Bullpen Better, But Mets Still Sick

Just when you thought things were looking up, the Mets lose 2 straight games to the woeful Pirates. This time, it was another familiar storyline with the Mets not being able to score runs for Johan Santana. Now we all know the Pirates' Zach Duke is a pretty good pitcher, but you really need to score more than one run off the guy (and the Pirates' bullpen), don't you think?

Despite retiring the first 10 hitters of the game (be honest - you were thinking no-hitter, weren't you?), Santana fell to 7-3 with the Mets 3-1 loss last night. He really didn't have his best stuff anyway, and allowed 3 earned runs in 6 innings of work. The Mets bullpen atoned for yesterday's embarrassment, although J.J. Putz - still suffering from Heilman-itus - thankfully did not appear in the game.

Good thing no one was at the game to see it! Poor Pittsburgh - talk about empty seats in a stadium! The crowd was announced at 10,459 but the actual attendance was much less than that on a night when the NHL Penguins were hosting Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals across town.

From the offensive end, Jeremy Reed had a career day with 3 hits and Luis Castillo drove in the Mets only run with a sacrifice fly. As lieutenant Frank Dreben once said: "Nothing to see here... please disperse... nothing to see here"