The Follies

This once-promising Mets season has now dissolved into a circus that nobody really wants to watch, because instead of it being like the circus of, say, the Omar Minaya/Willie Randolph era, this circus is a complete and utter bore. There's no jolt, no fire, no drama, no intrigue, just the Mets kind of sleepwalking their way through these games, usually ending up scoring 2 runs on 6 hits and making 1-2 errors of varying consequence.

Tuesday night, with the Mets, who can't win on the road, playing in Milwaukee, who can't win anywhere, something had to give. Unfortunately, it was the Mets. Jon Niese pitched decently, because all the Mets starting pitchers have pitched decently of late, but he was the latest in a long line of Mets pitchers to pitch decently and lose because he gave up 2 runs and the Mets offense had no means of recourse.

Niese gave up a run in the 1st inning and looked like he was going to melt down into one of his trademark Jon Niese innings where he starts glaring at nobody in particular, snatching at the baseball and giving up 4 runs. The Brewers helped him out by being the Brewers, but then again, the Mets did a good job of helping out Mike Fiers on the other side by being the Mets. Somehow, the Mets grabbed a lead in the middle of the game—I must have passed out at the sight of them scoring one run and so I hadn't regained consciousness when they scored again—but Niese ran out of steam in the 6th, the Brewers tied the game, and then when Michael Cuddyer made the Mets daily Error in the 7th, the Brewers took the lead and the equilibrium had returned to the game.

The Mets then had the indignity of going down in the 9th inning against Francisco Rodriguez, only being able to counter with Johnny Monell. Monell, of course, was up earlier in the season and if I'm not mistaken had about 30 At Bats and hit into 13 Double Plays. Fortunately, he did not hit into a Double Play last night, but that's only because there was nobody on base ahead of him. Instead, he simply Josh Thole'd to end the game, which I suppose was a fitting way for this game to end.

Johnny Monell? This is who's getting an At Bat with the game on the line? Travis d'Arnaud is back on the DL, of course, because Terry Collins said on Sunday that he'd be back in the lineup good as new by Tuesday. This has been going on with the Mets for 6 years now, so should we really be shocked by this? Collins said before Tuesday's game that he expected d'Arnaud to be out for the minimum 15 days with his elbow injury or his shoulder injury, so you can forget seeing him back in the lineup until late August, I'd guess. Dilson Herrera had a mishap in the 2nd inning when Jean Segura ran over him on a play at 1st. Herrera looked like he did something unpleasant to his wrist, but then he shook it off and stayed in the game, probably because even in his short time here, he's become wise to the fact that maybe he ought to not spend too much time around Ol' Ray "Cortisone Shot" Ramirez.

This is the circus. Same shit, different year and now the Mets are back at .500 after running out to a great start and with Washington unable to get out of their own way. If I were the upper management, I'd be ruing the lost opportunity here if I weren't too busy doting over the team's A-ball affiliate.