Joy Division

Game 77 - Mets

Mets 1, Brewers 0
Record: 38-39

Had to have this one. It wasn't pretty (12 Mets K's, 1 run on 5 hits), but it's a win.

David Wright was initially given the day off but was later penciled in; our friends over at Metsblog praised Jerry for the presence of mind to keep Dee-Dub in the lineup. Dave rewarded them with an 0-for-4, 3K, 12th-error-of-the-season day. Oh, well. It came in a win.

3rd place, 2 games out of 1st. Thank goodness for the Phillies' inexplicable season. The Phils are perched atop the (crap) division . . . on pace for an 84-win season. (In other news, Rob is already making his room in his fridge for Case Bet winnings.) The NL East title won't be worth the banner it's printed on for whoever wins it, but it's still an entry into the postseason, so the Mets should ignore their record, ignore the trail of wreckage behind them, and ignore the denizens of the Township who continually point out their flaws. Look, the team fairly well sucks right now, but might I remind you that the 2006 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals were a fairly cruddy team, too. Anything can happen.

(Except the Nationals winning it. There is nothing in the entire universe that could make that happen.)

Crappy-go-lucky . . . that's what we're shooting for in Flushing in 2009.

Rally Round

Game 32 - Mets

Mets 4, Braves 3 (10)
Record: 18-14

A twisty cone of mixed emotions was served up in last night's Met game. It was as frustrating and irritating a game to watch for seven innings as I can remember. The Metmen played a miserably poor game of fundamental baseball (or as Keith calls 'em, "fundies"), making mental mistakes and "doing the little things" to create opportunities for their opponent while squandering their own. And just when I was ready to explain why this team will never truly contend, hammering them for their lack of baseball insight and instinct while mentioning their utter inability to rally and win when the chips are down . . . well, they made that last clause moot.

The baserunning, the decision-making, the sliding, the manager's moves, the situational hitting: it was all for crap for seven innings, and it wasn't the first time we've seen such problems. Dee-Dub tagged from third on a pop to shallow center (deep short, really) and was gunned at the plate. He was tagged out for the second time this game going head-first when a hard feet-first slide might've sent a message, if not changed the outcome. Jose Reyes doubled home two in the eighth to cut the lead to 3-2. Awesome. His decision to try for three bags and get throw out easily reeked of "rookie mistake." (He's not a rookie.)

Two flares to the outfield dropped in, one for the Mets, one for the Braves. Each time there was a man on first. When the Braves did it, the baserunner deftly moved to second and scored on a single. When the Mets did it, Alex Cora's indecisive cha-cha meant he'd be pegged at second and the ensuing single would be for naught. Kudos, Braves OF; nice try, Mets. Just a little thing, but the Mets seem to perpetually end up on the ass end of these things.

Jerry Manuel once again yanked a pitcher prematurely. (TJ, get your mind out of the gutter.) Big ol' Mike Pelfrey had thrown all of 96 pitches and was getting into the groove. Boy, you've got to prove to me why the situation necessitated pulling him after 7 so that (predictably) J.J. Putz could come in and allow two hits, two walks, and one run. Jerry, what you're doing with the starters (by far your greatest asset at the moment) . . . I'm not seeing it.

Better to be lucky than good, some say. Last night was Rabbit's Foot Night for the Mets. The new park prevented several extra Braves runs from scoring, first with a bomb from Chimper Jones that went 410 feet and was gloved on the track, then with a ground rule double that kept an added run from being plated. The men in blue also gave the Mets a break; the key swipe of 3B that allowed Carlos Beltran to score on a sac fly? Yeah, he was out, though it was a very close play. If that gets ruled properly, the Mets are toast.

But it didn't, and that paved the way for all of the negativity and lack of fundies to be washed away. In the 10th, Reyes scratched out a single and stole second. Jeff Bennett then walked three dudes to end it. Not quite a Hollywood ending, but who cares? This is what the Mets have been unable to execute all season long! And these things tend to spill over, breeding more where that came from. Getting off the late-inning-comeback schneid is huge.

This was a losable win in its textbook definition form. That the Mets made this game so losable is reason for long-term concern, but I'm willing to put my head in the sand for one more day and go along with the 18-14, 1st place, what, me worry? bandwagon.

It's Like That

Game 24 - Mets

Mets 6, Braves 4
Record: 11-13

Whatever corner of the bullpen Oliver Perez was sitting in last night, let's hope he was watching. John Maine started down the steps to Ollie Hell, then made the necessary adjustments and reversed course. Three second-inning walks led directly to three runs for the Braves and had Mets Township collectively groaning. (Groans replete with f-words.) That was all the damage, however, that Maine would permit.

Ollie Perez's inability to make such adjustments is why he's no longer in the rotation. His mechanics are on strike. He's beyond in-game tweaks. He blames a knee injury, which I hope is legit. That can heal, and lost velocity might be recaptured. Without it, Oliver Perez is not a $36M pitcher. (With it . . . so you're telling me there's a chance.)

And frankly, why we want a mad walker in the pen as anything but mop-up is beyond me. The manager's nightmare is relievers who walk the first batter. Wanna bet what happens in his first appearance? I think we're seeing the power of a five-year guy who doesn't want to spend time in Buffalo.

Anyway, last night was about Carlos Beltran. A pair of two-run dingers off his blue-flame bat (for once, not a slag on his masculinity) carried the Mets to the win. He's still prone to Cerrano-style flailing at that elusive strike-three curveball, as in his second at-bat, but his first poke against Javier Vazquez immediately altered the game's momentum in a sport where that can be hard to do. Carlos is now sporting a tidy little .400/.500./611 clip. Nifty.

Dee-Dub also chimed in with a two-run job of his own. Just to say, "Hey, let's hold off on Daniel Murphy's coronation for just a spell, eh?"

All in all, a pleasing performance against one of the teams I wish horrible ill upon at all turns. Let's run it back tonight.

Hooray Mets (in a Jamaican accent).

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

Game 21 - Mets

Marlins 4, Mets 3
Record: 9-12

Squandered starting pitching performance, blown save and a loss by the 'pen, wasted offensive opportunities, lack of clutch anything, manager questioned after the game about a decision, fans' malaise, losing to the Marlins, losing another series, guys in the lineup who have no business being guys in the lineup, wondering when the good Mets are going to show up?

Seen it. I don't really need to retype my thoughts, do I? Check out our back pages for that.

Ugly on the Outside

Game 2 - Mets

Mets 9, Reds 7
Record: 2-0

Wow, was that an eyesore. Remember when I used to blather on and on about winnable losses, losable wins, and snatching victory or defeat from the jaws of the other? Yeah, I'm back on that kick already, and we're just a few days into the season. Sorry. Tonight the Mets had no business coming away with a W. They blew chunks in several capacities, but the Reds handed this one to them like a Skyline Chili counter-girl handing over a Coney with the works.

Carlos Delgado seems to have picked up where he left off, 4-for-9 over the first two games with a 1st inning bomb tonight. He also seems destined to retain his title as worst defensive first baseman in the bigs. A bad bottom of the first for the Mets (the paragraph entitled "What Pelf Did" coming up) got worse on one of the shabbier attempts at a DP you'll see this side of Binghamton. Routine grounder to Castillo; slow flip to Reyes that just looked awkward; sloppy sling towards the general vicinity of Delgado; half-hearted slow lean towards the bounding ball as if extracting his cleat from the bag was like pulling a sand burr from a rag wool sock. Conversely, his overly quick cleat extraction from said bag in the agonizingly thorny bottom of the 9th inning cost the Mets again. DHelgado, 1B.

Mike Pelfrey had a rather bizarre night. How he managed to make it through five frames and actually notch a victory after his first inning disemboweling is puzzling. From the outset, he looked . . . what's the best way to put it . . . well, I'd call it either "thoroughly ill at ease" or "like a manure cart full of last week's dung." Immediately after Reds announcer Cowboy Brantley got done emphatically praising Pelfrey's usual control, the Mets' #2 starter couldn't find the plate with a GPS and a sherpa. And when he did . . . [trying to get MLC to treat me to some widgets where I could make some audio explosion noises here, but we're overbudget already]. But to his credit, he cooled off, never looking altogether groovular but putting up four goose eggs.

But when 2-0 became 4-2, Reds starter Edinson (The extra N is for "No way... he won 17 games last year??") Volquez settled into a groove, and things looked bad. A booted 6-4-3, however, enabled a 3-run Mets 5th, and a 7th inning Jay "Musta Had a Few" Bruce fall-down in right field gave the Mets just enough runs to build a lead they wouldn't blow.

Green/Putz/Rodriguez (not that guy who hangs around outside the urologist's office) weren't quite as infallible as in the opener. Each had a hand in nearly throwing back the game the Reds had coughed up. K-Rod channeled Johnny Franco, throwing almost nary a strike and relying on overaggressive swingers (like my dad did in the 70's) for the save. Made us sweat a bit, didn't you there, Frankie??

The whole night was poorly played, frustrating to watch, and always in question. But a win's a win, and I've seen the Mets squander roughly 70 or 80 of these in MLC's history. Salut.

Speaking of this blog, good to have the old gang back recapping games with vim and vigor. Congrats to Nick (on his fertile ways, not on his friggin' baseball team). Rob tells me TJ's on probation, but I think he'll come around. Game on, dudes.


Oh, and Pedro Feliciano: you're on notice. Yet again. Be better.