Ohmigod, Wasn't That Not Awful?

Wednesday they rode the bus. Thursday they broke the Bucs. This weekend? First place or bust! Let's get a little giddy for the giddy-up the Mets showed after falling behind 5-0, shedding Tim Redding, shredding almost their entire roster and blowing a ninth-inning lead that seemed fated to be converted into the regulation loss to end all regulation losses. It was a Wes Westrum kind of day developing in Pittsburgh, one from which you're left muttering into the mirror, "Ohmigod, wasn't that awful?" But it didn't develop as such. It was a cliffdweller, all right, but this time the Mets merely teetered on the edge instead of plummeting deep into the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela. Somehow hey formed the mighty Ohio of comebacks — twice. Next stop: Philadelphia, where our temporarily unreeling N.L. East contender challenges the sputtering defending champion, with two other mediocre teams futzing around in there somewhere with us. The Mets...