A Little Dose of 5th Starter Reality

Two games, two pitchers who were competing for the 5th starters job in Spring Training. The result? A lot of what we expected- not much.


Thursday:

Tim Redding was knocked out early, and the Mets were in a 5-0 hole in the third inning. This was Pittsburgh after all. However, the Mets came back with some small ball, tying the game. Fernando Tatis came back from the dead to be a star in this one. He homered to give the Mets an 8-5 lead, one they would blow in the 9th inning. Did I tell you we are going to see more K-Rod blown saves? However, Tatis took one for the team in the 10th, getting plunked, stealing second, and scoring on a Ryan Church single. K-Rod stayed in the game and almost threw as many pitches as Redding to hold on to the W. No more games during the work please. I don't know how Cub fans deal with all those afternoon starts.


Friday:

Livan Hernandez was throwing batting practice, plain and simple. Philly plays exactly like the team to beat, as proclaimed by me in their last meeting, despite the fact that they have lost just about every game since then. Rollins hits, Utley hits, Victorino drives us nuts and Werth plays like Barry Bonds in his heydey. To make matters worse, the Mets are wearing Philly-like red caps for the holiday weekend (although the don't look as bad as the Yankees do at home). Can this die next season please? Put a patch with an American flag on the caps and sleeves. Leave the team colors alone.