Mets 6 Indians 4

A second sweep makes seven straight with the Subway Series on the slate.

If you listened on the radio, you heard Howie Rose say “put it in the books” through two sweeps. And you may have wondered if in fact there is a book on brooms. There is, sort of: Men With Brooms: A Sweeping Epic — though, it’s actually about the sport of curling, not baseball. But, I could see a similar book being written, titled “Mets with Brooms”.

Game Notes

R.A. Dickey’s dancing knuckler cannot be stopped. He’s won his fifth straight game and has pitched at least 6 innings in every one of his starts. In this contest he allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. In many ways his legend resembles that of Terry Leach.

Jose Reyes was a homerun away from the cycle, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. He’s now hit in nine straight games.

Ike Davis, Angel Pagan, Ruben Tejada, and Chris Carter each stroked two hits. Davis also drove in 2.

I still can’t figure out how Pagan isn’t hitting close to .400, when it seems like he’s 2-for-4 every game. Must be the new math.

The Indians’ defense and fundamentals continued to be absolutely atrocious, and had a hand in handing over the game to the Mets. Part of it is related to players out of position (i.e., Austin Kearns in CF), but again, it’s eerily similar to the fundamentally unsound teams in Washington the past few years.

So glad Pedro Feliciano was able to get into this game — especially after warming up but not getting into Wednesday night’s contest. He’s thrown 74 pitches (in games) in the past week, but who’s counting? A little extra work never hurts a reliever — just ask Fernando Nieve.

K-Rod managed to earn his 15th save without causing anyone a heart attack. The ninth inning was refreshingly only mildly stressful.

Next Mets Game

The Mets embark to the Bronx for a three-game weekend series with that other team from New York City. Friday night’s matchup begins at 7:05 PM and has Hisanori Takahashi taking the hill for the Mets against Javier Vazquez of the Yankees.

New York Times – David Waldstein has a GREAT story about Chris Carter’s legally blind grandfather who just saw Carter play at Progressive Field. This is an early frontrunner for tomorrow’s Feel Good Friday link.

ESPN New York – Adam Rubin reports that Jason Bay is not in the starting lineup tonight.

MetsBlog – Jason Bay wanted to play tonight, but according to the new rule, you don’t play the day after almost sustaining a serious injury.

The Jewish Week – A strange story here… The Mets are being sued by Kosher Sports, for allegedly barring the concession company from selling its food at Mets games on Friday night and Saturday. The Mets claim the lawsuit is without merit.

ESPN – Buster Olney has a rundown on the pitchers that the Mets may trade for. My money is on Jake Westbrook or Kevin Millwood.

SNY – Michael Salfino says the Mets have a hole at second base, but he doesn’t think Akinori Iwamura is the answer.

BrooklynMetFan – BMF says Angel Pagan is the Mets’ MVP so far this season. Hard to argue with that…

TONIGHT’S GAME

Tonight, the Mets (37-28) go for the sweep against the Cleveland Indians (25-39). R.A. Dickey (4-0, 2.78) will bare his knuckles against possible future Mets hurler Jake Westbrook (4-3, 4.62).

Here is the starting lineup for tonight’s game vs. the Cleveland Indians, courtesy of the Mets PR Dept.:

Reyes SS
Pagan CF
Wright 3B
Davis 1B
Francoeur RF
Carter DH
Blanco C
J. Feliciano LF
Tejada 2B
Dickey RHP

Bay rests his charley horse, Jesus Feliciano gets a start, Frenchy moves up in the lineup, and the Animal provides him protection. Let’s hope R.A. Dickey’s knuckler keeps dancing.

Post your comments, links, pictures below …

NOTE: This is a guest post by longtime Mets beat writer John Delcos. Please direct your comments to John. Enjoy!

The Mets’ June cruise has not only made them relevant in the National League pennant races, but subsequently also at the July 31 trade deadline.

With management believing this is no fluke and the Mets will continue to play alert, aggressive baseball, there are serious discussions not whether they should trade, but whom to trade for – and just as important, whom they should not trade.

Their interest, despite this remarkable run by the rotation, must remain pitching. First rotation; second bullpen.

There is a sense of calm derived from how well Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey have pitched, and a feeling of optimism with Jon Niese’s run since coming off the disabled list.

Slots four and five are a house of cards.

R.A. Dickey, despite being sterling since coming up from Triple A, is

MetsToday – If you haven’t seen Joe Janish’s post on the Mets’ roster, check it out.

OnTheBlack – Are the Mets setting fans up for disappointment? Take the poll and see what other fans think.

The Daily Stache – Randy Shemanski thinks Jenrry Mejia should be starting in the minor leagues.

Amazin Avenue – James Kannengieser thinks Jenrry Mejia should be starting in the minor leagues.

TedQuarters – Ted Berg crunches some numbers to explain Johan Santana’s performance.

TheRoPolitans – Andrew Vazzano shares a pearl of wisdom from Jerry Manuel.

ESPN New York – Adam Rubin gives an update on the minor leagues.

And in case you missed it, here’s Jason Bay discussing his collision/injury from last night’s game. Bay is fine, but is expected to be rested today – because that’s a rule Jerry Manuel made up: