Enigmatic Pelfrey flops as Mets fall to Nationals, 13-3

WASHINGTON - As the Mets try to evaluate their roster for 2011, which is the only thing left to play for in this final month, Mike Pelfrey showed again Monday why he might be the most difficult of these 33 players to analyze.

Only two months after earning All-Star consideration, Pelfrey was back to looking like a clueless rookie during a 13-3 loss to the Nationals. His fourth-inning meltdown came without warning, and by the time Jerry Manuel hurried to pull him the damage had been done.

Pelfrey (13-9) allowed five hits and six runs in 32/3 innings, and back-to-back walks to Adam Dunn and Roger Bernadina set up the Nationals' five-run surge in the fourth. Pelfrey walked Bernadina on four pitches before giving up a two-run double to Ivan Rodriguez, and he never recovered.

When Manuel later was asked how he would describe Pelfrey's uneven performance this season, the manager shrugged.

"I guess you'd have to say he is an enigma at this point," Manuel said. "I mean, it's kind of difficult even for us to figure out. Early on, you see good stuff. You see good presentation. And then you see some things kind of spinning and kind of losing control, losing command, and then confidence, and he can't get it back. Obviously, he has some things that he has to get under control and has not been able to do that at this time."

In July, Manuel stood in that same room adjacent to the visiting manager's office at Nationals Park and talked about how Pelfrey was deserving of an All-Star invitation. He was 10-4 with a 3.58 ERA at that time, and the first-half story line involved Pelfrey's success in kicking his confidence issues of the past.

But that is no longer the case. When Manuel went out to retrieve Pelfrey yesterday, the pitcher stood on the mound, his back to the manager, and looked toward centerfield as he waited for Raul Valdes to make it in from the bullpen.

"I'm just mad at myself," Pelfrey said. "I always wait for the bullpen guy to come in and always hand him the ball. I knew [Manuel] was coming to take me out, so he didn't need to say anything to me . . . I didn't really need to hear anything, so I was staring off and just thinking about what happened. It's frustrating, you know?"

The Mets know all about it. With Pelfrey, 26, now in his fourth full season, they keep waiting for him to turn the corner, and he keeps disappointing them.

He retired six of his first seven batters before serving up Danny Espinosa's leadoff homer in the third. He still led 3-1 but got only one out in the fourth before his afternoon spun out of control.

"I don't know what happened," pitching coach Dan Warthen said. "I wish I had a distinct and concrete answer for you. Mike sometimes just goes into that la-la land where you really don't know. Whether it's trying too hard or what the case may be, but that execution becomes paramount if he's going to be the pitcher we want him to be."

Pelfrey moved closer to becoming that pitcher this season, but he's not there yet, and Monday was another example. Though he has the potential to be dominant with his four-seam fastball, that won't happen if he has no command of it, and lack of focus at times is costing him.

"It's tremendously frustrating," Manuel said. "You know that the tools are there in the shed to work with. You've just got to put them in and get them in the right places, and we haven't been able to get that."