300 will have to wait...Mets/Brewers 7/31.

Tonight in Milwaukee, Tom Glavine went for his 300th career victory. It was a highly momentous occasion, and the Mets appear to have felt the pressure. Glavine himself walked five hitters in six innings. Part of this spike in the bases on balls was due in part to Chad Fairchild's bizzare and virtually non-existent strikezone. As miniscule as the strikezone was, Glavine's insistence on throwing the ball off the plate and in the dirt helped the young Brewers team which hd obviously been instructed to swing as little as possible. Five walks, and only two hits in six innings giving up one run. Should that get you taken out of a game? I don't think so. Yes, Tom was wild, but he was effectively wild, and the Brewers were doing absolutely nothing on offense to take advantage. As Ron Darling eloquently summed up after Jorge Sosa's four pitch walk to lead off the ninth inning on what looked like a 3-0 fastball right down broadway not called for a strike, "It appears that its absolutely impossible to throw a strike in Chad Fairchild's strikezone. That's all there is to say." Yet, Willie still decided to pull a Joe Torre and take out an effective Glavine while taxing his bullpen once again. I liked Willie as a person, and he has a calming influence on the team, which is a positive attribute he utilizes as manager; but his game management skills, especially when it has come to the handling of his pitchers, have been wildly inconsistent this season. That's just how I personally feel.

Back to the offense. Well where should I begin? The Mets blew two bases-loaded one-out situations without coming away with a run. For a team that's supposed to be the class of the National League, and attempting to give their Hall-of-Fame ace his 300th win, their play has been atrocious and is thoroughly inexcusable. I'm tired of the offensive inconsistencies, and there's no reason for this to occur on a daily basis. New Met Luis Castillo made a couple nice plays defensively, but going 0-4 and blowing multiple chances to drive in runs in crucial situations will not endear yourself to passionate Met fans. Getting AT LEAST a sac fly to drive in a run is essential in these situations. This inability to drive in runners in scoring position, even in taylor-made situations like the aforementioned, is perplexing and is something that should inspire much fear in Met fans, players and personnel. This is a problem that needs to be fixed, and it needs to happen very soon. You're facing Jeff Suppan after all...someone with a below .500 record and a fastball that tops out of 87. If you can't make solid contact off him, you should not be in the Major Leagues. That's the bottom line. He isn't really that good, I don't care about his results in last year's NLCS. He's never been particularly good. But of course, the Mets have a propensity to struggle against anyone who can't reach 90 with their fastball. Throw a Little-Leaguer out there, and they may only get two runs off him in six innings. I'm not comparing Jeff Suppan to a little-leaguer of course, but let's just say he doesn't throw much harder than Danny Almonte.

I know, I know... the Bullpen has screwed up tonight, but you can't give your bullpen two runs and expect it to save the day every time out. The Mets knew the importance of this game not only because it was for Glavine's 300th win, but it was against the first place team in the NL Central in the Brewers with a chance to prove that they were TRULY the class of the NL. What they have proved once again is that neither their offense nor their bullpen (that has been quite consistent this year) can rise to the occasion...if you need help getting pumped up for the chance to give a future HOFer his 300th win, you need to have your pulse checked. I don't care how bad the umpire is (and yes, he should not be allowed to umpire another game that involves the Mets), as we enter the top of the 10th inning, the possibility of the Mets blowing this one is quite a good one. If they do go on to lose, they will have no one to blame but themselves. This is another ominous sign for one of the most inconsistent division leaders I've seen in a long time. If this team can't start taking advantage of the numerous opportunities handed to them by the atrocious National League teams day in and day out, then the Teixiera-led Braves, and Rollins-led Phillies will REALLY give them a reason to freak out...and their impotent offense won't have the "equipment" to respond.

I may be overreacting here, and it is only one game; but the Mets' inability to play a streak of solid, fundamental baseball games is something that may come back to haunt them as the season persists. I'm really nervous about this team. Let's hope they can fix whatever problems they're having quickly, or our worst fears may be realized as Met fans.