Excruciating

The game itself was a 3:55 affair, add to that an umpire and rain delay which gives you a very long Father's Day at Shea- I mean, Citi. Pick a random at bat in the game and there's a good chance the batter had a three ball count.

The downfall of Bobby Parnell continues. The very next inning after Brian Schneider hits his second three-run homerun of the series to give the Mets a lead, Parnell gives it right up, failing to retire a batter. Remember that stellar ERA he had just a few weeks ago? It's now up to 5.00 on the season. The Mets were fortunate the inning did not turn out to be worse had it not been for the boneheaded move by Carl Crawford trying to steal third with nobody out.

Sean Green also looked like the Sean Green of April/May, giving up two runs without getting a batter out. The bullpen has imploded. It seems as though the loss of Putz was indeed significant despite the way he pitched before the injury. Losing him has put everyone else in unfamiliar roles and with the exception of everyday Pedro and a temporary Green revival, everyone else has sucked.

Between the two teams, 13 pitchers threw in this one.

Pretty scary moment with the home plate umpire not feeling well out of nowhere early in the game, and it was actually good news that it was just a back injury. Thoughts of Eric Gregg and John McSherry were on many minds when that happened.

When the top of your lineup goes 11 for 16 like Upton, Crawford, and Longoria did today, you should not lose, period. Now that you are out of town, we would like to see more of that the next time you arrive via LaGuardia- in the Bronx.

Fernando Nieve, our #2 starter? After today's effort by Mike Pelfrey, that seems to be the case.

And So It Goes

For the second straight series, the Mets win the first game, but lose the second and now face yet another two out of three series loss.

What's there to say about this one? Four hits on the day, with a sleepwalk from the third inning on. Beltran singled in the 9th to give us hope that maybe, just maybe, David Wright would come up with a dramatic game tying 9th inning homerun when you least expect it. Instead he flails away at two pitches in the dirt to end the game. Sigh.

Pedro Feliciano made an appearance yet again. The guy does not get sore. It helps when you throw only a few pitches a day, but damn.

At least Johan was Johan again. However it was the same story with him as earlier in the season. Locked into a pitcher's duel, and coming out on the short side.

John Who?

Fernando Nieve continues to roll. John Maine, take your time coming back. Fine, I've been a little hard on Maine the past few days, but he spoiled us in 2007 with that good season. Our expectations were for him to at least repeat or better that season. He simply has not been doing that the last year and a half. Right now, he's just another 5th starter. Until he starts popping high fastballs in the 90s again, there no sense to get excited about a possible return anytime soon.

Brian Schneider just might be getting hot at the right time. He needs to take the catcher job and run with it. Leave Omir on the bench for that big pinch hit late in the game. It seems like it's the only time he gets hits on a consistent basis.

Good move in calling up Nick Evans for Fernando Martinez. Evans could have easily made the team out of spring training, but struggled mightily when sent down. He was not even an option earlier in the season. In the last month, he's been tearing up AA, so it was finally time. In addition, unlike with F-Mart, he does not have to play every day.

Sean Green, your new 8th inning man. Although you can't help but wonder if Putz and Wagner can find their pre-surgery selves and return to action for September. Another lefty in the pen would be nice. Can we win a game without stress so we don't have to run Feliciano out there for the 15th straight game?