Z = R + iX and Zambrano Resists Mediocrity, 2-1

As an electrical reference, Z is a measure of the total opposition to current flow in an alternating current circuit, made up of two components, ohmic resistance and reactance, and usually represented in complex notation as Z = R + iX, where R is the ohmic resistance and X is the reactance.

As a baseball reference, Z-ambrano was a measure of opposition to his own flow of mediocrity last night as he resisted a potentially patented Zambranoesque meltdown in the 4th inning and went on to pitch his best game as a Met in what amounted to an unexpected 2-1 victory.

A stretch, the lead, we confess. But it beats Zambrano, Zambrano, Let Your Hair Down! or some other Victor, Victory claptrap off the backpage headlines of one of the local tabloids for originality - here at Archie Bunker's Army, sometimes we can learn you a little on electrical current flow AND report on the Mets games at the same time. Ambidextriously-like.

Ahhh, must just be the giddiness of an unexpected Met victory talking. And look, three paragraphs without ever mentioning the name "Scott Kazmir"!

Inning after shocking inning the notoriously inept Victor Zambrano shut down the Diamondbacks last night with only a blip in the 4th inning and fatigue in the 9th inning standing between himself and a virtually perfect complete game outing against Diamondback's Brandon Webb who lost his second in a row against 6 wins this season.

In the third inning Cameron dazzled by robbing Luis Gonzalez of extra bases with a leaping catch at the right-field fence to end the third.

In the 4th, as it developed, we could recognise, like the turbulent rumblings of the intestines after a particularly spicy curry or a half dozen chili dogs, the beginnings of a full-out Zambranoesque squishy fart of mediciocrity.

He walked Troy Glaus and when Shawn Green attempted to advance Glaus in a tight 1-0 pitcher's duel, Zambrano was charged with a throwing error, allowing both runners to be safe, first and second, none out. And here we could time Zambrano by our watches almost. What was next? Wild pitch, walk, hit batsman and a three run double? Noooo, not tonight. Zambrano got Chad Tracy to fly out and then induced Royce Clayton to ground into a double play, ending the danger and leading into two subsequently perfect innings and a stemmed flow of articular bleeding to take our anti-hero well into 9th inning, struggling on with a 2-0 lead before he tired, 3 outs short of a complete game shutout.

This of course led to a typical Bradon Looper outing causing the traditional heartburn.

Looper entered the game with one on and none out and promptly threw a wild pitch and allowed an RBI single by Shawn Green whereafter we could all equally envision another victory pissed against the side of the wall by a dodgy bullpen.

But no, just as Zambrano was able to somehow ward off the evil spirits of incomptence, so was Looper, equally inexplicable, equally surpising. Instead of blowing the lead and the game, Looper recovered by getting Chad Tracy to ground into a double play and struck out pinch-hitter Matt Kata with two on for his 12th save in 14 chances, his 11th in a row.

*****

What the victory was able to cover up was another evening of Met mediocrity at the plate.

Despite 10 hits they were only able to generate 2 runs, leaving 8 men on base for the night and seeing two out of three Jose Reyes-generated rallies fizzle out, one in the 5th, by Cairo and Floyd and one in the 7th by Kaz Matsui and Carlos Beltran. Both times, Reyes was on second (after singling and stealing 2nd both times) with only one out and both times the Mets came up with nothing. On most nights, that would have spellt l-o-s-s.

And yes, Reyes was every bit as exciting as we hope he would be all the time when not hitting triples (in which he leads the Major Leagues with 7). Three times he singled and three times he stole second. In the first inning, he manufactured a run almost entirely on his own by singling, stealing second, advancing to third on a groundout and then scoring on another ground out. And just for the record, Reyes still has quite alot of triples to hit before he can even contemplate breaking Chief Wilson's record of 36 in a season.

*****

Within the NL East, the Nats were unable to knock off the Braves for a second consecutive night but the Marlins lost their third in a row so the Mets are now tied with the Nats for third place at 27-26, two and a half games behind the Braves for first and one game ahead of the Phillies for last.

*****

Tonight, Pedro (5-1 2.79) faces former Met Shawn Estes, LHP (4-3, 3.79) and on his 6th team in 6 seasons which gives us every opportunity to win the game, the series and take our second consecutive series from a winning team.

Or, we could lose by bullpen blowout or five David Wright errors or Piazza allowing 10 stolen bases in one game and we would then lose the series and lose our 4th series of our last 5 against winning teams. You make the call.