The Runaways

Games 12 through 15 - Mets

Mets 8, Phillies 1
Mets 9, Marlins 2
Mets 11, Marlins 3
Braves 7, Mets 3
Record: 10-5

A mere cameo today for me before this afternoon's tilt against the loathsome Braves. Much like the ballgames over this week's stretch, MLC has gotten away from me. If you don't make a concerted effort after each contest to weigh in, the next thing you know four games have slipped by; in a similar vein, the Phillies and Marlins watched slim leads evolve into fat ones before they could regroup and make a run. Laughers ensued in each case. And then Atlanta turned the tables on the Mets last night.

Crow is never eaten in April where baseball's blowhards are concerned, so it's hardly time to rub folks' faces in the fact that the Met starters have proven better than serviceable at this early juncture. Between the fact that it's only been a few spins through the rotation and Mike Pelfrey being pelted early and often last night, chattering about it now would be silly. But when the majority of the Township took an "I'm okay with it" attitude about a pitching staff that bozos with by-lines called "ghastly," this is roughly what we expected. Up until last night, quality starts were becoming the norm.

To date, the Mets currently have the best OPS and the best team ERA in the bigs. As Alex Rodriguez may find out the hard way, however, nobody remembers April stats come June, much less October. Those of us who watch nearly every pitch of each Metscast see a few holes that need patching (Delgado's swing, Heilman's elbow, etc.); no major improvement projects, just a little spackling and some touch-up paint. Randolph & Minaya General Contractors, Inc., need to get on it.

This weekend coincidentally offers match-ups with the Sox' and Mets' least loved opponents. Not a lot of gnashing of teeth in this early going, but there is simply something about seeing the pinstripes or the Tomahawk Chop that raises our adrenaline beyond the rational. It looked for all the world last night like we'd be miserable company this morning after series-opening drubbings; alas, it was not to be. Each club made some late inning noise, but all the Mets could manage was to bust up the shutout. David Wright can take some credit, breaking up a would-be game-ending double play that made Kelly Johnson's throw to (the) first (row) a chuckle-inducer. Shawn Green's subsequent bomb to right made it a more respectable score without really raising a glint of hope.

I was able to go most of last year without bitching about the Atlanta Braves and my impassioned abhorrence of everything about them. Looks like they aren't the middling, mediocre mass of nothingness amid the middle of the standings that they were a year ago. Stay tuned for more of the incessant whining you know you missed last summer.