In place of dynamite, the Mets' bullpen is blowing up in Shea a few months early

Boom.

A few months ago (now lost on the old site) I wrote the Mets finally had a strength they could rely on: the bullpen.

It's amazing what two terrible games will do to a man's psyche.

15+ absolutely dominant innings from Mets starters in under 24 hours, and what does the bullpen do to "help" the team? Surrender eight runs in six innings. Four of those runs charged to the, until recently, dominant Billy Wagner.

Three out of the last five games have been lost by the bullpen. One cannot forget about the offense's lack of ability to score late inning runs (besides Wednesday night) in this implosion that doesn't seem to be garnering the media attention it should.

Stupidly, I lamented the Mets thrilling (albeit, unnecessary) late inning win on Wednesday could be the turn around for the entire season. For the first seven innings of Thursday's game, it looked like I was some sort of prophet, sent from the heavens with news from the future. With the quick handshake of Johan Santana, Rick Peterson and Willie Randolph after the seventh inning and a sponsored phone call to the bullpen, the Mets turned my "prophecy" into "idiocy."

Fans have whined and complained about the starting pitching not giving the team enough innings. These last two games have been the mirror opposite. A downright dirty smack in the face from the gods of baseball.

The other shoe has to drop eventually, right? Or in this case, maybe the plunger needs to be pushed.