He's just so radickeylous

Make that an MLB-leading 18 shutouts for the Mets, thanks to R.A. Dickey's phenomenal performance Friday night against the Phillies.

Dickey threw the 35th one-hitter in Mets history, facing just two more than the minimum 27 batters, walking one and striking out seven. The lone hit, of course, was by opposing pitcher Cole Hamels, who blooped a single to right in the sixth. Figures.

It was the second complete-game one-hitter by the Mets this season, the previous tossed by Jonathon Niese. It was also the 14th complete game in MLB this season featuring one or less hits in this, the year of the pitcher.

Dickey's gem was the second straight complete game for the closer-less Mets, who will get Frankie Rodriguez back on Saturday. K-Rod reportedly agreed to anger management and will address his situation to the media when he returns.

In the meantime, for two games since the K-Rod incident, the Mets bullpen was quiet thanks to Johan Santana and Dickey, whose combined excellence gave the Mets their first back-to-back wins since June 23, an incredible stretch. The shutout Friday was necessary as the Mets scored just one run, the eighth time this month the offense has scored three runs or less.

Then again, when it comes to the Phillies, the Mets don't need more than one. The Mets have blanked the Fight-less Phils four straight times at Citi Field, outscoring them 17-0 in the process.

The lone run was knocked in on consecutive two-out doubles in the eighth by David Wright and Carlos Beltran, and wouldn't it be nice if that duo starts heating up? Jerry Manuel started a lineup of all righties against Hamels, who kills lefties, starting Mike Hessman at first.

Hessman validated the move by blasting a pitch leading off the fifth over the orange line atop the left-field wall. It was originally ruled a home run, and despite replays that clearly showed the ball hitting the railing above the line as a fan tried to grab it, the umpires — after a long 10-minute delay (which told you something was up) gave Hessman a ground-rule triple.

Runner on third and no outs? Still tough for the Mets to score. Jeff Francoeur and Henry Blanco looked awful striking out, and then Hamels walked Ruben Tejada to face Dickey, who grounded out to end the threat.

The Mets displayed great defense again, especially early, with nice stops by Reyes and Hessman. After that, the Phillies were flailing at Dickey's outstanding knuckleball, which he threw 102 times, against just three fastballs.

Amazing.

We should all be like Johan Santana

What Johan Santana did today for the New York Mets was nothing short of amazing, and this is a franchise that knows from amazing.

Much the same way he pitched a gem when the Mets needed a win at the end of the 2008 season, Santana came up huge a day after the Mets saw another eighth-inning lead disappear, only to have their closer, Frankie Rodriguez, arrested for assaulting his father-in-law near the clubhouse after the game.

Do we have a Flushing Zoo on our hands?

Thursday afternoon's game was an afterthought for many in the media, who took the K-Rod incident and the blown game Wednesday to sharpen their knives and call for the heads of Jerry Manuel, Jeff Wilpon, Fred Wilpon, Omar Minaya, and just about everyone connected with this team short of Mr. Met and the Cowbell Man.

Meanwhile, Santana (who has his own personal issues to worry about) took the ball and went to work. Setup man? Closer? He didn't need them. In a game where the Mets desperately needed a win, to win a series and to get back to .500 and keep alive whatever hopes they have of staying in the playoff hunt, Santana did it all. Nine innings, four hits, two walks, 10 strikeouts, 115 pitches. No runs.

It was the Mets' 17th shutout of the season. Again, as I said yesterday, that a team with 17 shutouts is only .500 tells you all you need to know about how bad the offense has been, especially lately.

But it wasn't just Johan. Coincidentally, Carlos Beltran went 3-for-3 and had an RBI sac fly. Jose Reyes had two hits and scored a run. And wouldn't you know it, the Mets won. Think that had anything to do with it?

It was a tremendous win. Beltran showed signs of life. But the big story was K-Rod, who is on the restricted list for two days and could likely be suspended by the team as well.

If there wasn't blood in the water, it's crimson now. If people weren't burying the Mets before, they're piling on the dirt in spades.

I expect it from the media. Objectivity is a quaint relic these days. It's all about opinions, and second-guessing, and bluster and bombast and who can yell louder than the next guy. It's about pushing people's buttons and polls and page views and blog comments.

What bugs me the most is how many Mets fans seem to revel in the bad news. It seems that if the Mets aren't good — and when I say good I mean unquestionably good — these kinds of fans would prefer the Mets be horrible, so they can freely rage at the organization and its players. Quick to bury them, to dump them, to call for people's jobs and demand trades.

If the Mets are somewhere in between, like the Mets are now (.500 is the definition of in between), these fans can't handle it. We can't revel in the team's superiority, but the team isn't awful, either, and with 48 games left there's still a chance they can make a run...

Nah... let's just bury them. It's simpler that way.

To me, these people aren't fans. They're critics. They're cranks.

I follow the Mets and watch their games to enjoy them. If the team is bad, it's bad. If it's great, it's great. If it's somewhere in the middle, I watch and root for them to get in the race. I cheer for my team. I boo the opposition.

I can't see how fans who are so quick to bury and belittle and tear apart this team — their team — get any joy out of being a Mets fan. There's no belief. No hope against hope. Just miserable people wallowing in their misery. They should all hang out together with Joe Benigno with T-shirts emblazoned with their credo: "Oh, the pain!"

I'm a realist. I understand that it's a tall order for the Mets to rally back and make a playoff run. This team has holes that management refused to fill. It's far from perfect. They need a bunch of guys to collectively get their acts together, and soon.

But the Phillies and the Rockies and other teams in recent years have shown that you can make up games in a hurry. Seventeen shutouts gives me hope. Santana gives me hope. The possibility of Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Pagan, Davis, Thole and (hopefully) Bay finding their groove at the plate together gives me hope.

Quick story: I was a freshman at Boston University when the Mets won in 1986. I remember watching game six in a friend's dorm room with a bunch of people, and when Boston took the lead late, the Sox fans — real and bandwagoneers — took off for Kenmore Square to celebrate.

I stayed and watched with my pal Tim, a Sox fan. He anticipated Boston's first World Series in 69 years. I had nothing but hope.

What a feeling it was to stand outside the elevator doors on our floor later in the evening, after the Mets rallied to win, waiting until those doors opened, to see everyone who ran out to celebrate slinking back. Oh, how good it felt to stick it to those who thought it was over.

That's kind of how I feel now. It may not happen, but how good will it feel if the Mets somehow do put it together and make the playoffs? To stick it to everyone who said they were done?

Santana isn't giving up anytime soon. Neither am I.

As for whether we have a Flushing Zoo, you'll recall there was a Bronx Zoo, where the manager hated the team's star player, where the star and the captain hated each other, where the owner made as many headlines as the team. That team won two World Series.

I've always liked the zoo.

The Mets, by the numbers: It all adds up to nothing.

While Mets fans and media are sure to continue their calls for manager Jerry Manuel to be fired after the Mets' latest loss — a 6-2 stomach punch delivered by the Colorado Rockies — let's take a look at the numbers, shall we?

15: The number of Mets retired in a row to end the game.

1: The number of hits generated by the Mets after their second batter of the game, Angel Pagan, hit a two-run homer (Jose Reyes singled to lead off the first).

11: Starts this season by Jonathan Niese where he has allowed one run or less. What a waste.

4: Strikeouts by David Wright in this game, in as many at-bats. The only player colder is Carlos Beltran. The two are the 3-4 hitters on this team.

.216: The Mets' team batting average since the All-Star break.

3: Runs per game the Mets have scored in that stretch, during which they are 8-17.

5: Consecutive scoreless appearances by Manny Acosta entering Wednesday's night game. So much for Manuel playing the hot hand.

2: Strikes, with no balls and two outs, on Todd Helton against Hisanori Takahashi, with the bases empty in the top of the eighth inning with the Mets clinging to a 2-1 lead. One strike away from handing the ball to K-Rod. But the Red Sox can tell us all about being one strike away, can't they?

So tell me again how this is all Jerry's fault?

You don't hit, you don't score runs. You don't score runs, you waste terrific pitching efforts like this one from Niese. And you don't win games.

Takahashi, who was terrific the night before in supplying the bridge to K-Rod, couldn't retire Helton after being ahead 0-2. Helton singled on a 1-2 pitch, bringing up Carlos Gonzalez, another lefty, who waved at a 2-1 slider. But Takahashi threw two more balls, walking Gonzalez.

Jerry brings in the hard-throwing Acosta, who has held hitters to a .200 average and who has been shining lately, and he immediately throws a wild pitch to put the go-ahead run at second. (That's not exactly what I call good execution.)

That leads to the intentional walk of Tulowitzki, bringing up ex-Met Melvin Mora, who quickly fell behind 0-2. One strike away once again.

A ball. A foul ball. A ball. A grand slam by Mora (which brings up another depressing number, 9, which is the league-leading number of grand slams allowed by the Mets this season). Another run after a walk and two singles.

Two times, one strike away.

How bad is the Mets offense? You can look at all the stats you want, but consider this: The Mets ' pitching leads the league with 16 shutouts. With that kind of starting pitching, your offense must be pretty putrid for your team to struggle to stay above .500.

You want to fire Howard Johnson? I personally don't think it would matter, but at this point I guess it wouldn't hurt because it can't get any worse on offense. Maybe it shakes things up. Maybe not.

Wednesday night's loss proved once again that the Mets are where they are because of a lack of production, pure and simple. The bullpen isn't always in one-run games if the hitters can provide a cushion. The margin for error isn't always so razor-thin.

It isn't about bullpen management, or fire in the belly, or heart, or leadership, or guts. It is about the talent on the roster either being able to produce, or not. For the last month, on offense, the Mets have not produced at all. And that has been killing them.

It's really not that complicated.

Don't take those shovels out just yet

The Mets have played a lot of good games this season. Good, close games. Pitcher's duels. Exciting games.

It's just that they've lost most of them.

It seems that whenever the Mets do something well, like put up runs against Roy Halladay, something goes bad, like R.A. Dickey allowing eight hits in three innings. Or when Jon Niese holds the Phillies to one run in seven innings, only to see Bobby Parnell give up four straight hits in the bottom of the eighth.

It's always something.

Other than that stretch in May and June when the Mets went 24-10 before heading to San Juan, the Mets have been off.

The current downfall has been caused by a struggling offense incapable of generating anything in a 23-game stretch since the All-Star break, one that featured 17 road games and a bunch of quality starters on the other side. Not a good combination.

Carlos Beltran has not been himself and should not be batting third or fourth until he gets hot. David Wright, the only one hitting for a while, is now slumping, and he and Beltran went a combined 5-for-45 in the games at Atlanta and Philly.

The changes the Mets made over the weekend were positive, especially releasing Alex Cora, but understand that as good as Ruben Tejada is defensively, he is a black hole on offense. Luis Castillo should not be banished to the bench completely. Despite his current numbers he brings more potential to the lineup and second base should be treated much like right field, where Castillo starts 3-4 games and Tejada starts the others, to see if that can light a fire under Castillo the rest of the way.

And when he plays, Castillo bats second. Please. We saw this again over the weekend when Reyes was on first and Pagan was trying to bunt him over and the announcers were screaming.

That's why Castillo should be there, taking pitches so Reyes can steal or bunting Reyes over, or bunting for a hit, so Pagan or Wright or whoever is batting third can drive him in. Move Pagan to the middle of the order, third or fifth or sixth, unless Tejada is at second.

The Mets haven't proven they can win back-to-back games, let alone series, in this slump and they need to break out of it soon, and the six home games against Colorado and Philly is a great place to start, followed by seven road games against Houston and Pittsburgh. That's followed by six home games against Florida and Houston.

I hate projecting the schedule -- it's such a talk radio show thing to do and the projections never come true -- but let's say 13-6 happens in that stretch, and then the Mets split four at Atlanta and take 4 of the next 6 at Chicago and Washington.

That 19-10 run would put the Mets seven games over .500 at 74-66 on Sept. 9, an off day. From then on the Mets would play 17 of 22 games at home.

Can they go 16-6 down the stretch and win 90 games? Will that be enough for a wild card spot?

It's still possible. Maybe not likely, but possible. A lot has to happen.

The season ain't over just yet. So keep the shovels at bay. At least for another week or so.

No help: Omar, Wilpons abandon Manuel, players

There is this assumption that by doing nothing to add to the roster, the Mets are sealing Jerry Manuel's fate as manager, and that his firing at the end of what could be another playoff-less season is a done deal.

First of all, if you don't think he's doing a good job, fire him now.

Second, the man whose fate you'd think would be sealed is Omar Minaya. He's done nothing to help the team in-season in his entire tenure, but especially this season, when the need for another starter was so obvious for so long. Manuel and even some players, like David Wright, made it known that they could use the help.

But Omar is being a good soldier by insisting he has the green light to make a deal when ownership has probably told him that he can't add any more salary. And he can't release Oliver Perez because he's making so much money, and ownership can't swallow paying someone that much for not contributing. Not that he's contributing now, anyway.

Omar is just doing what he's told, so presumably he'll be protected.

That leaves Manuel stuck with the players he has, and that list includes two guys off the DL, one of whom is ice cold (Beltran) and one who everyone outside the locker room apparently hates (Castillo -- although he started to hit against Atlanta), two players who were cold and are now hurt (Bay and Barajas), the hot-and-cold Francoeur, a rookie in Ike Davis, and a weak bench.

Only Reyes, Wright and Pagan have been dependable, and even there, Reyes hasn't been playing up to his own level, and Wright has had brutal cold streaks (he's started another one).

Angel Pagan has been the team's best player, by far, except for maybe R.A. Dickey. That says a lot.

The real culprit with this team is ownership. The Wilpons spend money, no doubt. No one foresaw Jason Bay going a whole season without getting hot, and having this drastic a power loss. They've paid big bucks for free agents before, so you can't call them cheap.

But this season, after a lost season due to injury last year, and after two seasons of bitter collapses, ownership had the opportunity to win back the fans who could no longer stomach the situation and have started to stay away.

Yes, they added all the nice Mets-y touches like the Hall of Fame and moved the apple and added big photos of old Mets. Great.

But what fans really want is an ownership that is willing to fund changes necessary to allow the team to compete and to win. That has not happened.

Instead, we get reports that the Wilpons lost a ton of money to Bernie Madoff and that has affected the ballcub, something they have denied again and again.

But the proof is in the pudding, and despite many opportunities to do something to help the team — whether it's throwing money to the wind and cutting Perez for the good of the club, or acquiring needed talent — management has done nothing.

That's on the owners, who aren't going anywhere.

Omar is just taking orders, so he's safe.

That leaves Manuel, who like many managers before him and many who will come after, as the scapegoat. When, in fact, almost none of what has troubled this team is his fault. (You want to question his moves, fine, but you'll have those questions with pretty much any manager you bring in.)

Wednesday night's error-filled loss doesn't reflect well on Manuel, but he's not the one throwing balls away, or missing the strike zone, or hitting batters, or failing to hit. The players are well aware of their situation and are trying — probably too hard — but they're just not executing.

A third of the season remains, with a lot of home games and games against teams like Houston and Pittsburgh. The Phillies are battered, and despite winning the Mets series the Braves have shown signs of coming back to earth (10-10 since the break). The Mets, warts and all, are better than their 6-14 record since the All-Star game.

But the reality is that nothing is going to happen to fix what is broken and the inertia comes from the top. Ownership can't spend money, so management can't make changes, so the roster stays the same, flaws and all.

That leaves it up to the players in the room and Manuel to beat the odds and somehow find a way to put it all together in the final 54 games.

Can it happen? If you believe that the players who have underperformed can rebound down the stretch, then, yes, it is possible.

Ya gotta believe. Because there's nothing else to count on.

Free advice for Jerry and a fantastic video tribute

Jerry Manuel has tried 18 different lineup combinations since the All-Star break and the Mets are 5-13 and still can't hit.

Here's a radical idea. Bat Luis Castillo second and keep him there.

Whoa, you say. Castillo sucks. He's not getting on base and he's batting .235.

But here's the deal. He's not helping in the eight spot. His whole hitting philosophy is taking pitches and trying to draw a walk or get on base by any means necessary -- hitting the other way, bunting, whatever.

Jose Reyes has only 20 steals. If he gets on with Mr. Patient Castillo at the plate, he's got more chances to steal.

The idea is to put players where they are in the best position to succeed. Clearly, based on his approach and his career numbers, Castillo fits best in the two hole.

Nothing else is working, anyway. And moving Angel Pagan further down in the order -- either to third ahead of Wright, or down to sixth -- lengthens a lineup that is getting zero production from 5-9.

When Jason Bay comes back, the lineup should be -- and stay:

Reyes, Castillo, Pagan, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Francoeur / Carter, catcher, pitcher. Maybe then we'll get some consistent success.

As always, you're welcome.

BONUS TREAT:

Via Sports Illustrated's Extra Mustard comes this video tribute to the Montreal Expos.

Three things:

1. Awesome.
2. See, Mets fans? It could be worse. You could have your team taken away from you.
3. Someone should send this to the Washington Nationals and remind them that this franchise actually has a history that should be remembered.

Amateur psychiatrists are having a field day with the Mets

I love when fans say that there's no life on a baseball team, no sense of urgency. That a team didn't come to play.

It's baseball. You either get hits or you don't. You either make outs or you don't.

It has nothing to do with fire, or urgency, or chemistry. It's all about production.

The Mets lost to the Braves Monday night, 4-1. Tim Hudson went six innings, allowed six hits and three walks and just one run. Then the Braves bullpen of Vetters, Saito and Wagner shut the door as it has done pretty much all season.

The Mets didn't hit, and haven't hit lately. And they lost again. That's what happened.

But fans love to play amateur psychiatrist, and so did Gary Cohen, a longtime Mets fan himself. When Matt Diaz took second on a base hit to left-center, he bemoaned the "bad body language" on the team and the lack of urgency on Carlos Beltran's part. Neither he nor Keith Hernandez noted that Beltran was playing to the right side of center and had to come a long way for that ball. His only mistake was taking an extra step before throwing the ball in, but that's all Diaz needed. Credit Diaz for hustling.

You want to blame shoddy defense for the three-run first? You're pinning a loss on a bad exchange on a potential double-play grounder? How about Johan Santana walking Troy Glaus after having him down 0-2. That brought up Ankiel, a lefty, who then singled in two.

When your offense is that bad, and your margin for error is that small that a first-inning fielder's choice is lamented that much, then you know you're in trouble.

But that has nothing to do with urgency or fire. What should the Mets do? Start a brawl? Check someone into the boards? Sack the quarterback?

Get hits. Score runs. Pitch well. Win games. The Mets have only pitched well, for the most part. No hits and runs — that's been the problem. But why?

Because Howard Johnson is a horrible hitting coach, of course! Fire him!

There's been talk about how the Mets have faced some tough pitching lately, but it's mostly been lip service. Let's take a closer look:

Since the All-Star break, the Mets are 5-13, with 12 of those 18 games on the road. They faced 16 different starters in that span (meeting the D-Backs' Enright and Kennedy twice), and of those 16 starters, 12 have records of .500 or better, six of them with nine wins or more. Their combined record as of Monday's games is 106-77, a .579 winning percentage.

Here are the same numbers for the Phillies and Braves since the break:

Phillies: 10-8, 7 games at home, faced eight starters of .500 or better, four with nine wins or more. Combined record 113-108, .511 winning percentage.

Braves: 8-9, 8 games at home, faced 11 starters of .500 or better, three with nine wins or more. Combined record 102-95, .518 winning percentage.

So, since the break, the Mets have had to play 2/3 of their games on the road against starting pitchers who have won 58 percent of their games, including 12 with winning records. The Phillies and Braves, by comparison, faced less winning pitchers whose aggregate winning percentage was about 65 points lower.

Throw in a not-ready-for-prime-time Carlos Beltran, a slumping (and now injured) Jason Bay and Rod Barajas, an ice-cold Jeff Francoeur and Luis Castillo, and a tepid Ike Davis, and you have a struggling offense trying to win games against good pitching, mostly on the road.

And we're surprised they haven't won more?

What is Jerry Manuel supposed to do? He's trying, with 18 different lineups since the break. Guess who else had a different lineup every day, even when the team was winning? Bobby Valentine, and that drove fans crazy. The same Bobby V Mets fans are pining for now, when they're not clamoring for Wally Backman, who hasn't won a major league game but has thrown a lot of bats in the minors.

Oh, right, he was on the '86 champs. So he must be a good manager.

And he has fire! Like Lou Piniella, whose Cubs are 46-60.

The bottom line is that the Mets hit a stretch where they had to play mostly on the road against good starting pitching at a time when it started to struggle offensively, while trying to work in two players (Beltran and Castillo) coming off fairly long stretches on the DL.

While fans ask the players to show some fire and urgency, what of management and ownership? No deadline deals for any help while the Braves and Phillies and Dodgers made significant moves. What message does that send to the team? We believe in you? Or we're out of it and want to hold on to prospects? Or we can't spend another dime?

Does that have an effect on a team that has been looking and asking for help down the stretch? Maybe.

The Mets are a .500 team with 56 games left in a season that is slipping away. The only way to turn it around is to start hitting and keep pitching.

They have opportunity to do so with these next five games against the Braves and Phillies, and if they can hang in there they have 17 of their final 22 games at Citi Field.

Bay and Beltran and Davis haven't caught fire all season, and Reyes hasn't blown up yet, either. There's still some hope.

But don't talk about fire.

The Mets are what they are, and no one knows what that is

I get it, and I don't get it.

I understand why the Mets didn't make any trade deadline moves, if you're telling me every other team wanted players like Jon Niese, Josh Thole or Ike Davis. You don't trade those guys unless you're getting someone tremendous in return, and there really wasn't anyone like that out there.

What I don't get, however, is how a team like the Dodgers, in front office disarray with an ownership divorce coming up, is lauded for being bold, while the Mets are considered out of the running.

The Dodgers are a game better than the Mets in the Wild Card race and even further out in their division.

The Mets are in limbo, for sure, and perhaps they are doing the right thing by not dealing away prospects when their grip on the playoff race is as tentative as it is right now.

But then again, Ted Lilly was dealt with Ryan Theriot for Blake DeWitt and a couple of minor leaguers. I find it hard to believe that the Mets couldn't come up with a similar package.

Prospects are just that — prospects. Somehow the Phillies, over the last year, have traded a dozen prospects but held onto the best ones. They've been to two straight World Series and are in position to make another run.

These Mets prospects must be awesome.

But how many of them do you thing will make it to the majors, let alone star for the Mets? Jennry Mejia? Maybe Fernando Martinez if he can ever stay healthy? Brad Holt? Wilmer Flores?

The elephant in the room is money, and there have been many reports and rumors that the Mets cannot spend any more. The Madoff thing has been hanging over the club, and the Mets — while having a top-five payroll and signing Jason Bay to a big deal — have certainly looked like a team that won't spend an extra dime to improve their chances of winning ballgames.

Omar Minaya's track record has been consistent. Big moves in the off-season, nothing significant during the season.

I'll take him at his word that deals can be done after players clear waivers. But now that it looks like Brett Myers is going to sign an extension with Houston, and Lilly and Jake Westbrook are gone, I expect nothing to be done, even though acquiring another starter has been a screaming need since spring training.

The Mets are going to the dance (or not) with what brung them, and that means Hisanori Takahashi in the starting rotation. He did extremely well on Saturday night, and maybe he and R.A. Dickey can keep it up. Maybe Manny Acosta becomes the hot hand in the bullpen.

Maybe Carlos Beltran's walk-off sac fly sparks his resurgence. Maybe Jason Bay comes off the DL and hits like crazy for the final six weeks.

Lots of ifs and maybes, which is what the season has been like since March. We should be used to it by now.

Hang this loss on Manuel? He didn't have much of a choice

So why did Jerry Manuel have Pedro Feliciano pitch to Albert Pujols in the 13th inning with runners on the corners and two outs?

Did he have a choice?

Yes, it's Pujols, Mr. MVP. But the guy on deck, Matt Holliday, is pretty good, too, and already had a homer and three RBI in the game. Plus, walking Pujols to load the bases means a single by Holliday scores two runs, not one, and you already had a force at second. Both players are right handed, and after Feliciano were two more lefties, Valdes and Ollie.

Having Feliciano pitching to either Pujols or Holliday is a tough task either way, but remember there were two outs and Pujols could barely run to first base or jog out to his position. The guy was hurting. He would have been removed from the game had LaRussa had other options available to him.

So do you load the bases for a healthy Holliday, or pitch to a hurting Pujols hoping to get one more out?

Again, did Manuel have a choice?

His critics and the media will surely jump all over him, but the reality is the outcome was mostly decided by the six runs Johan Santana gave up in the first. Credit Santana for gutting out another 4 2/3 innings and stopping the bleeding, credit the bullpen for keeping the Cards scoreless til Pujols's single in the 13th, and credit the Mets for coming back, scoring four in the eighth, two on a pinch hit single by Ike Davis and two more on a homer by Angel Pagan.

But you can't credit them with a win. Just another tough loss, another one-run loss, another loss on a night when the Braves and Phillies won.

Production matters. Votes of confidence don't

"That's baseball."

Sabermetricians hate those two words. They'd like to think they can measure, infer, interpret, calculate and estimate every aspect of baseball so that the game makes sense.

Then you have Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, where the ice-cold Mets went up against a red-hot Adam Wainwright, who was having one of the best months of July in the history of the game.

The Mets were reeling, shut out four times on an 11-game road trip. They couldn't hit the broad side of Jessica Simpson. Jerry Manuel and his coaching staff, especially hitting coach Howard Johnson, were the subject of all kinds of media speculation. The Phillies passed them in the standings. They were falling further behind in the division and wild card standings. Things looked bleak.

So what happens? The Mets bang out six runs in five innings off of Wainwright and roll to an 8-2 win.

That's baseball.

The only thing that makes sense is that the game was at Citi Field, and at this point we should just enjoy the home wins and not question why the Mets are so good at home and so awful on the road.

Home runs by Francoeur and Reyes helped, as did two hits each by Beltran and Castillo. Jon Niese also chipped in with six innings of one-run ball for his seventh win of the season.

Whether the win jump-starts a Mets resurgance remains to be seen, but one thing it did prove is that performance counts.

Not media speculation, not votes of confidence from the front office, not coaching changes.

The talent must produce. That's what matters most.

That, and getting another starter (Ted Lilly or Brett Myers would be just fine, thanks) so that Takahashi can move to the bullpen.

Because if we're asking the talent to produce, we'd like to see the GM and ownership produce as well.

Mets' hitting virus has passed. We hope.

When you have a virus, what does the doctor say?

Plenty of rest, plenty of fluids, and let it run its course. Antibiotics and medications do nothing when you have a virus.

The team hitting slump that the Mets hopefully broke out of Friday night is exactly like a virus. It comes in from out of nowhere, and no matter what remedy you try (extra batting practice, less batting practice, lineup changes) you just have to let it run its course.

Viruses come and go. You're sick for a while, but eventually you get better. Same with hitting slumps. It's bad while you're in it, but it doesn't last forever.

Team slumps are worse because a couple of guys stop hitting, and while they're pressing to end their slump their teammates start pressing to do more to make up the difference, and before you know it the shutouts are piling up. Ron Darling mentioned this in the booth on Thursday night, that it's amazing how all team hitting slumps are alike.

Which is why the renewed talk of Jerry Manuel's job being in jeopardy is laughable. If he was doing such a great job before the slump, wouldn't you want him around after it's over? Can't he just weather the storm? It's been a bad road trip, but the pitching and defense have been fine. If he was being praised just a couple of weeks ago, why would you fire him just to "shake things up?"

Hopefully, the bases-clearing double that secured the Mets' 6-1 win over the Dodgers will eradicate the horrific slump that dropped Jason Bay down to the seventh spot in the order. Bay had a terrific night, not only at the plate with two hits, but he made a highlight reel catch at the fence in left, smashing his face against the gate latch. Ouch. Lots of hockey references after that one.

It was a great defensive game by both clubs. Angel Pagan made two sliding catches in right and Carlos Beltran added one in center. The beneficiary was Johan Santana, who was brilliant yet again. Joe Torre helped by pinch-hitting for an equally effective Vicente Padilla, but he didn't have much of a choice at the time. The Dodgers are having as much trouble scoring runs as the Mets.

We'll see if the Mets can use this win to take the series and build some momentum, not only for the upcoming homestand but for the rest of the season.

As for Bay, remember his great numbers from last season were generated by two hot months. He's yet to have one hot month this season. When he does, and when Beltran gets going, runs won't be as hard to come by.

Alex Cora is mad as hell... and he should be

Fans hate it when players appear to care less about winning and losing than fans do. Hate it when they see the first baseman yukking it up with a baserunner, hate it when guys in the bullpen are seen chatting across the fence, hate it when they see players in the dugout smiling or laughing when the team is losing.

For the most part, it's a misplaced emotion. Fans will always believe that they care more about winning and losing and the team than the players because they are more emotionally invested in the team, and that investment is completely irrational.

Fans have have lived through the ups and downs over the years and have formed strong opinions on how the game should be played, how the manager should manage, who the front office needs to acquire. They base their lives around the schedule, live and die with every pitch, but benefit directly in no way from the team's success except in the joy they derive from seeing their team win.

That doesn't mean players don't care. Some clearly care more than others, but you're talking about athletes whose careers are based on competition. If they weren't competitive, they wouldn't be here. But it's a long season. A player who approached the season like the emotional roller coaster that the fans ride would be burnt out by June.

But perception is reality, and when fans see players appearing to not care, they believe it to be true. And so when the Mets dropped another game in Arizona, failing to generate any runs against Barry Enright, that was bad enough. Then we hear that Alex Cora had to yell at a group of players and media for laughing in the clubhouse following the loss. (According to Newsday, Cora yelled, "A little respect please ... They stuck it up our ***!")

That sh*t just won't fly.

That's the kind of thing that drives fans nuts, that makes them question the team chemistry now that Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo are back in the lineup. Why are they laughing? DON'T THEY REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT THESE GAMES ARE?!

In the post-game, Bob Ojeda called the Mets out for not playing with any urgency in the ninth inning, and when you hear that from a former player, you have to take notice. But Ojeda also went on to say that when you're winning, the chemistry is always good. What it's really about is production.

Since August 1, the Mets are 5-11. In their last 11 games, they have averaged 1.9 runs per game and are hitting around .200. Their bullpen ERA in that span is above 6. The starting pitching is the only thing that's been positive (Mike Pelfrey excepted), and all that means is that good starts are being wasted by a struggling offense.

We've seen this happen to the offense before. It happens to all teams. This is just awful timing, coming on the road, with the Braves playing well, coinciding with Beltran's return and the lineup adjustments that had to be made to accommodate him. Also, the Mets offense features a lot of aggressive hitters, and when things are going bad, you get a lot of strikeouts and allow the opposing pitcher to throw less pitches and get into more of a rhythm.

That said, the Mets needed someone to kick them in the ass, and say what you want about Cora's meager production and range at second base, he is a competitor and a veteran and is respected the clubhouse. Hearing him get pissed off should send a message to the team that the time for jokes is over, that we're at the risk of seeing the season slip away.

There is a lot of baseball left. I can't see Atlanta maintaining this kind of success rate, and the Phillies are still in third (although there's a lot of chatter about them getting Roy Oswalt and maybe dealing Jayson Werth -- did you catch that, Omar?). There are many games left against those two clubs and a ton of home games in the final five weeks.

So there is time to get things together, and it has to start with the offense. Jason Bay needs to snap out of it. Josh Thole needs to stay on this team and keep hitting the way he has been. This lineup should produce, and it will.

Hopefully sooner than later.

The warning lights are flashing

Reason No. 3 for why Omar Minaya needs to acquire another starting pitcher made itself apparent Monday night in Arizona.

Reason No. 1 is that Ollie Perez and John Maine aren't going to help, and Reason No. 2 is that adding a starting pitcher has the additional benefit of strengthening the bullpen by putting Hisanori Takahashi back into the role for which he seems better suited.

Reason No. 3 is that a stronger rotation overall helps cushion the blow if one of the established starters falters. And brother, Mike Pelfrey is faltering.


Sure, all pitchers have clunkers now and then, but Pelfrey has been slipping for a couple of weeks now. Here's a scary stat: According to Elias Sports Bureau, Pelfrey is the first NL pitcher (and third in MLB) since 1900 to allow more than 50 base runners (hits, walks, and HBPs) while recording fewer than 50 outs over a span of four starts.

Since 1900. Ouch.

Everyone says he's healthy, so be thankful for that. After the game, the call was made for Pelfrey to throw the fastball more, but he's had trouble locating the fastball, so he's throwing more breaking balls, and that's what teams are sitting on. Pelfrey needs to solve his fastball problem — whether it's a crisis of confidence or an adjustment in grip, or some combination — in order to find his way out of the woods.

What concerns me more is the roster. It seems like, as well as he's hitting, Josh Thole will be sent down to catch more (since he's still developing behind the plate). There's no need for Turner to still be here with Reyes and Castillo back, so he should be sent down as well.

There are no backups for either Ike Davis or David Wright, although Alex Cora could play third in a pinch (please don't say Henry Blanco). Nick Evans should stay on the roster as an OF/1B, and Mike Hessman, a 32-year-old career minor leaguer with 18 homers in Buffalo, could be called up to back up Wright. That would leave Carter, Cora and Francoeur as lefties off the bench, with Evans and Hessman as the righties.

Or Minaya could go out and get a veteran righthanded corner infielder to replace the injured Fernando Tatis.

As for the bullpen, if Takahashi moves back, that gives them three lefties with Valdes and Feliciano, to go with K-Rod, Parnell and either Nieve or Dessens. Nieve pitched one good inning against Arizona but imploded in the second, allowing a natural cycle over a four-hitter span (triple, double, single, homer). Elmer Dessens is pitching better, so Nieve would be the odd man out.

So Omar needs a starter and a corner infielder, and the offense needs to get on track (and Arizona is a good place to start).

You can sense Mets fans getting ready to panic. But Monday was the first game since April of last year when the Mets had a lineup full of "starters." We'll see how they jell over this road trip, and if they survive the trip without getting buried, and if Minaya can make the moves he needs to make, the Mets will be in good position for the stretch run.

What, me worry?

Cheering a Brave, thanking a Yankee

The All-Star Game is always a trip to the bizarro world of baseball.

You're rooting for players who you normally jeer, because they're on the same team as your team's players, and you want your team's league to win. There are many more players on the roster, and players come in and out of the game with often no rhyme or reason.

And, oh yeah, this exhibition game determines which league gets home field advantage in the World Series, which has been won by the "home" team in 11 of the last 15 years.

This year's game was no different for Mets fans, who watched David Wright continue his All-Star dominance with two hits and a stolen base. He is 11-for-16 as an All-Star in his career.

But perhaps the highlights of the game — won by the National League for the first time since 1996 — were seeing an Atlanta Brave getting the key hit, and watching the Yankees manager sabotage his team's chances with mismanagement.

Braves catcher Brian McCann delivered the winning hit, a bases-loaded double. Here's hoping that's the last clutch hit he gets all year.

But Joe Girardi deserves a fruit basket from Charlie Manuel and the rest of the National League for his bungling of the game.

How on earth is David Ortiz allowed to run the bases? Alex Rodriguez was available to pinch hit or pinch run. That A-Rod was the only player left on the bench is a testament to Girardi's incompetence. With 34 players on the roster, and the World Series home field advnatage on the line, how do you not keep three or four players available at the end?

Tom Verducci breaks it down tremendously in Sports Illustrated, noting that Girardi selected A-Rod to the team, and claimed that A-Rod was healthy (so why not use him?) but a source says A-Rod's thumb was "sore" and that Girardi wanted "four days off for our big guy."

Meanwhile, Adrian Beltre played with a sore hamstring. Nice.

Verducci also doesn't let Manuel off the hook, noting that he pulled Albert Pujols too quickly and sent Chris Young up to pinch hit for Andre Ethier.

In any event, at least the Mets know that if they make it to the Series, they'll have the Citi Field advantage on their side!

--

A note about George Steinbrenner. It's amusing how we're reading so much about how he was the greatest owner in sports.

Don't get me wrong: The man was passionate about winning (and not losing) and spent tons of money to win. Fans love that. But remember that this was a guy who paid a lowlife money to dig up dirt on his own player, who hired and fired 17 managers in 17 seasons, who didn't see the consistent success until after he was banned from the game, when his front office started running things the right way without him.

And when they did build a farm system and develop young players, what did George do? He spent more money than anyone else, because he could.

An absolute must-read: New York Times columnist Dave Anderson's 1980 piece on the press conference announcing the "execution" of Dick Howser.

Howser was fired in November, a month after the Yankees won 103 games but were swept in the playoffs by the Royals. He was treated miserably by King George.

Howser went on to win a World Series with the Royals five years later, and two years after that, died of a brain tumor.

I feel like the Winnebago Man

So frustrated.

R.A. Dickey came into the game having allowed just two home runs, then gives up back-to-back homers WITH TWO OUTS in the seventh, to two guys who had a total of five home runs this season.

Dickey also had two of the Mets' eight hits and scored both their runs.

The Mets were able to get Tommy Hanson out of the game in the sixth, but then managed one hit the rest of the way against the Braves' bullpen.

Billy Wagner, of course, got the save.

The offense is flat. Jose Reyes is still hurt and batting only right handed. Jason Bay has 13 RBI in his last 11 games but went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He and Jeff Francoeur had opportunities to do damage but failed.

The Mets, for their final six games before the break, had Pelfrey and Santana pitching twice, with Dickey and Niese going once, and now the best they can do for that stretch — a stretch of six home games, mind you — is 3-3, and the best they can be at the break is two games out.

This is what we were worried about. Despite favorable pitching matchups, the Mets are sliding toward the break, not surging.

Somehow, the Braves — whose road unis tonight were hideous — have won 51 games. They give away multiple outs with horrific defense. Their lineup is less than scary, especially without Heyward and Chipper (who is not very good anymore, anyway). But their starters and bullpen have been outstanding.

Here's hoping the Mets win the next two, salvaging some positivity before the All-Star game, while gaining two big games in the standings.

By the way, the dude in the video is Jack Rebney. He became a YouTube sensation as "The Winnebago Man."

See how he feels? That's me watching the Mets lately.

$#@*(!

Don't mess with the Johan

Jerry Manuel made Joe Benigno a happy man Tuesday night.

Benigno, who often rails about how pitchers aren't allowed to finish games, and who has often wondered why Johan Santana has been removed from games in the latter innings, must have been thrilled when Manuel came out to the mound in the top of the ninth after Jason Bay dropped an easy fly ball to put runners on first and second with one out, only to return to the dugout, leaving Santana in to shut the Reds down.

It took Santana just two pitches to clean up the mess, and he ended up with the complete-game shutout, a three-hit gem that also saw him hit a solo homer on a remarkable 12-pitch at-bat in the third inning with two outs.

That Santana battled Matt Maloney that hard, that early in the game tells you all you need to know about the ultra-competitive Santana, who has pitched brilliantly in his most recent starts and has Mets fans believing he has worked out his issues and is ready to dominate in the second half, which he has done throughout his career.

Maybe he'll hit some more bombs, too. Santana yanked the 12th pitch from Maloney down the right field line and off the foul pole for a 1-0 Mets lead. It stayed that way until the sixth, when resurgent Jason Bay singled in two runs.

You couldn't have blamed Manuel if he went by the book and brought in K-Rod to face the righties coming up in the ninth. But given K-Rod's recent woes (his 12-pitch save on Sunday notwithstanding), and Santana's many no-decisions this season, it was fantastic to see Manuel leave Santana in, to the thunderous applause of the fans.

Of course, Santana delivered.

Jose Reyes returned to the lineup, batting righthanded against the lefty Maloney, and had two hits and a run scored.

Jon Niese looks to win the series on Wednesday, followed by a well-deserved day off before the Braves come to town, led by All-Star OMAR INFANTE!

Does K-Rod suck, and did Pelfrey melt down?

A few things about the Fourth of July weekend:

The holiday schedule was a full one, and while we went to a party Saturday I forgot that the Mets were on in the afternoon. So I was surprised to get the following text message from my brother:

'Krod sucks'

That's never good news.

Soon after, from someone with an iPhone, I got the gory details of how the Mets chased Stephen Strasburg but lost because Frankie Rodriguez blew the game in the bottom of the ninth for yet another walk-off loss.

I'm not ready to call K-Rod a problem, but he fits right in with other Mets closers of old who made you sweat. He got the save Friday night by picking off a runner at second (nice play by Ruben Tejada) and bounced back to get the 12-pitch save Sunday. His overall numbers are good but he falls in love with the changeup and has trouble throwing strikes. His pitch to I-Rod on the game-winning hit wasn't a bad one, low and away, but he had put himself in a huge hole.

I said in my previous post that I would have been happy to see the Mets split in Washington, which they did, thanks to Sunday's effort against Craig Stammen. Eight runs in the first four innings, four RBIs by Jason Bay and three hits by a healthy Angel Pagan helped Hisanori Takahashi pick up his seventh win.

Monday's homecoming against the Reds didn't go well, but while many are picking on Mike Pelfrey's "meltdown," I can't fault him too much. It was less a meltdown than Pelfrey getting into trouble with a single, a blooper and a walk to lead off the fifth. After that it just got weird and while Pelfrey was ultimately undone, it took a terrible call reversal by the umpires and an equally bad non-strike call on Drew Stubbs to get there. Pelfrey battled — it looked as if he might get out of it with only one run across — but Stubbs and Sal Fasano lookalike Corky Miller put the inning away.

Credit the Mets for having plenty of fight in the dog by coming back to cut the 7-1 deficit down to one, with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Alex Cora came up big with a two-run double. Fernando Nieve allowed a one-out, solo homer to Votto but then retired the next eight in a row.

Despite the loss, you have to like how things line up for the remaining five days before the break. As of this morning it's still  "undecided" against Johan Santana, and then Niese goes in game three. The Braves series will see Dickey, Pelfrey and Santana, and if Reyes can (finally) get back on the field, maybe the Mets can win four of the next five and the final two series.

And congrats to David Wright for getting (properly) voted in as an All-Star starter. Oh, ye of little faith — how's Wright doing now? In the top 10 in most every offensive category. Reyes was named to the team as well, and while Charlie Manuel did a good job in leaving off Strasburg, I'm not sure how Votto could be left off in place of Ryan Howard. Mind-boggling.

Yeah, maybe Pelfrey got snubbed, but I'd rather see him relax and recharge for what should be a very interesting second half.

San Juan hangover continues

Let me get this straight: Major League Baseball thinks it's OK to schedule a three-game series in a minor-league ballpark in Puerto Rico where the field is a bandbox with artificial turf laid down on top of concrete, where game three is a night game, and then have both teams play the next night, basically praying that it doesn't rain in a tropical environment?

And that it's also cool to move a series between the Phillies and Blue Jays from Toronto to Philadelphia for security concerns related to the G20 summitt, giving the Phillies three more home games than anyone else in the league, instead of playing that series at a nuetral site or maybe reconfiguring the schedule in some other way that doesn't give one team such an advantage while screwing the other team?

OK, just wanted to clear that up. Is it any surprise the All-Star game determines the World Series home field advantage? This league is run by idiots (or at least one big idiot).

So the Mets got into Washington at 7 a.m. Thursday, played without Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan (mostly) and gave Jason Bay the night off — and we're surprised that they only scored one run against Livan Hernandez?

Of course, Johan Santana pitched, and he did pretty well shutting down the Nats for six innings before the tying run came across in the seventh. Sure, Jerry could have sent him out for another inning, but it didn't matter. The Mets bats were spent.

This is a serious stretch for the Mets, this week-plus before the All-Star game. They stumbled in San Juan and have four games in Washington, then right to Citi Field for three with the Reds before they finally get a day off before hosting the first-place Braves for three games leading to the break.

You could see the danger of this team, probably getting exhausted, going on a slide. You wonder if and when R.A. Dickey falls back to earth. Takahashi looks like he's already started. Pagan and now Reyes are banged up.

I'd be thrilled with a split in Washington, then get home and try and win two of three against the Reds with Pelfrey, Santana and Niese. Then a day off and try and do the same against the Braves with Dickey, Takahashi and Pelfrey. It's doable, but you're getting the sense that there isn't much left in the tank and that the break couldn't come fast enough.

Maybe that's just a perception left over from the awful series in the P.R. Next year, the Marlins can play someone else.

And can the Mets get three extra home games somehow? That would be cool.

This guy would love patrolling center in Citi Field

In case you missed it, there was a tremendous catch made in the College World Series opening-round game June 20 between Florida and UCLA by Florida center fielder Matt Den Dekker.

If the name sounds familiar, it's because he was the Mets' fifth-round selection in the 2010 draft, taken 152nd overall.

A three-time member of the All-SEC defensive team, Den Dekker is referred to in the video as the best center fielder in Florida history. He hit .358 in his senior year. The catch has shades of Willie Mays and Jim Edmonds.

Think he'd enjoy roaming the wide-open spaces of the Citi Field outfield?

There's a better link to the video here.

Here's another one where he steals a home run.

Welcome to the House of Fun

I haven't been to Citi Field recently, not since Opening Week (I know, what am I waiting for?) but I understand that since the Mets have begun winning at home with scary regularity, the team has begun playing "Our House" by the English group Madness.

It's a good song, it's on my iPod, but I think a better choice by the same group is "House of Fun." Because that's what Citi Field has become for Mets fans these days. A place where the team and its fans are having a ball.

It's a real fun house when R.A. Dickey is on the hill tossing his knuckleball around. Dickey baffled the Tigers for eight innings Wednesday night and improved to 6-0 in just seven starts. The guy has been flat-out incredible. One of the all-time finds for Omar Minaya. You can say Omar was lucky with this one, but he saw enough in Dickey to sign him, so give him credit.

More fun came from Jose Reyes, as always. One night after Angel Pagan missed a cycle by a home run, Reyes fell a double short, tripling to lead off the game and adding a home run in the fifth.

And who had more fun than Keith and Gary with Jerry Seinfeld in the booth tonight? And for 4 1/2 innings! Fantastic.

Since Jerry asked, my favorite Mets moment has to be the Grand Slam Single. I was there at Shea for that and for the Endy Chavez catch, but nothing will top what it was like when Ventura hit that homer. Total mayhem.

Total madness.

All sorts of tremendous

So much to enjoy today about the Mets:

1. Justin Verlander was in trouble from the start, and it just got worse for the Tigers from there. Sixteen hits, 14 runs, eight runs in the third inning after a rain delay, and the Mets routed Detroit for yet another win at home. That put the Mets 10 games over .500 with 40 wins on the season, with a 25-10 record at Citi Field.

Nice work by the top of the order — the first four hitters went 13-for-21, with 10 runs scored and 10 RBIs. And Angel Pagan, facing questions about possibly getting less playing time next month (see below), stepped up his game with four hits, one homer short of a cycle, and four runs batted in.

Niese kind of fell apart after the rain delay, but with an hour break and a huge lead that wasn't too surprising. But good work by Fernando Nieve for the win, and nice to see Bobby Parnell for an inning while Jennry Mejia goes back to the minors to start. Parnell showed flashes last season before running into the ground, but if he can be the hard-throwing strikeout guy in the late innings (and if Igarashi can bounce back), that's a huge boost for the bullpen.

2. We're spoiled as Mets fans because we have the best three-man TV booth in the game in Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling (Bobby O and Chris Carlin are excellent in the pre- and post-game as well). But it's about to get better when Jerry Seinfeld enters the booth and calls three innings of tonight's game with Keith and Gary.

I'm sure the references to Keith's apperance on the show in "The Boyfriend" episode (wow, that was 18 years ago) will get taken care of in the first inning — the magic loogie, "I'm Keith Hernandez" — but I'm looking forward to hearing some real fan perspective from Jerry. The DVR is set.

3. More Jerry: He called Steve Somers' show on WFAN Tuesday night and trashed Lady Gaga. Awesome.

4. And Carlos Beltran is starting his rehab assignment, which means he may actually be back after the All-Star break. In the lineup. Playing real games.

Sure, that means tough decisions for Jerry Manuel in the outfield, but it's safe to say that Beltran won't be rushed, maybe play 4-5 games a week, with Pagan getting a day off and Francoeur getting two days off, Bay getting a game off every week or two. Nothing wrong with that.

Like they say, a good problem to have.

5. And yeah, Kevin James threw out the first pitch Tuesday. He gets some flak in some parts but I like him. Grew up right near me in Suffolk County. "Mall Cop" was underrated.

Subway Series: Just as it was foreseen

The Mets took two of three from the Yankees at Citi Field, and the Yankees returned the favor at Yankee Stadium this weekend, a series split that gave the Mets a 7-2 road trip that vaulted the club into the Wild Card lead and within three games of first place in the NL East.

That gap was as close as a half game, but the Braves swept the Kansas City Royals while the Mets lost twice in the Bronx. Is there a catchy nickname for when the Braves and Royals face off? Didn't think so.

The Mets didn't manage a win with their top two starters on the mound, as Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana were out-dueled by Phil Hughes and C.C. Sabathia. But having won eight in a row, it's tough to get too down on them.

Pelfrey just didn't have his rhythm against the Yankees, which I imagine would be a problem for most National League pitchers, seeing as how the Yankees take a particularly leisurely approach to the plate. And it's not just the Yankees: American League baseball, with the DH and short fences, looks like slow-pitch softball sometimes compared to the National League, characterized by bigger fields and more of an emphasis on pitching, speed and defense.

Did you see the grand slam by Mark Texeira? A fly out at Citi Field. Sire, Jose Reyes took advantage for two home runs on Saturday, but as the home team the Yankees have many more opportunities to capitalize on the embarrassing dimensions of their ballpark. Jorge Posada recently hit two grand slams — at least one would have landed in an outfielder's glove in Flushing.

As for Santana, he didn't lose the game as much as Sabathia won, shutting down the Mets lineup. You had to feel for Santana, allowing a runner to load the bases on a fielding mishap covering a bunt, only to allow the cheapie slam to Texeira a batter later. Other than that, Santana was good, not great.

Maybe he was good enough to win on another day, but then again, Santana has been great enough to win a few times this season only to come away without the 'W.'

More amusing than the games themselves was the nonsense concerning Reyes and his celebrating, or the comments made by Keith Hernandez about Cervelli's futile attempts to deke runners on base by feigning passed balls.

It's apples and oranges. Reyes celebrates when he does something well, or when his team succeeds. Lots of players do to different degrees. Yankees fans who complain about Reyes should pay attention to themselves when Joba pumps his fist or when Nick Swisher styles.

Cervelli's antics are about deception and what is and is not acceptable. The hidden ball trick works rarely, and is tried rarely. Imagine if you saw that every game. It would become extremely tiresome. Aren't we all professionals here?

What Cervelli does is akin to the hidden ball trick, and perhaps that's what offended Hernandez's sensibilities as a former MLB player. Try it once, okay. Try it again, and again, and it's like, are you kidding me with that? Leave it at the schoolyard. This isn't Little League.

More interleague nonsense coming up this week as the Tigers and Twins visit Citi Field. Meanwhile, the Mets lead the Wild Card standings, when just a couple of weeks ago they were on the fringes of the group. That's progress.

This win was worth the (extra long) wait

Note to self: When DVRing any game involving the Yankees, make sure you set the record time for more than four hours.

Here's when I ran out of recording time for Friday night's game at Yankee Stadium: Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, one out, two strikes on Derek Jeter.

Aaaaaaaaaauuuuugh!

A 4-0 game that was humming along nicely while Hisanori Takahashi and Javier Vasquez were dealing slowed to an absolute crawl. Seriously? You can't get a 4-0 game — one that featured 8 hits for each team — in under four hours? Joe West was right. That is ridiculous.

Equally insane is the preset recording time for Mets games on SNY (on Cablevision; I wonder if it's the same on other systems): 2 1/2 hours. I know the Mets are in the National League, but how many games really get in under 2:30? Not a lot.

So I added one to the hours column to make it 10, then clicked up two on the first digit of the minutes section to 5, which set the recording time to end at 10:50 p.m. I almost always watch the games late, and when the recording stopped with Jeter at the plate the time in the real world was 12:15 a.m. Saturday. The game had been over by about an hour.

So I had to go online to find out how it ended, fearing that I would see 5-4 Yankees or something equally horrific, like a Jeter grand slam off of Frankie Rodriguez.

Thankfully, it was just strikeout Jeter, foul out on Swisher caught by David Wright and the Mets win their eighth straight, their ninth shutout (wow) of the season. Niiiiiiiiice.

Takahashi was brilliant, shutting down the Yankees again, as was Pedro Feliciano. Wright made a great slide to score the first run, Angel Pagan came up huge with a two-run double in the eighth, and Jose Reyes tacked on an RBI in the ninth.

Texeira, A-Rod and Cano? A combined 1-for-11.

Fantastic for the Mets to win the first game of the series, with two great showdowns coming up Saturday and Sunday. This is going to be a fun weekend.

Going off the rails on a crazy train

The Mets are the hottest team in baseball, winners of seven straight — the last six on the road — and nine of their last 10, a juggernaut that is 12-2 in the month of June.

The runaway train pulls into New Yankee Stadium just a half-game behind the Braves for first place in the NL East, while the Yankees begin in a flat-footed tie for first in the AL East.

The Yanks might be in first place all by their lonesome had they not lost two of three to the Phillies, but hey — who's counting?

R.A. Dickey improved to 5-0 with a win Thursday, as the Mets went 6-0 against the feeble Orioles and Indians. Mets fans would have taken 4-2 in a heartbeat, but there's no denying this team lately.

Dickey has been so good — the Mets are 5-1 in his starts — that my 8-year-old son wants to learn the knuckleball. I think he actually tried to throw one the other night in his Little League game, except the palm of his hand somehow ended up facing him, and he looked like he was flicking a playing card into a hat. The batter swung and missed, though, so maybe he's on to something.

You loved seeing Reyes clap his hands together after legging out a triple that gave the Mets a two-run lead in the eighth, and this time there was little drama with K-Rod for the save.

Expect that to change in the Yankees series, where I can't say I'd complain too much if the Mets won just one. The pitching matchups look fantastic: Takahashi vs. Vasquez is a mere appetizer followed by Pelfrey vs. Hughes in a battle of the future aces, and then Santana vs. Sabathia on Father's Day.

I know where I'll be.

No more drama, lots more wins

While Jonathon Niese was turning in his third straight start of seven innings or more and three earned runs or less — we haven't seen that since the legend that is Jae Seo — which continued the impressive string of performances by Mets starting pitchers, Gary Cohen asked Ron Darling about how the rotation was able to turn things around so dramatically.

The answer, said Darling, was less drama. And he is spot on.

Replacing John Maine and Ollie Perez with R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi served to eliminate two unreliable players from the equation and add two pitchers who throw strikes, are far more consistent, and give the Mets a much greater chance of winning when they are on the mound.

Throw in the return of a healthy Niese, who is showing us all why the team has been so high on him, and suddenly a starting rotation filled with uncertainty has become the rock on which the Mets' resurgence has been built.

Certainly, the offense has been performing as well. David Wright is smashing the ball, Angel Pagan and Jeff Francoeur are hitting, and the team is finally getting the clutch hit and scoring runners on base. But you cannot underestimate the psychological impact that consistently good starting pitching has had on this ballclub.

There's no need to press at the plate knowing that you won't need to score 10 runs to win. You play better in the field because you know your pitcher is going to throw strikes. The bullpen gets extra rest because the starters can go more than five or six innings. Everything is improved.

Niese and Johan Santana both got plenty of run support in the two wins over Cleveland, but they also both went seven innings and held the opposing offense in check.

Meanwhile, the Phillies are wondering whether Pedro Martinez can be their savior. Who's in better shape on the mound? And how has the Phillies offense done since they were nabbed with a camera and binoculars, by the way?

Again, it's tough to get too excited with five straight wins over the Orioles and Indians, but the Mets have been playing very good (dare I say playoff-caliber) baseball for a while now, going 11-2 in June. As long as the pitching is there, that success should continue, even with a tougher schedule in the next couple of weeks.

The cure for what ails you

Yes, we know the Mets hadn't won back-to-back road games in a year, and hadn't swept a three-game road series since September 2008, but it's still tough to get too excited over the beatdown the Amazins handed the Orioles this weekend at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are awful. Bad. Pathetic. They got absolutely demolished at home, and remember when tickets to games at Camden Yards were hard to come by? Those days are long gone. It seemed like there were 10,000-plus Mets fans on hand for each of the three games, making the Mets feel right at home (or at least like they were in Florida).

That said, there were lots of things to like besides the sweep itself:

Mike Pelfrey battled. He's been so dominant this season that it was great to see him win despite having less-than-perfect stuff. Then again, these were the Orioles and the Mets hit four home runs and piled up 18 hits of offensive support.

The long ball. The Mets hit seven homers in the series, including the four on Sunday. David Wright hit two bombs and now has 12 on the season. He is on fire now, and you'll note the strikeout rate has dropped considerably. Anyone complaining about him now?


Jason Bay woke up. Bay went 4-for-4 Sunday to break his o-fer string, hitting a homer and a double and scoring four times. Bay's average has been fine all season despite his struggles, and he's the kind of streaky hitter who could hit a dozen homers in a month and by the end of the season his power numbers are more or less in line with his career average. That's the hope, anyway.


Chris Carter + DH = juicy goodness. With Jeff Francouer hitting so well, Chris Carter wasn't getting a whole lot of at-bats, but Jerry Manuel did the right thing by making the Animal his DH for the interleague games, and Carter has responded. He homered twice in the Baltimore series and will continue to get DH at-bats in Cleveland and against the Yankees. The way he is playing it is almost a lock that he will homer at Yankee Stadium, and his home run trot will be completed in 6.2 seconds.


Takahashi rebounded. After two bad starts, the rumblings had begun about Hisanori Takahashi's future in the rotation, but he quieted those with a strong performance Saturday. Ultimately, it may not matter as John Maine -- if he can prove himself worthy and healthy -- is better suited as a starter, which will only help the bullpen if Takahashi indeed goes back there. But if Maine can't do that, then Takahashi will get more chances to show he belongs in the rotation.

On to Cleveland, which gives me a reason to post this:

Niese isn't perfect, but still very nice

Maybe it's because Jonathon Niese was born the day the Mets won their last World Series championship. Maybe it's because Fred Wilpon made it clear in spring training how much the organization loves him. Or maybe it's Niese's Owen Wilson-esque nose.

Whatever the reason, Mets fans have generally exhibited a fondness for Niese that exceeds what he has achieved so far in his young career. Prior to his horrible hamstring injury last season, Niese had showed signs of becoming a top young starter, but from the start of the 2010 season to his recent DL stint, Niese had been simply average, and there was a thought that maybe Mets fans were expecting too much from someone with just 16 career starts.

Or maybe not.

Niese's performance Thursday night against the Padres was, quite simply, one of the best pitching performances in team history. Niese faced 28 Padres and set down 27 of them, walking no one and allowing just a third-inning double, a squibber down the right field line by Chris "Who?" Denorfia.

In a season that has seen two perfect games and one imperfect game with an asterisk, Niese came one batter short of an unthinkable third (fourth) perfect game in the same season, just 10 days into June. Because the lone hit came in the third, it lacked the drama, but there's no denying the greatness we witnessed this night.

Niese retired the last 21 hitters he faced. He walked no one and struck out six. Of his 108 pitches, 76 were strikes. He induced 15 groundouts and no one on the Padres hit the ball hard all night. The Mets gave him three runs and it was plenty. It could have been more, had Ruben Tejada not hit into a triple play. (When you can overcome a triple play, you know you've got something special going.)

There hasn't been much better in Mets history. We all know that the Mets have never had a no-hitter. Niese's gem was the team's 34th one-hitter, 26th complete-game one-hitter and 24th complete-game, one-hit shutout. The last Met to throw a complete-game one-hitter? Aaron Heilman in 2005.

In his two starts since returning from the DL, Niese has thrown 16 innings and walked only one batter, allowing one run and five hits. This is why everyone is so high on him. Niese has multiple pitches that he can throw for strikes, and if he continues to develop, he really strengthens the rotation behind Santana and Pelfrey. (By the way, Omar, that doesn't mean you don't have to add another starter. You do.)

Oh, yes, Santana. There were two games played Thursday, and Santana just didn't have it in the opener. Santana had a week's rest, and we've seen it before where Santana with too much rest doesn't have the same feel. He allowed eight hits and walked four in six-plus innings, and couldn't break 90 on the radar gun, while Mat Latos and the San Diego bullpen retired 22 Mets in a row. It would be a harbinger of things to come in the nightcap.

I usually DVR the Mets games and watch them 90 minutes or so after they actually start, after the kids are in bed asleep. When I'm done watching, I erase them, but tonight I hesitated. This was a game for the ages, and given the Mets history, there may never be one better. Isn't it worth saving?

I erased it anyway. I'll wait for the no-hitter or the perfect game, which has to come someday. In the meantime, though, we'll remember this one, fondly.

Ike Davis just hits bombs

See? You can hit home runs at Citi Field.

Jose Reyes did. Barely. Angel Pagan almost did; another foot higher and it would have been a walk-off game-winner (alas, there are no cheapies at Citi).

And of course, Ike Davis did. But then again, Davis has the kind of power you can't teach, the kind of power that will launch bombs in any park, even the cavernous home of the Mets. He's already hit one onto the Shea Bridge, and Tuesday night's blast in the bottom of the 11th inning -- deep onto the Pepsi Porch -- gave the Mets a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Padres that extended the team's home winning streak to nine games and improved their home record to a gaudy 23-9.

Ron Darling almost called the shot on the telecast, noting moments before the homer that Davis took Padres reliever Edward Mujica deep to center field when the Mets were in San Diego a week ago. Davis had been 0-for-8 since his four-hit game Saturday, but he pulverized a changeup, allowing the Mets to celebrate the way so many teams have celebrated in Mets road losses this season.

On a night when Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg won his debut -- striking out 14 Pirates -- Mike Pelfrey turned in a Johan-like performance, throwing nine innings and allowing just five hits with no walks and six strikeouts, the lone run coming in the first. Perhaps the most Johan-like thing about the gem was the fact that he got a no-decision, thanks to the Mets' continuing inability to do anything against Clayton Richard.

That is, until Reyes popped his second homer of the season on a ball that just made it over the orange line at the top of the wall. The hit was ruled a double on the field but overturned by video replay. Pagan's shot in the bottom of the 10th fell a foot or so short and ended up as a two-out triple (my reaction: "Damn you, Citi Field!"), but Jason Bay (0-for-5, three strikeouts) left Pagan stranded.

Pelfrey's work cannot be forgotten here. He has stepped up his game immensely this season and is pitching with incredible confidence and intelligence. Can we imagine Cliff Lee as the third starter on this team? I can.

I did get a chance to see Strasburg's first inning as a major leaguer on the MLB Network, and I have to say, the 99-mph fastball and the sharp-breaking curve had me thinking of one player: Doc Gooden. That's a name that serves as both compliment and cautionary tale, but I'm guessing that Strasburg has seen enough of "Chappelle's Show" to know that cocaine is a hell of a drug.

And unless he goes the way of Mark Prior and is undone by injury, the kid is going to have one hell of a career.

The home cookin' at Citi Field is tasty

There's been a lot of talk this season about how the Mets weren't filling Citi Field, how so many good seats were still available, how there was no buzz in the building.

Well, the Mets are doing all they can to change that, and they're doing it the best way possible -- by winning.

Because as tasty as the Shake Shack burgers are, what brings fans through the turnstiles are victories, or at least the knowledge that the home team has a good chance to win every game.


The weekend sweep of the Marlins improved the Mets' home record to 22-9, which means if the Mets continue to play that well at home, if you're considering getting tickets to a game, you can do so with the confidence that there is a 70 percent chance of you seeing a win instead of a loss.

Forty percent of the starting rotation is made up of pitchers who can be called stoppers: Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey. R.A. Dickey improved to 3-0 with his win on Friday and gives the rotation a wrinkle that other teams haven't been able to solve.

Jon Niese made a bold statement Saturday in his return from the disabled list, throwing seven innings of six-hit ball, allowing one run and one walk with six strikeouts. He was seen in the dugout asking for one more inning, but Jerry Manuel did the right thing by getting him out with a big lead, allowing him to leave the game with confidence and ensuring that he's well-rested for his next start.

Should Niese continue to pitch as the team believes he can, that's four pitchers whom fans can feel good about paying to see. Hisanori Takahashi, meanwhile, has come down to earth, and while he could bounce back, it seems that if the Mets ever do go out and get another starter -- and there will be plenty available -- then Takahashi would be the candidate to return to the bullpen, where he began the season so successfully.

Manuel wondered whether the team hits better at home because it presses to put up numbers on the road, but perhaps it's because the lineup is just more comfortable hitting in Citi Field's wide-open spaces. Sure, it's not easy to hit home runs straightaway, but you can still hit it out -- just ask Rod Barajas.

Ike Davis has looked particularly comfortable, whether it's hitting a bomb to right field or racking up four hits, as he did Saturday. David Wright may have only hit two homers at Citi Field this season, but his bomb on Saturday showed that he still has plenty of pop down the line.


The major reason for the home-road disparity has been the pitching. Mets starters are allowing two more runs on the road than at Citi Field, while the offense is scoring 4.1 runs on the road, compared to 4.8 at home.

Maybe the pitchers are more comfortable at Citi knowing that the ballpark provides some protection against the long ball and are therefore more aggressive. Perhaps, with 2/3 of the season left to play, the numbers will begin to even out.

Whatever the reasons, right now Citi Field is a fun place to be. Sunday's win was particularly enjoyable, coming back from a 5-0 deficit, featuring a game-tying, three-run homer by Jeff Francoeur. Thanks also to Fredi Gonzalez for playing the infield back and allowing the GWDP (game-winning double play).

Runs may be scarce in the three-game series against the Padres, as Clayton "I have a train to catch" Richard duels against Pelfrey on Tuesday, Mat Latos faces Santana on Wednesday, and Jon "I was available in the off-season but the Mets weren't interested" Garland meets Dickey in game three Thursday.

The way the Mets have been going at home, those sound like wins.