Tom Glavine continued his march to 300 by beating the Bucs 6-3.

Actually, it’s more like Glavine is limping his way to 300. Sure he held the Pirates to 3R, 8H, 3BB, 2K in 6IP but c’mon it’s Pittsburgh.

BMF is real down on Glavine these days. I’m just unimpressed. He can beat second division teams like the Reds and Pirates but the Reds and Pirates ain’t gonna be playing in October.

Regarding 300 wins, I really don’t care that much. It’s a great personal achievement but the dude was, and his heart still is, an Atlanta Brave. He surprisingly has 57 victories in a Met uni, which is more than I would’ve thought but still…

***RED ALERT***RED ALERT***Carlos Beltran’s injured abdominal muscle is cause for major alarm. He’s considered day–to-day but this sounds just like the kind of nagging injury that saps Carlos of his Beltran-ness.

He looked frustrated in the post game interview.

Hey, WILLIE and OMAR put him on the DL ASAP!!! I can’t watch him play through an injury for the next 8 weeks.

We can definitely roll with Milledge in center for a while. Thankfully Alou is back and playing again… oops — wait, you mean he’s not back yet?!?!?!

Lastings opened with 2 consecutive hits giving him 6 in his last 6 AB’s. He got thrown out trying to stretch a bloop single into a double but BMF has no problem with that hustle early in the game and already up 3-0.

Milledge busts it out of the box every time, and quite frankly it’s refreshing to see.

Lastings also made a nice catch against the wall in his return to CF.

Big night for Paul Lo Duca too, doubling twice and driving in four. BMF was surprised to see Paulie interviewed on SNY after the game. I haven’t seen him speak to the media since those newspaper hacks accused him of being a racist. I wonder if he’s only talking to SNY…

Quick Hits:

• Good to see Damion Easley return after losing his father and contribute with a hit and an RBI. Welcome back Ease.

• The Mets have joined the growing trend of teams putting their logos in the dirt on the back side of the mound. I like it. I wish we thought of it first but I still like it.

• Where the hell is the skyline Logo in the OF grass??? That was the coolest thing they ever did at Shea and they’ve never done it again. They insist on biting “Sweet Caroline” from Boston but refuse to stick with the most original thing they’ve ever come up with???

Are they saving it for CitiField? What gives?

• BMF spotted some iron CitiField entry arches over the LF wall. I’m getting psyched for this retro stadium we’ve got coming our way!

• Green took a ball to the head when diving back into third base. It rang his bell a little but nothing like what happened to that kid Pedro Lopez in Cincy – Yikes!

• There’s a petition going around to bring Mr. Met’s rarely seen family more into play at Shea. I think it’s hilarious so I signed up and urge you to do the same
HERE.

In case you missed it Moises Alou did NOT return from the DL Tuesday as expected. After spending about 11 months rehabbing a strained quad he was ready to rock until he came down with tendinitis in his shoulder!

You gotta be kidding me with this guy. If Moises AL-Who ever actually does make it back to Shea Willie would wise to rest him 6 days a week to keep him healthy.

Lastings Milledge took full advantage of the bonus time he was afforded by the frail Alou, going 3-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. ‘Stings not only hit his second HR of the season but he also raised his batting avg 57 points to .262! Not a bad day at the office for young Lastings.

BMF has said it before and I’ll say it again - Omar CANNOT trade this kid – he’s gonna be a cornerstone of the Citifield Mets.

Look, no one doubts the potential worth of Alou to this team but he can’t be trusted to suit up on a regular basis. We all knew he was injury prone but this has gotten absurd.

BMF would almost rather cut bait on Alou and let ‘Stings play from here on out. If the kid gets regular AB’s he’s gonna produce. The only thing holding me back from officially taking this stance is the post season where a veteran bat like Moises can have that much more of an advantage than a wide eyed rookie.

But as soon as this season is over I fully expect Omar to refuse all calls from Alou or his agent.

Ho Hum, Johnny Maine tossed another stellar outing – 2R, 5H, 1BB, 7K in 7IP. Oh btw, USS Maine also blasted a 2 run HR of his own to push the score to 6-2. The Shea Faithful demanded a curtain call from the shoulda been All-Star pitcher.

Quick Hits:

• It looks like Reyes and ‘Stings have worked out a HR hand jive routine which ends with a slide step away from each other. BMF approves.

• BMF is also happy to report that Reyes is back to doing his hi-profile celebrations in full view of everyone. Maybe Jose was just depressed because he wasn’t hitting.

• The top of the line up did it again with Reyes and Gotay collecting 2 hits apiece. BMF thinks KC made a big mistake trading us Gotay for Keppinger. But they got us back on the Bannister for Burgos deal so I guess we’re even.

• I got an E-mail from Kelly who is bringing her die hard Met fan boyfriend to NY in Sept for a pair of Met games. She’s looking for a good place to drink Pre or Post game with a Met rowdy crowd. As I said to her it’s kind of pathetic we don’t have a “Stans” equivalent but so it goes. Anyone out here have any suggestions for Met watering holes anywhere from the Lower East Side to Queens???

In his third season as a NY Met Mr Beltran is still mystifying Met fans.

Of course absurdly high hopes come attached to a 119Million dollar contract but the question remains will Beltran ever be able to live up to the hype that surrounded his arrival?

There has always been the lingering question about what really happened when Boras allegedly reached out to the Yankees at the last minute and offered Beltran to the Bombers at a discount.The theory was that quiet Carlos would prefer to be simply one of many stars in the yankee galaxy as opposed to the main man in Queens. Cashman and Co. were said to have passed on the CF’er and although I reserve some doubt it actually went down as rumored I have to wonder if Beltran ever thought he would’ve been better off in the BX.

My suspicions were always that Scott Boras was attempting to use the yanks to gain leverage and further up the Met offer. How could Beltran really think he’d be safe from the wolf-like NY media with the yankees???When all is said and done what kind of numbers will Beltran put up with the Mets?

Year one was an abject disappointment as Carlos batted .266 with 16HR, 78RBI, 83R, and 17SB.

Year two was much closer to what Met fans were hoping for - .275 with 41HR, 116RBI, 127R, and 18SB.

2007 is proving to be a frustrating combination of both seasons as he carries a .263 avg with 19HR 62 RBI, 55R and 14 SB into late July.

This year has seen flashes of pure Beltran dominance mixed with plenty of frustrating periods of complete ineptness at the dish. Carlos is on track to post respectable power numbers and his most stolen bases as a Met but BMF is still perplexed by the low batting average.

The Ex-Royal who batted .273 in his rookie year and .307 avg in ‘03 is yet to approach the .300 level in NY.Perhaps expectations are indeed too high for Beltran but simply watching the amount of raw talent he possesses one would think a .300 avg would come with relative ease.Left out of this conversation is his sterling defensive play and invaluable hot streaks in the post season but the question remains will Carlos Beltran ever put together the kind of season he’s is capable of across the board?

He’s 30 years old this season so his best years may lie ahead but one would think they’d be here in the next couple of seasons or not at all.

BMF has a feeling Beltran will indeed put it all together one year and dominate the league with power and an avg north of .300.

But of course as for this year we’ll have to reassess come October when a player like Beltran can earn his entire paycheck with a big month.

Quick Hits:

• Check out the Chip Ambres game winner in video form as well as the old Met promo from 1985.

• BMF new friend CMF – ChicagoMetsFan is wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a good ChiTown Mets bar?

Yeah BMF said it, Billy Wagner is as good as anyone going in the closing department right now.

Sure Cordero, Valverde, and 8 other guys have more saves - Putz even has a .78 ERA (!) - but I’ll take Wags over any of those dudes down the stretch this year.

Chaw in his mouth, Billy was effectively wild striking out the side to slam the door on a 10 inning 5-4 win. Oh btw, he walked the lead off man, had Juan Pierre picked off first only to watch an error put him on second, airmailed one to the back stop, issued an intentional walk and STILL rang up 3 K’s!!!

The thing about this year’s Wagner is that he doesn’t let stuff bother him. Walks, errors, All Star game losses - Billy Bad Ass just don’t care.

That kinda stuff bothered Wags last year and jeez louise, Met fans have seen less turn Armando Benitez into a quivering mess.

Getting to Wags was a push in itself as the Mets overcame two, 2-run deficits. But c’mon guys you were facing the unknown pitcher Eric Stults - might as well have been Eric STOLTZ out there, and dude you out for 5 innings?!?

This win came direct courtesy of the top of the lineup. Reyes 3 for 5, 2R - Milledge, 2 for 5, 2R, RBI. I know Alou is returning shortly but Lastings Milledge continues to prove that if given AB’s he will produce.

Speaking of that topic Ruben Gotay took an 0-4 with 3K’s. Hey, if Gotay can’t cut it playing everyday we’ve got options in Marlon Anderson and Easley. Not that I’m losing confidence in Go-Gotay but options limit exposure.

All Hail Chip Ambres! Welcome to the club kid that’s a helluva way to introduce yourself to NY.

The Chipster isn’t really a kid though. At 27 he’s already had 145 ML AB’s in KC and looks like he could be a serviceable back up OF. The fact that he seemed like a nice guy in his postgame interview coupled with his being a Met means BMF will be pulling for him ; )

BMF has been remiss in mentioning Damion Easley’s bereavement leave. His father is very ill so he’s left the club to be with family.

I’ve heard he was real close with his Dad so that really sucks. Damion, take as much time as you need.

Per MetsBlog “if Easley does not return on Monday from the Bereavement List, they can switch him to the Restricted List, instead, which removes him temporarily from the 25–man roster, but during which he is not paid.”

I would hope the Mets wouldn’t choose to stop paying him. That’d be a real shitty thing to do to a guy.

Quick Hits:

• If BMF designed CitiField and money weren’t an issue, I would dig deep into the ground and build a superstructure underneath the stadium. It could be used for anything: training complexes, production studios, storage facilities…and unknown future needs.

• Yeah he was hurt to start the year, but BMF is here to tell ya’ Raphael Furcal’s diminished power is ‘cuz he’s off the juice. He’s suddenly not hitting HR’s and is MUCH smaller than he used to be.

• Lo Duca got real heated over a called strike in the 9th and the announcers backed him up. Sorry Paulie, BMF sez it was clearly a strike.

• This homestand is the perfect spot to start a nice winning streak and do a little open field running in the NL East.

The Mets and Jorge Sosa were cruisin’ with a 4 – zip lead over Brad Penny.

I’m not gonna get too worked up over this loss since I didn’t expect to win a Sosa Penny match-up in the first place but is tough to watch the lead vanish with 5 runs in the 4th inning.

The Dodgers are a good team so I didn’t expect a sweep but a Sunday win would be a great buzz to carry ‘til Tuesday.

The Good news- Carlos Beltran has clubbed HR’s in the first 3 games of this series. “Los seems to have teams that he traditionally KILLS and BMF wouldn’t mind one bit if LA stayed on that list since we may very well see them in October.

Lastings got the start and collected 2 hits.

Oh yeah, and Moises Al-Who has been found and he’s in Kings County – Brooklyn. Alou is set to play a game Sunday with the Cyclones so I’d expect him back in Queens this week.

I know we’ve been riding him pretty hard in his absence but BMF is really looking forward to his return. Alou hits, and hits, and hits which is exactly what we need.

I know bashing McCarver is like beating a dead horse – a really annoying dead horse – but jeez McCarver you’re such a freakin’ TOOL! Don’t even talk to me about Fast Time at Ridgemont High!

I missed exactly what FOX’s angle was on promoting the 25 Year anniversary of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, but anything FOX does is so in your face I’m turned off to whatever it is.

Reyes really seems to have toned down his pre-rehearsed hand jive HR celebrations. He still does ‘em but with a lot less flair and generally in the cover of the dugout. I wonder what’s behind this – is Willie suddenly reeling them in?? Or Omar, or Wilpon???

I know it kinda taunts the opponent but I love watching our boys having so much fun. Maybe it will return in the playoffs?

Oh Pea stood up and delivered yet again with a 1R, 6H, 3BB, 8K in 7.1IP performance. I’m telling you this kid is our stopper not Tom Glavine.

Call it bad luck or bad karma, but Jose Valentin fouled a ball off his right leg and fractured his tibia. Word is he’s out 6-8 weeks but BMF is calling him done for the year.

6 weeks puts us into September and by then Gotay will be established as the man at second base and there’ll be no looking back.

The irony isn’t lost on BMF that Valentin escaped serious injury in a shady bar fight only to be taken out a week later from a foul ball.

Hey we’ll always love ya’ for 2006 Jose this year just wasn’t meant to be.

The 1-1 tie in the 8th came undone when Reyes led off with a double and scored on a Marlon Anderson bunt and Dodger throwing error. Then it was Beltran who jacked a 2 run HR to essentially put the game away.

It was such a quick and surgical strike by the Mets BMF was slightly dumbfounded. It was a huge win as we guarantee ourselves at least a split in LA with the possibility of sweep very much intact.

After watching Marlon Anderson for a second game I can’t tell you how psyched I am about having him back on this team. I know the players were moved around separately but we basically traded Franco for Anderson – a deal I make every day of the week.

Quick Hits:

• RP said something to Ollie to crack him up on during a mound meeting in the 6th. Whatever Peterson said worked as Oh Pea got James Loney to end the inning on the very next pitch.

• I love Ollie’s attitude of trying to steal second with 2 out in the 7th but it’s a TERRIBLE play when he gets nailed. Technically it was a pick off since Beimel threw to first but Ollie was running so hard I’m not sure he didn’t think the catcher threw him out.

• The allegations of the NBA referee betting on games makes the Bonds ordeal look like kids stuff. I don’t think it means Barry will receive any more cheers but they may start booing him with a little less ferocity.

• Sammy Sosa on the Mets? NO THANK YOU. Not that he couldn’t add a little pop - maybe, but one ex-steroid user is enough for me, Omar.

• Did anyone else catch the crotch shot SNY cameras gave us up Valentin’s shorts during a postgame interview? You couldn’t see anything but Jose, who was on a gurnee, had the broken leg slightly elevated giving us a full on crotch shot when the camera pulled back. Jeez, SNY in the future could you just stay with a tight shot in those situations???

• Big BMF shout out to Ilan in Telluride, CO for this link to the first Brick Pix at CitiField - great call Ilan! If you click on the thumbnail it’ll take you to a bunch of new stadium pix. Holy Crap we’re really gonna have a brick stadium!!!