This story has become tiresome

There's only so many walk-off losses a team can take, let alone its fans.

For a bullpen that has has done so well for so much of this first third of the season, it has given up more than its share of walk-off losses, making the Mets a real Jekyll and Hyde team when it comes to home vs. road.

At Citi Field, the Mets are unbeatable. On the road, not so much.

I know there will be a lot of talk about Jerry Manuel and why he allowed Raul Valdes to stay in the game with Jennry Mejia warming up in the bullpen. At what point should he have removed Valdes? Before or after David Eckstein was hit by a pitch? Because after making a good play forcing the runner at third on Jon Garland's bunt, it was one on and one out with Jerry Hairston up.

Hairston singled, and I can only surmise that Manuel was looking at Adrian Gonzalez in the on-deck circle. A lefty, Gonzalez is the most dangerous bat in the Padres lineup and Manuel must have felt that he'd rather have a lefty throwing to him than bringing in the 20-year-old Mejia in such a high-leverage situation.

Once Eckstein was hit to load the bases, again, you bring in a rookie righthander in that spot to face Gonzalez?

Valdes has had a couple of bad outings in a row after pitching very well. Give Gonzalez credit for coming up big with the game on the line.

The blame on this loss hangs on Frankie Rodriguez. The guy has said over and over that he needs work, and Jerry gave it to him, asking for the four-out save. K-Rod got the final out of the eighth and struck out two with a runner on second to move the Padres within one strike of a loss with -- there he is again -- Eckstein at the plate.

Sure, Eckstein delivered a 12-hop grounder up the middle and didn't exactly crush it, but a hit is a hit. Rodriguez is getting paid a ton of money to save games. He was asked to get four outs and not allow a run, and he failed.

And remember, if it wasn't for a perfect relay throw by David Wright from Jason Bay in left field after a double by Gonzalez, cutting down Eckstein at the plate, the game would gave ended in a 2-1 loss with K-Rod getting the 'L.'

Also tiresome is seeing the Mets waste great starts by Johan Santana, but every time Santana pitches he goes against another strong pitcher if not that team's ace. Santana and Clayton Richard were each far from dominant, but they did what they had to do to keep the opposition from stringing together enough hits to score more than one run.

On a night when an umpire stole a perfect game from Armando Galarraga and Ken Griffey Jr. retired, the Mets' loss was thankfully overshadowed, at least on the national level. Here at home, it was just the latest chapter in a tired tale.