Felix the King, Johan the Jester

Yes, David Wright made an error with two outs to load the bases in the second inning. That's bad. But when the next batter is an American League pitcher who doesn't normally bat, and your pitcher is named Johan Santana, then the result should be 1-2-3 strikes you're out.

But what happened in Monday's game against the struggling Mariners is a testimony to the kind of bizarre season the Mets continue to have. Santana throws a high fastball out of the strike zone, the kind of pitch that Felix should have either fouled off, popped up or flailed at wildly. Hernandez shuts his eyes and hacks at it, and hits a grand slam.

Santana's line looked pretty good in the end -- seven hits and two walks over seven innings with only one earned run -- but obviously, there was a different story to tell.

Great job by Carlos Beltran to scratch out the only run, stealing home on a wild pitch and knocking out Felix in the process. But typical of the Mets' offense this season, they could not manage anything against the bullpen, and Seattle's pen is particularly bad. That was the hallmark of the Mets when they were playing well -- once they got into the opponent's bullpen, you knew they could do some damage.

Now, the Mets are one of only a couple of teams who haven't come back from a three-run deficit. That pretty much says it all.