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A lot of things went right last night.

The Lineup
Kelly had a big 2-4 night w/ 4 RBI’s.

Tex had a pair and has only one hitless night in his last 10 games going 14/44 .318, 2 HRs, 9 RBI’s. Maybe the slumping start is coming to an end.

Chipper got a hit to increase his chances of finishing April above .400. I’d like to see 3 more HR’s before the month is over to bring his total to 10…. But I don’t mean to be greedy.

In fact everyone in the regular lineup with the exception of Diaz (and Yunel who left early with a really bad boo boo…but we’ll check on him later) got hits.

The Starter
Was actually a lot better than the 3rd inning would indicate. After that Dutch Merry-Go-Round Jurrjens hosted Jair slammed the door, retiring 10 Mets in a row and recording 4 K’s for the night. If you watch Jurrjens pitch location and the calls he was getting it looks like the strike zone was shrunken to just about the size of Barry Bonds’ testicles.

After an exasperated non-verbal reaction from Jair, Tim McClelland came out barking and Bobby came a-runnin’. After Cox’s first ejection of the year, Jurrjens didn’t even seem phased.

This is actually the kind of start that makes you feel great about his potential and his place in a rotation that needs to stay strong and healthy. Rather than having a meltdown after an infuriating 3rd inning he pitched a fine game.

The Bullpen
Ohman, Boyer, Ring, Acosta, worked to keep the door Jurrjens slammed from coming (ahem) “A-Jair”. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist). The bullpen that we’ve been biting our nails about since Moylan, Soriano, Gonzalez have been missing allowed no runs, no hits, no walks, and got 2 K’s…against the Mets…at Shea. I love it. Delgado even got booed after whiffing to strike out to Boyer in the ninth. Looks like trouble in paradise.

Today
We’ve got Hudson on the mound going up against John Maine.
How They Compare

Hudson 3-1, 2.93, 5/16(BB/K), 1 HR, 30.2 IP’s, bald head, cool tattoo.

Maine 1-2, 3.57, 14/16 (BB/K), 3 HR, 22.2 IP’s, played “The Joker” in the Batman movie.

So I like the matchup for today’s game. Maine is a good pitcher but Hudson has better control, can last longer, and uh…. excuse me this is starting to sound like a Viagra commercial or something.

I’m going to quit now. Enjoy the game.

JB in ATL