I’ve told this story before, but there are always new readers so I’ll tell it again:

On our honeymoon in 2004, Kathy and I broke up the flight to Hawaii by stopping for a couple of days in Arizona.

And it just so happened the weekend we got married, the Mets were playing the Diamondbacks in Arizona, so we spent one of the nights at what was then Bank One Ballpark.

And then when we were in Hawaii Randy Johnson threw his perfect game against Atlanta, which I watched in our hotel as we ate lunch. (I loved how east coast day games were on in the morning and night games were day games. My life would be different if I lived on the west coast or in Hawaii.)

So on this, our 20th wedding anniversary, there are many things to celebrate, but those are two pretty good memories.

Also non-baseball stuff. Which I guess we’ll get to more later.

But for now, let’s live blog the baseball and other thoughts.

The Mets are going for the sweep today which, usually I would be fine with 2 out of 3, and in the end it’s been a good series in St. Louis no matter what, but I really want them to sweep the Cardinals.

Coming off being swept, with Atlanta and Philadelphia coming to town, and being either a game over .500 with a win and a game under with a loss…It seems like a win today would be pretty big.

And it’s been a while since we live blogged. So, with a Wednesday afternoon of baseball and no pick-up responsibilities until around 4:30 (and celebratory anniversary dinner on Friday night so don’t worry, I’m not shirking any celebrating of that either), let’s get to it.

12:46pm: Kicking off the day with a little lunch and Angels-Pirates while I wait for the Mets. Nice to hear Wayne Randazzo’s voice again. (And PNC Park during the day. Beautiful.) This is a little later than I usually eat lunch…but if you’re wondering, going with a little salad-out-of-a-bag and some of the Perdue short cuts chicken mixed in. I always forget that I should do those short cuts more often.

One of the nice things about the live blog is that I don’t lose time between when I think of something and then I write about it three days later. I take notes during games, but sometimes I forget to write something down, thinking ‘no way I’ll forget that’…and then I forget it.

Like the Mets base stealing defense issues. I don’t have much to offer there, I just don’t want to ignore it. (The way Mets pitchers ignore baserunners.) It unfortunately has become so expected that I don’t have much of a reaction. I will say it seemed really out of character to see Francisco Lindor react as angrily as he did on Sunday after third base was stolen practically uncontested for the second or third time.

I also sometimes forget to react to something in writing that I reacted to in my head. Like Sunday, when Harrison Bader aggressively dived for the ball in the tenth inning and missed and turned that into a game-winning hit. To me that was a non-issue. He had to make that dive and take the chance at getting that out. The Mets didn’t have the pitching to last much longer, and it didn’t look like outs were going to come easily. I like the aggressive attempt.

12:55pm: I’m not expecting Jose Quintana to be as good this afternoon as he was against the Cardinals on Sunday, when the Mets needed him to be great. But I’m also not expecting him to be as bad as he was his last time out. Monday was Sean Manaea’s turn to serve as the stopper, and he was. Today Jose Quintana just needs to be his usual solid self. The wins will come when he pitches that way. And if everyone steps up when it’s their turn to end a losing streak…losing streaks won’t continue for long.

1:05pm: As we get ready for first pitch, I’ll share this exciting news which I shared on Facebook yesterday: I’ll be running the New York City Marathon in November. (I like the idea that to thank you for reading this I’m rewarding you with a little inside information that I haven’t spread far and wide just yet.) I am running with a charity bib, raising money for Safe At Home - that’s Joe Torre’s organization - and I’ll share more about it as the race gets closer. But suffice it to say, it’s a great organization - I honestly wasn’t going to run this year but I read about the work they do and knew I had found my charitable cause.

If you want to contribute, well, thank you - you can do that at this link. I would love to not be scrambling to meet my fundraising goal five months from now, so I’d love to get as close as I can as early as I can. Maybe you’re enjoying my Mets writing? Go ahead and throw a donation there. Thank you!

1:08pm: Oh man. Should have checked the forecast in St. Louis. Inclement weather! Delayed start! Bummer.

Let’s talk about the Rangers for a second. I did not stay up through second overtime last night - I barely made it through the first overtime after Adam Ottavino got the last out for the Mets. (I had the Rangers on the TV and the Mets on the phone.) But I’ve been thinking a lot about this: This is easily the most talented Rangers team I’ve ever watched. The 1994 Cup winners were more of a grind-it-out great team. This is a ‘score at will’ type of team. I really enjoy watching them. Let’s hope it continues for 10 more wins.

1:15pm: I’m embarrassed to admit I was under a strict “It’s raining here so it’s probably not raining in St. Louis” belief today. I did not miss a calling by not studying meteorology.

1:30pm: Sonny Gray is today (hopefully today)’s scheduled starter for St. Louis. He’s off to an insane start to the season - 4-1, 0.89 ERA. The Mets did get to him that Saturday game at Citi Field - 4 runs, of which only 1 was earned, but that was Adrian Houser’s bad start, so he got the win. I don’t see him maintaining this all season, though. And I stand by what I said before the season - I think at the end of the year the Mets additions - Luis Severino, Manaea, and yes, even Houser - will stack up pretty well against the three starters the Cardinals added - Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson.

1:45pm: I can’t believe I didn’t check the weather this morning. I worked so hard this morning to clear the afternoon for myself here. Few things as disappointing as a weather delay when you’re looking forward to a game.

I’ll tell you what else is frustrating: how terrible the umpiring is. Harrison Bader was called out sliding into third base on Monday night - he looked clearly safe on replays - and replay let the call stand! I don’t understand it. That could have been costly for the Mets - they held on to win (after a clutch Brandon Nimmo homer broke the 3-3 tie and Jake Diekman, Adam Ottavino, and Edwin Diaz made that lead hold up), but they could have had a bigger lead. It was a ground ball to short and good, aggressive base running by Bader - and the umpire was clearly out of position and couldn’t see the tag. It was a guess.

2:50pm: Whoops. I just dozed off. (Imagine how tired I’d be if I had stayed up for that second overtime!) Stupid inclement weather. This would not have happened if the Mets were playing.

No update on a game today or not.

The Mets’ bats got hot last night - it would be a shame if they don’t get to go out there today. In the 5th inning the Mets scored 6 runs on 8 hits, with Jeff McNeil getting two hits in the inning! (He wasn’t in the lineup today anyway, so I guess that part doesn’t matter.) Pete Alonso contributed, though, with a 2-run opposite field double that looked like a big-time slump buster. He then homered for some insurance late. Do we end up looking back this season at the 5th inning of May 7 as a turning point for this offense?

3:06pm: Well, the Pirates-Angels game is ending and there is no word on the Mets.The Cardinals have a game tomorrow so a rainout today would mean the Mets would have to slot in a one-day trip to St. Louis some time. Not ideal. Also not ideal to wait around all day.

The Phillies, incidentally, are losing right now. I mentioned the other day they might lose a step with Trea Turner hurt - that has not been the case. They took over first place in the NL East Sunday night and haven’t looked back.

3:39pm: The @wxmets twitter account that I rely on heavily when I have no idea what the weather is where the Mets are playing seems to indicate there might be some baseball in St. Louis.

It’s so frustrating when teams don’t give updates, it’s nice that someone is watching the forecasts when I’m too lazy to do so. Is that link working? I’m not sure it’s working. Well, I tried to embed a tweet. Oh well. Now Howie Rose tweeted he’s hearing 4:15 start time.

4:07pm: So much for all that. Postponed. Makeup is August 5th which is crazy - the Mets will be on a 9-game road trip that now becomes 10 - the trip goes to the Angels, now a game in St. Louis, then Colorado and Seattle. That will be tough in what was already a difficult month with a lot of road games. OK. I’ll be back with the series recap shortly.

The (Shortened) Series in St. Louis: 2-0

Overall Record: 18-18. At least there’s no chance of the Mets heading into the Atlanta series below .500.

Standings: 4th place in the NL East, 7 games behind Philadelphia

Up Next: Atlanta, at home, including nationally televised Sunday Night Baseball on Mother’s Day. I don’t need to spend too much time writing about how important this weekend is. I am going to said Sunday night game, so I might not be updating here until Monday. Hopefully it’s, to borrow a phrase from Bob Murphy, a happy recap.

This afternoon did not go as planned. But sometimes that’s what happens, you expect one thing and get another, but you get through it. Like a marriage. And then suddenly it’s been 20 years. That can only happen smoothly if you’re with the right person. And I am.

If you made it this far, thanks, sorry this was more scattered than intended. Make a donation to Safe At Home! Lots more to come on that.

Let’s Go Mets.