Mets Ninth Inning Escape Has The Team Livan Large

The Mets had a 4-1 lead with two outs and the Braves batting in the bottom of the ninth inning in Atlanta yesterday - and after Carlos Delgado's unexplainable drop of the simpliest of potential pop outs, they barely held on for the 4-3 victory.

And the fact that good ole Chipper Jones made the final out of the game made the final result even sweeter, but here's what you have to take from this game: Last year's team would have lost this game. Instead, this year, KRod maintained his cool (does anyone think Billy Wagner, Braden Looper, Armando Benitez, Aaron Heilman, et al would have been able to close out the game after Delgado's gaff?). Probably not, but K-Rod did.

Maybe it's just me, but despite the game being played in Atlanta, and despite all the horrible ways the Mets lose games there in the past, I just knew they would close this game out somehow. Glad the team proved me right! This is a huge positive for Met fans moving forward.

Ironically, Delgado provided the Mets with insurance runs in the top of the inning with a 2-run single with the bases loaded to back up Livan Hernandez's 6+ innings of nice work. Livan picked up his second win against 1 loss as the Mets number five starter and if his emergence is for real (and it looks like it is), it takes a little pressure off a starting rotation now without the irratic Oliver Perez, demoted to bullpen duty - and thankfully not appearing in last night's name.

So let's talk more positives. Carlos Beltran continued his torrid hitting and extended his hitting streak to a career high 16 games. KRod's a perfect 7 for 7 in save situations this year. David Wright looks like he's coming around with the bat. With the win, the Mets are just one game under .500 for the season. It was the Mets first sweep of a two-game series in Atlanta since May 1-2, 1989.

And perhaps the biggest positive of them all: the team isn't embarrassing themselves with losses to Boston like some other NY team is...