Gary Cooper finds his Posse'

Earlier today I wondered if anyone would show up to support John in his game tonight. After last night's meltdown, I wondered what team would show up at the park. A team with something to prove, or the same old cowardly underachieving spoiled brats. As it turned out there was no need to worry.

David Wright came out smoking and John didn't allow the Mariner's off the ground. In the 1st inning, Jose' scored a Reyes run and David deposited a change-up into the left field bleachers. The Mets added 2 more runs in the 2nd inning on David's 2nd home run, and 4 more runs in the 3rd inning on the strength of Jose's 9th home run. Batista couldn't throw strikes, and when he did, Jose and David parked his pitches in the seats. The Mets continue to go into voids when it comes to hitting in the middle innings. After the 3rd inning, the bats went to sleep. With the pick-up of Phillips, Delgado playing full-time may soon be coming to an end. Maybe getting him a day or two off a week will wake his bat up. He's looked horrible for the last week.

During the game Keith and Gary talked to HoJo about the hitting and he had some interesting things to say. He and Jerry are trying to fix Delgado and others, but it's an uphill battle. He didn't come out and say as much, but you could hear the frustration in his voice. It sounded like they've been trying to get Carlos to correct his swing, but Carlos isn't following their game plan when he gets in the box. I guess you really can't teach an old dog new tricks. The old dog Delgado is going to play himself into a platoon situation if he doesn't wise up soon. If there is one thing we as fans has seen from Jerry so far is that he rewards success, and sits failure. Now with Phillips in the mix, he has someone to replace Carlos at 1st if Carlos doesn't hit. Phillips isn't a slugger, but he's a hell of a lot better around the bag than Carlos. That alone will save runs, and make the team better able to win games.

So once again John came up big when the team needed him the most. He now leads the team in wins, and has a chance of getting 10 wins before the break. If he can get into the 7th inning more frequently, he stands a good chance of winning 18+ games this season and solidifying his spot as the #2 starter on the team.