METS MAGIC

Mets 6, Phillies 4 (NYM: 69-62; PHI: 70-62) East: 5 GB Wild Card: 0.5 GB

Those of you who know me well, or read my blog, know how I feel about the Philadelphia Phillies. If the final playoff spot came down to a Mets-Phillies one-game playoff (not that it would ever come to that, because Philly would have choked long ago), I'd book the Mets a flight to Playoffville. No questions asked. (Where is Playoffville?, you ask...and don't the Mets have a traveling secretary to take care of booking their flights? All good questions - for another night.) So when the Phillies jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Jae Seo in the first inning, and then led 4-1 mid-way through, you'd better believe I was not switching off my television set. Nope. I was pretty sure the Mets would either make a game of it, or they'd come back and beat the Phillies outright. Both happened.

It looked like the Mets blew their chance in the seventh. The bases were loaded for Cliff Floyd - and the Mets got to within 4-3 on a wild pitch by Ryan Madson. Then Floyd flailed at a pitch, he looked just awful swinging at it (he was 0-for-4 - bad night for Floyd), striking out and stranding the two runners, with the Phillies up 4-3.

In the eighth, though, the Mets made the move I'd been waiting for all game. Future Hall of Famer David Wright led the inning off with a walk. He stole second during Mike Jacobs' at-bat (he struck out), and barely....I mean, BARELY, made it. Victor Diaz then worked a walk from Ugueth Urbina, before Ramon Castro hit a three-run homer to left. So clutch. Amazin'. It's the type of thing that happens to the Mets in championship seasons. Braden Looper was very good getting the save - 1-2-3.

Actually, the Mets bullpen in its entirety was good on Tuesday night. Aaron Heilman relieved Seo, and was his usual effective self. Then Juan Padilla pitched a good inning of relief. As bad as his first inning was (almost 30 pitches), Seo was able to gut out five innings for Willie Randolph, giving up just the four runs. He gave up homers to Kenny Lofton and Pat Burrell in the first, by the way. But the bullpen has been good in recent days - they keep the Mets in games that they're behind in, allowing the Mets to come back, or else they've been holding leads. It'll be interesting to see what the Mets do if they trade Trachsel, and what they get in return.

Also interesting is the fact that the Mets have no lefties in the bullpen right now. They survived without one Tuesday, and they just have to get to Thursday when the rosters can expand. We'll probably see Dae-Sung Koo again and Royce Ring, probably, too.

The Mets got some help, but not enough, on Tuesday night. They drew a game closer to the Braves in the NL East, but unfortunately that means the Nationals, who were playing the Braves, also won. The Marlins came back after blowing a lead, to beat the Cardinals by a run. And the Astros beat the Reds. But the Mets are still tied with Houston, and the Marlins and Phillies are now tied atop the Wild Card standings, a half-game in front of New York.

ELTRAN*'S: This could be a turning point game for Beltran*. We'll have to watch and see, as September nears. He went 3-for-3, homering in his first at-bat, and looking very good in all at-bats - a rare thing this year. He also walked.

39-for-144 (.271 AVG.) 4 HR, 18 RBI, 27 Runs, 11 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright was 1-for-3 Tuesday night, upping his average to .315, but no doubles.

SECOND HALF: 13 SEASON TOTAL: 35 TEAM RECORD: 44

NEEDS 10 DOUBLES IN TEAM'S FINAL 31 GAMES TO BREAK RECORD!!