We've heard it all before. Mets win two games in a row and everyone starts chattering about ohhh, maybe this is it, maybe this is the big one, maybe this is where the Mets finally start playing like it was 2006 all over again.
No, the Mets haven't just won the World Series, just two games in a row...against the Marlins.
Sure, until last night, the Mets' record when trailing after 6 innings, that same ugly, familiar formula of losing, was 1-19. When trailing after 8 innings, 0-24.
So this is not just a two-game winning streak, this is an almost unprecedented event for the 2008 Mets. A second victory, a series win, beating the first place team in the NL East (even if they are the Marlins) AND a come-from-behind, extra inning victory.
New Mets unsung superhero Fernando Tatis with the manager-in-waiting, Jerry Manuel.
Oh yeah, and this was a game Oliver Perez tried his damndest to blow. I mean if ever there was reason to despair, here it was staring everyone in the face all over again:
1. Mets take early, thin lead.
2. Oliver Perez (actually you can replace this with every Met starter this season bar Johan and usually, Maine.) suffers a meltdown or momentary lapse of concentration or just plain ole sucks and the Mets fall behind by a thin margin.
3. Bullpen comes in, thin margin becomes Grand Canyon, Mets lose, yet again.
Only this time the script was a little re-written.
Carlos Beltran made a great grab in the 5th to save Perez's bacon for one more inning before he collapsed.
Perez did indeed collapse, surrendering a 3-run moon shot that saw a 4-2 Mets lead turn into a 5-4 Marlins lead quicker than you can say here we go again...but then a funny thing or two happened. Like Aaron Heilman striking out the side. Like the bullpen holding the margin to one. Like the Mets coming up in the bottom of the 9th still behind only one run and what??? Endy Chavez hits an 0-2 homer to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
Oh yeah, if game-winning hits aren't enough, how about a somersault in the outfield?
I mean, this was a game you could be proud of.
And not only did the Mets come from behind once, they did it twice, even after Duaner Sanchez coughed up a homer and a one-run lead and you could pretty much cash this one in as another Mets demoraliser.
No, this is all different.
This is a team you can root for in public without fear of humiliation. (Well, in New York anyway, given the state of the Yankees, perhaps this is not a risk anymore anyway....)
Ok, to say IF the season has a moment, this is it is probably a bit of premature ejaculation from our good man, Mr Matthews, jumping the gun like the rest of us.
But it smellt good. It looked good. It felt good, dammit. Felt good to be up at 3 in the morning without having dread lingering in the bones, to get a little excited before dawn.
So there it is. A victory. A come-from-behind victory. Not once, but twice. Not only one victory, but two in a row, against the NL East leaders.
Who knows, maybe Willie might be around for a few more months after all.
How much did Willie pay those poor bastards to pretend they wanted his autograph? Jeez, c'mon skipper, just one more ball before you're sacked!
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2 comments:
to paraphrase that guy who blew his brains out from Seattle, Smells like Team Spirit...maybe that should be their motto, their team theme song...
I dunno - is there a song called We Don't Know if We're Coming or Going?
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