Irregulars Fit Perfectly

Are the Rockies batters muttering away their between-games wait by convincing themselves they had no chance no matter what they did since Johan was so on, or will Jim Tracy cheer up his charges by reminding them they were up against an offensive juggernaut?

“Fellas, forget it. You can't shut down an Angel Berroa in clutch situations. And Angel Pagan runs faster than the Acela itself. As for Cory Sullivan…hey, he told us he was coming to get us, so we shouldn't be surprised.”

The composition of Cora's Irregulars, as my partner calls them, has wandered ever farther from the beaten path, which is good since they've gone five games without taking a beating. Administering them is suddenly their preferred route, while all Colorado must look forward to on their jaunts to Flushing is the bus to LaGuardia.

How can you doubt a Mets team made up of so many proven commodities? On Thursday afternoon it featured:

• a first baseman who's been an old hand at the position for two months;

• a leftfielder who spent the first half of the season discovering the charms of Western New York;

• a rightfielder who may never be able to tell his grandchildren what it was like to see unintentional Ball Four;

• a centerfielder who, as his name would indicate, went through hell before becoming heaven-sent;

• and a former Rookie of the Year who has taken six years to overcome the sophomore jinx.

Omir Santos co-led this lineup in Met home runs with a half-dozen, which is OK since we don't much bother with home runs. We were without Luis Castillo, which, for the first time since he came here in 2007, seemed like a really bad thing. We were without Brian Schneider, which necessitated the callup of Robinson Cancel…whom I still confuse with Omir Santos.

Santana, seven innings, eight strikeouts, four hits, one walk…what are the Rockies supposed to do with that?

Pagan, Cora, Wright, Murphy, Francoeur, Sullivan, Santos, Berroa…one All-Star and seven secret weapons. What are the Rockies supposed to do with that?

For your between-games reading pleasure: Faith and Fear in Flushing: An Intense Personal History of the New York Mets, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or a bookstore near you. Keep in touch and join the discussion on Facebook.