This was a big win for two reasons. One, the monkey named Jeff Suppan is off the Mets’ back. Two, the Mets are one win away from winning the series.
The Suppan thing was especially irritating, considering that he is the epitome of “average”. A lineup like the Mets is not supposed to be dumbfounded by someone like Suppan, even on his best day — and certainly not in their own house. By beating Suppan on this Friday evening, there is little chance of a Mike Scott-like mental issue entering the picture. With the Brewers looking as good as they are in this young season, it’s less than a longshot that these teams will meet again in the postseason.
As far as the series goes, this was the game the Mets were supposed to win, and it was important from the standpoint of re-establishing home field advantage. During their last homestand, the Mets were “supposed” to take two of three from the Marlins — and in particular game two against Ricky Nolasco. Instead, they lost two of three, just as they had in the previous week at Shea against the Braves. The habit of losing at home has to stop if the Mets are to contend for the NL East crown — especially with the Braves back to their winning ways. A team must be comfortable and confident in their own house, especially when the postseason starts. What? May is too early to be thinking about the postseason? Peeshaw!
About the game …
Jorge Sosa had another surprisingly effective outing, though he still likes to give up the gopher ball. Sosa nearly finished seven full innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks, and only 2 earned runs. The only negative was that half the hits were homeruns. After throwing his 100th pitch, he walked off the mound to a standing ovation and a 5-2 lead. Pedro Feliciano came on to strike out pinch-hitter Corey Hart to end the inning. Lucky for Feliciano, Hart was wearing his Sunglasses at Night
Aaron Heilman chose to make the game interesting by giving up an infield hit and a two-run homer to the first two batters he faced in the eighth, then rebounded to retire the next three and setup a tight save opp for Billy Wagner. Wagner, who appreciates tight games, obliged by pitching a 1-2-3 ninth — in an efficient 6 pitches, 5 for strikes — to earn his 9th save.
Four of the the Mets’ five runs came via the longball, beginning with a solo shot by David Wright to left-center in the fourth. Carlos Beltran followed with an infield single, then Carlos Delgado went a yard to the opposite field to put the Mets ahead 3-zip. Moises Alou continued the brigade with a near homer off the centerfield fence that resulted in a double, and two batters later was driven in on a single by Paul LoDuca to make the score 4-0. Damion “Dr. Dramatic” Easley added an insurance run on a solo homer into his favorite spot — in the vicinity of the leftfield bleachers — in the seventh. As it turned out, the insurance was a sound investment, as his blast was the decisive blow.
Similarly, the Brew Crew scored all their runs on homers, as Geoff Jenkins and Prince Fielder touched Sosa for solos before J.J. Hardy got to Heilman in the 8th. Fielder’s shot was a line-drive missile; Shawn Green and Carlos Beltran did not even move, they just turned and watched it fly just below Citi.com sign beyond the rightfield fence. It was a hanging 0-2 slider.
Notes
Jose Reyes swiped his 20th stolen base. He’s on a pace to steal 95 for the season.
Paul LoDuca continues to stop the running game. He threw out Rickie Weeks on a strike-em-out, throw-em-out DP in the first. He’s now nailed 10-of-16.
We’ve been waiting for Wright and Delgado to get hot, and what do you know? Great timing, since Moises Alou has been cold and it appears Shawn Green is cooling off as well. Wright’s homer was the first hit of the game for the Mets, and followed a long fly to the right-center wall in his first at-bat. Both shots began as line drives, so maybe he really is on his way back.
Similarly, Delgado’s homer went over the leftfield fence, and when Carlos is hitting well, he’s waiting well. A great sign to see him driving the ball to the opposite field, especially after hitting his last homer off his front foot. Beltran, by the way, might have been out preceding Delgado’s blast. Prince Fielder ranged far to the left to nab a grounder, whirled and threw a perfect strike to Suppan, who seemed to beat Beltran to the bag by a half step. However, the first base umpire ruled that he was off the bag. It was an extremely close play that could have gone either way, and in the end turned out to be much larger than it was at the time.
Alou missed the third homerun of the fourth inning by about six feet; it bounced a little higher than halfway up the centerfield wall.
Not sure how Sosa is doing it, but I’ll take it. Eventually, the fact that he doesn’t throw a true offspeed pitch, and often throws the slider for a strike (meaning, it stays flat), will catch up to him. Hopefully, he can continue the magic until El Duque comes back.
Next Game
Mike Pelfrey vs. Ben Sheets at 1:10 PM. By winning the opener, some pressure is removed from Pelfrey to keep a series win alive. A win would sure be a nice shot in the arm for the 0-4 Pelfrey — and might be necessary to extend his stay on the 25-man roster.
The Brew Crew rolls in with the best record in the Major Leagues, a dominating 24-10 / .706 winning percentage that leads the NL Central by 7 games. They’ve won every series up to this point, and are third in the National League in both hitting and pitching. 
It will be a big test this weekend for both teams, as the surprising Milwaukee Brewers head into Shea for a three-game series with the Mets.
The Cincinnati Reds have sent inconsistent slugger Edwin Encarnacion to the minors, and promoted former New York Met Jeff Keppinger to take his place on the roster.
Just when all the hoopla surrounding Sunday’s 