Dr. Perez, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ollie

I'm a Mets fan, which means, deep inside, I am a pessimist. I love success, but wait for the other shoe to drop from time to time. Whether it is getting nervous when a closer comes in to finish up a win dating from the days of Franco to last year, or concerned when Julio Franco comes in with a runner on first (fear of a double play), or that a pitcher who has exceeded expectations will come back to earth, Mets fans worry. After last night, I am scratching Oliver Perez from the worry list.

Following the injury to Duaner Sanchez, Omar felt he had to improve the pen. So, he traded Xavier Nady to the Pirates for Roberto Hernandez and Ollie. Ollie had a great 2004, but had struggled since then. He was a throw in, as he had been demoted to the minors by the Pirates, which tells you how bad he had been. Robo was supposed to be the key to the deal, but really did nothing in his second tour with the Mets. Ollie had a mix of good and bad starts, until Game 7 of the NLCS, when he kept the Mets in the game, despite all the fears of doom from every corner of the media and the Mets fanbase (big assist to Endy Chavez of course).

In the offseason, everyone expected Omar to get a true ace, a Zito, or trade for Willis or someone else. He did not. He went into the season expecting John Maine (who had pitched an excellent Game 6) and Ollie to keep it up. Given Ollie's recent past, that was a huge leap of faith. It has paid off, in spades.

This year, after a fantastic first outing against the Braves, Ollie had a poor outing against Philly, lasting just 2.2 and allowing 3 runs, on 7 walks and 1 hit. Since then, Ollie has pitched 46 innings, allowing 12 earned runs, 36 hits, 13 walks, 45 K's. Amazing progress. He has gone at least 7 innings in his last 3 starts, and in 5 of his 9 starts overall (and went 6.2 in one other.) Despite some members of the media (Fat Bastard and Mini Me) saying he can not win a big game, he has beaten the Yankees and the Braves his last two outings. He shut out the Braves for 7 last night, and held the vaunted Yankee offense to 5 hits and 2 runs on Friday (this after Mini Me stated he would lose 8-2 that night. A big FUCK YOU to Mr. Russo. How's Barry Zito doing for you fucknuts?)

Going into last night, my level of concern was lower than normal, given Ollie's recent outing, and his dominance of the Braves this year. In the bottom of the first, he retired the leadoff hitter, but allowed singles to Renteria and Larry Jones. He followed that up by getting Francoeur and Diaz. In the second, he hit Smirky Jones, but then got a DP and retired old friend Chris Woodward on a fly ball. The Mets scored their first run on an error during a double steal in the top of the third (Shawn Green was trailing Reyes, and the throw to second went into center, allowing Jose to stroll home). In the bottom of the third, Ollie showed we no longer need to worry.

Chuck James led off with a single. Now, normally when the pitcher gets a hit, bad things happen to the Mets. Ollie then threw a wild pitch, moving James to 2nd. Prado fouled out to right, on a diving play by Shawn Green (I had to replay that a couple of times), moving James to third. Renteria walked, and stole second. Larry Jones lined out, then Frenchy walked, loading them up. Did Ollie falter? No way. Matt Diaz flew out to end the inning. And Ollie didn't allow another hit until the 7th.

Joe Smith pitched a flawless 8th, striking out Renteria and Larry, and inducing Frenchy to fly out. Wags pitched a scoreless 9th, allowing one hit, for his 11th save.

On the offensive side, the big news was the new lineup. Delgado moved to 6th, Wright to 4th, PLD to 5th and Shawn Green to 2nd. The hope was that the reduced pressure would help Delgado to break out. He did have 2 hits, both to the left side (though one was a charitable hit, hometown scorer didn't want Larry to get an error). PLD went 2-3 with a run. Wright hit his 8th home run of the month (I think the slump is over now, how about you?) Reyes went 0-3, but had 2 walks, a SB and a run scored. Only 7 hits in total, so it's not like they smacked James around, but they did what was needed, and Ollie made it stand up.

Hopefully the bats were saving the runs for a good old fashioned ass-kicking of Smoltz tonight. Let's get Tommy win # 296, and deny Smoltz win #200. No matter what happens, the Mets leave Atlanta in 1st place. Let's keep it that way.

I like not worrying about Ollie. Now, about Delgado...