Taking one for the team, instead of taking one ... elsewhere

I had already shut the computer off. The tenth, the eleventh, the twelfth innings had gone by and I had thoughts of going to bed and not watching the rest of this game, filled as I was with the feeling that this was going to be a bad, bad, bad loss.

But I couldn't do it. So I decided instead to start the process of turning in while the game plodded onward. Brought the dog in. Locked the doors. Turned off a few lights. Then went into the office and shut down the computer, figuring any recap was going to be painful, and I could just as well grind that out in the morning.

The computer got turned back on.

No surprise that the Mets' first walk-off win was accomplished with Jose Reyes and "Super Ginger" Justin Turner Overdrive playing key roles. Reyes tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth before K-Rod blew his second straight save, and while Turner had only one hit, it was the run-scoring single that moved Reyes home.

Of course, Turner doesn't get up in that spot if Reyes doesn't get intentionally walked to load the bases. You can't blame Bob Melvin there. Reyes is the man, has been all season, and you're not going to let him beat you.

Turner, meanwhile, is second on the team in RBIs and while he didn't get a hit in the 13th inning, he got the run home in characteristically gritty fashion with the walk-off hit by pitch.

It was a much-needed win. R.A. Dickey was fantastic and should have gotten the win. The bullpen, aside from K-Rod, came up big, especially Beato, who needs to regain what he had earlier this season.

With the news that Ike Davis could well be lost for the season — are you kidding me?! Really?! — we're looking at an offense that is going to have to scrap and fight for runs, unless David Wright comes back at full strength and Jason Bay — who looked lost again tonight after a great game Tuesday — rediscovers his power stroke.

It's a huge opportunity for Daniel Murphy to reclaim the first base job, at least for a couple of months, or for Lucas Duda to prove to everyone that he is not a AAAA player. He was hitting bombs in Buffalo before he was called up, but hasn't done much with the big club, though he did get two hits in this game.

One of them has to step up. Only half the cavalry is coming over that hill.

The buzzards are circling. Again.

It figures when the Mets need to rattle off some home wins — against an AL team that's sub-.500 — the team coming in happens to be red-hot.

The Angels took two of three, and after a much-needed day off, the Mets dropped the opener of their series against the A's Tuesday night. Dillon Gee was due for a stinker and boy, was it bad. He's shown a lot of guts thus far, and we'll see how he bounces back. I have every confidence he will.

On the plus side, Jason Bay looked tremendous, crushing a homer and adding a triple in a three-hit night. Keith Hernandez, a couple of games back, said that breaking out of slump often doesn't require hits as long as you're making solid contact. With Bay, it seems to be a confidence game, so if Tuesday night marked not only the first day of summer but the the beginning of a new season for him, that would be huge.

After a very good road trip, the Mets are now 1-3 on this homestand and need to get things going. The .500 mark is now three games away, and with the July trade deadline getting closers every day, the media buzzards are circling.

Every day there is a story about Reyes, really saying absolutely nothing new. He won't negotiate a new contract until after the season? No kidding. He's been saying that since November.

And then there are the stories like "Mets must trade Wright," or "Mets success could cost them in the long run."

Really, guys? Ian O'Connor is the new Wally Matthews, and that is not a compliment. And Adam Rubin, again, should be covering another team. Somwhere. Anywhere but Flushing.