Mets Win in 11, Wright Taken Off the Hook

David Wright just doubled to right, scoring Julio Franco to give the Mets a 7-4 lead. Prior to that, Franco had hit a tough pitch for a 2-run single and then, incredibly, stolen second. "Well-preserved" just doesn't go far enough.

Brian Bannister allowed three runs in five innings before being taken out with a hamstring injury. I don't know what the prognosis is, but he had to be helped off the field, which bodes ill. He may not be as good as his ERA, but this isn't a blessing in disguise or anything. [It has to be said: this is why you don't trade Kris Benson for a song... a chubby, ineffective song.]

Aaron Heilman gave up a run, but other than the very hittable first pitch fastball to Moises Alou which resulted in the RBI, he did a good job. Plus he pitched two innings; dare I imagine that Randolph is stretching him out?

Or maybe Mr. Minaya will deal with the problem in the true spirit of Mets general management, and trade for Greg Maddux. Really, what better way to stick it to the Braves than by winning the division with Glavine and Maddux in the rotation? That'd be sweet. Kevin Millwood will probably be available at the deadline, too.

Just announced: Julio Franco is not the oldest player to steal a base, but he is the oldest to do so in the last 97 years. I bet it took a lot less speed to steal bags in 1909, but that's purely speculation. It's also speculation that whoever was stealing bases at age 47 in 1909 probably had some good stories to tell.

Unbelievable. Barry Bonds just tied the game with a 2-run pinch-hit homer off Wagner. The game should have been over but Wright threw another ball into the seats behind first base.

Keith Hernandez: "I will not second guess Willie Randolph. It's just incredible." I agree. It's just bad luck that Randolph has discovered that Bonds is still very dangerous. No one knows what he's capable of, so you have to go by the numbers. The only thing we can be sure of is that the numbers will be a lot scarier after this series than they were before it.

The Mets failed to score in the top of the 10th... Bradford and Oliver worked around two baserunners in the bottom half... Chris Woodward doubled in Ramon Castro (8-7)... Reyes singled in Woodward (9-7)... It's over. Bonds just flied out to deep center. Whew. Great game to watch. Losing would have hurt.