Mets 4, Nationals 3 - There Must be Some Mistake

"I am king of all I survey."

No joke, we lose this game if its 2007-2011.  

This is Daniel Murphy.  Daniel Murphy's hitting abilities have never been in question, as he holds a .293 career batting average, but the question was always "Where will he play?"

A natural third baseman, he obviously couldn't make the team in that position, nor could he play first with first Carlos Delgado and then Ike Davis blocking him.  They tried him out in left field, but it was a disaster as he couldn't track the ball off the bat, use correct angles to get to the ball, and throw accurately to the infield.  

Then came the decision to get him to play second base.  The Mets would try anything to get his bat in the lineup, so they sent him down to AAA to learn the position, and within a couple of weeks, his 2010 season was cut short as he tore a ligament in his knee trying to turn a double play.  He worked his ass off to rehab, came back determined to make the lineup again in 2011 and became a catalyst, batting .302 and extending rally after rally.  

Then, early last August, it happened again.  Against the Braves, he received a double play toss from Jose Reyes and was promptly laid out, a ligament in his other knee torn.  All of his rehab and hard work to get back, and he would have to do it again.  And not only that, do it knowing that second base was his only option, that in order to do what he truly loves; hit, he would need to take the field at a position that had nearly crippled him.  

He did it without question.  Yesterday, probably shaken, and who would blame him, he dropped the transfer on a potential double play and was only able to get one out.  He has to be hearing footsteps every time he makes that particular play, and you need to give him credit for trotting out there night after night.  

Then tonight, a miracle.  With the Nationals on the verge of getting something going in the top of the ninth, Ryan Zimmerman cued a hot grounder up the middle that Murphy dove for, and somehow came up with, nailing a runner at second to end then inning.  Then, as if to justify everything he's been through, he had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the inning after Mike Baxter drew a leadoff walk and reached third when Ruben Tejada's bunt was thrown errantly down the right field line.  

But that's kind of been the pattern of this early season for these dumb Mets.  

This one had all the makings of your typical Mike Pelfrey start as he allowed singles to three of the first four hitters he faced, putting the Mets in a 1-0 hole before one could blink.  Things didn't get much better in the third inning either, as Ian Desmond singled, Danny Espinosa struck out, Zimmerman (batting .091 coming into the game) ripped a double to right, and Andy LaRoche singled him in.  Jayson Werth (batting .000 coming into the game) also had a triple, but Pelfrey, somehow, escaped the inning having allowed just two runs.  

Listening on my drive home from work, I was completely prepared to chalk this one up as another typical Pelfrey game, write a kajillion words about what a baffling head case he is, tell him to use his sinker IT IS YOUR BEST PITCH YOU DUMB, but something weird happened.  Pelfrey settled down.  He got out of the inning and then, THEN, led off the bottom of the third with a double down the left field line!  Of course David Wright drove him in, what else do you expect him to do, but right about then I was completely prepared for Pelfrey to give it right back.  He is almost automatic in giving runs back, with interest compounded at about 400%, but no, he went two and two thirds more and didn't allow another run!  You don't understand.  He never settles down.  Something bad happens, like he doesn't get a borderline call, someone makes an error behind him, or some dumb #7 hitter drops a Texas Leaguer behind second base and he just unravels, licking his hands and serving up fastballs until Terry Collins comes out and retrieves him.  Not so tonight!  Maybe he isn't horrible (he is).  

Ok, so they'll lose 3-1, not their night I was thinking, blah blah, but then suddenly Captain Kirk Nieuwenhuis, in his second career game, got ahold of a hanging slider from Edwin Jackson and deposited it neatly into the right field seats to tie the game.   That's when I started to think that there is something weird about this team, because last year, this is a for serious 9-1 loss or some shit and tonight, a replacement for the starting center fielder who didn't even make it through a full game before dying literally on the field hits a clutch home run to tie it up.  Strange days indeed, my friends.  

After Pelfrey's Houdini act, the bullpen was great for three and two-thirds innings, the highlight being when Miguel Batista allowed the first two batters to reach in the seventh and Ramon Ramirez came in and was all 'lol no', getting a flyout from LaRoche and a 6-4-3 double play from Werth.  

POSITIVES:  Daniel Murphy's diving stop on a Zimmerman grounder up the middle that ended a potential threat and gave the Mets a chance to win it in the bottom of the inning, and then Murphy again with the game-winning hit.  Wright is mashing ig.  More bullpen magic that kept them in it.  

I'm worried about Ike Davis, and the fact that it might be getting around the league that as long as you don't give him any fastballs, he is a pretty easy out.  He had showed some good adjustments to this philosophy during his rookie year and the beginning of last year, but its possible that he's still rusty after missing most of the season after he hurt his ankle.  Jason Bay is terrible, and will be platooning with Scott Hairston soon if there isn't any marked improvement (there won't be).  

Anyway, the Mets are 4-0, the Yankees and Phillies are 1-3, and I will be in the house on Friday evening as St. Dickey takes on Cliff Lee.  Life is good, my friends.  Life is good.