An average team goes down by five runs on the road and folds. A good team scraps back and keeps the game close, maybe even pulls it out. A "team on a mission" (or as cliche's go, I prefer the more gaudy "Team of Destiny") puts together their biggest inning EVER and sends the home team back to the dugout deflated and beaten.
The Amazing Mets did the latter last night. Facing a 5-0 deficit at Wrigley Field, they sent 17 men to the plate, two of whom hit grand slams, and scored 11 runs in a historic 6th inning. The 11 run outburst marked the biggest inning the Mets have put up in their enitre 45 year history. Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran cleared the bases with homers and David Wright added a solo shot for emphasis. Duaner Sanchez also made an impressive showing, striking out the side in the 9th to put the game away. There are a few games you look back on at the end of a great season and if the Mets win the pennant, this will be definitely be one of them. The Mets came back from an ugly 9-2 loss on Sunday and a 5-0 defecit last night and sent an emphatic message to the league that they don't quit.
In a related tale of perciverance, that I hope I am writing about for the last time, the Atlanta Braves just will not go away. Like gum on the bottom of your shoe, they continue to distract, annoy and just make life a little less pleasant. On an otherwise brilliant night for Met fans, the Braves put together their 5th victory in a row and have now won 9 of their last 11 games. Worst of all, Chipper Jones is leading the charge. Chipper has an extra base hit in 14 straight games including a home run last night. He is 2-3 so far tonight and the Braves have already staked themselves to a comfy 12 run cushion in the 5th.
A 12-game lead in July is great, but the Mets are not a post season lock. Two weeks ago, the Braves were left for dead. Today, the Phillies, Marlins and Nats are all looking up in the standings at them, like so many times over the last 15 years. The Mets need to win and win often, keep pounding away, and not let the braves get within sniffing distance of first. Like a five run lead at Wrigley, first place can be fleeting.
