Carlos Beltran quieted the "He isn't clutch" crowd, at least for one night

I like Carlos Beltran. I like him a lot.

He's a good hitter, with one of the sweetest swings in the game. He's unbelieveable in the field, making tough plays look like cans of corn. I've had to defend him time and time again, and the main argument against him is that he isn't "clutch" enough.

Last night was something different.

Two outs, top of the ninth, his team down by one. Oh, and the bases are loaded. This is the kind of stuff you dream of in your backyard as a kid.

Beltran, who was in a similar situation in the 2006 NLCS, wrote a different ending last night. First pitch swinging, Beltran crushed a pitch from Kevin Gregg deep to right field. I was shocked.

I was anticipating a ground ball through the hole, if anything. Maybe even a bloop to center. Beltran proved even one of his biggest fans wrong, as that ball was smashed. Bat, meet ball. Goodbye ball!

He may not be the most "clutch" in the league, but he came through huge last night for the Mets. He accounted for all five RBI, and without him, the Mets would have gone quietly into that good night.

Stellar on the basepath, even better on the field. He may not hit for average, but last night shut up a lot of people, at least until tonight.

Game Recap: Mets 5 -- Marlins 4

So when does Billy Wagner come back?

Pitching Performance

Oliver Perez was almost on tonight. He ended his night throwing six innings, giving up only three hits. Unfortunately, he also walked five, as he was just a tad wild. He managed to strike out four. Perez allowed only two runs while on the bump, including a solo home run from Josh Willingham, which was one of the longest home runs I've ever seen hit at a Marlins home game.

Wildly effective, at it's finest. Not great, not bad. He kept his team in the game and that's all that matters.

Brian Stokes came in for the seventh, and threw a perfect inning.

I really like the way Stokes pitches. Can we pencil him in for the bullpen next season, or is it wayyyyy too soon?

Joe Smith got into a tad of trouble, as he walked one and allowed a hit, but was able to work out of the inning without an issue.

Whew!

And here came the issues. Luis Ayala came in to close out the game with a three run lead. He ended up allowing four hits and two runs to score. He struck out one and was able to induce a ground ball with two outs and the tying runner on third base to end the game.

Seriously, when does Billy Wagner come back? This is getting scary. Very scary.

Offensive Output

The Mets played the "book end" game tonight. They scored one in the first and were quiet again until the ninth inning.

In the first (of course) the Mets got on the board early with a Carlos Beltran sacrifice fly to deep center field, plating Jose Reyes.

Skip to the ninth, with Luis Castillo at the plate and two outs. Castillo singled, followed by a David Wright single. Carlos Delgado got plunked to load the bases down by run with two outs. Beltran came to the plate again, and cashed in with a grand slam deep to right field on the first pitch.

I almost hurt myself jumping up and down and screaming when he hit that. If you didn't see, get to a TV and watch what he did to that ball. He crushed it. Wow.

Thank goodness for Beltran. Without him, they would have been sunk.

The Rest of the Story

Beltran drove in all five runs for the Mets tonight.

The Cubs beat the Phillies again, and the Mets opened up a two game lead.

Reyes has an eight game hitting streak.

Game Ball: Carlos Beltran, easy.

I hate combined stadiums

Jeremy Cothran alerts us to the fact that the University of Miami players a football game at Dolphin Stadium last night, and the field is...sort of a mess.

The University of Miami (or 'Da U,' in local parlance) played a game here last night, and the field is absolutely ripped to shreds. Should make for an interesting night for the infielder's.

I remember when I played soccer, I would hate to play on fields that overlapped. If the fields overlapped, the baseball field almost always took over the corner of the soccer field. It was very annoying, as the ball would just skip away as soon as you hit the sand of the infield.

Looks like the Mets errorless streak is going to come to an end tonight.

Trap games

The Mets will begin a three game series with the Florida Marlins tonight. The Marlins were in contention for a long time, much longer than anyone expected, but have faltered lately and are now six games back of the Mets.

They've lost six of their last ten, but are still very much alive. The Mets have a critical stretch of games upcoming, with the next nine against the Marlins, Brewers and Phillies. As of now, I can see the Mets focusing more on Milwaukee and Philadelphia, over Florida.

The Mets could take two of three against the Marlins, or sweep them, but Mike Pelfrey will take the mound for one of the games and he is yet to beat the fish this season.

The Mets have only 28 games left, so each game is extremely crucial, especially with only a one game lead over the Phillies. Hopefully they focus on each game separately, and not look ahead to stronger teams like the Brew-crew and the hated Phillies.

Double duty

As most Friday's will entail, I'm pulling double duty today. I'm also blogging over at Union.

Come check it out!

Fan falls during BP at CBP

How awkward does Mike Pelfrey look? That kid did take a big fall.

The Shmooze reads Green Eggs & Ham; Free Peanuts

It's an off-day. Can you tell?

Go here to listen to the one and only Steve Somers read the Dr. Suess classic "Green Eggs & Ham."

Honestly, I've never laughed so hard in my life. Amazing.

Another thing to note, is the show "Playing For Peanuts" is now available for download.

I'm sure you caught a moment or two on SNY when you were waiting for Mets games, or something to that effects. Well, the director has made all the episodes available for free download on his site. This is a must-watch. A great documentary about an awesome subject. Please, if you love baseball and Wally Backman, check it out.

Below are the instructions:
1.) Go to playingforpeanuts.com/free

2.) Enter the Access Code: 6CJS9Z6GT2

3.) Enter your email address

4.) You will see 8 files. The first 5 files are video files from the first episode of Playing for Peanuts:

Episode #1 - Part 1
Episode #1 - Part 2
Episode #1 - Part 3
Episode #1 - Part 4
Episode #1 - Entire Episode

As you can see, Episode #1 is available in four video segments. If you prefer, you can also download the entire episode (note: it is a large file and will normally take 20 minutes or more to download).

The remaining 3 files are different versions of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" that you've probably never heard before.

Ballgame Music - Loud
Ballgame Music - Acoustic Guitar
Ballgame Music - Irish

Enjoy!

No no no no no no no no no no no no

NO.

Should the New York Mets deal for Carl Pavano?

Are you crazy? Out of your mind? Hellbent on destruction? NO!

The $40 million man, has made one (1!) start this season, and fans want to deal for him?

My goodness gracious! Please, anyone who thought this was a good idea, turn in all your blue and orange apparel, your Mets fandom, your pride, your brain and go live in Antarctica. Forever.

In the words of a great comic book salesmen: Worst. Idea. Ever.

I apologize to everyone; It was all my fault

During almost every game, one can find me wearing my plastic helmet.

Yes, I admit it. I wear a plastic helmet. It's kind of close to what the first and third base coaches wear, but it's all black and all awesome and no padding.

And yes, I even wear it out to games, to the movies, and whenever I feel like having a little fun with the general public.

But recently, I've forgotten about it. I haven't been wearing it much, and I'm not sure why. But last night, I remembered. Last night I sprinted to my room, rummaged through my pile of stuff and emerged with the helmet. I placed that helmet on my head, and no sooner did I don the plastic hat, did Daniel Murphy rip a double to left field, bouncing once before hitting the fence, and watching Carlos Beltran come around to put the Mets up by one.

The helmet has powers. And I will be wearing her more often.

I'm sorry for not wearing the cap lately, but the Mets have done well in it's absence. Now, down the stretch, the Mets may need all the help they can get. And I shall do my part with the helmet.

Now I just need a nickname for it and we'll all be set.

Pick up Deglado's option on one condition: Jerry stays too

I know I wanted the Mets to wait until the season was over, to see what Carlos Delgado could do during that final month of the season, but no more. The Mets should reward him, and strengthen the team, by picking up his option for next year, as long as Jerry Manuel is the manager next year, too.

Deglado has gone on a tear, as Wallace Matthews points out, almost exactly to the date of the firing of Willie Randolph. For once, I can't fully disagree with what Matthews said, as it's is based on actual fact (somewhat). Matthews believes Delgado and Randolph were not the best of buds, so...Delgado purposely stunk it up? While that may be a bit outlandish, one cannot deny the numbers.

Since July 27, ten days after Maunel took over, Delgado has hit more home runs and driven in more RBI than anyone in the national league. Pretty scary stat.

I attribute Delgado's resurgence to his patience at the plate and the use of his diary, a crucial item that was missing for the better part of the beginning of the year. Apparently, Delgado had forgotten his diary at home on his kitchen table. When his wife finally went home again, she picked it up and brought it back to him. And the results are on the field.

As of now, I firmly believe in bringing Carlos Delgado back for another year. Otherwise, the Mets will either have to take a chance on Mike Carp, move Daniel Murphy to first (which wouldn't be such a bad idea) or break out the checkbook, or two, to try and sign Mark Teixeira.

While the Mets are working out Delgado's option, they should really be focusing on giving Manuel a contract for a few more years. He knows what to do with his players and the media, and can manage a team and a bullpen. I love him, the players seem to love him, and it makes sense for everyone involved.

Omar Minaya, get it done.