LUCKY SEVEN

Mets 6, Cardinals 2 (NYM: 78-48, STL: 66-60)

There's an annoying interesting new trend out on the internet these days. I've seen it happening more and more often the past few months, and thought I'd trash it comment on it.

It's called a scratch-out, I think, where you write something stupid funny, then cross it out to write what you think would be "appropriate". When used sparingly, it can be tolerable effective. When overused, it can be downright awful slightly annoying. So I thought I'd use this tool in this posting, and then never again. Because most of the time I see this feature, I think to myself, 'Just save us all the trouble and hit delete.'

The Mets beat the mediocre unimpressive NL Central-leading Cardinals, 6-2, on Thursday at Shea, extending their winning streak to 7, tying a club record with their 11th straight home win, and improving to a season-best 30 games over .500. Remember when the Mets lost 3 out of 4 to the Phillies? They responded pretty well, no? The Phillies are up next. I'd watch out if I were them.

I owe a huge apology to Dave Williams. Maybe he needs to be on a good team to pitch well. Because that's all he's done in his past two starts as a Met - pitching very well. Williams gave up just 2 runs in 6-and-a-third innings, improving to 3-3 on the season with the win. Roberto Hernandez put in 1-and-2-thirds of scoreless relief - by far his best outing since re-joining the Mets. Billy Wagner was ready to go in the ninth with the Mets up 5-2, but the Mets scored in the bottom of the eighth, negating the save situation, so Guillermo Mota pitched the ninth - and he looked very good.

The Mets got another homer from Carlos Delgado, his 32nd of the year, a 2-run shot in the 5th inning to break the game open (right after the Cardinals had cut the Mets' lead to 3-2). David Wright is swinging the bat better - he was 1-for-3 with an RBI, flying out to the warning track in right field with the bases loaded, barely missing another Mets' grand slam (it was a sac fly).

The Mets' defense looked good, too. In the 4th, the Mets made back-to-back defensive gems. Endy Chavez ran down a fly ball, making a very tough catch look routine in left field (he did this in the 5th inning, too), and David Wright ended the inning diving to his left to snag a grounder, and getting the force at second (he also made a nice stab later in the game). Everything is clicking again for the Mets right now.

New Met Shawn Green even got in on the act in his first game, going 1-for-3, with an RBI single.
Here's a mundane neat fact that I made up about this year's Mets. It must be due to the talent on the left side of their infield, but I've never seen so many near-collisions in shallow left field. What I mean is, there are all these bloop shots down the left field line, in very shallow left, that Jose Reyes always goes back on, the left fielder (mostly Cliff Floyd or Endy Chavez) comes in hard on, and David Wright goes back on, and the three of them nearly collide. It happens, I'd say without exaggeration, at LEAST once every other game. Sometimes more than that. It happened twice in Thursday's game alone. And I think it's because of how good competitive Wright and Reyes are - they're always going to try to make the play, at risk of life and limb. You don't always get that out of the Mets. And it sure makes me happy nervous.

Friday night the Mets begin another series with the Phillies. Orlando Hernandez was scheduled to make the start, but the Mets decided to take advantage of their big lead and give him some rest. I guess that's the luxury of the situation they are in...but it's still a little sudden. Willie Randolph insists it's a precaution. Brian Bannister will get the start instead, which is exciting.

MAGIC NUMBER: For the first time, I heard a broadcaster (Gary Cohen) mention the magic number - after the Mets' win on Thursday night. I also saw it posted on another blogger's site. But I'm pretty sure I was the first. Just saying. The number is down to 22! The Mets win, coupled with the Cubs pummeling the Phillies Thursday afternoon, results in a 2-game swing. Just saying again...If the Mets sweep the Phillies this weekend, it could go down to 16.

INJURY UPDATE: I've been forgetting to mention this, and it's about a week old now, but there's an update. Last week, Ramon Castro was set to begin his rehab with the Brooklyn Cyclones, but twisted his knee while stretching, and was on crutches at the end of the game. It was thought to be serious, turns out it was. Castro has now been placed on the 60-day DL, so his season is probably over. The Mets made a move Thursday, signing Kelly Stinnett to a minor league contract. Stinnett started his career with the Mets, and found success with Arizona. If he can breathe hit, I would think he would replace Mike DeFelice on the major league roster.

BOSTON MEDIA: There's much going on right now regarding the Red Sox. First of all, their season is tanking, which hasn't happened in about 5 years this early, so the Boston media is loving it. (This city thrives more on failure than success. Really.) And Manny is being Manny Manny Ramirez is acting up. Put those elements together, and things are quite combustible. So here's the latest situation - Manny supposedly sat out a game because he was mad that an official scorer in Boston scored what should have been a hit for him as an error on Derek Jeter last Friday. The Red Sox say Manny is injured. I tend to believe he is really injured, because even with all of Manny's antics, this is a bit stupid.

So after Wednesday night's game, David Ortiz rips into the media, saying they're reporting rumor about Manny, and they're not doing their jobs responsibly, in so many words. I say, good for Ortiz, calling out the Boston media, because this is what they do - overblow stories, especially when Manny is involved. There are a couple of problems, though. First of all, this happened after a west coast game, so there's not a lot of write-up in the papers. There probably will be on Friday, but there's the chance this will die down by then (doubtful). The other problem is that Ortiz has the chance of being KILLED in the Boston media (I don't listen to local talk radio, because they're a bunch of morons, but I'm sure he's taking some abuse there today). He has the chance of being KILLED 1) because the media types have the power of the pen, and they don't like being insulted, even if a guy like Ortiz is speaking the truth, and 2) there's a chance Ortiz is siding with the wrong horse. He's friends with Manny, I know that. And I believe that Manny is hurt. BUT....I wouldn't put it past Manny that he would sit out a game because of an official scorer's decision. What I'm saying is, it could have happened. And that's enough to drain all the credibility out of Ortiz's statements.

I just wanted to address that, because the Boston media drives me nuts. So this story struck a nerve. I'll follow up if it merits a follow-up in the coming days.

THE KID'S KIDS: The doubleheaders are scheduled, after the past three games for the St. Lucie Mets were rained out. The Mets will play doubleheaders against Palm Beach next Monday and Wednesday. That's right at the end of the season, so my guess is Hall of Famer Gary Carter won't mess too much with his pitching for that doubleheader, making sure guys are in shape for the playoffs. Remember, the Mets have already clinched the first-half division title, so they probably won't worry too much about winning the second half, if it came down to that or being in good shape for the playoffs.

As for Thursday night, the Mets began a 4-game series with second-place Daytona. Daytona edged the Mets, 2-1, to move to within a half-game of the second-half division lead.

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: A start at second base for Edgardo Alfonzo, and he didn't fare as well as he's been doing. His average is back down to .250, after an 0-for-4 with a strikeout.