By BRIAN COSTELLO
May 27, 2008
Mike Pelfrey's perplexing inconsistency continued last night with another rough outing less than two weeks after he flirted with a no-hitter.
The big righty gave up six hits and four earned runs in four innings. The loss was his sixth straight and the seventh time in a row the Mets lost when he started.
"It was terrible," Pelfrey said when asked to assess his outing. He gave up two runs in the first after a two-out error by Jose Reyes. Mike Jacobs and Dan Uggla both doubled in runs to give Florida the early lead.
Pelfrey really ran into trouble in the third when he issued a two-out walk to Jacobs then hit Uggla with a pitch. Luis Gonzalez hit a bases-loaded double that scored three runs and put the Mets in a hole they could not get out of.
"I almost felt like I beat myself more than anything, a two-out walk, hit a guy to load the bases," said Pelfrey, whose ERA is 5.33. "I didn't feel like I got hit hard. I put myself in those situations and they made me pay for it."
Ryan Church did not start again last night and will visit a neurologist today. Church has been battling dizziness since suffering a concussion last week.
He did pinch hit, grounding out to second in the sixth inning. Church said his ears bothered him on the flight home and he has not been able to shake the dizziness.
"I'd be able to play if I could just run without the dizziness; quick movement really gets me," he said. "I'll go to the doctor and see what the outcome is."
If the Mets do end up replacing Willie Randolph, Uggla knows someone who might be a good replacement. The Marlins second baseman played for Wally Backman in the minors and swears by the former Met's fiery style.
"If you watch the teams he manages, his players take on his kind of attitude," Uggla said. "I don't know if a lot of teams were too fond of us but we won, that's the bottom line."
The Mets are 1-19 this season when trailing after six innings . . . Reliever Aaron Heilman pitched two scoreless innings, his first outing without allowing a run since May 10.
