Ground Hog Day? Deja Vu All Over Again? This Is Our 2011 NY Mets

The Mets again decided that their starting pitcher was not equipped to handle a lead, so it was handed off to their "stellar" relief corp, which in turn, once again surrendered the lead and the game.



Last night the Mets battled back from being down 7-1 to take a 9-7 lead, only to have the normally reliable Jason Isringhausen suddenly develop Steve Blass disease, and then hand it off to great stuff, lousy results, Manny Acosta to allow the tying and winning runs score.

Today wasn't much different: the Mets were down 2-0 when Lucas Duda went yard to tie the game. Then Jason Bay, who should have hit a homer if not for the 16' left field wall, wound up on 2nd. Josh Farm Boy Thole inexplicably laid down a bunt, thus leaving the go-ahead run on base. How a hitter can give up with a runner on is beyond me, and Ralph Kiner sounded as if he was gonna have a coronary.

Then Collins made the poor decision to remove RA Dickey in the seventh. Dickey had only allowed two runs in 7 innings. Once again, Acosta and Beato allowed the tie to become a deficit, and the Mets once again succumbed to the Brewers 6-2.

After the game, Mets manager Terry Collins offered some very telling and honest comments when he said:

"R.A. pitched a great game. I'll take this one. I have great confidence in my players. I really do. I think we can get the job done. I've obviously been wrong. We can't stop anything. I should have stayed with R.A., see if we can keep the game tied. I thought we'd try to play to win there. We just can't stop anybody."

Continuing, Collins added:

"I'm allowed to be frustrated. I'm frustrated, because he pitched great. I said, 'This may be our last chance to score. Let's try to get a hit here.' ... But when you can't stop the other team, you look back and say, 'S---, maybe we should have worried about stopping them first."

The last two days have been frustrating, but I try and take it with a grain of salt. I thought the Mets would be lucky to be .500, and that was before there were devastating injuries to Chris Young (remember him?), Fearless Ike (stop being so scared and have the surgery!), and the pulse of the organization, Jose Reyes. Although they have been getting beat day in and day out, they always put up a fight, and for that I am grateful. Problem is, TC has to have more faith in his pitching staff because the relief corp is shot. Collins admitted that this team cannot wait until September 1st for the expansion of the roster, and he wants help from the minors soon. The one pitcher he did mention by name is Josh Stinson, Stinson right now is with AA Binghamton.

The defensive woes are almost unbearable. For those who actually believe that Ruben Tejada is a professional SS, just watch him. He is a good fielder, but he is no SS. He is a 2B. He doesn't have the arm nor range to anchor the infield. He has progressed a bit with his bat, but don't be deceived. His batting is a hollow stat, just like kids who hit well in Spring Training and in September.

However frustrating this season has been, it has been a pleasure to see such youngsters as Justin Turner, Murph, Pridie, Niese, Gee and others; it has been fun to watch.

The bigger question is how many more times does history have to keep repeating itself?

Quotes: ESPN