I sing the praises of Endy Chavez for the second consecutive post: "La la la la." It was another wasted effort by Pedro (and thankfully for Brandon Webb, who was similarly tremendous), the bullpen was spot-on — again. But the clucth hitting, while late, wasn’t too late and it was just little enough in the Mets’ 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks Wednesday, a win that further lowered the Mets’ magic number to…

106.

That’s over the Braves and Phillies. The Mets lead over the Braves stands at 4 1/2
games, 5 over Philly. For context’s sake, only the Cardinals have a lower magic number, and it’s by just a single game, at 105.

How can things go wrong when we’ve got David Wright? And, I never thought I’d type "Endy Chavez was a really solid pickup, just like Jose Valentin" but I just did. But the Mets’ 8-7 win over the Diamondbacks on Memorial Day Monday wasn’t merely another nailbiting comeback, part of a string of victories in ’06 that the club just didn’t have the talent or guts to seal in recent years. It also, when combined with the Braves’ ugly loss to Los Angels, dropped the Mets’ magic number to…

108.

That’s over the Braves and Phillies, who won, pulling to withing a half-game of Atlanta. The Mets lead over the Braves stands at 4 1/2 games, 5 over Philly.

Welcome aboard, El Duque. I don’t care how old you are, so long as you deliver outings like today’s well into October (a few more innings wouldn’t hurt). Duque and the ‘pen did the job from the hill, and Carlos Beltran continues to go yard as the Mets grabbed the series finale from the Marlins, 7-3, on Saturday. The victory further lowered the Mets’ magic number to…

110.

That’s over the Braves, who managed to spot the Cubs 12 runs yet still win.

Tom Glavine was dealing (to a Triple-A lineup) and David Wright was hacking (with a bad back), and all was well in Metsville after a 7-4 win in Miami, a win that lowered the Mets’ magic number to…

111.

That’s over the Braves, who get to play a Triple-A club, too, in Chicago.

Despite Josh Johnson being our daddy in a sour 5-1 loss Friday, the Phlilies were stopped short in Milwaukee, 6-5, thereby enabling the Mets magic number to still drop to…

112.

That’s over the Phillies as well as the Braves, who have not-so-unexpectedly returned to form after a lousy first few weeks of the season.

The diabolic machine that is the New York Mets continues to hum and purr, rallying to edge the Phillies, 5-4, Wednesday at Shea, dropping the Amazin’s magic number to a mere …

113.

The Mets now lead the Phillies by five games in this glorious season.

After the Mets utterly tremendous, exhausting and character-building 16-inning, 9-8 win over the Phillies on Tuesday, one in which we finally got to see Carlos Beltran smile, the Mets magic number plummeted to… 

115.

The lead in the NL East over the Phillies stands at four games, and five over Atlanta.

Thanks to an imperfect yet satisfying 4-3 rebound victory over the crosstown rival Yankees on Sunday, the Mets magic number sank to …

117.

After the Mets disappointing, mismanaged (I’d never have taken out Sanchez, and I said so at the time from the stands) 5-4 loss at Shea Saturday but combined with the Red Sox’s 8-4 win over Phildelphia, the Mets magic number fell to…

118.

Mmm, that one tasted good. David Wright’s walk-off single capped a really fun 7-6 win over the Mets’ neighbors from the Bronx on Friday, and combined with the afterthought that was the Red Sox’s 5-3 win in Philly, the Mets magic number dropped two notches to…

119.

That also happens to be Randy Johnson’s estimated age.