Watching the game tonight, I was beginning to feel a bit charitable along with Gary Cohen when he described the pitching of the Mets relief staff during the Padres series as being good, thinking that if a team holds the opponent to just one run, then a team with the offensive firepower of the Mets should be able to have won at least two of the three 2-1 games.
Silly me for thinking that, as tonight showed that even after grabbing a 5-1 lead after two innings, that thought was just a mirage as the bullpen imploded en route to a devastating loss tonight. It's a peculiar feeling of hopelessness, seeing as how now Mets fans have absolutely no faith of the team holding the lead once they have one, nor of them being able to rally from late inning deficits to win games, I think that total for this year at this point is just two wins, but I'm just too cranky to look it up at this point.
Okay, so the bullpen is iffy at best, and not always to blame for the losses, but tonight's debacle must be placed on the shoulders of Claudio Vargas, Joe Smith, and Duaner Sanchez for their ineffectual pitching tonight. The loud booing by the remaining fans at the end of the brief sting by Sanchez in the top of the ninth, giving up three runs on two home runs to expand on their 6-5 lead, certainly was an unmistakable sign about the discontent with the product on the field; sometimes how you lose a game magnifies that type of aggravation.
On the positive side tonight, it was great to see Moises Alou strike the first pitch he saw back in action after his period of inactivity into left field with a two run, two out single to give the Mets a 3-1 lead after the first inning. Such a shame that those good feelings were long gone by the end of the game, lengthened by a one hour rain delay in the middle of the game.
ESPN RECAP
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