Good Morning Mets Fans!

OK, if you saw Damion Easley scamper home with the winning run in the 14th inning, take a bow, you are a Mets fan of enormous testicular fortitude. "It was a long ugly game," Willie Randolph said, "that turned out pretty."

The game was long, but it was also incredibly well pitched, until the end anyway, when the Nats Joel Hanrihan decided he'd had enough and threw a few wild pitches and allow the never say die Mets to complete the sweep of their free falling foes from Washington.

So as I sip my coffee this morning let's take a look at the good, or the very good in this case, last night's Mets pitching:

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Figueroa	7.0	3	2	2	2	7	1	3.60
Heilman	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5.06
Wagner	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Sanchez	1.2	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00
Feliciano	0.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
Smith	1.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.13
Sosa (W, 2-1)	2.0	2	0	0	1	2	0	5.06

Starter Nelson Figueroa had all his pitches working, he throws 5 different varieties, and gave the Mets another "5th starter gem". His only mistake of the night was trying to get a fastball by the solid swinging Nick Johnson, who cleared the fences to drive in the Nats only runs of the night. Nelson hung in there and worked his way through the Nats lineup three times, striking out 4 in a row at one point en route to a 3-hit, 7 K performance. He also made one of the best plays we've seen in a while, snaring a comeback line drive by calmly turning his body slightly and catching it behind his back...web gem!

But the real story of the night was the bullpen. 7 innings of 3 hit, no run ball. Heilman looked good; Wagner was dominant; Duaner was enormous (and got a huge ovation from the crowd); Feliciano inexplicably walked Nick Johnson on 4 straight pitches in the only batter he faced; Joe Smith continues to dazzle and was effectively wild, stranding inherited runners--his ERA is now a sparkling 1.13, while P2, Duaner and Wagner all have perfect 0.00 ERAs.

"The bullpen held us together," Randolph said. "That was the glue tonight."

Joe Smith has been especially impressive...he's a unique talent, and guys simply don't look comfortable against him.

The Mets are gaining confidence in him with each outing.

Here are his 2008 game logs:

Regular Season													Season to Date
Date	Opponent	Score	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K			W	L	SV	IP	ERA
Apr 17	WAS	W 3-2	-	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	1			0	0	0	8.0	1.13
Apr 16	WAS	W 5-2	-	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	2			0	0	0	6.2	1.35
Apr 13	MIL	L 7-9	-	0.2	1	1	0	0	0	1			0	0	0	5.1	1.69
Apr 11	MIL	W 4-2	-	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	0	0	4.2	1.93
Apr 10	PHI	W 4-3	-	1.1	2	0	0	0	1	1			0	0	0	3.2	2.45
Apr 8	PHI	L 2-5	-	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0			0	0	0	2.1	3.86
Apr 5	@ ATL	L 5-11	-	1.1	1	1	1	0	0	1			0	0	0	2.0	4.50
Apr 1	@ FLA	L 4-5	-	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	0	0	0.2	0.00
Total				8.0	4	2	1	0	2	6			0	0	0	0	1.13

As a bit of a forgotten aside, how nice was it to see Carlos Delgado come up with the clutch hit to tie the game in the 8th? He had a terrific at bat and put a solid swing on the ball when he needed to.

So with the sweep in hand, and a 8-6 record, the Mets head to Philly--tired, ready and rolling.

In other news Carlos Beltran didn't start do to some stiffness in his neck. Adam Rubin from the Daily News covers it here.

Newsday reports on Willie's anger over the increase in fraternization.

The Daily News reports that Cole Hamels is eager to face Santana.

The always outstanding Ben Shipgel from the NY Times gives his rundown of last night's game.

In our on-going theme on the Mets and Walks, take a peek at the box score...they added 8 more walks to their total last night. HoJo!

Not to be negative, but Lastings was pretty awful in this series. 1 for 6 with 3 Ks last night. I wish him well and hope he has a great career, but now that this series is over, he should take some lessons learned and move on....he was obviously trying way too hard these last few games.

OK, enjoy your coffee this morning....we have a lot to look forward to tonight through our tired eyes!