Rally Killer

Despite the hard loss the Mets suffered last night at the hands of Chase Utley and the Phillies, it was refreshing to see that the Mets have some sort of fire left in the burner.

David Wright was thrown out of the game in the top of the ninth for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout and rightfully so. In the first inning Wright was caught looking at a strike that was neck high and struck out two more times before the night was over. For a pitcher who’s previous career high in strikeouts was 5 (against the Mets on June 29th), it just screams home field advantage.

The umpire C.B. Bucknor has been known to have a large strike zone in the past, but not one so lopsided to the point you could fit the Liberty Bell through it. Just look at the totals of strike outs for each team (Mets – 3 and Phillies – 9). By no mean is Brian Lawrence a strike out pitcher, but I highly doubt that J.D. Durbin is either.

Now I’m not blaming the game on the home plate umpire. The Mets just didn’t show up in a game where they need to be on their tip toes, but even when they started to get a little momentum going, good old Bucknor, made sure the ball stopped at strike three.