Were there problems tonight?

Sure there were. Problems were the reason we were shut out instead of scoring six runs. Problems were the reason we gave up two runs instead of giving up none at all. But problems aren’t always the worst thing in the world.

I can’t remember the last time a Mets pitcher backed a hitter off the plate. That’s a problem. Thor, today, threw too many fastballs, and didn’t come inside nearly enough. So, problerm: pitch selection. Fortunately, that’s just about the easiest problem to fix I can think of: just put down different signs.

We seem to have stopped hitting. That’s a problem. But will it last? No, is the short answer. Everyone’s gone cold right now; Duda, Granderson, Conforto, not to mention Rene Rivera at catcher. We’ll hit again: the last time we went cold for a few games, we came back with a stretch of 12-2, or whatever that streak was. We’ve got an offense, and a good one. All offenses go cold for a game or two here and there, good ones included. We’ll be fine.

But look on the bright side, and I do, because I’m a goddamm Mets fan. Those were our problems: their hitters on our pitchers, our offense suddenly gone cold. We can fix those two problems: it could happen relatively easily. And then where are we?

We’re winning. We’re dominating everyone we face. We’re pitching shutouts and putting up runs, and we’re unbeatable.

Of course, it didn’t help that, through these first two games, we haven’t exactly gotten the benefit of luck. More than a few times, we’ve hit balls hard and had them caught. It’s yet another thing that all teams go through. We all know the symptoms: you barely look up on a deep fly ball, because you know it’ll be caught on the warning track. You don’t even get excited on a check swing, because you know we’re not getting the call.

Again, this has happened to us before, and what did we do, the last time it did? We went out and won five straight series.

We’re due an improvement in BABIP, just as we’re due for our opponents’ BABIP to drop. We’ve got a few problems: when we fix them, we’ll be just fine.

And while we’re at it, look at the positives from tonight. The captain walked twice, as he’s done and should continue to do. Henderson and Reed were flawless. Rene Rivera threw two bullets from behind the plate. Cabrera had two more hits. Hell, even Wilmer got off the schneid, with a double that could or should have scored a run, depending on your interpretation of an increasingly murky rulebook. But I digress.

We’ve lost two in a row; that happens. They haven’t been terrible losses, but the kind that all teams go through. We’ve got some luck coming our way, and with the team we’ve got, that little bit of luck should translate into a big bunch of wins.

Tomorrow, it’s Bartolo — just the guy we need, to change something up and turn fortunes our way. After that, it’s Harvey, over his illness and looking to finally bring himself back. Call me overoptimistic; I think he can do it.

Thor didn’t bring the lightning today, at least not to its full potential, and the offense wasn’t exactly electric either. Neither of those things are the norm: both figure to be rare occurrences.

And when the norm comes back, we start winning again. So let’s just stick with the team we’ve got, and go get a win tomorrow.