When a friend asked today how I thought the Mets might do over the next 20 games — a so-called brutal stretch in the schedule during which we see the Rays, Cardinals, MFYankees, Brewers, Phillies and Dodgers, with a make-up game from the Pirates thrown in there — I flippantly suggested 19-1. The Pirates are still on the schedule, after all.

Yes, that’s probably going to go down as a wildly optimistic stab at the road ahead but I think I have a pretty good shot at nailing an underlying trend here: That is, we’re due. I’m thinking here that the horrifying events of the last week or so steel these guys, and they start to put together the kind of run I’d like to think they have in them.Church and Murphy and even Schnieder are starting to hit. We’re beginning at last to have what passes for a “regular” lineup while Reyesand Delgado sit.

Last year, at around this time, Jerry’s Kids started making their own move and, if you’ll again pardon the enthusiasm, I’d like to believe the dumb decisions and passive approaches of April and May manifest thesmelves as experience and self-awareness that will guide them through June, July and August.

I could be wrong through. But is 12-8 too much to ask? All teams will have a stretch of 12 out of 20 at some point, and I’m thinking this could be ours.

Thanks for the folks below confirming that Nick Evans indeed was in uniform No. 6 tonight and shown chatting with Ramon Martinez, who’s on the disabled list but may return in time to find his fourth uni number waiting for him (I’d already forgotten he spent an evening in No. 26 earlier this year, in addition to 6 this year, and 22 last year).

Thanks also to the friends new and old who showed up Thursday at Two Boots Tavern’s “Metstock” event. A good crowd heard a reading of a brillant chapter of Stanley Cohen’s A Magic Summer; several adventures in Faith and Fear; and a dorky guy talk about the unassailable Jeff McKnight. It was all fun till the 9th.

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