Even if Victor Zambrano gave up only two runs the Mets probably still would have lost tonight. Kyle Davies pitched brilliantly for the Braves throwing his first complete game. He only gave up three hits including Chris Woodward’s first homerun of the season. But you have to wonder how much did Zambrano take the Mets out of this game. Quite frankly Victor was awful—once again. With Chipper Jones out of the line up, you have to pitch around Andrew Jones, the only true threat in the Atlanta line up. But that would require a pitcher who knows how to pitch and that is not Victor Zambrano. Look, I know we are a long way from breaking out the razor blades but this guy is just intolerable. He has great stuff but he simply doesn’t know how to use it. This is where trading Kris Benson is really going to haunt the Mets. We certainly could have lived without Jorge Julio all though ironically he was one of the only bright spots of the game for the Mets. But with Benson gone the option of sending Zambrano to the pen is really not feasible. Who would replace him in the rotation? Pelfrey is not ready and as much as the temptation might exist to put Heilman back in the rotation, that would leave a huge hole in the bullpen. There are two trades that could thwart the Mets drive for the playoffs this year. One occurred two years ago when Scott Kasmir was sent away for Zambrano and the other is the Julio trade. Benson was a serviceable starter, not great but certainly more reliable than Zambrano. You just never know what you are going to get when Zambrano starts.

I had the greatest seats at Shea Stadium I have ever had last year. It was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities when a friend called the last minute. He was given two box seat tickets eight rows behind the Mets on-deck circle. The only drawback was Zambrano started the game. It was August 2^nd against the Brewers. In the course of the first two innings, Zambrano gave up four home runs, one in the first and three in the second. Each one was a moon shot. Sitting so close I could see the look on his face. I’m telling you the guy looked clueless out there. He was removed after one and a third inning to a chorus of boos as you could imagine. The good news for me was that it turned out to be a great game with the Mets coming back to win 9 to 8 in 10 innings on a Mike Piazza pinch hit walk off walk with the bases loaded. 

I hope Glavine is on his game tomorrow. As well as the Mets have started it would be a shame if they lose the first series of this season against the Braves. But it’s still very early and contrary to Mike and the Mad Dog, it certainly isn’t the end of the world. It will be interesting to see how the Mets bounce back after their offense was so shut down in this game. A baseball season is full of ups and downs. For a good team, the down periods are shorter than the up ones. Let’s hope the Mets continue to be a good team.