Chugging Away

After several weeks of inconsistency combined with ineptitude, the Mets have now gotten themselves back together, it seems. The team had mostly just been existing for about 6 weeks after the All Star Break, after two months where they had been playing. And I'm not sure if I can call it anything beyond that.

But now, some of these injured guys are coming back, and getting a little more comfortable, and now after whacking the Phillies around for a 9-4 victory, the Mets have won 5 of their last 6 games and dragged themselves back into the conversation for the second Wildcard spot. Of course, there are four other teams involved in this equation and maybe five depending on whether the Giants and Dodgers can get out of each other's way, and the Mets are at the rear of this particular group.

Point is, the odds are kind of against them, but at the same time nobody has broken away from the pack, so if the Mets can continue this little hot streak while everyone else muddles around, maybe they can interject themselves further into the conversation.

Games like tonight's help, as Bartolo Colon had another typical Bartolo game, holding the Phillies in check for 7 innings, picking up two hits, including a double, and bringing down the house, and the Mets rode 4 Home Runs home from there.

The Mets were hitting early and often against Adam Morgan. Jose Reyes started things off with a Home Run, and Asdrubal Cabrera followed with one of his own. The last time the Mets had started a game with back-to-back Home Runs happened to be a game I was at, back in the forgettable season of 2007, and also involved Jose Reyes. And just to wax poetic on Reyes for a second, I know it was a lifetime ago for Reyes as a player and it feels like even moreso for the Mets as a franchise. And I know that the circumstances that brought him back to the Mets were rather shameful. And I know it may be purely nostalgia talking, but I really love having Jose Reyes back on the Mets. This just feels right.

All that being said, the Mets were riding these Home Runs and Bartolo through the game. In the 5th, Colon doubled, splitting the gap between Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera, if those are indeed the guys that the Phillies are trotting out these days. It was so well hit that even Colon at his glacial pace was able to make it to 2nd with ease. A few batters later, with two outs, Neil Walker rooked his way into a walk after about a 10-pitch at bat that emptied Morgan's tank to the point where the first pitch he threw to the next batter, Wilmer Flores, was parked into the Left Field seats for a Grand Slam that put the game out of reach.

The rest of the game was mostly uneventful. Cabrera hit a 2nd Home Run in the 6th. After the 7th, Colon was asked if he had another inning in him, and he coyly flashed two fingers, and of course if Colon could bang out two hits and throw a Complete Game, well, wouldn't that be something, but it wasn't in the cards as the Phillies started hitting him in the 8th. But, you know, not to the point of any concern.

So this rather crucial 10-game homestand is off to a good start. Fine. Now they have to keep it going. Everyone appears to be moving like Bartolo of late.