Blow the Mets out once, good for you. Blow the Mets out twice in a row, shame on them.
The Phillies have now outscored the Mets 24-4 in the first two games of this four-game series, and the Mets are inching dangerously close to being compared to the St. Louis Cardinals - owners of the title "Worst Team to Lead a Division This Late in the Season". The Cardinals, you may remember, have been blown out a bunch of times this year - giving up lots of double-digit run totals, and tallying losing streaks of 8 games a couple of times this year. The Mets aren't there yet - but they're inching closer. Two wins in a row in the final two games of this series will go a long way to helping people forget about these first two games.
The Mets, again, fell victim to their starter getting torched early. Orlando Hernandez gave up four runs in the first, on two homers, and a total of 11 earned runs in 4 innings. The bright side from the pitching perspective? 4 scoreless innings by the bullpen (Pedro Feliciano, Roberto Hernandez, and Aaron Heilman).
The other bright side came on the hitting side. THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, was the entire Mets offense. He homered on the first pitch of the game, homered in his second at-bat, was walked, then in his fourth at-bat, hit a 2-run homer, becoming the seventh Met ever to hit 3 homers in a game (among others, Hall of Famer Gary Carter accomplished this feat). Reyes does not need to be swinging for the fences all the time, but it's nice to see him flex his muscles on a night where it really didn't matter what he did - the Mets weren't going to win.
Wednesday night the Mets will turn to Tom Glavine to stop the bleeding - he goes against Jon Lieber.
MAGIC NUMBER: Again, no change. The Mets can still knock four games off the magic number with wins in the final two games of this series. It'd be nice to lower it a little bit before the Mets come back home this weekend.
METS MEDIA: Keith Hernandez was back in the booth Monday, after 10 days off (not sure if that was a vacation, scheduled time for Ron Darling, or some sort of punishment). I'll be honest, I'm not missing him too much when he is gone. I was off-base at the beginning of the year with my critique of Darling, and comparing him to Hernandez. Darling is head and shoulders above Hernandez in the broadcast booth...and I think SNY is starting to realize that.
Don't get me wrong - occasionally, Hernandez has a nugget or two of insight to offer. But Darling is on from the first pitch through the final out. Hernandez gets into a little of the "I'm a bit bored by this" schtick, which I hate. The other thing about Hernandez is that in the past, he was a treat - offering much-needed relief from the team of Ted Robinson and Fran Healy. Now, it's Hernandez who I often need a break from. I think part of my apprehension regarding Darling back in March/April was the fact that he wasn't exciting as part of the Nationals' telecasts last year. In retrospect, the Nationals weren't exciting to watch, and that's going to wear on a broadcaster. Also, who knows if Darling had an inkling that at the end of the year, he'd be going back to New York, to work on the Mets' new station? That could be a distraction as well. Either way, I'm glad he's on SNY, and I hope he's the voice of the Mets for as long as David Wright and Jose Reyes are manning the left side of the infield.
MY UPCOMING WEEKEND: This weekend is the one I've been waiting for for about 4 months now - Saturday morning I'll have my fantasy football draft, and then I'll be going to the Mets game that night. The Mets are playing the Rockies, but the important part is the before-the-game ceremony that will honor the 1986 Mets - a 20th anniversary reunion. I received my 20th anniversary shirt from the game my parents attended (thanks mom and dad!), so I'll be wearing that, and I'll be getting a 1986 pack of TOPPS baseball cards (thanks, Hyundai!).
The only thing I don't understand is why this is happening against the Rockies. There are 81 home games in a season - the Mets couldn't pick a game against a team that actually existed 20 years ago? Maybe the Astros, who they beat in the playoffs? I'd like an explainer on that. Supposedly the seats my dad and I will be in aren't too good - but I'll try to have some pictures, especially of a certain Hall of Fame catcher.
THE KID'S KIDS: Daytona lost, but St. Lucie also lost, so no change in the standings - the Mets are still a half-game back. Palm Beach also lost, so they stay a game behind St. Lucie.
ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: A 1-0 win by Norfolk - they only had one hit off Ryan Vogelsong, but it was a Chris Basak homer, the only hit the Tides would need. Edgardo Alfonzo did not play, but Brian Bannister pitched 8 innings for the Tides, giving up just 3 hits, and striking out 7. Quite a turnaround from his last outing.
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