The Undead Game

I had this sinking feeling that happened right around the time Todd Helton's monster of a grand slam left the park and tied the game in the 8th inning yesterday that this game wasn't going to end well. But instead of capitulating to the momentum of the Colorados, the Mets got off the mat, got out of a disastrous inning, took the lead, blew that, and then took the lead again for good in the 11th, winning a game that looked doomed and a series that looked a massacre only a couple of days ago. I'd seen games like this many times before, usually the Mets blow the lead and then the game ends, ultimately, in spectacular fashion, with the Mets left holding their jocks. I had visions of Dexter Fowler clanging a pitch off the foul pole with 2 outs in the 9th, and then backflipping around the bases. But that didn't happen. Just when it seemed they would blow their 3rd lead of the game, Marcos Scutaro's drive miraculously died at the warning track and landed in Scott Hairston's glove rather than in the seats, and the game was over, the Mets victorious. So much for momentum.

Momentum is a funny thing, particularly in Baseball, because sometimes the stink can be tough to get rid of. So far this season, the Mets have done a pretty good job of not being taken over by the stink. The past few years, once the stink hit the Mets, it usually ended up sinking them and their season. Not so much this year. After Friday night's disaster, the Mets ended up bouncing back with a pair of nice-looking victories that were predicated more on some timely offense from guys like Tejada, Duda and Nieuwenhuis, rather than just relying on great starting pitching, which they got from Gee and again from Santana on Sunday. It's the pitching, particularly the starters (and mostly Rauch, Byrdak and Parnell) that had been doing most of the heavy lifting in the early going, but over the past few games, the offense has begun to wake up a bit. But, bullpens are bullpens and as such will inevitably have their moments, such as Sunday's game, or any time Manny Acosta is summoned, so it's good to see the Mets offense wake up and come through with the necessary hits when they have to.

I suppose every team has a few games like this over the course of a season, and it's nice to win them, but not necessarily good to get in the habit of doing all the time. Nonetheless, the Mets have done this more than once already this season, which is, perhaps, a good sign for the fortitude of the team.