Mets 7, Cubs 6; So much for the auditions

Filed: September 25th, 2008

Sigh. How many more games until the playoffs?

Playing out the string sounds good for a division winner, but for fans it's absolutely dreadful. Too many no-talents on the field. Too many guys playing out of their comfort areas. And winnable situations that go for naught, as managers either let guys "work out their problems" or "audition". I'm over it, and you probably are too after watching the 7-6 loss to the Mets tonight, a debacle that left me seriously considering tuning out baseball until Tuesday.

Let's start with the big item; Micah Hoffpauir going 5-5, with two home runs. An amazing performance, and one that probably bought his ticket onto the playoff roster; who really wanted to see Daryle Ward in the playoffs anyway? Congratulations to you, but my friend...there's a reason you're a 28 year old languishing in the minors, and it's your fielding. It was bad enough when you bobbled the Jose Reyes ball in the first, resulting in an error. And worse when you made routine plays look like a struggle all game long. But when the game-winner -- a Carlos Beltran single in the ninth -- bounced off your glove and down the right field line, well, that shows me all that I needed to see about your long-term prospects. But I do hope that he enjoys the moment.

Not that I'm blaming him, of course. When Lou said he was going to rest his regulars,he meant it. So with the game on the line late, there was no Lee or Ramirez. No DeRosa. Not even a Henry Blanco to pinch-hit. And definitely no Carlos Marmol or Kerry Wood. Instead, Lou let that Beggars Row of a middle-relief corp attempt to audition for their postseason spots. And they all scared the hell out of me. Starter Rich Harden left after six innings, giving up three runs along the way, despite another game with a curious lack of velocity. Oh, and some extreme wildness early on. It's difficult to assess whether that was more him, or the constant rain throughout that played with his changeup grip. Either way, he was effective, and looks about ready to go, in what likely was his playoff tuneup.

However, he gave way to Chad Gaudin, who was better -- giving up a run in an inning of work -- but certainly not good enough. The velocity is there, so you hope that another appearance or two this weekend might help him find his release points again. And then to Neal Cotts, who has long since turned back into, well, Neal Cotts. Back-to-back hits by Beltran and Ryan Church chased him in the eighth, with Bob Howry taking his stage appearance. Bob gave up consecutive RBI hits before striking out Damion Easley, the last being a single to Robinson Cancel to right that Kosuke Fukudome threw home on. He had Ryan Church out by a country mile, but Church went wide around Koyie Hill, missed the plate, and beat Hill to it on the second tag attempt.

From there it got worse. I mean, the Mets bullpen was awful as usual, with manager Jerry Manuel pretty much burning through all of them -- five in all actually -- to get through the game. However, the Cubs were worse. Kevin Hart game up the game-winner in the final audition of the evening, but at least mercifully kept a dreadful game from going into extra innings.

The only good news of the day is that with the Diamondbacks loss, the Dodgers are officially in the playoff. And Ryan Dempster has been announced as the Game 1 starter for the NLDS. It's all finally starting to take shape. We just have to suffer through the Brewers in the meantime.