Mets, Murphy stumble, fall below .500

by Mike Trovato

Yadier Molina. He may as well be kryptonite to the New York Mets. That is, if you could draw comparisons between the Mets and Superman. Yet while there is nothing super about the way Mr. Wilpon's boys are struggling on the field, there are early signs that we may be able to compare this year's Mets to the 1976 World Champion Cincinnati Reds.

Equipped with Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez, the 1976 Reds dominated the New York Yankees to sweep the World Series. En route to becoming champions, the Big Red Machine left 1,328 men on base that season, a National League record. Though the 2009 season is in its infancy, barely over two weeks young, the Mets were on pace to break that National League record which has stood for 33 years.

Coming into Tuesday night's game with St. Louis, just a dozen games into the 2009 season, the Mets had already reached a statistical century mark: 100 runners left on the base paths. That's 8.3 runners per game left on base, just shy of one every inning. And, if things continue that way, the Mets will have left 1,350 men stranded on base when all is said and done this season. That total would break not only the National League record, but the Major Leage record 1,334 runners stranded in a season, set in 1941 by the St. Louis Browns.

Of course we all remember that team...

Back to Yadier Molina. Yeah, that guy. The man who with one swing of the bat back in 2006, elevated himself several notches closer to Chipper Jones on every Met fans' hit list. On Tuesday night, he was at it again, haunting the New York Mets.

In a twisted way, Molina helped the Mets out in the first inning, at least in terms of the aforementioned left on base record. With the count 2-0 on David Wright, Molina picked off Daniel Murphy, throwing behind him at first base.

Like I said, it's twisted. I know that didn't really help the Mets, though they would score a run later on in the inning. Molina had the Mets' number again, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. Unfortunately, what hurt the Mets more than Molina on Tuesday night was themselves.

It's never a good sign when you give up a leadoff single to the opposing pitcher, which is just what Oliver Perez did. Todd Wellemeyer led off the home half of the 5th, and later scored the first of four Cardinals runs on a double by Albert Pujols. By the end of the inning, Perez was gone, and Molina had crossed the plate when Cardinals 3B Joe Thurston drew a bases loaded walk from Casey Fossum to tie the game at 4-4.

The Mets did have several opportunities throughout the game to put more runs on the board. Fittingly, as has been the theme this season, those opportunities were squandered on the base paths. In the fourth inning, the Mets doubled their lead with RBI by Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy. With Reyes and Murphy on the corners, David Wright hit a soft ground ball to Thurston at third. Reyes scored on the play, but when the throw sailed wide of Pujols' glove, Murphy attempted to score from first. Rather than stopping at third, Murphy was thrown out by about 30 feet at home, the second time he was removed from the bases. The struggles would continue for Murphy and the Mets in the 8th inning, when everything completely unraveled for New York, beginning in the hands of Yadier Molina.


With 1 out and Carlos Beltran on second, Ryan Church flew out to right. Tagging up, Beltran advanced to third, and attempted to score when Ryan Ludwick's throw could not be handled by Thurston. Had Beltran slid, he likely would have been safe at home. Instead, Thurston's hustle paid off as he recovered the loose ball, firing a strike to Yadier Molina, who easily tagged Beltran to bring the scoring threat to a screeching halt.

It took just 2 pitches from J.J. Putz for things to fall apart for the Mets, as Daniel Murphy added another blunder to his not-top-10's in the field. Brendan Ryan scorched J.J. Putz' first pitch fastball to left. Murphy charged the ball initially, but misplayed the line drive, and in his attempt to recover, fell down. Ryan reached third on the play, scored a triple, and scored on the very next pitch, a double to right center by pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel. The Cardinals would get Ankiel home, and Ryan Franklin notched his pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the 6-4 victory for St. Louis.

As much as I like him at the plate, Daniel Murphy needs to get out of his own head. Murphy, a natural third baseman is clearly out of sorts in left. While I hate to say it, his nightmarish adventures on the outfield grass make me wonder just how long will it be before he psyches himself right out of the starting lineup. Jerry Manuel is looking for ways to get Gary Sheffield some at-bats; this may be an opportune time to do so.

At this point, it seems as though a day or two off would benefit the youngster, whose struggles in the field are proving more and more costly. The one thing saving Murphy, aside from the organization's blind faith in the talented but unproven 24-year old, may be the team's overall shortcomings.

Of the Mets eight starting position players, seven have at least 40 at-bats thus far this season. All seven- Reyes, Murphy, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Church and Castillo- are batting over .300. Before last night, the Mets had a collective on-base percentage of .366- 4th best in the league. Mets pitching ranks 3rd best in Major League Baseball with an ERA of 2.33, and the bullpen has yet to blow a save.

It kills me to watch them struggle the way that they do. They have their revamped bullpen, but only 3 save opportunities. They have the hitting, but lack the slugging, as they have only hit 9 home runs. They have the talent, but their heart is greatly in question. Frankly, whatever the cause, the ways the Mets find to lose baseball games in spite of themselves is completely baffling... or dare I say, amazin'?