Mike Cameron strode through the Met clubhouse before last night’s series opener against Milwaukee with an extra hop in his step. He pointed to his headband, which bore a rising sun and Japanese script, and asked “You know what that means? Victory.”
Actually, the translation would be Must Win. But the message was the same.
Manager Art Howe is fond of the cliche, “The worm has turned,” and the Mets have turned some corner from finding ways to lose games to at least giving themselves a chance to win.
Their starting pitching has been the NL’s best almost all year – but they’re finally getting clutch hits, and have brought their leaky pen up to par.
Coming into last night they’d won six of nine – and four straight – since April 27 to pass Philadelphia for third in the NL East. For a change, the swagger at Shea is in the home dugout.
“Right now there’s a great sense of confidence, a little rumble about playing for the New York Mets,” said Cameron. “Guys are feeling good, confident about playing. That’s a good thing. You have good days when you come to the park and it’s like that, and you win a few games.”
After hurting his right pinkie, Cameron sat out Thursday and last night. But in his six-game hitting streak, he’d hit .333 with three homers, six runs scored and five RBIs. Not bad for a guy who’d been hitting .229 with three homers, a dozen runs and nine RBIs in 20 games.
Along with Todd Zeile, Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer, Cameron is a big reason they’ve hit .294 in their nine-game resurgence, after batting a sorry .229 in their first 19 tilts. And after starting 7-12, they’ve climbed to 13-15.
“Things are coming together,” Cameron said. “The pitching’s [always] been there. We’ve gotten base hits with guys on base. Our bullpen has been doing a good job. You play consistently for nine innings, you find ways to win ballgames.”
Their starting staff has the best ERA in the majors, but the bullpen hadn’t held up its end, with the worst ERA in the NL. Pitching coach Rick Peterson has worked wonders, and the relievers went into last night riding a 13″-inning scoreless streak.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” Howe said. “The guys are feeling confident, and you figure somebody is going to find a way to win the game for us. That’s the good feeling you have when you start putting wins together. Now that we know we can do it, hopefully we can keep that feeling.”
In that same nine-game run, the relievers have allowed only two runs in its last 25 innings, a sterling 0.72 ERA. On April 16, they had a bloated 7.47 ERA. Since then, they’d pitched to a 1.37 ERA almost to slice the overall bullpen ERA in half to a 3.96.
With reinforcements on the way – Ty Wigginton returned to the lineup last night, and Cameron was expected to be back today – their fortunes only looked brighter.
“They’re playing great,” Wigginton said. “Hopefully I don’t throw a jinx on this thing and we can keep rolling.”
By the numbers
Key stats in Mets’ recent turn-around:*
Last 9 games Previous 19
W-L 6-3 7-12
Avg. .294 .229
Bullpen ERA 0.72 5.28
* – Entering last night