On Monday, the straw broke the camel’s back. On Tuesday, the Mets reached through the camel’s eye socket and ripped out its fractured spine … then threw it into the dugout.
The only surprising part of Justin Turner throwing an easy out into towards St. Albans with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth scoring the tying and go ahead runs was that it wasn’t Daniel Murphy. I … guess … Turner was trying to make Murphy feel better? But Turner’s error, if played correctly, still would have tied the game as there was no way the Mets were getting a double play out of it the conventional way (getting the runner at first would have taken off the force and thus scoring the run) … which means that Jason Isringhausen screwed this pooch well before it got to Turner. Turner’s play just encapsulated the horror that we hoped didn’t exist, but really did.
But it doesn’t matter … just as Omar Infante’s two home runs, hilarious as they may be, don’t matter either. Nor does Brad Hand’s performance against the Mets (five solid innings from a guy the free world still hasn’t heard of) matter. What matters, and what I’ve finally gotten through my thick skull, is that this team will not fool me again this season. No more will this team win five out of seven and make me think that there’s a wild card run on the horizon. And I say that because I think Clay Hensley will eat the Mets lunch tonight. Then they’ll probably lose two of three to the Braves. And then, when everyone thinks they’re done, they’ll attempt to pull everyone in by fattening up on seven games against the Padres and three in Arizona where they’ve had success. It could even be an 8-2 stretch. Then everyone will wonder why the Mets traded Carlos Beltran when they’re clearly a playoff caliber team, and start making plans for October.
But then Milwaukee, the Phillies, Braves, Marlins (again), Washington, and the Marlins (yet again) will expose this team over the 18 games that they play (7-11). In fact, forget about everyone else, the 15 they play against the Marlins and Nationals the rest of the way will sink this team all by itself (5-10). By then we’ll be doing nothing but following Zach Wheeler’s minor league starts (and sending Johan Santana get well floral arrangements.) Because somehow, the Mets quiver at the sight of a logo that isn’t old enough to drink. They fight and claw against everyone else, and they’re doing a good job of it. But the Marlins have brought out the worst in the Mets for years now and I can’t figure it the hell out. (Hell, even when the Marlins make the wrong move, like bringing in Leo Nunez to face Murphy rather than leaving Randy Choate in to face Mike Nickeas, it comes up roses for them with a double play.) So I’m not even going to try. I’ll just sit back over the next minutes and hours and decide whether I want to watch tonight’s game or dip my nuts in polyurethane. I’ll go with what gives me less pain (it’s a toss-up.)
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