Bullpen Blows It Again for Mets

PIRATES 7

METS 5

I guess the Mets wish this game was not rained out back on April 28. The Mets got the first solid performance from Pedro Martinez this season, and a three run blast from David Wright and it was not enough to hold off the pesky Pittsburgh Pirates, Monday afternoon at Shea Stadium.

Once again, the Mets bullpen was given a big lead, and once again the blew it big time.

Martinez went six brilliant innings, giving up only three hits and a run, and found a way to work around four walks to baffel the Pirates. He threw 99 pitches through the six innings, and one could argue that he could have, and should have pitched a seventh inning to save the pen, but Jerry Manuel elected to remove Pedro from the game.

I'm sure he regrets that he did.

In the seventh, Joe Smith came on to relieve for Martinez and was just awful. First he walked Chris Gomez, and then gave up a double to Freddy Sanchez to get Pittsburgh back into the game at 5-2, as Gomez came in to score.

Manuel wasted no time in removing Smith in favor of Pedro Feliciano, and Feliciano was no better. With one out, he walked Luis Rivas on four pitches. Next, former Met Doug Mientkiewicz doubled to right to drive home Sanchez to make it 5-3. Then, Ryan Doumit hit a sac. fly to drive in Rivas to make it 5-4.

Duaner Sanchez pitched a terrific eighth to set up the ninth for Aaron Heilman, and the trouble began.

Heilman went 3-2 on leadoff man Nate McClouth before getting him to chase on a changeup to strike out for the first out. Heilman then went 3-2 on Rivas, and walked him, and then walked Mientkiewicz on a 3-2 count. Finally Doumit drove the first pitch off the top of the wall, narrowly missing a three run homerun to bring home the tying run and move Mientkiewicz to third.

Scott Schoeneweis came in and it got worse. Ex-Red Sox Brandon Moss grounded into a fielders choice, as Damion Easley zipped the ball to Robinson Cancel at home for the second out. Then, the big blow came from Steve Pearce, who laced a 3-2 pitch over the head of Jose Reyes into shallow center field for a two run single, giving the Pirates a 7-5 lead.

The Mets did nothing in the bottom of the inning, except for Jerry Manuel's ejection for arguing balls and strikes. Manuel in his postgame conference said that the Mets "need to make some adjustments."

That is the understatement of the year. The Mets will have no chance of catching the Phillies and Marlins for the division title with this pathetic pitching. Their starters never go more than six or seven innings; their ace Johan Santana refuses to go more than seven innings, and their bullpen stunk with Billy Wagner, and they stink even more without him. The Mets are cooked; at least they won't make fans suffer like they did last September, or two October's ago.