The New York Mets beat the New York Yankees 7-4 on Saturday.  This was a good win for the Mets especially after their horrible series against the Washington Nationals.  The Mets dropped three of four to the Nats and have been playing uninspired baseball.  Comments made by closer Billy Wagner after Thursday’s loss caused a lot of Mets’ discussions, callers flooded the airwaves of sports talk radio, and Mets stories filled the pages of the New York newspapers.  It seems that Carlos Delgado and Wagner have cleared the air and apparently the two met privately on Friday to discuss Wagner’s comments.  After that meeting, the Mets had a team meeting and although the specifics of that gathering have not been disclosed, you get the sense that the Mets cleared the air as a team and are ready to get back to baseball. 

Stopper Johan Santana took the mound for the Mets, his start had been pushed back one day so that he could pitch the first game of the Subway Series, however because of Friday’s rain out, Santana took the mound on Saturday with extra rest and it showed, Santana struggled early, walking lead off hitter Johnny Damon to start the bottom of the first, the second guy to come to the plate was Met killer Derek Jeter who hit a home run to left field and with that it looked like as if it would be the Yankees day, the Mets were down 2-0 and Santana had yet to record an out.  Santana was not sharp but managed to get out of the first inning with out giving up anything else and also pitched a scoreless second.  With the score still 2-0 in the bottom of the third, the game turned in the Mets favor.  Johnny Damon lead of with a single, Bobby Abreu hit a long double to right fielder Ryan Church, he cut the ball off in the gap and the Mets executed a perfect relay play, Church hit cut off man Luis Castillo who threw to catcher Brian Schneider, Schneider did a perfect job of blocking the plate, Damon who was trying to score from first was thrown out at the plate and the Yankees would not score again until Jason Giambi hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh.  But at that moment, something changed and you could feel the momentum swing in the Mets favor.  Santana settled in and as the game went on he got better and better, he did give up three homeruns; two of them were solo homers but Santana pitched deep into the game going 7 2/3 giving up 7 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks and 5 strike outs.  In the bottom of the eighth Billy Wagner had a chance to put up or shut up and did just that, he recorded a four out save, although the bottom of the ninth might have been a little more exciting than one might have liked, Wagner finished it out and the Mets won the first game of the series.    

Andy Pettitte pitched for the Yankees and in the first two innings looked unhittable, in fact, in the first two innings Pettitte had already recorded five strike outs.  To their credit, Mets batters hung in and had some good at bats, in the top of the fourth the Mets would take the lead and not look back.  Ryan Church lead off the inning with a single to center, David Wright got credit for a single when he hit a ball to center that that Jeter lost in the sun and was unable to make a play on, Carlos Beltran followed that up with a singled to left fielder Johnny Damon.  Ryan Church took advantage of Damon’s lack of arm strength and scored from second on the play.  Andy Pettitte then walked Moises Alou to load the bases; Carlos Delgado popped up and Damon Easley was called out on strikes but with two out Pettitte walked Brian Schneider which also walked in the tying run.  Luis Castillo came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit what basically amounted to a swinging bunt that looked as if it might go foul, however it stayed fair and neither Pettitte nor third baseman Alberto Gonzalez could make a play on it, everyone was safe and the third run of the inning crossed the plate. 

The Mets scored three more runs in the top of the seventh off reliever Kyle Farnsworth.  Farnsworth has been to the Yankees what Aaron Heilman has been to the Mets, and today, he did not disappoint.  Jose Reyes hit his third homerun of the season in the top of the seventh off of Farnsworth who then walked Church and gave up a homer to David Wright to give the Mets a 6-3 lead.  The Mets would tag on one more run in the top of the ninth off Joba Chamberlain, Carlos Beltran hit a tripled on a line drive to left and scored on a two out single by Carlos Delgado.  

All in all it was a much better performance by the Mets.  Who knows with these guys.  Maybe all the controversy this past week with the awful series against the Nationals and the angst in the clubhouse actually did bring them together as a team.  For me as a Mets fan, it always is hard when this series comes around and the Mets aren’t playing well.  However, hanging in the game to win instead of quitting when they were down which we have seen so many times is a good sign, winning this series might be what the Mets need.  There was a renewed sense of excitement in the dugout today, and the TV cameras caught it more than once, it was almost a flashback to last season when the team actually seemed to be having fun.  

I know as a Mets fan I tend to get mad and complain and be hypercritical of the Mets play and of some of things manager Willie Randolph says and does.  But the truth of the matter is, I love the Mets, I love this team.  By and large, they are my guys, some I like more than others, but at the end of the day-they are still my team and my guys.  We just want them to win.  We want them to play better, and let me tell you, we want them to beat the Yankees. 

The Subway Series will wrap up tonight on Sunday Night Baseball.  First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 pm.  The Mets will face Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang and Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets.  Perez has had some good games against the Yankees, I just hope we see a good Oliver Perez tonight. 

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