Game #36: Brewers 8, Mets 0

Last week it was the flu. Tonight it appears New York has been infected with both Frank Francisco's ability and, erm, "charm."

Dillon Gee was rocked on the mound and tempers flared after he left as the Brewers won a laugher over the Mets, 8-0.

The Bad Stuff:

• By the 5th inning you figured the Mets' goose was cooked: down 2-0, Dillon Gee gave up a first home run to Travis Ishikawa on a fastball right down the wheelhouse.
• By the next inning, that goose was taken out a tender, golden brown: a couple quick singles led to another run 2 batters later and then Ishikawa struck again for a 3-run blast to center. 7-0, Gee responsible for all of those runs, finished for the night.
• The 7th inning wasn't pretty as the Mets decided they might as well throw a food fight in the middle of Milwaukee's nice goose dinner: after DJ Carrasco served up a home run to Ricky Weeks, who broke an 0-fer-20-plus streak, Carrasco plunked Ryan Braun in the left shoulder, prompting an immediate ejection. We don't know whether it was intentional, but after Keith Hernandez's explanation on this point in DJ's career, I'm guessing it wasn't. No matter; ump's word is final.
• The biggest fallout from the Braun plunking came in the next half inning as David Wright, already 2-2 for the night, was lifted for Jordany Valdespin to pinch hit. Terry Collins apparently removed a visibly upset Wright from the game in fear of retaliation from Brewer pitching over Braun.
• The Met offense made due with 3 hits yesterday, plating 3 runs, but tonight even with 6 hits they couldn't score against Zach Greinke and company. Greinke went the Solid Seven and Tim Dillard & John Axford came in to clean up the mess from the food fight.

The Good Stuff:

• Give me a sec...
• ...Hmm...
• ...Oh, I've got one: in 36 games this season, the New York Mets have yet to wear a uniform with any hint of black on it. That right there is Good Stuff.
• ...Doesn't make you feel any better? Yeah, me neither. Let's just get to Final Analysis and call it a night.

Final Analysis:
This short series with the Brewers couldn't end soon enough. The offense was pretty much anemic in these 2 games, and only a miracle outing by Miguel Batista saved a 3-game losing streak. And that mini-scuffle between Terry Collins and David Wright has me worried. Brian Erni of MetsBlog has already noted the two seem to have patched it up in the later innings, but the video is forever. On a dark, wet night at Citi Field, Mets fans can't help but wonder: is there a storm on the horizon? And what sort of collateral damage will it do to a team that without a couple blown saves last weekend would be in first place?

MM