SB.

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright was 2-for-4 on Thursday, with both hits coming in the sixth inning, and one of those hits was an RBI double. SECOND HALF: 2 doubles SEASON: 24 TEAM RECORD: 44

THE KID'S KIDS: The Gulf Coast Mets are now 16-8, losing to the Nationals, 8-6 on Thursday. They still have a 3-game lead in their division.