Seeing Red

No, Daniel.  It’s a ball, not a bull.  You’re doing it wrong.

To the best of my knowledge, it wasn’t Roger Dorn night at Citi Field, so Daniel Murphy picked a horrible time to pay homage to the fictional third baseman.  His olé in the ninth inning handed a victory to the Phillies on Friday night.  There were plenty of things right about Friday’s game, such as Justin Turner’s four hit night, Angel Pagan’s successful return from the disabled list (if ever there was a well-timed injury, early in the season before a slump got really bad might be the perfect time, and it might have saved Pagan’s season), and Ruben Tejada’s defense. But of course, the Mets are notorious for pulling defeat from the jaws of victory … the exact opposite of what a team like the Phillies are doing on a regular basis (middle infielders that can pitch, pitchers that can hit, etc.)  So on a night where by all accounts there was more buzz in the crowd than usual, the Mets found a way to disappoint them again … at least the half of the crowd that rooted for the Mets.  And Daniel Murphy’s error and game ending double play sent ’em home crying.  But they helped Jason Bay end a career long fifteen game streak of having his car egged on the way out of the lot.

Oh, and Francisco Rodriguez avoided a game finished with his first bad outing in six weeks, of course against the division rival.  He was booed off the mound when he was pulled.

“I was a little disappointed to hear the reaction. Frankie’s only saved 15 in a row and pitched as well as anybody in either league. It was one of those nights.” –Terry Collins 

Yes, Frankie’s pitched well.  Yes, it was simply one of those nights.  Yes, they probably booed Frankie because they couldn’t boo Daniel Murphy off the field.  But let’s forgive the fans for aspiring for something greater than a fifteen game save streak in April and May against Arizona, Houston, and Colorado.  Sandy could go sign Armando Benitez to do that … and probably without a $17.5 million option.