One night after Steve Trachsel continued to prove deceptive the mirage that is his winning record this season, Dave Williams, the Miracle Man from the Reds, allowed 9 runs and 11 hits in three innings of work, both season highs, before he was replaced with two on and no outs in the fourth inning.
Williams can't wipe the grime of a disappointing start from his forehead.
Sometimes you shudder thinking about the rest of the rotation.
Pedro's help is on the way, Glavine seems to have righted himself after the earlier numb finger scare and El Duque appears to be rested enough for the final push but thereafter, we're looking at the reality of what has been a smoke and mirrors rotation for the majority of the season.
Cody Ross, the man who was almost without a home this season after being dumped by both the Dodgers and the Reds, hitting .100 in 20 at-bats against the Mets this season, awoke from a life-long slumber to pound three homeruns and knock in seven all on his own to lead the Marlins to an emphatic 16-5 victory over the Mets last night. Entering last night's game he had only one homer in his last 87 at-bats.
TWENTY hits - that's how much the Marlins battered Mets pitching. Well, mostly Williams, Heath Bell and Royce Ring - Roberto Hernandez appeared to be the only Met appearing on the mound who could get a Marlin out.
To their credit the Mets tried a few brave attempts at outslugging the horrific pitching they were witnessing from their own side. They were down 4-0 after an inning, 6-2 after two, 7-2 after three and then 9-4 after four.
Cliff Floyd's two-run homer in the second gave us a brief gasp of hope, as did Carlos Beltran's solo shot in the fourth, his 40th of the season, but the underscored reality of this game was that the Mets pitching was like a porous NFL defence who can't keep the opponent out of their endzone. No matter how much the offence scores, the defence will surrender twice as much.
What do we read into this game, this battering at the hands of a team of upstarts stripped of their superstars upon the hiring of Joe Girardi and left standing naked in Spring Training with a lineup of primarily rookies and nobodies to contend with?
Well, we could take Cliff Floyd's tactic and worry about the chance we might have to face these same Marlins in the postseason.
"A lot of guys don't want to see those guys in the playoffs," the oft-injured and outspoken Floyd marveled at the Marlins. "They're feeling pretty good about themselves."
What is this statement a measure of? That Cliff Floyd is hiding in the shadows, the fear of injury translating into an overall fear of teams in general, teams which have only an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs? A true measure of how frightening the Marlins are with their Triple AAA roster, their formidable starting rotation and their boy-genius manager?
Pshaw. Let them feel pretty good about themseles. They're still 15 1/2 games behind the Mets, a mighty two games over .500 and two games behind the Padres for the wildcard. If they're in Cliff Floyd's rear view mirror of fear already one wonders how the Mighty Mets might be trembling should they actually have to face these Marlins in the postseason.
Of course, it poses the interesting question of who DO the Mets want to face in the first round of the playoffs. The Padres, whose beloved Mike Piazza might be in essence, playing all his games at home? The Phillies, who have handed the Mets their heads on more than one occasion this season?
The Mets can't even realistically worry about their season unraveling like the Tigers. They can think about two consecutive losses, the trend of spotty pitching beyond their aces but in reality, this temporary blip is hardly concern-inducing.
Today's another day and frankly, with Oliver Perez taking the mound for the Mets tonight, prepare yourself for what perhaps might be a repeat of last night. The Mets needn't fear the possibility of facing the Marlins in the playoffs. They should only fear that their trio of legitimate starters stay healthy through the postseason and spare us the spectacle of journeymen nobodies taking their reluctant poundings from the opposition.
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1 comment:
Cliff Floyd's history of outspokeness, especially his sensitivity towards booing from the Shea crowd, shows he isn't really prepared for the difficulties of the postseason. He might be better resting his aging body on the bench the rest of the season if he's going to fear the Marlins.
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