DELGADO, METS WEATHER WAGNER, PIRATES

Mets 4, Pirates 3, 12 innings (NYM: 18-9, PIT: 8-21)

It's nights like this that I hate the idea of a closer. (And that's just me saying that. Imagine how Pedro Martinez* must feel - story of his career, in microcosmic form, Wednesday night at Shea.) Billy Wagner didn't have it - you could see it from his first pitch, which went on to become a walk to his first batter, then 2 runs, blowing the save. Part of this could be the bad weather, but it's also the way he's been pitching lately - allowing too many baserunners (it brings back bad Looper/Benitez/bad Franco memories).

The sad thing about this is that early on, it looked like Pedro* was going to get robbed of 6-0 because the game was going to be over too soon. The rain was awful, and it seemed like the game was on the verge of being called early. But the game lasted into the sixth, when the Mets broke a 1-1 tie, and took a 3-1 lead. Pedro* was the pitcher of record...and the game lasted all the way until the ninth, when Wagner blew it. And then it continued.....into the 12th, when Carlos Delgado won it with a walk-off homer leading off the inning.

The pessimist looks at this game and says the Mets blew a lead in the 9th to one of the worst teams in baseball. The optimist says this is the type of game the Mets lost last year, after blowing a save and a sure win (and also notes that the Pirates have been a tough out this year). The optimist also looks at Endy Chavez's contributions, again starting in right field - going 4-for-5, and coming up with a game-saving headfirst diving catch in the 10th (or maybe 11th) inning, with a runner on.

The best news I can offer about this game, before I go to bed, is that in awful, wet conditions at Shea, nobody got hurt, and better weather is on the way. And the Mets won.

THE KID'S KIDS: The St. Lucie Mets had an off-day Wednesday (seems like their first one all year), but won Tuesday night, beating Palm Beach, 4-3. That's three wins in a row for the Hall of Famer's team. It also moves the Mets into a first place tie with Palm Beach, at 16-9, a full game ahead of Brevard County.

FANTASY SPORTS: The What If Sports season gets underway Thursday morning. (There are three games a day - morning, afternoon, and night). The season starts at Cincinnati, including a game one matchup featuring Tom Seaver versus Tom Seaver. I should know how the 3-game series turns out by tomorrow night's posting.

BEAT THE STREAK: I had a sinking feeling when I logged onto the MLB website that I wasn't on that website yesterday. Alas, I had forgotten to make the Beat the Streak after I declared my David Wright pick here. Wright had a hit, snapping his 0-for-17 slump, but he might as well not have. Oops. At least I didn't lose a streak because of it. Still on 0, I pick David Ortiz to rock one off of Josh Towers to get me started.