13.6.09

Nieve Helps Save The Day, Mets Bounce Back Again

After the sort of stupidity that lost the game on Friday night the Mets were probably one loss away from seeing the season slip through their fingers from seeing one act of stupidity too many finally break the proverbial camel's back.


Nieve pitched the kind of Who The Hell Is He? game that the Mets usually see - instead, today it's the Yankees who apparently have a history of flailing against nobodies this season...sound familiar?

But these Mets are, if anything, resilient and after Fernando Nieve's unexpected yet superb outing, they live another day to torture us.

Of course it won't make up for all the stupid losses already gone this season, losses which will no doubt come back to haunt these Mets later in this season, especially if they end up missing out on the post season by two or three games, but for a day anyway, they showed resilience, they showed an unexpected grit and best of all, they showed this Yankee team once again for the paper lions that they are; a day later than we'd have preferred, but nonetheless, the Yankees have been defeated as they should have been on Friday night.


Captain Steroid looked weak and vulnerable and maybe a bit like John Travolta

In addition to Nieve's magical outing Omir Santos yet again showed his equally magical and inexplicable ability to lift the Mets (that granny against the Marlins and the game-ender off Papelbon in Boston come immediately to mind...) with not only his two-run homer to give the Mets the early lead in the 2nd they would never relinquish but also a run-scoring double in the 5th when the wheels came off entirely for Andy Pettitte who, had it not been for Jeter's ridiculous play, would have been bloodied and through the ropes as early as that 2nd inning.


Has any Met had as many important home runs this season? (Or as many home runs at all for that matter...?

In essence, without the dropped fly ball on Friday, these Yankees would still be in their post-Boston free fall and at the risk of sounding crazy, I'd have to say I'd rather be rooting for these frustrating Mets than those sad sack Yankees in any event.

And let's make no mistake: say what you will about Citi Field, this new Yankee Stadium sucks. The odd winds, the ridiculously short right field porch, the chip shot, band box stadium and the terrible team they field.


No goat's soup for this clown tonight.

As for Castillo, a pair of hits and a couple of decent plays in the field ease the nightmares for a night, not just for himself but for everyone.

The victory does not prove the Mets are over the hump or ready to go on their own hot streak or aren't terribly flawed, weak, shallow - any other day Martinez is not going to have three hits to pad his average, Murph won't be sitting it out, Wright won't be on a hot streak, rather the polar opposite, Sheff will look older and more vulnerable and of course, someone like Schneider will be behind the plate instead of Omir and the Mets will look like the Mets again.

None of it solves the bad base running, terrible fielding, the hole in the starting rotation, first base and in at least one of the outfield corners but for one godforsaken night at least, a reprieve.

By the way, this MLB TV package is a piece of shit. First, the bad news was getting the Fox feed and being forced to listen to those pair of jackals and thereafter, a dodgy reception led to frequent and frustrating failures; "media error" eventually forced me to switch to the WFAN broadcast in the end. Douchebags. Makes me thinks the Wilpons are running the MLB website.

4 comments:

jdon said...

Not bad. Another statement game for the mets. but why do they need so many of these? Because they essentially stink. Nieve looked okay. Claudio Vargas with a real fastball. Of course we have to wait and see. What amazed me was that he pitched so well with so many 1-0 and 2-0 counts. I thought these yankees were a juggernaut offense. All or nothing is how they play it. Gotta love Frankie Rodriguez. After last night, no chances, no baserunners. He really knows how to pitch. Maybe Benitez could have been like that if he had a ball or two. Now we see if the mets let down after their "statement" game. How sweet would it have been to sweep these guys. I might actually have tuned into Fatcessa tomorrow.

Jaap said...

ha, yeah, that would have been great having to listen to Fatcessa eat crow but even two wins, given the once-in-a-lifetime cock up that let them win the first one, would almost seem like a sweep, for humiliation's sake, that is.
And perhaps I disagree with you ever so slightly, this broad brush stroke of the Mets stinking. They do stink, indeed but when they play as well as they look on paper, they are one of the better teams in the NL. If only they would focus on fundamentals, make less mental (and physical) errors and oh, I dunno, not play like idiots, they might be pretty decent. It's been a joy watching the Phillies get humbled at home by Boston as well.

Jaap said...

by the way, did you see this, jdon?

Don't expect Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Bruney to start riding trains together after the Subway Series.
Bruney threw a verbal jab at the New York Mets' closer, saying his exuberant celebrations on the mound are "a tired act."
Rodriguez responded Saturday after closing out his team's 6-2 victory over the Yankees, who expect to get Bruney back in the bullpen Tuesday after activating him from the disabled list.
"He better keep his mouth shut and do his job and not worry about somebody else," Rodriguez said. "If it came out from somebody big, I might pay attention to it. But somebody like that, it doesn't bother me."
off of SI's site: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/06/13/new.york.relievers.ap/index.html

jdon said...

I just read it a little while back. Who is Brian Bruney? Has he ever pitche dlonger than a month. The yanks talk about him like he is mariano in '96. How about he ctually does something first. Same goes for Hughes. I agree that the mets have the elements to be a good team. They need a policeman, and they need a guy to show them how to do it when the roof of your mouth goes dry and your throat starts closing up. They don't have that. They have Delgado, for whom I have ZERO respect. This guy turned down a chance to play for contenders when he hd never been in the playoffs. What does that tell you. Maybe David can come around. Going the other way like he is back to doing should help him against tough late inning pitchers. I just wish his voice would change already! He sounds like a damn jockey when he gets interviewed after games.