Ishii Goes To Hell (And Back)

You can't kill him.

He's Jason Voorhees.

Every time you think this series of movies is over...every time you think the ingenue has finally killed him off for good, here comes the sequel. He comes out of the swamp (or the junkyard beyond the outfield wall) and starts slaying Padres. Here comes the 1-5-3 double play as Padres are killed in the cabin (Ishii 3D). Eric Young gets caught stealing and is offed in the city (Ishii takes Manhattan). Phil Nevin strikes out and is chased down in the woods (Ishii, The New Blood). Khalil Greene strikes out and gets dragged out of the boat (Ishii X).

It's amazing how many times Kaz Ishii is thisclose to being banished from the rotation, if not the team, forever! And he always comes up with a day like this...which wasn't that great statistically (5 walks and 4 hits in 6 innings). But there's Ishii, throwing six shutout innings and getting out of trouble at every turn.

So rather than Ishii: The Final Chapter, we may have Ishii: A New Beginning. He's earned himself another sequel.

And how in the world did an inconsistant lineup like this get 7 runs off of Jake Peavy? Give Michael Oliver credit..he knew Peavy could be had. But this lineup? A seven spot off an all star? Then 5 more after that??!??? The Mets have beaten top tier pitchers such as Peavy, Dontrelle Willis, and John Smoltz (victories against such pitchers were rare last season...the best pitcher record-wise to take a loss in 2004 against the Mets was Shawn Estes at 13-4 in Colorado). From that you know this is a different team than last year, not prone to the 27-50 collapse they suffered last season. But never in my wildest dreams did I envision a 12-0 Met victory today...Ishii vs. Peavy. Not even Dae Sung Sisk could have blown that lead.

So it's set up now...3 straight against San Diego, now the Dodgers and Rockies are on the docket. They want to get away from the dock? Now's their chance.