The Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 5, Mets 1

Ollie Perez has become the Debbie Downer of the Mets staff. Just when the team has a little momentum and is having some fun again, Perez comes along to throw a damper on the festivities, with the baseball equivalent of saying, "By the way, it's official - I can't have children."

Perez allowed five runs and six hits over six innings with two walks, and in his last three starts he has pitched 13 1/3 innings and allowed 17 runs (12 earned), 14 hits and 11 walks with just eight strikeouts. Guess what? He lost all three games.

Maybe Ollie doesn't understand the term "walk year" and thinks you either have to walk a lot of guys or pitch so badly your team wants you to take a walk.

The loss killed any momentum the Mets had after winning two of three in Arizona, their home away from home. The Mets beat Micah Owings and Danny Haren but couldn't take out the unbeatable Brandon Webb on Saturday. Still, an impressive showing, and thanks to the return of Moises Alou and Brian Schneider, the Mets finally were able to play their projected opening day lineup.

As bad as Perez has been, blame the offense just as much for allowing the Dodgers to win the ninth of their last 10 games. Chad Billingsley proved the theorem that the Mets cannot beat a young pitcher they have never faced, allowing a run and five hits in six-plus innings, striking out four and walking four.

Clutch hitting also abandoned the Mets, as they put men on base in every inning except the first, and stranded four runners in scoring position. Weak.

Speaking of weak, Carlos Beltran is hitting just .221. And how is it that Jorge Sosa, who has been lit up several times this season, leads the team in wins with four? Weird.