The Game

The collective banging sound you may have heard coming from the Tri-State Area around 3:30 pm on Tuesday was the sound of New York Mets fans firmly pressing their hands on the panic button as the 2008 Mets lost their home opener to the hated Phillies by a final score of 5-2. But the thing that has most Met fans alarmed is that the 2008 Mets look an awful lot like the Mets we saw in September of 2007. Two words: Not good.

The final season opener at Shea started off on a positive note with the Mets receiving a warm welcome from the sold out crowd. The loudest ovation went to savior Johan Santana, who smiled from ear to ear while tipping his cap to the Shea faithful. The positive vibes continued as the Mets jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Carlos Delgado in the bottom of the second inning. The lead was stretched to 2-0 on a scorching ground out by Ryan Church in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Mets starter Oliver Perez was up to his old tricks today. He danced in and out of trouble, struggled with his control, and yet still managed to hold the Phillies scoreless over the 5 and 2/3 innings he pitched. He allowed three hits, struck out three, hit Chase Utley twice, and walked the opposing pitcher who was trying to sacrifice a runner over to second base from first. And then things really got strange. After retiring Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to start the sixth, Ollie walked old nemesis Pat Burrell. With Burrell on first and a 3-0 count on Jayson Werth, Perez decides to throw over to first base which was not occupied by Carlos Delgado… resulting in a balk. Perez’s next pitch was a wild pitch, pushing Burrell to third base and awarding first to Werth. This concluded his day and Joe Smith came on to give Met fans agita by walking his first batter to load the bases before getting Carlos Ruiz to ground out and end the top of the sixth with the Mets still leading 2-0.

With the Mets still leading 2-0 heading into the top of the 7th, Willie Randolph decided to insert the only Met who received audible jeers during pre-game introductions, Scott Schoeneweis. Now, anybody who has watched this team over the past year or so should realize that Scott should not be pitching to righties in any situation. The lefty in the Mets ‘pen who can get righties out is Pedro Feliciano. Of course, after retiring the first righty he faced, the wheels started to fall off for old Scotty. Jimmy Rollins, hitting from the right side, ripped a single to left. Shane Victorino, also hitting from the right side, singled as well to put runners on first and second with one out for the meat of the Phillies order. Schoeneweis’s next pitch hits Chase Utley for the third time today, loading the bases for Ryan Howard with one out. Scott then somehow induced a slow chopper to first base, which Carlos Delgado proceeded to throw into the back of Utley (marking the fourth time he was hit today). After the ball was tracked down, everybody was safe and the Phils had tied the game. Met fans could have turned off their sets at that point cause they knew what was going to happen next. Jorge Sosa, who is contractually obligated to pitch in every game this year, came on to give up the go ahead run on a base hit by Jayson Werth. Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley added RBI hits in the top of the eighth off of the ineffective Aaron Heilman to give the Phils a 5-2 lead which they would never relinquish.

Sandy Koufax, err, Jamie Moyer got the win for the Phils, holding the Mets to just two runs and four hits over six innings despite being 74 years old. Scott Schoeneweis was tagged with the loss and Tom Gordon came on to get the final three outs and collect the save, dropping the Mets to 2-4 (and 0-3 in games in which Chuck Buono writes the recap). Knowing full well that this is only game 6 out of 162, this one may still be a tough pill for Met fans to swallow as it had the exact feeling of all the games endured during the collapse of September ‘07. The Mets jumped out to an early lead, watched as the leaky bullpen coughed up that lead, and went meekly in the final innings. The Amazins will turn to, gulp, Mike Pelfrey who will try and get this thing on track Wednesday as he faces sinkerballer Kyle Kendrick.

The Haiku

Last Shea opener
Brings back all our memories
Sadly, of last year

The Boxscore

The Win Probability Added Graph

The Credits

Recap by Chuck Buono
Haiku by Howard Megdal