Just when you’ve said this is a fun team, they come back to get you.  Our luck can’t last forever, but did it have to run out tonight?  Let’s get a few more wins first, maybe go once more through the four aces.  Four wins is nice – but five would have been a lot nicer.

That’s what I was thinking.  And then Yoenis Cespedes, in a moment that, for a game on April 26th, was oddly reminiscent of Kirk Gibson, sent a pitch over the left field wall, and we were tied.

David Wright is my guy, but he’s not as good as he used to be.  He’s been striking out a ton lately; I hope he’ll turn it around, but maybe he’s just past that point.

That’s what I was thinking.  And then Wright put a ball into the outfield on 0-2 and we took the lead.

The point I’m trying to make here is that there are typical Mets teams, that lose this kind of game.  Then there are good Mets teams, that put up a fight and occasionally pull out a win.

And then there’s us.

Really; I didn’t think we were going to win today.  The game seemed lost.  We weren’t hitting, Bartolo hadn’t been quite at his best, and we’d stranded a few runners who otherwise would have had us right in the game.

But I’d forgotten that we were coming off a World Series appearance, and were hungry for more.  And that hunger, clearly, is still present and downright dangerous.

Honestly — this just isn’t your average team.  I say that with absolute confidence, and I’d say it whether or not I needed something new to write about, or was looking for something better to believe in, or just couldn’t take it any more.  It’s not.  We’re just better.

How much can you say?  It’s all one variation or another on, “we’re just too damn good.”  We take a series from the Indians.  And then one from the Phillies.  And then one from the Braves.  And now, one from the Reds, with a quite-possibly-resurgent Matt Harvey on the mound tomorrow looking for the sweep.

And then Matz.

And then deGrom.

And then Thor.

Now do you see where I’m going?

I got into a small twitter argument yesterday, over whether we’d be better off had we signed Howie Kendrick instead of trading for Neil Walker.  Walker had just won the game for the Mets with a two-run homer in the eighth.

I think Walker was the right move; Kendrick is older, with less power.  But that’s not the point.

The point is that, for the first time in a long time, we’re arguing over legitimate ballplayers.  This isn’t Brad Emaus versus Chin Lung Hu, or Sean Marcum versus Jeremy Hefner.  The choice was between two second basemen, both almost certainly top five in the league.

When’s the last time we could say that?

Walker didn’t even have a hit tonight.  Regardless, we were fine.

Again, when’s the last time we could say that?

I’m starting to come ‘round to the idea that this team is a damn good one, not the type that’s done when we’re down a few runs, not the type that can’t spring a rally on you in a second then shut your offense down in another. Addison Reed in the eighth.  Familia in the ninth.

We didn’t score any more runs for them.  It wasn’t a problem.  Ballgame over.

A win in the books, another series win secured, and a chance to go for the sweep tomorrow.  Hell, I’ll take that any day of the week.

And, as a postscript, I need to mention Michael Conforto, who’s hitting something like .400 with three home runs since moving to the three hole, and whose two hits including a double today were…well, just great.

“He’s gotta be the most exciting hitter this franchise has developed since David Wright,” one of our three hall-of-fame broadcasters said last year.  I’m starting to believe them.

Seriously, who gave us this team?  What were they, looking for a favor?