A night of celebration for Jose Reyes ends bittersweet as Billy Wagner blows his 4th save of the year. Wagner was unable to close out the game with 2 outs and none on. Wagner could not seem to find his control, walking 2 and giving up 2 singles, one of them a slow roller that Wright picked up and didn't throw, that might have gone foul had he let it roll. The second single scored two runs and gave the Reds the lead in the top of the ninth and for the win. Wagner had not allowed a run in 12 straight appearances leading up to tonight (covering 13 1/3 innings.)

Reyes is batting .387 , a .452 OBP in June, 22 runs scored, 10 doubles , 2 homers, 7 RBIs,  and 10 stolen bases. He got the tough parts of the cycle out of the way early, starting it off with a HR in the first, his fourth lead off homer of his career. He doubled in the second, tripled in the fifth and grounded a single up the middle
in the ninth. The crowd gave him a standing ovation as he stood on first base, with a wide toothy grin on his face. Chants of Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose in the familiar fashion rained down and the ball was tossed back to the Mets dugout into Jose Valentin's care for Reyes' trophy case. Reyes is now batting .283, going 5-4 on the night.

Valentin had a big night himself, hitting a big home run to give the Mets the lead in the 7th. He went 3-3 and a walk, his average at .301 now.

David Wright went 3-5, and continues to hit behind in the count. Wright now has 41 two strike hits, best in the majors.

Randolph called it a classic giveaway game. Willie said they would come back and get them tomorrow, and was prepared to give the ball right back to Wagner.

For those of you squawking about Willie putting Wagner into a game the Mets have a 6 run lead in, look beneath the surface. Wagner is still behind in his game experience this season, missing several chances in spring due to a finger issue. I'm not surprised I have to address this as people seem to always want to dissect every little move Willie makes. He's not flawless, by far, but this is just silly. Think before you speak, thats the lesson of the day.

I don't normally like to talk about the Yankees here but I thought it was worth mentioning that the New York papers are finally taking notice of the potential of the Mets to have a special season. The type of season that puts them in the forefront of the city's consciousness. The type of season that turns the tide to a time when the Mets were the biggest, baddest team in New York. Kevin Kernan of The New York Post envisions the Mets becoming the talk of the two team town….

Read the entire article here.

David Wright has the right idea, from the NY Post, by way of Metsblog.com….

Wrights comments resonate with those of Davey Johnson, on the morning of February 26, 1986, the first day of mandatory spring training workouts. Davey gathered his troops and made the following declaration…

Davey's call to arms was more direct and had a hint of ego, calling out his main rival. Wright is beginning to exert his leadership in his own way. The common thread is that they both believe this is their year, and nothing will stop them from taking what is rightfully theirs.

Not only should the Mets play “Enter Sandman”
when closer Billy Wagner takes the mound at Shea, the manager of
Metallica says they should turn up the volume. “Frankly, they could
have played it louder as far as I'm concerned,” said Peter Mensch, the
band's manager and a Mets season-ticket holder. “My comment is: Go
Billy.”

Read the story in today's Daily News

As for Mensch, he even tried to help recruit Wagner. After learning
Wagner was a Metallica fan this winter, he told Mets officials to relay
to the free-agent closer that Wagner could be on stage during a concert
if that would entice him to relocate to Flushing.

“I haven't quite told Metallica,” Mensch said with a laugh. “He can sing backup vocals.

“Literally, I called up people I knew at Shea Stadium. That morning,
when he was coming to New York, before he signed, we called up and
said, 'Tell Billy Wagner, if it means anything, that the manager of
Metallica is a season-ticket holder and will put him on stage the next
time he's in New York. Or we will reroute the tour.'”

The Mets have long-standing ties with Metallica. Mensch recalled
sending Sid Fernandez a set of band T-shirts in 1987 after learning the
portly pitcher liked Anthrax.

“XXL,” Mensch said.

The two struck up a relationship and Fernandez joined clubhouse
attendant Vinny Greco at a Metallica concert at Nassau Coliseum. The
duo hung out with the band backstage.

“I don't mind,” Rivera said. “If he likes that song and that makes him
feel comfortable when he comes in, let him be. Let him be.”

Rivera,
who was called by a friend in New York and told of the controversy as
he rode to the stadium, thought the whole thing was hilarious. The
heavy metal song was chosen for Rivera by a group of Yankees employees;
Rivera doesn't even know the lyrics.

“I don't listen to that
type of music,” Rivera said. “But I like it when those two [bullpen]
doors open and they play that song. It's identified with me.”

Here's Wagner's comment….

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com weighs in…

Personally, Hot Foot thinks that Wagner should be able to play whatever he wants, especially since he's been using it as long as Mo. Would I prefer he chose another song? Yes, cause i'd like him to establish his own identity in New York, since Mo is synonymous with Enter Sandman here. Wagner actually is more closely tied to Metallica and the song is more personal to him. Mo isn't even a Metallica fan, it was something the Yankees thrust upon him and it stuck. But its a regional thing, and Mo really owns the rights here in New York, so I feel the song is so closely associated with him here it just seems too weird to have Wagner try to carry it with him here. I would love for him to make something like Don' Tread On Me or Unforgiven his own, theres a whole bunch of great Metallica songs that would usher him in with great effect.

Whats your opinion? Please leave a comment and let your thoughts be heard.