Livan Exacts Revenge on "Unprepared" Mets

The Recap: Mets 2, Nats 5 - Last Place

I guess we totally forgot how good Livan Hernandez really is. I believe our last memories of him were his consistent 7 to 8 run losing efforts he gave the Mets last year.

THE GOOD: If you have to look for good in today's game, I guess you have to point to the continuing excellence of the Mets bullpen, which hasn’t allowed a run in 12 2/3 innings. We also saw Mike Jacobs break a 1 for 13 slump with his first homerun of the year, and despite it being completely meaningless, it raised his batting stats to 2 for 15 on the season. Hurry back, Daniel Murphy!

THE BAD: Despite a sub-par performance from Johan Santana, can we say enough bad things about Gary Matthews, Jr., who batted four times with two outs and runners in scoring position, and went 0 for 4? It's only been 6 games, but seriously: this guy's been BAD - no wonder the Angels, Rangers, San Diego, Baltimore, Toronto, and the White Sox couldn't wait to get rid of him. (But our GM wanted him for some reason) And it wasn't just him - the team went a combined 1-9 in those situations as well. Where's the timely hits on this team?!?! And by the way, why do the Mets have a guy who used to cork his bat when he was playing as the hitting coach?

THE UGLY: K-Rod overacting after hitting Willie Harris and causing a confrontation in the ninth is certainly ugly. But after a game in which the Mets appeared completely out-hustled by the powerhouse team that is the Nats, (and against a washed-up, 60 year pitcher to boot), in his post-game press conference, Jerry Manuel told the media the Mets were "unprepared" to play this game. How can that be after just 6 games? Doesn't being "prepared" fall on the manager? How many more times do we have to see this bozo in the dugout? It looks like it's going to be 2009 all over again, and that... is... going to be... ugly!

THE PULSE of the GAME