Not exactly a laugher

Because I have two young kids whose bedtime rituals occur when Mets games always begin, I DVR the games and watch them later, when the house is finally quiet. And let me tell you, having the ability to fast forward through the late innings when the Mets bullpen is sputtering has lessened the anxiety considerably. It's the only way to go.

Early on, I actually thought that it was a shame that such a great win only counted once in the standings, when it felt like it should be worth more. By the end, I was just happy to get the 'W' and keep pace with the Phillies, Brewers and Marlins, who all won. Of course.

There was plenty to be happy about. The Mets hit four home runs, including two by Carlos Beltran (anyone shouting 'MVP!' for him?), a prodigious blast to center by Carlos Delgado and a leadoff homer by Jose Reyes, who had two hits, two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base, his 51st of the season.

And what can you say about Daniel Murphy? The guy hasn't played in a while but came in and had two hits, and he's going to play a ton these last 11 games, a welcome sight. Meanwhile, Brandon Knight did just what we wanted, which was to go at least five and give the Mets a chance.

On the down side, David Wright went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and really looks like he needs a day off to decompress, although that isn't likely to happen. And Ryan Church went 0-for-4 but made a couple of nice defensive plays.

As for the bullpen, Rincon did fine getting out of a sixth-inning jam with only one run in, but then Brian Stokes and Aaron Heilman stunk. Schoeneweis did his job, and Joe Smith was OK, undone by Wright's throwing error. Pedro Feliciano got two outs in the ninth but then allowed a two-run single by the red-hot Wil Nieves, a righthanded hitter. So Ayala came in for the final strikeout.

Piece of cake!