7th in Row Is A Nail Biter, 4-3

In the first true test of the season against a quasi-talented Milwaukee Brewers, Aaron Heilman almost single handedly threw away a 4-1 lead with a shameful performance that lasted three batters: two hits, a wild pitch that scored a run and a walk before Willie smartly and quickly yanked him in favour of Duaner Sanchez. Sanchez saved the Mets and Heilman's Jorge Julio impression, keeping the streak alive and pushing the Mets to 8-1 on the season.


What's to talk about? Heilman's 10 pitches were almost enough to blow the game.

Billy Wagner earned his third save of the season and finally made it through a 9th inning without incident, a simple 1-2-3 closing that slammed the door on Brewer hopes, striking out Carlos Lee on consecutive sliders to end the game.

And the anticipated duel between Brewer's starter Chris Capuano, a lefty allegedly with the best pickoff move in baseball and Jose Reyes in the second inning, materialised solely in the form of distraction with Capuano's frequent tosses to first interrupted only by Lo Duca's double down the left field line to score Reyes from first and give the Mets a 1-0.

If you'd like an idea of why the Mets are so hot, other than great pitching, it should be noted that in the first 9 games of the season, the Mets have outscored their opponents through the first 3 innings by an 18-2 margin, blowing games open early, letting their starters relax.

The 4-1 lead could have been larger had Lo Duca not made a silly dash for home, getting thrown out to prematurely end another rally. Had he stayed put, David Wright would have been coming to the plate with the bases loaded and the lead could have been more substantial.

Instead, the Mets were forced to squeeze 45 laborious pitches out of Duaner Sanchez in two scoreless innings of work, making the game alot tighter than it should have been in spite of the 9-6 advantage the Brewers had over the Mets in hits. Sanchez continued his scoreless streak for the season with a gaudy 0.00 ERA.

Tom Glavine earned his second victory of the season, 277th of his career with yet another glamourous performance, striking out 11 Brewers, allowing six hits and a single unearned run. He went six innings for the third consecutive start and lowered his ERA to 1.50.

And after a dreary 1 1/2 hour rain delay, it's now nearly 4 in the morning so the Army is shutting it down with a fairly brief yet relieved recap noting that the Mets are out of the gate with a MLB-best 8-1 record.