We Won Despite Ourselves

 Every time I think Johan Santana cannot be any more brilliant or magic, he does something else that leaves me slack jawed all over again. And I’m not talking about his jawing with Youkilis or coming back to strike that turkey out after hitting him with what looked like a strike (Talk about Youkilis positioning himself like Ron Hunt)! I’m talking about the man’s indefatigable capacity to flick off the blunders of his infield, and make outs when you would think he’d tear his clothes off, pull out his hair and leave the baseball diamond screaming and babbling incoherently.

Heck, watching Ramon Martinez play shortstop was enough to get me to do that around my living room. Let’s see there was Wright’s first inning error, and Murphy’s bad base-running decision…but always there was Johan back to slay all dragons through seven innings. Again, did he have his great stuff? Not really consistently, but he surely had great stuff when he needed it most. Prestidigitation through and through!

Since it’s easy to dwell on the negatives tonight, I’m going to resist any further mention of them. What was great was timely hitting and a wide range of base hit contributions, including Beltran and Wright, and Santos and, yes, Martinez, too. Also, Gary Sheffield nice to see you smack one against the foul pole in left!

The one thing that struck me is that when we do even most things well—even given the unfathomable mistakes–we’re going to win often. It’s kind of amazing that the bench, while not all that deep, is making contributions. Tighter fielding, guys, and Mets fan confidence will exude.

Lastly, how about that BP! Parnell was right around 100MPH on several pitches. Wonder if he was having any adrenaline issues! And Roddy is 12 for 12!

Great win tonight Mets fans. How about we blast ‘em out tomorrow and guarantee ourselves a series victory!