You could see this one coming a mile away

Short one tonight. Let me say only that if I bet the house against the Mets every time they faced a rookie or unknown starting pitcher, I'd be a rich man today. Vance Worley? Of course.

Probably worse was the way Mike Pelfrey fell apart after three scoreless innings. Perhaps it was too much coming off a week when he lost 11 pounds to the stomach flu. Then he shouldn't have started. Dillon Gee didn't fare much better, though Howard's grand slam was not exactly crushed. What a joke of a ballpark.

Totally agreed with Howie and Wayne regarding walking the anemic Brian Schneider to face the pitcher wth two outs. Yes, Pelf struck out Worley, but the Phils had the top of the order in the next inning, and of course scored two runs. Bad move. Igarashi walked three -- ugly all around!

Loved the homer by Ike Davis. And Pridie showed some pride with his two-run shot in the ninth.

Now we have Jon Niese against Halladay Saturday afternoon, and then Chris Young against Cliff Lee in prime time Sunday night. That .500 road trip? It's gonna be tough now.

Daniel Murphy dropkicks the Nats

We said early on last season that we loved us some Daniel Murphy. And while Ike Davis has been tremendous at first base, we still felt bad for Murph, who got hurt, went to the minors to learn second base, and then got hurt again on a dirty takeout slide.


At the time, it seemed like that was that for Murphy, at least as a Met. But give the Mets credit for seeing value in Murphy's offense and his work ethic. They held onto him and plugged him into the second base mix, figuring he could at least be a lefthanded bat off the bench. Lo and behold, the guy has played decent defense and has shown that he knows how to swing a bat.

The latest proof came Wednesday night in game two against the Nationals, a game that could have turned on an absolutely awful blown call by third base umpire Marvin Hudson. Jose Reyes was clearly safe at third on what should have been a triple, but Hudson somehow saw him come off the bag and called him out. As Keith and Gary pointed out on air, neither Reyes nor Collins were thrown out despite vociferous arguing, a sign that Hudson knew he blew it.

Murphy was the next guy up, and he battled Tyler Clippard in an eight-pitch at-bat that ended when Murphy blasted a 3-2 changeup for a home run that should have given the Mets the lead; instead, the game was tied, 2-2.

The Reyes call was the kind of play that would have doomed the Mets two weeks ago. The fact that they bounced back showed guts. The fact that they had to bounce back again — after giving up a run in the bottom of the eighth after a failed diving catch by Bay, Murphy failing to cover second, and a passed ball by Thole — and succeeded proved that this team knows how to fight and win.

Give Murphy credit again, making up for his defensive lapse by ripping a two-run double that gave the Mets a three-run lead in the top of the ninth. But it was only part of a huge inning that saw a leadoff hit by Bay, a bloop single by Davis, a bunt single by Harris and then a pinch-hit sac fly to deep right by Chin-lung Hu.

So many contributors. Igarashi with another huge inning out of the pen. K-Rod closing it out. Beato getting the win and pitching well again despite the hard luck in the eighth.

But the biggest thing was seeing the passion of Reyes and the will of Murphy lead to a Mets win, their first after trailing in the ninth inning since Sept. 25, 2009. The Mets never win those games, right?

They do now.

Silence from the Debbie Downers

That headline is really just an excuse to post this video, one of my favorite SNL sketches of all time.


What's funny is that Jimmy Fallon, who was always the first one to lose it in any sketch (and he's the first one to do so here as well) actually ends up holding it together better than most, especially Rachel Dratch and Horatio Sanz. But you can't blame them. It is hilarious. The band's sound effects are killer. It's amazing they were even able to finish after Debbie says, "It's official. I can't have children."

And a side note: Lindsay Lohan does a great job here. Such promise she had.

I thought of this sketch because of the Mets' current winning streak, which has quieted the critics for the most part. The streak was extended Tuesday night with a 6-4 win at the Nationals, which saw savvy base running and three more hits from Ike Davis, two hits from Jason Bay, a clutch two-run double by Josh Thole and terrific work by the bullpen, from Igarashi's key out in the fifth to Buchholz, Izzy and K-Rod closing things out.

That was the plan all along, right? A solid lineup with Bay and Davis supporting Wright, Beltran finally back and contributing, Reyes getting on base? This is a lineup that can score some runs.

Chris Young didn't make it through the fifth, but the starters have been going deep enough lately that the bullpen was rested, and now they seem to have settled into their roles, at least for now.

Bottom line, this team can compete and win. But we still, almost daily, hear someone somewhere mention who's going to be traded if and when the Mets fall out of contention. Whatever.

And BTW, they never did catch that anthrax guy.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

Can we relax now?

Are we all off the ledge? Good.

The cranks and the media will remind us that the Mets are still four games under .500 and disaster is probably always looming around the corner, but screw them. A four-game winning streak is a four-game winning streak, and it happened at home, something the Mets really needed after starting so slowly at Citi Field.

Which the Mets have turned into a bandbox, by the way. It's a small sample size, to be sure, but Citi Field currently has the third-highest home run rate in the NL, even better than Citizens Band Breaker One-Nine Park in Philly.

David Wright — what can we say? Two more home runs today (Jason Pridie had the other Mets homer) and he's tearing it up again, which I doubly love since he's also on my fantasy team.

Jason Bay has come back in a big way and his presence was felt immediately. He and Ike Davis homered in Saturday's 6-4 victory, and Davis hit a bomb on Friday as the Mets scored two in the seventh and two in the eighth (scoring late — gotta love it) in a 4-1 win, the first win in the three-game sweep of the D-Backs.

Timely, solid hitting has been a factor in the rejuvenated Mets, but the pitching has come around big-time. Mike Pelfrey, five hits over seven innings on Friday night and he was in command. Dillon Gee, six innings, five hits a walk and five Ks for his second win, earning him a spot on the roster when Chris Young was activated Sunday. Nice work.

Perhaps best of all was Jon Niese today. Seven innings, six hits, two earned runs, two walks and three Ks and he was throwing hard.

Starters going deep helps the bullpen, which has also looked good lately,

My God, is this the same team that was so doomed just a week ago? Yes, it is the same team. A team that hasn't panicked, that despite what the haters say has plenty of talent. That hit some rough weather in the early going and has come out of it intact, with the look of a team that could and should be competitive, which is all we expected, wasn't it?

Take a deep breath now, Monday's an off day, then on the road for Washington and Philly (again).

Aaaahh. That's better.

I love it when a plan comes together

It was just one win.

Changed a five to a six in the win column, and snapped a seven-game home losing streak, but it still counted as just one win.

But it felt like much more, didn't it?

I picked a good game to go to with my son, and I was hoping for the Mets to finally win if only so he could tell his Little League teammates all about it at their game on Friday. But we got more than just a victory.

This was a laugher, much-needed and well-deserved.

Despite chilly temperatures and a stiff wind blowing in from left field that one expected would turn cavernous Citi Field into something Grand Canyonesque, the Mets hit three home runs. Chris Capuano was close to brilliant, giving the Astros fits all night. The Mets played solid defense.

And, oh yeah, Jason Bay was back in the starting lineup, and not only doubled for his first hit, but touched them all on the extremely rare four-base error when Hunter Pence booted a pop-up down the right field line into the corner.

It was the kind of play we'd expect the Mets to make, but on this night the tables were turned. Was it coincidence that this happened on the night Bay returned? On the night when Terry Collins finally snapped on a botched foul-tip ruling on the second batter of the game, getting tossed as Mets fans cheered him on? On a night when the Mets looked to fashion to shake things up, wearing the black caps and undergarments with the snow whites?

Whatever it was, it all came together and the game felt like a turning point. David Wright ended his 0-for-20 with a homer to deep left. Mike Nickeas blasted his first career tater to left, and Ike Davis hit his second of the season 430 feet to dead center.

(Of course, it wouldn't be a Mets game without some bad news. Angel Pagan, who didn't get hurt in a collision with Justin Turner Overdrive, did hurt his side on a swing and is day-to-day. Can we ever have a complete lineup in place for more than one game?!)

My son and I couldn't have had a better time. We had great seats behind first base, saw a couple of foul balls come close, warmed up for an inning in the Caesar's Club, and he hit some ropes in the kids' batting cages out in the center field plaza. Throw in some Cracker Jacks, pretzels and cotton candy and he was in his glory.

As was I. A perfect night at the ballpark, in April, with the Mets.

Who'da thunk it?

These are the times that try men's souls

At baseball practice Wednesday afternoon, my son announced that he would be going to the Mets game Thursday night.

One of the other dads, an interlocking 'NY' prominent on the collar of his Yankees mock turtleneck, remarked, "Watch the OTHER team."

Snickers followed from a couple of the other kids and parents, but then my son did me proud by replying with a smile, "I'll be sure to do the opposite of that."

Well, son, the man may have a point.

Last night's loss brought to mind the question, is it better to lose by a run than to get blown out? You lose by a run — five of the Mets' last eight losses have been by two runs or less — you're in the game but frustrated by the outcome. You get blown out, you write it off as an anomaly and forget it.

I'd rather be blown out.

So much good stuff undone by yet another mind-boggling and awful end. Four hits and two steals by Jose Reyes, three hits each by Daniel Murphy and Carlos Beltran, solid defense with three double plays, including some nice turns by Murphy, whose two-run homer in the sixth tied the score at 3-3 and made you think that perhaps the game, and the early season, could turn on one swing.

The game turned back on another swing, this one a homer by Hunter Pence, in the eighth, which regained Houston its one-run lead.

And then the disaster, as if on cue. First and third and one out in the eighth, Justin Turner comes up to pinch hit. He strikes out, the ball gets away, and while Keith and Gary didn't mind Angel Pagan trying to score on the short passed ball, it was pretty risky. Then again, when things are going bad, players try and make things happen, and had Pagan's cleat not caught the ground and kicked his foot up over the plate, maybe the game gets tied and we laud Pagan for his hustle.

Instead, double play, end of the inning.

Then Reyes leads off the ninth with his fourth hit, and for the fourth time in the game, Josh Thole makes an out. But this one was extra special, as he failed to get the bunt down and popped it up to the pitcher, Lyon. He catches it, then doubles Reyes off first. Reyes may have hesitated thinking Lyon would let it drop to try and force Reyes, the faster runner, at second base, not realizing Downs had crept in behind him from second base. The hesitation cost him and the team dearly.

Dickey pitched OK after allowing the Astros to go up 3-0, but the Pence homer was a killer. The Mets also loaded the bases with one out in the first and scored zero, another common theme so far this season.

The Mets now have the worst record in baseball, and are 1-8 at home.

But it's only April. There are five months of baseball left.

Is that good or bad?