If You Were Still Holding Out Hope for the Mets...

...Nelson Figueroa just flushed it down the toilet with a Tom Glavine-esque performance.

In the biggest start of his career, a chance to prove he belongs in the big leagues, Figueroa couldn't even make it through the second inning against the offensively enemic Diamondbacks.

The crazy part is every ball was crushed. Even Dan Haren sent Angel Pagan within a step of the warning track against Figueroa. As I type it's now 6-0 and it's not even the end of the second inning yet.

It's over folks. This game. This season. This team.

Let's talk about getting Roy Halladay for the next two months. We've got a better shot at achieving that than this team has of finishing the season above .500.

Adios Figueroa

Poor Nelson Figueroa has been designated for assignment. I feel bad for the guy. It's not like he's a fantastic pitcher, but he's pitched well for the Mets over the last two seasons.

So after Sunday's game, potentially a game Figueroa would have won if the Mets could hit with runners on base, he gets sent packing in favor of Triple A prospect Casey Fossum. That's gotta hurt.

I don't know anything about Fossum, but it looks as if he'll be on the roster tomorrow when the Mets visit St. Louis and may take a start for Mike Pelfrey if he misses another week.

I honestly hope Figueroa finds a spot on another ballclub. Just not in the NL because with the Mets luck he'd throw a no-hitter against them.

The Unluckiest of Games

The Mets had their opportunities. They had some serious bad luck to go with it.

The Mets lost the finale against the Brewers on Sunday afternoon thanks mostly to a series of unfortunate events. In the 7th and 8th innings the Mets had prime oppotunity to score, but a hit a run turned into a double play and a miraculous catch by the pitcher ended a bases load chance as well.

Nelson Figueroa pitched as well as can be expected. He actually did much better than I thought he would. If Pelfrey is out for any extended period of time, we might be seeing more of him, for better or worse.

David Wright's hitting streak ended today, and although he's hit safely in 11 straight games he has not looked good at the plate. He's striking out a whole lot more than he normally does and appears to be fooled by off speed pitches. In the last few games, he's had chances to drive in runs or start a big inning only to be caught looking at strike three.

The Mets should have won this game. Call them unlucky if you want, but the Brewers kept opening the door for a comeback and the Mets couldn't execute.

Off day tomorrow, then it's off to St. Louis.

Why Rain this Weekend Should Be Welcomed

I might be the biggest disbeliever in the Mets ability to sweep doubleheaders. History has proven to me that the Mets are unlikely to win both games of a doubleheader.

But I'm telling you that a double header on Sunday is just what the doctor ordered.

Friday's game looks to be a definite wash, which would force a doubleheader on Saturday. Now the key is for the skies to continue to open up on Saturday and force the doubleheader to be moved to Sunday.

That would be a huge benefit to the Mets. You see the Mets are stupidly preparing to send Nelson Figueroa or Brandon Knight out to pitch on Saturday. Basically two hacks are being sent to the mound to determine our playoff chances. By raining out Friday and Saturday, the Mets now have the ability to pitch Mike Pelfrey in game one on extra rest, and then throw Johan Santana in game 2 on normal rest.

A Pelfrey/Santana doubleheader lineup is the best situation for the Mets and allows them to have their top 2 pitchers throw in the most significant games of the season. Then on Monday you can pitch Oliver Perez or whoever is available to close out the season.

The other advantage is that the delay allows the Mets to see what unfolds with the Brewers and Phillies. The Mets will have full knowledge of what they need to do to make the playoffs.

Although I'm usually a guy who hates doubleheaders and likes to play the games as they're written on the schedule, I think a rain out on Friday and Saturday is exactly what the Mets need.

Cinderella Got Dumped: Figueroa DFA's

Well Cinderella's ball ended a little closer to Carrie than to the fairytale ending we expected.

Nelson Figueroa, the Mets feel good story of the year, had his dream cut short as he was designated for assignment along with Jorge Sosa (woohoo!).

Wait, who did the Mets call up? Vargas? You mean from Seinfeld? And what's that? He's starting on Wednesday? Didn't we try something like this against the Nationals at the end of September? How'd that work out?

So the Mets reinstated Matt Wise, called up Claudio Vargas and Fernando Tatis. Hopefully Wise can do more than Sosa. As for Vargas and Tatis, I don't expect anything. Tatis was called up as the Mets placed Angel Pagan on the 15-day DL, so Tatis is on borrowed time anyway.

A win will make us forget the debacle of last night, but another loss will send Mets Lifers into a tailspin. These are the Washington Nationals for crying out loud! Possibly the worst hitting team in the majors.

Anyway, Nelson Figueroa, it was fun for a while, and I guess your family is going to have a tough time getting those box seats again any time soon.

Wild Pitch is Mets Best Friend

When you win a game after going 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position there has to be a little luck involved.

Thankfully for the Mets there was Joel Hanrahan who after giving up a hit to Damion Easley to start the 14th threw a wild pitch, a bad pickoff to second base and then another wild pitch to help the struggling Mets bats to score without needing a hit.

Nelson Figueroa pitched a gem. Honestly he had one bad pitch the whole game that ended up being the Nick Johnson home run. He struck out seven batters and only gave up 3 hits through 7 innings. Unbelievable performance that deserved a win.

Church and Casanova really struggled last night. They struck out a combined 7 times. Come on it's the Nationals starting pitching. This isn't Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine..

But a win's a win and it's always nice when you're forced to stay up late to have a win to go to bed to. I hate it when you watch 14 innings and your team loses. But I guess that's what it's like to be a Nationals fan.

Let's hope Santana took some tips from Pelfrey and Figueroa to help him out tonight against the Phils.