Capuano in control as Mets beat A's

After a rain delay of 2 hours and 15 minutes, the skies over Citi Field never did clear up Thursday. But it didn't matter. The Mets' disposition was sunny enough after their 4-1 win over the A's.

It wasn't just their second win in an 18-hour span that had the Mets beaming. It also was good injury news -- rare for them, we know -- about David Wright.

Wright, who has a stress fracture in his lower back, was cleared to begin what general manager Sandy Alderson called "full exercise activity" after a visit with team doctors in New York. Wright immediately left to catch a flight to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to begin what the Mets hope will be a smooth path to playing big-league games in less than a month.

"With all the blows we've taken in the last six weeks, this is finally a positive," manager Terry Collins said. "When you saw David today, he's so fired up to be able to get back on the field, so this is really good news for us."

What shape will the team be in by the time Wright is in baseball shape? If Wednesday's 13-inning win and Thursday's Chris Capuano and Jose Reyes-led affair are any gauge, the Mets are going to do their best not to fade away before Wright can rejoin them.

The Mets left for an interleague trip to Texas and Detroit (followed by the Yankees coming to Citi Field) and are back to within one game of .500 at 37-38. They took the rubber match against the A's behind Capuano, who pitched six shutout innings despite a cramp in his right side, and Reyes, who had two hits and drove in two runs before dispensing some advice to Wright.

"I told him, 'Good luck in Port St. Lucie,' " Reyes said. " 'There's nothing to do there. Get well soon, man, because we need you here.' "

At one point Thursday, it appeared as if Capuano might be joining Wright on the disabled list. The lefthander felt some abdominal cramping while warming up in the bullpen -- the long pregame rain delay might have had something to do with it, he thought -- and had to gut through six innings.

"Just a little crampy," said Capuano (6-7, 3.99 ERA), who allowed five hits and no walks and struck out seven. "It lingered a little throughout the game. Not real sharp. Kind of a dull ache from time to time."

But in continuing with the rosy theme, the Mets weren't that concerned about Capuano, though they didn't push him past 88 pitches when his turn in the batting order came up in the sixth. "It was smart," he said. "I have an extra day before my next start, so let's nip it in the bud."

Capuano was the only Met who wasn't at Citi Field at the end of Wednesday's 13-inning win. As Thursday's starter, he was allowed to go home early. But as he watched on TV from his Manhattan apartment, he contemplated a return to Queens.

"I was laying in bed at about 12-something watching the game and I was actually about to come back here," he said. "I didn't know if they were going to need Dillon [Gee] or Jon Niese or myself to go in and run or do something."

Capuano did not have to return, however, because the Mets won when Justin Turner was hit with a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded in the 13th.

Some of the A's thought Turner leaned into the ball. A's reliever Brad Ziegler, who threw the pitch, called it "kind of a cheap way to win."

But the A's showed little fight Thursday other than when starter Graham Godfrey (1-1) hit Turner in the leg with a pitch in the first inning, apparently in retaliation.

Turner called it "nothing to make a big fuss about." On this day, the Mets weren't going to let anything darken their mood.