Close, But No Cigar

Coming close doesn’t cut it when it comes to wins and losses and last night was one of those games that may come back to haunt the Mets in September.  Leading 6-1 early on, the Marlins somehow managed to let the Mets chisel their way back into the game and tie it. But true to form, the Mets fell one run shy of a victory due to the combination of Fernando Tatis' base-running blunder and a general lack of the one big hit they needed to put them over the top. 

Granted, in 2009, down 6-1, the Mets would have just rolled over and died so seeing them have some heart to fight back in this game was a positive.  The fact that they couldn’t close the deal and win it, though, is what separates them from championship teams like the Yankees and the Phillies. One big hit was all they needed, and once again, it never came.

Adding insult to injury, then you have Fernando Tatis’ base-running error, which was incomprehensible. As a veteran player who has experience playing in Citi Field, he should have realized that the distance from home plate to the backstop is very short. A ball really has to get past a catcher and the runner needs to be super fast in order to make it home from third. Not to mention the fact that with two out and a runner at third Tatis took the bat out of Davis Wright’s hands and ran the rally into the ground. Very bad move…

But aside from the lack of clutch hitting and bad base running, the more concerning and less fixable factor is how the Mets got themselves into a 6-1 deficit in the first place. John Maine pitched terribly, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings, surrendering 8 hits. Two of those 8 hits were homeruns. Maine is our #2 starter - at least until Pelfrey shows he can handle the pressure.  If this is the kind of outing we can expect from our 2, 3, 4 and 5 pitchers then the season is pretty much over before it even started.  

I have no faith that Pelfrey can overcome whatever mental issues plague his performance. In all honesty, he will probably become an excellent pitcher if he gets shipped to another team, but for some reason, I don’t think he can handle the expectations that come with pitching in New York.

Jon Niese is a rookie. I think he will do fairly well as a #4 or 5 starter but you can’t expect him to be a #2.

Oliver Perez you can just forget about…one word sums him up and that is DISASTER.  Actually, 36 million dollar disaster is a more accurate description, but a disaster is a disaster no matter how much the price tag.

But the real slap in the face to Mets fans is that while John Maine struggled last night, the free agent we should have signed, Jon Lackey, pitched a gem for Boston. And, the guy the Mets all but kicked in the face the last two years, Nelson Figueroa, signed with the Phillies.  Much like Pedro’s stint with the Phils last year, this one is going to come back to haunt us. Anyone willing to bet Lackey and Figueroa (even pitching in relief) combine to win more games that our 2,3,4 and 5 starters? Let’s revisit that in late September and see if that rings true. Maybe then the Mets front office will acknowledge that standing pat on starting pitching ended the 2010 season before it even began.