Another Win Down the Drain

The Mets once again were prime to give Johan Santana a rare win on his stat sheet. While those mean less than the team win in general, after blowing so many for 5 years, it would have been nice to lock this one down. But alas, it wasn't meant to be (though it could have been) and the bullpen blew it once more, leading the Mets to lose, 3-6.

It is always easy to blame one party. "It was Terry Collins' fault!" "No! It was the pitchers' faults! They have a job to do!" The truth of the matter is they win as a team and they lose as a team. The Mets offense (including a 3 for 4 Lucas Duda and an Ike Davis who FINALLY came through for an RBI double at home) did not tack on runs when they got the chances (though the bullpen has to be able to lock these close ones down.) Johan Santana, who was great on this evening (6 2/3 innings, 2 runs) still allowed a solo home run before being removed in the 7th right after the Mets gave him a 2-run cushion. Terry Collins probably should have left Bobby Parnell in for the 8th after the right-hander only needed 5 pitches to get rid of Zack Cozart in the 7th. With Tim Byrdak warming up and the lefty Joey Votto the 2nd batter up, the preceding scenario could have easily been the winning formula looking passed the roles these pitchers apparently psychologically need. Hindsight, though, is...well, you know. Jon Rauch, who said it himself, did not execute the appropriate pitch after getting ahead of Votto 0-2 with a runner on, and the lefty made him pay with a double. Brandon Phillips singled to knot the score at 3. Rauch has not pitched well of late, with a 12.71 ERA over his last 7 outings. He was pretty pissed off after the game, and hopefully he can use that anger of failure towards righting the wrong. Byrdak was brought in to face the lefty Jay Bruce, and he gave up a long fly ball to give the the Reds the lead. DJ Carrasco was asked to bounce back from hitting Ryan Braun the night before (and starting that firestorm) but he left a hanging breaking ball up over the plate to Todd Frazier, who crushed it to center for a 2-run home run. Yes, they lost as a team, but who am I kidding? Right now, the number 1 culprit is the bullpen, and they have got to get their crap together. The Mets may be the Comeback Kids early on, but it is hard to come back from every demoralizing inning the bullpen gives up because it is...well...demoralizing.

The Mets designated DJ Carrasco for assignment right after the game. He has made no quality pitch since he has been here, so I am glad to see them make the appropriate move, because former front offices would have just let him rot out there.

The Orange and Blue will try to bounce back and split the series today at 1:10 PM before heading to Toronto for a tough three games against the Blue Jays. RA Dickey takes on Matt Latos. Let's get back to 4 over.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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