Gettin' Figgy Wit It

And the roller coaster goes back up.

The Mets of '09 have actually shown a pretty good ability to take a punch. You know, those losses that are so painful that they can turn into a huge losing streak. But this season, the Mets two biggest losses came at the hands of the Dodgers in May and the Yankees in July.
Not to talk the fans back onto the ledge, but the Mets committed 5 errors in one disasterous loss in Los Angeles, lowlighted by Jeremy Reed's errand throw home on the losing play. Ryan Church also cancelled out his own go-ahead run in the top of the inning, by somehow missing third base. (Which, every fan can attest, was the beginning of the end of his utterly bizarre tenure in the orange and blue.) Despite this disaster (and the two LA hangover losses after) the Mets went into Fenway and defied a whole bunch of odds by taking two of three from the Red Sox. One of these games was the signature win of the year thusfar, with Omir Santos taking Jonathan Paplebon deep and stealing a win in the 9th inning.

The second 'punch' game will take far less explanation than the LA game. Yankee Stadium. A-Rod pop-up. Luis Castillo. Moving on as quick as possible, the Mets took their one and only season game from the Yankees the next day.

In the latest tough loss (gory details in the previous blog post), The Mets turned in a beatdown of the Cardinals today. By winning 9-0, they actually put up 16 runs in this abbreviated 2-game series. David Wright and Angel Pagan 2.0 (triples machine!) ignited the offense again, which has very silently put up 34 runs the past 6 games.

But the true tale today was Nelson Figeroa. Maybe it's just me, but the name Nelson Figeroa sounds more like a hero at the battle of the Alamo than a serviceable major league pitcher. In his start just two days ago, Figeroa went a long way in justifying my mindset: 1.2 IP, 10 hits, 6 runs, game over.

But look what happened today! Figeroa went from minor league-bound to the Mets' guardian angel. Jonathan Niese went down in the second trying to make a stretch play at first base. And true to form, the training staff let him take warm-ups afterwards instead of shutting him down for the day. What resulted was an image that was horrifying to watch, as Niese collapsed during his warm-up pitch, his leg looking like it shattered in approximately 47 pieces. Thankfully it wasn't that bad, but who knows when he'll be back...

But worry not, Prince Nelson is here. Four innings of scoreless relief just two days after the implosion, proving perhaps those gaudy minor league numbers may be legit. Hell, why not just add a 2-run triple for the cherry on top. Man, this team is painfully bizarrely fun to be a part of.

So now off to San Diego. And looking at the schedule, it's gotta be all work no play in that California sun. The Mets need to beat down on the Padres and D-Backs before the enormous homestand that follows. The offense is clicking, now the pitching must follow suit. And not just for one or two games. To quote Lou Brown, "If we win three games in a row, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before."