Jerry Manuel: Maine, Perez & Pelfrey could pitch out of the pen

That's the chyron on the Mets pregame show. They're speculating that it's just Manuel lighting the proverbial fire under Sanchez, Heilman and company, letting them know that the blowups must stop.

I sure hope that's all it is. It sucks to have a terrible bullpen, but taking a good starter and decreasing the number of innings they pitch isn't the way to fix it.

Update:
Keith Hernandez just characterized the Mets bullpen situation as "Emergency Plan F." It's nice to hear analysis like that on a team-owned television network.

Mets cough up three run lead without Wagner

With Billy Wagner unavailable, Duaner Sanchez and company couldn't quite slam the door on the Phillies in the ninth inning, surrendering six runs.

I don't subscribe to Gary Cohen's theory that pitching in unfamiliar roles was a significant contributor to the the relievers' performance. Duaner Sanchez has both closed and had really bad innings in the past, and once you get him out of the game there's not really a term for the guy who gets brought in after the closer spits the bit.

The primary problem is that Billy Wagner wasn't available to pitch and the other guys aren't as good. They don't have to be (and probably aren't) any less effective in the ninth inning than they are in the eighth.