Besides, Valentin later returned the favor, throwing a ball into left field while trying to make a nearly impossible play on the lead runner with a three-run lead. So as dumb as Kent and Drew were, Valentin returned the favor.

And still the Mets won.

They won because every time they needed runs, they got them. It’s that simple.

Dodger manager Grady Little said it all when he described the Mets as very much “like an American League lineup.”

There isn’t a better one in the game this side of the New York Yankees. In his first playoff game after 14 years in the league, Carlos Delgado was huge with four hits and a solo homer. David Wright, one of the two brilliant third-year players on the left side of the infield, knocked in three. When Jose Reyes got to first base, second was his for the taking.

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Mets fans, who have reason not to get too cocky, thought they had a lot to worry about when the playoffs began. There was the situation with Pedro and then with El Duque. There was a lineup that hadn’t been hitting that much since the team clinched early and coasted through the season’s final weeks. And there was the knowledge that the playoffs are another season in which previous records don’t matter.

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They’re fans, and they should stay nervous. But when the bell rang for the opening round, the Mets answered it with fervor and aplomb. There was no panic when they started slowly. They survived Valentin’s blunder. Their closer, Wagner, gave up half of a two-run lead in the ninth and put the tying run on second, but with the Dodgers’ most dangerous clutch hitter, Garciaparra up with two out, Wagner threw as wicked a slider as you’ll ever see to ring up Mr. Mia Hamm and put a Game 1 victory in the books.

At some point, like when they get to the World Series, the loss of two front-line pitchers could prove to be a problem. But right now against the Dodgers and whoever survives the San Diego Padres-St. Louis Cardinals series, the Mets have more than enough to win. They needed to make a statement, and they did. Good luck to the Dodgers against this crew.