Mets Fall 7 – 4 In Arizona

Mets In Midst of 1 – 4 West Coast Trip

In the list of things the Mets were counting on to help them bring home the NL East this year was offensive spark provided by Jose Reyes, power from Carlos Delgado, and good setup work by J.J. Putz. Injuries got in the way of those items. But another thing the Mets were counting on was Mike Pelfrey to step up as the team’s #2 starter and form a powerful duo with Johan Santana. Santana has done his part, but Pelfrey has struggled this year.

Pelfrey had another rough start Monday night giving up five earned in six innings. He gave up eight hits and two walks, striking out five, and is now 8 – 8 with a 4.88 ERA on the season. Hardly what the Mets were hoping for out of the #2 spot in the rotation.

On the bright side, Pelfrey was efficent, throwing just 94 pitches in six rough innings. They then brought in Dessens, who had two rough innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits and a walk. So, while neither pitcher was pretty, they both soaked up innings, meaning that the bullpen should be well-rested as the Mets hope to mount a strong finish to what has been a dreadful West Coast trip.

The Mets offense, meanwhile, didn’t fare very well against Doug Davis. Davis had his fourth strong start in a row, giving up just two earned runs in seven innings of work. Yet no matter how good Davis might be (and he didn’t seem all that good to tell the truth), this game was disappointing because of the multiple missed opportunities. Davis began three innings with leadoff walks.  But the Mets were able to do very little with these chances.

Luis Castillo had another strong game, going 2 for 4 with a walk to bring his average above .300. David Wright went 1 for 3 with a walk. Anderson Hernandez had another good game, going 2 for 3 with a run scored and a run batted in. Hernandez also walked once. But other than that, the offense was quiet.

Add in a sloppy play by Daniel Murphy failing to cover first, and a couple sloppy plays by Angel Pagan in center, and you see just how tough a game this was for the Mets.

The Mets are now 10 back in both the NL Wild Card and NL East. Their playoff hopes are slim to none, and hang on the balance each night the Mets step out onto the field.