Jump Around

Game 72: Athletics 0, Mets 1
40-32 for the season

it was a great pitchers duel tonight-- El Duque for the Mets, coming back after two bad outings and keeping the A's scoreless on six hits in seven innings, and Joe Blanton pitching for Oakland, holding the Mets to five hits in eight shutout innings in a row. it ultimately came down to the closers, and Wagner is one of the best in the game. Santiago Casilla, bless his heart, is not.

tonight was important for a lot of reasons. one, it was rather important that the Mets win two in a row again, since it hadn't happened since May. two, it was pretty important that the Mets win a series, since that hadn't happened in six straight series. three, Duque had two bad starts in a row, and that had to stop. all of that happened, and every other team in the NL East lost today. oh, and the Yankees did, too.

my favorite moment came toward the end of the 7th, when Duque let two men on base and Willie came out to bring Feliciano in. Orlando convinced Willie to let him pitch, and then delivered with an inning-ending K. when El Duque says "Si, yo puedo," you'd better believe he can do it.

of course, Paul LoDuca lost his shit at the umpire tonight, but that ended up well, too-- it got Ramon Castro in the game, and in the top of the 9th, Shrek hit his second double of the year. two batters later, David Wright drove him in with a walk-off double to win the game. it was in many ways a perfect day.

and when it was all over, the Powers That Be at Shea played the House of Pain classic "Jump Around," a much more fitting tribute for a win from this Mets team than anything Bob Seeger ever sang.