All told, the Mets got the short end of the stick on bad umpiring tonight.I'll explain:
First the Mets got a gift from Gary Darling in the second as he called Josh Anderson out on a play at first when he was clearly safe. Anderson would have scored on Martin Prado's double, but instead Prado was stranded harmlessly to keep the score at 3-0 Atlanta.
The Braves got the break back as Brandon Jones was called safe on a steal of second when he was clearly out in the sixth ... and Jones would then score on a single by Anderson so the Braves got the run they should have gotten in the second. I can't get on Bill Hohn for the botched call ... from where he was standing there's no way he could have seen the tag which was in time. My complaint on the play is this: I was surprised when Ruben Gotay wasn't called for interference for bringing his bat back into Brian Schneider's throwing zone. The bat clearly got in Schneider's way.
But that was borderline, so let's call the previous two plays even ... which means the Mets completely deserved their 4-2 loss tonight (a loss in which Jorge Campillo, let's face it, was lucky to be alive after the Mets hit a bunch of balls right at people ... when Pedro Martinez whacks you for a two run double you have problems. Then again, when Pedro Martinez is your entire offense you have problems.)
The tipping point was in Miami, where C.B. Bucknor, known for such hits as "Runners Interference" and "Obscure Lines In My Rulebook" (available on Ronco Records) completely botched a play at the plate where Jorge Cantu clearly was safe as he slid through Carlos Ruiz's leg on a play at the plate. It was in the eighth inning, and of course Cantu was the tying run. Instead, the Phillies defeat the Marlins 3-2 to jump back into first place.
Umpires 2 Mets 1
But thankfully, and most importantly, the Brewers are chum. So at least if the Mets break our hearts, they'll most likely fall into the mild card, and not the golf course. I'd go further into why it would be a good idea to win the division instead of the mild card ... but of course if the Brewers were to catch the Mets after my detailed analysis then I'd have to live with it the rest of my life, and my life doesn't need that scarlet letter.
4 comments:
I'll take the Wild Card. You know the Cubs have to lose to SOMEONE, so it may as well be us.
I envision the following scenario. The Brewers pick up Al Reyes (deemed not good enough to pitch in the worst bullpen in the history of baseball) who inspires the team through his pitching and motivational speech ability to win the remainder of their games thus beating the Mets out for the wild card on the last day of the season on which the Mets bullpen collectively blows a 12 - 0 lead allowing 13 runs in the 9th after Manuel pulls Johan Santana as he has thrown 108 pitches in 8 innings of one hit ball. That was a long sentence but it just about sums it up.
I wasn't too upset about last night's loss. Petey pitched pretty decently. We just didn't hit (except for Petey). It happens.
The way I see it, the Mets are actually a game in front of the Phils right now. How so, you say? They're tied in the loss column, which is what really counts. Also, a tie goes to the head-to-head season series winner (the Mets). Assuming the Mets and Phils are both going to the playoffs, the Phils must have at least a one game lead to win the NL East.
Again, that's assuming the Brewers are out of the picture . . . And remember, the Dodgers could be dangerous in the post season.
Go Big Pelf today . . .
Metstradamus, will you please add that crazy relief pitcher for the Braves to your hate list? His distracting wavering dance he did before pitching enraged me. Keith said , "makes you want to hit a line drive off his forehead".
Normally I am a peace-loving, kind, helpful person, but that ridiculous performance made me want to personally bash his head in with a bat.
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