Sunday, May 16, 2010

As Keith Hernandez put it, "The Marlins Are Inspired" And The Mets Are Their Muses

Game 4: Marlins 10 Mets 8

Jerry Manuel was also inspired by his squad to make some changes in today's starting lineup, here's how it looked:


Reyes
Cora
Bay
Carter
Wright
Davis
Pagan
Blanco
Niese

Sitting through all 9 innings of this game today was a true test for myself and all Mets fans. Are we just masochists who get our jollies from all this heartbreak and pain on a daily basis? I don't think we are. I believe we are just die hard fans that know when it comes to the Metropolitans much of the time you have to suffer through the lowest of the lows to experience the highest of the highs. And those highs can and will be splendid.

Unfortunately today's game was not one of these highs but a low in this 2010 Mets season. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Jonathan Niese left the game due to a hamstring injury, an injury very similar to the one he suffered from last season. At this point the Marlins had a 3-0 lead. Takahashi came in to try to remedy the situation at hand but 4 more runs were tacked on by the fish. The Marlins had 12 men come to bat in this inning. Not pretty.

NOW not only did us fans have the wind completely knocked out of us due to the fact the Mets were down by 7 runs but the Amazins lost another starter in their rotation.

However, the Mets did not let this bring them down. In the 6th and 7th innings they rallied back and were now losing by just 1 run, 7-6. Interesting to note, in both innings the Mets scored all of their 6 runs with 2 outs.

Yet, the Mets had the final knockout punch delivered by Coghlan who in the bottom of the 7th with men on 1st and 2nd hit a 3 run homer off of Nightly Nieve. The Marlins now were leading 10-6.

In the 8th and 9th innings the Mets added 2 more runs but still it just wasn't enough and they were out slugged in this slug fest 10-8.

The Marlins swept the Mets in a 4 game series, a feat they had never achieved until today.

As painful as this game was there are some positives to stress:


--Jason Bay extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

--Chris Carter in his first start as a Met went 1 for 3 with a clutch single in the top of the 6th to give the Mets their first run on the scoreboard.

--Gary Matthews Jr. was 2 for 2. He came in to pinch hit in the top of the 7th and his single helped the Mets prolong their 2 out rally. And then in the top of the 9th he got an rbi single, his first rbi of the season!


And now let's clean up our battle wounds with some Gary and Keith highlights from the booth, here we go,

Gary and Keith today took a departure from their literature chats and debuted a new segment I will call "At the cinema with Keith and Gary." Cohen was talking about Alaska and this triggered something in Keith's brain. Keith began to discuss a movie starring Al Pacino where Al plays a cop who has trouble sleeping. Although Hernandez could not think of the name of this movie I knew it and I kept screaming "Insomnia" at my tv but Keith could not hear me. Thank goodness this eventually ensued,


Gary: We have your answer Keith. It's "Insomnia." I've never seen it.
Keith: I like anything Al does.
Gary: My wife obviously saw the movie, she texted me the answer.
Keith: I get the biggest kick out of him.
Gary: Hoohah!

Gary and Keith also discussed figurative language,


Gary: Nothing slows the game down like speed. That's an oxymoron.
Keith: I understand.
Gary: Like jumbo shrimp.
Keith: I'm staying focused.

Then these crazy cats even offered up their opinions on sunglasses,

Gary: I still think the flip down is the best. I don't understand the glasses on top of the hat look.
Keith: Stylin'! It's for style points.

And lastly let's take a look at various comments Keith and Gary made about Chris "The Animal" Carter:

Gary: Chris was probably here since 3am doing sprints.

Gary: It looks like he's been in a steam bath.
Keith: At least he's sitting.
Gary: For now.

Keith: Carter is talking to himself out there.
Gary: He's just a bundle of energy.

Keith and Gary thanks again for the great banter because this one was a true heart breaker.

Tomorrow is a new day...in Atlanta.

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