The Only Met Swinging To Win

Overall, the New York Mets have underachieved up until this point in the season.  Sitting at 10-13, their mediocre brand of baseball has had the Queens faithful groaning both in their living room and in the seats of the sparkling new Citi Field. 

When the hitting is there, the pitching hasn’t been, and vice versa. The starters other than Johan Santana have been shaky, and the bullpen has had 2007 and 2008 relapses at times. 

With not much to cheer about the Met fans, watched John Maine surrender six walks at Turner Field in Atlanta, where New York went 1-8 last year. 

The Mets trailed 3-0 in the sixth inning. It was their big hitter of the 2009 season, Carlos Beltran who pulled out the whoopin’ stick on Javier Vazquez. sending a rope into the left-center field bleachers. 

Newly strikeout-prone David Wright would add a two-run shot of his own two batters later to give the Mets the lead.  Then in the eighth, the .400-hitting Beltran went yard again, another two-run shot, giving the Mets two runs of very much needed cushion, cementing a 6-4 victory over their oldest rival. 

The point isn't David Wright finally hitting a ball a long way, or even the Mets pulling out a 2009 rarity and coming back form three runs down.  The story here is Carlos Beltran. 

Since his arrival in 2005, he has been the most criticized Met ahead of anybody else whether it's his lack of sliding (which is still a problem,) his lackadaisical outfield play, his inability to take the bat off his shoulder, or his inability to hit when it counts. 

Well right now, he is the only one hitting and it does count.  Beltran will go down as one of the best switch hitters of this generation, and one of the great switch hitters of all time. 

The Mets are being led not by their spark plug Jose Reyes, or their golden boy Wright, but by the guy with the most overall talent on the team.  The same guy that has been booed at Shea Stadium since 2005 for his streaky hitting and seemingly effortless yet still amazing fielding. 

Carlos Beltran is the heart of the Mets right now, and thanks to him, this team is staying afloat.  This team will catch fire, and when they do they’ll have him to thank for his inability to quit and stop hitting when everyone else has.