Returned to Shea stadium last night, and what a difference a month makes, and a few notches in a pennant race.  The place was jumping with a lot of excitement over the Oswalt vs. Santana game, as well as over the Mets recent surge in the standings.  Ryan Church returned last night and that created a huge buzz as well, and Church got a huge round of applause when his name was announced in the line-up and and standing O’ when he came to the plate the first time.  He managed to get on base in the at-bat and when Brian Schnieder hit a home-run in the next at-bat scored for his first appearance at Shea since July 5th.  That had to feel good.  So, with Schneider’s two-run shot, the Mets took a 3-0 lead which they never gave up.  Oswalt was just as good as he was when I saw him in Cincy a few weeks ago, he just made a couple of mistakes that allowed the Mets to take advantage, something the Reds hitters weren’t able to do.  Santana, supposedly the better pitcher though, labored but did exceedingly well.  I loved when I heard the post-game show with Jerry Manuel that Santana, who had thrown a ton of pitches, fought to stay in through the 7th (when he worked as efficiently as he had all night) and ended with a 120+ pitch count.  He wanted to match the other great pitcher in the game, and didn’t want to leave early despite his struggles.  Oswalt ended up going 8, while Santana left after the 7th, yet the Mets held their lead.  A couple of weeks ago, Oswalt left after the 7th and the bullpen almost lost the game, so with his lowish pitch count it is no wonder that he stayed in the game.  What was wonderful was how the Mets bullpen performed… Aaron Heilman pitched great, though he still goes to full counts, rather than pitching to contact, and then new acquisition Luis Ayala earned his first save to the delight and rocking cheers of a near-full Shea Stadium.  If last night was showed anything, the Mets may not need be too concerned about Billy Wagner’s absence.  The upside is if Wagner returns though, the Mets bullpen will be fantastic for this last month, and should be strong enough to carry them into the playoffs.

On an unrelated note: Rick Peterson was on WFAN radio here yesterday. Peterson, the former pitching coach for the Mets and the SF Giants, said that last year MLB teams paid out $330 million to pitchers while they were on the disabled list.  That’s an amazing number.