It's easy to imagine a member of the Mets staff burning a DVD of tonight's game and leaving it on Oliver Perez's locker while he's in the shower. Perez looked nothing like the pitcher who got bombed in Cincinnati during his six innings of work, replacing wildness with consistent command and a willingness to let his defense help him out. It paid off with just one run allowed and only two walks, and Perez handed the ball to the bullpen with a 2-1 lead.
There won't be much use for a video the bottom of the seventh inning of tonight's game at a baseball instructional camp, however. The Padres made mistake after mistake as the Mets ran up four runs while posting just one hit. The one hit was a bunt single by Luis Castillo, which was actually designed as a sacrifice, and two runs scored on a passed ball which the Padres comically turned into a pair of bad throws. That all the Padres were wearing the same number only added to the absurdity of it all.
The story of the 7-2 win really was Perez, though. The enigmatic lefty was all good on Wednesday, which is positive and maddening at the same time. It's positive because Perez had been so bad in his last two appearances, but maddening because there's no way you can assume you'll see the same performance the next time out.
Why can't he bottle the performance he had tonight and uncork it every time he takes the mound? Some questions can't be answered, but he was fine tonight and that helped the Mets notch victory number one at Citi Field.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
