Steve Trachsel suffered just a minor, one-inning hiccup, prolonging a recent stretch in which he’s been remarkably good, and the Mets feasted on a fine burst of offense in the middle innings as they took care of the Rockies in the series and homestand opener, 6-3.

The victory, combined with the Phillies’ defeat at the hands of Ryan Zimmerman and the Nationals dropped the Mets’ magic number below the 30 mark, to a hardly perceptible…

28.

That would be the very same number "Fresno" Bobby Jones — one of the author’s favorite pitchers of last decade, for some reason — wore on his back for much of the ’90s at Shea.

The division lead over the Phillies now stands at 14 games.