With the Mets off today, Mets fans are treated to a much needed break of Santana surrendered solo shots and Aaron Hielman appearances deteriorating with each belt-high middle-out pitch. The good news is the Mets are headed to Arizona where even the coldest Met bat historically has at least a 3 for 5 day.

(Thank god for Grand Theft Auto IV. I’ve only put in around 20 hours of game play so far, but this may be the best game ever made, period.)

Alou is scheduled to make his season debut on Friday and should provide some added pop at the plate, not to mention a stronger bat than Ryan Church to protect Beltran. (Note: Offer valid for a limited time). Ok that was a cheesy joke, but if Alou plays the rest of the season without a trip to the DL I’ll wet myself in shock.

After a fall from ahead, come from tied game against Pittsburgh, the 13-1 depressed me. The Mets shouldn’t get beat like that with Perez on the mound, even if it’s schizophrenic Wildman-walk-em-full Perez and even on Getaway day. The rain shortened another series so it’s hard to use the standard “win two of three” metric to judge success. Right now, I’m not sure what to make of this team.

I’m sure the Mets are so tired of hearing about last September or the phrase 7 with 17 to play they’d give half a year salary if they never heard it again. The only way that will start to happen is if the Mets rattle off a 9-1 or 10-2 string of hard fought games to take the lead in the division.

Hard fought games are exactly what lies ahead in the next two series against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. It’s time to turn it up a notch.

Let’s Go Mets!