Mets Take 4th In A Row - Wildcard Visible From Next Galaxy

This game had all the elements.

A two and a half hour rain delay during which time Glorified-Third-Base-Coach Willie Randolph played a game of scissors/rock/paper with Pedro Martinez about whether or not he could take an early holiday under that mango tree, the typical Pat Burrell homer against the Mets, a homer by rookie phenom Mike Jacobs, cameo appearances by nearly all our favourite Met punching bags - Danny Graves, Kaz Ishii and Shingo Takatso, an Ugueth Urbina meltdown, a two-run error by Chase Utley and, most of all, an improbable Met victory.

Shingo faced only two batters in the game and got only one of them out after surrendering Pat Burrell's seemingly predictable blast (and Today's Question is which was more inevitable, Burrell's homer against the Mets or Shingo being the one to surrender it) and yet Shingo STILL managed to gain a very undeserved victory for himself, his first and likely last as a Met.

Any suspense about Jimmy Rollins' fabled 30 game hitting streak coming to an end was quickly halted when he cracked the first pitch from New York starter Jae Seo off a beer sign that hangs off the second deck in right at Citizens Bank Park to give the Phillies a neat and quick 1-0 lead that quickly doubled to 2-0 when Met nemesis Chase Utley doubled and Met nemesis Pat Burrell singled him home.


Say what you will about Philadelphia fans being knuckle-walking, arse-whispering pederasts but it's impressive when a guy, even if he plays for Philly, extends his hitting streak to 31 games whilst his team struggles to stay in the playoff race.

And yes, a four-run rally in the 8th inning to give the Mets a 6-5 victory which pushed them a massive TWO games above .500 and inched them ever-so-closer to NL Wildcard chase, was quite impressive. As previously noted the Mets are really beginning to impress me with their ability to win when it doesn't count. They are now only 6 games behind the Astros for the NL Wildcard with 6 games to play and perhaps more importantly, they are only a half-game behind the miserable Marlins for 3rd place in the NL East. The same Marlins Carlos Delgado signed for this winter over the Mets because the Marlins had a better chance to make it to the World Series.

We might want to note for next season's reference purposes when it comes time to scratch out a starting rotation that Jae Seo appears to be falling to earth again.

In his last three starts Seo has thrown 16 innings, surrendered 25 hits and 10 earned runs. It isn't the floodgates of a Shingo appearance or the futility of Kaz Ishii outing but it is, if you'll pardon the expression, a chink in the armour.

It might also be interesting to note that Doug Mientkiewicz was sent in to pinch-hit for Takatsu in the 8th at the tail end of the Mets miraculous rally and as though the Shingo Disease of Incompetence called Shingoitis were transmittable, promptly struck out in his stead.

You can also call attention to the fact that the Mets have belatedly ripped through the NL East portion of their Late Season Win Once It Doesn't Matter Tour by winning 8 of 10 against their NL East rivals including a jarring sweep of the Nats which knocked them out of the competition and two of three late-rally-victories from the properly humiliated Marlins to wreck their postseason hopes as well.

If the Mets were to sweep the Phillies it could very well mean that they were able to keep all but the hated Braves out of the postseason almost single-handedly.

Of course, third base coach and acting manager Willie Randolph sees it differently.

After saying that Pedro would pitch IF the Mets weren't yet mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Pedro was able to bring Willie to his senses and urge him into believing that mathematically or not, it's time for Tio Pedro to have his offseason siesta.

So, lucky Phillies fans will get a chance at the magical Victor Zambrano piñata tonight instead of a vintage Pedro to ease their Wildcard worries.

Why not just fold up camp and call it a season?

Indeed, even glorified third base coach Willie has demonstrated he doesn't care:

"You just want to win as many games as you can. But to me, what difference does it make -- .500? One game under .500? Whatever. What difference does it make?"

What difference does it make indeed?

What a leader, that Willie Randolph.