Disgruntled Mets Fan

The Mets are down 8-1 in the top of the 8th inning against the Braves.  All signs point to another loss to Atlanta that season, since they’d owned the Mets recently winning 19 of the last 25 match ups.  I have a long drive ahead of me and decide to leave the game early and beat some of the traffic.  I get out of the parking lot as the Mets come up for the bottom half of the inning.  I turn on WFAN to listen to the end of the game.  This is the last time I have left a baseball game early in my life.

The inning goes as follows…

Derek Bell singles to right center.

Edgardo Alfonzo flies to center.

Mike Piazza reaches on infield hit, goes to second on bad throw. Bell to third.

Robin Ventura grounds out, Bell scores, Piazza to third. Braves 8, Mets 2

Todd Zeile singles to left, Piazza scores. Braves 8, Mets 3

Jay Payton singles to right, Zeile to second.

Benny Agbayani walks on 3-2 pitch to load bases.

Pinch-hitter Mark Johnson draws another full-count walk, forcing home Zeile. Braves 8, Mets 4

Melvin Mora draws third straight full-count walk, Payton scores. Braves 8, Mets 5

Joe McEwing pinch-runs for Johnson.

Bell draws 3-1 walk, Agbayani scores. Braves 8, Mets 6

Alfonzo singles to left, McEwing and Mora score. Braves 8, Mets 8

Piazza lines three-run home run to left. Mets 11, Braves 8

Ventura grounds out to end inning.

Imagine the feelings going through my mind as I listen to this.  The second greatest comeback in Mets History!  I was there, and I left.  Words can not describe what was going through my mind as I heard the call when Piazza hit the home run to take the lead.  One of the most exciting things that has ever happened at Shea Stadium.  I was there, and I missed it.

The worst part of this story is that the three friends that I went with, did not leave.  I decided to leave on my own.  They decided to stay.  I still go to Mets games with one of these friends, and have been reminded many times about this incident.  As I said before, I have not left a game early since.

What a loss.  We get good starting pitching again, and the pen blows it.  Johan recovered nicely from his rough first inning, got through 7 without giving up any other runs, and then the Putz walks the first two he faces and costs the Mets the game.  What a shame.  Checking facebook after the game, I saw that one Mets fan is going to start rooting for the Phillies, and one has given up completely.  I know it’s early in the season, but it’s hard not to share those feelings.  Since Adam Wainright dropped in the dirtiest curve ball anyone has ever seen to end Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006, it’s been heartbreak after heartbreak watching this team.  It’s been awful.  When someone who’s not a fan tries to understand how you can be so upset 21 games into the season, they can’t get it.  I recently had an English friend asking how it could matter so much this early into the season, and he’s partly right.  This is a marathon and not a sprint.  That’s not the point.  As a die-hard fan that’s spent the previous two season finales watching the Mets blow the game and miss the playoffs by that one game they needed to win, I know that every win counts.  Even in April.  You freaking Putz.

As much as Putz will take full credit for the loss, the truth is the lineup had two shots to bail him out in the bottom half of the 8th and 9th.  In the bottom of the 8th with the go ahead run on 2nd and 2 outs, Alex Cora grounded out to the 2nd baseman.  In the bottom of the 9th, Sheffield and Beltran walked to start the inning, Wright went down looking (yet again… at what point do you just try and get him to lay a bunt down in a clutch situation?), and Church grounded out moving the runners over.  Fernando Tatis was hit by a pitch only because Matt Lidstrom didn’t feel like throwing four intentional balls to load the bases.  Then in a move which reinforces the fact that Ramon Castro has probably lost his job as back up catcher when Brian Schneider comes back, Jerry Manuel pinch hit for Castro with Omir Santos.  I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about pinch hitting for Castro before he got to the plate.  He hasn’t hit well all season, and his bat looks particularly slow.  Not a recipe for success against Lidstrom’s blazing fastball.  Santos popped out to 2nd, leaving the go ahead run a single away for the 2nd straight inning.

Sure it seems like the pitching is a problem, but it’s not the only problem.  The lack of hitting with runners in scoring position has been the problem since the 2006 Playoffs.  It’s something that needs to be addressed immediately.  Good thing Manny isn’t on the team.  He’s not a very good hitter.

But he can sure hit some timely home runs…  Cantu blasted two home runs, the last a 3 run shot that broke the tie and ultimately won the game.  Sean Green was handed a one run lead in the 7th but gave up 4 after 2 walks and 2 hits, the 2nd being Cantu’s homer.  It was only Green’s second shaky outing in 11 appearances so far, the other being a 2 inning effort against St. Louis where he gave up 5 earned runs on 7 hits with 2 walks.  Green’s letdown was a shame because Livan Hernandez pitched well enough to get a win and Bobby Parnell, though a bit shaky, got out of his inning without an earned run.

Gary Sheffield reinforced the fact that it’s almost as easy to hit a triple in Citi Field as it is to hit a home run, knocking in two with a triple in the first inning.  If old man Shef can leg out a triple, it can’t be too hard.  Daniel Murphy missed out on a start again but got his hit in a pinch hit effort.

This would have been a great game to win because it would have gotten the Mets back to .500 with Johan starting today.  The man has seemed un-hittable at times this season, and the expansive outfield should treat him well since the give up the long ball seems to be his one and only flaw.  There will be a little less pressure on Santana this time around, since the Mets are not in the midst of a four game losing streak, and someone else has actually pitched well since the last time he started.  Taking back to back series against division foes is not the worst thing that could happen, even though a sweep for both would have been much more enjoyable.

More to come during the game today.

Carlos Delgado will get another day off to rest his strained hip.  Luis Castillo was suffering from back spasms.  Both injuries are being downplayed right now as not serious so I’ll just hope neither spend any time on the DL.

In thier place, Fernando Tatis and Alex Cora will start at 1B and 2B respectively.  I would assume this would move Daniel Murphy back to the 2 hole in the lineup, unless Jerry Manuel decides to give Gary Sheffield another start to replace Delgado’s big bat at clean up.  Only time will tell.

Livan Hernandez gets a chance to keep his job tonight, going against Ricky Nolasco.  Hernandez’s efforts have not been terrible (for a 5th starter), but the Mets will surely need to plate a few runs in order to get a win tonight, which would bring them to 10-10 after the first 20 games of the season.  Not a great start unless you’re a Nationals fan.

If John Maine makes another start like this, I say the Mets give him back Maine Street.  One of the worst between inning gimicks ever invented, but unintentionally very funny.  Maine must have listened to a little extra Metallica before the game today.  He gave up 1 unearned run over 6 innings on one hit.  The Mets staff only gave up two hits overall.  The bullpen was solid again getting the final 9 outs of the game.  Frankie got some work in a non-save situation, but struggled a bit with his control walking two.

Solid pitching makes me happy, especially when the Mets jump out to score 6 runs in the first inning.  Four of them coming on one swing of the bat when Omir Santos hit his first home run and drove in his first RBIs on a grand slam.  What will happen to Santos once Brian Schneider comes off the DL?  The pitchers seem to like throwing to him and he’s shown decent pop with the bat.  More than Ramon Castro has shown early in the season so far.

Jerry Manuel seems to think David Wright is coming out of his slump, and there were signs that make me think so too.  He hit a single to right field, and then blasted a long triple to the wall in center.  This was the Mets second triple of the game and their 8th of the short season.  The Mets have only hit 11 hom runs so far as a team.  Citi Field seems to be living up to the “pitcher’s park” reputation it had developed during construction.

Carlos Delgado got what seemed like a much needed night off tonight to rest a sore hip.  Fernando Tatis started in his place.  Hopefully Carlos’ struggles don’t continue too much longer.  It wasn’t too long ago that Carlos had a slump that lasted more than half a season.

One reason for concern was Luis Castillo leaving the game early after successfully beating out an infield hit.  There was no news as of the end of the game, but with Luis’ past, I would assume it’s something with his hamstring or knee.  He’s been hitting the ball so well, let’s hope it’s nothing serious.

All in all it was a very good win tonight.

Lets Go Mets!

MLB.com reminded me of something that I hadn’t thought of.  If the Mets starting pitching continues down the road it’s on now, is a move made to sign Pedro Martinez?  He’s asking for around $5 million for a season worth of service.  He proved he can still pitch during the WBC.  The price is a little high in my opinion.  Not because Pedro can’t pitch, but because there’s a major question about whether or not he can stay healthy.  If you could get 20-25 starts out of Pedro you could justify the spending, but if he does the same thing he’s done for the last two seasons, it would be throwing money away.

Is Pedro Lite (as my roommate called him) worth the price?