Me on the Mets: A snag in the roll

It was a nice run. A 9-1 home stand and a blowout victory against the rival Philadelphia Phillies pushed the Mets into 1st Place in the National League East and had all the baseball analysts talking about the hot New York Mets.
    Then the walls tumbled just a bit with 10-0 and 11-5 blowout losses. But it really wasn’t as bad as it appears and the Mets have at least demonstrated they’ve got game.
    First, let’s get the negatives out of the way. The two losses in Philly shouldn’t depress Mets fans. The 10-0 loss was OK. The Mets were facing the Phils’ best pitcher, who showed his metal ... and it was the first time many of the Mets faced him. Usually, when batters haven’t faced a pitcher, the edge goes to the pitcher.
    In Sundays’s 11-5 loss, the Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead as David Wright blasted a home run in the first inning. They were leading 5-2 when Mets’ ace Johan Santana had a melt down and the Phillies scored 9 runs in the fourth inning.
    On that, methinks Santana hasn’t been pitching with his head and mainly with his arm ... trying to blow batters away. It seems the Phillies’ hitters were locked in, and Santana got burned by not using a pitcher’s most potent weapon — his brain.
    It also appeared the Phillies knew where the pitch was going. Hmmm, maybe Santana is tipping his pitches? Or maybe the Phils were stealing signs? It seemed as if the Phils had a camera hidden somewhere — but let’s not start another Spy Gate.
    Instead, here’s some good stuff from the Mets 9-1 roll.
    They won a swept a series against their arch rival, the Atlanta Braves. Then the swept a four-game series over the L.A. Dodgers. OK, the Dodgers played some horrendous defense, but the Mets still won.
    During that stretch, the Mets were operating on all cylinders. Pitchers — both starters and relievers — were virtually unhittable. Mike Pelfrey came up just shy of Jerry Koosman’s Mets’ record as he pitched 27 consecutive scoreless innings. Koosman had 32 and a third back in 1973.
    And the Mets’ offense was on a tear. Jason Bay and David Wright were getting extra base hits. Jose Reyes stole a base or two. The Mets scored when they had to.
    So the Mets now have a 14-11 record and are a game and a half out of first place. It’s only the second month of the season — there’s still a long way to go.
    At least there’s hope in Metsville. The Mets seem to be enjoying themselves on the field and that usually translates to a competitive team. There’s great juice flowing.
    Ya Gotta Believe!

    Now the Mets travel to Cincinnati to play the Reds (12-13) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then the San Francisco Giants (14-10) come to New York for a three-game series Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and the Metsies will likely face Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum during that series.
    For more on the Mets, including ticket info and schedule, visit http://newyork.mets.mlb.com.