The reason the Mets traded four prospects and paid Johan Santana 137 million bucks was tomorrow night’s game. The Mets find themselves deadlocked with the Philadelphia Phillies at the top of the National League East entering tomorrow’s opening game of the home stand. Their opponent is none other than the Phillies. The winner of tomorrow’s game takes sole possession of first place and perhaps sends a message to the other team as to who is in charge.

Santana has pitched well for the Mets. Certainly his record should be better than 8-7. There were many games where the Mets scored little for the left hander. But that could be said for other Mets pitchers as well. The reason a team wants to acquire a pitcher of Santana’s caliber is that if the offense can only score a couple of runs, it should be enough to stand up. He is supposed to be the stopper. On paper you could not ask for it to be set up any better than it will be at Shea Stadium tomorrow night.

Last season during an interleague series with Minnesota at Shea Stadium, Santana totally dominated the Mets lineup shutting them out. We have not seen that Johan Santana yet. We’ve seen hints of him but not consistently. Hopefully the magnitude of tomorrow’s game will get Johan’s adrenalin pumping. So far in his Mets career, Santana has not pitched in a bigger game.

It seems odd but I will actually be rooting for the Braves tonight against the Marlins. While we all anticipate tomorrow evening's showdown between the Mets and Phillies, let’s not forget the Marlins are only 1/2 game behind both clubs. Everyone seems to agree the Marlins won’t be able to hang in there all season but they are still there with young pitching and hitting to boot.

The Mets have not lost a series vs. the Phillies this year. They are 7-3 vs. Philadelphia having won 3 of 4 in Philly which started off the 10 game winning streak. The Phillies have not been at Shea since the opening series that began on April 8th.

Isn't it time that El-Duque goes away now?

For a minute I though I was watching an Ulti-Met classic game from 2006 on SNY last night. But then I realized players like Johan Santana and Fernando Tatis were not on the team then. Last night’s inspiring come back win was the kind of game commonly seen on SNY and CW11 two years ago.

On a night when Santana clearly had nothing and the bullpen gave up their first runs in God knows how long, the Mets still managed to win. In fact, they won their 10th consecutive game one shy of the club record. A club record 11 games was first set in 1969 then repeated a couple times in subsequent years including 1986.

Prior to a just two weeks ago I was writing on how when the Mets hit they don’t pitch and when they pitch they don’t hit. Last night looked like the former but the difference this time was that the Mets hitters just kept on hitting. Twice the Mets fell behind. After Carlos Delgado hit a moon shot into the Ohio River, the Reds game back in their half and scored 5 runs taking a 5-2 lead. Then the Mets took the lead 6-5 in part due to another homerun by Fernando Tatis. What a God-send Tatis has been. After Heilman loaded the bases with two out in the sixth, Scott Schoeneweis cleared them. It looked as if the magic had worn off. It looked as if the winning streak would stop at 9.

The Doubting Thomases amongst the Mets faithful had to be wondering if here we go again. But the Mets led by David Wright in the 9th inning trailing 8-6 would not say die. After Argenis Reyes singled, Wright launched an opposite field shot into the bleachers out of the reach of Ken Griffey Jr. to tie the game. Four more hits in a row followed against Francisco Cordero, the Reds closer. The hits included an opposite field single from Delgado for his third hit of the night. That hit put the Mets ahead. Then Fernando Tatis doubled down the left field line adding an insurance run. All Star Billy Wagner set the Reds down 1-2-3 and as Wright said in a post game interview, the Mets stole won for their 10th in a row winning 10-8.

The Mets have not lost a game since the Fourth of July, two weeks ago today. During this streak the Mets have had tremendous pitching. But in some of the games, the pitching has not been so great and yet the Mets still found a way to win. In two games against the Phillies, one against the Giants, and last night’s game Mets hitters were able to comeback after giving up leads. This is a great sign because a winning team is not going to have fantastic starting pitching every night and they are not going to score 10 runs every night either. So when the hitting can compensate for bad pitching and the pitching can compensate for bad hitting, a lot of games will be won.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the Mets right now is there confidence. This is the way the Mets looked in 2006. You get the feeling watching the Mets that they simply believe they can win every game. Of course the big test will come when this winning streak comes to an end. With 66 games left that’s bound to happen. How the Mets react to losing a couple in a row may well determine their ability to be a playoff caliber team. For the moment the Mets are in a flat footed tie for first place with the Phillies at 52-44. The Mets have made up as much ground on the Phillies as the Phillies did against the Mets last September. But it’s way too early to be popping champagne corks. There is a ton of baseball left to play. However, the outlook now looks a lot better than it did just two weeks ago.

I’ve about had enough of the Yankees and Yankee Stadium. After a while the tributes and adulation poured out to that team and edifice in the Bronx is getting a bit sickening. I understand it. I get it that the Yankees are the premier franchise in baseball with all their championships. I get it that with all the history in their building or should I say buildings since the one the All Star game was held in last night was about as original as another hamburger chain. But please now, can you make it stop.

As a Mets fan, it gets a little tiring after awhile. And it did not help that the Mets contingent contributed just a bloop single and a blown lead. There is a way all this can change however. Believe it or not, the city could become a Mets town again. For that to happen, it will take dedication from the players, the GM, and ownership.

If the Mets can continue the roll they started in Philadelphia and make it back to the playoffs, it would go a long way to making us forget the collapse of last season. Mets fans could start to really feel good again. That was happening last season when the Mets were so close to winning their second consecutive division title. Then they took two steps back and the Yankees who struggled all season made the playoffs again. Just when you thought the tide was changing, that orange and blue was washing over the city, the Mets threw it all back into the Yankees lap.

For much of this season, it did not look like anything would change. The Mets struggled all season long. But this time so did the Yankees. However, the Mets with new manager Jerry Manuel seem to have found their identity. They have won 9 consecutive games leading into the break. The Yankees on the other hand continue to struggle. And although both teams have nearly the same record (Mets are 1 game better), the Mets appear poised to charge and it is unclear if the Yankees will have what it takes to make a run. I would never count them out but right now the Bombers have serious pitching and injury concerns. The team with a chance to grab the future is the Mets. When you think about it, last night’s Yankee love fest was really about the past more so than the future.

The Mets players seem to have gotten their act together. They certainly are playing a great brand of ball and look to be having fun doing so. As Carlos Beltran said the other day, they are taking the field believing they can win every day. That’s an important feeling a winning team must have.

Omar Minaya and the rest of management must continue to improve the club but they must do so smartly. The Mets do not have a wealth of talent at the minor leagues to trade for another big name player. Omar said the other day he can no longer make 4 for 1 deals. Because the Mets do not have tons of blue chips in waiting does not mean there are not players who can help. Minaya feels strongly that Nick Evans will develop into a good player. Evans has shown that he can hit at the big league level. He’ll never be a super star but could be a valuable role player. Then there is 19 year old Fernando Martinez who may make it to Shea later this year.

Management while wanting to win this year must keep an eye on the future. To recapture New York or at least to maintain a balance with the Yankees, the Mets need to find a way to be competitive year in and year out. What’s interesting, and perhaps a good sign, is that while all the hoopla this season about young pitchers was over in the Bronx, it has been Mike Pelfrey of the Mets who has delivered. And so has another young pitcher on the Mets, Joe Smith. Smith in time could become a home grown closer for the Mets. Don’t forget, Joe is still very young and is developing into an excellent reliever.  

Ownership must do a better job at promoting the Mets. There is no reason the closing of Shea Stadium should pale in comparison to that of Yankee Stadium. Shea is full of history. There have been many great moments that have happened in the Queens ballpark. What Yankee Stadium moment has been played more than Mookie Wilson’s ground ball that got by Buckner. The Mets should have scheduled a Shea Stadium day bringing back as many great Mets and others as possible in tribute to a building that was the ultimate reason National League baseball returned to New York. Without that structure, there would be no Mets. I know the Mets have not won as many championships as the Yankees, who doesn’t? But that does not mean we cannot celebrate our 2 World Series titles, 4 pennants, 6 division titles and 2 wild card entries.

What kills me is the argument that Shea is an ugly facility with no character. How does a building provide character? It’s what happens inside the building that builds character. Is Shea any less run down than Ebbets Field or the Polo Grounds was before they were torn down. Let me put my Mets bias aside for a second. As an objective fan of ballparks Shea is as well kept as Yankee Stadium. I go to both places. Yankee Stadium’s concourses and bathroom facilities are no cleaner than Shea’s. In fact they are both very acceptable. To cast aside Shea as just a dump with no reason for celebration is very unfair and frankly extremely insulting to Mets fans. Believe it or not, there are thousands upon thousands of fans that would rather spend an evening at Shea than at Yankee Stadium. Many of us will miss Shea Stadium. That’s the yard where we became fans. I wish Mets management understood that.

The swing back for New York to be a Mets town is long overdue. For too many years now the Mets and their fans have been treated as second class citizens. Jerry Manuel got it right and it’s probably why I like him as manger. He pulls no punches. I’ll paraphrase a few comments he said recently. He said the Mets are number 2 in New York and he likely took some heat for saying so. He also said “It’s simple. You want to be number 1? Go out and win a few championships, it’s that simple.” You know something? When the man is right, he’s right.