NEW YORK – The Mets needed a win in the worst way.And Oliver Perez on Wednesday got a win in the worst way.
Of all the players the Mets need to come off the disabled list – Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, John Maine, J.J. Putz – they had to settle for one they could activate Wednesday: Perez.
Yet after missing two months with tendinitis in his right knee, Perez was in midseason form.
That is, missing the strike zone with regularity.
Somehow, though, the Mets beat the Dodgers 5-4 and snapped a four-game losing streak to get to 40-42, which in the tepid NL East is good for 4 1/2 games out of first place.
"With the uncertainty of Ollie ... and him kind of flowing in and out of rhythm, it became very challenging for us," manager Jerry Manuel said. "I think there's still some things that he obviously needs to work on. Obviously command is one of them."
You think?
Perez became the first big-league starter in nearly seven years to get a win while working the minimum five innings, walking seven or more, allowing four or more hits and throwing more than 100 pitches.
Of Perez's 108 pitches, 53 were balls. And not borderline pitches, either; most of his misses were well wide. Or high. Or, in one case, bouncing in front of the plate.
Heck, Perez even threw two more non-strikes to first base on bunts, nearly firing one into the outfield and then overcompensating on the next with a soft lob.
Manuel blamed rust, while Perez admitted he was nervous in his first game back.
(It was Perez's eighth seven-walk game in 180 career starts. Greg Maddux had one in his 740 starts.)
"Anybody doesn't want to have a game like that," Perez said. "You have to make sure you get important outs and get out of the inning as quick as you can."
The Dodgers did themselves in, leaving eight men on base in Perez's five innings, five of them in scoring position.
"He threw a lot of pitches, we all know that, and he walked a bunch of guys," catcher Brian Schneider said. "But he beared down and got some big outs. And when it come down to it, he gave up two runs."
With two out in the third, Perez walked the bases loaded – on just 14 pitches – but Andre Ethier lined out softly to third.
"He kept us busy," Manuel said of Perez. "He kept our bullpen busy. He kept guys [warming] up. There was times when I would say, yeah, he was a hitter or two away [from being pulled] but he battled his way out of it."
Then the Mets scored as many runs in the bottom of the third – three – as they had in their previous four games total.
Which poses the question: Is it worse to walk seven in five innings or, as Hiroki Kuroda did, allow five runs to this depleted Mets lineup?
The Mets' offensive problems – they were shut out in their two previous games, making Wednesday's nine-hit effort an explosion – are due to bad luck in the health department. The Mets' biggest crime was not assembling enough organizational depth in case of injuries.
But the Perez fiasco is of their own doing. After having him for 2 1/2 seasons, the Mets re-signed him to a three-year, $36 million deal, despite knowing his propensity for walks and his mechanical issues (currently, a problem with pointing his landing foot away from the plate).
One Mets source said Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen pushed for re-signing Perez over objections from other factions of the organization.
Now there's 2 1/2 more years of wondering whether Good Ollie or Bad Ollie will show up.
Despite Wednesday's ugliness, which also included Francisco Rodriguez flirting with a blown save by allowing a Manny Ramirez homer and two other baserunners, the Mets could be pleased. Wins have been hard to come by since 75 percent of their core hit the disabled list.
Locals are pining for a trade, even though the Mets have few prospects to offer and no real hole to plug that won't eventually be filled by a returning player.
So for now the Mets try to tread water with a watered-down club and savor any win, even when they walk nine batters.
"You never know," Perez said. "Maybe we can start winning."
