Mets Take Series From Brewers, 12-4

This might just be one of the more unlikely wins you're going to see from the Mets this season.

With the Brewers at home, a game after the Mets had knocked them from their high perch in the NL Central down to a tie with the Cubbies, you'd have expected some sort of rip-roaring return, especially with the likes of Brian Lawrence making his return to the Major Leagues on the mound for the first time since 2005.

Or maybe you'd have questioned how the Mets planned on scoring enough runs for what was certain to be a double digit output against Lawrence with Beltran on the DL, Damion Easely replacing Shawn Green in right field, and Lo Duca still recovering and out of action, playing Wally Pipp to Ramon Castro's Lou Gehrig.


The 40-something doing his part to join the others on the DL...


And if that didn't kill him, maybe running into Lastings Milledge would - Who is this Alou character, Wiley Coyote?

Or maybe some faith that even with a few stars out this was no rag-tag group the Mets fielded out there with the likes of Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Delgado and Alou batting 1-5. They combined for 9 hits and 6 runs on their own last night (mostly courtesy of Wright's massive night at the plate) whilst bringing up the back were people like Easley and his unlikely in the park homer and Lasting Milledge's trio of hits.

Basically, 18 hits and 12 runs scored is going to be enough unless you're the NY Yankees and for Brian Lawrence, it amounted to his first victory since 2005 whilst for the Mets it meant taking the series from the Brewers in Milwaukee. The team with the best homefield record in the National League.

Not bad for a three-game series even if it did come on the heels of a blown victory 300 for Glavine and a pen that has been refurbished only by the demotion of Jorge Sosa.

Maybe Sosa wants to be in on the game the next time Willie decides to mismanage his bench and is left with only a pitcher to pinch hit in the 9th inning of a tight game, who knows but last night he managed an rbi double hitting for himself and threw two more scoreless innings to boot.

The Brewers have now lost seven of their last nine and perhaps the Mets merely caught them at the right time what with public team spats opening like chancres and the heat of a pennant race getting to them.

But the Mets can do them a huge favour by sweeping the Cubs in this next series and do themselves a favour by providing Glavine some of the run support they've given to Lawrence and Oliver Perez the last two nights when he pitches on Sunday night in a game broadcast in England for the economic and strategic political ramifications tied with it. (Well, that or the fact it's the Sunday Night game which is broadcast here every Sunday night/Monday dawn.)

*****



With certain people grumbling about not enough fit birds filling the pages of late, perhaps down to jet lag or over-stimulation in Pacific cultures, difficult to say, let us hereby welcome the return of It's Mets For Me with the gratuitous posting of a few fit birds. Welcome home, wherever that is...


The Auld One Gun Salute...