“Good hitting and stupid base running,” said Reyes at one time when he was a regular and free of injury, But the Mets do not have Reyes.  They are taking the field and hoping for a respectable conclusion these last three games at home with Houston. But at times Friday evening, even if the game meant nothing, these Mets we have been accustomed to knowing, won a game in early October by playing crisp and clean baseball.

Omir Santos who may very well be a permanent fixture behind the plate for the Mets, drove a b all to right-center in the eight inning Friday evening that scored Jeff Francouer that opened a 4-1 lead over the just as bad Astros. Wow, if only this was an important baseball game in October.

He would also hit a home run, his 15th over the wall in left giving the Mets a 3-1 lead. Perhaps this is what we will see more next April at Citi Field, now that Francouer seems to be a leading candidate to lead this team.  “He’s playing extremely well,” said Mets manager Jerry Manuel. “He comes with a lot of energy every day.”

Oh if this had only been going on all season.  Fernando Tatis scores on a sacrifice fly also in the eighth and Anderson Hernandez scores. Except who would have conceived that Anderson would be the everyday shortstop and batting eighth in the lineup because Reyes never recovered form a torn hamstring.

And what about Daniel Murphy in a meaningless game hitting the second pinch hit home run of his career in that eighth inning?  He has a club leading 12 home runs only because Francouer hit his other home runs with the Braves before coming to New York,   We would hope that was going to happen in late May.  The Mets took an early lead, gave it up and then took control in the late innings.

That was all supposed to be the plan in April, and then continue the rest of the summer in what eventually was a season of misery. Murphy took the inside pitch and took it out of the ballpark, and that is something that the manager will hope to see next year,  We say the manager Manuel, because all indications are he will return and try and restore some pride, and make us all forget about the mess of the 2009 New York Mets.

Then there is the pitcher John Maine who threw a season high seven innings. Maine (7-6) and the Mets got the win 7-1 in early October, on a Friday night when most of the announced 37,576 crowd failed to show.  Maine was supposed to be a part of baseball continuing in October for the 2009 Mets but shoulder problems put him on the disabled list.

“”It was the first time I went out there and gave the team a chance to win,” commented Maine who had his longest outing since last July 23^rd at Shea Stadium against the Philadelphia Phillies. “I’m not going to win 20 games,” he said.

We know if Maine and the rest of the Mets pitching staff did their job, with the exception of Johan Santana, who did his job before down with elbow problems, that this could have been a different October at Citi Field.

“An important win for him and he has to feel excited about spring training,” said Manuel about the quality start that Maine gave the Mets. One run, five hits, no walks and what we all hoped for from April until October from Maine.

Perhaps a different perspective we can all talk about next October at Citi Field. But first there are games 161 and 162 remaining on the Mets calendar.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

It was a tough first half of the season for Manuel and these Mets. But the last two days, in particular when Jeff Francoeur arrived and was instead fifth in the lineup, something happened. The Mets bats revived with a stable lineup, 13 runs and 27 hits, two straight wins over the Cincinnati Reds.

“They feel good about themselves playing better baseball,” said Manuel after the Mets 9-7 win over the Red that saw their offense explode with 16 hits, and, finally two home runs at Citi Field from Brian Schneider and Fernando Tatis.  The home runs in the seventh inning broke an eight-game and 80.0 inning streak of no home runs coming from the Mets offense.

Coincidence that Francoeur makes a difference in the lineup, perhaps, regardless the Mets feel better about themselves before heading for the second half that begins Thursday at Atlanta, a 10-game three city trip that also takes them to Washington and Houston.

“I think to have something of a set lineup makes a difference,” said Manuel who will stay in town and have team evaluation meetings the next few days.  Decisions about the pitching rotation, how to keep that lineup consistent will be on the agenda. So will plans to know, when and how to insert Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado back in the lineup.

Both Beltran and Delgado continue to get better and are expected to return from injuries in the next dew weeks.  Beltran with a bruised knee, possibly by next week and Delgado, recovering from hip surgery maybe by the beginning of next month, The status as to when Jose Reyes will return is still uncertain, though the Mets leadoff hitter and catalyst to the lineup was running and doing sprints in the outfield at Citi Field prior to the game Sunday afternoon.

In the meantime, Angel Pagan returned this week from the disabled list, made some excellent defensive plays in center field, and became the catalyst for Manuel in the leadoff spot. “It gives me an opportunity to let the team know I’ll be there to help them them,” he said after going 1-for 5 Sunday,  He had two big hits Saturday along with two stolen bases, the first bags swiped by the Mets in seven games.

So things could get better for a team that finished 42-45, under .500 for the first time since 2003 at the break.  “We have some good vibes going into the second half,” said Wright who has been about the only player in the Mets clubhouse that has been speaking about their woes of the last month.

It looked better the past few days, and as Manuel said afterwards “We still have issues here and there. One night it is the starting offense, today it was the bullpen.” Indeed, the pen, a priority of GM Omar Minaya during the off -season struggled Sunday as closer Frankie Rodriguez is still trying to work on some of his issues giving up a run in the ninth and getting his 23^rd save of the season and win for starter Mike Pelfrey.

After Pelfrey (7-4) was lifted after seven innings, allowing five hits and three runs, the pen made it interesting as the Reds got three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.  And there is the issue of a starting pitching rotation. Orlando Hernandez has lost his last four starts at the backend and Pelfrey after the fifth innings tends to break down.

“Everybody here needs a day off because the second half is going to be important,” said pitcher Oliver Perez who will also stay in town rather than go to Mexico during the break. Perez will get some rest and work on the mechanics. Because the Mets need his arm to make a run at the post season as they closed the half trailing first place Philadelphia by 6-1/2 games and in fourth place.

And, it seems now that if things are going to get better, the Mets are going to have a big inning, as they did in the third inning with five runs Sunday. It will be with a single and the extra base hit The team, does not hit home runs and is next to last in that category next to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The hits and runs came on two-out hits, another sign that things could be turning around even if it was two games.  Some momentum goes into the all-star break after a dismal      first half of the season and they won their first series after losing the past four, their first one in July.

David Wright appeared more comfortable at the plate and Gary Sheffield had no problem with a slider and resembled the old Sheffield who was once the most feared hitter in the game. “It will give us a little more momentum and confidence going into the second half,” added Wright about the first half finish..

And Luis Castillo, still booed for that game-ending walk-off error in the first Subway Series at Yankee Stadium went 3-for-3 Sunday, got a good jump and stole second base, his 11^th of the season.  Sheffield drove in three runs and asked Manuel to put him in the lineup/.

Francoueur, in his second game as a Met got two hits, four in the series with the Reds and quickly fit in well with his new mates. “I’m excited to be here and I don’t see how we can’t make a run in the second half,’ he said.

So when that new apple in center field failed to come up, after the second home run in the seventh inning hit by Tatis, the Citi Field crowd began to chant, “Apple, Apple.”  Home runs have been hard to find at the new ballpark, so has offense from this team, so maybe the apple went on an earlier hiatus before the second half.

“It was good to finally see the apple come up,” said Manuel with his usual chuckle that has become customary after a win or loss.  “It took its time but it finally came up,” he said as the mechanical failures were fixed and the apple rose again when the inning ended.

And for the Mets, they certainly hope their first half failures are in the distance. Two straight wins and an offense that finally came together, with or without the home runs, leads to optimism in the second half.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

To set this up you have to go back to the bottom of the 8^th inning when RHRP Brian Bruney took the ball from Phil Hughes.  Hughes came into the game in the 6^th and threw a scoreless and hitless 1-1/3 innings.  Bruney was a mixed bag of tricks as he walked Mets third baseman David Wright to open the frame, and then induced OF Gary Sheffield to pop out to Derek Jeter.  Bruney subsequently walked Fernando Tatis, moving Wright into scoring position before striking out Fernando Martinez.

Seeing a chance to sweep their cross town rivals Girardi pulled out Bruney and handed the ball to his closer Mariano Rivera.

Rivera, who has been the Yankees stopper since taking the reins from John Wetteland after the 1996 season, was on the verge of making history.  Rivera was sitting on 499 saves with a chance to become only the second man in baseball history to record 500 saves.  The leader in the saves category is Trevor Hoffman who currently owns 571 of them.

After Wright stole third Rivera buckled down and struck out Omir Santos to end the inning.

The weirdness began as the Yankees came to bat.  Manuel realizing how bad his team needed this game against their home town foes brought in his closer, Francisco Rodriguez, to hopefully hold down the Bombers and keep the Mets within a run.  Unfortunately, Rodriguez ran into bad luck…..again.

On June 12, Rodriguez entered a game against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.  Rodriguez and the Mets were nursing an 8-7 lead.  Rodriguez retired Brett Gardner before giving up a single to Jeter.  He was able to strike out Johnny Damon with Jeter stealing second, and then intentionally walked first baseman Mark Teixeira in order to face Alex Rodriguez.

Things went according to script for the Mets as A-Rod popped the ball up into short right field.  He slammed his bat down in disgust and ran towards first base as second baseman Luis Castillo drifted under the ball.  He put his glove up, in went the ball, and then it came back out and landed on the grass at Castillo’s feet.  Both Jeter and Teixeira raced around the bases and scored the tying and winning runs on Castillo’s muff.  It was Francisco Rodriguez’s first blown save in 17 attempts.

The first batter Rodriguez faced in Sunday’s contest was Jorge Posada.  Posada blooped a pop up into short center field as shortstop Alex Cora and Castillo went back on the ball.  Cora looked at Castillo thinking he was going to get the ball and slowed down.  When he realized Castillo wasn’t going for the ball Cora attempted to get to it, but ball made its way to the grass giving Posada a gift single.

Rodriguez had to be cursing Yogi Berra, because it was déjà vu all over again.  He got Melky Cabrera to ground into a force play, eliminating Posada at second, but then allowed Cabrera to steal the bag on him.  Rodriguez then walked Brett Gardner, putting the Yankees into somewhat of a quandary.

The next hitter was Jeter, but behind him Rivera was scheduled to bat.  Attempting his best Houdini slight-of-hand Girardi tried to fool Manuel into believing the Yankees were going to have reserve catcher Francisco Cervelli bat for Rivera.  While Cervelli stood in the on deck circle stretching, and going through the motions of acting like he was going to hit Rivera sat in the dugout with a batting helmet and gloves on.  Somebody must have said something to him, because Rivera took off the helmet, but left the gloves on.  He was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

It was difficult to tell if Manuel was taking Girardi seriously or whether Rodriguez and Santos (catching) misread a sign, but as Jeter settled in to face him Rodriguez threw the ball over the outside corner of the plate for a strike.  Jeter backed out of the batter’s box and smiled, glancing toward the Mets dugout with a look of “are you kidding me?  You’re going to pitch to me?”

Apparently, sanity returned to the situation and Jeter was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Up walked Rivera who was making only the third at bat in his decorated career, and the second of this season.  It was a rare instant where the closer of one team was batting against the closer of the other team.  It was just another bizarre moment in an odd inning.

Rodriguez worked the count against Rivera to 2-2.  Rodriguez poured in a fastball, which Rivera fouled straight back.  Appearing more dangerous now, Rivera evidently rattled Rodriguez who then threw balls three and four, walking his opposite number and forcing in an insurance run.  It was Rivera’s first recorded RBI.

As Rivera trotted toward first and Cabrera crossed the plate to make it a 4-2 Yankees lead the Bombers dugout erupted into whoops and hollers.  It was though Rivera’s teammates had seen Santa Claus for the first time.  They were genuinely acting like a bunch of little kids reacting to what had just transpired.

The fact that Teixeira struck out to end the inning didn’t matter to him or the rest of the squad.  They put a fork into their longtime adversary and now it was Rivera’s turn to show why he is the greatest closer the game has ever seen.

Rivera induced Castillo to ground to second; he struck out Jeremy Reed looking and ended the game by also getting Cora to ground out to second.  As the ball nestled into Teixeira’s glove at first to record the final out Rivera sealed his name once again into the record books.

Teixeira was one of the first to reach him and handed Rivera the ball.

Posada, Rivera’s battery mate had a message for him.  “I told him he’s the best ever,” Posada told reporters later.  “The best I’ve seen. Nobody can even compare,”

Every member of the Yankees came out onto the field and gave Rivera a big hug and words of encouragement.  Some of them commented on Rivera’s historic at bat against Rodriguez.

“He looks good up there,” longtime teammate Andy Pettitte said to reporters after the game. “I think in Atlanta they gave him a take sign and he swung anyway.”

Even Rivera remarked on the at bat.

“I had one thing in mind—just try to do something,” Rivera said, before talking about his save. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely special.”

Manuel, whose team has been ravaged by injuries, had to say this about Rivera’s night.

“He’s one of the premier closers in my time,” Manuel told reporters. “I wasn’t applauding him tonight, but you do have to applaud that.”

Another first happened in this game as well.  Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang recorded his first victory of the season after staggering to a 0-6 start.  Wang allowed two earned runs on four hits in 5.1 innings of work.  He struck out three and walked three batters.  The loser, Livan Hernandez (5-3), actually pitched better than Wang.  He went seven innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits.  He walked five and struck out one.

The nightmare for the Mets didn’t end with this game.  After getting swept at home by the Yankees and losing five of six overall in interleague play the Mets had to catch a flight for Milwaukee to play the Brewers tonight at 7:08 pm EDT as part of ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball.  The Yankees fared much better, catching a bus for the Bronx where they will open a home stand on Tuesday night against the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Getting back to Rivera, anyone who has the chance to watch this remarkable talent play should take every opportunity to do so, because as much as Yankee fans will hate to admit it, Rivera’s career is winding down.  No matter how much he’d like to Mariano Rivera can’t pitch forever.  He has been at the top of his class for much longer than most closers are expected to last.  To be in the upper echelon for nearly 13 years is mind blowing.

How much more gas is in the tank?  Only God and Mo know the answer to that one.