Devastating

There’s no way around it. Thursday’s 11-10 loss to the Phillies was devastating. It was devastating because of what had happened in the three previous games. It was devastating because of what had happened in the three previous hours. It was a game the Mets couldn’t afford to lose and they did. That’s devastating.

There’s a million things you can analyze in a back-and-forth game like this, but the focus will probably remain on Willie Randolph’s decision to ask Billy Wagner to get a rare six-out save. I can’t fault him. This was a must-win game and that’s how Willie managed it. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how Willie handled it, removing Orlando Hernandez after four innings of struggles on the mound. In another game Willie leaves Duque in for 100 pitches; here he got pulled after 67. The Wagner decision came from the same mindset. It just didn’t work.

The Phillies outplayed the Mets for most of this series. There was some sense of urgency — especially from David Wright — in the second half of this game, but you can’t sleepwalk through a bunch of games with your division rival and not expect there to be consequences. The consequences for the Mets is their lead is down to two games.

All season long, the Mets have clung to the defense that, “Hey, we’re still in first place.” Now they are three games away from not being able to say that. They no longer have the net to allow for the general malaise that dominated the first three-and-a-half games of this past series. The desperation they showed in Thursday’s five-run and three-run rallies better be on display in Atlanta this weekend.

Because losing this game was devastating. Losing the division lead the Mets have held all season would be worse.

One Bad Slide

It was a bad slide. Both by Marlon Anderson and by the Mets.

A bad slide by Anderson on Wednesday prompted an interference call that ended the game and handed the Mets a 3-2 loss in Philadelphia to continue their own bad slide.

It was the Mets’ fourth straight loss and third straight to the second-place Phils. A seven-game lead last weekend has been cut to three, setting up a must-win game for the Mets on Thursday afternoon. A win there minimizes the damage and gets back a game in the standings. A loss would be rather devastating, considering the Braves await in Turner Field this weekend.

Thankfully, the Amazin’s have the ever-consistent Orlando Hernandez on the mound Thursday. He needs to be the stopper of this bad slide.

As for Anderson, he’s given the Mets a lot in pressure situations and made Willie Randolph look brilliant on numerous occasions. Even tonight, he gave the Mets life with his pinch-hit single to set up first and third with one away for pinch-hitter Shawn Green. But he took that all away with an overaggressive slide/tackle on a potential double-play grounder. One problem with his moxie: there was no way the Phils were turning two on that slow bouncer and the tying run was going to score. That’s the kind of nuanced judgment a veteran like Anderson is in there to make. He didn’t and the Mets lost the game because of it.

Like I said, Anderson has given the Mets an awful lot. Wednesday night, he took an awful lot away with one bad slide.

Far From Executioners

Fans of the 1990s arcade game “Mortal Kombat” remember that mysterious voice that would come over the game once you had thoroughly defeated your opponent. “Finish him,” the unidentified voice would boom and the game would give you a few seconds to perform a knockout blow on your stunned opponent. If you didn’t hit the right buttons, your opponent would merely fall to the ground and you win in the most unsatisfying way possible.

I often struggled with connecting on the fatal blow. Apparently, the Mets had that same problem.

A 4-2, 10-inning loss to the Phillies on Tuesday meant the Mets are 0-for-2 in this four-game series that was meant to be the Mets’ chance to knock the Phils out of the division race for good. The Mets certainly can’t seem to “finish” them.

Not everyone mind you. The Mets got great pitching from Tom Glavine on Tuesday, but yet again the bullpen couldn’t hold his lead. (Thankfully Guillermo Mota didn’t blow another Glavine win as it was already blown when he got in. Mota merely lost the game.)

The Mets got great hitting from the previously ice-cold Carlos Delgado, who enjoyed his visit to Citizens Bank Park with a moon-shot, 2-run homer, but the young sparkplugs Jose Reyes and David Wright are still hitless in the series.

The Mets got great fielding from Endy Chavez who ensured everyone he has his legs under him with a great running catch to save a run. But Paul Lo Duca and Luis Castillo couldn’t hook up on a throw to second and that became the tying run when Aaron Rowand’s swinging bunt stayed fair.

So now two games are lost and essentially, so is the chance to bury the Phils. The best the Mets can do now is to earn a split and render this series useless for the Phils. It’s better than nothing, but also a lot worse than the Mets would have wanted.

And remember in the game of baseball — unlike the arcade game — if you don’t “finish” your opponents, they don’t simply fall over. Sometimes they come back to beat you.

Endy’s Back

Another day, another Met returning from the disabled list.

Monday it was Paul Lo Duca returning and contributing for the Mets in Philly. Tuesday it’s Endy Chavez back in the Orange and Blue.

Willie Randolph’s wasting no time using Chavez, inserting him into Tuesday’s lineup against the Phillies. He’ll play right and bat eighth, according to our beat writer John Delcos. He also reports that Brian Lawrence was the unlucky sole sent down to make room for the fan favorite.

It will be interesting to see where Lawrence is optioned to because that will determine when he can return. Rosters expand Saturday — the same day he was scheduled to start — but players need to spend 10 days in the minors before being brought back, unless that minor-league team’s season ends before that. Most of the Mets’ teams end around Sept. 2 or 3, so he would be able to shave a few days on his 10-day exile. But unless I’m missing something, I don’t see a way he can be back for his start Sept. 1.

Regardless of who starts that game, it will be good to see Chavez patrolling the outfield for the Mets once again.

Unlikely Nemesis

A lot of tremendous baseball players have done well historically against the Amazin’s.

Willie Stargell leads the all-time list for home runs against the Mets with 60. (Useless trivia: He also hit the first-ever round-tripper at Shea Stadium — a second-inning home run off Jack Fisher on April 17, 1964. Surprisingly, it also was the first-ever basehit at Shea.) He is followed on that all-time list by a group of bonafide or future Hall of Famers.

Just look at this list of players who went deep an awful lot against the Mets:

1. Willie Stargell 60
2. Mike Schmidt 49
3. Willie McCovey 48
4. Hank Aaron 45
5. Willie Mays 39
6. (tie) Barry Bonds 38
6. (tie) Chipper Jones 38
6. (tie) Pat Burrell 38

One of these names doesn’t belong and I’ll just forego the guessing game and inform you that it’s Pat Burrell.

How do he continue to destroy the Mets? He did it again Monday, smacking a very costly home run off Brian Lawrence in the Mets’ 9-2 loss to the Phils at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The ridiculous aspect of this is that it’s taken Bonds 815 at-bats to hit 38 homers against the Mets. It’s taken Chipper 628. It’s only taken Burrell a mere 450 at-bats to hit the same 38 back-breaking longballs.

How is this player above-average against the rest of the league and Hall of Fame-caliber against the Mets?

Baseball is full of these strange quirks, but this one really stands out. And it continues to kill the Mets.

Philly’s Better When You Sleep Over

You know that silly ad campaign for Philadelphia that promotes overnight stays in the City of Brotherly Love by claiming that “Philly’s better when you sleep over.” Well I’m suggesting that any Mets fans looking for a place to spend their final summer days consider Philly from… let’s just say… Monday through Thursday of this week.

Because it seems like that might just ruffle some Philadelphia feathers.

In a preview of this week’s climactic four-game series between the Mets and Phillies, Jim Salisbury of the Philadelphia Inquirer got Brett Myers to talk a little about the high percentage of Mets fans that seem to frequent Citizens Bank Park whenever the Amazin’s are in town.

Cue Myers:

“I hope the Phillies fans buy all the tickets, so the Mets fans can’t get in. It’s going to be fun. It’ll be more fun if we come out on top.”

Now Myers wouldn’t have mentioned it if it didn’t bother him. And if it bothers him, then it probably bothers other Phillies.

So I say it’s time for a Philly visit this week Mets fans. Anytime between now and Thursday.

Big Week Ahead

So much to be excited about these days. NBC is bringing back “American Gladiators” as a prime-time series. The new Bruce Springsteen single, “Radio Nowhere,” is a fun, little garage rocker. And of course the Mets are playing largely good baseball, winning nine of 13 and putting a little distance between themselves and the Phillies and Braves.

Of course, NBC could overthink the incredibly simple concept that made the prototypical 1990s syndicated program a hit and a fond memory for so many people in my generation. The Springsteen single could be the only good song off the new album. (OK, that one’s rather unlikely.) And the Mets’ recent winning ways still doesn’t guarantee a postseason ticket, nonetheless postseason success.

But that hasn’t stopped some people from annointing the Mets the National League East champions and that just seems rather premature. Instead, could we at least wait until the Amazin’s get through this seven-game week of road games against their two chief rivals before we uncork the champagne. That six-game lead over the Phils and seven-game advantage over Atlanta could look mighty different next Sunday if the Mets don’t take care of business here.

I suspect they will come through and that will largely wrap up the division. But let’s see them do it before we punch the postseason ticket.

*****

The Mets are still struggling to get more length out of John Maine’s outings. He didn’t make the full six again. For those wondering, he hasn’t thrown six or more since July 24, when he tossed seven innings of five-hit ball against the Pirates. The stat is a little misleading since he only threw five innings against the Nationals because of a rain-shortened victory. But since then, Maine has just been fair to bad, getting just 18 2/3 innings out of his four August starts prior to Sunday night’s 5 2/3.

When he worked out of his fourth-inning jam with two strikeouts, it really appeared this was Maine’s get-right game where he would work out his kinks. Instead, he gave up the lead the very next inning after allowing a leadoff bunt single to David Wells.

Maine didn’t get any favors from his fielders later in the game, but the concern about whether Maine will straighten out in September is now completely valid.

*****

A lot of familiar faces will be returning in the coming days including fan faves Paul Lo Duca and Endy Chavez. More reason to have some confidence going into September.

*****

I’ve heard this several times now, so it’s worth noting that there appears to be some talk of just designating Shawn Green for assignment rather than waiting for Sept. 1 callups to activate Chavez. It seems largely unnecessary, but Green really has been a huge bust this year. His average is fine, but they haven’t exactly been productive hits. He’s on pace to hit 12 less home runs and drive in 30 less runs than just his previous three-year average.

Let’s just say the Mets stand a better chance of signing Bond girl Eva Green than they do of re-signing Shawn Green after this season.

Now the only question is whether he even makes it that long.

*****

The Mascot Hall of Fame voting has gone bad. Someone needs to start preparing Mr. Met for defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Coyote. Honestly, when has a coyote ever won anything? Check out Wile E. Coyote’s win-loss record… it’s not impressive.

Anyway, balloting runs through Sept. 6 and the site is unclear about how many inductees there will be, so there’s still plenty of reason to Vote Mr. Met in ‘07.

Good Win If You Can See It

The Mets sold 57,343 tickets to Tuesday’s game. The Mets announced a crowd of 48,592 for Tuesday’s game. Some number far less than that was actually in rainy, chilly, dreary Shea Stadium for Tuesday’s game.

And those damp troopers witnessed a heck of a little ballgame as the Mets pulled out a 7-6 win over the Padres.

Games like this are a strange balance. You never like to see the bullpen give up leads and the closer give up a run in a tie game. But at the same time, you like to see the team rally numerous times to tie and eventually win the game. You can’t get the second item without the first, even if the first is far from ideal.

When you lose a game like this, you focus on the blown leads and ties. When you win a game like this, you focus on the relentless comebacks.

But the end result was a thrilling win, which was a nice reward for those who actually stuck it out in miserable conditions. They may not make it to work Wednesday, but at least they have a nice memory.

*****

Carlos Beltran is red-hot.

The National League Player of the Week brought home his clutch hitting for at least the first game of the homestand. Beltran has never consistently hit well in Flushing, but 3-for-3 with a homer, five RBI and a walk isn’t just hitting well. It’s one of those zones Beltran gets into every now and then. Those zones can carry the Mets for games at a time.

It will be interesting to see how long this one can last.

*****

You know that friend that’s always got your back? He defends you in arguments; He covers for you when you misspeak; He drives in the tying run and scores the winning run when you insert him in the game.

Willie Randolph has a friend like that. His name is Marlon Anderson.

*****

Remember the Gary Cohen karma temptation from Pittsburgh? It happened again Tuesday, although in much less painful fashion. San Diego starting pitcher Chris Young strode to the plate and Cohen mentioned how there is a Chris Young that can hit in the NL West (in reference to the Arizona outfielder)… but this isn’t him. Zing.

Young proceeded to single and score.

Karma 2, Cohen 0

*****

Editor’s note: Updates will be sporadic for the rest of the week as I enjoy an end-of-summer getaway. But the good news is I will have a new, surprise entry in my Ballpark Review series coming up in the next few days. So be on the lookout for that, in addition to my Mets thoughts from afar.And don’t forget to vote for Mr. Met.

The Los Les Della Mets

In an effort to bring you all the really important Mets news, I present this press release from the team announcing Fiesta Latina this Friday at Shea.

There will be music from Oscar D’Leon and Luis Vargas, bilingual PA announcements and cultural dances. But most importantly, the Mets — for the first time in franchise history, mind you — will don “Los Mets” jerseys for the game against the Dodgers.

I think this sets a wonderful precedent. The Mets can now match their jerseys to whatever cultural celebration they’re having that night. They can have French Night with “Les Mets” jerseys. They can have Italian Night with “Della Mets” jerseys. They can have German Night with “Die Mets…

OK, that one might get lost in translation.

*****

Editor’s note: Apologies if any of those translations aren’t exact. I took German in high school, French in college and I once dated someone with Italian heritage. These are nothing more than best guesses.

Breaking News: Mets acquire Conine

You knew Omar Minaya wasn’t going to sit still while the Mets’ bench was depleted, especially after the loss of a useful right-handed bat in Damion Easley. Today, he made his move.

The Mets have acquired 41-year-old utilityman Jeff Conine from Cincinnati. According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, the Mets gave up two Class-A players — Sean Henry and Jose Castro — in the deal.

Conine is batting .265 with six homers, 32 RBI and 23 runs scored in 215 at-bats this season. Those numbers are in line with his career averages and should bring a consistent, veteran presence to the Mets’ bench.

He’ll help the Mets down the stretch.