After a blown weekend (no pun intended. Yeah, right), in which the Mets could have, should have swept the Miami Marlins on the road, the team was able to get back on the winning side of things last night against the Brewers. The astonishing news is that Miguel Batista was able to throw seven shut out innings. The fantastic news is that the bullpen protected the three run lead and was able to get the final six outs to preserve the victory, although a run was scored in the ninth.
Trouble and headache were eased for one night but something tells me this problem isn't going to go away. Frank Francisco is not a solid choice for the closer role, but he's there. To add to the issue of his pitches are getting crushed, is the fact the guy is a bit of a loose cannon. And with that, how much longer can he survive in the New York market?
The fans have already started to turn on him; showering him with boos upon entering the game last night. If this guy blows another lead and causes the team to lose yet another game and it happen it home, there's a chance he may not make it to his car without personal injury.
It's only a matter of time before media completely turns on him as well. Once that happens, in this town, it's all over. As a player and a person, he'll have to do so much to get the media back on his side and it does not seem, at this point, that he's the person who can do such a thing.
Five games over .500 is a happy and grand place for the Mets to be right now. But when you look at the last week or so, and think that it's possible for them to be about seven, eight, or even nine games over that mark, that's what's frustrating. This Mets team is playing good baseball, no doubt. Yet over the course of the season, they are not good enough to be throwing away baseball games and expect to be in the post season.
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