Sometimes, marquee pitching matchups don't quite live up to their billing, with one or both of the aces being less than ace-like. That was not the case tonight, as two great starters took the mound at Shea and pitched to the level of brilliance they're known to be capable of. A spectator with no rooting interest would have found this evening's showdown a compelling display of sublime pitching, while a fan like myself relishes the treat of being able to appreciate the stellar efforts of opposing greats because the home team has someone to match them pitch for pitch. I can watch Roy Oswalt retire the last 20 Mets he faces and feel something other than frustration, because the offense was able to get to him early and Johan Santana was up to the task of making that lead hold up. It's often said that you have to get to the great ones early in the game because you don't stand a chance once they settle down, and while I'd like to test that hypothesis when I get a chance (sifting through the first inning ERAs of the league's best pitchers sounds like a good way to spend the offseason, right?), it's a powerful idea even in anecdotal form. That the Mets were able to score three runs in the first two innings looks both impressive and crucial in light of what Oswalt did after that; on the flip side, the Astros' inability to score when they had two men in scoring position with one out in the second can be looked back on as a pivotal moment in the game, as Johan rarely looked back after getting past that challenge. It was one of those nights that make being a baseball fan so enjoyable - watching the Mets win is one thing, watching them win a game like that is something else entirely. Thumb: No surprise here - Johan earns the honor by pitching seven shutout innings, apparently begging Jerry to let him go out for the seventh. By and large the starting rotation has picked up the slack to help overcome the bullpen issues lately, with Santana leading the charge in that regard (Mets starters have pitched into the seventh inning or later in nine of the last eleven games, with John Maine's first two starts off the disabled list being the only exceptions). Honorable mention goes to Brian Schneider, who delivered a two-run homer immediately before Oswalt flipped the domination switch. Pointer Finger: Ryan Church was back in right field tonight for the first time since July 5. He batted seventh and had one of the Mets' four hits. He's not the only Met coming off the disabled list - Luis Castillo is likely to be activated tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see who gets sent down to make room for him. (Hopefully it's not Argenis Reyes - given Castillo's lack of range, Reyes is absolutely necessary as a late-inning defensive replacement who gets to start when Mike Pelfrey is on the mound.) Middle Finger: No bird shall be flipped this evening, not even at the umpires. That's how much I enjoyed watching tonight's game. Ring Finger: Tonight was the tenth game this year in which the Mets shut out their opponents. That's the most shutouts thrown by any team in the division. In addition, the Mets have only been shut out four times - everyone else in the division has been shut out at least eight times. Pinky Finger: I often don't watch most of the postgame show (since Baseball Tonight is usually on around that time and I like to catch up with what the rest of the league is doing), but tonight I realized just how funny Jerry Manuel can be in his postgame press conferences. The whole bit about Schneider's hot streak being spurred on by pitchers playing shallow when shagging fly balls against him in BP was priceless.