Don't blame Scott Atchison for giving up a walk off home run to a prime cut major leaguer like Paul Goldschmidt. Don't blame Marlon Byrd for going after the inside the park HR in the second inning. Though it was stupid, don't blame Juan Lagares either for trying to stretch a double into a triple in the seventh with Daniel Murphy on deck and the Mets down by two. And don't even blame Jeremy Hefner for getting hit like a pinata.
Blame Terry "One Batter Too Late" Collins for leaving him in until he gave the lead to the Diamondbacks in the sixth, even though it was apparent to everybody on Earth and parts of Venus that Hefner was getting crushed for seven straight batters. The hits were hit hard. The outs were hit hard. Everything was hit hard. And yet even with a rested bullpen, Collins decided to stick with Hefner to start the sixth, and just when you thought it was a sure thing that Hefner would be out after Aaron Hill and Cody Ross reached on hard hit balls to start the inning, he leaves him in to face Wil Nieves who, in a plot twist as predictable as a Diff'rent Strokes episode, smacked a double to give up two runs. He … did … not … have … it … tonight. But in pure Terry Ball fashion, he calls the fire department after the house had been reduced to charred rubble. And the fact that the post game questions mostly revolved around the baserunning is incredible to me. But even Terry admitted, when finally asked about not pulling the trigger, that Hefner got two strikes on everybody and just couldn't get them out. WELL LA DE DA MIKE PELFREY DID THAT TOO!!! And still left him in because he was getting to the bottom of the order. For the love … HEFNER HAD NOTHING!!!
To think I wanted to have this space to discuss how the Braves have 14 straight wins since they put Waffle House in Turner Field (and why Pat LaFreida's steak sandwiches couldn't give the Mets at least that), and how we learned that Kevin Burkhardt is now an ordained minister and will probably use that power to marry a whole bunch of couples at the Citi Field sleepover later today. Instead, I gotta complain about another Terry Collins managerial blunder. And to think they wasted a game where Justin Turner had three RBI.
I'm going back to the NyQuil before I do something rash.
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