I’m not sure which is the bigger shock from last night’s 5-1 Mariners win over the Mets; that Pedro Martinez did not run his record against Seattle to 14-0, or that the catcher who failed to nail a runner attempting to steal 2nd on a pitch-out wasn’t named Mike Piazza (congratulations, Pat Borders, whose poor throw resulted in new leadoff man Marlon Anderson’s underserved swipe).

Richie Sexson was tossed by home plate umpire Dale Scott for the former’s tantrum after taking a called third strike in the first inning. While Sexson and anyone else facing Pedro can usually expect the Mets righty to get the benefit of a borderline pitch, in this instance, the Mariners’ 1B was rung up on a ball at his shins.

7 RBI’s in two nights for Ichiro (above). Imagine all the runners New York could leave stranded if the bottom of their lineup could set the table like that.

Carlos Beltran is 2 for his last 31. So perhaps moving him to fourth in the batting order isn’t the answer, either.

Thursday afternoon’s outburst excepted, the Mets have scored a total of 3 runs in this West Coast trip’s other 4 games. I don’t pretend to know what Rick Down actually does everyday (and I’ve been told enough times that at the major league level, there’s only so much tutoring veteran players have the time or inclination for), but it ain’t working. Should Cliff Floyd be swinging at the first pitch he sees from a tiring Ryan Franklin with two out in the 7th, David Wright on 3rd and the Mets trailing by 3 runs? If Floyd kept the inning alive, I’d think nothing of it, but whether it is Wright running the Mets out of the 2nd inning trying to go from first to 3rd on a rare Doug Mientkiewicz base hit, or Mike Piazza costing New York a run by jogging in from 2nd (Wright was gunned down by Randy Winn before the lumbering Piazza crossed the plate), these guys often seem as lackadaisical as Art Howe’s teams.