Can Johan play shortstop?

The 2006 Mets rolled into Fenway and got swept, losing the three-game series by a combined score of 23-8.

The 2009 Mets staggered into Fenway and have already done better by taking the first game, 5-3, behind the great Johan Santana.

Squawker Lisa, I would also like to point out that the Mets have also done better this year in this department than the Yankees, currently 0-5 against the Sox. And the last time the Phillies came to New York, they were swept by the Mets.

I'm going to get all my gloating in now, because I expected the Mets to get swept this weekend and don't have high hopes on winning another game in Boston with this depleted crew.

Here's an idea for an exotic bet: Number of errors committed when Johan is pitching vs. number of new Met injuries. If you had errors, you won, 3-2. If Ramon Martinez is the best option the Mets have in their entire system to fill in at shortstop, I would hate to see the runners-up.

Along with Martinez' two errors, giving him four in three games, David Wright also committed his seventh error. So the strong side of the infield is now Luis Castillo and Daniel Murphy. Fortunately, the Mets have a lot of fly-ball pitchers.

As for the injuries, Carlos Beltran's knee forced him to DH and Ryan Church came out of the game with a sore hamstring. Church could be day-to-day, which means the Mets could be playing two men down with Jose Reyes already unavailable.

At least Jerry Manuel will be limited in his pinch-hitting hunches, such as Omir Santos for Ramon Castro. But the Mets' indecision on whether or not to put someone like Reyes on the DL leaves them shorthanded way too often. Or do they stall on calling people up because there's so little to choose from in Omar's farm system?

Especially on a night like this, I'm glad the Mets have packaged prospects for the likes of Johan Santana. And they've got some talented 17-year-olds at the lower levels. But surely Omar should be able to replenish the likes of Anderson Hernandez and Ruben Gotay.

But not if it means trading Bobby Parnell, who got up to 100 mph tonight.

I'm still dubious about Gary Sheffield batting cleanup, but he did get things going tonight with a homer over the Green Monster.

Sheffield now has better stats than a fixture in the middle of Boston's order - David Ortiz, who has one homer and a .205 battting average compared to Sheffield's three homers (in half the AB) and an average of .257.

In 1986, the Mets staggered into Boston down 2-0 and turned things around in the World Series by beating the Red Sox in Game 3. The stakes were much lower tonight, but a turnaround was needed just as badly, and Johan and the Mets came through.