Two Sides to Every Story

"It's over"

That was what I uttered over and over again at the tail end of the Mets-Cardinals game tonight. And no, it wasn't when Albert Pujols launched a Sean Green pitch somewhere between Ohio and Nevada for a 10th inning grand slam. Hell, it wasn't even when Green plunked the previous hitter with the bases loaded with his first pitch out of the bullpen.
Nope, those are too easy. This year, the Mets fan just knows when it's over...and it doesn't take much. Tonight is the latest of oh-so-many examples why fans of the orange and blue probably vomited on their keyboards reading my previous post. For each win that makes you proud to root for this scrappy bunch, there are 4-5 games of tonight's variety.
Tonight, the Mets lost the game on a ground ball to second base. In the top of the 10th, Pedro Feliciano did his job yet again by inducing a ground ball to second. Though a tricky play for Alex Cora, it's one that can be made, and must be made to stop the Card's avalanche of momentum. But instead of making the hurried throw to Dan Murphy, Cora deemed it a better idea to throw the ball wildly, hitting runner Rick Ankiel dangerously close to his private parts. And before Mets fans blinked next, it was another infield single and a walk to load the bases before the Sean Green comedy show came to town.
The Mets needed to have this game. They fell tantalyzingly short yesterday, nearly coming back on Cy Young candidate Danny Haren. This time they threw their own ace, and he did enough (both arm and bat) to give his team a victory. But in what has become commonplace since Johan Santana joined this staff, defense and the bullpen failed when they were called upon. When the Mets score 7 runs on double-digit hits with Mr. Santana on the mound, anything but a solid win is shameful.
But somehow it happens. Nobody thought this game was over when Francisco Rodriguez came in with a 2-run lead. Bouts of wildness and perhaps overconfidence have drove him right back to the ranks of Billy Wagner and perhaps Armando Benitez in the minds of Mets fans. (Sorry Braden Looper, no one could ever fall to the abyss of you as a closer.) But the Mets games are never, ever over until that final out is in the mitt (take a bow, Luis Castillo.) And though the fans take special joy in the victories by this JV-level team, it doesn't make the losses less sucky. And each defeat puts one more brick on the already-giant wall the Mets must now climb.
That's why the Phillies aren't the least bit scared of this team. They are the champs, and the Mets can have however many moral vicories they'd like. Right now, the Phillies' talent and composure is something the Mets can't touch. August may be moving along, but the Mets are still standing still in this race. I've been saying for weeks that the Mets' only hope is to pick their spot and play their best ball head-to-head against Philadelphia; and maybe something big can happen in just one series. After nights like this one, that notion is looking more and more wishful.