Mets 5 Angels 4

After leading, losing, and tying, the Mets finally pulled out a win thanks to a solo homer by Damion Easley in the top of the tenth inning to take the rubber match, win the series, and give new manager Jerry Manuel his first win as Mets manager.

At one point in the game, the Mets led three-zip. They blew the lead, then tied it up against Francisco Rodriguez, who had converted 25 consecutive saves to that point. Actually, “they” didn’t do much of anything — this was the Jose Reyes Show. Reyes had three hits, scored three runs, hit a triple, and stole a base. He did get some help in the form of solo shots by Easley and Carlos Delgado, but the bottom line is, without Reyes, the Mets don’t have a chance in this contest.

Oliver Perez pitched OK, going six innings and allowing four runs on nine hits and three walks. Not great, but not bad, especially considering the appearances of Mr. Hyde lately.

Notes

In the bottom of the ninth, Fernando Tatis (playing first base) made a diving stab at a line drive off the bat of Reggie Willits, deflecting the drive to Damion Easley, who tossed out Willits at first with Duaner Sanchez covering. It made me wonder, “what if Carlos Delgado was playing first base?”. There have been so many balls that drifted by Delgado without so much as a second look, it makes me wonder how many led to eventual runs, and how many cost the Mets the game.

Speaking of, DH is a great spot for Delgado. I think the Mets should do the right thing and trade him to an AL team ASAP.

I had a hard time paying attention to this game. Maybe it was my lack of sleep since the 3 am firing of Willie 48 hours ago. Perhaps I’m feeling sympathetic jet lag for the men in orange and blue (not unlike couvade syndrome). Or perhaps I’ve thrown in the towel on the season, and therefore have little passion one way or the other. I think I’m just tired.

The SNY lovefest for Jerry Manuel must stop. I don’t know if it was an edict handed down from the Mets’ front office or genuine butt-kissing, but enough already. Manuel is not a demigod, and we don’t need to hear about how he’s affecting every single nuance of the game. For example, it was pointed out that Jose Reyes sprinted from home to second on a routine popup to shortstop. This is nothing new, and had nothing to do with the Reyes tantrum / Manuel scolding from the night before. Reyes has always been one of the few Mets who hustled all the time, despite being benched for “not hustling” in a game last July.

And please, Ron Darling, don’t add the nonsensical, irrelevant quip “Reyes gets a talking to last night and tonight gets three hits”. Reyes is hitting .313 for the month of June and was 10 for his last 21 in the five games immediately before Manuel took over the helm.

Oh gawd … about 15 minutes after I chide Darling, I have to hear similar bullcrap from Gary Cohen’s mouth. How it was so “fascinating” to see Reyes’ performance in this game one night after seeing the way Manuel handled Jose’s tantrum of the night before. PLEASE STOP REACHING FOR A STORY!!! I reiterate: Reyes was hitting close to .500 prior to Manuel’s assignment. His 3-for-5 evening was a COINCIDENCE!

Darling and Cohen also pointed out that the Mets did not have “focus and energy late in games” and “had trouble coming back from deficits late in games”, and insinuated that Manuel was the reason for the team suddenly pulling out a come-from-behind victory. Well isn’t it interesting how short memories can be? Am I nuts, or did the Mets start playing full games, and coming from behind to win, in the last two weeks of Willie Randolph’s managerial career?

I’m happy to see the Mets win, but PLEASE stop painting Manuel as some kind of messiah.

Next Game

The Mets move on to the mountains and land of “near beer” during an off day, then have a 9:05 pm EST start in Colorado on Friday night. John Maine heads to the hill against Dennis Aaron Cook.

Angels 6 Mets 1

It is simply implausible that the Mets lost this game to the Angels.

After all, they have championship talent on their roster, which had been impinged for the last 170 games by the follies of Willie Randolph. Now that Willie “Roadblock” Randolph has been removed, this team should be beating the bejesus out of everyone. The Flushing Juggernauts should be stampeding through the rest of the inferior teams that make up MLB, no?

Apparently, not. In fact, not even when the Mets have the best pitcher in baseball on the mound.

Within four pitches, there was controversy, as Jose Reyes strained a leg muscle and then threw a temper tantrum when new manager Jerry Manuel removed him from the game. Reyes slammed his helmet to the ground in disgust and headed for the clubhouse, with Manuel following him after the top of the inning ended. I imagine Jerry gave Jose some stern words and good spanking for that infantile display. No doubt Reyes will bat .375 for the rest of the year, and we’ll look back at this incident as the turning point in Jose’s season.

Or perhaps not. But I have to come up with some kind of story, don’t I? Going into the game I was completely apathetic in regard to the outcome, and as a result the final score meant zip to my numbness. Hopefully this feeling will blow over soon; I’d have to have to start knitting or engaging in papercraft activities to fill my evenings.

Notes

I watched Luis Castillo pull up halfway down the first base line and jog the rest of the way after hitting a grounder to second base to end the eighth inning. He remained in the game. I notice these “little” things, because as a former player and coach, I know they separate winners from losers. New manager, same tough talk, same half-assed effort from the players. Go ahead and let me know that Castillo has to be easy on his bad knees. What in the world was the off-season surgery for, then? The way I see it, there’s only one speed to play this game — full speed — and if you can’t physically handle that, you shouldn’t be playing.

Santana was awful, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings.

On the other hand, Aaron Heilman pitched another perfect inning — this time coming in to start the frame and with the bases empty.

The Mets collected only six hits, with the only run scoring on a double play grounder by David Wright in the initial inning. They managed one walk, and were retired on 130 pitches. I guess Jerry Manuel didn’t have any magic bat speed dust for these championship-caliber hitters.

In all fairness to Manuel, the players likely were in no condition — mentally nor emotionally — to play a baseball game after this firing fiasco. Good luck to you, Jerry — you have your hands full.

Next Game

The rubber match will be played again at 10:05 pm EST (what do these Left Coast folks have against afternoon games?), with Oliver Perez pitching against Jon Garland.