Heilman Nearly Wastes Efforts of Pelfrey and Tatis

    Just when you think Fernando Tatis might be coming down to Earth and snapping his unbelievably hot hitting, he proves you dead wrong.  Tatis' two home runs last night powered the Mets toward their 6-5 triumph over the Padres, and his knack for coming through in the clutch continued.  His first homer tied the game at one, and his second put the Mets ahead 4-2.  Six of Tatis' nine home runs this year have either tied the game or given the Mets the lead.

    Mike Pelfrey continued his solid pitching, allowing just two runs over 6.2 innings, despite not having his best sinker.  Pedro Feliciano then came in and got four outs to bridge the Mets to the ninth, leading 6-2.  With Billy Wagner on the DL, Jerry Manuel turned to Aaron Heilman, and then the floodgates opened.  Heilman walked the first batter and the second reached on a misplayed pop-up that fell in between Argenis Reyes and Carlos Beltran.  He recorded an out on a fielder's choice, but then Jody Gerut hit a three-run bomb over the right field fence, and suddenly it was 6-5.  Joe Smith and Scott Schoenweis entered to retire a batter each and save the game, but the victory left a bad taste in any fan's mouth because of the continued struggles of the bullpen, namely Aaron Heilman, in Wagner's stead.

    Who should close while Wagner is hurt?  Clearly Aaron Heilman is not fit for the job, and Duaner Sanchez proved that he's not up to snuff either last time Wagner was unavailable to pitch the ninth.  Feliciano, Schoenweis and Smith are all better suited as specialists--Feliciano and Schoenweis have difficulties getting righties out while Smith gets hammered by lefties.  Eddie Kunz has been groomed as the closer of the future in the minors for the last two years, and he closed for Oregon State before that.  Jerry Manuel said he'd like Kunz to develop some confidence in lower-pressure situations before putting him in bigger spots, and that's probably a good idea for the time being.  Kunz allowed a home run in the game tonight, but that was the first he had given up since 2005 in college.  He's a sinkerball pitcher so hopefully he can straighten that out and continue to force hitters to pound the ball into the ground.  And hopefully Manuel can find some low-pressure situations for Kunz quickly so he can build his confidence and pitch the ninth inning--because no one else in the Mets' bullpen is up to the task.