Diamondbacks 13, Mets 2: Desert Destruction

Any excitement generated by the reunion of the Varsity lineup was quickly quashed by a disastrous Mike Pelfrey outing. In his worst start of the year (and that's saying something) he last just 1.1 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. He had been due for some more ERA regression but that is not the only problem here. Dead arm, stiff neck, another unknown injury -- something is wrong.

I stopped watching after Mark Reynolds hit another 400+ foot home run off a replacement level Mets pitcher, in this case Fernando Nieve. He victimized Brian Stokes, Nelson Figueroa and Livan Hernandez last year. Monday's homer came in the sixth inning and made the score 11-1. Here are the positives from the game:

• Josh Thole drew a pinch hit walk. Contrast with Rod Barajas's 0-4. this might be another case where sheer production forces the Mets into a decision. "After Barajas hit .169/.229/.202 since June 1, the Mets realized something was definitely up!"
• Luis Castillo returned and had two hits. David Wright also added two hits, including a sharp opposite field double.
• Chris Carter drew a walk, his second of the season.

That's about it. Jose Reyes had two hits but also committed two errors. Forget about this one and move on. The Braves were idle Monday night and the Phillies lost, so the Mets are 5.5 games out of first place in the NL East and 2.5 games behind Cincinnati in the Wild Card. Staff ace R.A. Dickey faces Barry Enright Tuesday night.

Unintentionally sexual quote of the game: "You have to widen your stance and use your hands." - Ron Darling

Poem by Howard Megdal

Big Pelf can't make his way past second frame
Last-place team has a first-place kind of game
Though my math skills are often quite fuzzy
Mets lose five straight were it not for Phil Cuzzi

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* AZ Snakepit Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: David Wright +2.6%, Raul Valdes +1.6%
Big losers: Mike Pelfrey -34.0%, Jose Reyes -5.0%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Adam LaRoche flyout in first inning +2.5% (wow)
Teh sux0rest play: Kelly Johnson RBI double -10.8%
Total pitcher WPA: -34.3%
Total batter WPA: -15.7%
GWRBI!: Mark Reynolds

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Gina; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.