Game #55 (28-27) - Home is where the heart is

Just a few quick notes on last night's game, cause it actually wasn't terrible and I don't have a ton to complain about after finally breaking a 6 game losing streak against the Marlins.

• How ridiculous is it that R.A. Dickey is the Met's #3 starter this year?  Unfortunately, I'm in the camp of waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Dickey has never posted an ERA under 5 in a season in which he made multiple starts, so it's tough to see him maintaining a sub-4.00 this year.  The biggest reason for Dickey's success has been his 81.9% strand rate, a whopping deviation from his career rate of 70.4%.  If he's unable to maintain his strand rate, which is likely, he'll return to the mediocrity that has defined his career to this point.  That's going to be bad news for this Mets team.
• The home/road split drives me crazy, and I really wish I had any idea why it happens.  It's tough to decide which team is the real Mets, but it would be great if they'd stop teasing us by playing like the best team in the NL when they play at home, and then the worst as soon as they leave Queens.  Just pick one and go with it!
• Jason Bay continues to swing a hot bat, the only problem is that it's got an Ichiro amount of pop in it.    His ISO is a career low .152, and his HR/FB% of 4.5 is the lowest of his career by a WIDE margin. Hopefully he can return at least to his 2007 rate of 11.4%, which was the lowest of his career in a season in which he managed only 21 HR.  His .299 average is propped up by an unsustainable .387 BABIP, but I'd happily trade some of that average for getting some power out of the 3 hole, especially with Ike and Wright continuing to struggle.  Bay is OPS'ing at a 1.034 clip at Citi, and .624 away with it - that goes a lot towards explaining the overall team home/road split. doesn't it?
• At this point, I'll take any save from K-Rod I can get, but I cannot remember the last time he closed a game with a 1-2-3 inning.  Watching him is just brutal, isn't it?
• One last thing - am I the only one who feels like it's a minor victory in any game when Wright doesn't strike out?  It gives me hope that the switch is turning on - of course until the next game when he goes 0-4 with 4 K's.

The Mets go for yet another home W today at 4:10 with Niese returning to the mound against lefty Nate Robertson.  Let's hope the success against lefties the Mets had in San Diego isn't blown by the bullpen like it was on Wednesday.  If it happens again, you can understand why being a Met fan sucks.