The Mets defeated the Cardinals by a score of 9-1 this afternoon at Shea. Johan Santana got his 9th win of the year, and Kyle Lohse suffered his first loss since May 9. For a full recap, head to Yahoo! Sports.

Santana was brilliant. He threw his first complete game as a Met, allowing one run on six hits. He also struck out five Cardinal batters. Speaking of Santana, he also drove in his first run as a Met in the 8th, on an rbi single to drive in Fernando Tatis.

The Mets got to Lohse early, when Carlos Delgado hit a sac fly to drive in Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran hit an rbi single to drive in Endy Chavez in the third.

In the fifth, David Wright crushed a first pitch fastball from Lohse into the bleachers for his 20th homer of the year.

The Mets broke the game wide open in the 6th, when Tatis and Ramon Castro both hit two run homers, their 7th and 6th homers respectively on the year.

The Mets travel to Florida for a crucial three game set against the Marlins starting tomorrow. Ricky Nolasco will face John Maine.

The Big Pelf comes up once again. Pelf went a full seven, giving up just one run on seven hits. He threw no walks, and struck out five. Pefl has been on a roll, with the Mets winning his last 9 starts, in which seven he got the decision. Pelf has also only given up two runs at Shea over the last two months. So lets keep it up Big Pelf.

Joe Smith meanwhile gave up a hit and a walk in the eight, but then the bullpen struggled a bit in the ninth. Dirty loaded the bases on two singles and a walk (not in that order), Feliciano got Schumaker to pop up, and Heilman allowed one inhereted run to score on a Ludwick sac before inducing the final out. All things considered, when you have bases loaded no outs in the ninth, and the rest of the pen manages to get through it with only one run, I’ll take it every day of the week. Except the day we’re up by one.

Offensively, the Mets had 7 runs on 13 hits, with a lot coming from Everyday Endy. Endy went 4 for 5 yet somehow managed to score just once and had no RBIs. Poor Endy, all those hits for nothing. Jose tripled, his 12th, as he puts more space between him and Mookie, quelling any possible return for Mr Wilson. I still say, unretire and reclaim you triples title Mook. Jose’s triple scored two runs. Starting at second tonight, T.O.R. went 2 for 3 and homered, his first, a solo shot. Delgado added another two run shot of his own.

If Pelf keeps pitching like this people are going to start talking, but in a good way. The other day I actually heard a sportscaster refer to him as ‘one of the better young pitchers in the league.’ I thought maybe I had used too much ammonia again cleaning my kitchen or something, but sure enough, they really said it. While there are still some concerns with the team, its good to see at the least we chose the right young starter to hold on to.

The Mets took the rubber game of their three game set against the Phillies by a score of 3-1 this afternoon. Aaron Heilman got his first win of the year, and J.C. Romero took the loss for the Phils. With the win, the Mets now have first place all to themselves.

Ollie Perez continued his dominance against the Phillies this year, pitching 7.2 innings of one run ball, while striking out a season high 12 Phillies. His lone mistake was 2-0 fastball that Jayson Werth drove over the centerfield wall.

The Mets got the scoring going in the third, when Jose Reyes walked, stole a base, and was driven in on a David Wright single off Philly starter Jamie Moyer.

Perez loaded the bases in the eighth, but Heilman got the aforementioned Werth to fly out to Beltran to end the threat.

In the bottom of the frame, Robinson Cancel singled against Romero, and was sacrificed to second by J.Reyes. Endy Chavez than hit a liner to Romero, which he caught, leaving Cancel at second with two out. Wright was walked, and it set the stage for the hero, Carlos Delgado. Delgado drove an outside slider the other way for a two run double, and put the Mets up 3-1.

Billy Wagner closed it out for his 26th save in 32 chances.

The Mets welcome the Cardinals into town starting tomorrow, with Mike Pelfrey facing an unknown Cardinal pitcher at this time. It could be either Brad Thompson or Mitchell Boggs, who the Mets clobbered for 10 runs while they were in St. Louis a few weeks back

I attended today’s game, and man it was electric when Delgado put us up. It was great to see J-ROLL benched for being late to Shea as well, really shows how dedicated he is.

Billy Wagner returned, and this time the Mets won. Hooray. Wagner induced three outs from three batters for his 25th save.  Show and Smith split the 8th, Show giving up a walk, but otherwise keeping the bullpen worry free for the evening. John Maine gets the win, he went a full seven. He gave up two homeruns in the second, but seems to have recovered from whatever has been ailing him lately. He did strike out five. We missed you John Maine.

Not letting the Phils have all the homerun fun, Jose Reyes knocked one of his own. With the game tied at three in the sixth, Easley singled as did Schneider . Reyes drove them home two batters later and promptly taught the Phils how pointing towards low flying aircraft from nearby LaGaurdia is done.

Nice bounce back win, though there has to be some concern. Myers was not at his best, and the Mets still really didn’t do much off of him. Ten hits for the night total, half of which were Easley and Schneider. But they did what they needed to for the win, and the pitching staff as a whole was fantastic tonight. Now lets take the series.

If you had told me this morning that Robinson Cancel would be a key factor in today’s win, I’d have thought you were joking. If you had told me he’d have his first extra base hit since the 90s, well then I’d just fall down laughing.  Jokes on me. Well, me and the Reds.

Robinson Cancel hit a double in the tenth, advanced on a Reyes bunt single, then scored when Argenis Reyes hit what was almost a double play.  Instead, Edwin Encarnacion threw the ball into the outfield, allowing Cancel to score, Reyes to make it to third, and A Reyes to reach safely.

Ramon Castro also contributed to the Mets Day of Back Up Catching, hitting a two run homerun in the third. If only for one day, carrying three catchers makes sense. Delgado was 3 for 4, his sac in the tenth added an insurance run, scoring Jose Reyes. Jose by the way, was 4 for 6 with his 11th triple of the season. It gives him sole possession of the Mets career triple record.

Pelf had…not one of his best starts, giving up five runs, but thats not terrible for Great American Ballpark. He did still manage to go a full seven, and earned a no decision. He gave up 3 HRs, in a ballpark where you can almost bunt a homerun. He did manage to keep the walks down (1) and only gave up six hits. Dirty takes the win with two scoreless innings, and Billy gets a save, striking out all three batters.

Too many left on base again, 14, but they managed to win it, so I’ll take it. This will probably the only time we win a game thanks to Robinson Cancel, so I hope he enjoys his time in the sun. Its mind boggling, and only proves really weird things happen in Ohio.

TEN STRAIGHT! The Mets defeated the Reds by a score of 10-8 after coming back from two deficits of more than two runs. Duaner Sanchez got the win for the Mets and closer Frankie Cordero took the loss for the Reds. Billy Wagner pitched a spotless 9th for the save.

Johan Santana just didn’t have it today. He allowed five runs in four innings, and allowed solo homers to Adam Dunn and Edwin Encarnacion.

The Mets offense did have it today, as it pounded out three homers, via Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Fernando Tatis.

The Mets bullpen, which had been spotless in its last 21 innings, unraveled as Scott Schoeneweis allowed a bases clearing double to pinch hitter Javy Valentin, Jose’s younger brother.

The Mets came roaring back in the 9th though, showing the resilience they seem to have lacked for so long. They scored four runs on five consecutive hits against the tough Cincy closer Cordero, capped by David Wright’s home run that tied it up at 8-8. Delgado put them ahead for good with an RBI single.

The series continues tomorrow with John Maine facing Bronson Arroyo.

Anthony De Rosa adds…

If you told me a month ago this would be happen, I would have said you were taking crazy pills. This team is so hot if you get too close to them, you’re liable to be set on fire. Something has changed, its obvious that there is a fight in this club that was not here before. The starting pitching, despite Santana’s poor outing tonight, along with Show’s inability to hold the lead, has been outstanding. Tonight, the bats were there to save them.

In order to win, they need to do what they did tonight, and that is to pick each other up. If the pitching isn’t there, the offense has to step up.

Stay hot fellas, stay hot.

Break out the brooms! The Mets defeated the Giants by a score of 7-3 this afternoon, sweeping the series, and extending their winning streak to 6 straight games. Scott Schoeneweis pitched a perfect 7th for the win. Sergio Romo took the loss for the Giants.

John Maine had a live fastball today, but no control. In the end, Maine pitched 4.2 innins, allowing three runs on two hits, while walking five and striking out eight. Giants starter Barry Zito wasn’t much better, allowing three runs in five innings of work. Zito also walked six on the day.

Fernando Tatis had the big day at the dish, with a double, homer and four RBI. “SuperTatis”, as he’s known in the Hot Foot Bleachers, has been great for us lately. Who needs Moises Alou?

Hats off to Carlos Muniz as well, who pitched 1.1 innings of work after relieving Maine in the 5th. I’m not Muniz’s biggest fan, but he got the job done today. Duaner Sanchez and Billy Wagner finished the Giants off.

The Mets look to keep on winning tomorrow when the Rockies come to town. Ollie Perez will face off against Aaron Cook.

For those who have been confused the last two days, what the Mets pitching staff did there is called a shutout. Its an event in which the opposing (not Mets) team is limited to zero runs. Its the sort of thing we could get used to around here.

Santana only went five due to a rain delay, but gets the win. He was no Mike Pelfrey out there, but he limited the Giants to three hits and three walks before the storms forced a retreat to the dry confines of the inner workings of Shea.  When the skies a calmed down, Heilman came out with two hitless innings, Dirty and Joe Smith had an inning apiece.

Ramon Castro was responsible for the victory, with a three run homer in the fourth.  Delgado doubled Reyes #2 went 2 for 2 after entering the game in the seventh to hit for Heilman, and remaining in at second. His single in the eight scored Delgado, and he later scored on a Jose Reyes single, clearly proving we should just field an entire team out of people named Reyes.

Its nice to see Johan get some run support, and it’ll be curious to see if Jerry goes with his previous stated use of the hot hand, and start Reyes #2 tomorrow. Remember kids, day game tomorrow, so call in sick. Or quit your jobs. We’ll call it dealers choice.

After an abysmal loss to the Mariners last night, the Mets avoided the sweep from the Mariners and beat them 8-2 this evening. Game ball from the Mets goes to Miguel Batista, who walked five in 2.2 innings, while giving upu five hits and eight runs. 

The game had a wonderful start, sparked by a Jose Reyes walk.  Reyes was knocked in by a Luis Castillo groundout, and David Wright followed him with a solo HR, his 13th of the season.  In the second inning, Wright continued to make-up for his day off yesterday, and hit his 14th HR of the season.  The Mets scored two runs in the first inning, two runs in the second and four runs in the fourth.  The scoring in the fourth was topped off by a 3-run Jose Reyes shot to RF, his 9th of the season.  Last year, Reyes only hit 12 the entire season. 

John Maine was also solid like usual, with no hits through four innings.  He allowed two runs in the fifth but sealed it off for a quality start, allowing only those two runs in six innings of work.  Aaron Heilman and Joe Smith made quick work of the M’s in the 7th and 8th, leaving it for Duaner Sanchez to finish ‘em off in the 9th.

A great win, but it’s only important if we build on it for this upcoming series vs. the Yankees.

Not to be this guy, but there were some issues with the game today, that I’ll just throw out.  In the first inning, they left the bases loaded - and had the bases loaded with one out and failed to send any of the guys home.  We also didn’t score after the third inning, and scoring early while being passive late has been what the Mets have been doing too much of lately.  Fortunately this evening, they scored eight in the first few innings, which was enough to sustain them. 

Down the stretch, the Mets will need to start scoring late if they want to win more important games. 

The Mets did not get a hit after the third inning.  The Mets have an off-day tomorrow, before the day-night double header against the Yankees on Friday.