Back in First Place!

Big night for my beloved Mets last night. Before the first pitch of their game was thrown the Phils and Brewers were training early and hope was high that the Mets could gain some ground last night.

Well, it wasn't easy, but they got the job done with a 9-5 win. I'll highlight a couple of unlikely heroes. First off, Aaron Heilman got a huge out in the 7th with the tying and lead runs in scoring position. Next bullpen hero was Brian Stokes who came in to start the 8th. After giving up a lead off single he got the next 3 guys out and, in a nice stroke of managing by Jerry Manuel, Stokes came back out to start the 9th and to the delight of all Mets fans he had an easy 1-2-3 inning.

So, after this win, their third in a row, the Mets are now 8 games into their final 17 games and their record in those games is now:

4 Wins

4 Losses

Running Tally

Backed by strong performance by two former Washington Nationals, Ryan Church and Brian Schneider (2 HR's), Johan Santana led the Mets to a 7-2 victory over those pesky Nats. With this crucial win the Mets record, so far, in their final 17 games of the season is now:

3 Wins

4 Losses

The Mets now hold a 1.5 game lead in the wildcard standings over the Milwaukee Brewers. (2 in the loss column.) The Brewers who are in a serious free fall, lost what had to be their toughest game in a looooooooong time. Up 6-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Brewers closer Salomon Torres got the first two outs in the inning before the Cubs started an improbably rally that saw them tie the game in the 9th and eventually win it in the bottom of the 12th on a two out base hit by Derek Lee. As if that is not bad enough, the fact that the Brewers had men on 2nd and 3rd with no one out in the top of the 12 and DID NOT SCORE, has to have that team questioning just about everything.

Running Tally

When Luis Ayala struck out Roger Bernadini, who was representing the tying run, the Mets got a much needed, and unnecessarily tense, win. Their record 6 games into their final 17 games is now:

2 Wins

4 Losses

Running Tally

• Last year the Mets went 5-12 in their last 17 games, leading to their so-called collapse, and the loss of the National League Eastern Division to the Phillies by one game Since the 2008 Mets hit the potentially fateful 17 games remaining point in the season, their record is:

1 Win

3 Losses