Joey's Small Bites: Everything's Bigger In Texas, Like Mets' Comebacks

So last night I was settling in with some cupcakes and the remote control (and my sister Iggy), hoping to see the Mets try to continue their winning streak against the Houston Astros. The Astros, who own of the worst record in the National League, had somehow taken two out of three games from the Mets in April at Citi Field, something that this Mets fan had not forgotten. Dillon Gee was starting for New York against Bud Norris, and I was expecting the Mets to do well against Norris. Well, they didn't. But that doesn't mean the end result wasn't good.

For the first six innings, the Mets' bats were silent against Norris, as the Astros' starter faced two batters above the minimum. But Gee was matching Norris pitch for pitch, and the score was only 1-0 in favor of the Astros as they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.

Then I had an "Oh, $#!+" moment. No, I didn't do anything wrong. I just had to go to the bathroom. (Those cupcakes were doing the loop-de-loop in my tummy.) Of course, once I returned from the loo, the Astros had taken it to Gee, scoring three runs off the rookie. That's when I had another "Oh, $#!+" moment, but this was directed more at the Mets. It could have been a lot worse (the game, not my bowel movements), but Pat Misch induced an inning-ending double play to keep the score at 4-0.

In the seventh inning, Norris continued to roll, striking out David K. Wright and Carlos Beltran to start the frame. As I watching this, all I could think of was that we were allowing a guy named Bud to toy with us. I mean, when I think of Bud, this is what I think of...

Bud Harrelson and his "bud" Pete Rose, Bud (a.k.a. Kenny) from the Cosby Show, Bud from the Budweiser ads.

This was Bud Norris, who had won all of 17 games in his three-year career and "boasted" a career 4.55 ERA and 1.44 WHIP, numbers that were eerily similar to what Victor Zambrano posted during his three-year stint with the Mets (10 wins, 4.42 ERA, 1.49 WHIP). In other words, WE SHOULD BE HITTING THIS GUY!!!

Well, they must have noticed that I was using caps because with one swing of the bat, the Mets were no longer bound by Bud, as Jason Bay hit his eighth career home run as a Met, cutting the Mets' deficit to 4-1. That set things in motion for what was to follow.

Pat Misch pitched a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the seventh. Then the Mets' bats woke up from their lumber slumber in the top of the eighth, as Fernando Martinez hit a two-run homer into the second deck in right field to make it a one-run game. Jose Reyes followed F-Mart's blast by getting Norris to walk him. That was enough for Astros' manager Brad Mills, as he closed his tab, having his fill of Bud for the night. In came Jeff Fulchino, a 31-year-old with only 160 innings pitched in the majors. That should say it all.

David K. Wright legally changed his middle initial to H.R., taking Fulchino deep into the Crawford seats, completing the Mets' comeback and giving them a 5-4 lead. The Mets then scored an insurance run in the ninth inning and K-Rod held on to the lead to record his 11th consecutive save.

The Mets had rallied from a four-run seventh inning deficit to defeat the Astros 6-4, causing my sister to celebrate with her special Mets pom poms.

With the victory, the Mets improved to 10-9 on the road this season, which is Amazin' considering that for the past two seasons, the road was where winning streaks went to die. (The Mets were 61-101 away from Citi Field over the past two seasons.)

Later this afternoon, the Mets will try to extend their winning streak to four when R.A. Dickey takes the mound against J.A. Happ in an all-initial affair. Should the Mets win, they will have taken their fourth series on the road, matching last season's total before Memorial Day.

They say everything's bigger in Texas. I can see why. Last night, the Mets proved that comebacks are bigger in Texas. Hopefully, by this evening, the Mets' winning streak can also get bigger. I'll eat to that!

Johan Santana And The Four Rainouts Need Backup Singers

Attention, Mets fans! Now you can be a backup singer for Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts! It's easy to qualify. Just come down to the Tradition Field Studios, trot out to the mound, throw your best stuff down the middle of the plate and let out your best scream as you watch your pitches belted all over the field. (No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Some assembly required. Must be 48" or taller to ride. Yada, yada, yada.)

Why am I making all this fuss about pitching performances in early March? Because it's alarming how the starting rotation has performed in their Grapefruit League debuts.

Early Spring Training starts are about developing arm strength, but since when did they have to resemble batting practice? To show you what I mean, here are the numbers for the starts by the four members of the starting rotation already guaranteed spots.

• Mike Pelfrey (Mar. 6): 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• Oliver Perez (Mar. 7): 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K
• John Maine (Mar. 8): 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 4K
• Johan Santana (Mar. 9): 1.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K

That's a total of 9.1 IP for the four starters. In those innings, they've combined to give up 13 earned runs and 22 hits. They have been throwing strikes, as shown by the total of three walks between the four pitchers, but they're strikes of the Rick Aguilera variety (Mr. Wild-In-The-Strike-Zone himself).

While singing the praises of Jenrry Mejia, Ike Davis and Fernando Martinez, has Jerry Manuel noticed that his starters have been getting hit hard? He can sugarcoat it by saying that they're throwing strikes, but wouldn't it be better if they were able to locate those strikes anywhere but the sweet spot of the opposing hitter's bat?

And what about the fifth starter? Whoever becomes the final member of Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts has to be ready to move up the food chain should one of the Drab Four get laryngitis (which Mets trainers would say is tendinosis and require a missed start or two). Can Jonathon Niese, Fernando Nieve and Nelson Figueroa be counted on to be the fifth starter and/or step up into a higher slot if needed?

The Mets cannot afford to have their pitching staff do poorly and hope to improve upon their fourth place finish of 2009. Only William Hung can take a shoddy performance and carry that all the way to the bank. (Okay, maybe Oliver Perez can do that too.) But whereas Mr. Hung did well with his fifteen minutes of fame, the Mets will have to do well with 162 minutes of game.

As a Mets fan, I expect Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts to be able to locate their pitches more effectively as Late Winter Training continues. They can throw all the strikes they want, but without location, the shower attendants will end up becoming good friends with them.

With their debut performances, Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts are soaring up the Hit Parade. Let's just hope they ease up on the hits as April approaches.

Photo of Johan Santana by Bruce Kluckhohn.

Photo of William Hung by some photographer who wishes to be in Bruce Kluckhohn's shoes.

Joey's Soapbox: Mets Must Take Baby Steps First

Do you see the picture of me to the left? I'm taking baby steps in order to get across the bridge without falling over. (Thanks to my fellow blogger and hopefully soon-to-be Studious Metsimus correspondent, the super sweet Coop for her assistance.) If I tried to run across, I'd fall flat on my face and the people behind me would trample me.

That's what the Mets avoid doing in 2010. This past season, they took the failures of the previous two seasons and tried to do too much. They fell flat on their faces, injured them, went on the DL for months because of it and watched as the Phillies, Braves and Marlins trampled them in the standings.

If the Mets learned anything from their failures in 2009, it's that they must not try to do more than they're capable of doing.

For example, Oliver Perez signed a huge contract to stay with the Mets. Like any other player in his situation would do, he tried to justify his exorbitant contract by throwing a perfect game every time he went out to the mound. Once he would lose his perfect game during the Star-Spangled Banner, he'd press to retire that first batter and he'd turn into Charlie Brown on the mound.

When you try to do too much, you set yourself up for failure. Even David Wright was not immune to this. When Shea Stadium was dismantled, so was Wright's powerful bat. Too many of his fly balls became long outs or doubles, especially balls hit to the opposite field that might have been home runs at Shea Stadium. Not coincidentally, his strikeouts also went way up this year.

Despite the fact that Wright played in a career-low 144 games, he finished with a career-high 140 strikeouts. He pressed too much at the plate and the team suffered for it, no matter how hard he tried to be the David Wright of old.

Other players such as Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran and Frankie Rodriguez had excellent starts but when the team needed them to supply more due to the overwhelming amount of injuries, they both bypassed the baby steps and went into full "running across the bridge" mode. Johan and Carlos got hurt and Frankie got trampled by opposing hitters.

The 2009 Mets finished 70-92. There were no meaningful games in September to lose as in the previous two seasons. They did all their losing well before September began. Had the Mets not tried to do too much, perhaps they might have performed better on the field. At the very least, perhaps they could have STAYED on the field.

In 2010, the Mets must remember to take the baby steps before running across the bridge. They can't compete for a division title without getting back to .500 first. They should make that their first goal. Should they surpass that goal, then (and only then) should they go for the gold. If they try to go for it all too soon, Club Mets might continue to party like it's 2009.

Take it from a blogging bear. Falling flat on your face hurts. I know that all too well. So does Fernando Martinez (see photo, right). The Mets already did a face plant once (a.k.a. the 2009 season). The fans aren't going to accept it from them again.