Mets 4 Brewers 3

Another formula game for the Mets. Timely hitting gets an early lead, good starting pitching then Heilman and Sanchez turn the ball over to Wagner who shuts the door.

Xavier Nady got the game off to a good start with a huge home run in the second. The Mets have been excellent and getting to early leads and holding them. According to Gary Cohen the Mets have trailed for only two innings all season and have given up only 2 runs in innings 1 through 3. That's an ERA of 0.67.

A rough night for David Wright though. His season-long hitting streak was broken and he struck out for the first time all season. I guess we shouldn't be surprised about the strike out considering that Isaacs mentioned it, then I did, and during his at bat SNY showed a graphic about it.

Tom Glavine pitched great. I have never seen him strike out that many hitters...11 in 6 innings. His changeup was very effective against the aggressive Brewers. I think the improved offense has had a huge impact on Glavine. I think the past two years he has tried too hard to hit his spots because he was worried that every run he gave up was one too many. Now that he knows there's an offense behind him he's more comfortable with taking chances. Glavine also got a hit, his third of the season. So far this season Mets' pitchers are hitting .421 (8-19) with 4 RBI. Glavine got his 277th win tonight. Gary Cohen said he didn't think Glavine would be able to get to 300 this year, brilliant observation considering he'd need to win more games than any pitcher in the last 15 years to do it. But I think he can win 15 games this year he'll have a good shot to get there next year. And I think he deserves it. He's been a great pitcher for a long time and he should stick around to get the record. And if he keeps pitching as he did tonight he'll able to get well past 300.

Aaron Heilman had another rough outing. He hasn't been good all season. I hope he's pouting because he wants to be a starter because otherwise last year was just a flash in the pan and he isn't as good as we thought he is. I think Willie made a great move to take him out when he did rather than try to let him work himself out of trouble. Sometimes a guy just doesn't have it.

Duaner Sanchez has been a great acquisition even though tonight was the worst he's pitched all season. But because Willie used him Thursday with the score 13-4 he probably isn't available tomorrow. Even though he says he'd like to pitch everyday Randolph has to manage him so that he stays fresh for the whole season.

Good outing for Wagner.

Last year at a fantasy baseball draft, Chris Capuano was taken with one of the last picks. Since at that point I had never heard of him, in my season predictions I conjectured that he would be cut by the end of April. Capuano went on to win 18 games last year and looks like a pretty good pitcher. With Ben Sheets, Doug Davis and Capuano, in addition to the good young infield the Brewers have, they could be a contender in a couple years. Maybe this year, Ned Yost is my choice for National League Manager of the Year.

I wish they would just let Ralph Kiner get old in peace. What is the purpose of continuing to trot him out onto the broadcasts for two innings at a time. Tonight they never talked about the game with him. Is he going to be an historical consultant for two innings of Friday night games every other week? His speech has deteriorated to the point that he was unintelligible. He evidently made a funny joke that I couldn't understand even when I rewound and listened to it for the third time.