And Playing Catch-up Continues...

We have yet to be a losing team this year...

AND I DON'T EXPECT IT TO BEGIN AFTER TOMORROW'S GAME.

BE NICE, NIESE!!!

LET'S. GO. METS. 

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The Trials and Tribulations of a Metropolitan Southpaw

It's hard to win when your ace gives up runs in each of his first 3 innings. By the end of the top frame, we were given a look as to what the final product of the game would be: The Mets chipping away, but alas, a run short. They could not tie it within the 1st half-hour, and they could not tie it by the end of the 9th. While an entertaining game, it still ended up on the right side of the record, as The Mets lost 6-7. Apparently, every time I go to the ballpark to see the Orange and Blue take on the Orange or the Blue, they have to lose by 1 run.

I think we all sometimes forget that Johan Santana is coming off major shoulder surgery. It was remarkable what he was able to do for most of the year, but it was unrealistic to believe he would continue to only give up 0-3 runs each start. While he has been sub-par since the no-no, I do not believe the 134-pitch performance is what has caused this lapse in good pitching. He hasn't pitched a full year since (honestly) 2008, and I believe his ineffectiveness is due to that fact. It's certainly bothering him more than it is bothering us. Johan is a battler and he will ease his way through this. (Sounds like they might give him some rest with a possible DL stint. Not a terrible idea. We need him at his best.)

He just keeps on doin' it. Jordany Valdespin is making as big a case as can be made to pencil his name in the starting line-up everyday. Things happen when he's out there, as they did when he reached 1st on an infield single in the 9th, heading to 2nd on an errant throw. Obviously we want a productive, right-handed bat in the middle of our line-up with all the lefties runnin' down the line, and Jason Bay has looked better at the plate coming off this DL trip than his last DL trip (troubling sentence, though). Jordany keeps coming through in big spots late, however, putting us in positions to win ball games. If he were making things happen early on, though, maybe we would actually win these ball games.

Oh, lost in the...well...loss...was Daniel Murphy going 4-5, with every hit traveling the opposite way to left field. Man, he's such a good hitter. Murph's a lot of fun to watch.

And my girlfriend and I did our best impression of a vanishing act before Daughtry could penetrate our ears.

Luckily, the NL East didn't have the best evening (other than the Braves, who came back from 9 down to win in 11 innings against the Nats, by the way), but this series MUST be won. Miguel Batista (who said we're the "best team in baseball" a couple days ago) can do his part to back up his words today at 1:10PM, when he takes on our old friend Chris Capuano.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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I am Ever The Optimist...

...But these last 6 games have been truly testing. I have nothing really to say about last night's 3-4 loss, other than how frustrated I am we didn't win the night before.

The Mets have rebounded from every disaster that's come their way, and maybe, for character's sake, they needed to be knocked back down to sea level to get to the promised land. This team will take us on a wild ride the next few months, but unfortunately this is part of that wild ride.

I truly believe this team is better than the other Mets teams that fell apart after the All-Star break. And I know I sound like a broken record saying it again.

It's time to stop making 2nd halves suck.

Weather the storm, right the ship, use every imaginable cliché there is.

'Cause right now...

In this very moment...

It's really hard to have to any Good Met Feeling.

(That song is my most pessimistic moment of this season....And I'm done. Got it out of my system. Great song, though. And I'm glad there's a day game.)

LET'S. GO. METS.

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And That is Why You Score With the Bases Loaded and No Out, Children!

That's all I got to say, and I got away for a chance to say it.

Get us back on track, RA.

LET'S. GO. METS.

 

(Clearly, none of us could help making the reference to this song when the power went out in the 2nd, and I couldn't help it in this instance as well.)

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Well, THAT was Stupid.

I should be fine with 3 out of 4 from the Dodgers, and 4 out of 5 in general. I really should. I even gave myself 18 hours to let the grossness of that loss dissipate. But it lingers. That 8-3 loss lingers. And thank god we all have a day off to recharge our fandom as the players recharge themselves.

They play such crisp baseball behind RA and Johan. You just wished it would transfer over to the other starters more often than it does. And if Ronny Cedeno is there for his right-handed bat and his defense, why is he swinging at the 1st pitch against Clayton? And why is he bobbling the force-out? It's funny that Daniel Murphy, who has been red-hot with the bat, also turned some fantastic double-plays with Ruben the last few games. They've been looking real in sync. And here's this guy (who, if DFA'd, I could care less), bobblin' the ball and helping to hand that game over to the Dodgers. And if the Mets are indeed buyers at the deadline, how 'bout we get a real back-up catcher who might hit but can CERTAINLY play defense. I have never been wowed by Mike Nickeas' defense, which is essentially what he's here for. Also, I appreciate everybody being aggressive on the basepaths against a pitcher like that, but don't be stupid. "Hey, Clayton? Would you like 2 outs in the 1st inning? Here you go." The bad defense, bonehead plays and the bad bullpen are the difference between being 6 games over, 3.5 games back and a cute 1st half story, to being 15 games over, in 1st place and an AMAZIN' 1st half story. I hope they take off in the 2nd half like we all know they can.

I hate it when teams play who can screw up the least.

Props to Dee Gordon, however, for bouncing back from that early inning debacle.

Big games between the last place Phils and the last place Cubs. They looked exhausted as far back as the 1st 2 games of the Cubs series, so I'm glad this day off was scheduled to let everybody recharge before making sure they win these last 2 series, if not sweep at least 1 of them.

Tomorrow night at 7:10PM, Jon Niese welcomes the just swept Phillies into town. Vance Worley will take the mound for the Phils.

Come on home and dominate, Metsies.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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...And The Chickens Didn't Buckle Under the Knuckle.

Well, that didn't turn out the way we hope it would be. It seemed all the Yankees needed to throw Dickey and the Mets off their trajectory was a misplayed ball at 1st by the pitcher, and his control was never the same. Miguel Batista gave up Cano's 2nd home run is as many plate appearances against him, as the Mets' grit could not compensate for the bad bullpen. They lose 5-6, but weather a rough 22-game stretch with an 11-11 record, entering the two weeks leading up to the All-Star Break in prime position to make a run at the top.

This one took me a while to get over. Here I am writing over 12 hours after the last pitch and I'm still not over the fact Miguel Batista faced Robinson Cano AGAIN. My friend made the point to me that Cano could have hit that home run off anybody and Terry was trying to save his bullpen, but it didn't feel right seeing Batista there for another inning.  Terry was trying to get through the game as opposed to WIN the game. As far as I'm concerned, same lefty lefty rules that you've been following since the beginning of the year and beyond should be followed in this situation. At least go down with the one who gives you the best chance to get a lefty out, even if that lefty is Robinson Cano. The offense can only give you so many big hits. They cannot always compensate for this shoddy bullpen that owned 5 losses in this past stretch's 11.

Something got thrown off when Dickey stumbled over to 1st on Mark Teixiera's weak grounder. Every ounce of control was gone, and he gutted through 6 innings of work, including a single and scoring a very-much needed run. I have been wondering where the pitch was that Swisher hit, but I don't dare watch the video right now. I just can't yet. And when was it deemed classy to point and mock opposition's fans when the game is over? Apparently, that's cool if you're Nick Swisher, and if you're some Yankee fans. Look, I didn't always like when Reyes did his little dances, but he never openly mocked, pointed and laughed at the other teams or their fans. How 'bout some class, man? And speaking of classless (and I'm not calling every Yankee fan classless here, just pointing out one), when Swisher hit the home run off Dickey, this Yankee fan in front of us turned around, pointed with every one of his fingers at each and every one of us, and flicked us off under his chin, before turning back around and clapping. Hey. Douche bag. I don't come in your stadium and flip you off. This is baseball. We're all in this together, only on different sides of the spectrum. I didn't go into Colorado to point and mock when the Rockies lost two games to us. And at no point were any of those fans not gracious to any of us. I guess 27 rings doesn't buy class. But thank you for coming to our ballpark and giving us your money. We appreciate your coin. 

I'm so happy I'm a Mets fan.

The Mets travel to Chicago, where Johan Santana aims to pick up his comrades against the Cubs' Travis Wood. The next 13 games leading up to the All-Star Game include 6 against the Baby Bears, 3 against the Phils and 4 at Los Angeles. The majority of the games are against sub-par teams, but we should not underestimate them. If we don't take anything for granted and keep playing hard, there's a possibility we could finally be double-digits over .500 by the break. I like that Ruben Tejada's back. I like the fight we put up. Put up the same one, bullpen. Come on, Metsies.

LET'S DO THIS.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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...And The Chicken Lays An Egg

I was very surprised to wake up Friday morning and hear, after radio silence from mid-evening Thursday to when I woke up, that Frank Francisco had called the Yankees chicken and said he couldn't wait to strike the whole side out. "Are you kidding me,?!" I said. "Well, that was stupid." Frank Francisco, at his realistic talent level, had no place calling the Yankees chicken. But hey, he's got quite the personality, and if he wants to throw that into a pot (that could use being downsized to a 2-home-game-four-game-series), then as a competitor it is his right to do so. And while he made it interesting with some spotty control, he gutted a save out (with some help from Andres Torres) and, for the moment, did not look like the creature he called those Grey-shirted fowl. The Mets weathered 3 Yankee bombs and rode a 5-run 1st inning into a 6-4 win.

Jon Niese knows he needs to step it up.  What we hopefully have for the remainder of the season at the front of the rotation would be so well complemented by a Niese doing what we all know he is capable of doing. He was pretty solid last night but by no means dominant. There were some control issues at certain parts that led to many base runners and a couple of solo shots. And yes, he got around those base runners, but let us remember that the Yankees haven't been, well, the Yankees when it comes to getting those base runners home this year. Jon Niese, I believe, could one day look like a Cy Young candidate, but it probably won't be as a 25-year-old. Why am I complaining, though? For the most part, he has been a perfect 3rd starter, and he gives us a chance to win most of the time he takes the mound.

How is it that the Mets have instilled so much confidence in us when it comes to runners on base with 2 out? It has been something that separates the good teams from the mediocre teams, and the Mets keep proving to us that they are not that mediocre team. Justin Turner keeps doing what he has done best since being called up last year, and that's get big hits like the one he got in the 1st inning last night. And you gotta give credit to Terry Collins for the way he scattered the righties throughout the lineup against the southpaw Andy Pettitte.

After taking forever to hit a home run in Citi Field this year, and then doing so in dramatic fashion with a Grand Slam, last night's home run to make it 5-0 was one of the sweetest moments all year. We had yet to see one that mimicked a Yankee Stadium fly ball drop-in, and to occur off of Nick Swisher's glove 16 feet farther than the Yankee Stadium right field corner was pure, unadulterated awesomeness.

I had recorded the game so I could see Brave with my family since it was the only time all of them could get together. On my way out of the theatre and back to Queens I avoided all peripheral bar windows that came my way so I could make it home with no knowledge of the game. The 1st inning for me did not begin till 9:30, and even then I discovered a 54-minute American Dad rain delay I had to fast forward. By 9:48, I had made it to the 1st pitch. By the 8th inning, I had the couch to myself and was enjoying it in a very comfortable, sprawled out position, not even thinking I would fall asleep. Miguel Batista lets up a single on a relatively well-pitched sequence to Mark Teixeira. I watched Alex Rodriguez strike out swinging, then, before I knew it, Justin Turner was on 2nd and the Yankees had closed the gap to what ended up being the final score. I didn't know how the 3rd and 4th runs were scored until listening to Evan Roberts on the FAN this morning, when he said that Robinson Cano's homer was an absolute bomb. I just watched it. I'm glad the only time I saw it was after the Mets had locked down the win. I wouldn't have thought it was as awesome as I think it is had I seen it live last night.

The Mets aim to lock down the series tonight when the righty Chris Young takes on Ivan Nova, another righty, at 7:15PM on Fox. Why not set it up for Dickey to go for the sweep tomorrow night? I'm certainly fine with that. Lock it down, Mr. Young.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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Sweepin' the Sour Taste Away

After the Yankee series, had anybody told any of us the New York Mets would score 29 runs in their series with the Rays, any one of us would have told that person they were nuts. That's exactly what the Mets did, however, as they sweep away the Rays with a 9-6 win.

I have been waiting for Kirk's power to break out, and with his 1st multi-homer game, it did in a big way. His 1st got the scoring started leading off the game and his 2nd broke the 4-4 tie in the 4th. I think he can be a 15-20 home run player, which would be quite solid.

Ike with his 5th straight multi-hit game? Ike driving in runs? Ike Davis? Back?

The biggest props for this game have to go to Jon Rauch. Huge job getting out of bases loaded, no-out jam. Hopefully he'll gain back all the confidence he had lost recently.

Am I concerned about Johan? No. He couldn't be fantastic every time. I know he'll bounce back against the O's next week. Plus, it's about time he get's a win with run support like that.

That was real nerve-racking in the 9th inning. I didn't think the series would go by without a true late-inning nail biter. Excellent job by Frank Francisco to bail himself an Miguel Batista out.

The Mets head back into the Citi to take on the Reds again for some reason (what's up with the schedule makers?) Tonight at 7:10PM before the REO Speedwagon concert, Dillon Gee will take on one of the best Michael McDonald impersonators ever, Bronson Arroyo (unfortunately couldn't find a video.) Big series against a formidable opponent. Let's keep this good thing rollin'

LET'S. GO. METS.

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