Didn't See That One Coming

Well, that's a little strange. Everybody, including me, was worried about the pitching staff of the New York Mets. Here's a little recap: no Pedro, no El Duque, and no Duaner Sanchez (an excellent reliever that injured his shoulder at the trade deadline). The Mets pitching staff was so decimated that their choices for Game 7 were:

• Darren Oliver (hasn't started a game since 2004)
• Steve Traschel (I don't need a reason other than "He's Steve Traschel")
• Aaron Heilman (the set-up man who wished he was a starter)
• Oliver Perez (the man who would have the fewest wins and worst ERA of any Game 7 starter ever)

Of course, Willie Randolph went with Perez, which turned out to be the correct move. (Little side note: Perez only came over as a throw-in with Roberto Hernandez when the Mets traded Xavier Nady after Sanchez's injury.) Obviously, Willie made the right move and Perez pitched 6 innings, giving up 1 run, which really should have been 3 runs except for Endy Chavez's ridiculous, outstanding, perfect double-play catch over the left-field wall. In the game prior to that, John Maine pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings, propelling the Mets to a 4-2 victory in game 6.

If only the Mets lineup had been as clutch as their young starters.

For time purposes (and because I'm lazy), I'll limit discussing the Mets woeful offense to Game 7 only. Two things right off the bat: Jeff Suppan is not a shutdown, dominant pitcher, and Yadier Molina is a .216 hitter who had no business having the series he did. The thing that bothers me the most is not that the Mets went without a hit for 6 straight innings, it's not that they only scored one run, it's that they did not have a hit that wasn't a bloop or a little cue shot the entire night. The other things bother me too, but that was the most difficult to stomach. Also, if I'm Carlos Beltran, and I just watched Cliff Floyd strike out on a nasty curveball, I'd be looking for that when I was down 0-2. That's just me, I'm not a professional hitter or anything.

Dammit, I'm still pissed. I'm going to have to finish this some other time.