Without a Red Leg to Stand On

Now we can all take a breath before the Yankees come to town.

The Mets exorcised the curse of Joe Randa forever by completing their sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a 10-6 win today at Shea. Tom Glavine had his second great start in a row, Mike Piazza had 4 hits (to make up for a bonehead play on the basepaths), and Jose Reyes, while not walking, had two triples. Chris Woodward, who played right field so Carlos Beltran could get a day off, had his first home run of the season to kick off the scoring. The Reds, led by Tanner and Lucas from "The Bad News Bears", were dreadful in the field today with four errors which did not help Reds starter Eric Milton.

Glavine worked in and out of trouble, giving up 9 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in 6 innings today. He was saved by a 1-2-3 double play in the 5th (which by all rights and purposes Ryan Freel beat out at first, but was called out and caused the ejection of Reds manager Dave Miley), and Cliff Floyd cutting down a runner at the plate in the 6th.

The bats were humming today. Woodward, Mike Cameron (4th), and David Wright (7th) all had home runs to go along with the good days by Piazza and Reyes.

The Mets are now 22-19 and 1 and 1/2 games out of first as the Braves were swept by San Diego. Guess who comes to town on Friday?

The Mayor is Loved: They call Sean Casey "The Mayor" in Cincinnati, and judging by his followers at Shea he could probably be elected mayor here in New York. Casey had fans everywhere, including a guy wearing a Mets hat who claimed to know him and was cheering for him. But when Casey flipped a baseball into the stands during the game, it wasn't to his fan sitting behind me. Suspicious? You be the judge. Casey was 5 for 5 today and was a triple short of the cycle.

More lame "Reds fans": Today I swear I heard the lamest words of encouragement at a baseball game ever. As Ken Griffey strode to the plate in the 7th, he was met by a barrage of taunts and insults. A supporter of his, wearing an Astros cap no less, decided to come to his defense with this gem: "Come on Ken, show 'em there's no Iffy in Griffey". Needless to say this fan left early. Which means he rooted for the Reds, while wearing an Astros hat, and leaving early with the rest of the Dodger fans. True confusion.

Manny Sad Returns: Manny Aybar gave up three runs in garbage time in the ninth, including a timely 2 run HR by Iffy while the Reds were down by six. Paging Scott Strickland...Scott Strickland, please use the white courtesy phone.

Digging Graves: Anyone who thinks the Mets bullpen is bad should thank their lucky stars that they don't have other teams' problems. LaTroy Hawkins can't get anyone out, Danny Kolb is forcing the Braves to go with the dreaded "closer by committee", and how about Danny Graves. He was not only bad, he was a mental disaster today. After giving up 4 runs, Graves got Marlon Anderson on a comeback with two outs. Except that Graves, after strolling off the mound like he was picking daisies, threw the ball to right field. That's when you know a closer is mentally drained and frustrated. Folks, the grass isn't always greener in Cincinnati.