Mets roll into first, extending streak to 6 over hapless Bucs

by Mike Trovato

Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please: The New York Mets have officially come to life.

Coming off of a sub-.500 April, the Mets are currently the hottest team in baseball, riding the wave of a six game winning streak heading into Mother's Day. It can't hurt to be playing the coldest team in the league in the Pittsburgh Pirates, but no matter how you cut it, wins are wins, and they are piling up rapidly for the Mets.

Like a sleeping giant being stirred from its sleep, the Mets' have woken up in a big way. In just eight games since the calendar turned to May, New York has exploded, and has already almost matched last month's totals in both wins and home runs. Through eight games thus far this May, the Mets are 7-1, turning in their latest winning performance on Saturday, clobbering the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1. Carlos Beltran's solo shot in the 5th inning of Saturday's game marked the 11th Mets home run in May, after they hit just 13 in April. The club's 10 runs and 17 hits were the highest totals by the Mets in either category this season.

Just nine days ago, I was hard-pressed to find many positives for this team that wasn't Johan Santana. Now, I'm not even sure where to start.

As a team, the power surge is an obvious plus, but the timing of their recent home runs has shown a transformation in the team chemistery. Four times in the past week, the Mets have scored 4+ runs in an inning. On two of the four occasions, New York scored four runs in rapid fashion, courtesy of back-to-back 2-run homers off the bats of Carlos Beltran and David Wright. The Mets also put together two five-run innings in back-to-back games, Friday and Saturday against the Pirates.

It is not surprising that the Mets turnaround has had a lot to do with the success of their core players. David Wright, who had faced much criticism after a lackluster start, has begun to really heat up. He is batting .379 on the month of May, and his RBI total has jumped from 8 to 17 in that span. Jose Reyes has turned on the jets, stealing four bases this week, doubling his total for the season. The two Carlos' are batting a combined 18-for-46 (.391) with 5 HR and 15 RBI between them; Delgado is hitting .455 while Beltran has popped 4 HR during the 6-game winning streak.

Just as encouraging, if not more so, has been the steady improvement in the production of the Mets starting rotation, which looked to have the makings of potential disaster through the season's first month. New York has received 6+ innings and five winning decisions from its starters in each of this week's 6 victories, including two by John Maine.

After posting an ERA just under 7.50 in his first three starts, John Maine has lowered his ERA by nearly three full runs over his last three outings, logging wins in all three. Johan Santana blanked the Phillies through seven strong innings on Wednesday. Santana's 10 strikeout performance held up in the Mets' 1-0 victory, one day after Livan Hernandez gave up just one run in 6 1/3 to seal a two game sweep of the Atlanta Braves. Mike Pelfrey, despite some control issues, was backed by strong run support on Thursday, allowing Frankie Rodriguez to notch his fourth save in as many days.

The one man not surprisingly missing from the equation has been Oliver Perez, who was placed on the DL before Pelfrey's victory over the Phillies. Originally slated to join the Mets bullpen, an MRI revealed patellar tendonitis in Perez' right knee. New York called up Jonathon Niese to fill the void left by the struggling Perez, and the rookie answered the call. Though he didn't record the win, Niese pitched extremely well, allowing just 2 runs in 6 innings. Most impressively, Niese showed excellent command, stirking out 5 without walking a single Pirates batter. Bobby Parnell came on in the 7th to shut Pittsburgh down, earning up his first career major league win in relief.

As though the winning streak hasn't been fun enough to watch (not to mention long overdue), one of the most exciting treats of the week was provided by manager Jerry Manuel. Uncle Jerry (as I like to call him) has to be one of the coolest human beings on the planet; between his demeanor and his voice, I swear he has a future hosting DJ Jerry's Smooth Jazz on the FM dial. Plus, I pray even harder for Mike Pelfrey to dominate his starts, just hoping that Jerry will remind us all just how "absolutely filthy" Big Pelf's stuff is- and I mean it is downright filthy.

In all seriousness though, Manuel always presents a calming, level-headedness in dugout and with the media... but not this Thursday. Up 7-3 in the eighth inning against the Phillies, Shane Victorino got caught up between first and second base, and ran into Jose Reyes during the rundown. Umpire Bill Welke called interference on Reyes, ruling Victorino safe on the play. Not the first questionable call of the night, the obstruction call was enough to break cool Jerry's unbreakable temper. Manuel was ejected for arguing, and proceded to brush brims with Welke, a move that earned him a one-game suspension, which he served on Saturday.

The significance of Jerry Manuel getting in the face of Bill Welke over a call that ultimately had a minimal effect on the game goes far beyond the scope of the game itself. No team, no matter how skilled or how well-paid they are, can survive a general manager and fan base that lacks confidence in it. What Jerry Manuel's outburst did, in its relative brevity, was transform the tone of and inject passion and fire into the 2009 season.

It's never a good thing when the general manager publicly questions the intensity and edginess of the very team he has constructed, and Omar Minaya had done just that not even a week earlier. Following Manuel's ejection, David Wright commented that the Mets lack of edge was history, calling out Minaya himself in his statement, silencing the critics who relished in Met failure during a cold April.

I won't crown them yet, I wouldn't dare. But this team is clicking, awakened like an untamed beast and hopefully just getting started. In one week's time, the Mets have gone from a confused, struggling fourth place team, to a first place ballclub with the swagger of a champion. They've taken first place by going through the champions themselves, taking the bull by the horns, welcoming them into and swiftly booting the Phildaelphia Phillies out of our beautiful new place, Citi Field, home of the New York Mets...

... The New York Mets have not been this confident in a long, long while. It feels good, and it's about damn time.