Good Morning Mets Fans!

Encore! Encore!

Thanks to a sterling effort by Mets ace Johan Santana, the Mets kept pace with the Phillies and added a game to their wild card lead.

With only 10 games left in the season, every day is like an epic play being acted out before our very eyes. Yesterday, Johan Santana gave us a Tony award winning performance in the lead role.

Johan pitched seven strong innings and only allowed 1 earned run against a team that can hit. He pitched quickly, efficiently, and most certainly could have pitched deeper in the game had the situation called for it.

"We know every time he takes the ball he’s going to put us in good position to win a game," Jose Reyes said. "He’s one of the best pitchers in the game. It’s a real good feeling when he goes to the mound."

"I’m just like anybody," Manuel said. "When you have a pitcher like that you feel good the night before, obviously after the last game and you know you’ve got him. Once the game starts, it’s still baseball. Anything can happen. He seems to be a guy that rises to that occasion every time. It makes it exciting to say that he’s the guy that night, especially because the games are so big."

With a sparkling 2.65 ERA on the year, 2nd in the NL, Santana has had an impressive debut with the Mets. He is also second in the league in Innings Pitched, 6th in Ks, and 12th in Wins. With a better bullpen behind him he would most likely be the NL Cy Young front runner.

He has pitched his best ball in the latter part of the season, going 7-0 with a 2.26 ERA over his last 14 starts. He's an ace....a big-game ace.

His teammates helped him, and themselves out, with some excellent at-bats.

Brian Schneider hit a pair of homeruns, Daniel Murphy had two hits in the 2 hole, and Jose Reyes, Ryan Church, and Carlos Beltran all had RBIs.

Jose Reyes is really heating up--he has that look about him--the caged panther at the plate. Jose is batting an even .300 over his last 7 games with a .533 slugging percentage.

Jose knows the pressure is on him to succeed, to drive the train, to lead the charge and produce runs. "You hear people say, when Jose Reyes goes, the Mets go," Reyes said.

The hottest Met of all is Carlos Beltran. All he's done in September is hit .386 with an incredible 1.207 OPS. Beltran is hitting to all fields, driving the ball, legging out exra base hits, and playing some of the best center field of his life.

So while Reyes and Beltran are hot, other players look like they are coming around. Ryan Church is hitting a bit; the aforementioned Brian Schneider looks relaxed up there; Delgado continues to have excellent at bats and produce.

The one guy who desperately needs a change of scenery is David Wright. He has been Mr Hot and Cold the last few weeks, and right now he is cold as ice. I thought that Jerry Manuel might sit him one of these last two games, but they are just too important right now.

Now the Mets head to Atlanta for their final road games of the year....a 3 game set against the always pesky Braves. Then it's back home for 3 with the Marlins and 4 with the Cubs.

10 games. That's it. Win 9 of them and they are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. Anything less, and it's going to take help from the Phillies and Brewers opponents.

Enjoy your coffee--Act II is tonight!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (85-67) «	1	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	7	11	0
Washington (58-95)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	13	1

Players of the Game

New York B. Schneider AB 4 R 2 H 2 HR 2 RBI 2

New York J. Santana IP 7.0 H 8 ER 1 BB 2 K 8