Mets Pluck Cardinals

In between thunderstorms and hail this weekend I actually managed to watch/listen to the Mets play the Cardinals. While Saturday's lose was disappointing, the fight and tenacity of the Mets was good to see. Sunday's game just reaffirmed that they are not the team of Witless Willie.

All too often during the dark days of Willies tenure, the Mets would just roll over and die if they fell behind early in a game. They did anything but that Saturday. After Knight's rough 1st inning, the Mets settled into a 14 inning slug fest. Tatis had another late inning home run to tie the score, and Delgado had two home runs earlier in the game. Jose' had his 12th home run of the year also and everybody seemed into the game. The rally caps were out in force all night and things just didn't work out as hoped. Heilman working in his 3rd inning of relief left a pitch over the middle of the plate, and Phat Albert parked it in the bleachers. Heilman was the last pitcher in the pen, and Perez would have come into the game if it went any longer. Even in the lose there were good things about this game that bode well for the future of this team. They never gave up, and the team really seems to be jelling as a whole. They are well on their way to becoming the best team in the NL.

In Sunday's game it was the Johan Santana show. On a day when a classic Ace pitching display was needed, Johan didn't let the team down. He pitched like an ACE and never let the Cardinals into the game. Tatis, Castro, and David once again went deep into the bleachers. David now has 82 RBI and is third in the league. Beltran made a great catch in center field to rob a HR and even had an RBI and hit. The Mets never trailed and never allowed the Redbirds to even think they had a chance. Johan knew the pen was spent and he needed to deep into the game. He pitched the first complete game for the Mets since 2006 and only gave up 6 hits. His lone mistake was giving up a home run to Phat Albert. The man can plain hit the ball. The fans were chanting Johan's name during the 8th and 9th inning and gave him a stand ovation as he left the field. He tipped his cap and the crowd roared it's approval. This was the kind of game so many fans hoped for when Santana was traded to the Mets. The dominating pitching that only an ACE can deliver. With an extra day of rest before his next start, Johan should be ready to continue his 2nd half surge and push the Mets to another Division title.

Now the Mets head for Florida and their second home. The Mets own the Marlins in Florida and hope to continue to trend towards total domination of the division. A sweep would be nice, but may not be possible with all the HR bats in the Marlins line-up. Here's to another successful road trip and a larger lead in the standings.