Good Morning Mets Fans!

Pedro, Oh Pedro!

Yes you wily old coot...we knew you'd do something special in August after you returned, but you've been so overshadowed by Pelfrey and Jose and David and Carlos y Carlos and Wags going to the DL and Daniel Murphy.

But we knew. Your good old pals at NY Sports Dog knew.

What did we know? It's simple mi amigo, we knew that you had the heart of a warrior and the baseball IQ of Albert Einstein.

We knew you'd get the job done.

How good has Pedro been in August? Pretty damn good:

7 Starts, 2-1, 3.83 ERA, 42.1 IP, 14 BBs, 33 Ks

Now those numbers may not jump out at you the way CC Sabathia's would, but they are brilliant nonetheless--they are solid #3 starter numbers and that is precisely what the Mets needed from Pedro.

Ask yourself this, if Pedro wasn't able to come back and pitch effectively, where would the Mets be right now? Here's a hint--not in first place.

Yesterday Pedro had only average stuff, but he pitched his tail off and the result was a Met win at a time year when every game is crucial.

"Pedro was Pedro," Manuel said. "He didn't have his greatest stuff, but he pitched - magnificently. That was a magnificent effort by him."

"This team hasn't given you any hints about what happened last year," Martinez said. "It's a different group. We're all professionals here and I think we deserve a little more respect. We don't slack around. We work. If we get beat, we get beat. I don't think we're going to be taking anything for granted."

Pedro started off on very shaky ground, quickly surrendering two runs to the Fightin' Fish. From there he settled down and used every trick in his arsenal, scaterring hits and coming up with big Ks when he needed them.

"Pedro's still Pedro. He knows how to pitch," Fredi Gonzalez said after Martinez notched his 214th career victory. "It's not the same Pedro we all knew eight or 10 years ago, but you saw the command and the pitching and the know-how."

"I was a little sluggish today," said Martinez, whose fastball rarely crept above the low 80s. "I didn't feel quite upbeat. But I was able to use my experience to make some pitches, and we ended up winning the game."

Pedro was helped by homeruns by Nervous Nick Evans, his first career dinger, David Wright, aka "Mr September", and Carlos Beltran, who looks like he's ready to lift the team on his back for a bit and carry them to the finish.

It was nice to see Evans get his homerun--the kid has a decent power stroke and he will absolutely hit more homeruns as his lanky frame fills out.

"It was great," Evans said. "I thought it was going to hit the wall the whole time."

Jerry Manuel once again orchestrated a mini-masterpiece, using 5 relievers to get through the final 3 innings.

It was another bounceback win, a winning road series, and it kept the Mets a game up on the Phils, who are making no bones about their desire to win this thing.

What we have here is a pennant race, and there's no where Mets fans would rather be.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (76-61) «	0	1	2	0	0	0	3	0	0	6	12	0
Florida (69-68)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	0

Player of the Game

New York

D. Wright	AB	5
	R	1
	H	3
	HR	1
	RBI	1

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose Reyes, SS	5	1	2	1	0	1	2	.306
Nick Evans, LF	3	1	2	1	0	0	0	.275
a- Ryan Church, PH-RF	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	.300
David Wright, 3B	5	1	3	1	0	0	2	.295
Carlos Beltran, CF	4	1	1	2	0	0	1	.273
Carlos Delgado, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.257
Fernando Tatis, RF-LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.293
Pedro Feliciano, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Joe Smith, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Brian Stokes, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.667
Damion Easley, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	1	1	.272
Robinson Cancel, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.206
Pedro Martinez, P	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	.147
b- Daniel Murphy, PH	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	.333
Scott Schoeneweis, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Aaron Heilman, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c- Endy Chavez, PH-LF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.272
Totals	36	6	12	6	1	6
a-singled for Evans in the 7th
b-walked for P. Martinez in the 7th
c-singled for Heilman in the 8th
Batting
HR - Nick Evans (1, Olsen), David Wright (27, Olsen), Carlos Beltran (21, Olsen)
SF - Carlos Beltran (6)
SH - Robinson Cancel (1)
RBI - Jose Reyes (56), Nick Evans (6), Ryan Church (38), David Wright (103), Carlos Beltran 2 (93)
2-OUT RBI - Nick Evans (1), David Wright (40)
SB - Jose Reyes (46, 3rd base off Olsen/Baker)
Team LOB - 7
Fielding
DP - Easley-Reyes-Delgado

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pedro Martinez (W,5-3)	6	7	2	2	1	4	0	5.07
Scott Schoeneweis	0.2	1	0	0	1	0	0	3.06
Aaron Heilman (H,15)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.23
Pedro Feliciano	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.91
Joe Smith	0.2	0	0	0	1	1	0	3.88
Brian Stokes	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	2.75
WP - Pedro Martinez (2), Aaron Heilman (2)
Pitches-Strikes - Pedro Martinez 101-64, Scott Schoeneweis 23-13, Aaron Heilman 7-5, Pedro Feliciano 4-3, Joe Smith 14-8, Brian Stokes 26-18
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Pedro Martinez 5-8, Scott Schoeneweis 1-1, Aaron Heilman 1-0, Joe Smith 1-0
Batters Faced - Pedro Martinez 25, Scott Schoeneweis 4, Aaron Heilman 1, Pedro Feliciano 1, Joe Smith 3, Brian Stokes 5