When You Play With Fire, You're Eventually Going To Get Burned

And that's what happened to KRod in yesterday's ballgame. So many times this year, KRod's played escape artist... pitching behind batters in the count... walks... hits allowed... basically putting runners on base to make each game interesting. But until last night, he'd been perfect in save conversions (minus the Castillo game of course) so his knack of putting baserunners on the paths has been largely overlooked. But eventually, things had to catch up with him. After all, he's no Brad Lidge, right?

Francisco couldn't hold a 4-3 lead. He walked in the tying run and allowed the game winner to Aubrey Huff as the Orioles beat the Mets 5-4 to take the series from the Mets in Baltimore. The O's had been 0-34 when trailing after 8 innings before their improbable comeback. Nice...

What's amazing is that the Mets actually GAINED a game in the standings during their latest roadtrip, despite losing games Coach Buttermaker probably would've won. Philly's giving us the division, and the Mets are saying, "no, we don't want it."

How about that Livan Hernandez, perhaps the biggest surprise (in a good way) for the team this year. He went seven strong innings, left with the lead, and hasn't lost since April 23rd. He probably could have gone the distance, but you know the rules: gotta yank the starter after 7 regardless, right? And by the way, anybody notice the amazing amount of pitchers on the disabled list these days? The percentage of pitchers going on the disabled list is significantly higher in the past 15 years than anytime previously in the history of the game (like when there was no such thing as a pitchcount). Leading to the obvious conclusion: Maybe babying pitchers makes no difference at all?.... perhaps even a detriment???

The Mets bats started slow in this game, but after scoring twice in the sixth and seventh innings, the team looked poised to win against a horrible O's team. Alas, it was not meant to be. Shake it off KRod - you'll get 'em next time! Next up? Home games against the Rays, followed by the Cardinals and then the Yankees again.

You see what homefield advantage did for the Orioles. How many wins in the next 10 home games can Met fans expect to win? Ah, the postseason... alas, it seems like it was not meant to be...