No Agony Tonight

Mets 2, Giants 1
Record: 13-15, 3 GB


I don't know where to start.

With Leiter hurling his hundred plus pitches, only this time through a cool, easy eight, and making sure Bonds is thinking he should've taken another day off and who would've thought I couldn't take a vacation against the Mets? Maybe. He's the starter, after all. The one with the best ERA in the National League.

How about with Art? When Art Howe gets fired up -- leaps from the dugout bench, uncorks a haymaking uppercut fist pump -- you know the game has to be a classic. That's exactly what he did after Weathers sailed a breaking ball across the outside black against Pedro Feliz on a full count with the bases loaded. Is there a better feeling -- and here I'm talking to Red Sox fans, primarily, because I know you know this one -- but is there a better feeling than watching a shaky bullpen put itself in a terrible position, only to escape by the narrowest of margins?

The answer, of course, is sure there is, there are plenty better, but a game-winning homer by your team's best hitter to turn that escape into a victory is right up there. I don't know the proper way to tackle such a storybook performance, the kind of game that gives your team a mulligan for the rest of the week, but damn, did Piazza know how to end it.