OLIVER PEREZ: STOPPER

Mets 2, Yankees 0 (NYM: 37-28, NYY: 33-32)

That's more like it. In the first game I feel like I've been able to watch in more than a week, the Mets again looked like the team they were a little more than a week ago.

Oliver Perez put an end to the Mets' 5-game losing streak with 7-and-a-third innings of shutout ball, giving up 5 hits and just three walks, with 6 strikeouts. He got the win to improve to 7-5 - and he has a 2.93 ERA. The Mets didn't just beat anyone either...they stopped the hottest team in baseball, ending the Yankees' 9-game winning streak. And they beat Roger Clemens, which is always a nice added touch.

The Mets didn't solve all their problems in one night - Carlos Delgado struck out 4 times, and the 4-through-8 hitters combined to go 0-f0r-19. Carlos Gomez in the 9 spot was 2-for-3. The Mets did, though, play some outstanding defense all night long. The outfielders (Carlos Beltran and Gomez, specifically - I'm itemizing only because Shawn Green was his usual not-covering-a-lot-of-ground-self) turned a lot of fly balls into outs, and made some tough outs look easy at Yankee Stadium.

Jose Reyes was the main producer for the Mets (see below). Willie Randolph is trying to shake the Mets up a bit - with the offense struggling, he's changed the lineup a lot the past week. David Wright hit third Friday night (something he has been doing here and there), Carlos Beltran was hitting second, and Paul LoDuca was hitting fifth. The players have been changing in and out, starting in Detroit last weekend, and playing in the American League ballparks, with the DH. It continued through Los Angeles, and Shawn Green came back to the lineup, and it is still happening. I've said it a couple of years ago, and I'm saying it now - I like Carlos Beltran hitting in the two spot. And now that David Wright is hitting again, put him anywhere - I don't care. Wright has another long hitting streak going - he's hit in 16 straight after a 1-for-3 on Friday. FYI - his batting average is up to .287.

MTA johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Jose Reyes gave the Mets a big kick in the pants Friday night with the way he played - 3-for-3, a homer, and both runs batted in for the Mets. He also stole 3 bases for 35 now on the year.





NBA FINALS: No one asked, but I'm sure you were wondering how I felt about the Spurs beating the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. It was about all I could have asked for in a league I care very little about - a new championship matchup, and it only took 4 games to decide. I'm glad it's out of the way.

SUITS AND TIES: I'm pleased that the NFL has lifted a tiny piece of its controlling tendencies to allow Mike Nolan to wear suits when he coaches 49ers home games. I think it's nice, and something more people should do. Here's the baseball tie-in (pun intended) - some say it's ridiculous that baseball managers wear uniforms...I'm indifferent. But if they started wearing suits, I think that would look equally ridiculous in the dugout.

Anyway, the point I wanted to bring up is that I came across a picture of Nolan, and he's wearing a tie clip towards the bottom of his tie. I have a tie clip, and for the past three years, since I wear a tie to school, I've been wearing the tie clip around the middle of my tie. I feel like I've been making a fashion faux pas for three years now. Below you see the comparison - who's wearing it correctly? Or is there no right or wrong way? (Maybe Nolan's only wearing it low because of all the headsets and stuff an NFL coach must wear...or he's miked for sound.)