(Jose, Endy and Carlos D., rendered speechless by the Hall Of Fame pitching talents of John Lannam and Odalis Perez)
There are few things in life that pain me more than quoting (or agreeing with) ESPN Radio’s Jason Smith. But when the overnight host declares “the Mets find a way to lose, while the Phillies find a way to win”, his simplistic summation of the current state of play in the NL East is tough to quarrel with. That Philly found a way to overcome the Braves (and Pat Burrell striking out 5 times) last night was hardly out of character. For the Mets bats to go oh-so-quiet in two nights against the lowly Nats was also very much in the spirit….of the 2007 team that tackled the season’s final month with all the zeal of Karen Ann Quinlan. (I’d thought about writing “Karen Ann Quinlan at a Labradford gig”, but that just seemed gratuitous, if not unlikely).
Much the way last year’s Mets were undone down the stretch by opposition with zilch to play for, there’s something uncanny about the way the Amazins have victimized by the likes of John Lanham, Odalis Perez, Anderson Hernandez and Willie Harris over the past two evenings. Is another Mets rebound within the realm of possibility between now and September 28? Absolutely, but they’ll have to do it without the services of the revelatory supersub Fernando Tatis, while hoping Olympian Brandon Knight proves guttier than Bobby Sprowl.
(other assorted grumblings on this sad subject) :
Not only do I feel bad for Fernando Tatis for his injury and the fact that he was writing one of the great stories of the season but with him and Damien Easley out the Mets lose two of their best clutch hitters, Tatis was hitting .392 with RISP and .286 with 2 out/RISP and Easley was hitting a robust .314 with 2 out/RISP. Two guys who are killing the Mets in that department are Ryan Church (.179 2 out/RISP) and Carlos Beltran (.183 2 out/RISP).
It™s very easy to kill the Aaron Heilmans and Scott Schoenweises of the world but when you lack the killer instinct to step on your opponents necks and snuff them out this is what you get, doubt, second guessing and Mets fans holding a puke bucket while watching their team fade down the stretch for the second year in a row. – Steve Keene, The Eddie Kranepool Society
Last night’s 1-0 loss to the lowly Nats introduced a new and exciting theme. The incompetence of the bullpen was no longer an issue with the meat of the Mets order going rotten faster than Lehman Brothers. Two runs and nine puny hits against the worst team in baseball is not a slump. It’s the final sign this team is gasping for air, choking to death.
2 hits in 16 at-bats for Reyes, Beltran, Wright and Delgado says it all. – Archie Bunker’s Army
Even after Willie Harris’ latest defensive gem which helped put a nail in the Mets 2008 season (which is currently in a hand basket on Hell’s front porch), I’m beginning to think that it could have been Lenny Harris out in left field, and it wouldn’t matter.
In fact, screw that. The Nationals could have fielded nine Lenny Harrises tonight. It didn’t matter. It’s not going to matter. Not when you can’t get hits off a guy who gave up six runs in three innings in his last start against … oh, wouldn’t you know it? The Mets! – Metsradamus