I would have signed up for this three days ago.  The Mets have guaranteed themselves at least a split of a four-game series against the NL Central leading Cardinals with ace Johan Santana slated to pitch the series finale.

Speaking of aces, how about Fernando Nieve?

The diamond in the rough won his third consecutive start by shutting out St. Louis over 6.0 innings Wednesday night.

First, the Yankees (6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER), then the defending AL Champion Rays (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) and now the NL Central leader (6.0 IP, 3 H , 0 ER).  Three up and three down for Nieve, and the longer it continues the less of a fluke it may be.

When will the glass slipper drop?  Never?  Maybe this guy has simply slipped through the cracks?  His fast has above average velocity (92-93) and he has a decent off-speed repertoire.

Click Here for Nieve’s post-game recation (MLB.com)

Jolly for St. Nick:  It’s been a tough, tumultuous couple of months for 23-year old outfielder Nick Evans, but hopefully his fourth inning at-bat made that all a distant memory for the fledgling hitter.  After being the last man cut from the Opening Day 25-man roster, the right-handed hitting outfielder fell apart in Class AAA before a visit to a shrink and a demotion to AA helped put the youngster back on track.  In his first start back with the big club, Evans belted a two-run home run over the left field wall to double the Mets’ lead, 4-0, in the fourth inning.

Evans’ HR (MLB.com)

Now, let me get this right.  Evans, who had a decent debut with the Mets in 2008, struggled mightily in the minors this spring, but needed only one MLB start to pop one out of the ballpark.  Meanwhile, the man Omar Minaya likes to call Mr. Power, Fernando Martinez, is slugging .246 and batting .174 through 69 at-bats. 

I know he’s only 19, but something is suspicious here.  If he truly were a can’t miss prospect wouldn’t he have had at least one by now?  Andruw Jones was 18 years old when he did it in the World Series.  Not to mention, remember David Wright and Jose Reyes.  They came up at a very young age and wasted no time in flashing their promise.  I’m hoping more than anyone that Martinez turns into the 30-HR hitter Minaya claims he is, but don’t be surprised if he is Alex Escobar Part Deux.