Only for Die Hards

Livan is pretty lucky these games don't matter much anymore. He got zero reaction as he was pulled from the game last night. The crowd does not care. They were busy doing the wave in the late innings before they all left en masse in the 8th.

It takes great patience to stick around in game like last night. Got a seat upgrade for last night's stellar affair thanks to a friend who could not attend, and sitting in left-center you really appreciate that new video board in the right field corner. Indeed, that would be something I would complain about had those been my seats. So at least you could say it was sort of a good time. Although that's tough to say when you look at the product on the field.

I hope Alex Cora is back next season. For him to continue playing on two bad thumbs since back in May- that's all about the team right there. The Mets need more guys like that.

Last Men Standing

David Wright hit the disabled list. A fitting end to a movie with a sad ending where the bad guys manage to kill all the heroes with the final blow coming in painful fashion.

However, there were still some characters alive and active, albeit not the stars with names like Reyes, Delgado, Beltran and Wright. Not including our catcher, they were the remaining starting three from opening day and they all came through this afternoon. Luis Castillo hit a 420 foot homerun- more on that in a sec. Jeff Francoeur (not on our opening day roster but you get the point) with the leadoff single in the 9th. And Daniel Murphy, who finally comes through vs. a lefty to win the game. That's all we have left.

Castillo was hell bent on hitting a homerun today. Did you see the swing and miss in the first inning? He wanted to hit one in the left field landing section. To those unfamiliar with Citi Field, the left field landing section is the second deck in left field, a poor choice of a name, considering that only a couple balls have gone in there all season. He didn't do it in the first, but sure did in the fifth to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. I think Castillo should permanently bat right-handed. Would you take .300 and and OBP of .380 with 1 HR or a .270/.350 with a much higher slugging percentage? The guy's got power from that right side and is a completely different hitter who can drive the ball with authority.

This is a small but noticeable thing: why does Anderson Hernandez not dive for that ball in the hole that gave the Giants the 1-0 lead? If he stops it, the run does not score. It's says a lot and shows you why a team like the Nationals would be fine with handing him back to the Mets.

Is there anyone else who by the third inning thought that Mike Pelfrey was going to throw nine no-hit innings, but the Mets were going to lose 1-0 in 10?

Some more Citi Field notes from a hot Sunday: Please get rid of that Jon Stewart "Let's Go Mets" clip. Also just when I thought I'd have a nice relaxing lunch in the shade of the bullpen plaza I see that it was blocked off for some private party. I hope this is not an every game occurrence.

Story of the Season

David Wright gets nailed in the head. After weeks of waiting for it to happen, the final member of "the core" goes down. Early in the season, the Mets didn't get angry enough to retaliate when they had the chance. This time they do- do you really think Matt Cain was trying to hit David Wright on an 0-2 pitch? First Johan misses fat Pablo, Shawn Estes-style (another Giants-Mets connection). Pablo answers with a homerun. The next batter, fat Benji, gets hit. He goes on to hit the game-winning homerun in the 10th. Oh, and the Yankees keep on winning. What does that have to do with it? Absolutely nothing, but you get the point- this is one of the low points in the history of being a Met fan.

I also would like to apologize for my last post:

Bengie Molina's not hitting homeruns here and his groundballs are automatic outs as long as an infielder manages to stop it from going into the outfield.

Sorry. Did someone pass this post to the elder Molina? Jeez, hasn't Yadier done enough damage to us in the past couple of years? I take it back, please, do any of you guys want to play for us next year? We could really use a catcher.

Let's Not Get Too Excited

These were the Giants we're talking about, an offense that's worse than that of our depleted Mets. However, the start by Bobby Parnell last night was very encouraging. A pitch limit of around 80 and he still manages to go six? That's efficient, but it helps with a free swinging team who's only threat is a guy by the name of Pablo. Bengie Molina's not hitting homeruns here and his groundballs are automatic outs as long as an infielder manages to stop it from going into the outfield.

Very impressed by the improvements at Citi Field last night. The giant screens in the right field corner and the Promenade food court were now working. Here's to being able to eat there an watch the game. Not too be too picky, but another one in the bullpen plaza would be the icing on the cake.

Although I am not a Promenade row 1 ticket holder you have to feel good for them now that they are starting to lower those LED ribbon boards, which previously obstruct your view if you sit comfortably in your seat. Only left field is done, but they'll get to the rest.

How can we forget about the presence of the championship banners on the big wall in the outfield? There is so much space there you would think this would have been a no brainer in the initial design. I guess they were saving the space for advertising but thought better of it.

Finally, I have to get to games earlier so I can finish eating before the first pitch. The Omir Santos grand slam, David Wright's first opposite field homer of the season, and Angel Pagan's leadoff shot last night, all homeruns missed. I guess it's nice that the Mets like to jump on the board early.

Three out of four

Friday:
Livan Hernandez was awful early and the Mets were trailing reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum by a score of 5-1. It did not look good. You were surprised to see him bat in the bottom of the 6th after he gave up a couple in the top half. I guess the Giants did not want to go to their bullpen and were they ever right. The Mets eventually got to Lincecum in the 7th, knocked him out and pounded on the relief core, highlighted by a three-run double by David Wright. Does anyone notice Brian Stokes has an ERA of 0.56? The Giants closer, the funny looking guy with the strange haircut was touched up for some winning runs in the 9th for the second straight night.

Saturday:
The Big Unit is done. There's a first time for everything and on Saturday, Randy Johnson gave up four hits to the first four batters in a game for the first time ever. Eventually something like that is going to happen if you keep pitching when you're pushing 50. Johan was not his usual-self, which of course was going to happen in a game where he got plenty of run support. Can Eric Karros kiss the Mets ass anymore than he did on that Fox telecast? At least the Giants had their hometown guy, Jon Miller, doing the game on Sunday night, the ESPN sportsync radio special (I did not get a chance to use the handy sync radio for the Fox game as I did not watch live and had to settle for DVR- at least a familiar voice in Kenny Albert was doing the play-by-play).

Sunday:
Mike Pelfrey committed three balks. You only hope this is not the start of Chuck Knoblauch/Rick Ankiel-like mental problems. If it is, we're in trouble. Matt Cain was walking the country early in the game and the Mets did not take advantage. Add Alex Cora to the list of injuries, forcing Fernando Tatis to play shortstop for the first time in a very long time. I cannot recommend the sportsync radio enough to avoid listening to Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips. All I hear the next day is people bitching about having to listen to that broadcast. Fix it.

Late Night Steal

The Mets took a backseat in the first few innings for game 7 of the Hurricanes-Bruins. If you're a diehard of both sports and have a choice of innings 1-3 of Mets in May or a game 7 playoff overtime, you watch the hockey. The 'Canes kept my final four intact. They will go on to lose to Pittsburgh, while Detroit beats Chicago to set up the Stanley Cup Final rematch. Back to the Mets...

The Mets set a franchise record with seven stolen bases in the game. Jose Reyes was not in the lineup, but not for the reasons I wanted him out for this evening, which makes the record even more amazing. David Wright, with four steals, felt like he needed to pick him up in that department and did he ever. Let's not forget Wright's clutch hit in the 9th inning. Maybe everyone complaining about his clutch hitting can relax now. The guy is now at .331 with an on base of .417. We just need the HRs to come around.

Gary Sheffield actually had a couple of hits for the second game in a row. This could be the start of something. It will be interesting to see if Daniel Murphy gets some time at first base, as he's been the odd man out since Delgado went down and Sheffield's power bat was needed in the lineup.

We saw a chink in the Bobby Parnell armor as he was shifted to the eight inning and struggled a bit.

The start John Maine had reminded me of the fiasco last season, also against Jonathan Sanchez, but Maine settled down quite nicely.