300 is a magic number

Tom Glavine pitched well in both of his shots at win number 300, but on Sunday he got enough support from his offense and his bullpen to etch his name in the record books. He gave up two runs on six hits and one walk in six and one-third inning and exited with a four-run lead, much more comfortable than the one-run margin he left with on Tuesday. He was relieved by Guillermo Mota and Pedro Feliciano, the two men most responsible for blowing Tuesday's lead, and they weren't much better on Sunday, letting two runs cross the plate. But the offense tacked on three more runs and Aaron Heilman, Jorge Sosa and Billy Wagner helped the 8-3 score hold up.

It hasn't always been easy rooting for Tom Glavine. As a Mets fan, seeing him come over from the hated Brave was a somewhat awkward moment. And the way he pitched his first year in the blue and orange--9-14, 4.52 ERA--could've made one wonder whose payroll he was really on. But in 2004 he really turned things around, posting ERAs under 4.00 for three straight years. In 2007 he and his casual relationship with the strike zone have not always been easy to watch. But he's played a significant role in the Mets' return to respectability. And anyone who made it through the Art Howe years with his sanity intact deserves respect. So hats off to another terrific Tom in Mets history. Even when his Hall of Fame plaque is unveiled with that evil A adorning the hat, I'll applaud.

I'll also applaud the Mets as a whole, who did a fine job to win four of six on the road from the two teams battling for the NL Central lead. They outscored the Cubs and Brewers 37-24, including three games in which they scored at least eight runs. They only did that twice in the entire month of July. Ramon Castro finally got a chance to play regularly, starting the first five of these games. This didn't go all that well, as he had only three hits in twenty-three at bats, but he did hit two home runs, or as many as Paul Lo Duca has hit in his last thirty-eight games. Lo Duca had a single in five at bats on Sunday. Lastings Milledge also had a good week filling in for Carlos Beltran in center, hitting .368/.400/.474.

It's back to divisional competition on for the Mets (63-48) on Tuesday, as the Braves (59-53), who trail the Mets by 4.5 games, come to town. Oliver Perez (10-7, 3.00), Orlando Hernandez (7-4, 3.00) and John Maine (12-6, 3.27) will start for the Mets. Buddy Carlyle (6-3, 4.20), John Smoltz (10-6, 3.04) and Tim Hudson (12-5, 2.95) will go for Atlanta.