Great Game - Bad Result

What a game ! Forget about the Red Sox-Yankees; last night was all about the Mets and the Phillies. It pains me to say the Phillies were just better, but I really think they were. The Phillies endured the slow start, the Phillies fought back, the Phillies got the big hits and the Phillies had the better relief pitching. And of course they won it by a score of 8-7 in 13 terrific innings of baseball.

The things that'll stay in the mind's eye of this Mets fan are as follows:

1.Brian Schneider, the catcher acquired for defensive purposes, totally misplaying a very good relay throw by Damion Easley in the bottom of the 9th. That was the game right there.
2. Delgado and Beltran looking silly against Brad Lidge
3. the brilliant relief pitching of Aaron Heilman in the 10th through the 12th
4. great plays on ground balls by Delgado and Reyes

But the worst thing about last night's game was that every time a Phillies batter came to the plate, I worried a lot. For every Mets batter that came up in those late innings, I expected nothing. And got it.

Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and even guys like Jayson Werth are big-time players. When the game is on the line, they seem to come through. The same can't really be said for these Mets, as much as I hate to think it.

As good as Delgado has been since Manuel took the reins, he hits mistakes. If a pitcher can get a good breaking ball over the plate for strikes, he can take Delgado out. The same goes for the other Carlos, Beltran.

In that bottom of the ninth against Lidge, they weren't just ineffective, they were pitiful. Beltran, as he does way too often, took two breaking balls for strikes, then missed by a foot on a ball in the dirt. Delgado at least took a few swings, even if he missed by quite a bit on every one.

The Mets still have the edge in starting pitching though, and hopefully Johan Santana will continue his hot streak tomorrow. If the game is decided by the bullpens, the Mets will be in bad shape.

Even though Aaron Heilman was magnificent last night, he won’t be able to throw tomorrow. I have no faith in Schoeneweis whatsoever. He looks as if he doesn’t care. I don’t think he does. I’d like to see the Mets just drop him.

Smith and Feliciano can be good in spots. Luis Ayala should have picked up another save last night, but he was done in by his catcher. The Phillies had made the big mistake, sending the slow-footed Jayson Werth home on a hard shot to right. Church gunned it to Easley. Easley gunned it to Schneider.

If Schneider steps up to take the throw, the runner is out by a mile. Instead, Schneider backed up and made an easy play difficult. The game hinged on that play.

The great players look forward to those opportunities and step up. The lesser ones back down. Schneider backed away and the game was lost. The Phillies had tied it. I waited to see whether Schneider would redeem himself at the plate later on. That sometimes happens with good players. Schneider showed nothing.

While it’s not impossible that the Mets can still win this division, I have to say it doesn’t look good. The Mets seem to have taken a step back with the “additions” of Church and Castillo. John Maine’s injury looks ominous at this juncture. And Pedro looked his age last night.

Negatives, I’m full of them, I guess. There are some positives. Baseball is such a weird game and the season is such a long one. Players who look bad one night can look great the very next day. But the chemistry the Mets had seems lost for now, and the Phillies should just get stronger, what with last night’s big win and Rollins playing better.

But Reyes and Wright are great players. Wright made a big play on a hard ground ball to his right to save the game last night, even though he did look a little clumsy in doing it. He gets the hits when they’re needed more often than not. He looks confident in big situations.

Reyes is just a great player in all aspects of the game, a guy you love to watch and a guy who loves to have you watch him. He does it all, at the plate and in the field, on the basepaths and even in the dugout.

The Mets need more players like them. Too often, the two Carlos’s can’t overcome good pitching. They feed on the pedestrian guys, but there aren’t too many of them on teams like Philadelphia, or Houston for that matter.

And I really liked the chemistry they had there for a while, with Argenis Reyes at second, Murphy and Evans platooning in left field and Tatis in right. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with a player such as Church, his return to the lineup hasn’t added anything yet.

I’m certainly hoping these Mets can come back still one more time from a hugely disappointing loss. They certainly have the right guy on the mound today to do just that. And then there are Perez and Pelfrey and Pedro too, when he’s feeling it. But Maine’s loss looms large, and then there’s this bullpen.

Is any lead too large? Is any ballpark large enough to hold the ball in the park against this team of relievers? Will Jerry Manuel’s head bust wide open one day after still another exercise in juggling totally inconsistent relievers? It’s like doing the Sunday Times crossword on a daily basis.

Whatever happens down the stretch, one gets the feeling that it’ll be exciting. And I guess that’s just about all we can realistically hope for, great baseball, good pitching, good hitting, plays at the plate and extra innings.