No No-No and the 10th Loss of the Year

On Monday, the New York Mets could not continue their winning ways, falling to their 50^th Anniversary counterparts 3-4.

RA Dickey was sharp until the sixth, when he took a no-hitter, like many on the Metropolitans before him, into the inning. A couple bloops and a blast later, the Mets were down 3-0.

In the 7^th, I felt like every single Met fan was very curious as to why the Astros manager Brad Mills did not go to a southpaw. Lefty after lefty stood in the batter’s box against the starter Bud Norris, who had been sharp throughout but struggled with his control after gaining a lead. The manager showed a lot of confidence and I would assume was trying to build up the young pitcher’s guile. He gave the lead up, however, as Cap’n Kirk was able to get a single and tie the game, going to 2^nd on the throw.

We appeared to be shortchanged in the bullpen this evening, with so many relievers working a good amount over the weekend. Manny Acosta appeared to bounce back after giving up so many runs on Friday night in that monstrosity of a loss to the Rockies. He pitched the 7^th inning, but struggled in the 8^th, as the Astros took the lead back by hitting his fastball with authority. Once again, however, the LOB overshadows any other flaw in this game, as we were able to rack together 9 base-runners and only plated 3 of them. Sunday’s win was a fluke, and as we saw last night, too many runners left on base will usually get the best of you. Not to take anything away from Norris, though, because he pitched very well.

Other takeaways from this game:

• Torres looked a little anxious in his first game back from the calf injury, both at bat and on the field. Glad to see him drive the ball, even though Travis Buck made a sick catch. It is nice to have his speed back (we have the least amount of stolen bases in the league) but it is not going to get us anywhere if he hesitates on 1^st like he did in the 7^th, almost getting picked off. Cutting back and forth like that also can’t be good for his calf injury. It’s nice to have his energy back, though. When Nieuwenhuis was up with the bases loaded, about to tie the game, Torres was rallying him on from 2^nd base. That was cool.
• Mike Baxter has really turned it on since I said he shouldbe sent down. His hitting has looked solid, and I wonder whether he can keep it up. I like the kid. He’s good energy off the bench.
• Ike Davis is back. He went 2 for 4 and is finally finding the holes in the infield. His confidence is up and he should be driving the ball real soon. The drive was there in Colorado, it just found the gloves. Never mind what I said about him going down to Triple-A. Glad he was able to find his swing up here.

Jon Niese tries to right the ship tonight against Old Phillie Foe JA Happ at 8:05 PM EST. No reason we shouldn’t win the series against the No-Name Astros. Come on, Orange and Blue.

LET’S. GO. METS.

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