The sun shines on Shea again

Marty Noble at Mets.com writes about the hard times that were on the verge of happening and what the Mets did to turn it around:

Willie Randolph has taught his first two Mets teams not to fret, not to sweat the small stuff -- or the big stuff -- if any of it is beyond their control. So the Mets viewed the possible loss of Tom Glavine through that prism of stoicism. "It is what it is" became the team mantra.

And these Mets, these first-place Mets, didn't need to import Shawn Green, not really, not desperately. Nor was their game against the Cardinals Tuesday night any sort of test for the team with the best record in the National League. The Mets' next important game has yet to be scheduled. Tuesday night was merely an engagement between the two division leaders -- one all but guaranteed a place in the postseason, the other a quite likely participant.

"Almost everything that happened today," Randolph said, "made us happy and made us better."He enjoyed most the Mets' fifth straight victory -- their 16th in the final at-bat, their third by a walk-off home run, their 27th by one run and their 30th come-from-behind victory. He played no part on Glavine's day, no part of Minaya's getting Green. The manager's realm is victories, losses, clubhouse mindset and getting the most from the players the general manager provides.

"Yeah, I liked tonight a lot," Randolph said.