Lucky 13

DC's great, but it's been a little tough to post to the old blog in the past few days. I don't have internet in my apartment quite yet, and I can't really post anything at work, so for internet access in my spare time I've had to resort to the Cosi's with free WiFi at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 3rd St., SE, which I didn't know existed until yesterday. What a long strange trip it's been. Not really. But I definitely am still getting settled down here.

The Mets will be in town next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and I'll definitely be there all three nights, rain or shine this time. Hopefully they'll be able to reprise their performance from the last time they came down to RFK Stadium, when they completed a three-game sweep of the Nats. That was nice.

Hopefully the Mets can build on their 5-1 RFK record next week. I'll be watching intently.

But let's talk about the last 5 games, the time I've spent lacking the ability to write anything. The Astros came into Shea this weekend, and the Mets sent them away unmercifully with a three-game sweep, punctuated by another solid performance by Pedro Martinez on Sunday. After giving up just two earned runs over 5 innings last Monday against Cincy, Pedro again went 5, throwing 92 pitches while this time giving up no runs, earned or unearned, to earn his second victory in as many 2007 tries. Carlos Beltran and Moises Alou each were responsible for 2 of the Mets' 4 runs in the 4-1 victory.

While the Mets last night failed to record their second 5-game winning streak of the season, getting thrashed by the Braves 13-5 on an off night for Orlando Hernandez and just about every member of the B-list bullpen - save Phil Humber - it's cool because Oliver Perez (7 IP, 2 ER) and David Wright (6th inning 2-run job) helped the Mets turn in a really really incredibly good-looking 3-2 victory during which Marty Noble almost wet his pants. Read that article I linked up. There's a good chance Marty has a serious man crush right now on every Mets player, especially David Wright. Not that I don't share his sentiments. There's a Steven Lynch song about that...

Seriously, though, September has been a sexy month to be a Mets fan. Sexy September. I like the way that sounds. It's kind of sexy. But more than anything else I like the way the Mets have played, after August, with the exception of the one skid-stopping victory in Atlanta, ended with a 5-game losing streak, which included the 4-game Philadelphia incident.

The Mets will have a chance to exact some revenge this weekend

Even after last night's loss, the Mets have busted out the steamroller in September, going 8-2, and 9-2 overall since Pedro returned to the clubhouse on that aforementioned night in Atlanta. Damn, September is starting SO much better than June did. And the better news, perhaps, is that as we get into magic number territory, last night's loss is really quite unfazing because the Phillies lost and that means the combination of games we have to win and the Phillies have to lose for us to win the division again still dropped to 13. We'll hope El Duque's okay; that's two "off games" in a row for him and he did look to be favoring his previously injured foot a little bit on the mound. But that's really the only thing. I don't care how Aaron Sele (1 IP, 1 three-run homer given up to Mark Teixeira) pitches because barring a collapse of epic proportions, we're going back to the playoffs, and barring a colossal mind freeze by Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson, and Omar Minaya, Sele and his 5+ ERA won't be pitching in October.

And that's right - 13 wins, 13 Phillies losses, 6 wins and 7 Phillie losses, 8 wins and 5 Fightin losses, and for the first time in club history the Mets will have won consecutive division titles. September is sexy, but that's even sexier. It's a good time to be a Mets fan.

Here's hoping October brings more sexiness. I just saw a woman who looked strikingly similar to Condoleeza Rice. Not so sexy.

Peace, love, and good vibes for both you and the orange and blue. Dong maber, as they say in Uganda...

(Photos courtesy ballparkwatch.com, dominicansummerleague.com)