JUST ENOUGH

Mets 3, Nationals 2 (NYM: 7-3, WAS: 2-9)


On another cold and un-springlike night at Shea Stadium, the Mets got another decent start by their starting pitcher, and some good work out of the bullpen, to pull out another division win.

Mike Pelfrey wasn't great, but he didn't have to be against Washington. All told, he gave up 2 earned runs in 5-and-two-thirds innings, giving up 6 hits and walking 4. I attribute some of his wildness to the weather - I think we'll get a more accurate read on Pelfrey when it's more seasonable.

Pedro Feliciano, Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, and Billy Wagner combined to shut down Washington after Pelfrey came out, and Wagner had a 1-2-3 ninth for the save, locking up the Mets' first one-run victory of 2007.

The pitchers were again aided by some stellar defense. The Mets turned three more double plays...none were of the real spectacular variety, but they did come at huge times, like with the bases loaded in the 2nd inning, where a run scored for Washington, but the damage was limited, and in the 5th inning, where, with 1 out, the Mets ended the threat by turning two.

The Mets haven't flashed much power at the plate yet this season, but they have been productive. Friday night, the first Mets run was all Jose Reyes (again). Reyes took a leadoff walk in the first, went to second on a groundout, then took third on a wild pitch, scoring on another groundout to make it 1-0, Mets. He scored the second Mets run after walking, stealing second, and then scoring on a Carlos Delgado shot to the wall in left, on which he was thrown out at second.

David Wright extended his hitting streak to 22 games over two seasons, and scored the winning run after singling to open up the seventh inning. Wright is the first man since 1962 (Curt Flood) to hit in 10 straight games to end one season and begin the next. And the hits he had in this game were of the important variety, unlike others recently.

A good win for the Mets. They all have to be wins against Washington...they'll be awful games if they lose to the Nationals. The Braves lost to Washington on Thursday night, and are losing to the Marlins as of this writing, so the Mets could be back in a first-place tie with Atlanta by the end of the night.

AARP JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: Again, I could have gone with Jose Reyes, like any other night, but this night goes to Julio Franco, who might not get another all season. Franco came up with a 2-out, pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh to score David Wright and give the Mets the 3-2 lead. It was a big hit in a big spot for Franco, something I didn't think we'd see from him this year. Thanks for proving me wrong on this one occasion.

BEAT THE STREAK: Jose Reyes got me a one-gamer with a hit in his first at-bat. I'm going with Mike Piazza against the Yankees on Saturday.