Credit Where Credit Ain't Due

Well, the Mets lost another big one last night, big because all their games are big given their situation, but also big because their biggest stars both failed in the clutch.

David Wright misplayed a ground ball that would have been the third out in the second inning, giving the heretofore hard-luck Mariners another opportunity with the bases loaded. And they capitalized big-time as their pitcher yanked a high and outside Santana fastball over the fence.

The early returns from Mets fan-dom seem to indicate a distinct finger-pointing at Santana, multi-million dollar baby Johan Santana, who, after all, fell to just 7-6, but he still retains a very respectable 2.93 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

Well, it’s always fun to knock the millionaires but the object of fan wrath last night should have been with Wright, who isn’t exactly on his way to the poor house himself. Wright made the big error, then another error in the 8^th, and was pretty unremarkable at the plate too.

Wright’s not doing all that badly overall, what with 56 rbi’s, but he’s batting just .272 and has been remarkably bad versus right-handed pitching, batting just .222 while banging left-handers at a .435 clip. He’s scored only 44 runs but that’s more a function of the under-performers following him in the lineup.

But really, Wright was bad last night. Santana was not. His biggest mistake was to say after the game something to the effect that the Mets have to do the job in the field. Now, that may have played well in Minnesota, but Johan, baby, you’re in the Big Apple now.

There should be a stat kept on multi-millionaires who say dumb things, or inappropriate things anyway. Wright obviously screwed up, and I can say so, but Johan, you have to suck it up and take the heat. It’s not as if you were blameless.

Yeah, sure, it was a good pitch that got hit out, but c’mon Johan, it was the darned pitcher. In that situation, you just can’t serve up anything that could be yanked out like that. Against anybody, never mind the pitcher. You’ve got a change-up, it seems to me that ANYTHING that had a little movement to it would have been a better choice in that situation. And you could have been a little more gracious after the game.

That being said, the locals looked extraordinarily lifeless last night. I had been hoping for a better performance upon returning to Shea. Too much partying upon returning home? The Mets banged out a paltry four hits on the night, and worse, those four hits were attributable to just two players, Reyes and Beltran. Oh yeah, Castillo did work a base on balls and later scored.

All the rest, fuhgeddaboudit. Wright, Delgado, Nixon, Easley, Castro and Chavez produced nothing. Hernandez is a great pitcher but he only pitched into the fifth inning after sustaining an injury while blocking the plate against Beltran, who charged home on a wild pitch. And kudos to Beltran for making some better use of those quick feet lately.

But the Mets made each of the Mariners relief pitchers look like the second coming of Mariano Rivera. They managed three walks and two hits off the four relievers while managing to strike out six times.

Jerry Manuel’s calming influence may have been felt last night, but if so, maybe that wasn’t quite what was needed in that spot. After all, the Mariners were in desperate straits, having just fired their manager, McLaren after putting up just 27 wins coming into the end of June. You had to figure they’d be dangerous.

And, come to think of it, the Mets do seem to play to the level of their competition. They do well against the Angels but lose four to the last place Padres. And now losing to the Mariners, and looking even worse than the result.

To Manuel’s credit, he is responsible for the renewed running effort from Beltran, and he will apparently continue his resting of key players, and, as one could have expected, Wright will be rested tonight. (A little better timing would have been good).

For now, though, the Mets have to put a better face on their losses, and try to pull for one another, take the hit from the press, shoulder the blame, and give your teammate a pass when you have the chance. Hopefully, there won’t be many more opportunities like that.

Although nobody in the NL East seems to be playing that well lately, it’s high time for the Mets to turn things around, if they have it in them at all. It’s not as if there aren’t some encouraging signs.

Pedro is back, and though his comeback has been nothing to write home about, he hasn’t been too bad. Pelfrey has been looking good, Maine seems to be improving, looking a little more like the pitcher I saw in spring training. Even Perez, who goes tonight, has been looking a little more consistent.

Even more encouraging, Ryan Church should be returning soon, and, although he didn’t do much last night, Trot Nixon has provided a bit of a boost, albeit if only against right-handers. And last night’s right-hander WAS pretty darned tough.

But, no matter how this season turns out, it’d sure be nice to think these Mets at least like one another and are worthy of whatever accolades they may get. You don’t see the Yankees berating one another, at least not publicly, unless of course, it’s coming from the crazy owner.

I’d like to see the press give the Mets a break, but I don’t see that as a real possibility. It’s too fascinating a story, approaching reality shows for intrigue and extreme pathos. Willie, Pedro, Johan, two Carlos’s, and Jose Reyes, boy wonder. And now, of course, we have our own Gandhi in the person of Jerry Manuel.

So c’mon Johan, that was one hell of a try Wright gave on that ground ball !