Relief Needed - for the Mets and Jersey

Aah, another July in New Jersey, smack in the middle of a hot streak that’s gone on for about a week already, what more could we want? Relief, you say? Well, we might get some from the weather but not from the Mets, who seem locked in on this “win one, lose one” pattern for quite a while now.

That pattern was achieved against the Washingtons and Floridas of the world. One would have to think the Cincinnatis and Atlantas, the upcoming set of series, of the world would make things even tougher. And so it seemed last night as the Mets lost the Reds opener, 8-6, mostly because of Mike Pelfrey and Joey Votto.

Joey Votto now has 21 homers and 59 rbi’s and he’s hitting .318. He hit two of those last night and that second one that gave the Reds an insurance run in the 6th after the Mets came within a run of tying the game in the bottom of that ridiculous fifth inning. Pelfrey was pretty bad last night, something that hasn’t happened to him for quite some time. He gets a pass from me for being 10-3 and helping keep the Mets in the race all season.

But Mike looks ridiculously hittable lately to me. That fact, along with his penchant for walks, sours me on his prospects for the rest of the season, and I no longer am entertaining any fantasies about him winning 20 games. I had been thinking for a while that he’d be challenging Johan for dominance. But I don’t think that anymore.

Santana had a pretty miserable June himself, but he really looked pretty good in his last outing on July 1st. Even though he didn’t pick up a win, as, once again, the Mets didn’t hit in his behalf, he showed he hasn’t lost his fastball altogether and showed the command of an ace, giving up just 1 run over 6 complete.

I’m counting on Santana in the second half. I don’t want to put all my marbles on Jonathon Niese, who went 4-0 in June, but is just a second-year (for all intents) guy. And, as much as I’ve loved the performances we’ve gotten from the knuckleballer, R.A. Dickey, I just can’t seem to muster any real faith that his ridiculously good season can continue.

Dickey got smacked around by the Marlins back on June 28th to end his 6-game winning streak. I thought, “Well, that’s the end for him.” But then on July 3rd, he came right back to pitch great against the Nationals, going 7 full innings while allowing no earned runs.

K-Rod lost that one for him, but, once again, K-Rod gets a free pass from me too, as he’s been pretty damned consistent if a little less than lights-out. Ideally, he could stop scaring everyone half to death all the time before he finally extinguishes the fire he’s started. But, realistically, who’d you rather have as your closer?

That leaves Takahashi to discuss. He’s been still another mostly pleasant surprise all season long despite his getting banged around by Detroit and the Marlins before righting his ship against the Nationals. Word is that he’s supposed to go back to the bullpen. But that’s if and when the Mets acquire another starter and I won’t be holding my breath on that happening. Yeah, I know, “ye of little faith.”

But really, if I can look forward to winning a game with any of these Mets starters, I’m not going to be really upset. And God only knows what Omar will give up for another real-live starter. I mean, this is the guy who traded away Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and (gasp) Cliff Lee for Bartolo Colon. (I heard that just the other night from Cohen and I still can’t believe it).

Yeah, a large portion of our success will depend upon these relievers holding up. Perpetual Pedro has been great, more or less, but then there’re some question marks from a consistency standpoint. Parnell’s been better than okay after his return but Igarashi and Nieve have been a little disappointing. And I never expect too much from Dessens, who always looks older than me.

(Uruguay has just tied the Dutch at 1-1 on a beautiful long strike from Forlan. I thought they’d have no chance without Suarez, he of handball fame).

With John Maine and Ollie Perez still on the roster though, albeit on the disabled list right now, it’ll be very difficult to justify picking up another starter. I could better imagine Omar picking up a reliever. After all, that is what the Mets need right now. If they pick up another starter, they’d just move Takahashi to the pen. But there’s no guarantee he’ll be better in the pen than he’s been as a starter.

In any event, the Mets are currently two games behind the division leading Braves and at their current winning percentage, they’ll likely win 90 games. I don’t think that will be sufficient to win the division. It’s definitely wildcard territory, I suppose, but just barely in all likelihood.

(Netherlands just missed a scoring opportunity; maybe they will actually lose this World Cup right here).

(Unbelievable! The Dutch just scored on a dribbler deflection).

It’d sure be nice if Reyes gets back in the lineup really soon. Especially against a high-scoring team like the Reds, we need Reyes in there. The Mets missed his defense bigtime the other day and Ruben Tejada just doesn’t inspire me (or the Mets apparently).

At least Angel Pagan is back, and Jason Bay seems to be playing with more confidence. He seems less tentative and less content to settle for a walk in big situations. But, even with Wright, Pagan and Bay swinging torrid bats, against the Cincinnatis and Atlantas of the world, we still need to get Reyes back in there to win.

We need relief, in the bullpen, in the lineup, and most certainly from this horrible Jersey July.






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