1 Out of 3 Ain’t Bad, But…

The Mets are down to earth. Hell, it was bound to happen. Let’s face it — losing two out of three to the Phillies on the road is not a horrible thing. It’s just the way they lost that was disheartening.

After crushing the Phillies on Friday night for their eighth straight win, the Mets ran into Roy Halladay the next day. It’s no crime  losing to Halladay — he’s arguably the best pitcher in the game. But it would have been nice if Mike Pelfrey (left) could have pitched better. No one thought he would go undefeated with a sub 1.00 era for the season. But after starting out the game well, he collapsed in a nightmare fourth inning that saw Philadelphia plate 6 runs. Pelfrey needs to have a solid game in his next start to keep the questioners at bay.

Then on Sunday, it was Johan Santana versus 97-year-old Jamie Moyer. The Mets jumped all over Moyer’s fast ball — which reached a whopping 19 mph on the radar gun — in the first, scoring three times on a David Wright 3-run job. But Santana just didn’t have it. And in the fourth inning (what is it about that inning?), the Phillies scored 9 runs. You knew it was trouble when Santana walked Moyer with the bases loaded. Shane Victorino followed with the inevitable grand slam, and Chase Utley added a two-run homer before Jerry Manuel slowly strolled to the mound to end Santana’s night and the misery.

The Mets needed a stronger showing this weekend to prove that they can compete with the National League’s best teams. All is not lost, however. They just need to get back to their winning ways to show that they were able to achieve their winning streak because they are a good team — not because their opponents were weak teams.

*****

It was nice to see the Mets on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball for a third straight week. Has that ever happened before? I’m kind of surprised ESPN would do that, considering the horrible season the Mets had last year, and the lousy start to this season. What wasn’t nice was having to listen to Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Morgan adds nothing to the broadcast except obvious, inane comments. And Miller is just terrible. His odd cadence makes everything he says sounds so affected. And it made me glad Carlos Beltran is out, because I didn’t have to hear Miller pronounce his name Bel-TRAHN, rather than the way everybody else in the world says it. It drives me crazy every time I hear it. He even said TAH-tis at least once Sunday. And Cast-EEE-yo. What is it with him and Latino names? I know he’s going into the broadcaster/writer wing of the Hall of Fame this year, but that doesn’t mean he’s any good. Don’t forget, Peter Gammons is in, too.