Game? What Game?

You know things are bad when at the 1pm hour you get all the reports of what the Mets lineup is going to be for their afternoon game, continue on at your job, get to your car at around 6pm, turn on the radio to listen to some sports talk and be surprised that you are listening to Wayne Hagin calling the 7th inning at Arizona- I completely forgot about this one.

The Mets won and Ollie pitched like crap once again. Yet, he gets the win, so he will get a pass from Mets brass.

I did manage to record the game but only got through an inning. What I did see was Oejaka or whatever his name is make yet another amazing play. What I also saw was Gary Sheffield typically hitting a groundball that he had to hustle to beat out in his first at bat back from a hamstring injury. I'm surprised he didn't tear the thing.

The boxscore shows Cory Sullivan sparking things from the leadoff spot and hitting a Jose Reyes-like two triples. Before we get too excited let's not forget how we were going ga-ga over Angel Pagan just a couple of weeks ago and now he finds himself on the bench.

If David Wright had to be pulled from this one because of that apparent leg injury that would've been icing on the cake. Carlos Delgado injures himself while he's still injured. You can't make this stuff up.

Oe- who?

That would be Trent Oeltjen, who is one-upping what Mike Jacobs did to the Diamondbacks back in 2005. Sure, this guy has not hit as many homeruns, but he's doing just about everything else. At least Mark Reynolds isn't hitting any bombs off us like he did in Flushing last week.

The season continues to go down the toilet. Who are we kidding, it already has. 11 game homestand coming up after a get-me-out-of-the-west matinee later this afternoon. Should be good times at Citi.

I'm tired of watching Livan Hernandez throw bp. Give the job to Nelson Figueroa in the meantime. He has deserved a chance, despite that awful start in his return vs these same Diamondbacks. Guess what? The Mets are done with the Snakes the next time Livan's turn is up in the rotation. Give Figgy the few starts he deserves.

Aside from Luis Castillo (who's having a fine Castillo season minus a stumble down some stairs, a dropped popup and some lazy throws to first), the highest on base percentage in last night's lineup was Alex Cora's .325. Pathetic.

Crack

Nelson Figueroa was getting hammered. The oohs and aahs off every crack of the bat in the first and second inning gave you an idea of what was happening if you were not paying attention to the field. I felt really bad for the guy. Here he was, his final shot, deserving of the start (I don't care what you're hearing on talk radio, his AAA performance says otherwise), friends and family in attendance and he gets shellacked.

Not the kind of game you want to take your old man to, which looked to be over early when it was 6-0 after two. My Dad went to another game with my brother earlier this season. That one was 5-0 after four and ended up an 8-0 loss. Poor guy. Had a good time though.

At least there was some fight in this one as the bullpen kept things in check, highlighted by 3 1/3 scoreless from Tim Redding of all people. The Mets chipped away, but the attitude from the Citi Field faithful spelled defeat from the beginning. It's really sad how many times the scoreboard has to display the "get loud" meter to get the crowd amped up.

Mark Reynolds is an absolute freak. This guy mashes balls like he's playing in a slow-pitch softball league.

Joel Pinero faces the Mets tonight. Should be interesting considering his last couple of starts in Flushing, where he has been dominant.

Fading

The Mets are now 7 1/2 behind the Wild Card after waiting 2:28 in a rain delay before falling late in the afternoon. The Diamondbacks have Dan Haren on the mound for the series closer later today. At least we have Nelson Figueroa instead of Tim Redding.

Mike Pelfrey threw 107 pitches in five innings. Jon Garland threw 106 in nine. Can you tell how this game went? Big Pelf has declined this season, and if you are a young pitcher that's not they way it's supposed to be.

Yesterday was one of those days where it would've sucked to be at Shea. Those unfamiliar with Citi Field and who were likely there for the 1pm start time at least had plenty of time to explore. I'm sure those who have gone to many games and live relatively close patiently listened to the FAN for updates before heading out to the ballpark.

Six in a Row! (vs. Righties)

Keep throwing the righties at us, we'll keep scoring runs and hitting eighth inning-tie game-grand slams. Yes, the damage in the eight was in fact done off a lefty. It's amazing though what this lineup, with Daniel Murphy as the cleanup hitter, has produced.

I'm loving the look of this Zavada character. Hope the grand slam he served up doesn't encourage him to shave or get a haircut.

Speaking of shave, I like what some of the Mets are doing with the beards. Hopefully they will be cleancut soon, meaning the team has gone over the .500 mark.

Mark Reynolds hit one that could have landed on the Van Wyck Expressway.

That's all I got, gotta run.

Was That Really Worth It?

The latest I have ever arrived for a game was last night. The sixth inning.

It was pouring after work, so why go to Citi Field and spend cash when you can eat dinner at home. So that's what me and my wife (who was supposed to go with me) did. Thinking there could be a long delay with a start time of 8:30 or worse, 9:00, I told her to stay home despite her cravings for Box Frites. I called a buddy of mine a little after 7:30. See you there in about 45 minutes? Easy enough. He's coming from Astoria, the place where we hear about that steakhouse on the radio all the time, just a short drive over the left field fence.

I'm out the door with the radio and I hear Steve Somers saying they are throwing it back to Howie and Wayne at 7:55. Damn, that grounds crew means business. When I got a radio signal on the 7 train when I transferred at Roosevelt avenue, they were ready for the first pitch. OK, so I miss an inning or so.

At the foot of the train steps I wait as the Mets are due up in their half of the first. Ten minutes later, a phone call, it's my buddy.

"Man, this bus is really bad."
"Oh, you are stuck in traffic somewhere? How close are you?"
"No, I'm still waiting."
"Waiting? Where?"
"In Astoria, on 21st and Astoria Blvd."

My "buddy" managed to go further out, closer to Manahattan, just to wait for a bus that was probably going to crawl after the rain and whatever traffic there was, instead of simply hopping on the N and maybe catching one of the last 7 express trains at Queensboro Plaza.

Despite the encouragement from him to just go in and not wait, I waited. That's what buddies do. Thank goodness for the Mets team store adjacent to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Perfect view of SNY broadcast while you wait outside the stadium.

Of course the game flew as I waited. Three solo homeruns and nothing else and before you knew it we finally passed through the turnstiles during the top of the sixth. Even at 9:15 there is still a steady flow of people coming down the steps with every arrival of a 7 train. I wonder just how late people arrive. Anyway, we got a nice field level view of David Wright's solo blast to tie the game.

I thought it would be fitting if we get nine innings in anyway via a 15 inning affair, seeing the way the game was going. But Sean Green threw a wild pitch after inducing a bases loaded double play with no one out in the eight. Oh well. Was it worth it? Yes.