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Well, the Mets and Terry Collins pulled out all the stops to finally win a game after about 7 excruciating losses in a row.  They did it not by eliminating relief appearances per se but by inserting starters in relief roles.  Gee, do you think Terry is sending a message?

I get it, Terry.  Hopefully, some of your relievers are tuned in.  The one true reliever Collins did use was K-Rod, and, after providing a little angst of his own, Rodriguez finally closed the game and the losing streak out.  Thank the pitching gods he didn’t choose to throw a strike to Chipper, the Mets-killer.  I’ll take a little angst, and Chipper on first, rather than a game-tying dinger just about anytime.

Meanwhile, Dillon Gee finally got his chance and absolutely made the most of it.  Assuming that yesterday’s performance wasn’t a total aberration, that makes three starters Mets fans can count on half the time.  Those would be Dickey, Niese and Gee.  The supposed ace of the staff is still doing his best John Maine impersonation and Chris Young will hopefully return soon.

The lineup I so looked forward to seeing in the spring has yet to take the field, thanks of course to the fragile one, poor baby Jason Bay.  God forbid his intercostals should give a little twinge.  Meanwhile, even without Bay’s seeming abdication of his responsibility to the Mets, two players I thought I could count on, Angel Pagan and David Wright, have totally stunk out the joint.

Wright plays only for himself.  No matter what the situation, he’ll be swinging for that right field fence every time up.  This isn’t lost on opposing pitchers, of course, so they’ll keep taking advantage of Wright’s stupidity and arrogance. So Wright will just keep striking out or flying out to right until he’s hopefully traded.

Angel Pagan has been horrible.  He looks totally uncomfortable at the plate, all scrunched up in his ridiculous crouch, taking the good pitches while waiting for a suddenly timid Reyes, except for yesterday, finally attempt a steal.  Reyes finally seems to have gotten over his hesitation and hopefully a resurgence of Pagan’s bat will follow.

Of course, all things haven’t been bad but you can’t win if only 3 or 4 players are pulling their weight.  The only Mets anyone could possibly be happy with have been Ike Davis, Carlos Beltran, Josh Thole and Jose.  None of the second basemen are working out, neither the vapid David Murphy nor the light-hitting Brad Emaus.  I make myself sick rooting for Willie Harris to get another big hit.  That’s totally absurd.  I can’t sustain any interest this way.  I’d rather watch some more pleasant comedy series.

I just heard that Bay will give things a try this Thursday against Houston.  What a guy!  I just wish Madoff had taken Bay’s millions.  He certainly hasn’t done anything to deserve such good fortune.  To quote Ralph Kramden, “the applicant is a BUM”.

Things are seldom as bad as they seem though.  After all, the opponents have been mostly tough ones, the Rockies, the Braves and even the Marlins have very good pitching. In fact, the only putrid series result was the loss to Washington, a team that, while better this year than in previous seasons, is still not the equal, all things considered, of the Mets.

Another disturbing thing has been the Mets propensity for making the big mistake.  Daniel Murphy has the baseball instincts of a cockroach, not that that makes any sense at all, but I did pick the right bug.  There’s no rally killer like the guy with his head up his butt on the bases. 

But Pagan has looked terrible in center and Beltran has looked awful in right.  Is Willie Harris really our best outfielder?  Omigosh!

Notwithstanding all the Mets foibles, they have to look better against the upcoming Astros, D-Backs and Nationals than they have versus the Rockies and Braves.  Maybe all the Mets will get their confidence back when matched against opponents they think they can beat, starting with Mike Pelfrey, who never seems confident about anything.

Not that he should.  That he won 15 games last year is a mystery to me, except that I do recall his ball sinking a lot and yet still maintaining control.  That guy is gone.  On a team that needs some leadership, the veterans are badly letting their teammates down.  Of the core players, only Jose Reyes has shown himself to be the same guy he was in some (well, a couple anyway)of his wonder years.

And I wonder how much Collins has to do with this lackluster play.  Is he one of those managers that veterans find impossible to play for?  That was supposedly his history.  And I could well believe it.  You won’t find a more boring speaker, one who says the same thing over and over and over again.  I find myself wishing he’d use a synonym once in a while.

In any event, this Mets team is clearly not having a good time, not enjoying the game, and not playing aggressively.  They’re playing like a bunch of guys just going through the motions.  It’s really hard to watch a team like that.  Compare that lassitude to the Rangers or the Rockies or even the Phillies.  There’s just no comparison.

And let’s stop the nonsense about Daniel Murphy.  Yeah, yeah, he’s a nice guy, I’m sure, and nobody tries harder, yada yada, but the man can’t play the game.  How many years of stupid clumsy baseball do we have to see from this guy before we get him out?  I’ve had it with Murphy; his time is up.

Bring back that smooth-fielding little guy who played second base last year.  Luis started to hit toward the end of the year and he was a terrific defender to watch, a guy who could turn the momentum of a game with a magic glove and good arm.

Come on, Alderson.  Do something.