Job Done: Mets Take Series From Jints, 5-3

Success breeds success and since Wandering Willie was given a stay of execution by the Wilpons the Mets have now won the last three series' they've played against the Marlins, Dodgers and Giants. Won seven of their last nine.


The game was over, in essence, from this point on in the 1st.

Although the Mets jumped to an early 3-0 lead in this Maine v Cain battle, thanks to Carlos Beltran's two-run double and a rare timely hit from Carlos Delgado, due to a couple of miscues the game was never really fully secured until Billy Hillbilly recorded his 13th save of the season.

But perhaps that just a sign that for the moment anyway, the Mets fortunes are taking a turn for the better rather than a turn in the grave or a turn for the worse.


Late run for the All Star Game?

Not so long ago in Colorado, Jose Reyes made a bonehead error in a game John Maine was also pitching in and the eventual damage was a three-run that put the game away for the Rockies. Last night, in the third inning another bonehead error by Reyes but this time, only one run resulted and that was pretty much the difference in this game. The Mets aren't necessarily executing any better but their mistakes aren't killing them at the moment. Plus they're getting a little more timely hitting to boost them.

Maine was also a little perturbed to see a two-out pitch with a man on third turn into a run when it should have ended the inning - the culprit this time, Beltran, who dashed in from the deep centerfield positioning and then took his foot off the gas just before it came time - can't say as I blame him with Endy Chavez lingering around in his general direction which he surely caught out of the corner of his eye and had little flashbacks over, thinking in that split second perhaps, of his collision with Mike Cameron a few years ago.

Pernt is this: 1) It didn't cost the Mets the game 2) Both Reyes and Beltran contributed to more runs than their error/misplay caused.

But it is still far from perfect baseball, just as Pedro's outing the night before was far from perfect - just enough to get by which, after the numbing start the Mets have had to the season so far, is good enough for me and probably good enough for the Mets.

COMING UP: Four game series at the lowly Padres - considering both Pelfrey and Perez are do a turn in this series the Mets should consider themselves lucky to escape with a split.

DRAFT: I find it simultaneously difficult to stomach or understand that much like the hyperinflation of "mock" speculation for the NFL draft, you can just feel that in a few years, the baseball draft is going to be big news even though none of the players drafted will have an impact in the MLB this season. At least in the NFL the drafted players can go right to playing top level football and perhaps even star immediately. But baseball? Yeah, the draft might be important a couple of years down the road but for the purposes of the season to hand, it's absolutely meaningless.

Which is why I'm now prepared to give you the first 24 rounds of my MOCK DRAFT.

Just kidding.

ALL STARS: Now that we're almost a third of the way through the season the concenpt of contemplating the ballot doesn't feel as absurd as it didn't after the first bloody week of the season when the ballots first came out (or so it felt) - at the minute, Beltran is the closest Met to a starting position. Frankly, none are deserving given their play to date this season except for Ryan Church. You might like Wright but he hasn't had the season Chipper has had thus far. And even though Chipper is a big douchebag, unfortunately, personality and charm and an IQ over 11 aren't pre-requisites for the ballot.