What a Game! Mets “Slam” Tigers, Twice

Where do you start with a game like this? Do you start with the Mets scoring 14 runs for the second time in three games? Or Jose Reyes having four more hits, including his 15th triple? Or even R.A. Dickey going seven strong innings for the win? Nah, you have to start with the grand slams. And yes, that’s plural.

The Mets hadn’t hit a grand slam since August 2009. But Tuesday night they exploded for two, in consecutive innings no less. In the fourth inning Jason Bay (below) broke the futility to make the score 9-0. Then in the fifth it was Carlos Beltran’s turn. Beltran, by the way, has 53 RBIs on the season. That’s good for sixth in the league.

Jose Reyes now leads the league with a stunning 15 triples. That’s the most before the All-Star break since 1945 — and Reyes still has two weeks before the break to add to that total. His four hits raised his average to a league-leading .349. He has 117 hits. Absolutely amazing. I sensed a prolonged slump coming last week when he struggled for a few games, but Reyes was able to shake it off. We could be watching something really special here.

Dickey is finding himself on a pretty good streak. Except for one bad start in Atlanta, he has pitched well in seven of his last eight starts. He has had some trouble with run support that cost him some wins, but that was not a problem this time around, as the Mets won 14-3.

The Mets are now winners of three straight and are 40-39. It is the first time the Mets have managed to be above .500 since the first week of the season. The Mets need to keep this streak going and prove their are contenders, not the pretenders many people think they are.