It's My Fault

It's my fault. I'm sorry.

After I wrote about how John Maine deserved to be in the Mets postseason rotation, he went out and tossed a real stinker in Cincinnati Wednesday afternoon. He started out by giving up another HR to Brandon Phillips, who seems to just own him, in the 1st. Then, he followed that up by grooving one to hotshot Rookie Joey "Fuhgeddaboutit!" Votto, who whacked it out for his first Major League hit. And only downhill from there.

It was pretty typical of Maine's bad outings. He missed high and outside, and got killed when he did get the ball over the plate. It seems like this has been his big downfall all season. When he can hit the corners and mix in his slider, he's been great. But when his fastball starts drifting, it's been bad news and yesterday's game was a prime example.

Meanwhile, the Mets were again stymied by a pitcher they had never seen before, another memorable name mixed in with the Bucket Brigade Reds pitching staff.

Overall, you can't be too thrilled with ending this road trip at 5-5, but then, considering how things started out, I suppose we should all be thrilled with a .500 record here.

What Comes Around...

Meanwhile, down in Atlanta, where our two most favorite teams were doing battle, it was the Phillies throwing down the Epic Choke Job against Atlanta. The mighty bullpen tandem of Tom Gordon and Brett Myers somehow managed to piss away an 8-2 lead in the 8th inning, and coming away with a 9-8 loss. I only saw this on Sportscenter, but it appears that the Braves began by getting around 8 straight bloop singles off of Gordon in the 8th, and then following that up by loading the bases in the 9th against Myers after 2 were out, and then Matt Diaz (who I am officially sick of—toss him in the Hated Pool with Larry and Andro) hitting a long 3-run double to win it, setting off a giant kazoo blowing party down in Dixieland, and keeping the Mets lead at 5 games. I guess I should be happy about this, but then, how can I be happy watching the Braves celebrate?

A recycled comment. Both those teams can eat themselves.