It's Deja Brew All Over Again

Last night, after struggling to find their offensive groove at Miller Park in Milwaukee, the Mets scored five runs in the eighth inning against Brewers' reliever Kameron Loe to turn a 2-1 deficit into a seemingly comfortable 6-2 lead. The key words are "seemingly" and "comfortable". Because if you've been following the Mets recently, the late innings have been anything but comfortable.

Let's look at the the Mets' last six losses. Methinks you'll be able to notice a pattern in these half-dozen defeats:

• May 27: Mets lead 3-2 in the eighth inning; lose to Phillies, 6-4.
• May 28: Mets lead 2-1 in the eighth inning; lose to Phillies, 5-2.
• May 31: Mets lead 1-0 in the eighth inning; lose to Pirates, 5-1.
• June 1: Mets lead 2-0 in the seventh inning; lose to Pirates, 9-3.
• June 3: Mets lead 3-1 in the eighth inning; lose to Braves, 6-3.
• June 8: Mets lead 6-2 in the eighth inning; lose to Brewers, 7-6.

The Mets haven't exactly been writing the book on how to hold late-inning leads, have they? In fact, the Mets haven't been able to hold on to leads, regardless of the inning, all season. In 18 of their 32 losses, the Mets were in front at some point. However, it's those late-inning losses that everyone seems to remember. Ready for more?

• April 10: Mets lead 3-1 in the eighth inning; lose to Nationals in 11 innings, 7-3.
• April 30: Mets lead 1-0 in the seventh inning; lose to Phillies, 2-1.
• May 16: Mets lead 1-0 in the seventh inning; lose to Marlins in 11 innings, 2-1.
• May 22: Mets lead 3-1 in the seventh inning; lose to Yankees, 9-3.

That's ten losses this season in which the Mets held the lead going into the seventh inning or later, or nearly one-third of their 32 losses. Had they held on to those ten late-inning leads, the Mets would be proud owners of a 39-22 record, which would give them the best record in all of baseball. Even if they had split those ten games, which would still allow for five blown late-inning leads, the Mets would have a 34-27 record and would find themselves in the thick of the National League playoff race. (The Milwaukee Brewers are currently leading the Wild Card race with a 35-27 record.)

But no, the Mets have not won any of those ten games and are now in a position that has become all too familiar to them, fourth place in the NL East with a 29-32 record.

Last night, two swings of the bat from Milwaukee's most famous duo since Laverne & Shirley (Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder) turned a four-run eighth-inning lead into their latest "what if?" loss. It's getting to the point where Lenny and Squiggy could probably lead a late-inning charge against the Mets.

Heck, Nyjer Morgan claimed he didn't even know that his ninth-inning double off Goose Gossage's less successful clone, Dale Thayer, was a walk-off hit. I guess Morgan has been spending too much time as his alter ego on Twitter, Tony Plush. Otherwise, he would have known that blowing late-inning leads has become commonplace for the Mets.

A certain pennant-winning manager for the Mets once said that it's never over 'til it's over. Perhaps the current Mets should heed the philosophical words of that wise man. If they don't do something soon, the 2011 season might be over before it's over.

Baggy Pants And The Nitwits

In Mets history, the term Midnight Massacre refers to the events of June 15, 1977, when the Mets traded away Tom Seaver and Dave Kingman and got Jack Squat in return. 1977 was also the year a short-lived cartoon called "Baggy Pants and The Nitwits" premiered.

After watching the events unfolding at last night's Cubans-Bears game (I mean, Mets-Brewers game), I feel as if the cartoon made its return inside the Mets clubhouse and now it's the fans who want to do a little massacre of their own.

The Mets and Brewers played last night wearing throwback Negro League jerseys, with the Mets dressed in the uniforms of the New York Cubans. The baggy look of the jerseys might have looked cool, but what wasn't cool was the performance of the man who took the mound for the Mets, followed by his replacement's outing, making Jerry Manuel look like a nitwit.

Fernando Nieve might have had success last year in his first three appearances as a starter, but does anyone remember where he came back to earth last year after defeating the Yankees, Rays and Cardinals in succession? That's right, class. It was in Milwaukee against the same Brewers who wore Bears jerseys yesterday.

On June 29, 2009, head nitwit Jerry Manuel tried to use Fernando the Snowman's magic for one start too many and paid the price. The Brewers pounded 11 hits off Nieve in 3.1 innings and gave the Snowman his first loss as a starter for the Mets.

So when Dead Manuel Walking needed a spot starter for last night's game, who did he call upon? None other than the same Fernando Nieve (the reliever formerly known as Fernando Nieve-ryday) who gave up more hits (11) than recorded outs (10) in his last start in Milwaukee.

Nieve now has a career ERA of 7.53 against the Brew Crew and has allowed 22 hits in 14.1 innings. Of those 22 hits, six have been home runs, meaning the photo to the right is not a rare one.

The Head Nitwit had a chance to redeem himself when he removed Nieve from the game after two innings of so-called work. Despite Nieve's best efforts to gift-wrap the game to the Brewers, the Mets were still alive in the game, trailing Milwaukee 5-3. Instead of bringing in a dependable reliever to help shut down the Brewers and give the Mets their best chance to win, he brings in my friend and yours, Oliver Perez.

In true O.P. fashion, he pitched two innings, giving up three runs, three hits and walked two batters. Once he was removed from the game, the Brewers had already put up eight runs on the Mets in four innings.

Still, the Mets were only down 8-6 after four innings. Their offense was doing well against Milwaukee starter Manny Parra and reliever Marco Estrada. Then the men in baggy pants combined to become the greatest nitwits they could be by not hitting for the rest of the game.

The combined efforts of future Hall-of-Famers Todd Coffey, Carlos Villanueva and John Axford combined to retire the final 13 Mets and the Mets fell to the Brewers by that same 8-6 score.

With that loss, the Mets are guaranteed another series loss on the road and will still be searching for their first series win on the road when the calendar flips over to June. After winning five straight games against the defending World Champions and defending National League champions, the Mets went on the road to play the team with the worst home record in baseball. Instead of riding the momentum they had created for themselves, they provided the perfect remedy for the Brewers' home woes.

Corey Hart has proven himself to be larger than life against the Mets' pitching staff, driving in eight of the Brewers' ten runs over the first two games of the series. On a team that has real-life Bears in Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, it's Grizzly Adams that has hurt the Mets the most.

Actually, it's not Corey Hart that has hurt the Mets the most in this series. It's the decision-making of Dead Manuel Walking.

Friday night, Manuel brought in Ryota Igarashi to face Corey Hart after Igarashi had not done well since returing from the disabled list. Bang-zoom. Hart took him deep and the Mets lost the series opener. Then last night, when Fernando Nieve set fire to the Mets' chances of winning, he should never have brought in Oliver Perez to throw his gas upon the flames.

Jerry Manuel should know better than that. Just as the Mets should know better than to give Corey Hart and anyone who wore a Bears jersey for Milwaukee last night meaty pitches to feast upon. We all know Bears love fresh meat. Leave it to Baggy Pants and The Nitwits to provide them with a full picnic basket for them to chow down on.