These Mets sure know how to take a punch — and deliver one

I was talking with my brother over at Optimetsic recently about this Mets team, and how — despite all that's gone on with injuries, and the rough start — enjoyable the season has been, how players like Justin Turner and Daniel Murphy and Dillon Gee have stepped up, how they never give up, how Terry Collins has the team playing hard every game.

But while I have enjoyed what the Mets have done, I admit I want more. I've been pointing to the final third of the season, with a majority of games at home, and three series left against the Braves, as being the Mets' final chance to prove to the naysayers that they were far from finished, that they could still have a run in them.

Then the Mets lost four in a row to the Nationals and the friggin' Marlins, and dropped the opener of the Braves series, and I have to say, it was rough. Here it was, their big chance to at least start to make up ground, and they were blowing it, the last three losses coming at home, which made things doubly frustrating. And of course, losing to the Braves is always painful.

And yet, the Mets battled back again, winning Saturday night with four home runs and 16 hits, and you thought, OK, there's still some hope.

I tuned into Sunday's game late, hearing on the radio that Willie Harris was in for Jose Reyes, who left with an injured hamstring. WHAAAA? We get to my mom's house, and within a half-hour, Daniel Murphy gets spiked and injures a knee, and you knew just from the look on his face that he was done for the year. SERIOUSLY?

And yet, the Mets still battled, but ultimately let the Braves take it when Bobby Parnell allowed a broken-bat single, a walk, and then for some reason threw three straight sliders to Chipper Jones, who of course rolled a 15-hopper past second in the top of the ninth for the win.

Immediate thoughts were that Citi Field must be built on an indian burial ground. Ike Davis wasn't hurt here, it was in Colorado, but still -- that was a seemingly innocuous collision with David Wright that's kept him out all season. Murphy hurts his other knee covering on a stolen base — when does that ever happen? Just plain bizarre. And Reyes again? Something's up. If there really are Phillies jerseys buried in the foundation, dig 'em up.

I lost it, especially with Parnell, who I thought would benefit by having a Frankenstein-like implant of Jason Isringhausen's head onto his 100-mile-an-hour body. Parnell went to the well once too often with Chipper, which he has a tendency to do. He hasn't learned to pitch, and that's what keeps guys like Kyle Farnsworth bouncing from team to team.

And yet, the Mets still battled. They could have packed it in, but instead rallied to take game one of the Padres series on Monday, recapped nicely here by Optimetsic. Two in the eighth, two more in the ninth. Lucas Duda is going to get a huge opportunity to be the left-handed power-hitting first baseman that Davis was supposed to be, and this audition will go a long way toward him possibly being the right field starter next season. Duda has met the challenge.

He came through again Tuesday night, with two more hits, but more importantly, a huge sacrifice bunt in the eighth that set up the game-tying sac fly by Nick Evans (keep this kid around, please). Best of all, Collins said Duda asked him if he wanted him to bunt. Anything for the team, coach.

Then there was the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk to Ruben Tejada, who has shown that he has a pretty good eye.

Everyone contributed. Pagan homered for the second straight night. Hairston had a big hit. Jason Bay continues to hit. Carrasco got out of a jam.

Collins has said over and over that this team doesn't give up, and they've proven that over and over again. If any team deserved the YOU GOTTA BELIEVE mantra, it's this one. And so, I continue to be greedy and perhaps too unrealistic. Ten games out with 11 to play? THERE'S STILL A CHANCE.

*** And yes, I know the video above is in Spanish. Damn YouTube "embedding disabled by request." It still translates.

Niese isn't perfect, but still very nice

Maybe it's because Jonathon Niese was born the day the Mets won their last World Series championship. Maybe it's because Fred Wilpon made it clear in spring training how much the organization loves him. Or maybe it's Niese's Owen Wilson-esque nose.

Whatever the reason, Mets fans have generally exhibited a fondness for Niese that exceeds what he has achieved so far in his young career. Prior to his horrible hamstring injury last season, Niese had showed signs of becoming a top young starter, but from the start of the 2010 season to his recent DL stint, Niese had been simply average, and there was a thought that maybe Mets fans were expecting too much from someone with just 16 career starts.

Or maybe not.

Niese's performance Thursday night against the Padres was, quite simply, one of the best pitching performances in team history. Niese faced 28 Padres and set down 27 of them, walking no one and allowing just a third-inning double, a squibber down the right field line by Chris "Who?" Denorfia.

In a season that has seen two perfect games and one imperfect game with an asterisk, Niese came one batter short of an unthinkable third (fourth) perfect game in the same season, just 10 days into June. Because the lone hit came in the third, it lacked the drama, but there's no denying the greatness we witnessed this night.

Niese retired the last 21 hitters he faced. He walked no one and struck out six. Of his 108 pitches, 76 were strikes. He induced 15 groundouts and no one on the Padres hit the ball hard all night. The Mets gave him three runs and it was plenty. It could have been more, had Ruben Tejada not hit into a triple play. (When you can overcome a triple play, you know you've got something special going.)

There hasn't been much better in Mets history. We all know that the Mets have never had a no-hitter. Niese's gem was the team's 34th one-hitter, 26th complete-game one-hitter and 24th complete-game, one-hit shutout. The last Met to throw a complete-game one-hitter? Aaron Heilman in 2005.

In his two starts since returning from the DL, Niese has thrown 16 innings and walked only one batter, allowing one run and five hits. This is why everyone is so high on him. Niese has multiple pitches that he can throw for strikes, and if he continues to develop, he really strengthens the rotation behind Santana and Pelfrey. (By the way, Omar, that doesn't mean you don't have to add another starter. You do.)

Oh, yes, Santana. There were two games played Thursday, and Santana just didn't have it in the opener. Santana had a week's rest, and we've seen it before where Santana with too much rest doesn't have the same feel. He allowed eight hits and walked four in six-plus innings, and couldn't break 90 on the radar gun, while Mat Latos and the San Diego bullpen retired 22 Mets in a row. It would be a harbinger of things to come in the nightcap.

I usually DVR the Mets games and watch them 90 minutes or so after they actually start, after the kids are in bed asleep. When I'm done watching, I erase them, but tonight I hesitated. This was a game for the ages, and given the Mets history, there may never be one better. Isn't it worth saving?

I erased it anyway. I'll wait for the no-hitter or the perfect game, which has to come someday. In the meantime, though, we'll remember this one, fondly.

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.

Big Pelf is no illusion

Mike Pelfrey is 8-1, has won his last four starts, and -- as Matt Cerrone points out on MetsBlog -- Pelfrey is 6-0 when he starts the day after a Mets loss. Which makes him as much of a stopper as Johan Santana.

Pelfrey went eight innings for the win Tuesday night against the Padres, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out eight. In his last four wins, his ERA is a scant 1.27, the kind of production that prompted Ike Davis to compare his ability to that of the Cy Young Award-winning Santana.

Jerry Manuel said after the game that Pelfrey deserves to be in the same conversation as Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jimenez. Throw in Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, Jaime Garcia, David Price -- Pelfrey can hang with all of them, and the days of the Mets having no clear No. 2 behind Santana are long gone.

My gut feeling when I hear the accolades is: SHUT UP! STOP TALKING! DON'T JINX HIM! But that just comes from years of disappointment mixed with a splash of superstition. But as much as Mets fans don't want to get too high on Pelfrey, it's becoming clear that his success is no illusion, but part of a natural progression that we've been fortunate to see develop.

Pelfrey got home runs from Davis and David Wright, and Jeff Francoeur continued his surge with two more hits; he's batting close to .500 since his sit-down with Manuel a few days ago. Jose Reyes went 0-for-5 and saw his hitting streak snapped, but it didn't matter.

Frankie Rodriguez came on for the ninth inning, after Pelfrey was removed having thrown 110 pitches. The three-run lead was likened by Gary Cohen and Rod Darling as a layup, but K-Rod made it interesting, allowing three hits and a run before striking out the final two batters.

Could Manuel have left Pelfrey in for the complete game? Sure, but K-Rod has said time and again that he needs to be active and prefers more work rather than less. And 110 pitches is getting pretty close to Pelfrey's limit, anyway. Save situations have been less than abundant, so no one should have an issue with Manuel going by the book. (Although I can predict Joe Benigno will voice a problem with it on Wednesday afternoon. Write it down. Wait, I just did.)

Memorable, but not in a good way

I couldn't understand why the Mets-Padres game was a night game on Memorial Day.

No baseball games should be played at night on Memorial Day. Same with July 4th. It's a holiday. Lots of people have off from work. Games should be played during the day, not only because it's a throwback to a time when most games were actually played in sunlight, but because that's the time to have a ballgame on a holiday.

Who wants to spend their day doing other Memorial Day activities, then when the day is over, sit down and watch a game? We've got work the next day, and we're toast after spending the day at the beach/pool/park/barbecue. Who has the energy to watch a night game, especially if it's on the West Coast?

Monday's game should have been a 4:10 p.m. PT start at worst. Then, you could either watch/attend the game live, or DVR it and watch it at a reasonable hour when you're home. Instead, I was stuck struggling to stay awake for a game at 10 p.m. at the end of an exhausting three-day weekend.

So I should be glad that the Mets chose this game to implode. I didn't miss much.

I know all about regression to the mean, but I thought we got that out of the way in the 8-6 loss to the Padres on Saturday. This was ridiculous.

Did we really expect Hisanori Takahashi to do something -- three straight six-inning scoreless starts in his first three starts -- that no one has done since 1906? No, and we knew he was going to get hit at some point.

Takahashi had a chance to escape, but hung a breaking pitch that was hammered for a grand slam. He clearly didn't have his up-to-now normal stuff, having trouble locating for strikes. But six runs was surprising, as was the beating absorbed by Raul Valdes, who had been pitching pretty well. You get two of those performances in the same game, you just write it off.

More concerning was the work turned in by Ryota Igarashi, who again was hit and hit hard. He has not shown the same ability as he did before he got hurt. He needs a couple of scoreless appearances before Jerry Manuel allows him to come into a tight game late with a lead.

The road record is also a concern, but if you look beneath the 7-17 record, you'll see that 11 of those games have been decided by 2 runs or less, including 6 one-run games (with several walk-off losses). That's a bunch of close games.

Sure, close losses usually mean the bullpen failed, or the team couldn't get a clutch hit, but at least it shows they're not completely helpless on the road. Hopefully the Mets can start getting some of those to fall in the other direction, and move toward a .500 road record by the end of the season.

Pelfrey and Santana will face off against LeBlanc and Richard to try and win the series and salvage a split. Both should enjoy pitching in Petco, which should be like a home away from home.