Davidoff: Wright performing better than fans believe

Maybe David Wright needs to forget about who he is, what he represents and how much he makes. Maybe he needs to liberate himself from such burdens.

That's what he professed to do last night at Citi Field, and the result was some clutch play by the Mets' most scrutinized player and an accompanying 5-3 victory that evened this Subway Series.

"It's about moving the line," Wright said. "That's when we're at our best, is when we get those walks. Let the guy behind us do the damage. Keep that line moving and put pressure on the defense. And we did that tonight."

To be more precise, Wright did that the best. He delivered a pair of two-out RBI singles in the first and third innings. And in the seventh, with the Mets' lead in peril, Wright made a nice pickup of an Alex Rodriguez "tweener" and threw out his fellow third baseman.

We come here today not to dismiss Wright's streakiness, nor his strikeouts, nor his rough defense, nor even the notion that perhaps Wright's hitting has been impacted by the Matt Cain pitch he took to his head last August.

We come, instead, to ask for some perspective. A realization, with last night's action serving as fresh evidence, that Wright has issues.

But on the Mets' list of concerns, Wright ranks around 20th.

Consider that Wright's difficult Friday night, when the Mets dropped the series opener to the Yankees, put him back on the grill. Forget that the Yankees' Joba Chamberlain, who struck out Wright looking in the seventh with men on first and second and one out, can be one of the game's nastiest setup men when he's on.

Forget that Mariano Rivera is headed for Cooperstown, and besides, Wright's game-ending out - a grounder to the right side, with potential tying run Ike Davis on second base - might have eluded a second baseman with less range than Robinson Cano.

No, once again, Wright stood as the symbol of Mets misery.

Which is just wrong.

We're talking about a team that already has lost 60 percent of its starting rotation to either injury or incompetence. That fields a shortstop, Jose Reyes, who is dramatically underperforming his career norms, and a leftfielder, Jason Bay, who is just starting to heat up.

A team that carries Gary Matthews Jr. on its roster, for crying out loud.

Of course Wright could aid his team by displaying more consistency. Every player strives for such. Yet if streakiness ranks below consistent excellence, it grades above consistent ineptitude.

And those overall respectable statistics - a .371 on-base percentage and .490 slugging percentage - come from games like last night's.

He stepped to the plate with two outs and teammates on first and second in the first inning and singled up the middle off Phil Hughes, driving in Bay for a 1-0 Mets lead.

And in the third, again with two outs and teammates on first and second, he contributed another single up the middle to bring home Bay.

"Those two-out RBI were huge for me," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "We have not been very successful in those situations, so it was good to see David come through in that situation."

"A win's a win," Wright said. "You go out there and try to get as many as you can, whether it's at home or on the road."

But this one had to feel good. Because Wright has struggled at Citi Field. Because many fans have been merciless.

He's not even in the same area code as "perfect." On this Mets team, however? He's about as close to perfection as you'll find.