Keeping things in perspective

It was my son's birthday this weekend, so between the preparation, the party, a dek hockey game and a baseball practice, there wasn't much time to pay attention to the Mets, which considering how things have been going lately, that probably wasn't a bad thing.

That was certainly true on Saturday, when a second consecutive doubleheader sweep established a new rock bottom for the season. So it helped that on the day the Mets sunk to new lows, my son scored the game-winning goal in a shootout, going top shelf, where mama keeps the cookies. He couldn't have been happier, and I was pretty excited myself.

It helped keep things in perspective.

I caught some of the post-game Saturday night and Bobby O talked about how the Mets aren't doing the little things and it's killing them. I agree to a point — Daniel Murphy trying to steal third was mindless — but then they showed a graphic of how poor the Mets' pitching and hitting have been during the losing streak.

Bad pitching plus bad hitting — when you're going that badly, you can't overcome the mistakes that everyone makes from time to time.

And if Terry Collins managed Sunday's 3-2 victory like it was game seven of the World Series, so be it. As early as it is in the season, that was about as must-win as you can get in April. Give credit to Dillon Gee for coming up big when others (we're looking at you, Big Pelf) have not, and depending on how fast Chris Young comes back, maybe Gee has earned a longer look.

The Mets return home for the Astros and the Diamondbacks this week, and if you're looking for signs of hope, how about this:

• The Mets are 1-6 at home, which isn't going to continue
• Jason Bay is coming back
• So is Ronny Paulino
• You have to figure Pelfrey and Dickey will start to get back on track
• Jennry Mejia has been pitching lights-out, and was even considered as a call-up

Hey, you've gotta start somewhere,