#1 in Your Hearts and Now in the Standings!

When we looked at this team at the beginning of the season, there were a few things the Mets needed to have happen in order for them to bounce back from last season.The Mets needed their lineup to be strong, their starters to step it up and give the team a chance to win, and the bullpen t be reliable to come in early if needed and finish out games. Yesterday's doubleheader sweep of the 2009 NL West Champion Dodgers (as predicted by brilliant readers DavidD and d simon) was a microcosm of everything that needed to happen this season for success, and there is no reason to believe that the Mets can't keep this up.

Across the two games yesterday, the Mets bats, especially in the middle of the lineup, were as dangerous as any in the majors. Jason Bay not only hit his first homer of the season in Game 1, but also hit a huge RBI triple in game two to help the Mets get an early lead. David Wright had baseball analysts everywhere talking about him in the last week changing his swing, after-effects of a Matt Cain beanball, and strikeout after strikeout. Well David showed that the negative koolaid by these analysts is ridiculous and he is the man to be counted on with men on base going 4-6 across the teo games yesterday with 4 RBIs. Jose Reyes has shown that he's not rusty, but needed some time to get back to his old ways and some new ones driving in runs from his new spot in the order. Ike Davis also continues to rake like
the rookie phenom the Mets were hoping for posting 3 RBIs of his own in the second game.

Bottom line, the 3 through 6 spots in this lineup are hot. This is exactly what the Mets need heading into Philly this weekend to take on the 2nd PLACE Phillies. Not only that but this is what the Mets need to hold on to their first place spot at the top of the standings for the rest of the season. Not that we need to pour any more koolaid here, but think about this 3 through 6 and add in Jeff Francoeur who has already shown flashes of offensive brilliance this year and is bound to heat up as this tends to be contagious. Now add Carlos Beltran to the mix. With reliable veterans that we're seeing at catcher and second base, this is going to be one of the best lineups in the league for the rest of 2010 and years to come.

We can't give all the credit to the lineup though as the pitching came through yesterday just as much as the hitting. You don't agree? I know. Johan only went 6 innings, even if they were scoreless, and Ollie Perez only went 3.2 innings and started walking the stadium. The thing is, not every start is going to be a gem. We love to be positive here, but even we can't say that. What you need is your starter to put you in a position to win even if he doesn't have his best stuff and then hand it over to your pen. That's what happened last night is what we need; performances like that of Fernando Nieve, Pedro Feliciano, Hisanori Takahashi, and Jenry Mejia. This will allow the Mets to win on days in between the Santana, Pelfrey, gems that we know will come more often than not, on the days when Ollie and Maine can't get it together, and to nurse along Jon Niese and let him have strong short performances until he works his way into a big league workhorse. All together yesterday, the pen went 8.0 innings giving up only 2 earned runs and striking out 9. They basically put together a gem themselves.

The Mets are picking each other up when someone is down. The team starts to hit and it make everyone hit. These are the qualities of a winning baseball team, and I BELIEVE that's what you're going to be seeing through an AMAZIN' summer. Ladies and Gentlemen, your FIRST PLACE 2010 New York Mets...drink it up!