Met losses, bodies continue to pile up

by Mike Trovato

The New York Mets had an opportunity this weekend to gain some ground in their long uphill climb in the National League East. It's a shame they couldn't put together a better series against the San Diego Padres.

With a convincing 12-3 win on Sunday, the Florida Marlins completed a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, pulling Florida to within 4 games of the lead in the NL East. The Braves kept pace, taking the final three games of their four game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Even the Washington Nationals are hot- in fact, they're on fire. The Nats are riding an 8 game winning streak, and have outscored their opponents 57-33 during that span. Washington is 8-1 in August, and has not lost a series since they were swept by the Cubs in the first series back from the All-Star Break.

As for the Mets, this past week has been an utter disaster. Since the Nationals last lost, Jerry Manuel's club has won just 2 contests, and are now almost as close to last place (12.5 games ahead) as they are to first (10 games back).

After ending July on a 5-1 high note, this month has been cruel to the Mets, who are 3-6 in August. They could very well be 5-4, but Francisco Rodriguez has had the week from hell, blowing two saves while his ERA has increased by over 55% from 2.08 to 3.24.
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Tuesday's game against St. Louis should have been Johan Santana's 13th victory. Instead, K-Rod blew a 7-5 lead, giving up 2 runs in the 9th before an Albert Pujols grand slam in the 10th inning sealed a 12-7 victory for the Cardinals. Things got worse for the Mets closer just three days later, when Rodriguez blew his second straight save opportunity. K-Rod did not record a single out against the Padres on Friday, giving up 5 runs on three walks (one intentional) and two hits, the last of which was a walk-off grand slam to San Diego's rookie shortstop Everth Cabrera.

Frankie's 5th blown save wasted a brilliant performance by Oliver Perez, who fanned 7 and allowed 1 run and just four base runners (2 hits, 2 walks) over 6 1/3 innings. Luckily, New York was able to salvage the final game of their 4 game series against the Padres on Sunday, ending an 8 game skid at PETCO Park dating back to 2007. Johan Santana finally picked up his NL tying best 13th victory, holding the Pads to one run over 8 innings before handing the ball over to K-Rod in the 9th. This time around, Rodriguez did not disappoint, shutting the door on a 5-1 Mets victory.

Though it was not a save situation for K-Rod, Sunday's outing was encouraging on several levels. First and foremost, it sealed a New York win. But deeper than wins and losses, Rodriguez' outing on Sunday was a vote of confidence and sigh of relief for the Mets bullpen situation.

On top of his two straight blown saves, there had been some concern about K-Rod's health, as his velocity was down to 89 MPH in Friday's debacle. Sunday was a different story, however, as Rodriguez hit 93 on the gun. With J.J. Putz still out, Bobby Parnell in the process of transitioning into the starting rotation, and Billy Wagner not yet ready to return, the Mets can ill afford any bad news for their $36 million closer. Not to mention the injuries to the Mets as a whole, which relentlessly continued this week.
Kathy Willens / AP Photo
Jonathon Niese's year came to an abrupt end during Wednesday's 9-0 victory over St. Louis. Niese, stretching to cover first base in the second inning, appeared to injure his right hamstring. Upon throwing a warmup pitch, the 22 year-old southpaw collapsed to the ground, his right leg giving out from under him. An MRI revealed a complete tear of his right hamstring tendon. Niese underwent successful surgery on Tuesday, and should be ready for spring training in 2010.

Now, doctors anticipate that Niese will be able to begin running in 6 weeks. I say, why not make it 7? Because let's be honest, the Mets' doctors haven't exactly been spot on with their diagnoses this season (see also: Jose Reyes; Carlos Beltran; John Maine). The last thing they need is to lose a prospect, seeing as their prospect pool seems a bit shallow in quantity, questionable in quality and durability, being that Fernando Martinez is also on the shelf.

Along with Jon Niese, Gary Sheffield and Luis Castillo were also among the walking wounded this week. For Sheffield, the injury is a re-aggrivation of the hamstring injury that landed him on the disabled list just a few weeks ago, though the Mets are holding off on putting Sheff back on the DL. Exactly why they are doing so, I'm not really sure, but apparently the idea of playing a man short is more appealing to Mets management than calling up a replacement minor league bat.

While the handling of Sheffield's injury seems strange, even more bizarre is Luis Castillo's malady. Walking into the dugout in the 8th inning of Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, Castillo stumbled down the steps, spraining his left ankle. Luis missed four straight starts, but luckily for the Mets, he was able to return to the starting lineup on Sunday and collected two hits in the win.

The Mets will travel to Arizona for 3 games before returning to Citi Field. Though it is always nice to come back home- and for the Mets, especially from the west coast- the upcoming 11 game homestand will be extremely difficult. The Amazins' will open with 4 games against the Giants, who are tied with the Rockies for the wildcard lead.

Then comes a 10 game stretch against division opponents, which is definitely the Mets' last legitimate shot to salvage the season. Assuming they're not 17 games out of first by the time they finish up with San Francisco, Jerry Manuel's troops will have 3 games against the Braves before wrapping up the homestand with 4 games against the first place Phillies. The very next day, they'll open a 9 game road trip, traveling to Florida for 3 games against the Marlins.