A grim two days, then an outstanding win.

Just when you thought this team was slipping into bad habits, along comes an 11-4 laugher to stop the slide. Friday and Saturday were grim indeed, especially Friday, where we had a chance to take that game even though the Mets deserved to win on Glavine's strong outing. But when Wilkie hits that double with no outs in the 8th, I'm thinking the late-inning heroics are continuing (ERV at that point is over 2 runs, and we are down 3-1 -- Wilkie's double to make it 2nd and 3rd with no outs is the most RV you can get on one at bat without scoring a run (1.21)) But, of course, Frank has Guzman hitting second, and he starts pouring water on our fire right away. The fifth inning on Saturday was little league all the way, and hopefully spells the end for Carlos Baerga's aspirations to start.

But today was key, and almost makes up for it all. Why? Our second "10-game segment" is almost over, and we stand 4-5 (we went 6-4 in the first), so we are still fighting for a 5-5. Livan was going, and if there is anything your ace MUST do, it is win games like this to right the ship. We didn't get swept, and just avoiding sweeps keeps you in the hunt. And it keeps us on the pace I described here (split on the road, win 2 of 3 at home) making our road record 6-6.

But the baseball season, even in April, offers no rest. We need to take 2 of 3 from the Phils to keep it up. But at that link above I noted that if we go 10-10 in our first 20, we should be very pleased, given the teams we've played. In sum, a terrific start.