Luis Armstrong

Game 121 through 124 - Mets

Mets 6, Nationals 2
Mets 7, Nationals 4
Mets 8, Nationals 2
Mets 7, Padres 6
Record: 71-53

Just a quick duck-in as I prepare for an early-morning flight to Maine so I can then drive right back over the next two days. It's a long story. Like my colleague at MLC Inc., I myself am just now getting back to lucid after a bit of a bender with a beachy backdrop.

The Mets have gone 9-4 this season during four of my summer jaunts to the Outer Banks; I'll be looking to head back down if they need a pick-me-up down the stretch. Yeah. I'm fan enough to make that sacrifice.

Don't look now, because these things change at the drop of a hat, but the Mets are quickly -- and somewhat quietly -- steadying their legs and playing up to capabilities and expectations. Nothing like a series against the Nats to do just that; as much as the D.C. Follies have exceeded my (extremely erroneous) pessimistic predictions for their haplessness this year, you can't confuse them for a team to whom the Mets should drop games. The Mets finally managed not to play down to the level of their competition.

And then there are the Padres, no slouches they. I'd begun mulling why it was slightly okay for a letdown after swatting the Nats, why yet another bullpen failure wouldn't necessarily deserve the barrage it might get from these parts. I'd nearly convinced myself, even to the point of deleting a vague Keystone Kops reference. And then Marlon knocked in Milly, Reyes singled, and the bullish Luis Castillo grounded one sharply back through the box. Off Trevor Hoffman. A comeback win in dramatic fashion -- as the Braves blew one to the Reds. I know I shouldn't be so surprised, but I'll be coming around quickly if they keep this up.

Got a plane to catch soon -- pleasant dreams enabled by your New York Metropolitans. Sleep well.