PHILADELPHIA — It’s a typical Mets con job, right? Gotta be.
No, no — not that type of con job. They beat that rap. I’m talking about the Mets’ annual first-half surge that fires up their fan base, only to lead to second-half heartbreak and apathy.
Well, after witnessing the Mets outlast and outwit the Phillies last night, 7-4 at Citizens Bank Park, it should be said: If this early charge proves nothing more than a mirage, then kudos to the Mets for putting on a particularly enjoyable sell.
“That’s what young players can do to you,” Terry Collins said afterward. “ At times, they’ll make you pull your hair out. But they fight back, and they make you play nine innings.”
“That’s what it’s going to take for us to be successful,” David Wright said. “We’re not going to be able to go out there and match up a lot at times with these teams, up and down the scorecard. We’re going to need different guys to step up on different days.”
This Mets team is likeable, resilient and resourceful. Most important, these Mets are 17-13, 3 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Phillies (14-17) in the competitive National League East.
They have won four straight, the last two here in the belly of the Philly beast. They have posted these results despite losing two of their better young players, Ruben Tejada (right quadriceps strain) and Josh Thole (concussion), to the disabled list from action Sunday and Monday, respectively.
They prevailed last night — and didn’t appear to sustain any more injuries in the process — after falling behind, 4-0, in the second inning with their 41-year-old last resort, Miguel Batista, starting, with throwing errors by Bautista and Monday’s hero Jordany Valdespin contributing to the damage.
Nevertheless, Bautista stuck around and put up zeroes into the sixth, and the Mets tied the game and took the lead thanks to a critical, seventh-inning sequence in which Wright ran his way out of trouble and into a contest-turning error by Phillies second baseman Pete Orr.
When Wright stroked a two-out, RBI single to right field, closing the Mets within 4-3 and prompting Phillies right fielder Hunter Pence to throw home, up the line, Wright appeared to run too far toward second base. He and Collins portrayed the act as one designed to help Kirk Nieuwenhuis score, but the replays showed that Wright was well on his way to second before Nieuwenhuis even touched third.
It all worked out, though. Wright scurried to avoid the tag, until Nieuwenhuis took a few steps toward home, drawing Orr’s attention. As Nieuwenhuis dove back into third, Orr threw wildly, past Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco and into foul territory. Nieuwenhuis scored the tying run, and Wright advanced all the way to third, scoring the lead run on Lucas Duda’s single.
That the lefty-hitting Duda delivered off Phillies left-hander Antonio Bastardo made the moment all the sweeter for the Mets. Quite a turn of events, for a club accustomed to being embarrassed in this ballpark.
“I think we’ve proven to ourselves that we have what it takes to kind of stick in the games and come back,” Wright said.
For all of the agony the Mets have brought their fans these past few years, they have provided pockets of happiness. The Mets sat with a respectable 55-51 mark last July 29; they were 48-40 at the 2010 All-Star break; and they held a 21-15 record in mid-May of 2009. The 2007 and 2008 seasons, of course, brought visions of parades before concluding with end-of-season collapses.
This season is still so young. Can the injury-riddled Mets, with 115 runs scored and 140 runs allowed, maintain this?
It’s not a great bet, and, yup, we’re talking about playoff spots way too early. But what the heck. The Mets are p* aying some inspiring ball right now. Their beleaguered fan base has earned the right to revel in it and not worry about what comes down the line.
If it’s another con job, the payback will come with empty Citi Field seats in August and September. Right now, though, the payoff is a great deal of fun.