Bring Back The Angel!

There is one common denominator in the two consecutive road losses, including last night's disappointing 7-1 thrashing at the hands of the Cubs. No Angel Pagan.

Now, some might argue that it isn't the absence of Pagan so much as the presence of Endy Chavez out there in right field and perhaps when and if Moises Alou returns for a streak of 10 games before being befelled by some other mysterious old man misery, this point will be borne out with a little more clarity.

For the moment, the Mets are looking at two consecutive losses, either way and last night's embarrassment, although somewhat of a nail-biter before the game unraveled (shall we point fingers at the omnipresent scapegoat Aaron Heilman), blame Jose Reyes' duplicitous handling of a ground ball hit his way (whilst practicing elaborate handshakes??) or a murderous road trip schedule, the game unraveled and the loss was recorded.


Hard to imagine he hasn't eaten his way out of the league by now...

Yes, we could also say that the Mets simply weren't up for it, on a short sleep road trip, to handle Cubs' ace Carlos Zambrano and, let's face it, regardless of sleep or travel, few batting orders are, but you had to be somewhat aware in any event, watching John Maine labouring through his work inning after inning with distinct difficulty, that eventually, this game was going to get out of hand and it did.


You don't tug on Felix Pie's cape, you don't spit into the wind...

By the 8th, after Reyes' booted ball and Heilman's typically wincing performance, the Mets were well out of the running and hoping Nelson Figueroa can put the brakes on the sudden two-game losing streak this afternoon. Or perhaps with a little extra rest and the hideous Ted Lilly on the mound for the Cubs, the rest will take care of itself.

Notes:

No, you weren't imagining it. Despite last night's performance, Carlos Delgado is fulfilling our lowest of expectations as the batting order's albatross, hitting a fulsome .082, or 2 hits in his last 25 at-bats.

Over the last 7 games, Met starters have pitched 44 1/3 innings (nearly 7 innings per outing which is fabulous) and have allowed 13 earned runs which is a 2.64 ERA. This is the secret to their recent success, without a doubt.

The bullpen, in the same period, have collectively pitched 21 2/3 innings whilst allowing only 5 "earned" runs. (amazingly, those 4 against Heilman didn't register, thanks to Jose...

Reyes and David Wright are hitting .402 and .462 respectively which seems like a pretty simple math to Mets victories.