Oops! I Forgot The Myrrh.

The New York Magi came into town last night bearing gifts. Gifts the blessed Dodgers seemed reluctant to accept until the 11th inning when they had no choice. The Dodgers offense took the night off and Andre Ethier's ugliness at the plate advanced to the next level. In the 9th inning, Rafael Furcal had one of the worst at bats I've ever seen a non-pitcher take and Matt Kemp and company couldn't touch the dumb-bearded Tim Redding for the shank of the game. But the Blue played well defensively and the Mets could certainly not say the same thing about themselves. They looked like a bunch of clowns with cement oven mitts and Tudor Football quarterback arms. (For those of you who don't remember Tudor Electric Football, the ball was a tiny piece of cotton you fastened to the QB's plastic hand. You pulled the hand back, took aim in the general direction of a receiver, and one time out of a hundred, the ball would hit it's target) Forget the fact that Ryan Church's winning run didn't count because the doofus missed 3rd base. The team couldn't make the plays and handed the Dodgers the game in spite of Joe Torre's overly conservative shenanigans. See, the thing about having Juan Pierre reach base with no one out in the bottom of the ninth in a 2-2 tie is... HE CAN STEAL!!! HOW DO YOU NOT SEND JUAN PIERRE WITH FURCAL AT BAT? HOW DO YOU NOT AT LEAST PUT ON A HIT & RUN???? And why do you waste Broxton in the 9th in a tie and count on Troncoso to get the win? Oddly poor moves by the venerable veteran Torre, and his team did not deserve to win, but win they did, thanks to some good defense, solid pitching from Wolf and the generoisty and insistence of the Mets. (Also, the WORST umpiring I have ever seen, both behind the plate with balls and strikes and at first base. My god! It was brutal.)

Knew Delgado was out, but guess I didn't do my research. I didn't know Reyes was out as well. This Mets team is depleted. Otherwise, I don't think the Dodgers stand a chance the way they're hitting. They look tired. I don't blame them. Their schedule is pretty grueling right now. As always, with their ace, Billingsley going tonight, the team needs to win. Gonna be tough, because depleted or not, the Mets should be pissed off. Hopefully, Blake will be back in the lineup. They need him. Once the leading power team in the NL, the Blue have quietly fallen down toward the middle. With Manny behind virtual bars, its hard for him to hit HR's, chemically enhanced or otherwise. Blake leads the team with 8 dongs, Ethier, who's in the worst slump I've ever seen - what is he, like, 2 for his last 5O? - is stuck at 6 with Manny, while Kemp has a mere 4, Loney a couple and Martin, none. So much for 4 guys with 30 at year's end, but they still have the best record in the Bigs. Outside of Juan and the "O" Dog, they've become a team of .270 hitters with no pop. Their starting pitching, as I've said all along, is iffy and their bullpen is even iffier. Yet, somehow, they have the lowest ERA in baseball and they're mysteriously managing to win games. Manny will miss another 39 games, and this team shows all the earmarks of a run on the bank. I hate to be a doomsayer, but the math seems to indicate a bad losing streak unless guys like Andre and Kemp can snap out of it and unless Kershaw has arrived and Wolf pitches like he did the last few games for the rest of the year. Any team with a starting rotation that includes 2 of the following: Jeff Weaver, Erics Stults and Milton, cannot possibly be championship bound. Don't misunderstand me. I like this Dodger team. I think they're a very good team, but flawed. Right now, anyway, they're clearly is benefitting from the luck of the Irish.