I wanted to reserve judgement after Friday night’s impressive victory. Yes, the Mets got timely, two-out hitting, a Beltran homerun from the right side of the plate, and an impressive performance (finally) from Tom Glavine, but very often games like these in the midst of a slump are more often an anomaly than a sign of turning the corner. Sometimes, a slumping team will face a pitcher who just doesn’t have the stuff that night, and A’s rookie pitcher Lenny Di Nardo certainly could have fit that description. While we’re all hoping that the Met’s offensive explosion wasn’t simply the result of a subpar pitching performance, the jury is still out.

Last night, the Mets earned a very gratifying, one-run, walkoff victory. While all Met fans are happy that the Mets finally won a series in June, I’m not ready to exhale. Until the Mets can prove they can light up a proven stud Major League ace, I’m not confident that this offense is where they need to be. Joe Blanton is certainly not an ace, and while he did have his curveball dancing last night, there’s no excuse for the Met’s offensive futility. From the way the last month has been going, it would suprise no one to see a content Mets team pack it in today and give a game back to Oakland, especially with Willie Randolph inevitably giving three or four starters the day off.

While I don’t think his ejection was intentionally self-induced, it was refreshing to see Paul Lo Duca so animated and passionate, even though he probably did earn himself a suspension. It was clear that Lo Duca lost his cool and the frustration floodgates blew open, but maybe Paulie was showing a little veteran savvy. Lo Duca is too smart of a player not to realize that throwing shinguards is a no-no in the commisioner’s book, but there was probably a little method to his madness. You’ll never see an outburst like that from the Randolph, even when the team sorely needs a jolt. Maybe Lo Duca was just throwing himself in the fire in order to light a spark under his team. It worked last night- lets hope the success continues, because one thing is for sure- the offense needs to give this pitching staff more than one run an outing.