Was it being called out by damn near everyone that prompted this surge? No matter, they’ve played to their potential and should be commended.

Lets hope Jonathan Niese pitches well enough to stay in the rotation and that the remarkable Ken Takahashi continues to make his strong contribution to the bullpen, as it will be good to have another lefty in the pen.

The line-up and depth are beginning to be a strength as players whom come off the bench are seen as regulars by the other club. Usually two of the quartet of Daniel Murphy, Fernando Tatis, Gary Sheffield and Ryan begin the game on the bench. As they are considered to be 3 thru 6 hitters in an everyday lineup and not just pinch hitters opposing managers have less favorable matchups against their bullpen.

I look forward to more games like today’s where the club uses needs to use two pitchers, instead of its customary 3 or 4 out of the pen on games they win.

Brian Stokes has only allowed one unearned run in 11 outings this season. Along with Takahashi, the duo allows the struggling Sean Green and, when he returns, Oliver Perez to get it together.

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From Metsblog.

Poor kid played his ass off last spring and worked himself into the everyday leftfielder before missing the season with with a shoulder injury. Now this. Pagan looked as if he would make the club again, but its worse than that. The silent whispers will begin around the game that the once promissing outfielder is injury prone and cannot be counted on at the major league level.

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Many have been quick to jump on Darryl Strawberry’s comments today about whether or not he would have used steroids. He was ased about it when as part of his comments regrading Alex Rodriguez. The most important part of his comments were the following:

“I was too old. I was late in the game. If you would have caught me when I was 24, 25, in the midst of my career, of course. I was naïve, stupid, just like Alex was. When I saw his comments, I could relate to that, because I was stupid too when I was a 24-, 25-, 26-year-old. I did a lot of stupid things.”

The headlines lead the reader to believe that Strawberry had been flippant about steroids but his complete comment makes it clear he was saying more about they way he perceived himself at the time.

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I must say that I agree with Kostya Kennedy.

There’s something unique about Mex we felt. Its almost like he wasn’t really from around these parts. I know he probably desired to see himself as just another guy, but he had a complicated, yet mystical way. He saw – and still sees – the game in a way few people do. But I feel that he might have been that way in anything else he chose to be passionate about.

If there are other lives, then Hernandez might have been a artist or a some sort of tortured genius from another time. Maybe Hernandez was Jim Morrison in pin stripes.

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Its clear that the Georgian military has withdrawn from the disputed Osettia region while the Russians are continuing their offensive. Meanwhile in a seperaion section of the country, Abkhazia, Russian paratroopers have been deployed and are moving against Georgian forces.

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Joe McDonald shares my sentiments. I saw all the Jet fans at Shea today on TV wearing taped on #4′s. Here’s part of Joe’s take:

So, even with a good start, the Jets were bound for the land of hockey and the Nets in the competitive New York media market. And with no new major skill players coming on board for the season, it was going to be a silent season for the club, even if they improved on the four win record.

That all changed early this morning when the Jets acquired quarterback Brett Farve. Although he’s 38, the future Hall of Famer gives Gang Green instant credibility and makes Sunday a two game must see for the New York sports fan.

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Ron Darling proved prophetic when he indicated prior to David Wright’s 9th inning time at bat that sometimes when a team has a bad day, the great players bail them out. Wright’s 2-run homer off Heath Bell bailed out the Mets on a days it’s bullpen blew Johan Santana’s 6th lead. The one justice in the game came when hard-luck Aaron Heilman got the win.

Nontheless, even with the spark the young players have provided, this remains a flawed team. Bullpen drama, spotty defense at times with players playing out of position and all too frequent poor situational hitting makes this team lose ugly.

Still the occassional magic like David Wright’s homerun today leaves one with feelings of affection……and hope. Somehow order can be restored to the bullpen. Somehow career infielders will play like outfielders. Somehow they’ll start getting bunts down and getting runners in from third.

Somehow.

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