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W: Brandon Lyon (2-1) L: Aaron Heilman (0-3)

Boxscore

It was pointed out to me in an IM conversation to be posted later that I am being way too negative. It was mentioned that I can’t call out the Met fan base for being overly negative while myself being overly negative. It’s almost like as soon as I proclaimed myself a member of the “Mets’ Media” I was given the Negative Nancy Card. I need to try to stop that. Today they have a chance to win a series with their best pitcher on the mound. Radio game today.

The Mets are 31-33. They are 6.5 games behind the Phillies and 7.5 behind the Cardinals. Today’s game is the second of three against the Diamondbacks; they are 1-1 in the series.

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1) Howie mentions that Moises Alou’s MRIs are still being evaluated but it’s looking like he’s going to be taking a trip back to the disabled list. Bring on Adam Dunn.

2) Howie also makes a point about the quality start rule that I almost agree with but don’t. It makes more sense than a win. 6.0 IP/3ER is not a fantastic start, but I think it’s a good cut-off point for the upper limit of “quality.” No one will argue that a 4.50 ERA is good but in a league where the average ERA is 4.18, 4.50 is, in fact, the upper limit of “quality”.

3) Most of the bottom of the first got blacked out on FAN so I have no idea what happened.

4) Ramon Castro got his jaw into one and knocked it over the wall. Give it up for the power of Ramon Castro! It’s kinda too bad that his injury lined up with Brian Schneider’s. I’d like to see what he could do with an extended string of starts.

5) In the aforementioned IM conversation to be posted later, my friend Mike and I just figured out Aaron Heilman’s problem. The man can not pitch with a runner at third. Take a look at his splits sometime with any runner on third. It’s… not good.

6) Santana leaves with a line of 7IP, 10K, 3H, 3BB. Is it bad that I’ve reached the point where I’m just wondering what member of the bullpen is going to blow the game? I hate being that guy but it’s becoming hard not to be until this bullpen proves it can lock down tough situations.

7) The Ex-Expos ZhupairZhtahs once again come through in the clutch as Fernando Tatis knocks in a couple insurance runs to bring the mets up 4-0. Now, let’s just get it to where it can’t be tied on one home run.

8) You know, earlier, I was kinda kidding about “who in the bullpen was going to blow the lead” because I really didn’t think that they could possibly ruin a second great start in two consecutive days. The Joe Smith showed up, walked 3 guys, let 2 score, and left with the go-ahead run at the plate with 2-out. It’s almost like they want to kill people.

9) Howie mentions that they can’t bunt here with Ramon Castro because he’s a slow runner and he has men on and usually you’d want to bunt here. This is one of the various baseballisms that make my head melt. Why in the world would you give up an out with two men on, nobody out, and a guy at the plate who has a .421 OBP? 40% of the time that Castro comes to the plate, he doesn’t make an out. God I hate baseball commentators.

10) Once again, I was really kind of kidding when I said “who would blow the game today.” I can’t believe the bullpen blew a four-run lead. Are they this bad? Really? And Heilman draws another loss. I’m as speechless as I was last night. More so because the Mets lost themselves the game, series, and most of the good will they got with yesterday’s game. The fans are never going to get in to this season. Every game is waiting for a shoe to drop.

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They are now 11-9-2 in series.

There’s not much more that can be said about this team that hasn’t already been said. The bullpen is a joke. They keep finding new and fantastic ways to lose baseball games. The bullpen is so bad that now I’m beginning to believe it’s actually affecting the offense. I realize that those dreaded “mental roadblocks” in baseball can be over-rated, but the offense is reaching the point where I don’t know if they believe that scoring runs mean a damn. They handed the bullpen a three-run lead yesterday and a four-run lead today and it’s not good enough.

The point I made earlier about this Mets team being like a drug dealer is salient. Had they lost yesterday after the blown save, I was ready to give up and start watching Netflix DVDs for the rest of the summer. Then, they come back in dramatic fashion, win the game, and have yet another moment that SHOULD fire the team and get them on a winning streak. They sputter out again because the bullpen is an continually unaddressed disaster.

Howie told a quick story about how Billy Wagner doesn’t apologize to starters when he blows their wins because it’s not part of “closer protocol.” Maybe he should, because he sure the hell should be sorry to someone. I realize that Wagner has been great for most of this season but the team needed these last two wins…. badly. Sweeping the Diamondbacks would have been a huge boost for this team and the fans. Instead, we’re staring back at a one week stretch where the bullpen has been responsible for five of their six losses. Great work guys.

Maybe I’ll just start turning off the TV when the starter leaves and pretend this is 100 win team.