But their clutch hitting again suffered; they went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and managed only two runs from two bases-loaded, no-out situations.
So says Ben Shpigel in the New York Times, addressing tonight's 4-3 win over the weary Nats.
OK. Yes. But.
Those two runs in those bases-loaded situations came on sac flies by Jose Valentin (4th inning) and Shawn Green (8th inning, actually there was one out). Valentin's drive sent Ryan Church to within a couple of feet of the fence; Green's left George Lombard practically squashed against it.
Maybe three or four feet in all separated those two sac flies from being twin grand slams. In which case Green's sac fly would have made the score 10-3 instead of 4-3. In which case no one would have fussed overmuch about how we did with RISP (we would have been an acceptable 4 for 15, by the way), because we'd be too busy exchanging bloggy high-fives about Green showing signs of life and Valentin coming around and the offensive funk being behind us and bring on the postseason! (And in this alternate posting universe, John Maine's win in a 10-3 romp would probably have been deemed promisingly strong with a couple of moments of distraction, rather than feeling like a distracted but ultimately decent enough no-decision. Maine wouldn't have thrown a single pitch differently, but there you have it.)
Three or four feet. That's 36 to 48 inches. Not a long distance in talking about the mileage of balls struck over the course of a game. In other words, oh fellow anxious play-out-the-stringers, oh fellow travelers in the Land Without Pedro…relax.
(Want a shirt? It'd be our honor. Here's how to get one.)
BUT THEY'VE ONLY WON TWO IN A ROW!! I'M GOING TO HAVE TO GO KILL MYSEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLF!!!!!
(ok, so this is my worst comment ever. shoot me…I'm sickened by all the pessimism leading into the Mets seventh postseason after a season of utter domination. We're not the god damned Cubs. We're the Mets! Ya know…? BELIEVE????? That word ring a god damn bell with any of you schmucks? Remember? This is usually the time of year we start thinking about March and April… FOOLS!!!)
25 runs against, 1 for, in 24 hours, vs. a very bad Braves team. Forgive us for getting nervous about that after some pretty crappy showings against other crappy teams too… Ya know? ;-)
I WANTED TO LEAVE THE YANKEES IN THE DUST!!!! I didn't want to be clawing for life against crappy teams while the Yankees and other playoff-bound teams are looking good. It scares me. I'm as optimistic as it gets (a veritable Pollyanna, according to Greg and most likely Jason), but I'm having a tantrum now. I want us to be great again, to be friggin' awesome, to have other teams shaking in their cleats at the prospect of facing us. IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK??? heh heh heh
Wow. A NY Times writer twisting something to fit an agenda… Shocking.
This could be a vast left-wing conspiracy, you know.
We're all familiar with how the Mets do against vast left-wingers.
Is there an October surprise somewhere in there?
HAHAHA!!! That's about as funny as I could find anything on a Saturday morning!!! Excellent!!!
(And JM, you know I love you. I just felt like kicking and screaming like an infant… it was all in good fun.)
Oops. I refer to NostraDennis in my previous post. This whole thing is so unclear, especially when the comments start piling up. Your responses never end up under the comment you responded to.