Not Even Met-iocre

The Mets really dropped the ball in Miami today, or should I say Daniel Murphy did? Johan Santana pitched the best ball of the season and probably the best you'll see in 2009. And for naught; a loss.

The team fell to a sad looking 3-3 and sit 2 games back behind the first place Braves and Marlins. As always, there are pros and cons. More of the latter but both there are. Let's take a closer look at the two sides, as the Mets return home from their first (met-iocre) road trip of the season.

The Cons

RISP: As touched upon earlier, this con seems to still be con-ning the Mets, as if it was a Madoff to a Wilpon. The Mets are hitting .214 this season with runners in scoring position ranking them 21st best in baseball. For all you math haters, that is not very productive. Ask any math teacher and they'll all answer in unison "leaving 26 men on base in the last two games will not solve any problem".

Two Left Feet: Daniel Murphy cost Johan and the Mets a W today when he dropped a routine pop-up with two outs, and two men on, who, when the ball dinked off his glove and rolled through the grass, came around to score. One run on that play and the other run on an ensuing hit by the very next batter.

Murphy, following the game, said:

“Inexcusable… Johan threw the ball really well and deserved a lot better than that. I’m better than that. It won’t happen like that again. I was lazy to the ball and I got exposed for it. I didn’t get back. I got exposed, and it cost us.”

We'll let it go this time, Daniel. Oh and remember, Sheffield makes that catch any day.

Can The Catcher Also Bat?: Brian Schneider (3-15) and Ramon Castro (0-7) have gone for a combined 3-22 (.073). It almost makes me want to scream that Mike Piazza should stay behind the plate when Tom Seaver throws him the first pitch tonight to open up Citi Field. You gotta pick it up, boys. Now.

The Record: I don't mean to be picky but a 4-2 record would sparkle a whole lot more than a sub par 3-3. It would've been nice to win the rubber game against the Marlins and come back to New York with 2 series wins under our belts. Let's sweep the Padres and we're talking business.

The Pros

Johan Santana: With a new record as a New York Met, Johan Santana struck out 13 batters on Sunday, throwing 5 hit ball in 7 innings. He looked absolutely superb on the mound and should definitely be sporting a 2-0 record right now. He leads the Majors in strikeouts (20) and even when he wasn't throwing his best stuff in Cinci - he managed to get by and earn the victory. Johan Santana's name has 4 A's in it and he deserves to have so many more.

Livan Hernandez: Down 20 pounds from a year earlier, he pitched 6.2 innings, allowed two earned runs, six hits, walked three and struck out four in Saturday's win against the Marlins. What more can you ask from your 5th starter? Keep on doing whatever it is you're doing, Livan.

Other Fine Points:

• David Wright has collected a base hit in every game this year.

• Jerry Manuel had a chat with Luis Castillo before Saturday's game and told him he needed to be more aggressive at the plate. Castillo responded with four hits.

• The Mets designated Marlon Anderson for assignment to make room for Livan Hernandez. It was time for him to go. Thanks for everything, Marlon.

• John Maine's start seemed encouraging after what we saw in spring season. He allowed solo home runs in each of the first two innings, one to Hanley Ramirez and another to Dan Uggla, but nothing else. Maine needed 83 pitches to get through five innings and allowed only those two hits. He walked only one and struck out five.

Although the Mets sit at a weak .500 right now, we'll choose to look forward to some solid hitting, sound fielding and a heck of a lot of fun when we welcome in Citi Field this week.

Oh, and do win, wont'chya?