All tied up

The Mets woke up Saturday in second place for the first time in more than five months. They did all they could not to stay there for long. The offensive was explosive from the start. John Maine was absolutely brilliant. And with a little help from the Washington Nationals, the Mets are once again tied atop the NL East with one game to play.

Maine's performance was the best by any Mets' starter this year and very nearly the stuff of legend. He walked a batter in the top of the first only to see him erased on a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play. He retired the next sixteen batters in order before allowing another walk with one out in the seventh. He got the next two batters to end that inning and the first two to start the eighth. At this point his line read seven and two-thirds innings, no hits, two walks and a career-high fourteen strikeouts. He had already thrown over 100 pitches but it looked like nothing would stop him from finishing this game. Then backup catcher Paul Hoover, in his thirty-fourth major league at bat, only in the game because Miguel Olivo was ejected for instigating a bench-clearing fracas in the fifth inning, hit a weak little dribbler down the third base line. David Wright charged and barehanded it, but there was nothing he could do. For the 7311th consecutive game, a Mets starter failed to pitch a no hitter. Still, it was a tremendous performance by Maine and he deserved every bit of the standing ovation he received as he walked to the dugout with two outs in the eighth.

Of course, the Mets' offense gave Maine a bit of breathing room right from the start. They scored twice in the first and at least once in every inning but the fourth. In total, they put up thirteen runs on nineteen hits and four walks. Lastings Milledge had three hits including two home runs. Ramon Castro had two hits with a longball of his own. It makes one wonder what the division standings might look like if these two hadn't been banished to the bench for the past week. Luis Castillo and David Wright each had three hits and two of Castillo's were doubles. Maine was the only New York starter without a hit, but he did draw a walk and score a run. Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran were the only other starters without at least two hits. Quite often this month the Mets have gotten great offensive production only for the pitching to fail them anyway. A couple of times they got good pitching but the offense dried up. This time both came through in an absolutely crucial game. Hopefully there's a little left in the tank for tomorrow.

It'll be Tom Glavine vs. Dontrelle Willis with the season on the line for the Mets. Willis has not had a good season, but he's been solid in his last couple of starts. Glavine, meanwhile, allowed ten runs in ten innings his last two times out. By Sunday night the Mets could be anything from outright division champs to part of a four-way tie with the Phillies, Padres and Rockies. All they can do is win. We'll worry about Monday (and Tuesday and Wednesday) when we have to.