I should be worried more about the fact that a Mets offense can score 15 runs at 2:00, yet can't score after eight o'clock against Sidney Ponson despite filling the bases against Sidney in the first few innings like they were allegedly pouring drinks for him the night before a start (remember, I said allegedly).(By the way, I knew some guys who couldn't score after eight. It was sad.)
But I worry more about Pedro Martinez. After the fifth inning, when Snoop Manuel was talking to him in the dugout, Pedro had this droopy, defeated look on his face. Every time I've seen that look from Pedro, he either cried or was on the disabled list within 24 hours.
Now I was convinced during this conversation, which took place after the fifth inning at 0-4 down, that Petey was done for the night. Snoop even made a motion towards Pedro as if to say he was done. I obviously misinterpreted the hand motion (wouldn't be the first time ... it once caused me not to score after eight.) Because Petey was right back out there for the sixth inning, where he gave up two more runs to turn a manageable deficit into garbage time in a 9-0 loss in the dual stadium nightcap.
Opponents are batting .336 against Martinez this season. That means that Petey is making the entire league hit like Tony Gwynn (and I'll have you know that's not just a random reference ... Gwynn was a career .338 hitter). And that's not even taking into account the walks, which his pushing his WHIP ever closer to 2.00. Heck, I'd look sad too, not only because the Yankees "adopted him" yet again, but 'cuz them there's some dangerous numbers. Much like the dangerous numbers which say that the Mets couldn't score off of Sidney Ponson after scoring 15 runs in the matinee. The Mets couldn't even tack on a garbage run against Kei Igawa. Heck, even that would have been a moral victory for me.
Instead, a day which is yet another microcosm of the Mets season. Some good ... some bad (very, very bad). Although I'm sure Pedro would love to experience some of the "some good" already. His body of work this season isn't making anybody hopeful. But the upside is that his problems seem to lie in his command and not his velocity. Yeah, command has always been his strength, but at least it can be worked on. A lack of velocity usually signifies physical problems. So it's a little something to be thankful for.
Big picture: I wanted three wins this series, which basically means putting all my chips on Johan Santana on Saturday, and then letting it ride on Oliver Perez the next day. That's no way to make a living if you're a gambler.
5 comments:
Maybe I'm searching here, but I thought Pedro's pitches looked pretty good - lots of movement. A couple of those balls were borderline strikes - he was somewhat felled by a narrow strike zone. He did lose it in the 5th, as he has in every start so far. Maybe stamina is the issue? I don't know. For some reason, I think he's going to figure it out. But he's just a 5 or 6 inning pitcher now, at best.
Delgado - OK, I stand corrected - especially since there are no better options. When Church returns, maybe we can deal with an inconsistent Delgado in the 7th hole. No idea what the solution in left is.
Blue hats - I dig 'em.
Know how the Mets have had a habit of scoring in just the first half of games this year?
I guess now they just score in the first half of doubleheaders...
The only pleasure I got out of the second game was hearing Ron Darling coin a new word: COMFTORBILITY. As in, "There is a comftorbility for the Yankees today versus Pedro" which he said in the 5th inning. I pondered this word for the rest of the game. I love it and I plan to incorporate it into my daily vocabulary.
For example, "I am developing a high level of comftorbility with Jerry Manuel, but not Ken Oberkfell and his scary moustache".
Either the 50% of the Mets fans who sold their tix to Skanks fans for the atrocity were:
a) Turncoats
b) Psychics
c) Scalpers in Blue and Orange
or
The sushi-eatin' Wilpons, so over hustling season tickets with F-E-A-R for the unaverage fan (hey---if you don't earn a mint, the Mets don't need ya in 2009) Wilpon's Folly that there were 10,000 tickets left unsold because no one's sold on the Mets for 2009.
Reyes' pop up. Castro's DP. Game over. Le nausea.
Enjoy your CitiField sushi, teams stores, and smokeless bars. Your sterile baseball is coming. Good news: No seat license. You just have to watch 25 impotent men day-in and day-out.
It is time for the Mets to bring in Pedro's little guy friend or maybe they can kill two birds with one stone by hiring Freddie Patek as a coach and letting him be Pedro's new little man.
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