The general line was this -- after ending the season in a horrible fashion, the Mets started anew on a good foot (while Tom Glavine got a no decision five innings for the Braves) led by the arm of newbie ace Santana and a big inning (six runs) against the team that ended their season last time around as well. Right. We have been down this road before. The Mets swept the Cardinals to start the '07 season, after they ended the Mets postseason months before. The Cards had an up and down season, ending badly, so that's comparable to the Marlins -- that is, a bad team.
Another bad team, the Pirates, beat the Braves 12-11 in the 12th, after blowing a five run 9th inning lead and almost blowing a 12-10 lead too. An average team, the Nationals, had two ninth inning wins -- against two different teams -- in the first two games. The Mets played a special exhibition "Civil Rights Game" vs. the White Sox, leading the ESPN opener on Sunday to be a one game Braves/Nationals game, with the President dropping in the booth along the way. After blowing a 2-1 lead on a passed ball, the Nats beat the Braves with a walk off homer. They then beat the Phillies. So, you have to win all the same. Still, let's not get toooo excited.
Furthermore, it was far from a joke game. The Mets got to the journeyman opening game starter, a long man at best on good teams, in the fourth inning. This in part took a good baserunning move when the score was but 2-0, the alternative easily a doubling up of the guy off first. A two out inning could easily have gone differently. After Santana left after the seventh, giving up a two run homer after thinking he got a third strike along the way, and it was time for the bullpen. Lesser known bullpen, and steroid boy Mota replacement, Matt Wise only got one out, two on. It eventually came down to a 3-2 pitch by Sosa, a walk loading the bases with two outs, making it a double away from a 6-5 game.
They got the strikeout -- expect similar exhaling throughout the year. And, the Mets have had trouble with average teams in the past, not always taking advantage of them like they did yesterday. Game 2 was Pedro against some nonentity. Both got no decisions, Pedro left limping. Charming. El Duque is hurt, deciding this time around he would start things hurt, the theme the first two years was ending things hurt -- hurting the team (especially in '07) in the process. The manager mentioned that the hope was that we would get ten plus wins from Pedro -- the immediate sentiment was that I surely HOPE so (he is after all your putative #2 starter), but who knows now?
Likewise, who's up for #5 now? Anyway, Matt Wise -- after two quick outs -- gave up a winning home run in the bottom of the 10th off some Marlin nonentity. I listened to the late afternoon opener, caught the late innings of today's game ... always charming when Gary Cohen, sounding like an ESPN neutral site announcer ... excitingly calls the play that ends the game for the Mets. There is a line between a homer -- which makes the Yanks announcers hard to take (the White Sox guys have them beat; the Cubs duo actually are pretty good ... WGN, that is) -- and this. I say this even though on the whole, I find the SNY crew very good. But, sorry, this is hard to take. On that subject, I share the sentiment of one host on the local sports radio show -- the main Sunday Night Baseball guys are just too annoying ... some of the other ones, including the radio guys, are pretty good really.
Thus, after weeks of the line being that Mets players and fans can start anew, putting last season's pathetic collapse behind them, Pedro gets hurt and they lost a game because they can't get a hit (other than questionable infield single) in the second half of a game against the Marlins. Leaving eleven on. But, hey, it's only Game 2. No reason to be concerned. Stressed out? Sure ... what else would a Mets fan do?