Jerry Manual throws his support behind Fernando Tatis, and for good reason. The Mets don't have any better options right now, and Tatis continues to defy all logic by hitting incredibly well. Ryan church *may* be back soon, and the Mets *may* trade for Raul Ibanez, but right now Tatis is the best corner outfielder they've got.

JC Bradbury takes Buzz Bissinger to task for writing a lazy article in the New York Times about how baseball players are rich and lots of folks are poor and unhealthy.

Philly.com's Paul Hagen interviews Phillies GM Pat Gillick about the forthcoming non-waiver trade deadline, though half of it is just about Jimmy Rollins' benching last week at Shea.

Over at MetsGeek, Chris McCown dissects a possible trade for Raul Ibanez.

Jorge Posada will have shoulder surgery and is done for the year

Xavier Nady is happy to be back in New York.

Mark Teixeira is officially on the block.

The Indians are in full-on sell-mode, and Beyond The Boxscore breaks down GM Mark Shapiro's recent deals.

With Pedro Martinez unavailable while he attends his father's funeral in DR, the Mets may call up Brandon Knight from New Orleans to start against the Cardinals on Saturday. Knight made eleven appearances with the Yankees in 2001 and 2002, posting an aggregate ERA of 10.71. In five starts and eleven total appearances with the Zephyrs this year he has a 1.60 ERA and a 49-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 39.1 innings.

Also in the afore-linked article, Angel Pagan will have the torn labrum in his left shoulder repaired surgically any day now. Don't expect to see him anytime before spring training 2009.

Interesting little profile of Aaron Heilman in today's New York Sun. The piece is long on observation and short on actual quotes from Heilman, but it's a neat window into the most "cerebral" Met.

Recent draftee Brad Holt lit it up for Brooklyn yesterday, fanning 14 Vermont Lake Monsters in six innings, dropping his ERA to 1.57 in the process. The Mets grabbed Holt as a sandwich pick -- 33rd overall -- between this past draft's first and second rounds. Definitely keep an eye on him.

Turns out that Jimmy Rollins was benched yesterday for arriving late for the team's 10am reporting time. Rollins says he was stuck in traffic, but that Charlie Manuel is a stickler for the rules.

Apparently there was an imaginary clash between Carlos Delgado and Jamie Moyer yesterday after the latter lost control of his bat and the former tossed it back to him. Kevin Burkhardt was the only one who noticed.

And we'll wrap things up with a write-up of Ollie Perez in Newsday. I wrote more about him earlier today.

If you want to know what a difference a day makes, go read the tail ends of the comments from the last two game threads. Baseball is an emotional game and Mets fans are likewise emotional, and vocal, and dramatic. A day ago the season was terminal and inoperable, the bullpen a wreck and the division slipping away. Now, after a tidy 6-3 win over those same Phillies, the Mets are again tied for first place and things are looking, if not up, at least not down. Everyone's back where they were before Duaner Sanchez showed us all why the Mets really *do* need Billy Wagner, despite his seeming propensity to give it up in big spots.

Carlos Delgado earned a move up to the cleanup spot and responded by going 1-for-2 with a couple of walks. With his smoking hot July tear Delgado has worked his batting line up to .262/.347/.477, unspectacular for a first baseman but so much better than what he had done in the prior twelve months that it's fun to believe he's actually returned to form. One month does not a rebound make, but maybe injuries were bothering him more than he let on. It's only been 67 at-bats, but in case you haven't checked his monthly splits in a while, Delgado is hitting .403/.481/.731 in July after OPS-ing .632, .772 and .784 for the first three months of the season.

Big winners: Jose Reyes, +21.2% WPA, Damion Easley, +11.4% WPA
Big losers: Marlon Anderson, -9.0% WPA, John Maine, -5.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Reyes woot!, +27.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Rollins RBI double, -13.6% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +16.0%
Total batter WPA: +34.0%

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by BobbyV_Incognito; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.