Night and day
May 13, 2009
Same old Mets re-apppear
By Bill Price on May 13, 2009 11:27 PM
The Bitter Bill, NYDN
The Mets once again showed their fans Wednesday why they can’t be trusted, can’t be believed in, and can’t - until the champagne is opened - be counted on to win the NL East title.
Just 15 hours after I blogged that I thought things might be changing for the better, they turn in that 12-inning disaster yesterday.
Sure, they erased three deficits, and sure they tied the game with a run in the late innings, but they presented plenty of evidence that nothing - despite this 8-2 stretch - has really changed.
Facing a Braves team that had been on the road for a week and was coming off a brutal loss Tuesday night, the Mets didn’t have the guts to put them away, even after the Fernando Tatis grand slam. Instead the Mets - thanks to some sloppy fielding and awful base running - let the Braves hang around and eventually win the game.
They played the last few innings of Wednesday’s game like it was last September, sort of just expecting to win without having to work for it. Need proof? Read these quotes from after the game.
Carlos Beltran: “We felt early in the game we were going to be able to have one of those nice and easy games. But it was a crazy game.”
Sorry Carlos, you actually had to work hard.
David Wright: “It’s tough taking moral victories out of a loss. But if we keep this fight up the rest of the year, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
WHAT? Moral victories … Is he kidding? The Pittsburgh Pirates get moral victories, not the Mets. Unreal. Anyway, their attitude - and the fact that both teams wore dark jerseys - is not the only troubling aspect from Wednesday’s loss. Here are a few more:
• J.J. Putz has looked awful the past few days: He’s not only giving up runs, he’s getting hit hard. He got bailed out twice by Met hitters, but he better start getting guys out or we’re in trouble. He does, however, have an excuse, and it’s a rather lame one. This is what he said on WFAN before Wednesday’s game: “I’m still trying to get used to pitching in the eighth inning and trying to find some adrenaline because it’s not like pitching in the ninth, I’ll tell you that. You just really don’t have that heart-pounding sensation.” PUTZ.jpg
What a clown. While his heart may not be pounding, the tickers of Met fans everywhere are when he takes the hill. As for adrenaline, if he can’t find it pitching in a tight pennant race, will he ever? Maybe it’s time to give a hungry Parnell the eighth and put Putz on Sean Green duty.
• David Wright is a nightmare at third base: The Daily News writers who just put out the Roger Clemens book should next investigate how this dude has two Gold Gloves. He cost Johan a big run Monday night and cost the Mets another big run Wednesday. And we all know that Wright doesn’t respond well to pressure and adversity, meaning things will likely get worse before they get better. Maybe he should play first - not Murphy - with Delgado on the DL.
• Jose Reyes is not a winning player: He has all the talent in the world, but he clearly has his head up you know where. His baserunning nearly cost the Mets a game Tuesday night and yesterday, it did. First, he gets caught going second to third - on a grounder to short. Not only that, he doesn’t even slide (who does he think he is, Carlos Beltran?). At the very least - as my favorite announcer Wayne Hagin pointed out - Reyes could’ve gotten into a rundown to possibly give Luis Castillo - who hit the grounder - a chance to get to second base. And then, in the bottom of the 12th, he goes into his home run trot and has to stop at second leading off the inning. The streaker ran harder Tuesday night. If Reyes hustled out of the box, maybe he makes it to third and the Mets possibly tie the game. But he didn’t and they didn’t.
• We have no pitching depth: Jonathon Niese is a nice prospect, but if he’s the best we have, what happens if another starter gets hurt? And please don’t tell me you’re excited about Tim Redding, who likely will pitch Monday in L.A. The Mets seem to be taking Livan Hernandez for granted, but we all know he could fall apart at any time. Can Baba Booey be far behind?
K-Rod can’t pitch every day: It seems like he has the past week or so, but if the Mets have to trot him out there - even in tie games - he’s going to be shot by August. Hey, maybe Billy Wagner will be ready by then.
• Jerry Manuel baffled me again: His pitching decisions Monday night were questionable, and yesterday I think he should’ve let Luis Castillo swing away with Reyes on second in the 12th and nobody out. Why play for the tie there, especially with the bullpen shot and Beltran, Sheffield and Wright coming up and a long trip to San Francisco on the docket? Go for the win there, Jerry, at least until Castillo has one strike on him. As much as I’ve ripped Castillo, I think he could’ve moved Reyes over with two strikes against him anyway.
Am I overreacting to yesterday’s loss? Probably. But we all know the Mets were fortunate not to get swept by the Braves, and were also fortunate to play the Pirates over the weekend. History also tells us the Mets cannot give any games away during a season. I know going 8-2 over these past 10 games was a big step for the Mets, but in typical fashion, the Mets still left fans with a bad taste in their mouths. These next 10 games - especially without Delgado - will be huge. I’d sign on for a 4-6 trip right now.
Maine pitches tonight in a game they have to win, if not, they could be looking at a lost weekend and maybe a lost 11 days. I’m sure most of us will lose plenty of sleep this week, especially with many 10 p.m. starts and the Sunday night game in San Francisco.
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A few other things:
Now that Ryan Zimmerman’s hitting streak is over, can MLB put an end to the Nationals’ season now?
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I knew this Varlamov guy was too good to be true. Too bad it happened against the Pens and not our Rangers. By the way, does it feel like the Rangers haven’t played a game in about 3 months?
As for the NHL, two Game 7s will be played tonight - one starting at 7, one at 8, but thanks to a lousy TV contract, both games are on the same network. Therefore, most of us won’t see the first two periods of the Carolina-Boston game. What a joke. As much as I hate the NBA, it would NEVER let something like this happen. Why not play the Detroit-Anaheim game Friday night on Versus? Or at least find another cable outlet - CNBC or MSNBC or the NHL Network - to carry it? For the few of us who love hockey - especially playoff hockey - this is really frustrating. Kind of like watching the Mets.
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May 13, 2009
Mets finally steal one
By Bill Price on May 13, 2009 12:34 AM
The Bitter Bill, NYDN
Mrs. Bitter Bill is a very wise woman - she married me, didn’t she?
She’s so wise she knows not to stay in the same room with me during a close Met game. Either that or she’s tired of the pacing, the talking to the TV or the sitting in the lucky spot for five innings.
But Tuesday night, she sat on the sofa across from me as the Mets tied the game in the ninth and won it in the 10th.
She saw the same things I did. She saw Carlos Beltran ruled safe stealing third in the ninth even though it appeared as if he were out. She saw Luis Castillo actually hit a ball deep enough to the outfield to bring home Beltran with the tying run. She saw the Braves leave two guys on base in the top of the 10th. She saw Bobby Cox intentionally walk Alex Cora in the 10th inning and she saw Beltran walk with the bases loaded to win it.
Seconds after Beltran took that very close 3-2 pitch, she looked at me and said, “You see, other teams lose games like that, too.”
It was then I realized that I not only married someone smarter than me, more importantly I realized that maybe this could be the Mets’ year.
We all know in years past the Atlanta Braves - especially when playing the Mets - would never lose a game like that. They would never blow a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning, would never be on the wrong side of a close call and would never walk a Met with the bases loaded to lose a game.
Heck, it happened less than two weeks ago to the Mets in Philly. But since then, the Mets have won 8 of 9, including three of four from the Braves and two straight from the Phillies. So maybe, just maybe last night was a sign things are changing.
A few other notes from last night:
• It appears as if Mike Pelfrey’s 2008 season wasn’t a mirage, rather a preview of things to come this year. He pitched seven strong innings to keep the Mets in the game and make the comeback possible.
• Carlos Beltran is carrying this team right now. Last night he not only delivered a key double to start the ninth (and the key stolen base), he also had the patience to draw that walk in the 10th. Who cares if he slides or not?
• David Wright still can’t get it done in a big spot. All he needed to do last night was move Beltran over to third in the ninth, but he fouled out on a 3-1 pitch. Maybe he’s been hanging around Baba Booey this week. I’m sure he was the happiest guy in the park when Beltran stole third and scored on the sac fly. If the Mets had lost the game, 3-2, Wright would’ve been hammered for that lousy at-bat.
• K-Rod is fired up. He not only pitched two scoreless innings, he worked out of trouble in the 10th. Putz, on the other hand, has me a bit worried. He was knocked around a little bit last night, and got a huge break when that Brian McCann double bounced into the stands. If not, it’s 4-0 Braves and the Mets lose.
• Bobby Cox is losing it. A guy who gets tossed from games in the first inning over a close 2-1 pitch, didn’t even leave the dugout on the Beltran steal in the ninth. I thought for sure he was going to storm the field and get tossed. Maybe he realized it was a bang-bang play, or maybe realized it was the baseball gods getting even for the Reyes call in the seventh. I know the ball beat Reyes by a second or two, but Chipper missed the tag. Anyway, after years and years of the Braves getting every call against us, it was nice to get one back.
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A few other things from last night’s sports action:
• Just how much money is Roy Halladay going to make when he becomes a free agent? Yankee tickets might have to go up to $3,500 - and that’s in the upper deck - to pay for that dude.
• The Whalers are in huge trouble. I thought for sure they would finish off the Bruins last night, but instead got hammered in Raleigh. Not good.
• NBC has to be fired up for a Red Wings-Blackhawks Western Conference Finals, that is if Detroit makes it. Don’t be surprised if the Ducks win Game 7 in the Motor City - they are tough, especially goalie Jonas Hiller, who made a ridiculous save in the final seconds of Anaheim’s 2-1 in Tuesday night. One other thing, for all the success Detroit has had in the last few years, this will be there first Game 7 of any kind in 7 years. It will be interesting how they handle that pressure.
• I see Big Baby apologized for bumping that kid the other night in Orlando. I guess he had to do it, but again, what is that kid - or any NBA fan - doing on the court?
• My “I’m Calling It Shea” shirt arrived today. I can’t wait to wear it around Citi Field.
That’s all for now. Met day game today. They need to win this one and survive this 10-game trip to San Fran, L.A. and Fenway.
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