This time, Mets avoid the trap, continue to rake

Wednesday night's game against the Tigers was the classic trap game that the Mets, in recent years, always seemed to stumble into.

They get a win in the first game of the series, and face a less-than-impressive starter in game two, knowing that the opposition's ace awaits in game three.

The Mets won game one on Tuesday, then faced Phil Coke in game two, the ex-Yankee of the 1-7 record, with Cy Young candidate Justin Verlander (who was drafted by Detroit one spot ahead of the Mets, ugh) going in game three. The middle game was the winnable one, the one that would clinch the series win.

In the past, the Mets would find a way to botch this scenario, then inevitably get throttled by the ace in the final game and lose the series.

So it was great to see them hammer Coke the way they did, the offense continuing not only to hit but to hit with two outs, something they couldn't do at all in April. And pile on runs, which came in handy when the Tigers kept scratching and clawing to stay in it, until the relentless of the Mets offense — did I just type that? — became too much to overcome.

Angel Pagan had a huge night, as did Daniel Murphy, who had two, two-out, two-run singles. Of course Jose Reyes had another multi-hit game, what else did you expect? Guy is hitting EVERYTHING. Turner and Tejada also had two hits each, and Ronny Paulino, batting FOURTH, had four hits and four runs scored.

I hope Terry Collins had some time to take a ferry to Ontario for some casino action, because everything he does is coming up gold right now.

Jason Bay was 1-for-2 but drew four walks and made an incredible diving catch in left early in the game to keep the Mets comfortably in front. He also had two steals as the Mets continued to run at will on the bases, this time against the ineffective Victor Martinez.

What more can you say about how this team is playing now? They have scored a franchise-best 52 runs and amassed 69 hits in the last four games, with an RISP average of .484. Good Lord.

Enjoy the ride.

Perfect night: Mets beat Phillies in extras, bin Laden is dead

I watch most Mets games on the DVR. I've got two kids and the bedtime routines start around the same time as the night games do, so I usually don't start watching til 9 or so.

The plus side is I get to fast forward through the commercial breaks, and from pitch to pitch if I want. I don't do the latter that often because it means I'd miss the chatter from Gary, Keith and Ron. Except when the game is on Fox or ESPN, when there's no chance I'm missing any kind of substantive commentary. The national TV teams are patently awful compared to the SNY crew, but we all know that.

So I'm riding the FF button when I see the crawl change to BREAKING NEWS. It took me a second or two to realize that the crawl had something to do with the crowd shots of people on their iPhones and BlackBerrys. Osama bin Laden was (finally) dead.

Ten years ago this fall, the Mets played the first major league baseball game after 9/11, a night when Mike Piazza homered to beat the Braves and give the city something to cheer about. Ironic that the bin Laden news broke during a Mets game, and with Bobby Valentine in the broadcast booth, no less.

Chris Young said after the game that it would be a night he'd never forget. His seven shutout innings — hanging inning for inning with Cliff Lee while dealing 85 mph fastballs — will have something to do with it, as will the fact that the Mets won, 2-1, in 14 innings to avoid the Philly sweep and salvage a 3-3 road trip.

But what will stick with Young will be the same thing we'll all remember about this May 1 baseball game. Where we were when bin Laden, 9/11 architect and Public Enemy No. 1 since G.W. Bush said he was "Wanted, dead or alive," was finally brought down. And not in some cave in the mountains, but in a mansion with 18-foot walls in a Pakistani suburb.

The bin Laden news overshadowed the extra-inning victory, but that's probably a good thing since so much of the game story was negative for the Mets. Not the pitching — that was outstanding, with the exceptions of Izzy and Tim Byrdak not getting it done in the eighth.

It was the old bugaboo, hitting with runners on base and runners in scoring position. The Mets had baserunners on in almost every inning and outhit the Phillies but could only scratch across two runs. Of course the Phillies were just as impotent, despite playing at their home bandbox, managing just the one run in the eighth on an opposite-field hit by Ryan Howard.

Thank God for Ronny Paulino! Five hits, including the game-winner, on his first game with the team after Visa and health problems. And he threw a runner out in a key spot. Welcome to the club, Ronny.

So on an off day where we'd normally be talking about how Jason Bay has stopped hitting, or how good Pedro Beato continues to look, we'll rightly be spending our time discussing an event of historic importance. An event that, once again, has ties to the Mets. Amazing.