TO spell out the Met problems, you don’t go A to Z as much as B-to-z.
No players better exemplify the team’s disappointment up to now and the distrust about the next two months better than B-u-r-n-i-t-z and B-e-n-i-t-e-z.
In the opener of a double-header yesterday, Armando Benitez gave up a game-tying homer to slap-hitting Craig Counsell en route to an 8-5, 10-inning Arizona triumph.
In the nightcap, Burnitz low-lighted a full day of miserable play by dropping a second-inning fly to contribute to four unearned runs in what would become a 9-2 Diamondback rout.
The sweep extinguished a day that began with a b-u-z-z at Shea.
A majority of those in attendance departed after the opener of a single-admission twinbill played in oppressive conditions, leaving a crowd small enough for inside jokes at the nightcap.
But did folks flee because of the heat or the futility? After all, the Mets are closer to last in their division (3½ games ahead of Philadelphia) than first in the wild-card race (5½ behind Los Angeles).
Met fans are looking for hope, but they want real hope. When Burnitz batted with two out and two on in the fourth inning of the opener, a Met scoreboard operator looking at a glass half full with rose-colored glasses flashed, “Burnitz is hitting .500 since Wednesday.” That had the same relative meaning as telling me the Dow Jones was up from 3-3:30 p.m. last Tuesday.
Burnitz batted .000 yesterday, going 0-for-8 with four strikeouts to drop his overall average to .206.
Each at-bat, coming and departing the plate, was accompanied by large boos. His only cheers were mocking whenever he caught a fly after his nightcap error. Burnitz, with a swing from a keg league and results that would make a pitcher blush, is now living a Bobby Bonilla existence at Shea.
Yet, the longest sustained disgust was directed at Benitez. Trying to protect a 5-4 lead in the opener, he permitted a ninth-inning leadoff homer to Craig Counsell, pinch-hitting for the first time this year. Counsell came in with one homer in 409 at-bats this season and none in 72 career pinch-hit at-bats.
But this exemplified the players. Counsell has limited tools, yet has thrived in pressure spots for both the 1997 champion Marlins and 2001 champion Diamondbacks.
Benitez, perhaps as skilled as any closer, has been as responsible as anybody for first the Orioles and now the Mets going title-less since 1996.
That he has surrendered four homers in his last six outings suggests he is not to be trusted for the stretch yet again; that he is a pitching bully best against the Marlins in May rather than anything that can be described as pivotal.
“What’s there to defend,” manager Bobby Valentine said of his closer. “He’s been near perfect and gave up a homer. No one is perfect. I know people want him to be perfect. I think he’s doing a pretty damn good job.”
Even with Benitez at his best and Burnitz not continuing to play at his worst, the Mets are going to have difficulties. Since 1996 – the first 162-game season in which the wild card was used – no team has won the NL wild card with fewer than 90 wins.
A team one game over .500 (55-54) after 109 games, the Mets would have to play 17 over the rest of the way (35-18, .660) to reach 90 wins. And who even knows if 90 will be enough?
And can the Mets really even get to 90? Scott Strickland gave up another crushing homer (a 10th-inning, three-run shot by Erubiel Durazo) to decide an opener in which the Mets failed on two sacrifice bunt attempts. In the nightcap, John Thomson had a discouraging Met debut and Roberto Alomar left with a strained left groin.
“For what?” Valentine replied when asked if he contemplates how many wins it will take to make the playoffs.
“I’m going to try to win every game I can possibly win, regardless. That other stuff is for talk radio. When it’s all over, then you know how much it is you need to win.”
But can the Mets win enough if their Killer B’s are killing them?
