Mets Game 83: Win Over Dodgers

Mets 5 Dodgers 4

In the previous post we introduced the sequel to The Bionic Man. I neglected to mention that as a kid, I always wondered if Steve Austin would ever cross over to Mission:Impossible to join the IMF for an episode.

Finally, my wonderment found fruition.

The 36-Million-Dollar Man, played by Oliver Perez, teamed up with Jim Phelps (played by David Wright), Barney Collier (Jeremy Reed), Dan Briggs (Dan Murphy), Willy Armitage (Gary Sheffield), Rollin Hand (Frankie Rodriguez), and the rest of the Impossible Missions Force to take down that evil organization known as the LA Dodgers.

Perez kicked and strode that bionic knee for five innings, miraculously escaping his demise despite 7 walks, 4 hits and 2 runs. The bullpen was just good enough the rest of the way to deliver a rare, and impossible, victory over the best team in baseball.

If Oliver Perez gaining his second victory of the year against the mighty Dodgers wasn’t impossible enough of an achievement, the feeble Mets offense cobbled together five runs — their first scores in over twenty innings — and did so AS A TEAM. Wright, Reed, Brian Schneider, and Luis Castillo drove in one run apiece, and four different Mets scored runs.

Sean Green and K-Rod did their best to undo the impossible by allowing the Dodgers two runs in the final two frames, but it was too little, too late — and for once, it was the Mets on the right side of that phrase.

Notes

It is after watching games like this that I have a hard time buying into the idea that the Mets need “the cavalry” to score runs and win ballgames. No, it wasn’t a beautiful game, but it was a win and everyone on the field played a part in it. Despite my fun with recalling the Bionic Man and the IMF, the truth is, this team doesn’t need superheroes in order to compete for the NL East crown. All they need is to focus, execute, and play the game the way it was meant to be played. Injuries or no injuries, there is no team in their division that can beat them consistently on pure talent alone (for that matter, there are few teams in all of the NL). The notion of the Mets manhandling everyone and walking into the postseason without a struggle is now a pipe dream, but that doesn’t mean they can’t compete. It’s time that the crepe-hanging Jerry Manuel and the rest of his squad stop feeling sorry for themselves and making excuses and start carrying themselves like men. It’s baseball, for goodness sake — a boys’ game. If these individuals are going to crumble against the “pressure” of losing a few teammates to injury I’d hate to think what might happen if they ever had to face real adversity — the type of obstacles the rest of us face every day in the real world.

Next Mets Game

The rubber match will occur at 7:10 PM on Thursday evening. Livan Hernandez faces Randy Wolf. It is not known whether Cinnamon Carter will be in attendance.