Good Morning Mets Fans! Back in 1st Place!

Daniel Murphy is a hitter--he hits, and hits, then he hits some more.

Leadoff hits, clutch hits, RBI hits, rally extending hits...he hits.

The Mets young ball striker is hitting .374 on the season with a 1.012 OPS and 20 RBIs in 99 at-bats. In September he's hitting .467 (14-for-30) and is .500 on the current trip (5-for-10).

With the Mets and Braves tied 5-5 he hit a 1-out rocket to the wall that plated two. All told it was part of a 4-run inning that led to victory--a victory that put the Mets back in 1st place over a Phillies team that finally lost a game.

Murphy--a solid citizen who is thoroughly enjoying the ride, had this to say: "It's the biggest thing that's ever happened to me," said Murphy, who has been a force from the left side since being called up in early August. "I'm just happy to be able to help this team win, because they've welcomed me with open arms and made me feel comfortable."

Mets manager Jerry Manuel plans to ride Murphy's hot hand for the next week. "He is going to play," said Manuel, "Our next six games are against right-handed pitchers, so he's the left fielder. There's no question he's a guy we could play every day. It's just tough to not use other people when your lineup is so out of whack with lefties like it is right now."

In a wonderful season for Mets fans, Daniel Murphy has been a breath of fresh air, an invigorating presence, and a hope for the future.

Yesterday youth was served. In addition to 23-year old Murphy, 22-year old Nick Evans hit a HR, 25-year old Jose Reyes had 3 hits and 2 RBIs, and 25-year old David Wright had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.

Reyes started the game with a leadoff HR--he now has 69 extra-base hits on the year and is 4 hits away from 200 on the season. This is the Jose Reyes that is a force--the game changer, the leader, the turbocharger of the Mets offense. He is all smiles right now as the gritty Mets make their playoff push.

The Mets bullpen pitched fairly well. Yes Nelson Figueroa came on and was victimized by some poor defense, but all told the bullpen pitched 3 innings and did not allow an earned run.

Brian Stokes was especially impressive, throwing 2 innings and earning the win. Aaron Heilman got a big out, and it was hugs and handshakes after the game.

"For Aaron Heilman to get that out was not only big for us, but for him, too," Manuel said. "You could recognize the change in the flow of the game."

So the Mets have a Magic Number again (9) for the NL East, and another Magic Number (7) for the NL Wild Card.

2008 NL Standings
East	W	L	PCT	GB	RS	RA	EXPW	EXPL	DIV	WC	POFF
New York	86	67	.562	-	762	668	90.6	71.4	54.6	32.7	87.4
Philadelphia	86	68	.558	0.5	759	651	90.8	71.2	44.8	45.5	90.2
Florida	81	72	.529	5	738	734	85.7	76.3	0.6	1.7	2.3
Atlanta	67	87	.435	19.5	711	745	70.5	91.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
Washington	58	96	.377	28.5	615	780	61.1	100.9	0.0	0.0	0.0

This is the Mets division to win--just keep winning--just keep riding the youth--just keep allowing Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado to drive in runs--just piece together enough solid bullpen to close out the games.

Sound easy, right?

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (86-67) «	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	4	0	9	12	3
Atlanta (67-87)	0	2	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	5	8	1

Player of the Game

New York

J. Reyes	AB	4
	R	3
	H	3
	HR	1
	RBI	2