Good Morning 1st Place Mets Fans! 10 in a Row!

Pitching? Who needs pitching? Just get 6 straight hits in the 9th inning...that will work!

The Mets started the second half just the way they ended it--with a win--a big win.

Johan didn't have good stuff and allowed 5 runs in 4 innings, but ringmaster Jerry Manuel sprinkled a little more pixie dust on the team and brought out the Mets Magic for the 10th time in a row.

"It was a tough day, trying to battle the weather (86 degrees) and everything," Santana said. "I was trying to get into a groove. I wasn't able to get anything going."

That was OK though, because our good friend Mr Momentum made his daily appearance.

"You know momentum is one of those strange things, you can't identify it until it's over," Manager Jerry Manuel said. "I guess we still have it, I can say that." He then added, “They showed it’s going to take a lot to knock them out.”

And make no mistake, this was a big win, a statement win, and the players agree. David Wright said, “I think this was our most impressive win because Johan obviously didn’t have his best stuff and the bullpen got hit around a little bit.” And they did it--again--10 in a row with contributions from numerous players.

Does it seem like the Mets players take turns playing hero?

Last night was no exception--on a night that seemed like it might not go the Mets way, David Wright, Fernando Tatis, Carlos Delgado and Damion Easley made sure the winning streak would stay intact.

Fernando Tatis has a knack for the big hit and he is swinging a great stick right now--all Mighty Mouse did was go 3 for 4, raise his season average to .306, hit a homerun and a double, and drive in 3 runs. His double down the leftfield line in the 9th plated the Mets 10th and final run of the evening. For the month Tatis is batting over .400 with 4 HRs and and a 1.286 OPS.

Fernando Tatis...Hero.

Carlos Delgado, who we've been hyping here at NY Sports Dog for continued good hitting and a big second half, had a huge game. He started the scoring with a homerun that cleared the ballpark and landed into the river--a mammoth blast. You'd think he would've been happy with that, but no, Carlos got greedy and had two more hits, including a clutch 9th inning opposite field single that put the Mets ahead. Delgado finished with 3 RBIs to bring his season total to 55. He looks so solid at the plate right now and his season OPS+ is up to 113.

Carlos Delgado...Hero.

David Wright "does what he do"...he is a second half machine and 2008 is no different. He came up in the 9th, 1 out, Mets down two runs, man on first thanks to a clutch pinch-hit single by the ultra-scrappy Argenis Reyes, and he blasted a low slider over the leaping Ken Griffey, Jr to tie the game. It was one of "those hits" that send lightning bolts all over Mets Nation and is the reason we love this kid--he is off to a Hall of Fame career, and just may be the second best homegrown player ever to wear a Mets uniform. (tip of the cap to Tom Terrific)

David Wright...Hero.

Mets fans know that this game was played on the one month anniversary of Willie Randolph's firing....the Mets struggled, in fact they blew three leads before the dramatic comeback. In the end they won, and they are now 18-9 under "interim" manager Jerry Manuel.

Jerry is not an interim manager. Oh sure, he has that moniker now, but the fact of the matter is that this is now Jerry's team. During the 9th inning of the SNY telecast Keith Hernandez said, "Jerry has made every right move tonight, he is getting it done." I couldn't agree more.

My good friend "tom talkin" from bigblueinteractive said, "You don't change anything during a winning streak"...I agree...I would also like to see the Mets quietly ink Jerry to a 2-year deal at some point over the next few weeks.

Enjoy your coffee as you grin over these standings!

National League East
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent.	West	L10	Strk
N.Y. Mets	52	44	.542	-	28-18	24-26	18-16	7-8	18-14	10-0	W 10
Philadelphia	52	44	.542	-	27-23	25-21	17-14	17-12	14-7	5-5	W 1
Florida	50	45	.526	1½	26-20	24-25	19-14	11-10	15-11	6-4	L 1
Atlanta	45	50	.474	6½	30-18	15-32	16-19	9-16	12-8	5-5	W 2
Washington	36	60	.375	16	20-30	16-30	14-21	11-19	3-10	2-8	L 2

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (52-44) «	0	0	0	2	2	2	0	0	4	10	14	1
Cincinnati (46-51)	0	0	0	5	0	0	3	0	0	8	12	1

Players of the Game

New York C. Delgado AB 4 R 2 H 3 HR 1 RBI 3

Cincinnati E. Encarnacion AB 5 R 2 H 3 HR 1 RBI 1

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose B. Reyes, SS	5	0	0	0	0	2	2	.298
Endy Chavez, RF	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.265
David Wright, 3B	5	1	2	4	0	1	1	.284
Carlos Beltran, CF	4	2	1	0	1	1	2	.267
Damion Easley, 2B	5	1	2	0	0	1	1	.289
Carlos Delgado, 1B	4	2	3	3	1	1	1	.254
Fernando Tatis, RF	4	1	3	3	1	1	0	.306
Brian Schneider, C	3	1	0	0	1	1	4	.250
a-Ramon A. Castro, PH-C	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.282
Johan Santana, SP	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.128
b-Nick Evans, PH-LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	4	.229
Marlon Anderson, PH-LF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.200
Argenis Reyes, PH-2B	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.316
Totals	41	10	14	10	4	11	19
a-Struck out looking for B Schneider in the 9th.
b-Singled for J Santana in the 5th.
BATTING
2B - F Tatis (6)
HR - D Wright (18); C Delgado (18); F Tatis (5)
RBI - D Wright 4 (74); C Delgado 3 (55); F Tatis 3 (22)

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Johan Santana	4.0	6	5	5	3	2	2	3.10
Carlos Muniz	1.1	2	0	0	0	2	0	4.41
Pedro Feliciano	0.2	1	0	0	0	1	0	2.80
Aaron Heilman	0.2	1	3	3	2	0	0	4.97
Scott Schoeneweis	0.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	2.63
Duaner Sanchez (W,4-1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3.48
Billy Wagner (S,23)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.25