Victor Flies The Mets Into The Side of The Mountain

"I SHOT an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where:
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Arrow and The Song

Ok, you didn't really expect the Braves to just fall over dead after one game when they've had 14 consecutive seasons as the NL East champs, did you?

You didn't really think the Mets Momentum train was moving so steadily and ahead of schedule that not even a millstone around the neck like the pitching of Victor Zambrano could sink us, did you? Not even if the Mets were facing Kyle Davies and all his 23 games of experience, his 8.38 ERA and 4 homers surrendered in a mere 9.2 innings of previous work this season, his four straight losing decisions dating to last season.


"Don't worry, Victor," Lo Duca tells Zambrano. "You've still got a firmer bum than Pedro..."

Well, fear not. The Mets are mortal after all, even if it might only be for a single game.

Fielding a starting lineup which saw Jose Valentin in left, Chris Woodward at second and Endy Chavez in centerfield and Victor Zambrano on the mound you might have thought for a moment this was still Spring Training and this was the split squad that showed up.

Yes, a lineup which, through the genious of someone in the hierarchy had Victor Diaz, an outfielder in a time when two Met starting outfielders are hurt, getting sent down to AAA whilst Pedro Feliciano, having pitched sloppy with 3 earned runs in a mere four innings of work even at the AAA level this season, was summoned up to mothership and more capable arms, like Heath Bell were left to linger, or rot, down in Norfolk.

In any event, this game had all the makings of a staged loss, as though the Mets were saying to the Braves "we'll tie one arm behind are backs, go on, give us your best shot!" just to prove that they could do it.

Of course, Victor Zambrano cannot be avoided forever. He is part of the rotation until something more sensible is done about this gaping hole of uselessness, like demoting Victor Diaz and promoting Pedro Feliciano.

Victor lasted all of five, brutal innings by which time he had surrendered an all-but-insurmountable 7-1 lead via a series of gaffes, two-out cockups and gopher balls, two of which came courtesy of Andruw Jones who is quickly threatening to become Larry, Chase Utley and Pat Burrell all rolled into one. Big surprise. Zambrano went 0-3 against the Braves last year and this year doesn't look any better. How much longer until pitching guru Rick Peterson throws up his arms in disgust and the Mets start thinking about how delicious someone like John Maine or Yasaku Iriki might look in his stead. (and speaking of Norfolk starters, how long is Jose Lima going to linger down there with his 8.40 ERA in three starts?)

Although Jones went down swinging in the first (unlike his teammates who battered Victor for two doubles, a single and two runs,) he didn't waste much time thereafter with three hits and four RBIs on the night to virtually guarantee victory.

But certainly more puzzling than Zambrano's predictably putrid performance was the silence of Met bats in the face of this insult. Our ace in the hole, Carlos Delgado went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, ending his 11-game hitting streak. David Wright had his second straight night of silence. Jose Reyes hasn't had a hit in two games against these Braves and ended his streak of 4 consecutive games with a walk, etc., etc. You get the picture.

Yessss. Let's look on the bright side. Feliciano managed three scoreless innings of meaningless relief and mop up man extraordinaire Jorge Julio even looked competent compared to Zambrano, throwing an inning of scoreless relief, striking out two of three batters.

So what we'll be wanting to read in the morning papers is the Mets taking this loss with as much concern as Braves manager Bobby Cox did following Monday night's loss with a shrug and a chuckle.

Next up, Tim Hudson pitches for Atlanta against Tom Glavine (2-8 against the Braves)in the rubber match of the series Wednesday afternoon...