This morning, I equated today's pitching matchup with bringing a slingshot to a gunfight. Apparently, sometimes that actually works. The Mets encountered John Smoltz on a day when he was not at his best, and Nelson Figueroa was able to keep the Atlanta offense down until the sixth inning. There were home runs, there were great catches, and there were cheers.

Thumb: Carlos Delgado is the obvious choice here for hitting two home runs - an opposite-field shot off Smoltz in the third inning, and an absolute bomb off Will Ohman (who hadn't given up a home run since last July) in the seventh. There will surely be plenty of discussion of Delgado's decision not to go out for a curtain call after the second home run, and as far as I'm concerned Dan Lerner over at Hot Foot has said all that needed to be said.

Pointer Finger: I mentioned before the game that the Braves lineup had more left-handed hitters than the teams Figueroa faced in his first three starts, something that worried me given his history of struggles against lefties. Sure enough, all three of the walks he issued and five of the seven hits he allowed were to left-handed hitters (or switch-hitters batting left-handed).

Middle Finger: On a day when the only member of the starting lineup who failed to reach base made a ridiculous game-saving catch, it's just wrong to single any player out here. The Middle Finger instead will go to this bit of potentially bad news regarding Moises Alou. This is bringing back uncomfortable memories of last year, when Alou injured his quad and wound up missing two and a half months.

Ring Finger: Following up on something I took a look at after Friday night's loss, Atlanta's bullpen has now allowed five runs in 19 innings against the Mets, good for a 2.37 ERA that is a good deal better than what they've done against everyone else.

Pinky Finger: I can't help but giggle every time Ron Darling pronounces Smoltz's name as though it were the Yiddish term for chicken fat, and I don't know how Gary Cohen manages to avoid laughing.