Last night, as the Mets fell to the Braves 7-3 it was more than just your typical loss. For the Mets it was their ninth loss in their last ten games, a feat they have managed to avoid all season long until last night. It was also their fifth straight loss, just one away from a season high. If you were hoping , as I was, that the Mets would at least end the season on a high note, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

The Mets have no direction and worse yet, they seemed to have lost the will to fight. The injuries are one thing, but this seemingly apparent loss of focus is a whole different animal. Apparently, these Mets will not go down swinging, they’ll just go down.

Nelson Figueroa started for the Mets and got torched for six runs on nine hits in just five innings. The big blow being a three-run homer by Brian McCann that broke a 3-3 tie and sealed the Mets fate. It wasn’t so much that he gave up the homer, any pitcher could have done that, but according to Anthony DiComo of Mets.com, Figueroa was warned not to throw McCann a first pitch changeup during his pregame scouting report. He threw him a first pitch changeup anyway. Doesn’t that just burn you up?

Why do the players continuously ignore the message that is coming from Jerry Manuel and the rest of this organization?

Anyway, Figueroa’s ERA now stands at 5.21 and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but check out how many Mets starting pitchers have ERA’s that are north of 4.00 this season…

Pat Misch – 4.21
John Niese – 4.21
John Maine – 4.45
Mike Pelfrey – 5.09
Nelson Figueroa – 5.21
Livan Hernandez – 5.45
Tim Redding – 5.52
Bobby Parnell – 5.60
Oliver Perez – 6.82

All of that supreme inferiority coming from a rotation that pitches in one of the largest ballparks in the Major Leagues. At least three of those names, and quite possibly four, will be in the rotation next season.

As for the rest of the game, Dan Murphy collected three hits. The same Dan Murphy that is on the verge of getting yanked from the first base job due to an overwhelming amount of fundamental mistakes committed on the base paths, at the plate, and in the field. He has done little to prove he is deserving of an everyday job in the majors in my opinion… maybe the Pirates or Royals.

This team as presently constructed has problems… big problems… huge problems.