David Riske in the 8th inning of a tie ballgame! Are you serious, Terry? The guy has thrown 2 innings all season and hasn't pitched in a pressure situation since about 2004. You barely trust Manny Delcarmen with a 3-run lead, but you're going to let this clown pitch in a tie ballgame? He was literally throwing batting practice fastballs. Even Bengie Molina hit two doubles off of him in a single at-bat!

Shea Hillenbrand (5-8, HR, 3 RBI career vs Foulke) was probably the reason for the managerial blunder. Still, Shea was due to hit third that inning. Molina, the first batter of the inning, was 0-13 lifetime vs Foulke. The next batter, Aaron Hill, is 1-5 lifetime. So, if things went according to plan (and I admit that this is a risky proposition with Foulke), then Hillenbrand should be batting with the bases empty.

Did the situation really call for using a pitcher that returned from the DL on May 23rd, and hasn't pitched a single inning since that very night? C'mon. I could obviously beat this thing into the ground, but I'll digress.

If the bullpen trouble continues, don't be surprised to see Hansen, Lester, and maybe even Big Edgar Martinez in Boston before July. Oh yeah, that Clemens guy? Better keep your fingers crossed on that one too because Matt Clement looks like a total trainwreck out there. And honestly, I feel for him. He seems like a good guy and I don't wish him any ill will, but my God, the kid just can't handle the pressure. Do the Mets still need a starter?

Now that we got that negativity out of the way, let's talk about one of the positives over the past couple of weeks -- Mark Loretta. Did anyone honestly think this guy was going to continue batting below .250?

He consistently has a BABIP in the .335+ range, so it was only a matter of time before his numbers began to rise. I'll admit, I had concerns that his hand injury from 2005 was still causing problems, but he quickly put those fears to bed. Now he's hitting the ball on a line nearly every at-bat and the hits are coming in bunches. With such good contact and low strikeout numbers, this doesn't appear to be a product of luck. Expect Loretta to continue to tear the cover off the ball.

I'll have more tomorrow. Peace.

2:12 AM | Permalink