Anatomy of the Collapse

[Benjamin Grimm]

Frayed Knot wrote: - Trailing 3-2 in the 8th, the Mets explode for 4 on an Alou single and a Delgado 3R HR

At that moment, I felt a resurgence of optimism. I thought, they're going to win this thing after all! I was, of course, wrong.

Frayed Knot wrote: Lead jumps to 2-1/2; Magic number drops to 6

Eek. That's eerily similar to the Mets current situation with the Brewers. Magic number 6, lead 2.5. The only difference is that this year there are currently 15 games remaining rather than the 13.

[Frayed Knot]

[u:a70b9233ef]Game 156; Monday , Sept 24 - Nationals @ Mets[/u:a70b9233ef]
Nats 13 - Mets 4
Pelfrey (5.2 IP, 7 R, 5 H, 5 BB) vs Matt Chico (5.1 IP, 3R, 9H):

It's not easy to out-hit the opponent and still lose by 9 runs. Issuing 9 walks helps of course. So does leaving a bushel full of runners on base

- A Delgado 2B and a Gomez SacFly get the Mets on the board in the 2nd

- Pelfrey cruises for the first 3, but allows a 2-run single in the 4th then a 2-out/3R HR to Austin Kearns in the 5th and it's a 5-1 Nationals lead.

- Smith replaces Pelfrey with 2-on and 2-out in the 6th ... and promptly allows a 2-run double to Ronnie Bellieard (7-1)

- Mets get two back in the bottom of the 6th, but Mota allows three more in the 8th and Dave Williams 3 more in the 9th (Langerhans 3R HR) making the Mets solo run in bottom 9 just window dressing.


Off day for the Phillies


Lead down to 2 games even;
Magic number stays at 6
N-HOP goes to 5 of 12 (41.7%).

[Frayed Knot]

[u:a46fe38775]Game 157; Tuesday , Sept 25 - Nationals @ Mets[/u:a46fe38775]
Nats 10 - Mets 9
Glavine (5 IP, 6 R, 9 H) vs Jason Bergmann (5.2 IP, 3R, 7H):

For a change, they score early and we score late ... but what doesn't change is that we still lose.

- Two Washington HRs (3R & Solo) in the 1st inning and we're in a 4-0 hole before coming to bat.

- Reyes goes deep in the 1st (4-1), Sean Green comes through with an RBI single in the 2nd (4-2) but then Glavine gives back single runs in the 3rd & 4th (6-2)

- Gotay's PH 2B brings it back to 3 runs but the pen allows runs in the 7th (2), 8th (1) and 9th (1) - 3 of them on RBIs by Brian Schneider - so that any reasonable 9th inning comeback is out of the question (10-3)

- But this is the Mets who don't know how to be reasonable. So after a Reyes 3R HR and an Alou 3-RBI double it's a 10-9 game and there's still only 1 out and a pinch-runner on 2nd.
Delgado & LoDuca promptly go down in order and we lose 10-9.



In Philadelphia the Braves knock out 13 hits and come from behind to beat the Phils 10-6


Lead stays at 2 games even;
Magic number drops to 5
N-HOP goes to 4 of 10 (40%).

[HahnSolo]

Will this be a 2-part thread next year?

[metirish]

HahnSolo wrote: Will this be a 2-part thread next year?

I refer you here.

http://cranepoolforum.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=10235

[Frayed Knot]

[u:c3775ed984]Game 158; Wednesday , Sept 26 - Nationals @ Mets[/u:c3775ed984]
Nats 9 - Mets 6
Humber (4 IP, 5 R, 6 H) vs Mike Bacsik (2.1 IP, 5R, 7H)

You can look at the final game of the season or any one game in between as the main culprit. But getting swept by the Nationals was the low point.

- Mets jump out to a 5-0 lead on 3 HRs (Beltran, Alou & Beltran) as the risk of starting Humber is looking good through 3.
- Then some guy named Church hit a 2R HR in the 4th (5-2)
- And then the 5th starts with a walk and two hits and Humber is replaced by Smith (6-3 Mets) ...
two consecutive hits later and Feliciano comes in to a 6-5 lead ...
and a 2R double later it's 7-6 Nats

- From that point on 5 Nationals pitchers pitch the final 5 innings facing one batter over the minimum. And, for good measure, Ryan Church doubles in 2 more in the 9th and the Nationals complete the sweep.


In Philadelphia, Kyle Lohse out-pitches Tim Hudson and the Phils win 5-2


Lead drops to 1 game for the first time since mid-May;
Magic number stays at 4
N-HOP goes to (50%) 4 of 8.