NEW YORK -- There's no question Carlos Delgado had an MVP night. No question he's having an MVP second half.
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| If Delgado continues this torrid pace, he could end up with the NL MVP. (AP) |
"The way it's going right now, if he continues like this, how can he not?" teammate Damion Easley asked after Delgado had two home runs and four RBI in Sunday's 6-3 Mets win. "He's a guy you can jump on his back and ride him. And pretty much, that's what we've been doing."
Friday, when someone asked manager Jerry Manuel the first thing that had to happen for the Mets to turn around this year, Manuel quickly answered: "Delgado had to hit."
Sunday, when Manuel talked about what turned a trying Sunday around, the first thing he said was: "Carlos Delgado had some huge at-bats for us. That first hit, to score two runs (in the first inning), that was probably the biggest hit of the game, because we had to show that we could get up off the deck."
The Mets still have issues to deal with, particularly with closer Billy Wagner almost certainly out for the year. They still have to prove that they've overcome last year's collapse, too.
But every big hit from Delgado helps them do just that.
Back on the first day of July, when Delgado was still hitting .228, the Mets were a third-place team. A below-.500 third-place team.
Since then, Delgado has four two-homer games. He's hit .305 in that span, with 19 home runs and 55 RBI, and the Mets have gone 40-21.
More significantly, the Mets are now 22-11 since Wagner last pitched.
"We've played a month without a closer," Manuel said, before catching himself and saying: "We've played a month without Billy Wagner."
Manuel talked about the development of his other relievers, but then turned to the other real key to Mets success without Wagner.
"We have to continue to pick up the slack offensively," he said. "Add-on runs now become crucial for us. We can ill afford to leave men on base without having good at-bats."
