IT's all pathetic, lose 6-2

First of all, Johan Santana has a sore elbow, and has been pitching with a sore back since the all-star break. Why. Did. They. Let. Him. Continue. To. Pitch? I sometimes wonder whether the Mets doctors, Omar Minaya, and Jerry Manuel have a brain. He might need season ending surgery. From the same article, we learn that Jeff Francoeur has a torn ligament in his none throwing hand from making a diving catch. Jeff, I urge you to go on the DL. Nevermind your grissiony record of not going on the DL, just do it. Its for your own sake. Jeff Francoeur, you are now a true Met.
And now to the game. Bobby Parnell gave up a 3 run homer to Howard in the first, and then another homer to Howard in the third, this time a 2 run homer. Angel Pagan led off the first with a pop up that Chase Utley dropped, then overthrew second, throwing the ball into left field. Pagan scored with what Gary Cohen called "a little league homer". Gary Sheffield hit a triple, and scored on Tatis' sac fly. However, that would be all offensively for the Mets, as Cliff Lee was his dominant self, scattering 6 hits, striking out 5, and walking none. He lowered his ERA to 0.68, as both runs were unearned. He has a .86 tRA, which equates to about a 0.79 tERA (the rule of thumb is to multiply tRA by .92 to get tERA, because about 92% of all runs are earned). Feliciano gave up a run in the 9th, but Brad Lidge shut the Mets down anyway.
Parnell went 5 innings, gave up 5 runs, struck out 3 and walked 3. The good thing about Parnell is that he does have a 50.8 groundball percentage. The bad news is that he has a 5.68 tRA as a starter (5.23 tERA), and his FIP is about 5.50. I would keep him in the rotation for the rest of the year, but next year, have him be a reliever again.
Stupid Decision of the Day: Not having Johan shut down earlier. Pitching with a sore back since the all-star break when you have nothing to play for does not show good management.
Random Thought of the Day: Luis Castillo needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap. And maybe have a bubble. Hey, Ken Takahashi and his 4.88 tRA is back.
Clutch Play of the Game: Pagan little league home run. +.085 WPA
Up Next f0r the Mets: Start of a 3 game series at Florida, 7:10 PM ET
Nelson Figueroa (1-2, 6.30 ERA 5.99 FIP 7.60 tRA) takes Johan's place. He faces
Sean West (4-5 4.70 ERA 4.89 FIP 5.10 tRA)