I can't defend Ike Davis anymore.

I didn't think Davis needed to go down to Buffalo last season. And he proved me correct as he turned it on against the Tampa Bay Rays in June and never looked back. Now? He might have to go to Las Vegas for a couple of weeks. I don't care if he actually plays baseball while in Vegas. For all I care he could spend the time playing baccarat in the Bellagio and partying with inexpensive hookers. (Because you know the Wilpons wouldn't spend the money on high class escorts.)

It's one thing for Ike Davis to strike out a thousand times in 138 at bats. It's quite another to take his problems out into the field with him. And it isn't even like balls are clanging off Ike's glove. These aren't errors that Ike is making. These are what Keith Hernandez used to call "vapor locks". Daydreaming around first base and getting tagged for interference, and then Wednesday ... going after a ball that was topped down the line on an awkward swing by Brandon Phillips, and letting the ball go down the line because he assumed Phil Cuzzi would call it foul. So basically, when Bobby Parnell needed an out with the go-ahead run on third base, Davis let the ball go down the line instead of just catching it. He just let the winning run score.

I could deal with Ike falling on his face going after the ball ... but go after the ball! Go after the ball instead of letting it go and then looking at the umpire with that clueless idiot look on your face which is a combination of Rich Kotite and Wade Phillips. Absolutely inexcusable. And if he's doing this because his thinking too much at the plate is causing him to think too much in the field ... and that's what that was, thinking too much ... then he needs to go. Get away. Learn how to play the game as opposed to think the game. Or something. I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking whether he's overthinking or not. But something has to be done here for his own sake, not to mention everybody's sanity.

No, I don't want Justin Turner to play first base for a week. No, I don't want to have to get excited over Josh Satin. Yes, I know there's no great option coming up from the minors. Ike Davis was that option. And that's the point. We're now talking about a guy's career here. It's a career where the sky is the limit. And he's wasting it swinging at junk and just trying to be a home run hitter, when he has the talent to be so much more yet he's throwing it away. If two weeks in Vegas snaps his mind and his swing into place, it's a chance worth taking. Maybe his mind will snap into place when he's on that five and a half hour plane ride to McCarron Airport wondering how he got there.

Here's a true story: Last night I was talking with a guy who actually covers sports for a living. And he told me of a question that he asked tennis player Mardy Fish to the effect of "at what point to you stop being just another guy on the tour and start becoming a player that others fear". Fish's reply was "What, you think I suck?" And since then, Fish's game got a lot better and he started making more noise on the tour. Perhaps somebody, besides the 17,000 to 25,000 that come to Citi Field every game, needs to tell Ike Davis that he sucks. But instead of the words "you suck", this conversation needs to contain the words "we're sending you down for a little while." Whether he gets the message, or he finds some relief in all this, something's gotta happen. Because I think we're down to the last resort with Davis.

I can't defend Ike Davis anymore. Not if he refuses to defend a simple ground ball.

Okay. It's 3:30 in the morning, and for some stupid reason I'm watching Tuesday's Mets loss ... a game in which I knew going in that they scored zero runs. As much as I want to analyze this game fairly and give an honest assessment of what is wrong with the Mets, the first question I have to ask is ... what the hell is wrong with me watching this stupid team play this stupid game at 3:30 in the f*cking morning???

Also, I had a few paragraphs written on this game, and it got wiped out due to stupidity. So I'm trying again. The stuff I previously wrote probably sucked. But it was still better than anything that Ike Davis has done on the field this season. Still ... I only meant to watch the top of the first inning so that I could skewer the Mets on that alone. It's 3:35 and I've actually made it to the top of the eighth. There's something seriously wrong with me. I was told recently that if I write a book, it should be a self-help book ... on how to deal with being a Mets fan. How the hell can I help anybody when I don't even know how to turn away from a game that might be the polar opposite of what is exciting and thrilling about baseball? This game could put an insomniac to sleep, and I've actually watched seven full innings of this garbage, and have written two separate blogs about it. At three in the morning. I'd have more fun performing self acupuncture with butter knives than I am watching Ike Davis suck and Lucas Duda roam the outfield like a water buffalo stuck in a cement mixer. Oh, and Daniel Murphy batting leadoff because Michael Bourn chose to make his living in Cleveland. But hey, Rick Ankiel!!! What the f**k is wrong with me watching this horrible team play horrible baseball at damn near four in the morning? Especially when I have to wake up soon so I can go see Matt Harvey lose a 1-0 game because this team can't hit. I'm the guy that's going to write a self-help book? Here's how late it is and how screwed up I am: Every time I go to type the word "write", I end up typing "wright". Every ... single ... time. And I'm going to help people??? Self help from the man who can't help himself? Oh look, Devin Mesoraco just hit the freakin' moon!

You want self-help? Here it is: This team will kill me one day. Don't let them kill you.

Rolling
I see the sphere rolling
White on red on green
The convergence of colors takes me to a special place
When life seemed uncomplicated
And I reflect on where my life went wrong as green turns to red turns to white
Converging to turn into one color
Representing the sunset of my life

This was written by Ike Davis ... in his head ... as he was watching Joey Votto's hit roll down the right field line. Ike Davis? Poet? It's as good an excuse as any as to why Davis didn't bother to move away from first base as Votto was rounding it, causing Votto to be awarded second base on the rarely invoked "Slumping First Baseman Who Is Taking His Problems To The Field With Him's Interference". And it helped to kick off a game which was positively absurd ... except for the loss, which was totally expected.

Shaun Marcum couldn't quite work around Davis' foray into the other world as Brandon Phillips drove home a run with a single, and Jay Bruce drove two home with a double. Marlon Byrd tied the game in the fourth with a three run HR, but Marcum ... who had danced around a Reds threat in the fifth, gave up the lead for good by giving up a home run to Bruce, who is slowly becoming the new Mets killer. Consider: In 110 at bats against the Mets in his career, Bruce has 17 HR's. Work that out to Bruce's 162 game average of 590 at-bats, Bruce would have 91 home runs over a full season if all he faced was Mets pitching.

Then you had LaTroy Hawkins' ejection in the seventh, as he and Tom Hallion argued about everything that happened in the seventh between pitch location, a ball that hit the knob of Phillips' bat, and presumably what font to print their party invitations in.

The Mets' last shot was in the ninth, but they went down 1-2-3 against Aroldis Chapman. On Monday night, Chapman exposed two huge Mets weaknesses. First one being the Mets striking out at an alarming rate, as Chapman struck out Mets batters number 363 and 364 on the season. Second, it exposed the Mets lack of foresight as they failed to leave boxes of eclairs from Mama's of Corona in front of Chapman's locker. Chapman reportedly pigged out on Cuban pastries before Sunday's game against the Phillies when he gave up two straight dingers to lose the game. He reportedly downed 18 of the tasty treats before the game. To blow a game against the Mets though, Chapman would have had to go on Jonathan Broxton's pregame diet: 18 pastries, and three live oxen. At least it was worth trying. But the Mets, like their first baseman, were caught daydreaming.

Everybody is focusing on the fact that the Mets don't have a victory following a Matt Harvey start this season, and are 3-16 in those situations lifetime. It's like a Matt Harvey start is washing down five hour energy with a Red Bull and a shot of heroin. The crash after that is brutal ... so I've heard.

The good news is that the Mets are 12-7 in games following Jeremy Hefner starts, so that's gotta mean something, right? Right? RIGHT???

Rather than look for a deeper meaning other than "Jeremy Hefner is atrocious" (which he really hasn't been), 3-16 is probably nothing more than a random sample of simply: "The Mets just aren't any good." Perhaps rather than look at a random stat like that, let's look at what you would say about a team that loses a game because their four and five hitters can't be bothered to drive in a run from scoring position, while when presented with the same situation, the Cubs pitcher drives a ball over the right fielder's head.

The Mets radio team noted during the game that had the Mets drove in their runners in scoring position in innings one and two like the Cubs had later in the game, it would have been a much different ballgame. Turns out they were right. The Mets would have tortured their fan base with an 8-6 loss rather than just losing quietly, 8-2, as they did. I'd like to take this opportunity to applaud the Mets for giving Met fans an opportunity to hold on to whatever remains of their sanity.

Most likely no post to discuss the Sunday game. I am attempting to build and operate a time machine to go back to 1969 and keep the Mets from trading Amos Otis for Joe Foy.

So ... Sports Illustrated. You thought you had this one sewn up, didn't you. You thought your evil plan to further plunge the Mets into darkness by putting their ace pitcher on your cover was going to work like a charm when he gave up two runs to the Chicago Cubs in the first inning he pitched since appearing ... on said cover.

But here's what you didn't count on: You didn't count on the fact that Matt Harvey is impervious to your jinxes. All of them. He pitches one hitters with a bloody nose for crissakes. You think a cover is going to stop him? What, because of a long standing jinx that has tripped up the likes of Ken Norton, Lee Trevino, and the Cleveland Indians?

Ha! You're going to have to rethink your strategy, Sports Illustrated. Maybe hire some more competent shamans or get some better help than the Psychic Friends Network. Because after those two runs that Harvey gave up (which really shouldn't have been his runs, because there should have been an error on Ike Davis on that throw from Tejada ... bad as it was, can you stretch a little bit, Ike? It's not like anybody is asking you to do something impossible like cure cancer, split the atom, or make contact ... you're the defensive wizard, catch the ball!!!), Harvey was nothing short of incredible: retiring 20 of 21, and driving in the winning run in the seventh with an RBI single. The two things he accomplished during Friday's 3-2 win against the Cubs are thus: He made the game feel nothing like a game where you expected the Mets to screw up, though they almost did right after Harvey left when Scott Rice gave up a base hit which would have scored the tying run from second if not for Marlon Byrd chucking said tying run out at the plate. And two, he stared down your jinx, Sports Illustrated, and spit blood in its face.

In fact, bring on any jinx you want, Matt Harvey will beat it. In fact, lookee here:

Matt Harvey is on the cover of Madden 13. You know that jinx, right? Michael Vick, Brett Favre, Eddie George ... yes, that jinx. And hey, nothing bad has happened, has it? If anybody can beat the Madden Jinx, it's one Matt Harvey.

Oh hey, he's just won the Heisman. Many players who have won the Heisman have gone on to non-descript careers at best, non-careers at worst. Eric Crouch, Gino Toretta, Rashaan Salaam, Chris Weinke, Matt Leinart, they're all here and more. And Matt Harvey, who won the Heisman with a record of pure awesomeness, has ended this curse once and for all. Future Heisman winners who go on to Hall of Fame NFL careers have Matt Harvey to thank.

And what's this? Ted McGinley is playing Matt Harvey in a sitcom? The same Ted McGinley who joined the casts of Married With Children, The Love Boat, Happy Days, only to see them end? Well, this could be tricky. But I'm sure that Harvey will end this too by being around for a while. Besides, McGinley was on those three shows a total of 14 seasons. I'll gladly take that from Harvey.

Long form interviews during the middle of a baseball game are stupid. SNY has an hour for pre-game, extensive post game horror (for losses), and yet they feel the need to steal a starting pitcher during the third inning to chat with him for five minutes about stuff we could just as easily learn in the pre-game. The game is the only reason we care about anything that these players have to say, and we're missing it to hear them say it.

And yet when I heard Niese on Wednesday during one of these interviews discuss how his bullpen session in St. Louis wasn't cut short for the first time pretty much all season, I was intrigued. Despite the fact that these interviews are totally misplaced, I actually learned something. And it gave me hope. Could Dan Warthen have actually found something that could have unlocked something in Niese that would put the shaky start to his season behind him?

Well, Niese's seven and 1/3's innings on Thursday would tell you yes. Of course, I'm just as willing to believe that Jon actually thawed out from all those outings in the rain, sleet, snow, hail, and tundra long enough to stretch his muscles out to an appropriate length as I am to believe that Dan Warthen actually came up with something useful. The length of the outing was fine enough with the bullpen ground to the nub. But the quality was also much needed as Niese only gave up six hits, two walks, and two hits in his seven plus innings which led them to a 5-2 victory that avoided an embarrassing four game Cardinals sweep.

And full marks to Daniel Murphy, who since I called him out has gone 10 for 16 against St. Louis, and 4 for 4 on Thursday. The other guy I called out hasn't fared so well.

On May 10th, Ike Davis was hitting .190 ... his averaged has dropped 33 points since then, and he's struck out ten times. Four times on Thursday. That's right ... golden sombrero, boys and girls. And Lucas Duda, who I really wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to this season, and who started well, is hitting .211. (I tried. I really tried.) But at least the Mets go into Wrigley Field with a victory. And with Matt Harvey going today, this could actually turn into a two game winning streak. Savor those as they come this season, kids.

Signs that your season is going down the tubes: Your announcer reacts to a game losing wild pitch in the seventh inning by simply sighing and saying "oh boy." And I don't know if any flowery language from me can sum up Wednesday night's dumpster fire than that.

Shaun Marcum was solid through six and 2/3's which turned out to be his unofficial introduction to the 2013 season. He even survived a mini-disaster in the fourth inning when Jon Jay hit an RBI double with two outs and was a dead duck going to third. But David Wright dropped the tag, Jay went to third, and then scored on a Tony Cruz single because heaven forbid a hilarious mistake doesn't turn into a run for the opposition.

Then after Rick Ankiel also welcomed himself to the Mets with a two run home run to tie the game, the seventh inning happened. First two outs happen with no problem. Then Marcum walks Daniel Descalso and Dan Warthen comes out to talk to him for some unknown reason. Then, as is always the case, the first pitch after Warthen's visit results in a terrible outcome ... this time a single by Pete Kozma. So Marcum leaves, and Scott Rice comes in for the 100th time this season. First pitch? You got it, wild pitch. Cardinals take the lead for good for the Mets' sixth straight loss. Oh boy.

But the worst part might have been the insurance run. It was a Yadier Molina pinch hit single, where he got a fabulous ovation from the incessantly discussed Cardinal fan base when he strode to the plate. Then he got the hit to drive home the fourth run and I wanted to vomit. Lots of vitriol on Twitter for Yadier, yet when he comes to the plate at Citi Field I seem to be the only one that boos him, because nobody pays attention until the Kiss Cam comes on. You people on Twitter need to buy more tickets.

There's plenty available.

Well congratulations, New York media. You have your circus. I'm happy for you. Hell, now you don't have to spend hours upon hours trying to give us interesting storylines in a season where the Mets are going to get pummeled every night that Matt Harvey isn't pitching. Now you have this story that just won't die ... Jordany Valdespin.

The latest twist to the whole showboat/plunking story revolves around Terry Collins responding to a media question about fans thinking that he sent Valdespin up to the plate to be a bullseye on Saturday:

"I don’t answer to fans. They don’t play this game. They have no idea what goes on. They have no idea what goes on in there. They have absolutely no idea what it means to be a professional teammate at this level."  

It didn't go over well. Fans went ballistic thinking they were dissed, and even some reporters compared the road Collins is taking to other roads paved out of town. Now I'm a fan. I've been a fan for more than 30 years. Trust me when I advise you to take a step back here: Nothing that Collins said was false or insulting. It sounded harsh. It came off as intentionally burning our fingers against the stove to teach us not to go near the stove. But Collins is absolutely right. We have no idea what is going on in that room. That's not an insult ... that's fact. This isn't Rey Ordonez calling Met fans "stupid". Collins is just telling the truth. There's a difference, so let's stop blurring the line.

Here's the bottom line, as I see it: This discussion about Jordany Valdespin has evolved from a discussion about Valdespin's exuberance, and into a discussion about whether he's a good teammate. It's silly to frown on exuberance. I'm always on the side of enjoying the game. I loved Jose Reyes. I love choreographed handshakes. Baseball is a fun game. JV1 wants to clap after a triple, let him. No problem with that. Showboating, like after the home run Friday night, kinda sorta crosses the line, but it's still not a reason for anybody to fly off the handle.

But one thing you absolutely have to be in sports, especially if you're just a regular player, is a good teammate. Being a bad teammate won't be tolerated unless you're Barry Bonds. Jordany Valdespin is a decent major league with some tools that might grow if he plays more and if he works at it. Nothing more. But on this roster of poop he's been elevated to being compared to Reyes. He's not. Nowhere close. And if he's a bad teammate, he's not going to get the benefit of the doubt with playing time, or respect. That's just the way it is.

Before Valdespin left the ballpark on Saturday, teammate Juan Lagares asked him for a ride home, according to a clubhouse source. Ever since Lagares arrived from the minor leagues on April 23, Valdespin has tried to force the outfielder to fetch him coffee and run other minor errands that rookies are often asked to perform for veterans, according to that same source (last year, Valdespin made enemies by demanding, unsuccessfully, that veterans buy him clothing). Because Valdespin has himself only been in the major leagues since 2012, Lagares has at times refused to comply with his demands. So on Saturday, Valdespin said no, he would not give Lagares a ride home. Fortunately, Ruben Tejada volunteered.  

Assuming this is true, and assuming JV1 didn't have a good reason for refusing to drive Lagares home such as "you live in Jersey and my house is in Hartford" ... if this was your teammate, and he pulled this, you'd think he was quite the dick, no? How would you feel? Guy who hasn't been in the league much longer than Lagares and he's big leaguing him? And there are plenty of other whispers about him so you'd have to think that Lagares stranded on the side of the Grand Central somewhere isn't an isolated incident.

Should Valdespin play more? Sure. But if he's a bad teammate then he's going to have a problem in that regard. Right or wrong, that's the issue. It's a different situation because this team is terrible while the mid 80's teams were anything but, however: a significant reason that those 80's teams became fractured was because of the front office and ownership coddling Gregg Jefferies. The other 24 on the team were pissed off at Jefferies for acting like the big-time prospect that he was, and it broke apart the clubhouse and that was the beginning of the end. (It probably played a part in the Dykstra McDowell Samuel trade, and we saw how that went.) The JV1 thing is a unique situation, as all situations of this kind are unique in their own way. Because who cares if this current team gets broken apart, right? And this team also doesn't have the alpha personalities that the late 80's team did. But the Gregg Jefferies situation should remind us that the inmates can't run the asylum, whether he should be playing instead of Rick Ankiel or not. (And yes, he should.)

This seems like the situation that Steve Phillips had told us he feared with Alex Rodriguez, the whole 24-and-1 thing. Now  putting aside the fact that Rodriguez likes to sun himself like a lizard in Central Park, cheat on his wife with strippers, and commission paintings of himself as a Minotaur, who would you tolerate a 24-and-1 situation for more: Alex Rodriguez in his prime or Jordany Valdespin?

Should Collins have come off as so frustrated? Probably not. But let's face it: He's got a sub-par roster and this is the first season that he hasn't been able to squeeze more juice out of them than everybody expected, and he's frustrated. I'm surprised this hasn't happened more often, to be quite honest with you. I'm sure he knew what he was getting into, and I'm sure he's had no delusions of grandeur with the limited talent on this roster. But I'm sure that the realization that this season is going to be over sooner rather than later is taking its toll on him. And I think that bothers him more than the fact that the season might cost him his job when its all said and done. And if this situation is bothering him, and most importantly the rest of the team so much that it is a distraction for all involved, then trade him. Get rid of him. If this distraction is media driven then that's another story. But Collins had it right: He's gotta worry about the people in that clubhouse. Not the fans, and not the media. He doesn't manage us, or them. And if the team is truly distracted, then JV1 has gotta go for the sake of everybody's sanity.

Except mine, because it is already gone. It left long ago watching this team play game after game after game that's over after the third inning, where Robert Carson is walking pitchers and giving up bombs to everybody else, and we have to listen to Gary and Keith have long conversations about the hierarchy of Keith's highlighters. And I don't have to know what's going on in the clubhouse to know what's going on between the lines. And between the lines, this team stinks. I know this because I completely saw Tuesday night's game coming ... losing to a guy making his major league debut whose numbers would have been closer to what I predicted had it not been for the Cardinals botching a rundown.

At least Harvey is pitching on Friday, what could possibly go wrong?

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED JINX!!!!! NOW HE'S GOING TO BE SWALLOWED UP BY THE IVY NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN AS HE'S GOING TO LIVE WITH ANDRE DAWSON IN FANTASY LAND!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?????

The funniest part of Sunday's game was before the game when Andrew Brown told Kevin Burkhardt that while most hitters love the dry air and the high altitudes of Las Vegas and the rest of the PCL, Brown hated Vegas because their fans aren't real baseball fans, and they just come to heckle the home team after a night of gambling (losing) and carousing. Oh, the fun times that produced.

But then, in a moment that would make Alanis Morrisette's dark heart quiver ...

Andrew Brown shaking hands with people and leaving. No announcement yet. #mets

— Mike Kerwick (@mikekerwick) May 13, 2013

We all know what that means. It means he's going back to Vegas to deal with the hecklers. Poor Andrew Brown ... not even 24 hours after he torches Vegas, back he goes! He thought the heckling was bad before? Oh man.

But why was Brown leaving? Who was coming?

Mets sign Rick Ankiel, and he is starting in CF.say.ly/lCk5Oya

— Kevin Burkhardt (@KBurkhardtSNY) May 13, 2013

What? Ankiel? We're signing Astros castoffs now? Tony Eusebio wasn't available?

The funniest part of this, besides the fact that the signing was announced just three hours or so before game time and already he was starting in center field as if he was Ultimate Warrior waiting to save Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 8, was Terry Collins trying to rationalize the move:

"Maybe a change of scenery right now is good for him to get him going."

Also:

Terry Collins on Rick Ankiel, alluding to time with #Nats: "We can't get him out." #mets

— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) May 13, 2013

Okay first off, this is Ankiel's sixth team in five years. He's changed sceneries more than a wedding planner working for Bridezilla. That's not the problem. Second, the Mets couldn't get him out when he was with the Nationals because they couldn't get anybody out. So, not the best barometer there, Terry. Ankiel played for the Nats in 2011 and 2012. In 2012 he went 0 for 5 against the Mets but in 2011 he had 62 plate appearances for the Nats against New York and hit  .304 ... a season in which he hit .239 overall. This same season, the Mets were 13th in the N.L. in ERA, and 15th in total hits given up. So I'm pretty sure that the Mets in 2011 couldn't get me out, which would have led to Sandy Alderson signing me to play the outfield. So it's flawed logic and coach speak from the manager. And we see right through it. But thanks for playing.

Oh, and Ankiel has no shoes or equipment. Borrowing everything tonight. #Mets

— Kevin Burkhardt (@KBurkhardtSNY) May 13, 2013

Terrific. But hey, it's only for one game until UPS gets their act together, right? What could possibly go wrong?

After borrowing and then feeling uncomfortable using Scott Rice's glove while shagging pregame, Ankiel instead borrowed a glove from Jonathon Niese. The normally solid defensive center fielder then dropped Ty Wigginton's sinking liner in the seventh inning while lunging forward. The shot, which popped out of the borrowed glove, was ruled a double. Wigginton eventually scored the tiebreaking run on an odd play as the Mets lost Ankiel's debut, 6-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night at Busch Stadium.

Oh, using a pitcher's glove for lack of a better option. I hate when that happens.

"All my stuff got stuck in Houston," Ankiel said. "I don't know what happened with the mail there or whatever, but we're on a borrow program tonight. Hopefully whatever stuff I borrow has some hits in it."

Well there were no hits for you, but the stuff sure as hell had a hit for Ty Wigginton, didn't it.

Let's face it, Ankiel has one job here ... and that's to play defense. Make spectacular catches and gun down runners at a moment's notice. Because the man can't hit. This makes Ankiel the lefty Jeff Francoeur ... Jeff Frankiel, if you will. He took the number 16 because he loved Doc Gooden. And he seems to want to match Doc's 276 strikeouts from 1984 for the rest of the season (the count is at two after Monday's game). But if that's the case with Ankiel, then why couldn't they just let Lagares play every day? He's the same type of player that Ankiel provides no significant upgrade from.

Full disclosure: When Angel Pagan fell apart in 2011 and it was apparent that he had to go, I thought Ankiel was an acceptable option. But with Lagares here, and Matt den Dekker on the way, and Ankiel getting worse by the year, he is a redundant roster filler who somehow let his equipment get stuck in Houston helping the Mets to lose a game. Must not have been room in his carry on bag for his mitt with all the suntan lotion he has. He should share some with Andrew Brown for his trip back to Vegas.

You know me. You read me long enough and you pretty much know which direction I'm going to go. And in the past, I'd be cursing our luck thinking about that play in the eighth inning where Lucas Duda grounded one off first base, high into the air, and into the second baseman's glove who easily threw out Duda because he's slow enough to gather moss. All this with the tying and go ahead runs in scoring position.

But first off, if Duda's ground ball doesn't hit the bag, the first baseman is right there and the inning would have been over anyway. And second, how about Ike Davis gets a hit once in a while? If he does his job then Duda's pinball job doesn't hurt the Mets. And you could probably say that about a handful of games this season where if Ike does what he's supposed to do, the Mets pull it out. Or even if Ike decides "hey lookie, the third baseman is playing me in section 112, maybe a bunt would be a good idea here in the eighth inning" that would have worked too! No. Ike strikes out for the 4,000th time this week and makes everybody's mom cry on Mother's Day.

The runner on third was Daniel Murphy after a double in the eighth. But that was his first hit in 17 at bats, and his average has dropped 71 points in two and a half weeks. You know how Tony D'Amato once said that the inches we need are everywhere around us? This team isn't missing by inches. Missing by inches is a missed cutoff man, or a balk, or getting thrown out stealing. The Mets right now missing by yards. When players who are supposed to perform flat out don't perform, that's missing by yards. The inches they need are everywhere. But the Mets can't even get the yards they need by performing the basics. Like hitting.

Matt Harvey gave up two runs in a rough third inning. As noted by the SNY crew, the crowd fell eerily silent. Could it have been the loft standards Harvey has set for himself? Or could it be that SNY treats every Harvey start as if it's the playoffs? I think more the latter than the former, but that's an aside. Here's the main point: In Harvey's last 16 innings he's given up two runs, six hits, and has only walked two. And he doesn't have one win. Why? Because this team can't hit. And I'm looking straight at you: Ike and Daniel. Collins has tried Murphy third, Davis seventh, and back to second and fourth again. Nothing. What else can Terry do besides choose the lineup out of a smelly hat? Hit the ball. 

And Harvey won't be able to save the Mets in the next four games. Take a look at the SNY graphic:

Holy crap ... we're screwed! And you know the worst part of these matchups is that even if the Mets pull one or two out of the fire in this four game set, you know they're not winning the game against the guy making his major league debut. They might win Monday's game against Lynn, and they might shock everyone and beat Adam Wainwright, because nothing the Mets do makes complete sense. But John Gast? The minor league player of the month in April making his debut? No shot. None. Six innings, three hits, two walks, one run. Written in the stars.