Around the Horn

Games 141 through 145 - Mets

Phillies 3, Mets 0
Phillies 6, Mets 2
Mets 6, Phillies 3
Mets 10, Nationals 8
Mets 13, Nationals 10
Record: 82-63
1st Place in NL East by 3.5 games over PHL

Ah, those pesky Nats. That cupcake of misfits, has-beens, never-weres, never-will-bes sprinkled with a few young stars is giving the Mets' pitching staff fits. All you need to know is that Cristian Guzman hit two home runs last night and drove in five. Yes, Cristian Guzman. I know, he's playing closer to the level of the Twin who managed a big contract than the Nat who sparked this bashing last spring (skip down a few paragraphs to his), but still...

Yeah, Aaron Heilman, shut the door. [beat passes] This is the toughest job a Mets blogger has. But the Township has decided to make a change. Now that Billy Wagner's out for the year and there's a bit of a void in the relief corps, we don't want you taking the hill in any meaningful situations. Ever. Helluva tenure here, Aaron. You know how it is. (Why wouldn't they think about giving him a shot at the rotation next spring? He of the one-hitter a few years back. 'Cause what they're doing with him in middle relief... I'm not seeing it.)

Elijah Dukes: Hey ump, how about a warning?

Umpire: Sure. Watch out you don't get killed.

Bob Carpenter, Nats' play-by-play wiz and blinders-donning, homeriffic superfan -- who was very, very nearly canned at season's end last year -- casually dropped this one on Comcast SportsNet viewers last night: "Ryan Zimmerman, who I've said before is hands-down the best defensive third baseman in the league..." Rob quipped: "In Carp's world, the Nats have already clinched the division."

Dee-Dub had been struggling of late, especially when it seemed to matter most, but 4-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI is a nice return to form. I'd been sweating a déjà vu of Dave's Autumn '06. [Shivers down the spine] Please, Golden Boy, get back to driving the ball the other way and not so much the gripping it and ripping it.

Jose Reyes has surpassed Mookie Wilson as the Mets all-time stolen base leader (after besting him in triples earlier this year). But a much more substantial Met Milestone was reached last night. Once and for all, David Wright's 8th-inning home run not only helped the Mets win the game but much more importantly eradicated the name "Todd Hundley" from the Top 5 All Time New York Mets HR's leaderboard. Hundley's name always stood out as Exhibit A of both how wafer-thin the Mets' Record Leaflet is (seriously, check out the leaders here), but also how cheaters sometimes win.

Home Runs

Rank	Player		HR		PA
1.	Darryl Strawberry		252		4549
2.	Mike Piazza		220		3941
3.	Howard Johnson		192		4591
4.	Dave Kingman		154		2573
5.	David Wright		125		2970

Thank you, David, and may you ascend well past Kong & HoJo to give Piazza & Straw a run for their money.

As for the Mets, the Phils, and the pennant race... still too close to call. Nice to see the Fish giving the Phillies trouble, nice to see Brett Myers take a loss (though it wasn't the abusive beating we'd hoped for when we saw 7-3 on the scoreboard), nice to see the PhilPen coughing up a few to seal it. Keep it up.

Speaking of Brett Myers, injured Mets reliever Ambiorix Burgos was arrested for hurling his girlfriend to the ground, thus rendering the trade that gave up Brian Bannister a complete and utter bust. Well done.

Mets-Braves this weekend. This is a serious opportunity for the Braves to play spoiler, what with them being absolutely horrible (64-82, 18.5 games out). I enjoy their misery a little too much, but with a slew of talking heads assuring me in springtime that the Braves were the most serious challenge to the Phillies this year, I get extra-special joy from their plight. Not proud of that, of course, but . . . tee-hee. It will be a most painful groin punt if they wax nostalgic and wax the Mets this weekend. Buck up, boys, still a whole lotta work to be done. (We need a mantra -- bad.)