The Mets pulled off a much needed victory last night with a 6-3 win over the Phillies. Once again, the rivals are tied for 1st place in the NL East. Delgado, on a hot streak, moved up to the clean-up spot and contributed to the Mets 10 hits on the night. Schneider and Easley both had a multi-hit game to propel the Mets to victory, but the biggest hit of the night was Reyes’ go-ahead 3 run HR 6th inning. The stadium was rockin’ when the ball dropped over the right field fence. It was a much needed boost after the Mets early lead was cut with solo HR’s by the Phillies off of Maine in the 2nd. But, for anyone who watched Tuesday night’s disaster, a 3 run lead didn’t seem to hold much comfort. I was, at best a little leery when they decided to bring in Joe Smith in the 8th to relieve Schoeneweis. My nervousness was visible and while wondering aloud how they could possibly send him in after last night’s debacle my friend Krista stated “there’s only one way to get back on the horse”. I completely agree when that phrase refers to drinking after a hangover. But, this was a little different. I wasn’t so sure that Smith needed to get back on the horse so quickly. Luckily he did OK and it wasn’t long before they brought in the big guns – Billy Wagner. I have never been so excited to hear Metallica. The crowd was roaring watching Billy jog in from the bullpen to his song. He pitched a solid 9th and the Mets went home winners and tied for 1st place. As we were walking out of the stadium with the 53K + crowd, chants of ‘Jose Jose, Jose’ flooded the concourse. Good crowd, good game. All in all, it was a good night. The rubber match is set for 12:10pm today. The weather didn’t look promising at all this AM here in NY, but the rain seems to have subsided for now, so I’m hoping that the teams are able to square off here in a couple of hours and that the Mets can keep the good times rolling with another win this afternoon at good old Shea.
Ironic side note: as my friend and I were walking to the 7 train to head back into Manhattan, we were discussing, giving the geographical uniqueness of NY, how we would chose to transport ourselves from the stadium if we were ballplayers. I said that I would either go car service or subway thinking that it would be a pain to drive into the city every night. Krista didn’t think it would be such a big deal and I think she thought it was a bit crazy that I was leaning towards subway given how deep my pockets would be as a pro baseball player. Well, it seems that at least one other ballplayer shared my thoughts because moments later while on the subway, the Phillies fans in our car were all star struck as they noticed Cole Hamels seated just down the row from us. Now if only I could get David Wright to sign onto my thinking…
