WAGNER LOSES GRIP ON BANNISTER; METS LOSE IN 10

Nationals 9, Mets 5, 10 innings (NYM: 1-1, WAS: 1-1)

OK, it's my fault. I take the blame. I'm the one who called my parents in the sixth inning to let them know they should watch the Mets, because Brian Bannister had gone five no-hit innings. Then I told my sister, and no sooner did she say, "Isn't that supposed to jinx it?", did Bannister give up a double...then hit a batter....then give up a 3-run homer to Nick Johnson. The Mets still led, 4-3, but I told my sister, "Yes, it jinxes it." Sorry Brian.

I also messed things up for Billy Wagner. I'm sitting there, thinking, as the Mets head into the top of the ninth with their 4-3 lead, "So this is what if feels like to have 100% confidence in the bullpen." Wagner promptly went 3-0 on Ryan Zimmerman, then got back to 3-2, then left a fastball up that Zimmerman turned on and hit over the wall to tie it at 4.

It got worse. In the tenth, Jorge Julio gave up 5 runs, and the Nationals went on to a 9-5 win.

Now, eternal optimist that I am, there were lots of positives in this game. (I'm not nearly as upset by this loss as I probably should be.) I'll start at the beginning - Brian Bannister pitched very well. (He was wearing number 40 - I'm surprised the Mets gave up Braden Looper's number so soon.) He got himself in a jam in the 2nd inning, with men on 2nd and 3rd, and managed to pitch out of it with a strikeout and a flyout. He was clearly gassed in the sixth, and still faced a few batters, striking out his final batter, after giving up the 3-run homer to Nick Johnson.

The Mets' bats were working early - they blew a 4-0 lead. David Wright had an RBI single in the first (after Carloses Beltran* and Delgado struck out with runners on 1st and 2nd), Xavier Nady homered to make it 2-0 (he is tattooing the ball early on), and Delgado rebounded later with a 2-run bomb of a homer to make it 4-0.

Anderson Hernandez looks great at second base. He saved Aaron Heilman (who actually pitched well in his second game - as did Duaner Sanchez, getting the 4-3 lead to Wagner) by fully extending and diving into right field for a ball hit over his head. He stayed down for a while, but it looked like he only knocked the wind out of himself. He also made a great play running into right field's foul territory, catching a ball over his shoulder, and then calling off Carlos Delgado on a similar play in foul territory behind first. A great defensive game from Hernandez.

Believe it or not, I thought Jorge Julio actually pitched well too. He hung a curve to Jose Guillen that Guillen just put over the left-field wall (Cliff Floyd actually mis-timed his jump, or else it would have been a long out), but his stuff looked good. After the Guillen homer, he struck out Nick Johnson, but the ball got away from LoDuca, and Johnson reached. Then a nubber in front of the mound was thrown away by LoDuca, and it snowballed. But I expected a lot worse from Julio, and I was encouraged by the way he played.

The Mets had mounted a 2-out rally in the bottom of the ninth, after Wagner's blown save, by the way, and LoDuca flew out to right with the bases loaded, following a pinch hit single by Julio Franco (47 years old!) and a walk (!) by THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes. The Mets just couldn't get their bats going after the fourth inning.

NO SNY: I couldn't watch the game on SNY because as soon as the game started, DirecTV blacked out the SNY feed, and I had to watch the Nationals feed. That's OK - SNY needs to work out all their bugs. I was watching the pre-game, and some dude tossed to sound, and the sound never rolled. It's uncomfortable to watch. Speaking of uncomfortable to watch, one of SNY's big shows is "Daily News Live", hosted by Gary Apple. Not good. Rob Schneider was a guest on the show, promoting his new movie (very knowledgable in sports, by the way), and he should have hosted. At one point, Apple says, "Coming up after the break, we'll switch gears and talk football with......with.......with, uh......" And Rob Schneider says, "With WHO?!?!?" It was great. Turns out, Apple forgot he was having the Chicago Bears' Thomas Jones on the show. So SNY's programming has a long way to go, in this humble opinion. They should have made me their official blogger...I wouldn't be nearly as hard on them. I really do want to see Gary Cohen do a game on TV, though.

COMMERCIAL WATCH: Heineken is out with a few good new ads for baseball season, the best of which features a couple of brothers visiting their parents, and the less responsible brother wins points by bringing Heineken. It's much better when you see it - not read about it in my nutshell recap. Also, from the "Didn't Expect That" category, Suzy Kolber is the new spokeswoman for Chevy. Seriously.

BEAT THE STREAK: I picked Miguel Tejada, he had a hit in the Orioles win over Tampa Bay, so I have a 2-gamer going (Wells had a hit yesterday). Tomorrow, it's Jose Reyes.

The Mets' 3 hour-37 minute, extra-inning loss has me up way past my bedtime. Big game for Pedro* in his season debut now on Thursday night. You can see that game on ESPN - unfortunately, I'll have to watch the Nationals feed, because I think it's Chris Berman.