Those Mets

GIANTS SWALLOW TAKAHASHI

Some 2,500 miles from where Hisanori Takahashi was hurling hittable pitch after hittable pitch to Giants hitters at AT&T Park, Oliver Perez was tossing his own pitches in Buffalo, N.Y. These were not unrelated events. Perez's successes, however modest, worked to thrust Takahashi's struggles into further relief. To be certain, Takahashi's rotation spot is not in immediate jeopardy -- a Mets insider indicated that much after Saturday's game. But there were plenty of struggles for Takahashi and the Mets in an 8-4 loss to the Giants. "We obviously didn't anticipate this type of outing from Takahashi," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "I'm sure we'll have some conversation about it." Moved up in the rotation to accommodate Mike Pelfrey's stiff neck, Takahashi allowed the first four hitters he faced in the second inning to reach base, the latter two of them on RBI singles. Then, with two outs, Andres Torres broke open the game with a three-run homer to left. Buster Posey's solo home run, Juan Uribe's double and Pablo Sandoval's single then combined to knock Takahashi out of the game in the third with this rather conspicuous line: six runs on seven hits and a walk. In his last four starts dating back to June 24, Takahashi is now 1-2 with a 10.90 ERA. "He has to execute his pitches," catcher Rod Barajas said. "When he makes mistakes for the most part, he's going to get punished. He can't throw the ball over the plate and expect guys to swing and miss." By the time Takahashi exited, Perez had already put the finishing touches on his victory in Buffalo: 6 2/3 innings, three runs, seven strikeouts and two walks. It was admittedly not much -- Perez sat in the high 80s with his fastball -- and it came against Minor League hitting. But compared to the quality of Takahashi's start, Perez's outing veritably sparkled. So did that of Giants starter Matt Cain, who reeled off six shutout innings before Carlos Beltran tripled and Ike Davis hit a two-run homer into McCovey Cove in the seventh. That shot snapped a 24-inning scoreless streak for the Mets, their longest such streak since enduring 30 scoreless in July 1992. Davis hit another homer in the ninth inning off Santiago Casilla, pulling the Mets within four runs and forcing the Giants to call upon Brian Wilson to record the final out. But Wilson did ultimately record that final out. "That's a good team up there," their manager, Bruce Bochy, said. "They made us get our closer in the game and they were grinding, too." "It was late," Beltran said, "but at least we scored a few." Had they scored a few for R.A. Dickey on Thursday night or Jon Niese on Saturday, the Mets would have won. Instead, they scored a few for Takahashi, who was consistently unable to locate his pitches. Against Posey in the third inning, Takahashi elevated a cutter that was meant to run inside. Against Torres in the second, he left a fastball out over the plate. Big league hitters generally crush those pitches, as Posey and Torres were all too eager to do. "I didn't have good command this game," Takahashi said through an interpreter. "I don't know why, but something was wrong." Takahashi also said he was trying not to think about his rotation spot. And why would he? If the Mets had viable alternatives, he knows, he might already be out of the starting five. As it is, the primary alternative for the Mets is Perez, whose command issues are much better-documented than those of Takahashi. Five days prior to Saturday's outing, Perez walked five Triple-A batters in a scoreless effort. The Mets can hardly feign excitement over that. With no immediate plans to insert Perez back into the rotation, then, all the Mets can do is hope that Takahashi can improve his command. Usually able to baffle opposing hitters his first time through a lineup, Takahashi on this night allowed four of the first seven hitters he faced to score. "He's got to pitch like the crafty lefties," Barajas said, "and not give in and make quality strikes." It's a lot to ask from a 35-year-old rookie on a Minor League contract, whose scouting report has long since filtered around the league. But right now, there are no easy answers for the Mets. "It has to be somewhat concerning," Manuel said. "There have been a couple outings where he's given up a number of runs in bunches. And those things are sometimes difficult to defend or overcome. We have to sit down and evaluate it, look at it, discuss it, and we'll try to make the best decision for the team." (Mets.com)