Help us, Johan... you're our only hope
If the Mets ever needed a stopper, it's now. This is why Johan Santana is getting the historically big bucks, because he can be the tourniquet for a team that is hemorrhaging confidence.
Wednesday night's 11-4 loss to the Braves featured a third straight weak effort by a starter that had previously been pitching well, and more anemic offense. Mike Pelfrey was run from the game in the fifth inning and had nothing, much like the Mets' lineup, which managed little against rookie Jair Jurggens. The score was 8-1 after six and Mets fans could be heard cursing across the Tri-State area.
Of course, what would a Mets loss be without an injury? The ever-more-fragile Moises Alou left the game in the third inning with a cramp in his calf. Wow. Thanks for sucking it up, Moises. Yeah, I know you're hitting .340, but come on! Good news - Ryan Church is feeling much better and the blow to his head was not nearly as bad as what he suffered in spring training, so he may be back sooner than expected.
The loss dropped the Mets to .500 at 22-22, two games behind the Braves and Phillies and 3 1/2 games behind the Marlins.
Some perspective - Matt Cerrone at Metsblog.com points out that on May 21 of last year, none of the four teams that eventually made the playoffs in the NL -- the Phillies, Rockies, D-Backs and Cubs -- were in first place or a wild card spot. "The Phillies were .500 and in third place, the Cubs were two games under .500 and in third place, the D’Backs were 25–21 and a half-game back and the Rockies were nine games below .500 and in last place."
Again, there is plenty of time -- but the turnaround has got to start sometime. Hopefully it will Thursday as Santana faces Tim Hudson.
In the meantime, Willie has gone to great lengths to apologize to the Mets brass, SNY and the fans for his comments, insisting he thought they were off the record and tongue-in-cheek and that he was just blowing off steam. He was interviewed before the game on WFAN and SNY and hopes his team can just focus on winning ballgames.
So do we, Willie. So do we.
Wednesday night's 11-4 loss to the Braves featured a third straight weak effort by a starter that had previously been pitching well, and more anemic offense. Mike Pelfrey was run from the game in the fifth inning and had nothing, much like the Mets' lineup, which managed little against rookie Jair Jurggens. The score was 8-1 after six and Mets fans could be heard cursing across the Tri-State area.
Of course, what would a Mets loss be without an injury? The ever-more-fragile Moises Alou left the game in the third inning with a cramp in his calf. Wow. Thanks for sucking it up, Moises. Yeah, I know you're hitting .340, but come on! Good news - Ryan Church is feeling much better and the blow to his head was not nearly as bad as what he suffered in spring training, so he may be back sooner than expected.
The loss dropped the Mets to .500 at 22-22, two games behind the Braves and Phillies and 3 1/2 games behind the Marlins.
Some perspective - Matt Cerrone at Metsblog.com points out that on May 21 of last year, none of the four teams that eventually made the playoffs in the NL -- the Phillies, Rockies, D-Backs and Cubs -- were in first place or a wild card spot. "The Phillies were .500 and in third place, the Cubs were two games under .500 and in third place, the D’Backs were 25–21 and a half-game back and the Rockies were nine games below .500 and in last place."
Again, there is plenty of time -- but the turnaround has got to start sometime. Hopefully it will Thursday as Santana faces Tim Hudson.
In the meantime, Willie has gone to great lengths to apologize to the Mets brass, SNY and the fans for his comments, insisting he thought they were off the record and tongue-in-cheek and that he was just blowing off steam. He was interviewed before the game on WFAN and SNY and hopes his team can just focus on winning ballgames.
So do we, Willie. So do we.
Labels: Braves, Church, loss, Pelfrey, recap, Santana, Willie
posted by Gaspo @ 7:57 PM
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