Painful. That is the perfect word to use when describing the Mets loss to the Padres in the series finale.
The Mets had a chance to accomplish something they haven’t since July 25 and 26 of 2009: Win back to back games on the road.
Unfortunately, they lost a game that they were one strike away from winning.
Johan Santana’s Aceness
I have always said that the true mark of an ace, is a pitcher that can hold offenses at bay when he doesn’t have his best stuff.
That’s exactly what happened last night. Santana gave the Mets a very gritty performance as he did not have his best control of the season.
He walked a season-high five batters and allowed five hits, but somehow managed to hold the Padres scoreless for seven innings.
One of Johan’s greatest attributes is his competitiveness.
Santana marched out to the mound in the seventh inning already having thrown over 100 pitches. His total for the night was 123.
There isn’t a pitcher in baseball that is more deserving of his offense going out and putting up a whole mess of crooked numbers on his next start than Johan Santana.
You Said It
David Wright on the Mets’ road woes:
“If we were just decent on the road we’d be in pretty good shape. But it hasn’t been the case. We are where we are because of not being able to get it done on the road.”
Play With Fire And You Might Get Burned
The F-Rod show is starting to become unbearable to watch.
Allowing two hits on 0-2 counts is inexcusable. Eckstein’s at bat that tied the game was particularly frustrating. He was able to get Eckstein to swing and miss on two curveballs. He then went to the well one too many times.
Rodriguez has to know he can’t fool a gritty veteran like David Eckstein on the same pitch three consecutive times.
F-rod allowing Gwynn to steal is also inexcusable. After Gwynn reached first on an 0-2 pitch that had way too much plate, he was able to get a huge jump off of F-Rod to steal second.
Steals happen. What irritates me about this particular one, is that Rodriguez never even looked over at first, let alone throw one over to keep him close.
I do give Franky credit for going out to pitch the 10th. Apparently, he made the following request in the dugout:
“I made a mess. I’d like to clean it up.”
Wake Up Call
My hope is that this game serves as a wake up call. The Mets can ill afford another month of .500 baseball.
They need to start putting together some winning months if they hope to make the playoffs.
My opinion is that 90 wins will do it. To get to that bench mark, the Mets need to win games like this.
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