Mets Game 110: Loss to Padres
Padres 3 Mets 1
Bobby Parnell started his first MLB game, but fell far short of finishing it. In fact, he couldn’t finish the third inning.
Parnell allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings, but it felt a lot longer and a lot worse than that. In some ways, the game as a whole resembled a Steve Trachsel episode — it just dragged on and on. And on.
Parnell’s outing would not have been so bad if the Mets mounted a rally at any point in the contest. But, like the evening previous, they shot their load in the first frame — scoring all of one run, on an improbable homer by Alex Cora. The Mets mustered only five hits all night, with Cora’s aberration the only extra-base effort.
Remarkably it could’ve been worse, as the Padres left 13 men on base. The Mets were lucky it was a two-run game.
Oh, and to twist that knife just a bit more … Heath Bell — last night’s winning pitcher — earned his 28th save. For those counting, that’s four more than Frankie Rodriguez. And the Padres have only 47 wins all year.
Notes
Parnell threw a total of 68 pitches, two shy of his “limit” of 70 — and double the amount he pitched on any one day previously this season. I remain absolutely stunned that an organization with so few personnel as talented and youthful as Parnell can be so incredibly irresponsible.
But it gets better. According to Jerry Manuel during the SNY postgame, Parnell is expected to go to 85 PITCHES in his next start !!! Who is the genius making these illogical decisions?
Heck, why not make K-Rod a starter? He should be able to hurl a good 75-80 pitches. And he’s not getting many save opportunities, so it will be a great way to get him work. And like Parnell, Frankie Fantastic was a starter in the minors, so he can do it.
BTW, people made fun of me when I joked about “reversing the game” in a post at MetsBlog last year. But with this game the Mets have executed it. Is it any surprise a joke became reality in this comedy of errors we call the Mets’ season?
The Mets are now 51-59. They have not been 8 games under .500 since 2004 — in the days when Art Howe “lit up a room”.
Next Mets Game
The final game of the four-game series will be played at 4:05 PM on Sunday afternoon. Johan Santana goes to the mound against former Saratoga Springs prep star Tim Stauffer.
So the Mets have 51 wins. There are 52 games to go. They are 9-14 since the all-star break, which is a .391 winning percentage. If this current pace continues, the Mets will be 20-32 the rest of the season. That puts them at 71 wins. So we are likely looking at a 71-91 season. Yet, with 6 losses in their last 7 games, and clear signs of season forfeiture and concession, 20 more wins even seems quite lofty at this juncture. Especially considering Maine, Beltran, Niese, and Reyes all but certainly aren’t coming back, and Delgado, Putz, Wagner, Sheffield, and Castillo aren’t going to be at 100% when they do come back. That’s also not taking into consideration that more players are bound to get hurt between now and season’s end. And also not taking into account that the Mets will be playing teams in the playoff hunt (a.k.a. teams that are much better than them) from August 14 thru September 17. So I say there is a very solid chance the Mets win less than 71 games this year. In fact, I think they’ll win less than 66 games, which would be even more futile than the duldrums of 2003.
In other words, if you haven’t counted the Mets out of contention yet, it’s time to do so. And it’s probably time to find a new activity to do, as well, rather than throwing 3 hours a day down the drain watching this sorry excuse of a baseball team.
But for those of you who want some fantasy baseball advice, here’s some free of charge: find any available pitcher who is scheduled to face the Mets and pick him up. It’s an easy win and probably a solid 6-7 inning, 2-3 run performance every time.