Mets are all we got- but lately thats just fine

After the Knicks and Rangers poured their hearts into they're playoff series and came away with one win combined, us New Yorkers are left with just baseball until September (assuming the NFL lockout ends). We will have the NFL draft and some NHL/NBA free agent chatter of course, but for the next 4-5 months the only competition we have is on the diamond. As a Met fan that's not a great thing to hear, but if they play like they did tonight this summer may be more exciting then we thought.

We can talk about the first 7 innings because it was competitive baseball but we won't. This game was decided in the last 2 innings, and fortunately it was decided by the players and not the umpires. In the top of the 8th with the Metropolitans trailing 2-1, Jose Reyes hit a rope into the left center field gap and raced around second base heading for third. Rick Ankiel and his big arm came up throwing but Jose slid in safely just before the tag. Incredibly the umpire ruled Jose out and he lost it (so did Terry Collins... and so did I). He must have ruled that Jose's hand came off the base but it clearly didn't. He even knew he was wrong because Jose and Terry easily could have been tossed from the game but he let them stay.

So now with 2 out and nobody on base Daniel Murphy stepped to the plate. He has had a few big 2 out rbi's over the past week and here he had yet another, sending Tyler Clippards hanging changeup into the bullpen over Jayson Werth's head to tie the game. The dugout exploded ( and so did I) as the Murphy rounded the bases with the Mets biggest hit of the season.

Poor defense in the bottom of the 8th gave the Nats the lead back, but the Mets rallied once again in the ninth. Jason Bay, who is now a 6-0 this season in games hes played, led off with a gutty single and Ike Davis followed with one of his own. A bunt hit, sacrifice fly, rbi fielders choice, and intentional walk followed leaving the Mets up by one and Daniel Murphy at the plate again and he delivered the Knockout blow with a double driving in 2. K-Rod closed the door in the 9th and the Mets finished off an improbable 6-3 win; their 6th straight.

So without the excitement of the NBA and NHL playoffs, and with the NFL season still up in the air, its nice to know that we might still have some fun in Queens this summer as the Mets have revived their season over the last week. A gritty win tonight keeps the engine moving, and the Mets can finish off their second straight sweep with a win over Livan Hernandez tomorrow night. I don't know about you... but I'm excited.

LETS GO METS!!!