Ladies and Gentlemen, Your 1997 Marlins

No last night wasn't a time warp. Yes, that Livan Hernandez actually threw a complete game of one run ball. Oh and yes, that Gary Sheffield actually put the game out of reach with a 3-run jack. Who would have thought that 12 years later these two former champions with the Flordia Marlins would reunite off the scrap heap and and be paving the way for a regular season victory?

Not this guy, that's for sure. I'll start off with Mr. Sheffield who I was quick to write off when he first signed on for the major league minimum. So far he hasn't been the brash, cocky, cancer that I thought he was going to be for this team. You know that guy. He yapped a bit here and then went ahead and opened his mouth again here. Those latter comments were never going to fly on a team which is predominantly composed of Latin players. Combine that with past steroid allegations and this just looked like a terrible signing for the Mets.

After losing some off-season weight and getting into shape to play the outfield, that bat speed that has made Gary such a threat at the dish over the years is back. If you had a look at the laser he hit to Left Field last night on a pitch off his shoelaces, you could see it. Since Carlos Delgado was placed on the DL on May 16th, Sheffield is hitting .407 with 3HR, 10 RBI, and an OBP of .515. For a team that is as power starved and injury plagued as the Mets right now, you can't help but root for a guy putting up these kinds of numbers.

And you Livan. Where did you come from? Hernandez has his season ERA below 5.00 which it's only been for 2 games since June 7th of last season. In his last 5 starts including games against LA and Atlanta, Livan is 3-0 in 33.1 IP with 19 K's and an ERA of 2.72. Has he played some soft teams? Sure most people would say Pittsburgh and Washington qualify as such. But who cares? He also threw 7.0 solid against LA too who is arguably the best team in the bigs right now. If Livan can keep putting up the Quality Starts and the offense can keep backing him with run support, he is doing exactly what we signed him to do.

Both of these guys, as unsuspecting as they may be, have been a large part of the Mets success these past few games. Will they keep producing at this rate over the course of the next 117? Extremely doubtful - but that is no reason to sleep on them now. Let's get behind these two while we can.