Early Morning Madness -- 5/30

I never worry about David Wright. Any time he looks like he's going into a slump, or actually goes into a bit of a slump, I know within a few days, he'll turn it around.

He's rumored to be the hardest worker on the team, and when he was in the minors, they had to stop him from doing drills, lifting, etc. because he was wearing himself down.

He's a stellar young player, only 24 and years away from getting into his prime.

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Scott Schoeneweis is having a stellar year. After stumbling through his first half year as a Met, he turned it on at the end of last year. That has carried over to this year, where he's been downright dominant against opposing batters. He's having a Carlos Beltran-esque sophomore explosion.

But feelings still linger, and as recently as 20 days ago, while Schoeneweis was still sporting a 1.74 ERA (down to a 1.25 ERA now) people were calling for his head.

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I think Howard Johnson has earned a raise. This team is hitting again, and some guys are looking like they're going to have career years. Ryan Church and Wright are his disciples, and he's teaching them very well.

That two finger handshake needs to happen more often.

12 games: 2-0

Game 1: Mets 7 -- Marlins 6 (12 innings).
Game 2: Mets 8 -- Dodgers 4.

Record in the 12 games: 2-0. 10 left to play.

TSTDIA: Mets 8 -- Dodgers 4

Another perfectly solid, all-around-contributed-to victory for the New York Mets. Three in a row now, dare I say they're getting hot?

What the heck?

So the 4th inning seemingly ended with a ground out from Caludio Vargas to short. SNY went to commercial, as usual.

They just cut back, with Vargas on base, and Jose Reyes on first. Luis Castillo promptly doubled to left, scoring Vargas. Reyes came around to score on an errant throw.

David Wright just hit his second 2-run home run of the game. It's 6-0 now, and four of them came after the inning was seemingly over.

Ah!!! Gary Cohen just updated us. It was a catchers interference call when Vargas was batting.

So crazy. Did that happen to anyone else?

The 2-for-1 deal for Willie

I'm not yet ready to pronounce this team ready to win the next few games, much less the World Series, but last night was good. Very good.

Here's one of my problems: Willie Randolph still cannot manage a starting pitcher (among other things).

Last night Oliver Perez struggled with the long ball after looking positively dominant his first two innings, striking out four. In the fifth inning, he began to show signs of wildness and fatigue. He made it through the inning, and Randolph trotted him out there for the sixth. After quickly working himself into a jam, Randolph left him in to face Cody Ross, who had already homered off of him earlier in the game.

With Perez still throwing, Ross blasted a pitch, seemingly out of the stadium, erasing the Mets lead and putting the Marlins up by a run.

In a nutshell, I still don't think Randolph is the right manager for this team, even after a nice two game win streak over a "first place team."

I would like to propose a 2-for-1 program for Willie Randolph and his managing tenure.

For every one (1) win the Mets pull off, Randolph earns himself two (2) more games as a manager. With that said, and with this two game win streak, the Mets have bought Randolph four more games as their manager.

If the Mets lose four in a row (and they easily could), Randolph should be fired. If they win another game, Randolph gets at least six more as manager, and so on and so forth.

Sounds good to me, but I thought of it, so I better like it. What are some of your thoughts? I'm very intrigued to hear your side or plans.

A pretty good night, no?

The Mets win in extra innings, taking the series from the NL East leading Marlins.

and

Pedro Martinez throws six innings (82 pitches) allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out six and walked none in his rehab start in A-ball. Pedro might return June 3 in San Francisco.

I'd say that's a pretty good night for the Mets, all around.

Early morning madness -- 5/29

Here are some random thoughts as I wake up on this fine Thursday morning...

I hate to be "that guy" but just remember how inconsistently this team has played all year, I'm not ready to call this the team's "turning point" and declare them ready to go. Every time this team has shown the slightest bit of promise, they've turned around and looked hapless the next few games before flaring up another brilliant effort just to string the fans along.

Yes, last night's win was emotional and wonderful, as they had to battle back mutliple times, but let's see how the next 11 play out.

*****

Fernando Tatis couldn't catch up with a fastball at all last night, but came through in the end with a 2-run double. When it counts...

*****

The bullpen has been absolutely stellar over the past few days. I'm excited to see Carlos Muniz (probably tonight) pitch. They've been lights out, and Aaron Heilman looked especially good, striking out the first four batters he faced.

12 games: 1-0

Game 1: Mets 7 -- Marlins 6 (12 innings)

Record in the 12 games: 1-0. 11 left to play.

TSTDIA: Mets 7 -- Marlins 6 (12 innings)

Fire, hunger and fight. This team showed all of them as they battled back, twice, to beat the Marlins and take the series over the first place Marlins.

Ya gotta believe!

Reyes' on base streak

Jose Reyes lead off the bottom of the first inning with a ground rule double to left field. Including tonight, Reyes has now been on base for the 28th straight game.

To me, it really doesn't seem like it. Everyone keeps talking about Reyes being in a funk when he's tearing it up and getting on base. The only reason we haven't heard anyone singing his praises is his miserable play in the field.

Reyes just stole third base and just scored on a Luis Castillo home run (I know!). Reyes is creating chances for the Mets, consistently. Let's celebrate his efforts instead of tearing him apart for plays in the field. Or at least let the two cancel each other out.