A couple of days ago, this blog talked about how nothing short of a series win against the Washington Nationals would be a failure. Well, the Mets avoided that fate, but just barely. They barely won Friday night’s game with Johan Santana on the mound and they surely lost the Sunday matinee, 8-1, with Oliver Perez toeing the rubber.
It was another pathetic Perez outing as he again didn’t make it out of the fifth inning and gave up seven runs. His ERA has ballooned to 9.31. It’s an obvious cause of concern for a team whose other starters, besides Santana, haven’t exactly been lights out.
It all seemed to start to unravel after Daniel Murphy once again misplayed a ball hit to him, stumbling on the grass and even doing a somersault. Perez then gave up a homer to Jesus Flores. After the Nationals scored a couple of more runs in the third inning, boos could be heard as Perez left the field after the last out. He nodded his head as if to say he agreed with the fans’ assessment.
In the fifth inning, Perez was visibly upset with himself. He almost made you feel sorry for him as he sat on the bench after being taken out but not enough to forget the $36 million contract the Mets gave him to practically be sent down to the minors. Luckily for Perez, the Mets will need him against the Phillies in a weekend series. He’s historically done well against that team.
The Mets could not muster any offense, either, as David Wright struck out a couple more times and Carlos Beltran failed to slide on a stolen base attempt, saying he thought he heard the ball hit the bat. The Mets only had six hits against a rookie pitcher in the form of Jordan Zimmermann and none against a much-maligned bullpen. They continued the trend of not being able to perform well against a pitcher they’ve never seen before.
It only gets harder as the Mets take on the Marlins at Citi Field in a three-game series starting Monday. John Maine is scheduled to pitch.