ONLY 14 INNINGS? PFFFT!

I missed it of course, but the Mets scratched home a run in the 14th inning on a leadoff single by Damion Easley and two wild pitches and a throwing error by Joel "That Pederast" Hanrahan (who'll get a demotion if he keeps this up) to complete a sweep of the Nats by a 3-2 score. The Mets and Nats got no sympathy from the Rockies and Padres, who played a 22-inning yawnfest that only recently ended.

While I was awake, Nelson Figueroa was strong again. He only faltered for three batters in the 4th, giving up a single off his glove to Ryan Zimmerman followed by a no-doubter home run into the Mets bullpen by Nick Johnson and another single by Lastings Milledge. He finished with 7 IP and 2 ER on 3 hits. The Mets couldn't touch Nats starter John Lannan, who retired 16 batters in a row at one point after giving up a quick first-inning run on a Ryan Church RBI double. It looked the 2-1 lead might hold up with two outs in the eighth, when Church hit an easy roller to Ronnie Belliard. As often happens to bad teams, though, Belliard nonchalanted it off his glove for an error, and the game turned around completely for the Mets. After Luis Ayala relieved Saul Rivera and walked David Wright, Jon Rauch came in to face Carlos Delgado. Why the Nats didn't bring in their only lefty, Ray King, was not explained on the telecast nor could I find any
other explanation on-line. King did appear in the 12th and gave up a hit and made an error, so we was healthy. In any event, Rauch left a fastball up to Delgado, who ripped it into right to score Church with the tying run. Then they played and played and played.

Wright hit into a crushing double play with runners on first and second and one out in the 12th, which must have made the few remaining idiots at Shea lose some hope of ever going home. The Nats got two on in the 13th off Jorge Sosa but couldn't score, and didn't threaten in the 14th. Finally, the weirdness that usually occurs in a game like this made its presence known, as Hanrahan wild pitched Easley to second, threw a ball into center field to send Easley to third, and after walking the bases loaded intentionally, wild-pitched again for the game-winner.

Atlanta finally beat the Marlins, and the Phillies won big over Houston, so the contenders all moved up a game. Tonight, after a very late flight to Philadelphia (14-inning games only happen on getaway days, that's a rule), the Mets start a three-game set with the Phillies. Aces Santana and Hamels go tonight.