The remaining 5 games on this road trip may very well prove to be the toughest stretch of the year so far. After tonight's debacle in Boston it really does not get any easier the rest of the trip. Pedro faces 9 and 3 Josh Beckett tomorrow night followed by Glavine versus Schilling. Then its on to Yankee Stadium where El-Duque will face off against Yankee ace Mike Mussina. Then it's much improved Randy Johnson against 5 inning pitcher Steve Trachsel before the road trip concludes on Sunday. The Mets have not lost more than two games in a row all year. That could end this week. The Red Sox now are riding a 10 game winning streak. Martinez and Glavine have not actually pitched great lately except maybe for Glavine in his last start in Toronto. It's times like this when you have to be glad that the Mets have an 11.5 game lead.

The way the rest of the National League has played so far against the American League, you can't be too worried because even if the Mets were to lose six in a row over the last two road series, it's not likely the NL East teams will take advantage. Hopefully the Mets can squeak out a win against the Sox and we'll see what happens against the Yankees. Judging by the Mets performance tonight against the Red Sox, you can't be too optimistic. Against a lefty who really did not show much more stuff then Soler, Mets hitters were not able to get a big hit when they needed it. Once again Nady with an opportunity to do something with the bases loaded came up empty. The best thing you can say about tonight's game is that Jose Reyes stayed in the game as all Mets fans everywhere held their collective breath when he collided with Varitek's shin guard. The other plus was to see Sanchez back in action with no effects from the pinch nerve, even if he game up a run.

Turning point of the game in my book was Millage misplaying the fly ball from Manny Ramierez. He definitely does not want to add that clip to his "Why the Mets should not send me back to Norfolk" video. What can you say, Milledge is young and the Green Monster can be very intimidating.

Soler was just plain awful tonight. It looked as if he was so up tight pitching in front of the Boston crowd. It's hard to understand why a guy who had the courage to defect from his home country Cuba seems so intimidated in many of his games. He certainly has demonstrated that he has good stuff. But so far he has been very inconsistent. It makes you wonder what Omar thinks and what he may do.

Notes: That was quite a poke from Beltran. The center field fence at Fenway is about 12 feet high and 415 feet from home plate.

I went to college in Boston and spent many evenings sitting in Fenway. I lived close enough that I could here the National Anthem when my apartment window was open. That was during the mid to late 70's. While living in Boston, I always imagined what it would be like to see the Mets play the Red Sox there. Of course back then the Mets were abysmal and would have been no match for the Red Sox of Rice, Yaz, and Fisk.

When was the first time the New York Mets ever played in Fenway Park? If you said October 21, 1986, game 3 of the World Series, technically you would be wrong. Game 3 of course was the first game that counted between the team near Kenmore Square and the one from Flushing. But in fact the Mets played an exhibition game earlier that same summer at Fenway to raise money for the Jimmy Fund, a long time baseball fund in Boston.  You can look it up.