11.4.06

Nats Bannistered To Another Loss, 7-1

With a 7-1 lead and no hope for a save, Billy Wagner is inexplicably summoned into a non-save situation. He then walks the bases loaded...



Oh, this could have been second guessed for weeks but fortunately for him and the rest of us, Wagner struck out the final batter, helping give Brian Bannister his first career MLB victory.

Now only 133 to go to tie the auld man:



And at this rate, Brian Bannister should have a good chance of eclipsing Floyd some day but the story behind the story, the Mets winning their 5th game of the first 6 given the cynical amoung us in the Mets Collective little room to ponder. Last year at this time the Mets were floundering with the exact opposite record.

Perhaps even better was the ease with which the Mets dispatched the Natty Nats, a divisional rival, for the 3rd time in 4 attempts. Bannister has pitched brilliantly in both of his starts against the Nats, setting down 10 in a row at one point in this game and finishing with only three hits in seven innings of work on the heels of six no-hit innings in his first effort. Bannister became the first Met starter to go seven innings.

But ah, the game...what a way to start their first road trip of the season: Carlos Beltran's monster homerun, Reyes' pair of RBIs, Lo Duca's three hits and perhaps even more exciting, did we mention Brian Bannister getting two hits, including a double?

To date, Mets starters are now hitting .500. Between Glavine, Bannister, Pedro and Trachsel, they've got 6 hits in 12 at-bats, including two runs and two RBIs. What other rotation can match that?

*****

Pet peeve: Manny Acta trying desperately to seal his reputation as one of the worst third base coaches in MLB, tried to wave Carlos Delgado home from first in the 3rd inning following David Wright's double. Fortunately, for those of us who didn't want to see the first rally of the game snuffed out before it began, Delgado "didn't see" Acta's gesticulations and stayed at third instead. He was driven in one batter later by Cliff Floyd's RBI sac fly.

The left side of the Mets infield, namely Reyes and Wright, have now driven in 17 runs between them. The right side of the Mets infield, namely Delgado and Hernandez, have driven in 4.

Anyone bitching about Reyes' OBP now? He's still only walked once this season but wow, if you glance at the Mets stats so far this season, it sure looks like he's got more total bases than anyone else on the team.

*****

A few stupid thing I learned whilst listening to the WFAN broadcast this evening without filtering out the commericals:

1. Severe underarm sweating can allegedly be cured by prescription botox therapy,
2. Nobody sells more homes in the world than ReMax.
3. Chrysler 300 Z allegedly not only gets actresses to look at you, but also earns you promotions at work!

Wow. Who'd have thunk the target market for Mets broadcasts would be severely sweating, house buying losers who might be sold into believing that if they buy Chryslers they get laid by movie stars and are promoted high up the ranks into infinity?

What the fuck kind of car is this anyway?

I was so curious I even googled the term fuckmobile but sadly, nothing with wheels...

*****


Reptilian Grandpappy Blood and Oil Lets the Cannon Loose...

Thinking about Dick Cheney throwing out the opening pitch for the Nats (what better reason to hate the Nats?) I began to think about Ken Macha, naturally. Macha is Cheney's body double.

Macha:


And in case you forgot what evil incarnate looks like:



Gracias a sports retort.

*****

A well, tomorrow night we can look forward to Pedro v Guillen, Round Deux.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My first thought when I read that Wagner was brought in with a 7-1 lead was that Randolph wanted to "guarantee" Bannister a win after last start's foul-tasting no-decision.

Jaap said...

Perhaps it was but if you've got to bring your closer in to get three outs and protect a 6 run lead, there's something wrong with the rest of the bullpen. Perfect situation to give auld Jorge Julio another spin at his Armando impression but now Wagner is not going to be as available should the other games in this series be a little closer...

Jaap said...

Indeed Crooks, it was the kind of situation that called for mercy, not heat. My guess is that Willie wanted to get out of that wretched stadium as soon as possible so he could make his dinner reservations. The insinuation being of course, that Julio might have given up the lead and the game might have gone into xtra innings and Willie would have gone hungry...