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My heart, hairline and sanity can’t take much more of this but somehow Carlos Beltran’s line drive in the 
bottom of the ninth went threw Micah Hoffpauir’s glove and the Mets came back to defeat the Cubs 7-6 at a very soggy Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap, boxscore and stats from tonight’s game, click here.
I am pretty dizzy right now so I don’t know where I am going to go with this recap, but away we go.
We definitely saw a sharper Pedro Martinez tonight even though Cubs’ manager Lou Pinella sent out his Triple-A team. Pedro struck out a season high nine batters and was given an appropriate standing ovation when lifted in the 7th inning. However the love fest only lasted one pitch as Ricardo Ricon gave up a three-run home run to Hoffpauir, giving the Cubs a 6-3 lead.
Down by two in the bottom of the 8th and season about to be slammed shut, two unlikely heroes kicked the door back open with the likes of Ramon Martinez and Robinson Cancel. Martinez and Cancel both knocked RBI-singles to tie the game at six. The tying-run was one of the more crazy plays you will see at the plate when Ryan Church danced his way around Koyie Hill and finally touched home. Did I mention that was crazy?!?!
Joe Smith pitched a gutsy 9th inning. With two on and two out, he got Darryl Ward to ground out to set up the stage for another amazing comeback.
With three games left, the Mets are now one game behind the Phillies for the division crown and currently the Brewers and Pirates are tied at one in extra innings.
Kudos to all of the Mets fans braving the elements tonight. I wish I was there with you!
The Mets begin their final home stand at Shea Stadium tomorrow night, weather permitting, against the Florida Marlins.
Wow, I need a drink.
…update…11:15…
Ryan Braun just won the game for the Brew Crew with a walk-off grand slam. The Mets and Brewers remained tied for the Wild Card with three games left in the season.
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Here are the reasons why it’s a good thing the Brewers won:
1.) Keeps the Mets feeling the pressure. This team plays best with its back against the wall. (Although sometimes, when the wall falls on top of them, that’s not so good.)
2.) Keeps the Phillies feeling the pressure. They had a great run a week or so back, but they’re a streaky team and they MAY have peaked too early.
3.) Keeps alive the possibility that both the Mets and the Brewers can make the playoffs, leaving the Phils out.
4.) Ryan Braun is on my fantasy team. Okay, that’s a little selfish on my part, but still… I could use the RBI.
Let’s go Mets!
What a different world this blog is tonight compared to yesterday or just hours ago lol I’m happy about that though.
I do agree that the Brewers help the Mets believe they have to win. Like they don’t have a choice. This win was big today. It is essential that a win had to come from Pelfrey and Johan in 2 out of these last 4. Of the other two, Pedro and say Brandon Knight - one of two was a necessity.
With the Brewers, winning 3 of 4 is too. They did their job tonight. Now they have to push to get 2 out of 3 this weekend. I think they’ll lose 2 out of 3 though. The Cubs have had the Brewers number in Milwaukee. This isn’t the Reds or the Pirates.
The Phillies not making it would be lovely, but what ever happens happens. There’s a legit possibility that all three of these teams will end up tied. And the Mets would get two chances are making it to the postseason. Ollie would be the guy Monday and either Pedro Martinez or Mike Pelfrey on three days rest - or anyone it’d take would be a guy on Tuesday if it were necessary.
PS: hey, columnists and Metsbloggers who get on Mets’ fans for being negatve and not supporting the team…I hope y’all were watching the loyal fans in near tropical storm conditions at Shea tonight.
We do have some negative and unsupportive fans. Too many, really. But there is that special subset that I’m proud of rooting for the same team as.
I always love em, but one night I hate that I love em and the next I’m thankful that I do - such is the life of a Mets diehard in 08. In any case, I’m just trying to imagine how a random baseball fan would feel about these boys though; I guess if you didn’t care at all about the teams and they didn’t wear NEW YORK across their chests (on the road) that they would have to rank as the most exciting teams to watch on a regular basis from a purely entertainment standpoint. Taking things a step further, might MLB pull strings in their favor if they were hypothetically rained out this weekend? (Or would Bud rather see his Brewers in?) Besides the fact that they would obviously like the NY market to maintain interest in the playoffs, regardless of my thoughts and the thoughts of my fellow Mets fans on their games, they make for great tv for those without an interest in the outcome, period. That being said, I still woulda had a much better 24 hours if they had gotten blown out Wednesday night than what occurred, but Team Tightrope (or G-d?) obviously prefers it this way. I’d do anything for a blowout win tomorrow, not to mention PHI and MIL losses. If we can get that and we still manage to blow it, I’ll know that I’m just simply too old to put as heart into something that I have no control over while the guys with control are making millions of dollars and I’ll be thrilled that I’ll be graduating this spring… Here’s to hoping the boys pick up tomorrow on today’s huge win and justify the excruciating heartache so many of us Mets fans have felt since Stache struck out with the bases loaded and 1 out and Endy followed with a flyout in the bottom of the 6th of the Heilman Game/(Endy Catch), unable to cement his place in history as the perhaps having the greatest and most significant single inning in postseason history for an individual. I have a paper due in a few hours on Locke and Montesquieu and procrastination often leads to fantastic sports related posts, or at least ones that ramble on and on, hence the bulk. In short, though, while tonight was great, two nights ago shook me REALLY REALLY hard (worse than Game 162 last year) and I just can’t imagine being as devoted a fan next year if we miss out on the Dance by a game - say what you will, David (as he proved again tonight), is just incredibly unclutch and really resembles ARod too much in big spots. He’ll have a few days (hopefully and then some) to prove otherwise. If the Giants can win the Super Bowl, the Mets can absolutely win the World Series. It’s just a matter of going out and taking care of business and playing the game the right way.
This win game we back that sense of confidence. What I worry is that this same confidence was given to me on Tuesday night. And it was stolen from me on Wednesday. If this confidence is stolen from myself and the Mets tomorrow and the Mets aren’t lucky enough to see a Brewers and/or Phillies loss, it may be too late to get back on our feet being out of command.
That heart breaking loss could have once again propelled this team. It got them more hungry. When it’s all said in done in this series, if someone were to tell me we’d split before going in I’d take it. I know we could have done much more. But I also know we could have won 3 out of 4. We were in a better position to score in the bottom of the 9th last night than we were this night with the same exact score.
What really bothers me is that the Brewers have won 4 in a row after losing 8 out of 9. This is something all of us did not expect. The Cubs I believe though will take care of the Brewers. I don’t see a sweep on either side. I think their rubber game will come down to Sunday and I believe that the Cubs will win it. With that being said, 2 out of 3 is a must in this series - if not a sweep against the Marlins.
What I meant to say was this series could have been a lot worse, but the result of it wasn’t all that bad. The realistic expectation is what was acquired. And the realistic expectation of the Mets-Marlins series is to win 2 out of 3 being that we’ve won 9 out of 15 again them - a 60% winning percentage. And that difference maker is going to be Johan Santana. There is a very likely chance we’ll split these next two days, as will the Brewers. As may the Phillies. More than anything, we need to win tomorrow. We need Mike Pelfrey to give us 7 solid innings with like 2 ER or less.
I love the Mets and have been a fan for as long as I can remember. Probably since the time I started knowing what baseball was.
I love the intensity of the games. I just would like to see a balance. If we aren’t going to win, I understand. But I will not root for a team that fails me time after time. This is why I’ve simply stopped watching the Knicks. I wouldn’t saying I’m not a Knicks fan, but I’m just on a time out from watching the NBA…
I’ll still believe in this team. I know I’ve said it over and over. And sometimes I think I’m crazy and sometimes I think I make sense. I can see through all of this and see us in the post-season by Sunday…
It’s a good thing I watch these games on the computer… Otherwise those 1 PM NFL game would be too impulsively distracting. I’d never have a minute to use the bathroom or stretch because I’d be checking scores on the commercials lol Screw football though.
Just watched on mlbtv - absolutely unreal … again. Church’s play at the plate had drama, comedy, the lot. How much more will this team put us all through???
The world is placed on pause until this evening when Pelfrey takes the mound. Go Amazins!
all you mutts fans better thank Lou Piniella for doing everything he possibly could to not win that game!! what a joke of a team he put out there…..no Marmol or Wood to close the door and no pinch hit with Aramis, let’s put Daryle Ward out there instead……JOKE
Getting a little nervous???
While I agree with you that he did put a bogus lineup out there, it was a 4-game series. Managers put bogus lineups out there all the time in the last game of a 4-game series - especially when they already have salvaged a split in a meaningless game. Not to mention the poor weather conditions. I’m sure Lou wanted Soriano out there shagging fly balls with his track record of injuries. Let’s also say that this Cubs lineup put up 6 runs. Do we know for sure any other lineup would have done better? But I also understand why a Phillies or Brewers fan would be angry.
You guys are lucky we didn’t win on Wednesday. Should be a fun weekend. May come down to who can sweep a double header….Mets or Phils?
WAAAAAAAAAA….CHANGE YOUR DIAPER!
Thanks for posting. Now Phuck off.
I got my playoff ticket package but will not open till the Mets are in.
To quote stengal “amazin’ amazin’ amazin’.
I changed the address on my playoff ticket package and they sent them to my old address anyway!!!! Even the confirmation e-mail they sent had my correct address.
Should I blame Minaya? haha
I don’t know what Johas Schwartz did to get your attention but how is the guy employed talking about sports?? First of all he talks like he is narrating a porn film. Secondly he is on the worst show on SNY which is like being the ugliest girl in the WNBA.
Other than the people that do the Mets games… Jocelyn Pierce is the most knowledgable person on that station which isn’t all that much of a compliment to her considering the mutants that SNY has hired.