Carlos y Carlos > Albert

Well, Albert Pujols certainly put on a show last night. After being struck out by John Maine in the first innings, Albert apparently was upset, and decided to smack Maine around in retribution. First came a 3 run shot, then, following Maine walking two guys to load the bases, a Grand Slam. Not a good outing for Mr. Maine, but he can be forgiven for a "stinker". At least, that is what Willie said in the post game news conference.

Meanwhile, Carlos Delgado apparently decided that he wasn't going to wait very long to hit his 400th career HR. After hitting number 398 on Sunday, Delgado hit number 399 in the bottom of the second. Then, following Pujols' displays in the 4th and 5th, Delgado came to bat in the 5th, with the Mets down 7-1 to Pujols. Delgado destroyed a Jeff Weaver (the cure for most flailing lineups) offering to the right field pen, nearly clearing it. It was now Pujols 7, Delgado 5, and the fans were getting pumped up.

We pause this recitation of offense prowess to discuss the Met bullpen. Last night, Mota made his debut (he got Piazza's locker by the way, interesting, or maybe not), 1 inning, 1 BB, 2 K's. Not bad. Pedro Part Dos pitched 1/3 of an inning, with 2 BB's. Chad Bradford bailed him out, getting Pujols to ground into a DP. Aaron (Das Wunderkind) Heilman pitched a scoreless 9th, 2 K's, and got the win, thanks to Carlos Uno.

In the 8th, Met fans were treated to the return of Timo Perez as a pinch hitter. Not too much of a reaction (I hate Timo, learn to run). Then, the moment a lot of fans were waiting for, Braden Looper came in. Now, the rule of thumb for former Met closers is this. Suck here, but when you go to your new team, you will master the Mets forever. See Benitez, Armando. So of course, Looper gets out of a jam. Lots of boos for Looper, and I swear I heard Dire Straits "Money for Nothing" on the PA system just before he came in. Gary Cohen on SNY was bringing up the injury, try to excuse things. That makes me angry. If it hurt that much, tell the team, and they could have dealt with his 6 week or so absence. He stunk, he's gone. Screw him.

Bottom of the ninth, over on Metsgeek, we thought Reyes would get a hit, The Undertaker would move him over, and one of the Carlos' would drive him in. Well, Reyes grounded out, but the Undertaker singled to center. Then came Carlos Uno. First pitch from Izzy (Izzy is not covered under the rule noted above, as he was a starter here, not a closer), Carlos goes BOOOM. I mean, he smoked that ball. Gary Cohen was going nuts. I was going nuts, the fans, even Beltran threw his helmet close to home and jumped onto the plate. He never looked so happy. The comeback was complete, Mets win. Very nice.

By the way, that's 5 in a row. Not bad.