The Game

The New York Mets stuck to their losing formula on Tuesday night in Los Angeles while falling to the Dodgers by a final score of 5-4. The aforementioned formula is jump out to an early lead, squander a boatload of chances to put the team away, slowly let the opposition creep back into the game, completely go to sleep on offense, relinquish the lead and fall behind, throw in some sloppy defense and a starting pitcher that can only go five innings, rinse and repeat. Ladies and gentlemen- your 2008 New York Mets.

Forgive me if this recap sounds extra negative but I am completely aggravated that I stayed up to watch this ridiculous game that lasted over three hours and twenty minutes. Also, if I see that freakin Verizon Fios commercial again where the flea says “WOW” I really may go Grand Theft Auto on my Staten Island neighborhood. Is it me or is it on every commercial break? Anyhoo, the game started off great for the Mets as Ryan Church homered in the top of the first to give New York an early 1-0 lead. The Mets touched up Dodgers’ starter Hiroki Kuroda for two more runs in the top of the second thanks to RBI singles by Luis Castillo and Jose Reyes (and aided by two errant throws courtesy of Kuroda). Up 3-0 with the bases loaded, nobody out, the heart of the lineup coming up, and the starting pitcher reeling, Ryan Church tapped into a 1-2-3 double play and David Wright struck out to end the threat. Ardent Met fans had to know at that point it was going to be a rough night.

The Dodgers got on the board in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Juan Pierre that scored Blake Dewitt (more on him later). The Mets got the run right back in the top of the third innings when the Mets pulled off the perfect Little League double steal with runners on the corners as Angel Pagan stole second and Moises Alou slid home safely. In the bottom of the third, Blake Dewitt’s two out two run single cut the Met lead to 4-3. After the Mets put two runners on with one out in the fourth inning, Hong-Chich Kuo came on to relieve Kuroda and proceeded to throw three and a third hitless innings while striking out eight. I’ll repeat… striking out eight!!!! In the meantime, with two out and the tying run on first base in the fifth inning, Blake Dewitt (any relation to Joyce) came to the plate and lifted a fly ball to right that came within inches of leaving the yard. Right fielder Ryan Church leaped and couldn’t come up with the ball and, as he lay on the ground, assumed the ball had left the yard and didn’t get up to run after it until it was too late. Dewitt rounded third and scored for your routine two out, two run inside the park homerun to give the Dodgers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Met bats went quietly into the ninth inning, garnering just one hit from the fourth-eighth innings. After Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect eighth, Takashi Saito came on to close things out in the ninth. After getting Alou and Carlos Delgado to start the frame, Angel Pagan and Brian Schneider collected back to back singles to put the potential tying run in scoring position and the potential winning run on first base. Lucky for the Dodgers, Luis Castillo was up next and he promptly struck out looking to end it. The Amazins fell to a not so Amazin record of 16-15 on the season and 2-3 on the road trip.

Two side notes:

1- The Mets were 2-14 with runners in scoring position on the night.
2- There were four pitchers around the Major Leagues that started and went at least eight innings for their respective teams on Tuesday. No Mets starter has gone more than seven innings in any start this season.

Sounds like a recipe for mediocrity to me. John Maine will try to get the Mets to .500 on this road trip on Wednesday afternoon as he takes on Everlast lookalike Brad Penny and the Dodgers at 3 pm.

The Haiku

Alou: home stealer
But Dodger bullpen cruises
Late rally falls short

The Boxscore

The Win Probability Added Graph

The Credits

Recap by Chuck Buono
Haiku by Howard Megdal