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Game Recap: Heilman Implodes Again: Nationals 5- Mets 3

Aaron Heilman gave up 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning to give Claudio Vargas the tough luck loss and spoil a great Mets debut, as New York lost 5-3 to the Nationals. This game was a pitcher’s duel between Vargas and Washington starter Tim Redding, until Brian Schneider ripped a solo homerun over the right field wall in the 5th inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The Nationals tied it quickly in the 6th when Ryan Zimmerman connected on a Claudio Vargas fastball and ripped it deep into the mezzanine section in left field for a solo shot.

Vargas left the game after 6 1/3 innings, haven given up just 1 run and 3 hits, while striking out 6. Heilman came in on relief in the 7th, and proceeded to let the game get out of hand. Jesus Flores singled to left to allow the lead runner to score. After Willie Harris walked, Felipe Lopez then pulled a single to right that scored another run, giving Washington a 3-1 lead. Christian Guzman followed with a 2-RBI single, and the game was all but over.

The Mets made things interesting by getting RBI’s by Schneider in the 7th and Carlos Beltran in the 8th to make it a 2-run game at 5-3, but they went down 1-2-3 in the 9th to end the game.

Rizzi’s Rant:

What more can I say? This was another classic bullpen implosion, and I am starting to get sick of defending this pen.

Claudio Vargas threw a spectacular game in his Mets debut, but Heilman just didn’t have it. I hate to agree with “Mike in Miami,” but Aaron “Homerun” Heilman was out in full force tonight. I don’t know if this guy is just waiting for a starting spot to open up somewhere else in the Majors, or if he is hurt, or whatever, but this man has just not been the same since Yadier Molina took him deep that fateful night in October of 2007.

Ok, we lost, but let’s try our hardest to focus on the positive. Claudio Vargas was phenomenal. Yes, I am aware that most random Mets’ starters come up and throw a few gems before coming back down to Earth (see: Nelson Figueroa, Jorge Sosa, Jae Wong Seo, Alay Soler, etc), but still it is nice to see Vargas show signs of talent when given an opportunity.

Aaron Heilman has obviously hit a career-low point, but Joe Smith continues to be on point night in and night out. He threw another scoreless frame tonight, and he should be exempt from booing at least until the All-Star break.

Citi Field has stopped several Mets homeruns from leaving the park so far this year, and it prevented another one tonight, halting a shot from Carlos Beltran in the 7th inning. Shea has been void of homeruns all year so far, and I expect this trend to continue.

Moises Alou was ejected in the 5th inning after being called out on an apparent outside pitch. This offense needs Alou, but he had a legit argument and it’s good to see from this often complacent ballclub.

Willie Randolph heard a lot of boos for the first time in a while when he took Heilman out of the game. Randolph is hearing it more and more lately at Shea, and while I am a Willie fan, I can’t say I blame the Shea faithful for voicing their displeasure. This team is simply not putting out their best effort, and the manager is a logical fall-guy.

I can only continue to hope that the next series is the one that gets this team going. Outside of Ryan Church no one in the Mets lineup has ben consistently solid, and until another player steps up we are not going to solidify ourselves as the class of the division. Hopefully we win tomorrow afternoon, and it catapults us into a dominant Subway Series…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 10:52 pm and is filed under Jesus Flores, Claudio Vargas, Tim Redding, Willie Harris, Christian Guzman, Brian Schneider, Willie Randolph, Ryan Zimmerman, Yadier Molina, Joe Smith, Aaron Heilman, Carlos Beltran, Felipe Lopez. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.