N.Y. METS ~ Charge!!

From the desk of: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET


NEW YORK METS:  C'Mon Boys!  Take That Hill!


Getting back to .500 was more like climbing a mountain.  But there's no time to enjoy the view.  And good teams never do.  So, if Terry's Kids intend on being contenders instead of pretenders, well then, they need to start winning little two and three game packages and putting some separation between them and that symbolic line of demarcation.  If they fail to ignite any momentum in the very near future, they will surely fall back to the base of their mountain.


They have to start in Detroit.  Everything starts somewhere.  Many wonderful things were made in Detroit.  Tonight, the Mets need to make sure they start building on something before it gets too late.


R.A. Dickey will try and get us going.  He follows two wins by Niese and Gee.  Dickey has been consistent; consistently snake bitten that is.  I do think he will allow the Mets to hang around tonight against the Tigers.  But as been our problem; especially when Dickey pitches; will we score even just a few runs, to amply support his effort....for a change?


Detroit's Rick Porcello has been getting shelled lately.  So maybe the Mets can add a little more to his recent woes.  If they don't, it will be a game closer to, woe is us.



LET'S GO METS!!

TONIGHT

Game One

NEW YORK METS
vs.

Detroit Tigers

From the Motor City

POST-GAME:  10:09pm ~ Mets Final:
NEW YORK METS - 14
Detroit Tigers - 3


N.Y. METS ~ Planting A Flag In Third Place!


The mountain top is no longer out of reach.  Take a look around; yell for joy; plant a flag in the ground; and let it be known; TERRY'S KIDS WERE HERE!


The rock they've been pushing up Mt. Competitiveness didn't come rolling back at them this time.  They put their heads down; pushed; stopped; let go; and fourteen runs later; the rock stood in place.  Hah!  They didn't trip; stumble; fall; and have that rock run them over again like so many time before. 


Instead, the Mets tore up Tiger Stadium like rock stars in their own version of Detroit Rock City.


There was a game earlier this season when R.A. Dickey held the opposition to one run over eight innings and the Mets' offense came up short.  Another time, two runs after eight innings weren't good enough for him to get a win.  This time, an R.A. Dickey margin call (another good start) came knocking and the offense paid up big time with fourteen runs worth.  Jason Bay; Carlos Beltran; Josh Thole; and all Mets contributed handsomely to the pool and sent a resounding message across the bow of the National League; ~ Paid In Full.


Am I getting carried away with myself after just one game that got us over .500 for the first time since early April?  Me?  Mister Stick With the Plan?  Carried away with myself....? - No; I'm having fun being a Met Fan like you.  The Plan?  I still believe in it.  I'm a pragmatist.  Compartmentalization; remember?  So..., shall we?


This is after all June 28th; meaning the season is almost three months old; or just about half-way through.  Tonight's win lifted the Mets record to 40-39 after seventy-nine games played; three short of halftime. 


There is something to be said for playing at mid-season form.  And maybe; just maybe; these guys are coming into their own as presently constituted.  Think of the line-up as a living system and think - the shock to the system suffered when David Wright and Ike Davis has now worn off.  The body is adjusted and adapting.  As a result, the Mets are operating as a fully functioning system more so now that at any other point this season.  The hope this is the beginning of the Mets heating up as we truly begin the summer.


A game above .500 is like operating in the black, but only if you keep seizing the moment.  The Mets need games; and wins; and they started things out on the right foot when they have so little margin for error.  The Mets' starting rotation was operating on deficit pitching at times.  But Tuesday night, the bats settled all debts.  They hit two grand slams Tuesday when they hadn't hit any for years.  Jason Bay connected first, and Carlos Beltran slammed a second grand slam for the Flushing Fighters.  Josh Thole accounted for a third Met home run in the game.


So, how does third place sound to you right about now?  It's legit.  The pitching has been there all season.  And now that the bats have been together on a consistent basis, they're yielding results.  On a night when R.A. Dickey needed four runs for a win, the offense gave him fourteen.  That's bad math; but good baseball.  And bad math or not, the team with supposedly more problems than a math book is coming on strong.



Mike.BTB