New York Mets fans were ready to relish a victory at the expense of former closer Francisco Rodriguez on Saturday.
With the Milwaukee Brewers clinging to a one-run lead, K-Rod gave up three runs in the eighth inning ? two of them coming on a home run by Angel Pagan. The Mets rallied from a six-run deficit to take a two-run lead. It was going to be delicious.
But then K-Rod's successor as Mets closer, Jason Isringhausen, came in for the save and sputtered gas all over the field.
After two walks and a single put the first three Brewers batters on base, Isringhausen then walked Mark Kotsay to cut the Mets' lead to one. Manager Terry Collins pulled his veteran reliever, but the fire Isringhausen started was too big to put out.
"When guys come back, and our team comes back, and I go out there and do that, it's just a debacle. I mean, it ranks right up there as one of the worst ones of my career inning-wise. Like I said, I don't have any excuses. I just couldn't find the strike zone."
Prince Fielder golfed a RBI single off Manny Acosta to tie the game, and Casey McGehee took back the lead with a two-run single, giving the Brewers an eventual 11-9 win.
For the Mets, that had to be one of the most demoralizing losses of the season. For Isringhausen, it was a hell of a way to follow up notching his 300th career save. By his own admission, reaching the milestone was the reason he came back this year. Maybe Isringhausen used up all the mojo he had left to get there.
If Collins wasn't already prepared to hand the closer's role to Bobby Parnell and his 100 mph fastball, Saturday's developments likely rendered that decision easier to make.
Follow Ian on Twitter ?�@iancass ? and engage�The Stew on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment