Mets 8, Giants 6: If you haven't guessed yet, this one hurts right down to the de la soul. For the second straight night Brian Wilson was more squirrelly than the thing sticking out of the back of his cap, and the Mets did to him what the Giants, in their recent run of success, have done to others: ground balls that find holes, bunts and sac flies.
The most frustrating thing, though, is that Wilson has phenomenal stuff, fastballs in the high 90s and sliders around 90 MPH. So why does he seem so hittable? Tonight: 28 pitches, 1 swinging strike. Last night: 21 pitches, 1 swinging strike. Maybe the Mets are just damn good hitters, fouling pitches off, taking close pitches.
I don't want to pile on Wilson too much. Every closer except maybe Mariano Rivera has a bad run, and before you know it, Wilson could reel off 15 or 20 straight saves at any time like he did last year. Let's also not forget that Tim Lincecum wasn't at his freshest tonight. He had a great run in the middle innings, but the Mets ran up his pitch count, put balls in play, and hit his mistakes, especially in the sixth and seventh. "I gave 'em too many good pitches to hit," he admitted post-game. Merkin Valdez was awful in a spot that didn't forgive awfulness, and that's life in the big leagues, f-f-f-f-f-f-f-folks.
Other than the pitching, the key moment of the game came after Randy Winn tripled with one out in the 8th. Aaron Rowand was up, he had a 1-0 count, and the next pitch busted him inside. He hit a weak grounder right to Wright at 3rd. Argh.
You know what really sucked? The umpiring. When both managers get the boot in one game, you know everyone's unhappy with Blue. Both nights, this particular crew has done plenty to piss off everyone. It's like Hunter Wendlestedt's been sleeping with Doug Eddings's wife, everyone knows it but won't talk about it, so they take it out on the players and managers.
