Those Mets

OPTIMISM IS IN THE AIR

SHUTOUT OF CUBS GIVES FANS REASON TO BELIEVE

The image was familiar for the Mets, but it was one that had not been seen this season: Jose Reyes, the front of his uniform caked in dirt, smiling and clapping while springing to his feet at third base after a triple.It happened in the second inning Tuesday night after he drove in two runs at Citi Field to spark a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs.Reyes went 4 for 5 in support of starter Mike Pelfrey (3-0), who pitched seven innings to extend his scoreless streak to 19 innings.“You love looking behind you and seeing him smiling and having a good time,” Pelfrey said of Reyes. “It’s fun watching him.”Reyes, who missed almost a year with hamstring and thyroid problems, started this season a week late and did not start Monday’s game, a 6-1 victory. When Manager Jerry Manuel scratched Reyes then, he said Reyes needed a rest as he struggled to get back his timing and sharpness. Reyes was hitting .150.But Manuel also predicted “the next time you see him on the field, you’ll see some things you haven’t seen before” this season.After Reyes raised his average to .222 Tuesday, Manuel chuckled and said, “Every now and then I can be right about something.”Reyes singled in his first at-bat Tuesday, ending an 0-for-18 skid, before ripping his triple to left-center in the second off the Cubs’ starter, Carlos Zambrano (1-2). He also singled in the seventh and in the eighth, raising his average to .222.Manuel said that Reyes has “kind of an electric body” and that sometimes, paradoxically, slows him down. Reyes said he needed the rest Monday and was not surprised at Manuel’s prediction.“He’s my manager,” Reyes said. “He knows me.”Fernando Tatis added insurance for the Mets with a two-run pinch-hit home run in the eighth.The Mets (6-8) won their second in a row and third in four games, and Pelfrey has been a big reason. In his previous appearance, on Saturday, Pelfrey got the first save of his career when he pitched the 20th inning of a 2-1 victory in St. Louis.Pelfrey had a bullpen session earlier Saturday but volunteered for relief work. The extra effort did not seem to have a negative effect, although Pelfrey said he let the thought worry him early in the game Tuesday.Nevertheless, he gave up no hits until there was one out in the fifth inning when Mike Fontenot singled to left.But after Koyie Hill followed with a single, Fontenot was picked off second by catcher Henry Blanco.Pelfrey threw 102 pitches and said he would have thrown more if Manuel had let him.“I saw his point,” said Pelfrey, who has matched his career high with 19 consecutive scoreless innings. “It’s April.”Over all, Pelfrey allowed three hits and three walks and struck out six, continuing the Mets’ recent trend of outstanding starting pitching. In the last six games, Mets starters have given up four earned runs in 38 innings.The rookie Ike Davis was back in the lineup Tuesday, again batting sixth and playing first base, after going 2 for 4 and driving in one run in his debut. He went 0 for 3 with a walk and a run scored in his second major league game.His father, Ron, and stepmother, Kendall, arrived at Citi Field in time for Tuesday night’s game. They could not make it on Monday from their Arizona home because Davis was called up too late in the day. So they threw a big party at their house Monday and took a flight out of Phoenix on Tuesday.Ron and Kendall Davis had about 50 people at their house Monday to watch Davis’s debut, and Kendall said they particularly enjoyed the way Jeff Francoeur hit Davis in the face with a shaving-cream pie when he was being interviewed after the game.“We laughed until our faces hurt, and we watched it again and again,” she said.