Astros 3 Mets 2

A split is like kissing your sister. Or something.

Game Notes

Tom Glavine Pat Misch hurled 6 innings, allowing 4 hits and 3 runs, walking none. Not a bad start by any means. But he gave up a monster blast to Carlos Lee that drove home all three Houston runs and that, my friends, was the ballgame.

Meanwhile, the Mets hitters could do nothing with the immortal Bud Norris — they managed three singles and four walks. The only reason they crossed the plate twice was because “shortstop” Angel Sanchez was standing between second and third base when the Mets came to bat. Sanchez’s inability to field adequately led to both Mets runs — first, he missed second base on a DP attempt which allowed a run to score, and minutes later, he couldn’t convert a Chris Carter grounder into an out, scoring the second Mets run. Do you know how hard it is for Carter to get an infield hit?

Did I mention that the Mets had three hits? Pat Misch rapped one of them. Carter’s was another. Jose Reyes had the third Mets hit, which was legitimate.

Angel Pagan stole his 30th base. That’s some kind of milestone, isn’t it? I know, I’m grasping for positives.

Rod Barajas came off the DL and started this game behind the plate. Why? No one is sure.

Jerry Manuel’s quote during the postgame, in describing the Mets offense:

“This is pathetic.”

For once, I agree with Mr. Manuel.

Next Mets Game

The Mets rocket out of Houston and move on to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates for a weekend series. Game one begins at 7:05 PM on Friday night and pits Mike Pelfrey vs. Jeff Karstens.

It is a foregone conclusion that Jerry Manuel is a lame duck and will not be returning to manage the Mets in 2011. That said, the search is on for his replacement … though, we don’t know whether that search will be conducted by Omar Minaya or someone else. In the meantime, we fans can speculate all we want, and argue for our favorites. It is certainly more interesting than discussing the Mets team right now.

One subject of heated debate recently is the level of experience that the next Mets manager should have. Some think it should be someone with many years of proven leadership at the MLB level; others think it’s time to bring in someone new — the idea being that the Mets need someone with fresh ideas and who may not fit the current corporate mold that has been established by owners and GMs throughout MLB who refer to their clubs as “the product on the field”.

Following is a random selection of current and former MLB managers and the experience they had prior to managing a big-league team.

Mets 3 Astros 2

It took long enough, but eventually, the Mets outlasted the Astros in a 14-inning snorefest.

Blame Geoff Blum for 5 extra innings that none of us needed to experience.

Game Notes

R.A. Dickey‘s dancing knuckler befuddled the Houston batters all night, as he allowed only two runs on 9 hits and one walk, striking out 6, in 8 1/3 innings. But that’s not all — Dickey also drove in the first run of the game with a double in the seventh. As all Mets starters know, you can’t just pitch and expect to win the ballgame — you have to provide some offense as well.

Unfortunately for Dickey, however, one of his floaters went flaccid and Geoff Blum hit it hard, knocking it over the right field fence to tie the game at two and chase R.A. from the ballgame.

On offense, Dickey drove in Ruben Tejada, who jumped all over an 87-MPH, chest-high fastball over the middle of the plate and swatted it into left field for his first hit in 28 at-bats. If he can continue to hit mistakes like that, he has a very good chance of hitting over .200 by the end of the season.

Bobby Parnell was lights out in two perfect innings of relief, striking out 3 and touching triple digits on the radar gun. Yet, it was like deja vu … I swear he’s done this before, and in Houston, around this time, perhaps in a different year. So what does it mean? Parnell is either a closer in the making or a perpetual tease.

Jose Reyes went 4-for-6 with a triple, a walk, and two stolen bases (both times it was a steal of third), but scored only once — that one time was, however, the last time a player crossed the plate in the evening, and was the winning run. Reyes pranced home on a sac fly by Ike Davis.

Josh Thole had a long night, going oh-fer-seven. He did, however, throw out a runner on a pitch out that ruined a hit-and-run. Thole has now thrown out 7 of 13, but I think at least 3 of those assists came on botched hit-and-runs. Not to take anything away from the fact that he threw those runners out, but just putting it into a realistic perspective — that over 50% rate is not necessarily because he’s Molina-like.

Angel Pagan had one hit, an RBI, and a stolen base — his 29th of the season. Did you know he has three more thefts than Reyes? Pagan also has more homeruns and RBI than Jason Bay, and leads the team in batting average. Who’da thunk it?

David Wright collected two more hits, including his 30th double, and seems to be out of his slump. However, he left the game in the 12th with a limp. Strangely enough, Jerry Manuel explained that he was removed because of “queasiness” and feeling “lightheaded”. Are you surprised?

Next Mets Game

The final game of this four-game series begins at 8:05 PM EST. Pat Misch pitches against Gomer Pyle Bud Norris.