Blame Canada! Blame Canada! With Their Beady Little Eyes and Flapping Heads So Full of Lies

After the Rock and Jock Softball game on Friday Night, expectations were probably pretty low for a Miguel Batista start against the Blue Jays line-up, even if Toronto was resting both Dan Cortez and Lorenzo Lamas. Incredibly, Batista cruised through the first two innings, but was felled by a muscle pull and couldn't get through his allotted warm-up pitches in the third. Enter Jeremy Hefner, fresh off the scenic drive up from Buffalo. Hefner did an excellent job preseving the pen, going five innings in relief. He ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth, giving up three straight hits to the Jays, and Andres Torres certainly didn't help, booting a ball off the bat Kelly Johnson. The two-run fifth would be the only blemish during Hefner's outing and he made a strong case to take Batista's spot if the righthander ends up on the DL.

You might have noticed I haven't talked much about the Mets bats so far. Well, there's not exactly a whole lot to say. Fielding one of those classic Jerry Manuel Sunday day game line-ups, the Mets only managed three hits off Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow. Morrow has had a reputation for underperforming his periphreals, but his 8 K, 1 walk, complete game shut out is a pretty accurate representation of what happened. The Mets finally did get a runner into scoring position in the seventh on a two-out double off the bat of Lucas Duda, but the Dude would be stranded there after Ike Davis struck out. Ike's 0-3 dropped his season line to an anemic .160/.220/.298, which will surely only add to the chorus of calls to send him down to Buffalo.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Mets next and last scoring opportunity. With Morrow on the mound looking for a complete game shutout and approaching 100 pitches, pinch hitter Scott Hairston managed to draw a leadoff walk. After an Andres Torres fly out, Mike Baxter lined a hit into the right field corner. The ball took a friendly bounce toward Jose Bautista who fired the ball into second base. The throw beat Baxter to the bag, but on replay it was clear that Yuniel Escobar missed the tag by about a foot. Of course, since the second base umpire was woefully out of position, there was no way he possibly could have seen that. Robot umps please.

The Mets try to salvage the final game of their three game series with the Blue Jays tomorrow at 1:07 PM (Seven past? Really, Canada?). Dillon Gee will be on the mound for the Mets, facing off against Henderson Alvarez

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bluebird Banter Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Miguel Batista, 10.3 % WPA

Big losers: Mike Baxter, -13.1 % WPA, Andres Torres, -13.0% WPA

Teh aw3s0mest play: Scott Hairston's leadoff walk, +7.7 % WPA

Teh sux0rest play: Kelly Johnson's double + Andres Torres error, -16.0% WPA

Total pitcher WPA: 9.6% WPA

Total batter WPA: -59.6% WPA

GWRBI!: Kelly Johnson