Mayhem and Milestones

It was unfortunate that I was unable to use my ticket for Tuesday Night's game, missing the One-Man Wrecking Crew that is John Maine unleash a new wrinkle to his game plan.

He hits, too.

El Guapo kept me apprised of the happenings via text message, so I was aware of Maine's first career HR shortly after it happened, though I didn't see it until later. Maine's shocking display of power was certainly welcome, although it was his efforts on the mound that served to nail down the victory on Tuesday night.

Wednesday night saw more strong pitching efforts, and a standout offensive performance from LoDuca as Glavine's 6 innings were enough to secure his 299th victory.

Both games saw the Mets build up early leads and keep the Pirates mostly off balance for the duration of both games, and for once, we've been treated to a couple of drama-free, cruising victories against a team that the Mets should be beating soundly. But more welcome than that is the fact that these have been sound victories where the team has been both hitting and pitching well at the same time, something that has been lacking overall over the past 2 months.

I made a lot about this week's games last week, while the Mets were busy piddling away in San Diego. These are games the Mets need to win, and win soundly. Against the hapless Pirates, a team that boasts a few young, talented players in Jason Bay, Freddy Sanchez and Tom Gorzelanny, but little else exciting. Washington is in next, and they're currently getting their clocks cleaned in Philadelphia. Kicking off a week in which the key phrase for the Mets is "Smash the Flea with the Sledgehammer," the Mets have come out running, and can look for the sweep later this afternoon behind Oliver Perez, off his fine outing last weekend in LA, certainly with a chip on his shoulder against the team that prematurely gave him away last season.

Philly and Atlanta are beating up on bad teams this week, too. Let's keep the pace.