Where'd that Come From?!?

So due to injury I've been on medicine the last few days and I'll blame that on my insomnia.  So last night, around midnight, as I was thrashing around, I checked out the Mets score and saw them trailing 4-2 midway through the game.  Typical Mets, at least of the last month, I figured and I rolled over and fought my way back to sleep.

Out of habit as I'm getting ready this morning I check out the score to see the final and lo and behold the Mets won a shoot out, in extra innings!  I literally did a double take and air fisted as a read a 9-8 Mets victory.

Winning ballgames is all the that matters, no matter how heart wrenching those wins may be.  Such as last night's, which saw the Mets blow the lead at the end of the game and came so close to losing the game in extras.  But, they held on and won.  So far away but a game closer to .500.

It was a good feeling this morning to see the team not lay down and die.  They kept fighting and clawing and scratching.  Good job boys.

Start #2 for the rookie tonight.  Should be a good one.  Get at em Matt!

Turnover

So two thirds of the Mets outfield that played majority of the first half of the season is down in Triple-A Buffalo.  And the other outfielder is Jason Bay.

Things are continuing to go south for the Mets as they let the second half of their season crumble underneath them.  Rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis was sent down to the minors and the Mets activated Mike Baxter off of the DL as the troop gets set for three games in San Fransisco.  The same team that just got swept over the weekend by the Dodgers, so maybe the Mets can gain a bit of momentum.

Need to take baby steps in order to get back into this thing.  The record indicates a double digit game deficit in the NL East, but it also shows 8.5 games back in the Wild Card.

One series will not correct those numbers and automatically put the Mets back in contention.  But it can be a start.  An upward trend.

Well Done

Could not have asked for a better debut, huh?  Well done Matt Harvey.  Welcome to the Mets.  Welcome to the big leagues.

Now be our savior and repeat that performance every time out.

Harvey took the hill last night for the first time and pitched well.  5 1/3 innings.  11 strikeouts.  Only three hits and three walks allowed.  In short, he was dominant and looked as if he belonged up here weeks ago.

Going into his next start in San Francisco next week, Harvey can take the mound with confidence and a bit less pressure.  He knows he can pitch up here.  Not much more to worry about.

His stuff is the goods.  He was consistently hitting around 97MPH on his fastball and had command of both the changeup and curveball.  He didn't seem afraid to throw any of those pitches or to pitch inside when needed.

One game is only one game.  But it was a memorable game for the rookie and a great night for the organization.

Big League Debut

Well, in a perfect world tonight would not be happening until September and maybe not even until April, 2013.  But as we've witnessed over the last two weeks, things are not perfect in Mets-land and the script has to be rewritten.

The future becomes the present tonight as prospect Matt Harvey makes his big league debut out in the Arizona desert.

Harvey's been touted for the Mets rotation every since he was drafted out of UNC back in 2010.  The time is now.  And if things go according to plan, and to all wishes, the time of minor league pitching is done and Harvey will be in the Mets rotation for the next number of years.

In what has become a potentially lost season, Harvey doesn't need to come up to the majors and become the new ace of the staff, a savior of sorts.  The best thing he can do is inject some new energy and excitement into this team, pitch well enough to keep his team in games, and to show enough that will keep management and fans confident in him next season and beyond.

No one should be to nervous about the make up of this kid.  Some think that he still needs some more seasoning in the minor leagues, that he's not quite ready.  My personal thought is that he's ready.  He's pitched four years of collegiate ball and two years of minor league baseball.  Matt Harvey is ready for the jump and ready to show New York what he's got.

Good luck Matt!  The ball is your hands tonight.  Go get em!

Monday Night's Game

This is probably the coolest thing I've witnessed at Citi Field so far.

Less than 6 weeks til the wedding day!

Rocked Ace

Now it's officially not good.

When the ace of your staff takes the mound, you expect to win.  You expect the bleeding to stop, if only for a night, and you expect to get a tick in the W column and the opportunity to sleep peacefully.  That's the unofficial definition of an ace.

The bleeding continues after last night.  The Mets dropped another one.  This time is was RA Dickey on the mound.  And the game wasn't all his fault.  Not by a long shot.  Dickey gave up only 4 earned runs (5 in total) in six innings pitched.  Again, there was no offense for him.

But it doesn't matter.  In the end, it's still a loss.  With your ace on the mound.  That's not suppose to happen to good teams.  Or mediocre teams.  It's still to early for me to entirely give up on this team for the 2012 season.  But time is getting away from them and for the fans.

There isn't an ace on the hill for the Mets this afternoon.  But there is for the Nationals in Stephen Strasburg.  Go figure.

Falling Apart

Last night's game did nothing to help halt the bleeding that is the second half New York Mets.  The offense couldn't get anything going, other than two solo home runs.  The bullpen was horrific yet again in extra innings, witnessing Pedro Beato giving up six runs in the top of the 10th inning!

That all equates to the Mets falling 5.5 games out of the Wild Card spot, along with both Beato and Lucas Duda heading to the minors.

It's ripping apart at the seams pretty quickly now.  Sandy Alderson sworn in the off-season that the bullpen was his biggest upgrade and it sucks.  All fans and media thought Duda was going to the be big power bat in right field and over the past 5-6 weeks, he's sucked.

The swoon continues.  But at least for tonight, they got RA Dickey on mound.  It should help.  But only if he throws another one hitter.  Cause you know the bullpen and offense will let you down.

Son of a B*tch

Maybe I don't want to come back writing.  Or maybe, because I stopped writing briefly, that's the reason.  But whatever, however, whomever this needs to get pinned on, the past few weeks as Mets fans have been absolutely brutal.  Disheartening.  Disgusting.  Ugly.  Familiar.

The Mets have fallen under .500 for the first time in 2012.  They've lost eight of nine coming out of the All-Star break.  They can't pitch.  They certainly can't hit.

Yesterday was a great example of the latter.  Only three runs on 16 hits.  Left 14 men on base.  Had two runners on and no outs in extra innings.  Got nothing.

As putrid as the offense as been, the pitching has been doubly as bad.  Dillon Gee and Johan Santana have ended up on the DL.  The bullpen has completely imploded.  The overall staff ERA has almost doubled from the first half.

They now sit 8.5 games out of the NL East lead and 5 back in the Wild Card spot.  There's still time left, the end of July isn't here for another week.  Winning eight of their next 10 would put them right back in the middle of things.

But the way the last two weeks have gone, does anyone honestly see this team capable of that feat?

Didn't think so.

Apologies

Between a number of family obligations and a brutal work schedule over the past two weeks, the posts have stopped.

Sorry for that.

Back to writing.