Dramarama

Game 27 - Mets

Mets 9, Diamondbacks 4
Record: 17-10

Oh, my. Now, that there's some shit.

A mere nine days had passed since Damion Easley had lifted me off the couch with his heroic hydraulics, and yet when he came to the plate in Arizona last night with one down and the Mets down a run in the ninth, my faith in him was half-hearted at best. Between Easley's recent 1-for-12 spell and the notion that this particular well couldn't have been replenished so quickly, I guess I doubted him. Just as for Thomas the Apostle, the light shone and I was shown. And I won't soon disbelieve again.

Fortunately for us, Jose Valverde also sensed nothing ominous about Damion's presence, catching too much plate with a 2-0 pitch that Easley propelled into the deepest part of left-center for a three-run game-changer. 6-4 became 9-4 a few batters later when David Wright shook off a theretofore hitless night to drive one of his trademark opposite-field taters.

Tommy Glavine's leisurely stroll towards 300 experienced a lull, as he couldn't keep the D-back hitters contained in Chase Field. Neither Orlando Hudson or Chris Snyder is known for his power, but you'd never know it from the rockets they fired off Glavine. Fortunately, the pen permitted just a pair of baserunners over the last three frames, and the game was kept close for the dramatic finish.

And that dramatic finish, my friends, is why we got so peeved at Errant Heilman the other night for turning a deficit of a single run into three. It's not to say that the Mets can't come back from three runs down, but trailing by one run in the ninth is almost (not quite, but almost) where the Mets are at their best right now. The briar patch. The fabled catbird's seat. End of the bar with a full wallet, an empty bladder, and a friendly barkeep.

Not that I wouldn't appreciate an easy win tonight, boys. But just keep it close and I'll show a little faith.