Step one: Just win

It's been said over and over again the last couple of weeks: The bottom line is winning baseball games. All the nonsense, the agita, the hand-wringing drama would be gone if the Mets were just winning. And given a second chance to be the stopper, Johan Santana came through, throwing seven innings to earn his sixth win of the season as the Mets beat the Marlins, 5-3.

One could forgive Johan if he walked into Omar Minaya's office with the lineup card prior to Tuesday's game, saying, "I didn't sign up for this." Instead of Alou, Church, Delgado and Schneider at the bottom of the order, the Mets had Evans, Tatis, Easley and Castro. And yet Easley, Tatis and Castro drove in all five of the Mets' runs, so what can you say -- that's baseball.

Santana was good but not great, allowing eight hits, two walks and three runs (one homer) while striking out seven. Even better, perhaps, was Duaner Sanchez pitching a scoreless eighth and Billy Wagner striking out two in a 1-2-3 ninth.

Still, we were waiting for the other shoe to drop all game long. Who would make the costly error? Who would strike out with the bases loaded? Who would get picked off? And yet the Mets held on, and they'll need to keep winning more of these close games and then stage a couple of comeback victories before they can truly get themselves back in the race. But first thing first -- just win a game.

In more positive news, Pedro Martinez is scheduled to start June 3 against the Giants. He's slated to throw in a Class A game today and will join the club on its road trip. I'll believe it when I see it, but it couldn't come at a better time. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

And one last thing: Gary Carter will never manage the Mets. You gotta love how Keith and Gary ripped The Kid for more or less campaigning for Willie's job. Keith said it best - Carter was a great player, and we loved him on the Mets. But he's a tool.