WORKING OVERTIME

Giants 7, Mets 6 12 innings (NYM: 33-22, SF: 29-27)

For the second straight game, and third time in four games, the Mets went to extra innings. It was the tenth time this year the Mets have played an extra-innings game (by my count), and I think now the Mets are 6-4 in extra innings games (again, just my count). This is going to cause some wear and tear on the bullpen - and I think the Mets are going to start paying for it this week. Back-to-back extra innings games, and now a trip out west to play Los Angeles, Arizona, and then back east at Philadelphia. I'm not expecting the best road trip....but maybe the Mets will show how good they are and come away with a winning record. (This is the last tough road trip the Mets have this year - at least as far as mileage goes.)

As for the game, this was an exciting one (which I didn't get to see - more on that later). David Wright hit two homers - he's now up to 10 on the year, and 51 career, and continues to swing a hot bat. (He's now hitting .330..and getting much national recognition. Apparently this week 'The Sporting News' is comparing him to A-Rod.)

The Mets blew a lead in this game, but also came back a couple of times. The most dramatic was after the Giants took a 2-run lead in the 10th inning, then brought Armando Benitez in to close it out. Jose Valentin homered with one out, to make it 6-5, then with two outs, Lastings Milledge hit his first career homer, tying the game. (Milledge was 3-for-4, with 3 RBI, raising his major league average to .267.) Pedro Feliciano got tagged with the loss by giving up the final go-ahead run in the 12th (althoug Heath Bell gave up the hit that scored the run - Bell has been pitching very well since his call-up to replace Jorge Julio out of the bullpen. Not too many of the bullpen guys pitched well on Sunday.)

A rough series for the Mets against the Giants. They lost the series-opener (the first game of the doubleheader), which should have been a warning - the Mets hadn't lost the first game of a home series all season. (They had won 10 straight this year, 13 straight overall. I hate seeing streaks like that end.) Now it's off to the West Coast - let's hope for good things.

MEDIA-RELATED NEWS: First of all, I was wondering why Howie Rose was doing the Mets' game on SNY Saturday (the second game of the doubleheader) - I thought Gary Cohen just had some scheduled time off. But apparently Cohen was taken away from the stadium before the game with appendicitis. I'm not sure how long he'll be out for...but I heard a bit of the Mets' game on the radio on Sunday and Ed Coleman was filling in for Howie Rose...so I guess my services won't be needed. How about two Mets figures with appendicitis at the same time, though? (Xavier Nady and now Gary Cohen.)

Secondly, I couldn't watch the Mets on Sunday, and I can't figure out why. The programming guide on DirecTV had the Mets-Giants game on channel 735, and supposedly it was on Fox Sports Bay Area. But the game wasn't coming on that channel. I was mad...but sadly, being the way that I am, I'll never complain to DirecTV, and I'll never figure out why the game wasn't on. Oh well. I did get a look at ESPN.com's much-improved GameCast.

MONTH OF MAY: I forgot to post this Friday - but since the month of May is over, it's time for the monthly record. The Mets were 16-12 in May - following up their 16-8 April. If the Mets win 16 games a month, they'll do OK this season. (That would be about 112 wins, to put that in perspective...so 15 more to go in June!)

THE KID'S KIDS: The Mets are headed in the right direction again. They beat Tampa 5-1 on Sunday (for the third straight time), and are back to a game-and-a-half lead over Brevard County. That's some good managing by Hall of Famer Gary Carter.

FANTASY UPDATE: I'm back on the outs with this game. The What If Mets dropped all three games Sunday, and are back to .500. I have three coming up on Monday now with the Giants. I'm telling you - I don't know what to do. I'm still just two games back of the wild card, so there's some hope...but I'm 11 behind the division-leading phillies. Also, I filled out a mid-season survey that the game asks you to fill out, and I was pretty critical. I hope that's not why I'm suddenly on a losing streak.

BEAT THE STREAK: David Wright was my pick on Sunday, and he got me up to a five-game streak. I'm taking Carl Crawford on Monday, hopefully we can get this one up into double digits and beyond.