Once again, in excruciating manner, the Mets come undone by a couple of things that should never have happened en route to another devastating loss, this time at the hand of the visiting Seattle Mariners (yes, the team with the worst record in baseball and one of the worst pitching staffs in the game as well).
It wasn't a bad game that designated ace Johan Santana pitched, but seeing as how he's given up nearly a home run per game, the fact that the one from this game came from Seattle starting pitcher Felix Hernandez and was a grand slam to boot, took the wind out of the sails of the crowd who came to see if the modest strides made by the team out west were more than just baby steps.
Okay, a team can overcome one mistake (truthfully, there was also an error from David Wright prolonged the second inning, the one where Hernandez came to bat with two outs), but the Mets swung the bat so ineffectually against the depleted Mariners staff that the crowd certainly seemed to have lost the will to cheer the team on to an unlikely come-from-behind victory; show us something, it seemed they said, and then we'll get behind you.
The Mets managed just four hits for the game, two each from Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and made the Mariners staff look damn near invincible, save for a brief respite when Sean Green continually fell behind hitters in the ninth, until Arthur Rhodes came in to slam the door shut on the hope of the Mets.
Hernandez pitched masterfully in his stint, but was unfortunately taken off before he could get credit for a win by covering home plate on a wild pitch. Beltran made a clean slide into home, Hernandez just had his foot in the wrong place and Beltran slid into it; fortunately, Hernandez did not have his foot totally planted, so his leg gave way enough to have "just" sustained what appeared to be a severe sprain.
The fact that the home run by Hernandez was the first ever by a Mariners pitcher, and the first grand slam by an American League pitcher since 1971, pointed out the new manner in which this year's Mets would find another way to lose another ball game. Not to dis Hernandez, for he has certainly had an All-Star caliber year, but even after his injury in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets should certainly have done better than they did against a nondescript Mariners relief pitching staff.
Doesn't matter much if the Mets win the last two series, for they have certainly showed the mettle of a team that can't stand its own prosperity.
METS RECAP
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