Someone Else's Pen Blows It For A Change

Funny, isn't it?

When it's your bullpen giving up 5 runs in the 8th inning to blow the loss wide open it's your bullpen that sucks.

When it's the other teams' bullpen giving up 5 runs in the 8th inning to blow the game right open, it's down to clutch hitting.


Happy faces all around with Delgado's unexpected clutch hit

Last night Carlos Delgado's bases loaded double, with the Mets hitting 3 for their last 42 with the bases loaded, began the final push towards victory, punctuated by Damion Easley's own two-run single in that same inning as the Mets took the opener in what one might consider somewhat surprising fashion.

Surprising because of the clutch hitting which has been dormant all month, or most of it anyway. Surprising because the much beleaguered bullpen, plagued further still by the latest news about the end of their closer's hopes this season, pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to seal the victory. And surprising, yet again, because Oliver Perez stuck another positive performance in his cap showing how well he can concentrate when a giant free agent salary is on the line.


Push HARD, Damion. Snap that back in two!

Newly acquired Luis Ayala, after nearly decapitating Omar Infante with one out and men on the corners, pitched well in his debut lending hope, well-founded or not, that he might be the answer the Mets' bullpen so desperately needs. Heilman came in the game in the 8th and got three outs on 20 pitches although not without some anxiety and finally, Schoeneweis came in to close it out.

This is how it will be the rest of the season. Fighting and clawing for every run, every save and every victory.

And in a way, you've got to wonder what that kind of resiliency does for a team's character and whether maybe the Mets are actually capable of stepping up and winning the NL East, even without a closer.