David's All Wright

Mets fans that watched the USA vs Puerto Rico elimination game last night were treated to a spectacular display by Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, JJ Putz, Nelson Figueroa and Pedro Feliciano.

In the end it was DW and Team USA that got the upper hand.

After a tense 8 1/2 innings of baseball, Puerto Rico held a two run lead over the Americans, who were three outs from elimination.

After some great at-bats by his teammates including (gasp!) Jimmy Rollins and Kevin Youkalis, the stage was set for Wright to play hero, and he obliged with a focused at-bat that left no doubt to why this young man is widely regarded as one of the very best hitters in the game.

With the bases loaded and one out, the Mets superstar lashed a drive to rightfield to plate two runs as Team USA defeated Team Puerto Rico 6-5. The ensuing celebration was unreal, and the entire team piled on Wright--it was a great moment.

All told, Wright was 3-for-4 at the plate, including a stolen base and one of his patented "fly around" slides that enabled him to beat a great throw to the plate earlier in the game.

J.J. Putz, who surely looks like the pickup of the year, pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two.

Team Puerto Rico, to their credit, played great baseball and went down fighting.

Carlos Beltran had a highlight film catch that robbed Brian McCann of a home run--he floated back with ease and timed his leap perfectly, reaching up at the yellow homerun stripe to snare the ball and protect his team's lead.

Carlos Delgado hit a monstrous two-run homer to tie the game at 3-3 in the fourth. Delgado had a great WBC, and looks ready to start off 2009 where he left off in 2008.

In another great "WBC story", Nelson Figueroa looked sharp. His breaking pitches still have that nice bite, and his fastball was sharp and thrown in the correct situations and to the correct locations. All told, he and Pedro Feliciano combined for three scoreless innings.

So while I am "anti-WBC" in general (due to injury risk), last night was a treat for this Mets fan and proud American.

It was nice to see our guys play so well for both teams, and in the end, Team USA and David Wright left us with a walkoff thrill.

And of course I am excited to get a few more of our guys back in Spring Training...a win-win-win night!