Kick'em when they're down

Finally, the Mets are starting to have some consistency against bad teams. Last week, after the bullpen gave up a game they were leading by four in the ninth against the Pirates, the Mets went on to sweep a three-game series in Washington against the Nationals. The final two games in the series were blowouts: 12-0 and 9-3, but the first game was encouraging. Johan Santana started that game and pitched seven solid innings, leaving the game with a tenuous 4-3 lead. Now, the bullpen has blown six leads for Santana this season, so instead of being 16-7, his record is 10-7. This time, Pedro Feliciano was able to nail down the save. The series was encouraging from the standpoint that bullpen needs to show some life. They weren't responsible for any run given up to the Nats.

Currently, the Mets are 2/3 of the way through a series with the Pirates at PNC park in Pittsburgh. Mike Pelfrey pitched extremely well in the first game, and the bullpen held on for the 2-1 victory. The second game was nice because Pedro Martinez pitched seven innings for the first time all season, and he also looks a lot more comfortable than has all season. He allowed one run through seven innings. Unfortunately, this game also showed just how rusty their recent AAA callup, Eddie Kunz, is. He has been tagged as one of the possible replacements for Billy Wagner in the closer's role. Yeah, giving up three in the bottom of the ninth isn't going to cut it. He hadn't pitched in a game since last Sunday, and pitchers really need the repetition of pitching often to maintain a rhythm. They still won the game 7-4, but Kunz made it shaky. He's been a pretty closer for Binghamton and New Orleans, so hopefully he can pick it up a bit, especially since Wagner is feeling pain in his shoulder after the rehab appearances he has been making.

The Mets are now in a five game winning streak and lead the Phillies by 2 games in the division.

Roll of the dice

This season, the story for the Mets has been that of a rollercoaster ride after their starting pitcher leaves the game. The performance of the bullpen has been so erratic, there really is no way to be comfortable with any lead these days. Now with Billy Wagner injured, they are trying desperately to find someone to fill in the closer's role. The first choice was obviously to try using Aaron Heilman, as he's been a pretty solid setup man for the Mets for a while. Well, after blowing a two-run lead to the lowly Pirates on Monday, Jerry Manuel decided, rightly, to switch to using Pedro Feliciano. Feliciano has been one of the few consistent pitchers in that bullpen this year. He's had his down periods, as any pitcher will have, but they've been quickly corrected. I've been waiting for them to use Eddie Kunz, a young pitcher that has lots of experience closing games in college and in AA Binghamton, but Manuel keeps saying he doesn't want to throw his young guys into the fire so quickly. Well, he's starting to change his tune now that the bullpen is looking like it's going to kill the Mets' season once again. There's also talk of converting John Maine from a starter to a close, which is something I think he would be well suited for given the high velocity of his pitches and the good movement he has on his fastball. The only problem with that is the lack of depth they already have in the starting rotation, meaning that move would make the team weaker overall.

Call me cynical, but I really am already looking at what next season will bring. It's going to be a very interesting offseason given how many members of the team will be at the end of their contracts. I just hope Minaya doesn't continue his trend of signing aging and injury-prone veterans.