Carlos Beltran Returns, Piazza Goes Down As Mets Take Two of Three Against Pirates

The Mets keep hanging in there. This week they took two of three from Pittsburgh, with the one loss coming against the undefeated Zach Duke. We also saw the return of Carlos Beltran, but now Mike Piazza is possibly on the shelf after leaving Tuesday's games with a broken hand.

Kris Benson started the series off on a great note. He went seven innings and gave up only seven hits and two runs to improve to 9-4. Equally as impressive is his 3.49 ERA for the season. Roberto Hernandez and Brandon Looper combined for two shutout innings and Cliff Floyd's two run shot in the eighth inning gave them plenty of insurance.

On Wednesday, Carlos Beltran was back in the lineup for the first time since his collision with Mike Cameron and Mike Piazza was out because of the broken hand. Once again, our starter really got the job done. Tom Glavine threw seven innings and gave up only one run on nine hits. David Wright and Jose Offerman both had two run singles and Beltran went one for two with two runs and a stolen base.

Yesterday we ran into Zach Duke. In all, the Mets only managed three hits and one walk. Carlos Beltran did go two for three, but he was left on base both times. Victor Zambrano threw six innings and "only" gave up one walk.

So, at the end of the day, we're now three games back for the Wild Card. We still trail four teams, but the leader is no longer Houston. Philadelphia now tops the chart. And this weekend we have a huge (although you can say at this point that every series is huge) three game series against the Nationals. Two of three is neccesary, and a sweep would push us right over the Nats.