Before anyone gets too giddy, remember that euphoria after Game 161 last season when the Met pummeled the Marlins and for a few hours anyway, all seemed right with the world again. That 13-0 win over the Marlins gave the Mets a final gasp of life before Glavine put them back under the guillotine the following day...
Ok, end of disclaimer. Woop!
So for one night anyway, this was how they dreamt it all winter and spring.
Santana, we now know, is a second half pitcher, so next season we needn't fret a slow start.
Since the All Star break, 7-0 with a 2.37 ERA, 3-0 in September alone.
Simply put, without Santana this September the Mets would already be gone, done, ovah.
that broken bat was some much-needed luck
Last night he rose larger to the occasion than perhaps ever before this season; 8 innings, 125 pitches, struck out 10, matching his season high, and even had a 5th inning broken-bat hit to commence a rally, finishing with two runs scored.
This is what we got him for and he's doing exactly as we hoped so for one night anyway, credit where credit is due. (Not sure it merits a 4 year extension for Omar but fuck it, I guess we're feeling giddy.)
And for a night anyway, two guys with questionable Septembers, Mssrs Reyes and Wright, the cornerstones of the Mets' future BOTH had the kind of clutch hits franchise winners are based upon.
keep it coming
Wright, who entered the game batting .245 with runners in scoring position, punched a single into left to tie the game in that luckyweird Santana 5th.
Surfing success in the clutch
Reyes made his 200th hit of the season a bases loaded triple in the 6th that was quite possibly the most euphoric point of the season, to date, we hope.
Both had a pair of hits and both are now hitting .300 for the season. If those averages hold there's a good chance the Mets will too.
By the way, cheers, Luis Castillo, for forming that impressive black hole in the two spot in the order. Those kids at the auld atom-smashing Hadron Collider got nothing on you.
Now, the bullpen was its typical heart-in-mouth pleasure. The instinctive, reflex "Oh fuck no!" flinching gesture surely kicked in the minute Feliciano allowed consecutive one-out singles to Blanco and Hoffpauir and the 4 run lead began to look fragile.
But Ayala, Omar's prized bargain basement pick-up (Anderson Hernandez? Pshaw!)closed it out after a little pinch hitter chess from Cubbies manager medicine-ball-belly sweet Lou Piniella two batters later to send us all hysterical with disbelief.
So another day survived just when we were nearly certain the Mets had been TKO'd for the season yet again they've picked themselves off the floor and continued fighting. Heart.
And if you like sweet irony, how about Met turncoat Mike "School System For My Kids" Hampton outdueling the Phillies' precocious little lefty Cole Hamels for a 3-2 victory (imagine that the Braves doing US a favour for a change) to bring the Mets back to within 1 1/2 games of the Phillies.
And to clinch a nearly perfect night THE YANK-MEES WERE OFFICIALLY ELIMINATED FROM THE POST SEASON and can take their maudlin stadium-closing ceremonies straight the feck out of here into the offseason!
Ok, the lone note of imperfection sounded in Milwaukee where the Brewers, led by Prince Fielder's walk-off, two-run homer, kept pace with the Mets for the wildcard. Personally, I'd love to see a Phillies tailspin and the Mets with the Brew Crew getting in instead of Philly but that isn't likely to happen so we'd like much more distance between us both.
Whilst the zenith has been breached tonight, sober times await us.
Tonght it's Oliver Perez against Carlos Zambrano. The Mets bullpen against their own mediocrity. Sabathia is pitching for the Brewers which means near-certain victory thus another miracle for the Mets is imperative.
Fingers crossed, it's the pennant race!
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6 comments:
Please kill me now. Just looking into Pedro Feliciano's eyes tells me that we have NO chance. What a chump. Bravo for Santana. Wright and Reyes showed something, but now the Carloses are in a deep torpor. Delgado, even with his 4 hits the other day, has started swinging at shit again. When I fell asleep Milwaukee had taken a 4-3 lead. I know what their fans are going through, BP wise. I do not sympathize. I want it to continue--now unto the end of time. Amen.
Yay!!! We're not eliminated yet!
I am so proud of Jose. His triples thrill me. Much more than his homers, stolen bases, etc. I was at Cooperstown this summer and they have a hall with plaques dedicated to different baseball stats, with the lists and photos of all time leaders in those stats, and the active leaders. I took a picture of it which I would include in this comment if I knew how. Jose is already, at age 24, on the list of active leaders. And since then I have been obsessively consulting the active triples list whenever he hits a triple, to see how he's doing. He has moved up several places just since mid August. Most of the guys ahead of him are much much older than he is and no one on the list is hitting as many as he is.
Finally, Carlos B, who is usually so delicate and sensitive, really inspired me by taking the field last night. And by doing that I am sure he also inspired Johan, who was MUY MACHO!!
jdon, someone's always in a deep torpor on this club. It's only when they do it collectively that it hurts...
Katherine, the HOF is a magical place. I wonder how far he is from the top. Christ, I remember when he couldn't run 10 feet without pulling a hammy a few years back. Beltran's guttiness is not a complete surprise - remember how he came back for those essentially meaningless games after that horrific collision with Cameron? ps dont think you can use the images html tags for the comment section..
Since Aug 22 Jose has moved up on the list, passing Luis Gonzalez, and is now tied with Juan Pierre for 7th on the active list. . There are 6 players ahead of him ,in this order, with the number of triples they've hit since August 22 in parentheses after their name: Johnny Damon(1), Jimmy Rollins(2), Carl Crawford(0), Ray Durham(0), Cristian Guzman(2), and Omar Vizquel(1). Jose has hit 6 since August 22!!!
Feliciano looked like a dog waiting to be put down after those two singles last night. We have to win the next 4 games. Can we do it? I ain't so sure.
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