Royal Mess

I missed large swaths of what ended up being a mostly lost weekend for the Mets against their most ferocious of rivals, the Kansas City Royals. I had, for a split second, batted around going to Sunday's game, simply for the novelty of seeing a game against the Royals (something I have never actually done) and also to see Zack Wheeler pitch (since I was rooked out of the chance to see him tomorrow night). But, I was tired and felt like sleeping in on Sunday, so I passed. Ultimately, I made the right call because although I missed out on a beautiful sunny Sunday, I also missed out on the latest episode of Mets Follies.

I didn't see any of Saturday's game, which was just as well, since I was spared the 2013 Mets Special: An Extra Inning game. I don't have much to say about it, but sometimes, I feel better for not having seen a game at all as opposed to sitting through and watching while it keeps on going and then sucks me in to the point where I'm stuck watching a game for 5 hours. I realize that Saturday's game wasn't 5 hours—it wasn't even 4 hours—but an Extra Inning game is an Extra Inning game and, let's face it, I saw one on Friday night. At least the Mets won that one.

Sunday, Zack Wheeler started out OK, but then again he always starts out OK. But then the clown car arrived in the 5th inning and the Mets forgot how to field. We've seen Right Field at Shea and now at Citi Field play havoc on Outfielders when the sun is out like that, but, let's face it: When you play your home games in said Outfield, you probably should be used to catching fly balls in any condition. What's beside the point is that I didn't see any of the Royals Outfielders battling the sun the way Byrd was. I realize that sometimes you just have those moments of vaporlock, but twice in one inning is pretty bad. Particularly when it turns a 1-run game into a 4-run game. Then again, Wheeler didn't help himself by going all Shaun Marcum on us and throw 3 Wild Pitches in that inning either. Also, the Mets didn't hit, but they never hit, and without David Wright around to regulate, the Mets really didn't hit. The end result was that I spent the latter half of the game occupying myself with other activities and I see I missed little of consequence.

I mean, I guess this weekend might have taken a bit of the starch out of the Mets, but, really, how much starch did the Mets have in them? The Royals are also on a bit of a roll of late, and boast a really good young pitching staff, loaded with a lot of guys you've never heard of unless you're really into Fantasy Baseball, most of whom seem to throw 95+MPH. So, maybe it's not just the Mets. Then again, maybe it is. We'll see this week when the Colorados come to town. Last August, the Colorados came around and swept 4 games in a row from the Mets in a series that sent the entire season swirling down the proverbial toilet. The Colorados seem in a bit better a shape this time around, but they still have one of the worst pitching staffs in the NL. We'll see tomorrow night, where I'll be on hand for my first game in over a month (not counting that game in Toronto).