Hanging on for Dear Life

For Team Tightrope, every game is an adventure, a crucible for the players, coaches and fans. Sometimes, they fall off, like Sunday, when they squandered a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning and—splat—hit the ground with a thud. But, occasionally, they manage to hold on, clinging for dear life as their bullpen threatens to unravel completely.

Such was the case tonight here before 25,019 fans at Nationals Park, as the Mets escaped with a 9-7 victory over the lowly Nationals, postponing—at least for one night—the Mets’ most recent late-season swoon. Carlos Beltrán slugged two home runs as New York’s offense continued to add onto their lead while the bullpen did its best to give it right back.

The Mets took an 8-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, but a combination of Ricardo Rincón, Brian Stokes, Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano conspired to surrender five runs and jeopardize what should have been an easy victory. Luis Ayala was summoned from the bullpen to record the final out with the tying run at the plate, which he did, striking out Roger Bernadina to end the game. Mets manager Jerry Manuel tied a franchise record in calling upon eight different pitchers in the game.

“No, I’m not enjoying this, shoot,” Manuel told the New York Times after the game about having to call upon so many relievers. “Walking out there every three minutes, nobody wants to come see me. Shoot, they come to see the guys play. No, this is not the way we drew it up. But we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to win. We’ll laugh about it hopefully in November at some time.”

The Mets have a ways to go there, trailing Philadelphia by a half-game in the N.L. East and leading Milwaukee by the same thin margin for the Wild Card.

Their bullpen woes, like last season’s historic collapse, are starting to take their toll on the rest of the team.

“It’s frustrating sometimes because you score some and you think, ‘Now we got them,’” Beltrán confessed to the New York Daily News. “I know they’re trying, but it’s hard to believe what’s happening.”

That mental state is something we’ve seen before from this club, and for many, it will seem all too familiar. Still, the Mets are in the driver’s seat over the final 11 games of the season, starting tonight when they will try to salvage a series split with Washington behind their ace, Johan Santana.

Manuel, when asked what he was hoping for tonight from Santana, quipped, “Hopefully nine innings, 170 pitches.”