I hate games like this.

When Jon Niese was hit in the ankle in the third inning by Mark Ellis and had to leave the game on Tuesday, with Clayton Kershaw on the other side, I was thinking, "well, this game is shot to hell, so I'll save my angst for what the Rangers do against the Panthers, or better yet I'll save my angst for a double dose of explosion on Thursday for Jeremy Hefner and the manner in which the Jets screw up the draft."

But then the Mets rallied in the third inning against Kershaw, previously 5-0 with a 1.37 ERA against the Mets in his career. And Robert Carson, just called up to take over for the recently jettisoned into outer space DFA'd Aaron Laffey, was holding the fort down pretty well under unusual circumstances. The hope that maybe the Mets can steal this game started to ascend. The struggles of the $783 billion payroll of the L.A. Dodgers started to manifest before the eyes of the throngs of people at Citi Field. (Term "throngs" used very loosely ... it was more like one throng.) There was a distinct possibility that Don Mattingly would be fired by the sixth inning and replaced with Willie Randolph.

But then Carson gave up a home run to Mark Ellis. Then Brandon Lyon gave up a three run homer to ... F'ing Mark Ellis. Then Josh Edgin gave up a two run double to A.J. Ellis. Then Dock Ellis came in high on LSD and gave up a grand slam to Ellis Valentine while he was wearing that chin bar, and the game was over ... and I had to reserve some angst for the Mets after all. Point being, I wish Kershaw had just run over the Mets and pitched 8 shutout innings, I would have felt a hell of a lot better about things. Instead, players that had a job to do and weren't put too far out of their way to do it like Brandon Lyon couldn't get it done. Niese's injury isn't an excuse. Brandon Lyon came into the game in the seventh inning. He wasn't asked to perform this Herculean task or do anything that was out of his realm like, say, Carson might have been on Tuesday. He wasn't facing Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier. He gave up a hit to Justin Sellers, walked Juan Uribe, and gave up a three run HR to Mark Ellis.

And then Edgin in the eighth. He pitched a third of an inning and gave up two runs, and his ERA is 10.80. Terry Collins for one, is concerned.

"One of the things that I am just a little bit concern about -- and I've seen it before, and we've mentioned it -- is a young pitcher like that, last year he got into a lot of games. He had a lot of appearances. He had a lot of games he warmed up and maybe didn't get in. All of those can lead to the next year just not having your arm respond right away. I've been there before where I've seen that. And I'm a little concerned that might be what we're facing here."  

Yeah, Terry. I mean, who asked him to go into all these games after going from A ball to the majors in a span of 10 months? How dare he put himself into so many games and warm up when nobody asked him to. I mean ...

Oh wait, that was YOOOOOOOOOOOOU! YOU put him into all these games and are now wondering how something you've seen a million times before could possibly happen for the 1,000,001st time. Excuse me while I bang my head against the wall 84 times hoping that the 85th time will result in me winning Powerball.

So the Mets finally get to Clayton Kershaw, only to be taken to the woodshed by two guys named Ellis who aren't even related. The good news is that Matt Harvey starts tonight against L.A., but with Niese going down and all this chaos going on around him, you couldn't blame him if he started to feel like he was starring in Final Destination: Flushing. And give SNY credit, they know how to butter their bread. You have Matt Harvey "Next Start Tomorrow" graphics coming up on the screen during Tuesday's game like it was a 24 promo ubiquitously appearing during an episode of The Simpsons. And you also had a good chunk of the post game show hyping Harvey's start the next day. And guaranteed a good chunk of Thursday's pre-game show will focus on what Harvey did the night before, good or bad. It's almost like if you squint hard while looking at your television, Harvey actually starts three out of every five games. Oh how we all wish that could happen.

This is a feral cat. New York City has way too many feral cats roaming the streets. Organizations such as NYC Feral Cat Initiative are working to help the problem through their Trap, Neuter, Return program. There are ways that you can help their efforts through volunteering or through donations.

This is Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals. Werth was officially classified as "feral" by Mets radio announcer Josh Lewin. Werth is making $16 million this season, and $20 million next season. So he doesn't need your donations. Despite that, if Werth were to groom just a little bit, he might be as well kempt as the feral cat you see above. The only thing neutered at Citi Field on Sunday was the Nationals chances of winning when Werth swung at a 3-0 pitch from Scott Rice with runners on first and second, down two runs, and Bryce Harper on deck. It helped secure a 2-0 win for the Mets and for Dillon Gee, who has rebounded nicely in throwing 5 and 2/3's shutout innings (with help from LaTroy Hawkins in the sixth.) John Buck also activated his special lizard skin power for his seventh home run of the season.

Jayson Werth called swinging 3-0 in the 8th "probably one of the dumber things I've done on the field in a long time."

— Amanda Comak (@acomak) April 21, 2013

But is it dumber than growing a feral cat on his face to play baseball in the summer months with? Well ... yes. And we're all thankful for it.

You may recall Scott Boras had remarked that the Mets were shopping in the freezer section for free agents. And when the Mets signed Aaron Laffey, the analogy fit. But we weren't sure of the extent of it. Well now we know. Aaron Laffey isn't merely something that you get out of the frozen section of the grocery store. Laffey is that one item in everybody's freezer that has been in there for about two years that is way past its expiration date. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Go in your freezer. You'll find something in there that you either completely forgot about, or ate one portion of it and decided that one portion was enough.

The problem is that the Mets continue to break this out, warm it up, and serve him as easily as you or I would serve good hors d'oeuvres like pigs in a blanket, or cheese puffs. And Laffey's expiration date has been blown by years ago. And what happens when you serve something to your guests that is past the expiration date? That's right, they all get sick. Yet the Mets continue to serve up Aaron Laffey to its guests at Citi Field. On Saturday, it was the fifth inning that did Laffey in as he faced five batters, got the first two out, and then a walk, a double to Bryce Harper, and a three run dinger by Adam LaRoche turned the whole game around and led to a 7-6 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Probably the most disheartening aspect to what happened in the top of the fifth was that it came right on the heels of a five run fourth inning by the Mets off Gio Gonzalez. It was an unexpected bounty of runs off of a Cy Young caliber pitcher to give the Mets, and Jeremy Hefner who was serving up his own hot plate of mediocrity, the lead. But then Laffey comes in and e-colis the whole park. And it underscores just how much of a mess the Mets pitching staff is. Bad enough that Jeremy Hefner was predictable after pitching an inning on Thursday to "stay sharp". But then he gets pinch hit for in the fourth with the Mets rallying. They can't win for losing ... either the Mets rally only to have the pitcher's spot come up, or they pinch hit for him, as they did in the fifth inning on Tuesday in Game two of the doubleheader, and it blows up because the 'pen can't get it done. On Tuesday it was Aaron Laffey who was pinch hit for and screwed over by the bullpen, and this time it was Laffey doin' the screwin'. I don't know how much longer Laffey can see important innings for this team ... although we said the same thing about Miguel Batista last season and that didn't work out so well. If there was a Casey Fossum society, Aaron Laffey would be a charter member.

Please get well soon, Shaun Marcum. Pretty please?

Even after LaRoche's home run, the Mets tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh and gave Laffey a reprieve. But once again the mood was killed in the very next inning as Josh Edgin gave up the winning run which came courtesy of a Harper home run, his second of the game. This was probably the game that officially put Bryce Harper at the tip of his apex as Met-killer. I knew that Larry Jones had passed on what he learned about Met killing to Bryce during the All Star Game, and I'm being proven right every day. Harper now has five HR's and 18 RBI's in his career against the Mets. And if you calculate it to the number of at bats that Larry faced the Mets, Harper is on pace for 63 HR's and 176 RBI's against the Mets, which would easily surpass Jones' 49 HR's and 159 RBI's against the Flushing nine. Sure, it's a small sample size, but if the Mets keep throwing guys out there like Laffey and Hefner to face Harper, he might have these numbers by the end of the season.

And you know what else bothers me, that haircut.

It just annoys the freakin' crap out of me. I know that Bryce isn't that much older than Justin Bieber, but do they have to have the same haircut? Or is Bryce just going to use a flow-bee until he gets that big contract? I know, I know. I'm reaching here. There really isn't a good reason to hate Harper outside of the fact that he's wearing another uniform and he kills the Mets (who doesn't?) But can't the next generation of Met killer at least get a decent haircut? Kids today.

I think it's safe for me to say, without having been there, that this was probably the first game in the history of Citi Field that had electricity and hype from beginning to end. Opening Day doesn't count. You could hold Opening Day in Hoffman Park and draw 50,000. (They'd all be hanging on a small chain link fence, but still.) Johan Santana's no-hitter doesn't qualify because nobody knew what would be at stake until Carlos Beltran hit the chalk and didn't get a hit and then everybody looked at the scoreboard and went "whoa". And Yankee games don't count because interleague play is a Bud Selig production.

The matchup between Matt Harvey and Stephen Strasburg was being hyped since last Sunday. Anything Harvey does these days comes with a requisite amount of hype. Now throw Strasburg into the mix and you have a cauldron of fun. It sure as hell sounded like it from my television set. (Well, from my phone anyway. The big television was reserved for more serious events tonight.) Harvey went into this game with a keen sense of the moment which some might have mistaken for "distracted", yet was really just a healthy dose of honest. There have been so many comparisons between Harvey's major league beginnings, and those of one Doc Gooden, and then you hear that Gooden is going to be there? And then you get there, and he's sitting behind the plate watching you? Who wouldn't be distracted?

A nervous pitcher without focus lets the butterflies control him. Matt Harvey has to have butterflies. But as you can tell from most of his self-critical post game interviews, he has focus. With that focus, he has trained the butterflies to organize in his stomach and perform the zombie dance from Thriller. And when that happens, Harvey is a sight to see no matter who his mound opponent is. Seven innings, four hits, three walks, seven strikeouts (including a sweet bender to ring up Jayson Werth in the third that made me think I needed a cigarette) added up to a 7-1 win, and a win in Round 1 of what is sure to be a fun rivalry, invented though it may be.

The fun part was the seventh inning. Harvey got into some trouble after a walk, two singles, and a botched double play by Daniel Murphy. Some pitchers who shall remain nameless would have turned that into the aftermath of an overturned truck full of baby food. Harvey? Strikeout, pop-up, ground ball. Sit, stay, roll over. The game was over then and there.

(Okay, that's a play on Warner Wolf's "turn your sets off there". But that's clichè, because you and I both know that the game is never over when you have to give the bullpen six or 15 outs to play with. But Scott Rice and Robert Allen Parnell both went 1-2-3 and then, the worrying was over.)

It was interesting to note both pitchers' reaction to the game. Harvey acknowledge that it was cool to face Strasburg with Doc Gooden in the stands. Strasburg was basically all "Eh, I try to win every game." And I really want to respond by calling him a spoil sport and rag on him, basically because all the cool kids are doing it and I'm easily influenced. But let's be real: With as much hype and media coverage as Stephen Strasburg has gotten from jump in his major league career, who could blame him for thinking this is nothing more than a regular game for him?

That said Strasburg, though decent, was outpitched from the start giving up a run on a wild pitch and another on a Lizard Skin Buck single in the first inning. And then sealing his fate by giving up dingers to Ike Davis and Lucas Duda in the sixth. Davis, who would homer again in the eighth inning, needed that jump start in the worst way. Davis' 2012 season really didn't get started until June 12th. And trust me, I know how dangerous it is to say "This is the one!!! This is the jumpstart!!!" We're not going to know if this was the jumpstart until we flash forward to two weeks from now and Davis has his .173 average up to about .260. But when you hit a home run off Stephen Strasburg, the speculation begins whether you like it or not. So okay.

Then there's Duda, who also hit a dinger in the 8th. He's hitting over .300, and he leads the N.L. in OPS. Now ... oh screw it. I have nothing for you. I can't explain it. Maybe Dr. Sam Beckett has taken over his body. Who knows. But yeah, I'll try. He has a new stance and he's hitting the ball harder ... we know that. There's been a big deal made over the fact that Duda has taken more walks. Duda has always leaned towards patience at the plate. He has never been shy about taking a walk. His problem has been the pitches he has been swinging at have been the crap, and not the fastballs down the middle. Now, it seems that the pitches he's swinging at are the fastballs and laying off some of the dead fish thrown his way. And when he hits the ball, he's hitting it square. And when Duda hits it square it can go to the moon, as you saw tonight. This is the kind of offense that makes his lack of defense tolerable. And all he has to learn to do now is to avoid going a month without a double. He does that, he's there.

Let's just hope that Davis and Duda keep this going, because Jeremy Hefner and Dillon Gee are your weekend wine stewards and they need all the support they can get. But for right now, all is right with the world. Here's how right it is: just hours ago Angel Pagan drove in Andres Torres with the game winning run. And I'm not even in the mood to complain.

On Tuesday, the Mets and Rockies commemorated the first game in Rockies history, a game that the Mets won 3-0. According to Elias, the Mets have not beaten the Rockies since.

Or at least it seems that way, as the Rockies completed an abbreviated sweep of the Mets by a score of 11-3 on Thursday. The last time the Mets beat the Rockies was April 29th of last season, and even then Carlos Gonzalez was littering the Mets with big hits. No shortage of big ones today by Gonzalez as he had eight in the three game series. Fine ... but Eric Young had seven. Not fine. Eric Young Sr. probably would have gotten seven hits this series against this bullpen, which is awful. They provided the sadness on Thursday just as they have the rest of the series as they gave up eight of the 11 runs ensuring that Jon Niese would end up with his first loss of the season ... which just seems unfair. I mean, he left the game down 3-2, so yes he deserves the loss technically. But can't we give L's to everybody that came in after him on sheer principle? These guys were awful. Josh Edgin had his second bad outing in a row. Scott Atchison had his first bad outing of the season. Jeurys Familia now has an ERA to match his uniform number. And then, after those three gave the Rockies six runs in the seventh, Saturday's starter Jeremy Hefner came in to "stay sharp". That would require that Hefner was ever sharp. He gave up two bombs to Dexter Fowler and Troy Tulowitzki to put a capper on Colorado's fireworks.

Blame the cold and the snowouts all you want. But the Rockies' bullpen was just fine, and they pitched outdoors too. Then I have to see Chris Nelson dive around like Brooks Robinson at third base all series (the same Chris Nelson that killed the Mets last season) while Jordany Valdespin boots two ground balls in a row while playing left field. Hard to believe that one guy was wearing thermotech while the other was wearing mesh (but then again this is the same guy that didn't have the clear sense to wear a cup against Justin Verlander.) But what bothers me the most is that the Mets lost a Niese start. Look, I know we're only two weeks in and I know that the Mets aren't going to win every game started by Niese and Matt Harvey. But when they're facing a guy who is coming off major shoulder surgery, that's a winnable game. Dare I even say, that's a game they have to win ... much like a game where you're up 8-2 in the fifth is a game you have to win. But the Mets didn't win those games, and now they start to dip their toe into the rough part of the schedule at 7-7 instead of 9-5 (or even 10-4 if you're still mad that they lost to the freaking Miami Marlins.) And now you have the Nationals coming up and you're going to face them twice with starters not named Niese or Harvey, but rather two guys who are starting to give me happy flashbacks to Pete Falcone and Ed Glynn.

All this comes on the heels of news that catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud fouled a ball off his foot and broke it. So hold off on hoping for the cavalry to come from Vegas. It was a bad day to be a member of that trade, as R.A. Dickey left his game with back and neck stiffness, and Noah Syndergaard got crushed in St. Lucie on Thursday. If I'm Wuilmer Becerra, I don't leave the house for a week.

But at least we can forget about all of these problems for one night as we'll have the pleasure of watching Matt Harvey duel with Stephen Strasburg to lead off the series with Washington. The unfortunate part about the struggles of the back half of the rotation is now the pressure will be unfairly put on Harvey to win every game he starts. Luckily, we're talking about a guy who can give up 2 hits in eight innings and wonder why one of his outs was hit hard. Pressure? He applies it on himself as generously Gary Sheffield applied the cream*.

*Unknowingly, of course.

They say it's not really a baseball season until the Mets get swept by the Rockies in a doubleheader. Well now the season can begin as in a twinbill that went from split to single admission because there was too much snow on the ground to shovel away by 3:00, the Mets got hammered by the Rockies 8-4, and 9-8 in ten innings.

The first game was Dillon Gee's latest attempt to get back on track, and he made progress as he actually made it to the fifth inning. And with a lead, no less. But then Gee got wild again, walking Carlos Gonzalez with a runner on third, hitting Troy Tulowitzki, walking Michael Cuddyer with the bases loaded, then giving up a two run single to Todd Helton to seal his fate. And despite two HR's by David Wright, the Mets couldn't recover. I was willing to give Gee a pass with the precipitation and the cold weather, but to hell with that. Because this is becoming too much of a pattern with Gee, and with Jeremy Hefner and Aaron Laffey in this God forsaken back half of the rotation Gee has to just simply suck it up and pitch better. There's no way around it.

The second game was sickening from the get go, mainly because of the 1993 model uniforms they were wearing. The Rockies were commemorating the first game they ever played by having the Mets wear what I like to call "the official wardrobe of failure". So when the Mets were up 8-2 in the fifth, you just knew that they were setting you up for an extra special tribute to the 1993 season, which saw the Mets go 59-103.

First off, you have a 7-2 lead in the fourth inning, a bullpen you know is taxed, and then Terry Collins pinch hits for Aaron Laffey to try to break the thing wide open, and Jordany Valdespin does single in a run. But Collin Cowgill couldn't pop a run home, and Daniel Murphy took the most awful swing on a 3-2 pitch I've seen in the last, well ... week, and then I knew it would come back to haunt the Mets as that bullpen needed to get 15 outs. And for what? So that Laffey could come back on three days rest on Saturday to get hammered by the Nationals? Unbelievable.

Josh Edgin then comes in and is terrible, and LaTroy Hawkins gets hit hard again and an 8-2 lead is all of a sudden 8-6. Then in the eighth inning, Brandon Lyon can't field a comebacker, and then with the tying runs on second and third, Ruben Tejada throws the third out of the inning towards' Collins' head in the dugout and the  Rockies tied the game. Tejada was obviously performing an homage to 1993 shortstop Tony Fernandez, who had 6 errors in 48 games with the outfit that wore those horrific jerseys that the Mets were forced to don on Tuesday.

The Mets got the first two outs in the tenth inning and we seemed doomed to a night that started at 5:10, but was preceded by hours and hours of snow shoveling, and was never going to end because Ruben Tejada can't throw the damn ball all of a sudden. It got so bad that there was a threat of mascot violence in the air if the night had gone any longer:

Also, if this game goes to the 11th, I'm going to punch Dinger in the face, just because.

— Kevin Burkhardt (@KBurkhardtSNY) April 17, 2013

But Greg Burke, in because nobody was left, walked Carlos Gonzalez. Then after a Wright error which was changed to a hit after the game to keep his errorless streak alive at 68 games (and yes, it was a tough play ... but R.A. Dickey surely saw the scoring change and freaked out wherever he was) Jordan Pacheco, singled to end the game, save Dinger's life and well being, keep Kevin Burkhardt out of jail, and hopefully end once and for all these damn jerseys. I hope the Mets sell them on their website so I can buy one. Then burn it, pee on it to put out the flames, burn it again, and then shove it down Al Harazin's throat while it's still on fire for putting together that awful team with Fernandez, Jeff Kent, Joe Orsulak, Frank Tanana, Paul Gibson, Anthony Young, Bobby Bonilla, Jeff McKnight, some guy named Ced Landrum, and f*cking Vince Coleman who the Rockies brought out last night to throw out the ceremonial first firecracker.

I mean, look at this ghastly sight to your right. David Wright has now been infected by the damn tail. This team went 59-103. And they started 6-4 and ended 6-0. So they had a stretch where they were 47-99. Anthony Young went 1-16. Pete Schourek went 5-12. John Franco was the closer and had 10 saves. Ten! He had an ERA over 5 and his WHIP was close to 1.80. Paul Gibson was hailed as a great lefty specialist and he couldn't get my mother out. The guy that got everyone excited was Josias Manzanillo. Chico Walker was the guy that the Doc Gooden retired to clinch the N.L. East in 1986, and now the Mets had enlisted his help? Bret Saberhagen wanted to help the Mets beat guys keep their shirts white and fresh and throw some bleach at them. Eddie Murray wouldn't talk to anybody and advised everyone in that clubhouse to do the same. The Mets traded Fernandez for Darrin Jackson and he was no help. This team finished behind two franchises who had never played before. And these were the uniforms they let themselves get hoodwinked into wearing?

As if Wright isn't already used to the failures of this organization, now he's forever tainted by two of the greatest failures in Mets history: 1993, and the uniforms that came with it. I think this might actually be more embarrassing for Wright than those stupid Great Gazoo helmets he was forced to wear because of that idiot Matt Cain. The only thing left to do to ruin Wright's career once and for all is have him catch the ceremonial first pitch on M. Donald Grant night at Citi Field.

The Boston Red Sox play "Dirty Water" by the Standells after every Red Sox victory at Fenway. The last line of the chorus, as you'll recall, is "Boston, you're my home."

Boston isn't my home. But every time I've ever been there, it has felt like home. Not being a Yankee fan helps in that regard, for sure. But for someone who takes his recreation and his sporting events seriously, being in Boston has always felt like an old pair of sneakers that always fit just perfectly. The one thing you notice in Boston during baseball season is how every conversation you overhear on the street is about the Red Sox. This is a city that especially values their sports, their recreation, and their holidays.

It's part of what makes me sick about what happened on Monday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. While we all know deep down that nothing is out of the realm, Boston on Patriots Day is one of those places and times that you wouldn't think you would need to keep your head on a swivel, where worrying is the last thing on your mind. Now the escape of sports, recreation, and holidays has been forever tinged and linked with tragedy, and worry. Forever tinged with death, including that of an 8-year-old. Eight.

Boston isn't my home. But I love it like it is ... especially tonight. My heart is broken for Boston, and for those who have been affected the most by this cowardly and sickening act. It's hard not to pull my mind from the fact that people really do suck sometimes. And I know that's a simplistic way to put it, but I can't tear myself away from that. The good news is that the good will always outweigh the evil in time. I truly believe that. It's just a little harder to believe that right now.

Big announcement from your New York Mets today:

"There was a fire earlier this morning in an office in the administration building at Citi Field. Sprinkler systems contained the fire before FDNY extinguished it. Damage was limited to this area of the administration building. There was no damage to any areas accessed by fans at Citi Field. The cause of the fire is being investigated and we will have no further comment."

Sooooooooo ... somebody heard that it was going to snow at the Mets games and dip to nine degrees ... so they started a fire to keep warm? Or are the financial problems so deep that they can't afford a cross-cut shredder and have resorted to destroying documents by setting fire to things in the sink?

Oh yeah, and Matt Harvey is your National League Player of the Week. Don't expect a Met to repeat that this week since all of their games will be snowed out. Jay Horwitz reports that the Mets will play eight games in one day in July. MLB will allow a waiver to allow the Mets to carry 100 pitchers on their roster that day, including Elmer Dessens, Victor Zambrano, Chan Ho Park, and Alay Soler.

"But not AL Player of the Week too? I'll try harder" -- Matt Harvey

— E.J. (@TheHappyRecap) April 15, 2013

With all apologies to the Daily Stache's #MetsTwitterRecap, here's a recap from Sunday's snow-out of the Mets/Twins game:

Because we only come to Colorado once, MLB has given the Mets and Rockies the go-ahead to play a triple header this week.11,4 and 8 times,

— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) April 15, 2013

Actual email from Mr. Comedy @jay_horwitzpr: "It will be al long day" Yep, clearly hammered. Carry on.

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) April 15, 2013

Carig I am drinking. Egg creams

— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) April 15, 2013

Jay is in Colorado, right? What's newly legal there again? Oh, right.

— GianCarGo Ethe (@TooGooden16) April 15, 2013

Carig. The brooklyn bridge is for sale.Are u in

— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) April 15, 2013

Yeah, this might be the weirdest season ever. If you have a stash that you've been saving for the rapture, you might as well use it now.

I would like to apologize to the children who were within earshot of me on 8th avenue today at about 6:20 this evening. For the record, it was a s**t, another s**t, a "get foul", and a very loud f-bomb. I don't like to say bad words in front of the kiddies. But they have to learn sometime ... just as all Met fans learn those words pretty quickly in life.

I was kinda on to something in my last two entries. The first one being afraid of Harvey pitching in the cold. The second musing that he would probably have to pitch a no-hitter to offset the effects of scoring 16 runs the night before. These two ideas, of course, are in direct contradiction to each other. Sure, you can hope for a no-hitter, but then you, me, and Terry Collins would be agonizing over the decision to leave Harvey in the game to pitch the ninth inning in a frozen tundra. I thought of this after the fifth or sixth inning, about whether Harvey giving up a hit would be the best thing for everybody short term and long term.

And yet, when Justin Morneau ended Harvey's no-hitter in the seventh inning with a fair pole home run, the cursing still commenced. Because while you can deduce from Harvey's immense talent that he will probably pitch a no-hitter one day, there's 8,019 games of evidence that nothing is a guarantee. We figured it would happen with Seaver and Gooden, albeit in other uniforms. We marveled at Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters and cursed the day that saw him leave with only Jim Fregosi coming in return. And when Phil Humber got one, we just plain gave up all hope. But then Johan got one and the demons were buried. So now we think "Eh, no problem. Let him get one in warmer weather." And the best part is that Harvey will probably pitch against the Marlins two or three times this year so the Matt Harvey no-hitter might come before the calendar year is out.

And it might come on his next start, in which Mets radio announcers Howie Rose and Josh Lewin have implored Mets fans to think up something clever for a "K Corner" for Harvey. My suggestion, how about hanging one of these up for each K?

@metstradamus @joshlewinstuff George Mathews was the actor's name. A mug. Get @the7line on it. Harvey is a funny name twitter.com/DickYoungsGhos…

— Young Ideas (@DickYoungsGhost) April 13, 2013

But I'm fine with settling for a 4-2 win in the frozen tundra where Matt Harvey went eight innings, gave up two hits, and now has an ERA of freaking 0.59 (It's a wonder that anybody scores on this guy.) The good news is that this memory will serve us well over the next three days as there will probably be no Mets baseball to worry about because the weather reports in Minneapolis and Denver are scary. The bad news is that the Twins' probable starter tomorrow is Kevin Correia, who David Wright has a .756 career average against. Alas, David will probably not get to see his old friend, and the Mets might be snowed under somewhere in the country. 

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said rescheduling or relocating the (Rockies) series to another location is highly unlikely. "Getting to another venue is remote, certainly within the immediate time frame of this series," the GM said.

The Giants and Padres are on the road next Monday and Tuesday. I hear those two teams play in acceptable baseball venues. It would take some forward thinking to have the two teams play somewhere else so that they don't have to play two doubleheaders in a row. Or even to start Monday's game a little bit earlier to avoid what looks like later snow. But this is the same league that can't have the team with the better record host the World Series because it's not enough time to plan. And the same league that thinks outdoor baseball in Minneapolis in April without a roof is no big deal. So buy plenty of bread and milk in solidarity, and thank Bud Selig for his crackerjack scheduling ideas.