The Benitez Syndrome

Meltdown. That's the only word to describe what we witnessed in the 12th inning last night. After years of being on the bad end of Benitez while here as our closer, and then seeing him actually do well against us after he left, so far this year, Armando has blown two games against the Mets (not to mention last years blown save when Milledge took him deep, and then hi-5'd the fans in right field). But for all the collapses we have witnessed, by Armando and others, this by far was the worst/best.

It didn't look good early. Oliver Perez started, and allowed a home run to leadoff hitter Randy Winn, then another to Benji Molina (who now has 3 of his 5 hr's this year against the Mets). From there though, O Pea settled down, and retired 13 straight until the top of the sixth. Then in the 6th, Perez allowed another homer, one that would tie the game after the Mets came back to make it 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, this time to Dan Ortmeier (playing for Barroid), his first ML home run. From there, the pen took over, as Pedro Dos, Wagner, The Show(!) and Heilman took the Mets till the 12th without allowing another run. In the top of the 12th, Joe SMith came in, and made the mistake of walking the leadoff hitter, Omar Vizquel, then wild pitching him to 2nd. Following a sacrifice bunt, Smith hit Sweeney. Randy Winn followed with a grounder to Delgado, who stepped on first and then threw home. PLD did a poor job blocking the plate, and it was 4-3. Delgado probably should have gone right home, but he was so close to 1st, it made some sense to get the sure out. So we went to the bottom of the 12th, and in strode Armando.

Giants starter Tim Lincecum matched Ollie. He held the Mets scoreless for the first 3 innings, but in the 4th, he walked Beltran, and then Delgado hit a bomb, tying the game at 2. In the sixth, Jose Jose Jose led off with a single, and scored from first on a double to right by Beltran. Delgado was walked, but Wright and PLD flew out to end the inning. It was 3-2. In the 9th, Wright hit a ball that he thought was gone, but wound up going for a long double. PLD walked, Easley popped out, and Old Man Franco pinch hit for Gomez (who looked awful in his last at-bat against Lincecum, then again, most guys did last night). Franco hit a grounder up the middle, that looked like a hit, but Vizquel got to it, and tossed it to second for the 3rd out.

Then came the 12th. Reyes led off with a walk, mistake number 1. Then, the core of Armando began to heat up, and the cooling plant failed. With Jose bouncing all over the place at first, he balked Reyes to second with Endy at the plate. Endy then sacrificed Jose to 3rd, where he began to dance again. Benitez retired Beltran, bringing up Delgado. Reyes continued to dance, and Armando crept closer to critical mass, balking in the tying run. Then, the reactor blew, as Delgado slammed a fastball over the right centerfield fence, for a 5-4 Mets victory. The sight of Armando throwing his glove in anger was beautiful. And the mob scene at the plate that welcomed Delgado was fantastic to see. If indeed he made a mistake by not throwing home in the top of the 12th, he more than made up for it.

So, thanks to a comeback win, and a Braves loss, the lead is now 5 games. The Braves put Larry Jones on the DL, and Smoltz left his start after 3.1 innings with an apparent hand injury (not sure if it is his busted pinkie or something else). The Phillies lost as well.

It will sure be fun to listen to Mike and the Mad Dog today. I normally don't, but I think this is a special situation. I wonder how he will react to Armando's latest meltdown?

Oh, and the other NY team lost, this time in part thanks to a straight steal of home. Even better, the NY Post has a front page picture of Alex Rodriguez with a blonde, entering a hotel on Sunday night. After dinner at a steak house and a trip to a strip club. Oh, did I mention, the blonde is not his wife? Wow, just wow. As if people didn't hate him already, now he is cheating on his wife?