Braves 9 Mets 8

Halley’s Comet did not appear after all. And the Mets didn’t sweep the Braves in Atlanta, either.

Though, it is rather rare to witness a balk-off victory.

Here is the lineup the Mets will send to bat against Braves pitcher Mike Minor:

Jose Reyes – SS
Justin Turner – 3B
Carlos Beltran – RF
Daniel Murphy – 1B
Jason Bay – LF
Ronny Paulino – C
Scott Hairston – CF
Ruben Tejada – 2B
R.A. Dickey – P

Nice to see Justin “Mr. RBI” Turner back in the lineup. Also nice to see Scott Hairston get a start in centerfield against the lefty; he must be getting rusty. I know Angel Pagan is red-hot but it’s not the worst thing in the world to give him a day off to rest the legs.

The moment we’ve all been waiting for since July 30, 2004 has finally arrived: Scott Kazmir is available, free and clear, after being released by the Angels.

Kazmir was going to be the lefthanded Tom Seaver until Rick Peterson thought ten minutes could fix Victor Zambrano and the Wilpons believed the Mets were still in the pennant race — despite the fact that they were in fourth place with a 49-53 record and 7 games out of first.

We know how it turned out; Zambrano was awful before going down with an elbow injury, and Kazmir went on to have a few good seasons before struggling with injuries himself (which GM Jim Duquette expected).

Now that Kazmir is out there for the taking, do you want him back in the Mets organization? He’s still only 27 years old.

Hat tip to loyal, longtime MetsToday reader / commenter “Mic” for the link.

Mets 4 Braves 0

The Mets are starting to look like the best of the mediocre teams in the NL. Don’t believe it? Just look at their record: they’re finally at .500.