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: