ATLANTA – The Brew ers could still save the Mets. So, with seven games to go, might the fickle finger of fate, or Johan Santana, or the same top-and-middle-of-the-order batters who yesterday squandered two-on-and-nobody-out opportunities to lengthen a 4-2 lead.
But the bullpen surely isn’t going to save the Mets. Not with rabbits feet or four-leaf clovers or Jerry Manuel’s extensive match-up maneuverings which failed yesterday when intentional walks to Greg Norton and Chipper Jones allowed Aaron Heilman to give up a collapse-culminating 2-run double to Martin Prado.
It’s a little late to cue the black cat in front of the Cubs’ dugout tonight, like in 1969, because Chicago has clinched and Lou Piniella, who pulled starter Ryan Dempster after five innings Sunday, has announced he will spend the week testing middle relievers for the postseason.
That’s a break the Mets perhaps can use, maybe along with some of Lou’s rejects for next season. For now, their bullpen is what it is, not good enough.
In so many words, Manuel basically said it yesterday after a 4-2 lead into the seventh and a 4-3 lead into the eighth turned into a stomach, maybe season-turning, 7-6 loss to the Braves.
“We got to add on runs,” said the manager. “Our bullpen, with that kind of stress, it’s difficult.”
The basic job description of the relievers is to handle stress. So Manuel’s indictment went across the board to every Mets reliever yesterday but Ricardo Rincon, who got Brian Stokes out of a jam in the seventh to preserve the lead, and Pedro Feliciano, who induced Gregor Blanco to fly out with the score tied in the eighth.
But around Casey Kotchman’s lucky check swing game-tying flare in the eighth, Scott Schoeneweis gave up decidedly unlucky extra-base smashes to Omar Infante and Jeff Francoeur before Heilman put the game out of reach by surrendering Prado’s double.
“Schoeneweis was a matchup for [lefty] McCann leading off,” said Manuel. “We figured at some point one of our lefties would have to face a righty.
“We felt confident with [Omar] Infante, who is one-for-six against Schoeneweis. [Joe Smith], Francoeur was something like 1-for-6 against too. If you had to get one out from Aaron, we felt pretty good with him against Prado. Aaron got ahead in the count and Prado put a good swing on it.”
The matchups, however well-researched, proved to be matches into kerosene for a bullpen that has surrendered a staggering 38 late-inning leads this season.
Instead of one matchup situation a game, the way the good teams do it, the Mets require three or four, the approximate number of victories they probably need to live down 2007, unless the Brewers run the table.
“I will continue to say [2007] was difficult but hopefully a growing experience,” said Manuel. “We will know in the next seven games whether we grew or shrunk.”
If it proves to be that latter, what will again be perceived as a character issue this time was a bullpen issue.