Mets 4, Pirates 3 (12 innings)

A couple of non-profound thoughts about last night’s win-in-the-monsoon ;

1) Billy Wagner is now 8 for 11 in save opportunities, the sort of reliability that turned Armando Benitez into a tri-state pariah.   Over the course of a full season, I doubt he’ll be nearly as villified, but bad things continue to happen when Wagner comes in for a John Franco Special (ie. protecting a lead with no one on).

2) As deeply flawed as the 2005 Mets were, had Omar Minaya been successful in recruiting Carlos Delgado (shown above, hitting the game winning HR in the 12th) the previous winter, said club might’ve won the Wild Card.  This year’s edition has far more depth, but Delgado is still capable of putting the team on his back when necessary.

3) Endy Chavez, already a revelation while spellling Carlos Beltran in center field, had one of those what-the-fuck, scare the neighbors and pets moments last night in the top of the 11th, robbing Freddy Sanchez with a ridiculous sliding catch in right. This, on an evening when he was 4 for 5 at the plate with a pair of doubles and an RBI.

4) The entire NL should be very wary of Ian Snell. Though the Mets continue to struggle with younger pitchers they’re seeing for the first time, Snell will be giving everyone headaches before long.

considered viewpoints of persons who are hopefully asleep at this hour :

Perhaps nothing to be alarmed about – after all, what goes up must come down and after a sensational start, the Mets batting order is quickly going pear-shaped. Over the last 7 days going into tonight’s game, Beltran was hitting .231, David Wright .130, Carlos Delgado .136, the Kaz Man .217 and Xavier Nady .250.

Perhaps more interesting to note as it would appear to be a career-long trend of sorts, Carlos Delgado has struck out more times (30) than he’s had hits (29) going into tonight’s game. In fact, Carlos has almost twice as many strikeouts than any other Met. Going through the years, this shouldn’t be suprising. Since 1996, Delgado has struck out 139, 133, 139, 141, 104, 136, 126, 137, 115 and 121 times. At the current rate he might end up with as high as 150 Ks this season. – Jaap, Archie Bunker’s Army

When do the “Duaner Sanchez for closer” calls start coming in to the FAN?
How does a strikeout pitcher let Jose Hernandez, a strikeout hitter, make contact?
When do Met fans start calling Country Time by his alternate nickname: Lefty Looper? – Metstradamus

The Mets offense was still not great, but it was better. More long at-bats, but Wright and Floyd still look bad. Cliff tried a different look with the stirrups going up to the knee for a Juan Pierre/Alfonso Soriano fashion statement. I doubt his 1-5 will tempt him to keep that look for tomorrow. Wright did have a nice hit up the middle, but was also 1-5 with 3 strikeouts. – Mike’s Mets

(Pedro Martinez) looked sensational, again¦at one point, during the third, fourth and fifth innings, he appeared to be throwing nothing but curve balls, change-ups and the occasional cutter. Give a game ball to Ramon Castro for dropping down a sacrifice bunt, with Cliff Floyd on first and the game knotted at one, in a situation during the sixth inning when it could™ve been called due to rain at any time. – Matthew Cerrone, Metsblog