Carlos Beltran Goes Nuts: A Glimmer of Hope for the New York Mets

With their 9-5 rain-extended win against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field today, the New York Mets won their second straight series against an NL West club by taking two of three from Colorado.

Behind three home runs and six RBIs by Carlos Beltran (yes, that Carlos Beltran) and a decent but not great start from Jonathan Niese, the Mets actually won a road series against a team that swept them in four games at Citi Field in April.

Terry Collins had already said that star third-baseman David Wright would have the series finale off and first-baseman Ike Davis had been put on the disabled list earlier in the day, so the Mets had a less than formidable line-up going against Rockie ace Ubaldo Jimenez. But the Mets shocked the Rockies with a huge display of power and clutch hitting in the rubber game of this series.

Whenever you are starting Willie Harris, Justin Turner, and Jason Pridie against one of the better pitchers in the MLB, you don't really expect to win many games. The Mets just didn't want to lay down and give another series to the Rockies.

They showed just a glimpse of how good this team can be when they play just a little bit like a team, actually getting hits with runners in scoring position and getting decent starting pitching.

Don't get me wrong, this 2011 New York Mets team probably won't make the playoffs this year but if they get some more players back from injury like Johan Santana, Jenrry Mejia, Ike Davis and Angel Pagan, they might be a formidable team come 2012 if they don't foolishly trade away their home-grown stars like David Wright and Jose Reyes.

Adding these players to established veterans like Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay and Chris Capuano will help the Mets contend for the NL East crown in the next few seasons.

With a new front office and hopefully soon a new owner, you can have my word that this Mets team will be a force to reckon with in the years to come.