Mets are finishing what they started

One of the most ridiculous rules in baseball is the one that says a starting pitcher must go five innings in order to get credit for a win.

In Wednesday night's 4-0 win over the Braves, in which four pitchers combined on a two-hitter, Dillon Gee was denied his eighth win of the season because of — rain. Had the game not been delayed by rain, Gee would have certainly pitched in the fifth inning and beyond. But he didn't, and at that point the designation of the winning pitcher is at the discretion of the official scorer.

Bobby Parnell was given the win, and good for him, he threw two scoreless innings. But D.J. Carrasco also tossed two scoreless before Parnell and was perfect. Why not him?

Of course, neither man did as much as Gee, who:

• Started the game
• Pitched twice as many innings as anyone else
• Left the game on the winning side with the Mets ahead, 3-0
• Allowed just one hit over those four innings

But no, he doesn't get the win because he didn't go five. Insane.

Gee's effort followed on the heels of another great outing by Jonathon Niese, and now the Mets starters are becoming dominant. Every night, a quality start, giving the team a chance to win every game.

Finally, we're starting to see some credit given to pitching coach Dan Warthen, whose no-nonsense approach seems to be paying dividends. There's a reason they didn't toss him out when they replaced Jerry Manuel.

The win moved the Mets to .500 on the season, secured a series win against the Braves at the Ted (a rarity, as we all know) and gave the Mets a 6-3 record on this road trip, which ends Thursday. The Mets have won 9 of 13.

Oh, right, the David Lee Roth photo. Why is he there? Well, when I wrote the headline to this post I started thinking of the Van Halen song, "Finish What Ya Started," which of course was from the Van Hagar days. I like Sammy Hagar, but let's face it, Van Halen's best days were when Diamond Dave was on the mic, doing splits and karate kicks and just being one of the great front men in rock history.

So I put his photo in there, as a tribute. No other reason.

And again, something for no good reason: It's gettin' real in the Whole Foods parking lot: