Friday, August 22, 2008

The Mets' Killer D's

David, Delgado and defense. Those are the Mets' Killer D's and they were the key to not just last night's victory, but our potential pennant run.

David Wright and Carlos Delgado have decided to carry this team offensively, and I am happy to see them do it. Wright homered for the second straight game, while Delgado was a component of basically every run scoring opportunity the Mets had.

Delgado came through late in the game for the second time this series with a clutch hit in the 9th inning to drive home David Wright. Now while Delgado's hit was pretty clutch, even though I'm not sure what happened to the left fielder on the play, the bigger clutch play was Wright's double just two batters earlier. Wright with a 3-2 count drove the ball into the opposite field gap for a double and basically set the tone for the Mets in the bottom of the 9th. Then Delgado went the opposite way to drive Wright in for the win.

That's the key folks. When Wright and Delgado are going to the opposite field, you know they are in the zone at the plate.

Let's not overlook the Mets defense as well. We got some help from the umpire in the top of the 9th, but throughout the game the Mets D looked fantastic. From Wright bare-handing dribblers, to Castro turning two, to Reyes & Reyes, the Mets defense is a marquee aspect of this club.

Pedro Martinez had a decent performance, but got himself into trouble in the 6th inning. I think Pedro should not be allowed to pitch more than 5 innings. Anything after the 5th is just bonus, but has the potential to turn ugly. The best pitching performance of the night came from Luis Ayala who is proving himself to be the MVP of the bullpen. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop, but until it does Ayala is my go to guy in the bullpen.

If you woke up this morning and felt something different in the air, you'd be correct. It's pennant fever folks, and it's contagious. Bring on the Astros!

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