Tonic

Game 9 - Mets

Mets 5, Phillies 3
Record: 6-3

Chalk one up for the hometown nine -- a losable win that takes the series, alters a downward trend, features a comeback, gains a game on the Braves (for whatever that's worth on April 13), and sends the fans home happy. Tom Glavine earns win #292 (and #50 as a Met), suffering only Jimmy Rollins-inflicted damage along the way. The bullpen holds, the defense shines, and Jose Reyes is carrying the team in stretches at this point.

Rollins' pair of homers capped off a strong series for the guy most written about for his preseason quotes. If all 25 Phils had made such bold statements and followed through with Jimmy's tenacity, Charlie Manuel wouldn't be headed for the unemployment line. As it is, they're 2-7 and underachieving, albeit at this early juncture, and even Jimmy Rollins' old friend Roy Hobbs couldn't will this team to win.

This was a big victory for the Mets, relatively speaking; the lowly Washington Nationals come to town this weekend, and losing 4 of 5 before facing the league's worst team (by leaps and bounds; see Gheorghe: The Blog for an ongoing look at "The Nots") might've made the Mets tight and apt to force things as the huge favorite. After a series win, there is just a palpable degree of calmness to take into the next battle.

Tight is the last thing they'll need to be tonight, as Mike Pelfrey makes his first start of the season in 30-40 degree weather. As expected, Lastings Milledge, who's been seeing the field with the regularity of a back-up quarterback, heads to N'Awlins to pick up some at-bats and ready himself for an inevitable return. The Mets' shift from the AAA Norfolk Tides to the New Orleans Zephyrs doesn't make much geographic sense, and it certainly foils my plans for following the club's prospects, but it should make for more appealing demotions. See you in two weeks at JazzFest, Lastings; save me some oysters at Cooter Brown's.

Pelfrey represents another piece of what many considered the Mets' overstuffed question mark this year. In theory, it's fortuitous that he can open up with a wretched Nationals squad; after they beat John Smoltz and the Braves last night, however, let's not look ahead to the two-gamer in Philly next week just yet.

And did I mention Jose Reyes?

He currently leads the team in hits, runs, RBI, total bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He has more walks than strikeouts; hell, he has more stolen bases than strikeouts. It's apparent that he's worked extremely hard to address the few but obvious flaws that hampered him the past few seasons while expanding his strengths even further. It's almost as if the public's fawning over David Wright has inspired him to greatness in a "Hey, don't forget about me, guys" kind of way; unfortunately, we now need Dee-Dub to take a page from Reyes and continue his own evolution. Legging out last night's opposite-field triple meant an insurance run and a pleasant reminder of Wright's capabilities. Keep it up -- both of yous.