I don't think I'm ever going to stay up past the second inning for a Mets game ever again. They score just enough runs in the first couple to send you to sleep happy, then they add roughly 10-14 more runs while you're sleeping to make an unbelievable final score when you wake up.

Talk about putting it all together. Not only are the Mets getting decent pitching (I guess it's easy to pitch with a 17-0 lead), but their bats are on fire. Mike Jacobs homered 3 times in his first 13 major league at-bats. David Wright and Jose Reyes are just lighting it up. Wright is hitting .314 right now - fifth in the National League. He also doubled last night!! He's tied for third in the NL right now in doubles.

Steve Trachsel looks like he's going to start Friday night in San Francisco. He might take Victor Zambrano's rotation spot. What does Zambrano say to that? He says he'll do whatever the team asks of him, he'll be happy to contribute. Hear that Steve? Victor's a team player!

The Mets sent down Danny Graves when they activated Steve Trachsel the other day. I didn't realize this, but Graves said he would rather retire at the time. (I guess that's like a tree falling in the forest when there's no one around - when Danny Graves threatens to retire, does anyone care?) He's singing a different tune after a couple of days to think about it...he says it might be in his best interests to accept the Minor League assignment. Yes, Danny, it is. You're lucky you're still pitching professionally - and the Mets might be able to fix you and turn you into an effective pitcher again.

One thing in Arizona I want to mention - I've been watching FSN Arizona, so they showed on their telecast that it was a D-Bingo night at Wednesday night's game. It looks cool. Everyone gets a Bingo card, I guess, and as things in the game happen, you can cover them on the bingo card. For example, one had a "4 unassisted" on it, and a 6-4-3 DP. That looks like fun...I bet it starts catching on at other ballparks.

The Mets are 66-60, two games back of the Wild Card. They're still tied with the Nationals (who lost Thursday afternoon) and the Marlins (who won Thursday afternoon) for third in the NL East (also known as last in the NL East....which would still be good enough for a five-game lead in the NL West).

Pedro Martinez* is going for the Mets tonight in Arizona - it should be the culmination of a four-game sweep. I might not be writing again until Sunday - hopefully the Mets get at least two out of three in San Francisco (of course, I don't want to be greedy- but a 7-game winning streak would sure be good). Holy crap, Victor Diaz just hit another homer. 3-0 Mets. Good lead for Pedro* in the second inning.

ELTRAN*'S: A bad night for Beltran* in the 18-4 win. He had just one RBI, without a hit. With the bases loaded and 1 out, he grounded to second base...Kaz Matsui stopped before the second baseman tagged him, so the throw went to first, then the first baseman chased Matsui, creating a rundown which allowed THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, to score from second, before Matsui was tagged out. It was an awful play by the D-Backs, but a great play by Matsui, and I only mention it here because I forgot to put it above, and because Beltran* hit the grounder.

Anyway, the numbers: 33-125 (.264 AVG.) 3 HR, 16 RBI, 25 Runs, 10 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: Another double last night for Wright, and as I mentioned, he's now tied for third in the NL in doubles. The doubles tear I mentioned a couple of nights ago has come to fruition - the record is as good as his. No one's talking about it, though, raising doubts as to whether the Mets are still reading the blog.

SECOND HALF: 13 SEASON TOTAL: 35 TEAM RECORD: 44

WRIGHT NEEDS 9 DOUBLES IN THE TEAM'S FINAL 36 GAMES!!

THE KID'S KIDS: It looks like another rainout in Florida. Still 37-16. This was supposed to be the last game on the schedule, so stay tuned for whatever playoff scenarios there are.

SO FAR, SEO GOOD

Mets 10, Nationals 5 (WAS: 9-9, NYM: 10-8, 1 GB)

This game turned out to be the best-case scenario for the Mets. Ed Coleman brought up a valid point on WFAN Friday, saying that a rain out might be the best possible thing for the Mets on Saturday, after it was revealed Kaz Ishii was going to miss the start and be placed on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his side. The Mets did one better than the rain out, playing the game, and winning quite handily, 10-5.

I didn't get to watch this one, but I tuned in for a half-inning on the radio as I drove to work. By that point, the Mets were already up 10-0. The Mets beat up Tomo Ohka and Joe Horgan. Jae Seo was called up to make the start on Saturday, after pitching 4 and a third innings for Norfolk on Tuesday - so that was short rest for him. He was very good - going 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, no walks, just one run, and striking out 4 to pick up the win. Seo has been very inconsistent at the major league level, but sometimes he just pitches brilliantly, like he did today. He was starting to get knocked around a bit in the fifth inning (I heard on the radio that Carlos Beltran made an outstanding catch, diving headfirst into the gap to rob a hit, after Seo started to tire), but the Mets probably won't need him to be the answer to their pitching woes...for a while at least.

Here's the deal with the Mets' rotation. Thursday is an off day, so the Mets can skip the five spot. Then the following week, they can get away with skipping number five again. So the Mets won't need a fifth starter until the second week in May, and by then, Kris Benson is expected back. So a bullet might have been dodged today by a great outing from Jae Seo.

Notes from this game: Cliff Floyd went 2-for-4, he now has a 10-game hitting streak. He NEEDS to stay healthy....Future Hall of Famer David Wright went 2-for-4 - is he breaking out of his slump?....Carlos Beltran* was 2-for-2, which is great, but Mike Piazza was 0-for-4, which is not great.

Two points that I want to get into further. First is the asterisks following the names of Beltran* and Pedro Martinez*. If you don't know why they're there, go back to the end of spring training in my archives and see if you can find the article where they started. The point here, though, is that I feel like I should get rid of them, because these guys are doing awesome, and aren't like those free agents of the past who shy away from the Mets uniform. The problem, though, is that these guys have been doing great with the asterisks attached to their names, so I'm afraid if I take the asterisks away, one of them will get hurt or something. So I'm going to keep asterisking, although it might not be relevant any longer...now it's superstition.

Secondly, Victor Diaz. Diaz went 4-for-4 on Saturday, with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI. He's sixth in the National League with a .362 batting average. When Mike Cameron gets back from the DL, Willie Randolph wants to send Diaz back down to Triple-A to get him regular at-bats, rather than sitting on the bench at the major league level. I understand Randolph's point there, but the Mets need to keep Diaz's bat in their lineup. I think at this point, Diaz is better than Cameron. Cameron showed he wasn't as great a center fielder at Shea Stadium as he might have been anywhere else last year...he's the reason Beltran* and Martinez* have asterisks after their names! He also showed he wasn't willing to move to right field for a clearly better player, and it wasn't until he realized the Mets' potential with Beltran in center that he agreed to move to right. The Mets don't need Cameron over Diaz. I say trade Cameron as soon as he shows he's back and healthy, and give Victor Diaz right field at Shea.

Speaking of Shea, the Mets are now 7-1 at home, and they've won 10 of 13. A big test comes on Sunday, against Livan Hernandez. Victor Zambrano will try to outduel him. The Mets have shown they can beat up the lesser pitchers...I'd love to see them get 10 runs off a quality pitcher (Livan Hernandez would qualify...I'm not so sure about Al Leiter). After the Nationals leave town, the Mets will host the Braves.

TO THE VICTORS!

Mets 16, Phillies 4 (NYM: 7-7, PHI: 7-7)

It's tough to single anyone out for a great performance on Tuesday night, because everyone was great. But the headline nod goes to Victors Diaz and Zambrano, who both ranked among the offensive stars for the Mets.

THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, set the tone for the night by leading off the game with a home run. It was one of a team-record 7 home runs for the Mets on the night, and one of two for Reyes. Victor Diaz also added two, and Victor Zambrano had a two-run triple in the fifth inning, granting him status as an offensive star.

Zambrano didn't have the best night on the mound, giving up a couple of bombs himself, but he finished up OK. Zambrano gave up just two earned runs in six innings, striking out 5. Most importantly, he settled down when things got rough, and kept the Mets in the game early. He loaded the bases in the first inning with no one out, but got a double play ball from Jim Thome, instead of allowing the Phillies to break the game open.

Monday night, though, was all about the Mets' offense. The Mets scored at least a run in the first six innings - knocknig around Vicente Padilla (making his first start of the year), and Gavin Floyd. Besides the four home runs out of Reyes and Diaz, Mike Piazza, Doug Mientkiewicz, and future Hall of Famer David Wright went deep. Wright's was a grand slam, and most likely proves that he reads my website. Yesterday I said Wright needed a big game to get back on track offensively, a la Milwaukee last year. What does he do? A 2-for-4 night, 3 runs, 4 RBI, and the homer. Way to go, David.

I think this game was huge for the Mets. Citizens Bank Park is supposed to be a hitter's park, and every time the Mets had been there, they didn't really light it up. I think they had some decent games there last year, but by no means anything like this. So that's got to give a team some offensive confidence. Now hopefully the Mets can take this to Florida, and then against Washington, and build another winning streak. This is a pretty big stretch, considering it's April - there's a lot of games against division opponents in a row....and the Mets are holding their own.

Time to check the mailbag:

"johnny,

Here's the rub...Im getting into the Mets this year. I really like watching Pedro, Reyes, Wright and Beltran are exciting, and I still think every Piazza at-bat is a potential for something incredible to happen.

Obviously my top priority is still the Yanks, but these New look Mets are something special...That being said...I CANT WATCH THE METS DURING THE WEEK. Time Warner and Cablevision are having another one of their pissing contests. When they first took MSG off and replaced it with NBATV i was happy, because i am one of 17 NBA fans left in the country, and being forced to watch knick games was making that fandom precarious at best. But then baseball season started, and i feel like Im missing out. Thank god for channel 11 on the weekends.

so, my question is this...You stayed in Boston, claiming its because you have a job there and a "wife". Is the real reason because you knew three years later it would be easier to see the new look 2005 mets in New England than it would be in Queens?

Justin "big house" schrager..(clarence "big house" gaines died today, and Im taking his name, dammit)"

Justin - I don't care what you call yourself, I'm just so glad you wrote!

First of all, I'm not sure what happened to all your capitalizations and apotrophes - I think some e-mail gets screwed up in my e-mail system, and I didn't want to mess with the content of your e-mail.

Secondly, I'm sorry for you. I don't know what I'd do if I was in New York right now. Luckily, my parents now have RCN, so it wouldn't be a problem for me there, but the fact remains I definitely think it stinks that I can get every Mets game 200 miles away, while someone down the street from Shea can't get any.

I am very glad to hear, though, that you're on board with these Mets. I'm glad to hear you appreciate the excitement they can generate. This is going to be a good year.

Wednesday night is another night I will be "watching" the Mets on ESPN's revamped Gamecast. Let's hope it goes as well as Tuesday night's did. Aaron Heilman tries to repeat Friday night's outing against the Marlins, this time in Florida.

Phillies 5, Mets 4 (PHI: 7-6, NYM: 6-7)

Kaz Ishii's first inning did in the Mets Monday night. Ishii gave up a leadoff single to Jimmy Rollins, then walked two straight to load the bases. I think he threw something like 11 straight balls - he just couldn't find the plate. Then Ishii bore down, he gave up an RBI single to Pat Burrell, struck out Jim Thome, gave up a long fly ball to score another run, then got a nice play by future Hall of Famer David Wright on a foul pop to end the inning, trailing 2-0. The Mets made a run at the end of this game - but if Ishii finds the plate in the first, it could be a whole different game.

A couple of bright spots on defense to mention - Kaz Matsui went way far to his left to pick up a grounder by Bobby Abreu in the second inning and throw him out at first - he's been struggling lately, so it's good to see him do something well. Then in the third, as the Phillies expanded their lead to 4-0, Cliff Floyd made a running catch into the left-center field gap that saved a run (there was a runner on second). It's the second time I've seen Floyd cover a ton of ground like that and make the running catch - the first was one of the first two games of the season in Cincinnati. Floyd, by the way, made his first start since April 11th, after missing some time with a strain.

In the bottom of the sixth, with the Mets down 5-0, Felix Heredia all of a sudden lost the plate. He was throwing all over the place, with the Mets announcers making comparisons to Rick Ankiel. He had to leave the game - it looked like he had a problem with his thumb. I'm not positive about this, but I think Heredia missed a bunch of time in spring training with numbness in his hand. If so, this could be a recurrence. I wish the announcers would have mentioned something about his problems during the spring (I know he had some problem, I'm just not sure it was the numbness), but they didn't. Fran Healy and Ted Robinson are driving me nuts again this season - but that's a topic I'll save for another night.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets were in a position to start a comeback, after a 1-out double by Victor Diaz. The key here - one out. After the next batter flew out to center field, Diaz was doubled off second - he lost track of the outs. The worse news? Third base coach Manny Acta seemed to have lost track of the outs too. Not a good thing.

The ninth inning shows why the Mets are going to be very exciting all year. I wrote down before the ninth, with the Mets down 5-0 and the top of the order coming up, if any top of the order can start a team towards five runs, it's this team. So then THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, singled, and so did Kaz Matsui, and so did Carlos Beltran*, scoring Reyes, making it 5-1. After Mike Piazza struck out looking on a pitch down the pipe (Piazza actually hit well in this game - he might be coming around), Cliff Floyd blasted a 3-0 pitch into the upper deck to make it 5-4. Unfortunately, future Hall of Famer David Wright struck out, then Doug Mientkiewicz hit it on the nose but right at the second baseman to end the game.

The problem with the Mets' winning six in a row last week was that they lost 5 in a row to open the season. Now, after two losses, the Mets are again a game below .500. They need to go on another run to put some distance between them and the .500 mark.

In order to do that, they need Wright to start hitting again. After he hit his second homer of the year last week, he has cooled way off. Teams are starting to pitch him way inside, and I think it's messing with his head. He doesn't look comfortable at the plate these days. I seem to remember a slump like this at the major league level for him last year, and I think he broke out of it with his 2-homer, 7 RBI day in Milwaukee. He needs a game like that real soon (Philly is a great park for slump-breaking) to get him back on track.

I hate to admit it, but Roger Clemens is having a lights-out season. He pitched another seven scoreless innings Monday night against Atlanta. That game, incidentally, is going to the 11th right now, still 0-0. The second straight night Atlanta has gone 9 innings 0-0.

Which brings me to another point - Sunday night, Atlanta and Philadelphia went into extras, tied 0-0. The Braves got a run in the top of the tenth, then Dan Kolb blew the save (he was horrid - he threw a ball away on a bunt, and then loaded the bases before the Phillies won it). I'm starting to wonder if the closer is going to become a less-important part of the game. I wonder if teams are just going to start getting away from gearing their whole game towards the closer. Right now, it's still the case that if you're up by 3 runs or less, the ninth inning belongs to the closer. But I think that may start to change, especially if it's a one-run game and you have a starter going good. I think Jack McKeon's view (I have a guy out there doing a great job, I'm not going to buy into this closer stuff) might start rubbing off on other people...especially if it's working. I don't think teams will start going with a closer-by-committee, I just think we're seeing the end of the dominant closer/saves category as guys like Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Troy Percival, etc. near retirement, and the closers around baseball continue to struggle.
Sorry I didn't write yesterday - I didn't watch the Mets lose to the Marlins, so I didn't have much to say. Also, sorry about the phone problems - hope you enjoyed the wife's take on things. I have to admit, I did. I have to earn some money this week (I'm on spring break - which means work at Channel 4), so I won't be able to watch the Mets Tuesday night or Wednesday night. I will, though, try to post what I follow of those games on the AP wire.

First of all, a big HELLO to all my new fans in the greater Wilmington, North Carolina area. Welcome, and thanks for coming. Sorry I haven't written in a while - I've had computer problems.

A lot has happened in the two weeks since I've last written. Including Saturday's 4-3 win over the Cubs in 11 innings, so that's where I'll start.

I couldn't watch this game, since the Boston area got the Angels-A's matchup. But the Mets won a game that I would classify as very encouraging. First of all, this was pretty much the Norfolk Tides against the Chicago Cubs, and the Tides won in dramatic fashion. After being shut down all day by Mark Prior, the Mets broke through in the ninth inning, first against Ryan Dempster, then against LaTroy Hawkins. Victor Diaz, who I'll talk a little more about in a bit, hit a 2-out, 3-run homer to tie the game at three, then in the 11th, Craig Brazell hit the game-winning home run. The youngsters came through, and I should also mention Aaron Heilman, the starter, who kept the Mets in it early, giving up 2 runs in five innings. All the Mets have left is to play spoilers, and Saturday's win could very well have contributed to ruining the Cubs' season.

So, I now present to you the guide to the major leaguers, who until very recently were minor leaguers:

3B David Wright: He's a future Hall Of Famer. Enough said...but just because I like to write about him, here are his stats, through 61 games - Wright's hitting .293, slugging .515, 12 HR, and 35 RBI. For good measure, he's also stolen 5 bases.

SS (yes, SS, not 2B) Jose Reyes: He has a long way to go (health-wise) before he gets his GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED tag back. But the Mets are clearly a better team when Reyes is in the lineup. That's why when he plays in just 45 games (like he has so far this year) it hurts so much.

2B (yes 2B, not SS) Kaz Matsui: The first year is done. Maybe he is less nervous next year and plays to his capabilities in the field. I wasn't too upset with his offense - he was one of the best Mets hitters this year when the game was on the line.

RF Victor Diaz: I've only seen Diaz in a couple of games so far this year, and it looks like he's a bit of a hot dog. I hope he has a level head. Diaz came from the Dodgers organization in the Jeromy Burnitz trade last year. His biggest concern, it seemed to me, after he hit the game-tying homer on Saturday, was that he stuck it to the Cubs, who passed over him in the draft, rather than the fact that he helped the Mets win. Maybe that's just my interpretation, but seeing some of Diaz's body language (not hustling out of the box) during his call-up makes me think he might have a bit of an attitude problem.

1B Craig Brazell: Brazell has been in the Mets organization for a while, and just got his first opportunity late last year. He's got some power, but hasn't shown it much at the major league level. I don't really know where he's going to fit in if Mike Piazza's going to be playing first base next year.

P Aaron Heilman: Heilman has had two solid starts in a row, since he's gotten another chance to pitch late in the season. Maybe he's put his disappointments behind him, and maybe Rick Peterson has worked magic yet again.

P Tyler Yates: Yates is working on a modest scoreless streak right now - 8 and a third. It's a start. Maybe his niche is in middle relief.

Some other thoughts on a wasted season:

Kaz Matsui says he'd like to try a couple of games at second base before this season ends...but Art Howe is worried about Matsui getting hurt (a la Joe McEwing). The funny thing, though, is that what does Howe care - he's not even going to be around to suffer the consequences.

Which brings me to the tease portion: Coming soon to johnnymets.blogspot.com - Who should replace Art Howe as manager of the Mets? I already have an idea...stay tuned.