METS FIND THEIR BATS IN THE DESERT

Mets 15, Diamondbacks 2 (NYM: 39-23, ARI: 34-29)

I feel a little silly now about being worried about this trip out west for the Mets. I did say that they could be catching the Diamondbacks at the right time, with this Jason Grimsley thing swirling - but I never expected a 4-game sweep. I would have been happy with a split in Arizona, after taking two out of three from LA, I'm ecstatic with a sweep. Honestly, if the Mets only won a game in Philadelphia, it would be OK. Two out of three would be fine. Another sweep would pretty much wrap up the division.

The only thing I'm upset about right now is that the Mets have dominated the Diamondbacks their last two trips out there. But when I was out in Arizona, what did I see? Total domination by the Diamondbacks. It was awful. I wish they would have found out how to win out there a little sooner, that's all.

Nice that the Mets finally got Pedro Martinez* some runs - he got his first win since late April (through no fault of his own). I didn't get to see this game - but from the box score, it looks like Pedro* might have labored a bit. He pitched just 5 innings - and threw 91 pitches. I saw 5 innings and thought Willie Randolph might have been resting him with the big lead, but the 91 pitches is a lot. And he only struck out 3 - so that's not the reason he was throwing a lot of pitches.

Everyone's hitting (see below), the pitching has been great - this next series in Philadelphia should be fun to watch. The Mets enter the series with a 6-and-a-half game cushion in the NL East. Cliff Floyd is supposed to be back Tuesday (the Mets are off on Monday), so just add another bat to the arsenal.

WEEKEND RECAP: On Friday, Steve Trachsel was less than great, but still managed to get the win in the Mets' 10-6 win over Arizona. His start resuled in a lot of work by the bullpen - but each time the Mets gave up a run, the offense answered. On Saturday, it was all Alay Soler. He threw a complete game, 2-hit shutout, and the Mets won, 5-0. It's almost getting to the point where I'd rather see Soler and Orlando Hernandez pitch rather than Trachsel.

The Mets' bats re-awoke this weekend - Carlos Delgado is out of his slump (he hit two homers Friday night), and Carlos Beltran* also slugged two homers on Friday, bringing his season total to 17 - more than all of last year. I guess he was pretty hurt last year, and not able to do all he's capable of...let's see what happens the rest of this year.

David Wright continues his hot hitting - he hit homer number 11 on the year (52 career) over the weekend, and is now hitting .336 after Sunday's game.

INTERESTING NOTE: The Mets are off Monday, but there may be something worth watching Monday night for Mets fans. ESPN.com has Kansas City's starter for Monday listed as B. Keppel. I'm not positive, and I can't find much information about him, but I'm pretty sure that's Bobby Keppel, who the Mets traded to Pittsburgh in the Kris Benson deal. I remember him not pitching too well for the Pirates' minor league teams, but I don't remember reading about him being traded. (Guess no one's considered too bad to find their way into the Royals' rotation.) I'll see what I can find out about him - I might not get much information until I watch the game Monday night.

**OK - here's what I found out on the Royals' website. This is not Keppel's debut - he's pitched in 4 games, made 2 starts, and is 0-1 with a 2.11 ERA. He's struck out 12 in 21.1 innings. He has given up 2 homers - they came back-to-back in his Major League debut against Seattle. His numbers in the minors even this year haven't been good.

But it's definitely the former Mets' prospect, and he's apparently been plagued by injuries in recent years. No word yet on how he got from Pittsburgh's organization to Kansas City's. I'll be watching tomorrow night.

KAZ TRADED: The Mets finally traded Kaz Matsui on Friday, in exchange for Eli Marrero. Since spring training you got the idea the Mets were trying to showcase Matsui, in order to work out a deal, hoping he would play well, and they could get something of value for him. That didn't work out too well, resulting in a 1-for-1 deal. But I like Marrero. He's been a member of some winning teams in St. Louis, and he offers the Mets some versatility. He started out as a catcher, and then Tony LaRussa put him in the outfield and at first base. So with all the injuries the Mets have had lately, he gives them a little bit of depth. And I read he also allows Willie Randolph to use Ramon Castro and his bat off the bench a little more liberally, since there is now a bona fide third catcher on the roster.

The problem with this trade is that the Mets are committed to Marrero at the Major League level (unlike the Rockies, who sent Matsui to Triple-A). So what happens when Xavier Nady gets healthy? (Probably around June 19th.) They are probably not going to send Lastings Milledge back down - it looks like he's in the majors for a while now. When Nady comes back, the Mets will be playing some games in AL parks, so Milledge could play the field while Floyd DH's. But someone's gotta go - and barring other injuries, right now it looks like Heath Bell is again the odd man out (he was rescued for a while after the Mets traded Jorge Julio. Too bad for him - he's going to be up and down between New York and Norfolk all year long.)

THE KID'S KIDS: The St. Lucie Mets are rolling. The Mets beat Daytona on Saturday, 7-1, for their ninth straight win. Their game against Palm Beach on Sunday was rained out, and will be played as part of a doubleheader on Monday. The Mets are 38-24, and have opened up a 4-game lead in the standings.

FANTASY UPDATE: Just when I thought things were starting to turn around....the What If Mets won 5 in a row Friday into Saturday, getting back to within two games of the wild card spot. But now I'm one of those streaky teams - because I've gone on to lose 4 in a row. Now I'm five back of the wild card. I guess I can't give up on post-season hopes...but it will be luck that gets me in - because it's definitely not skill.

BEAT THE STREAK: Big doings in "Beat the Streak". Rocco Baldelli got me a hit on Friday, so I was at a season-high 10-gamer. Then I picked Michael Young, thinking he'd be playing two games on Saturday. That was rained down to one game, but he still got a hit, and me an 11-gamer. Then on Sunday, in the rescheduled doubleheader, I took CoCo Crisp of the Red Sox. It took him almost the entire first game, but he got me a hit in the 9th (ahead of David Ortiz's game-winning homer), so it's 12 games in a row now. I think I'm going to go against Bobby Keppel (if that's who it is), and take Vladimir Guerrero on Monday night.