The New York Mets won their third straight game on Thursday night beating the Los Angels Dodgers 8-4.  The Mets are now back at .500 and sit 4 games out of first.  Not only did the Mets spoil Joe Torre’s return to New York, but they manhandled Brad Penny once again.  Penny is now 5-13 lifetime against the Mets is 1-10 at Shea Stadium.   

The Mets had 13 hits last night and David Wright continued his dominance against Penny, hitting two two run homers in last night’s game.  In 21 career at bats against Penny, Wright is hitting a whopping .524 with four home runs, five walks and 19 RBI.  Wright’s average is now up to .284 after going 2-4 with 4 RBI in last nights win.  Luis Castillo, Endy Chavez, and Brian Schneider all had RBI as well. 

The Mets got great defense last night, in the first inning Endy Chavez made a great play to throw out Juan Pierre at the plate to keep the Dodger’s off the board.  Later in the game Carlos Delgado made a great play on a line drive to first, and just missed doubling Russell Martin off first. 

The Mets have done a good job in these past three games.  I don’t know if it is the orange jacket, if it is the fact that Willie seems like he is safe for the time being, or if it is the thought of getting Pedro back, but something has clicked and the Mets have been a much better team, might even be the best we’ve seen them play since the Yankee series.

I applaud Willie Randolph for sitting Carlos Delgado those two games against the Marlins, Delgado was 2-4 last night and played good defense.  When asked about the manager’s decision to sit him those two games, Delgado told the press that he understood where Willie was coming from.  According to the New York sports pages, when asked how he’d feel about a platoon at first, Delgado basically said, that he and Willie would have a problem if that were the case.  Wow-really Carlos?  You are hitting .222 and have killed the Mets this year.  I realize that at one point you were a superstar, but you haven’t shown the Mets that in a year and a half.  I guess you don’t get that “Whatever is best for the team” concept, huh?

The Mets looked so much better the past three nights, watching them has been fun again!  They hustled, played hard, and did not give up.  They have gotten some good pitching performances, and their bull pen has been great.  They are also getting two out hits which is something that we haven’t seen them do.  I get that winning three straight is too soon to proclaim that the Mets are back, but it sure is nice to watch them play good ball once again. 

The Mets will send John Maine to the hill tonight and he will be opposed by Clayton Kershaw who made his Major League debut just five days ago against the St. Louis Cardinals.  Game time is 7:10 p.m.  

Mets Blog  

The New York Mets in unlikely fashion beat the Florida Marlins 7-6 in a 12 inning game in which the Mets came from behind not once, but twice to win.  For a second game, Personal Relations Director Jay Horowitz donned a hideous orange jacket.  Horowitz first wore the jacket on Tuesday night, and it seems will have to wear it until the Mets lose, let’s hope he is wearing that jacket for a long time!  The jacket is a leftover from Jeromey Burnitz era and has often been worn by Pedro Martinez as a club house joke.  Well, the luck it has brought the Mets the last two nights isn’t a joke, for the second night in a row the Mets not only notched a win, but they actually looked better as a team.   

The Mets jumped out to an early lead against Marlin’s starter Scott Olson on Luis Castillo’s two run homer in the bottom of the first inning.  The Mets would tack on another run in the bottom of the fourth on a sac fly by Fernando Tatis.  In the bottom of the fifth Jose Reyes would extend the Mets lead with his seventh homerun of the season.  Reyes extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and has safely reached base in 28 consecutive games.   

The Mets had a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning when Oliver Perez seemed to just lose his concentration.  Although Perez had allowed two homeruns earlier in the evening he had been pitching well, but in the sixth inning with one out, Perez walked Wes Helms; Dan Uggla hit a ball that David Wright was unable to make a play on.  So, with two on and one out Cody Ross came to the plate with one homerun under his belt and on a 2-1 count Ross hit his second home run of the game, a line drive to left field, the Marlins would take the lead 5-4. 

At that point, we knew that the Mets were 1-19 when they trailed in the 6^th inning, however, unlike those other games, the Mets didn’t give up.  They got excellent pitching the rest of the way, and in the bottom of the ninth inning, Endy Chavez came to the plate pinch hitting for Ramon Castro and tied the game with homerun to right field sending the game into extra innings. 

The Mets got great pitching the rest of the way, Scott Schoeneweis put up 0’s.  Aaron Heilman who is suddenly the Renaissance man, was dominant in his two innings of work he didn’t give up a hit and had four strikeouts. After pitching the ninth inning on Tuesday night, Billy Wagner pitched in the 10^th  and recoreded two strikeouts.  Duaner Sanchez pitched the eleventh, and actually had an at bat in the bottom of the inning recording a sac bunt.  After leaving a runner is scoring position in the bottom of the 11^th the Mets looked as if they might be in trouble in the top of the 12th when Alfredo Amezaga took Sanchez deep, giving the Marlins the lead 6-5.  But, the Mets would not be deterred this time, with the heart of the order due up to lead off the bottom of the 12^th, David Wright walked to start  the inning and Carlos Beltran hit a single to left that advanced Wright to third.  Damion Easley came up and struck out swinging, up next was Fernando Tatis who was playing for the injured Ryan Church, and he came through for the Mets hitting a rocket down the left field line that allowed both Wright and Beltran to score and the Met to win the game. 

It was great to watch the guys celebrate the victory, the guys rushed out of the dugout to greet Wright, Beltran and Tatis, jumping and pounding on each other, it was great to see them celebrate.  The Mets have had a long arduous season thus far and you really got the feeling that as much as they were elated with the victory, getting a come from behind win like that in extra innings, at least for one night, got the monkey off their backs.  It was a great game and the Mets played well.  

The Mets got good news regarding Pedro Martinez and his first rehab start.  Pitching in Port St. Lucie, Pedro threw 82 pitches, 63 of which were strikes, he gave up 4 hits and two earned runs-everything came in the fourth inning in the 2-1 loss to Vero Beach.  Pedro is scheduled to pitch for the Mets Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants.

Mets got not so great news about Ryan Church. Church visited a neurologist after suffering ill affects from a concussion he sustained in a game against the Braves.  Church has been told that he must rest and he has to avoid light.  Church has also been instructed that he has to be symptom free for 48 hours before he can resume baseball activity. 

The Mets open up a series against the Los Angels, Brad Penny will pitch for the Dodger and the Mets will counter with Claudio Vargas.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.   

Mets Blog

The New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins 5-3 on Tuesday night.  Johan Santana pitched well and the Mets scored just enough that they were able to hold on and get the win.  It was just the Mets second win in nine games, but it was a good one, and for at least one night this Met fan left the ball park happy. 

There was a shake up in the Mets line up last night, manager Willie Randolph said “Give me players that want to play,” and he put together a line up that was without Carlos Delgado.  I believe it was a good move by Randolph to bench Delgado on Tuesday night.  According to New York papers, it was Delgado’s occasional defensive indifference that played a role in Willie benching him.  Randolph said he told Delgado that he has to “pick it up” and that Delgado was not happy about what Randolph had to say.  Good job by Willie because as it turns out, it was all about the bench guys last night.  Fernando Tatis played right field going 2-3 with 2 RBI and a stolen base, Ramon Castro was 2-3 with 2 RBI, Damion Easley played first and 1-3 with an RBI that came on a sac fly in the first.  Both Tatis’ and Castro’s RBI came with two outs, something the Mets have trouble doing. 

Johan Santana was good again last night, giving the Mets what they needed, and was their stopper once again.  Santana pitched 7 innings, giving up 8 hits, three earned runs, two walks, and 7K’s   He did allowed a homerun to Cody Ross.  That was 12th homerun Santana has allowed this season, he gave up 10 all of last year.  Duaner Sanchez pitched a scoreless eighth and Billy Wagner retired the side in order in the ninth.  

All in all the Mets did play much better last night.  Maybe it was a clear sign to them that Carlos Delgado was sitting on the bench and that Nick Evans was playing the field, a contrast between an indifferent veteran and an eager rookie.  That is all us Mets fans are looking for, guys who want to play the game.  Yes, ok, we’d like some wins too, and last night we got one.  

The Mets and Marlins wrap up the rubber game of the series tonight.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.  Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets and Scott Olson will throw for the Marlins.  

 Mets Blog

The New York Mets lost 7-3 to the first place Florida Marlins on Tuesday night in the opening game of a three game series.  As the Mets took the field they knew that Willie Randolph would remain the Mets skipper but instead of going out there to back him up, the Mets played as if they wished he’d been fired. 

 I know the mantra, the manager doesn’t play the game, the players do, and until I watched Art Howe as manager, I agreed with that.  Willie was supposed to be the answer to the problems the Mets had under Howe’s tenure.  Willie grew up a New York guy, he was a Mets fan as a kid, and he played for the Mets.  Yeah-he also played for the Yankees and was a Yankee coach, but you felt like Willie had New York blood and he would get it done.  He worked under a hall of fame manager; he had to have learned something right?  While the Mets are not completely out of the race, the way they are playing now seems to indicate that they will be  out of it sooner rather than later if they don’t get it figured out.  In over 180 games the Mets are now under .500 and for that Willie has to share the blame. 

Mike Pelfrey continues to show that he is not ready to pitch in the bigs, how did this guy actually win a spot in the rotation?  Granted, Reyes booted a ball that should have gotten Pelfrey out of the inning, however Pelfrey did little to help himself out.  And so that was the theme of the night.  

Jose Reyes did hit two homeruns, but he also had two terrible plays in the field, one was game altering, just like what happened to the Mets in Colorado.  Last year at this time Reyes was the most exciting player in baseball, this year, not so much.  I was totally against trading him in the winter to get Santana because I thought he could only get better than he was last year.  Well, his bat has heated up and he has reached base in 20+ games but he also now has seven errors on the season.  If there was one thing you could count on from Reyes it was a good glove, but now that even seems to be in doubt.

There was a bright spot in yesterdays awful performances, Aaron Heilman pitched two scoreless innings for the first time since May 10th.  I wonder if the talk about sending Heilman to the minors had anything to do with his new found focus? 

It can’t be overlooked though that the Mets are getting no help from the bottom of the order.   Yesterday Carlos Delgado, Brian Schneider, and Nick Evan’s all had 0-fers. Evan’s is a call up and has only played in three games for the Mets;  but what is the story with Schneider and Delgado?   No one really expects Schneider to hit much, he hasn’t in the past, Mets’ fans understand that he is here because he is a good defensive catcher and he does a good job with his pitching staff.  But, what is Delgado’s problem?  Yes, he hit three homeruns this past week in the three consecutive games, but his average is a meager .215.  Is it safe to say this guy is done?

The Mets jumped out to an early lead, but failed to really capitalize when they had bases loaded and only one out in the bottom of the first, they came away with only two runs.   The Mets had nine hits in the game, and left seven guys on base.  Once the Marlins put four on the board in the top of the third, the Mets looked like they gave up, which is pretty much what they do every time they lose a lead.  This year, the Mets are 1-19 when trailing after 6 innings.  I think that stat tells you a little something about how hard these guys are trying.   The Mets record is 23-26, that means in 49 games, only one time were the Mets able to come from behind to win.  Now tell me they aren’t giving up.

Johan Santana will pitch for the Mets tonight, and I am headed out to Shea to catch the action.  I must admit, even though they are playing terrible baseball I am excited to see Santana pitch.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets wrapped up their seven game road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday afternoon.  The Mets went 1-6 on this trip that included a four game sweep by the Atlanta Braves.  Things don’t look much better for the Mets as they return home to face the first place Florida Marlins.   

For the Mets it was the same old story, no offense and shoddy defense.  John Maine actually pitched pretty well on Sunday, going six giving up four hits, and four run-three earned, four walks and eight strikeouts.  In the bottom of the fourth, Maine had yet to give up a hit when Jose Reyes committed a game altering error on a ball that was sure to be an inning ending double play.  Of course on the next pitch Rockies right fielder Seth Smith hit a three run homer and the Mets would not rebound.  After scoring a run in the third, no Mets player advanced beyond second base there after. 

The defense didn’t help Maine out much as both Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes committed their sixth errors of the season.  Reyes had a tough day on Sunday.  Not only did he commit a costly error in the field in the fourth inning; an inning earlier Reyes was picked off first base which marked the second time he had been picked off in the series.  It wasn’t just Reyes who had a rough day; David Wright had another 0-fer as did Luis Castillo and Delgado.  Rookie Nick Evans came back to earth as he was 0-2 before being pulled for a pitch hitter.   

This game is just another in a long line of games in which the Mets have played dreadful baseball.  Something has to change.  I don’t know if it is Willie or if it is a division in the club house, or if it is the fact that they just aren’t that good.   The Mets are in trouble. They are unable to put together more than one win at a time; they don’t seem to hit with runners on scoring position, if they can even get anyone on base.      

It seems that Willie will have a better idea of where he stands when he gets to Shea Stadium today.  Randolph is scheduled to meet with Mets ownership, and one can only imagine what will be said in this meeting.  I think there is no question that Willie is in trouble.  Randolph doesn’t actually have the backing of his players, I think the way the have played basically states that.  However, when asked by the New York Post about Randolph’s meeting with ownership, Wright responded, “That’s why there’s a separation of Powers, the players play the front office makes personnel decisions the coaches coach.  The front office can make those decisions.”  Not exactly a ringing endorsement.  However, there are plenty of guys who have backed Randolph, Brian Schneider said, “It’s not him - it’s us, we’re not getting it done right now. Willie’s still doing the same stuff he’s been doing, which is staying positive. He’s always there, and he’s our biggest supporter out there.” 

It is hard to argue that some of what is wrong with the Mets doesn’t fall on Willie’s shoulders.  If the Mets decided to fire him, can you blame them?  Ownership has a lot at stake as they have sunk a ton of money into the payroll and they need to have a good season before they move into Citifield if they hope to have people fill the seats in their new ball park.  And, this has nothing to do with his ranting about SNY and racism, if the Mets were in first place and 2o games over .500 then it would be a non issue; Willie Randolph could say what he wanted-I mean look what Ozzie Guillen gets by with simply because he won a world series.  The Mets are in trouble, and looks as if Willie is too.   

The Mets return home and start a three game series with the Florida Marlins.  Mets starter Mike Pelfrey will take the mound for the Mets and the Marlins will counter with Ricky Nolasco.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog  

The New York Mets ended their five game losing streak with a 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday afternoon.  They finally found some offense and quickly went to work on Rockies’ starter Jeff Francis, jumping out to a five run lead in the first inning.  When all was said and done the Mets would score 9 runs off 12 hits. The Mets found the spark that has been missing during their losing streak; maybe it was the fact that they jumped out to a 5-0 lead.  However, I think the excitement of seeing rookie Nick Evans make his major league debut going 3-4 with three doubles and two RBI helped a little bit too.  Evans was called up from AA Binghamton where he has played in 43 games, hitting .296 with 31 RBI.  Evan’s offensive production marked only the second time in the last 58 years that a Mets rookie went 3-3 in this major league debut; the last Met to do that was Kaz Matsui.   

The New York Mets lost the first game of a three game series to the Colorado Rockies 6-5 in 13 innings Friday night.  The Mets have now lost five games in a row and have fallen two games under .500.  

Oliver Perez was his usual head case self, he pitched five innings, giving up four runs on six hits, eight walks, yes your read that right, eight walks and two strikeouts.  He was more the Oliver Perez we saw against the Pirates rather than the Oliver Perez we saw Sunday against the Yankees.  What is with this guy?  When he is on, his stuff is great, but you never know which Oliver Perez you are going to get.  Eight walks? 

Aaron Heilman continues to struggle.  I just don’t know what they are going to do with this guy.  It seems like every time he pitches he gives up runs.  His era is now 6.29.  In 24 1/3 innings he has given up 27 hits, 21 runs, 17 of which were earned, 13 walks, and 21 strikeouts.  Is he still thinking he can be a starter? Who knows what is going on with this guy, but things are not going to get any easier for him, especially if the Mets don’t start winning some games.  If he thinks the fans have been brutal thus far, there is still a lot of ball left to play and things will get even tougher, not only for him but for the whole team. 

It was Billy Wagner who let this one get away.  We knew it was a matter of time before he really blew one but too bad it happened when the Mets were two outs away from ending their losing streak.  Wagner worked two innings; he struggled in the ninth giving up three hits, and one run, that was the homerun to Matt Holliday which tied the game.  Wagner did work a 1-2-3 tenth inning though.   

The Mets scored five runs off ten hits.  Carlos Delgado and Fernando Tatis hit back to back homers in the sixth, in fact Delgado had two hits last night to raise his average to a whopping .222, good job Carlos, you’re hot now!  David Wright was 0-6 with three strikeouts and Carlos Beltran was 0-5 with one walk.  The heart of the order is really struggling right now; hopefully getting Ryan Church back in will help some. 

I know that Omar Minaya was in Colorado and reiterated to the press that Randolph is the manager, but how much longer can they keep him?  I am not advocating for someone to get fired, but when you are the head of a team, you are the “boss” and when your team isn’t performing, you have to take some of the blame.  Willie has lost the team.  I had the same discussion this year during football season.  My beloved Huskers struggled in a year when they were supposed to be really good and after a game in which the Huskers turned in an dreadful, uninspired performance where they were outplayed like the Mets were out played earlier this week, we knew that Bill Callahan had to go.  Bill had lost the team, he could no longer lead, and of course, ultimately he did lose his job.  How long can the Mets let this go on?  How many losses?  We’re at five and counting.  This mediocrity has gone on for a year.  We can’t overlook the good things that have happened since Willie took over; the Mets have had a winning record and they did go to the playoffs, but you also can’t overlook the disastrous ending to last season.  I don’t care what the players say, it has carried over.  Every day this goes on the Mets will fall further out of contention, they have to get this fixed before they find themselves in a hole that they can not climb out,  they have too big a payroll to be a .500 teams over 180 games. 

Ryan Church was scratched from the line up last night as he said the flight did not agree with him, he was hoping to be in the line up this afternoon.  Marlon Anderson left the game with a pulled hamstring and it looks like he will have to go on the DL. 

The Mets will send Caludio Vargas to the hill this afternoon and he will be opposed by Jeff Francis.  The game is scheduled for 3:55 start. 

Mets Blog  

Just when you think the Mets hit their low point last week after losing three of four against the Washington Nationals, you realize that apparently they still had further to fall.  The Mets hit a new low on Thursday night after the Atlanta Braves completed a four game sweep of the Mets.  Chipper Jones is hitting .412 against the Mets this season and at Turner Field, the Mets are 0-6 so far this season and have been outscored 51-14 in those six games. 

 The Mets are now under .500 and seem as if they are on a downward spiral that you can’t imagine where they might end up.  What was very apparent watching the way the Braves play in these four games was that the Braves hustle, they play hard and they finish.  We have not seen that kind of play from the Mets, in fact it seems that they are too often nonchalant.  Uh funny when I hear that word Luis Castillo flashes across my mind, and Jose Reyes is starting to get there too.    

The Mets played the most uninspired baseball.  Is this the same team that took on the Yankees last weekend?  Watching them last night, it is hard to believe that Willie Randolph will be at the helm of this sinking ship for much longer.  I’m not sure how the Mets can keep him especially after his comments last week.  The team has not responded, and they certainly did nothing to show that they had his back these past four games in Atlanta.  For whatever reason, he seems to have lost this team.  The only consistency this team has been able to sustain is playing poorly.  

Johan Santana gave up a career high 12 hits.  He was not sharp, but he also did not get the help he needed from his defense either.  The Mets defense looked like it might be an issue early on with Marlon Anderson in left field for the ailing Moises Alou.  However, Anderson wasn’t the offender of poor play-that was reserved for the starters-David Wright, Brian Schneider, Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran.  The Mets can’t complain about not getting breaks in the game last night, you make your own luck, only last night it looked like they wanted to help the luck of the Braves.  Was there a lack of concentration there?   

You know how each year there is a guy on your team who drives you crazy?  A guy you don’t like much but you feel like you have to root from him because he is on your team?  Well, that is how I feel about Luis Castillo. When I watch him the word lazy keeps coming to mind.  Maybe that isn’t fair given the situation with his knees, but it is his body language that gets me.  That play he made-or failed to make last night was so frustrating, at first I thought maybe he didn’t have time to go to first, but when I saw the replays he had plenty of time, he never even thought about going to first, he was thinking of making a sports center highlight. That makes two games in a row that you can look at him for one play that really changes the game.  I just don’t like his style of play, and I think from what has been said here in the NY press, that he is rubbing off on Jose Reyes.  The problem is the Mets are not doing what they are supposed to be doing.  They are not playing hard, they are not playing smart.  

The Carloses hit back to back homers in the second, but those were the only runs the Mets would score.  The Mets had some chances later in the game, but Luis Castillo hit into a double play to end the threat in the eight.  And David Wright was doubled off first when Carlos Beltran hit a bullet to second baseman Kelly Johnson and Wright was too far of first to get back in time.

Ryan Church pinch hit in last nights game and is scheduled to play Friday night against the Rockies.  However, the Mets placed Moises Alou on the DL with a calf strain and recalled catcher Raul Casanova to take his place on the active roster.   

So the Mets now head off to Colorado, under .500 for the first time since early April.  Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets and Greg Reynolds will pitch for the Rockies.  First pitch is schedules for 9:05 p.m.    

 Mets Blog 

The New York Mets dropped their third straight game to the Atlanta Braves losing 11-4; their record now is now at .500 for the first time since April.  The Mets have been unable to score any runs against the Braves; in the past three  games they have been outscored 23-8.  The offense is abysmal, and it apparently doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone much, especially considering that Jose Reyes was all smiles and kidding around on the field last night when his team was getting trounced by the Braves. 

Mike Pelfrey was terrible, however one can only imagine if things might have been different if Luis Castillo actually hustles and makes the play on the ground ball by Mark Teixeira; making that play would have ended the third inning with out any further damage.  But instead, Luis didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry, even though Teixeira was busting it out of the box.  Pelfrey who could be seen pumping his fist because he thought he’d gotten the third out, now had to face three more batters before recording the last out of the inning.  But, the damage was done, the Mets would be down 3-1 and wouldn’t recover. 

It wasn’t just Pelfrey who struggled on the mound, the Met’s relief pitchers had trouble also.  Pedro Feliciano pitched two innings and gave up two runs, Joe Smith pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up two runs, Scott Schoeneweis pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up a run.  Clearly, no one is able to do to anything right.  When there is good pitching, there is no hitting.  If the Mets score some runs the pitching lets them down, or as was the case last night, they got terrible pitching and no offense.  Nothing is clicking on all cylinders, and I think the Mets lack of offensive production has lead to a lot of pressure on the pitching staff.  Also, when you aren’t winning, there can’t be too much happiness in the clubhouse.  However, that is one of those things that is a catch 22,  you wonder if they aren’t winning because of a lack of chemistry, but team chemistry is what you need to start winning. 

On a day when manager Willie Randolph made a public apology to his team, the Mets fans, SNY, and Mets ownership, you would think that his guys would want to come out and show him that they got his back, apparently not.   However, that has pretty much been the story, no?  Remember when Billy Wagner came out and made comments about Oliver Perez after his horrible start against the Pirates?  Well, Randolph said, I’ve talked to Billy and he understands that I am not happy about this and that we should keep things in house.  Well, obviously Billy doesn’t  really care much about what Willie thinks because just right before the Yankee series he again didn’t keep things in house and made comments that could really only be directed at the Carloses.  Clearly things within the club house are fractured.  And, in many respects, I think that someone had to say something.  I am not necessarily saying that I thought Billy Wagner is wrong, I’m just saying he didn’t actually do what his manager asked of him either.   

Who knows what the problem is?  Baseball people all the time say things like this team lacks leadership.  Is that the case with the Mets?  After the last three losses David Wright who is considered the face of the franchise has finally had some harsh remarks that sounded like he is at least frustrated by the way the Mets have played.  Is this considered leadership?  Can he lead when he is a youngster on the team?  However, if the egos of these guys are as fragile as they seem, can comments from your leaders cause a bigger divide?

Where do the fans fit in to all of this?  There is still so much discussion about the fans booing, about the fans not giving these guys a shot.  They are a .500 team and have been for a whole year now.  Sorry to keep hammering that point home, but it should be noted that the team in the National League with the highest payroll is underachieving, and yes being at .500 is beyond underachieving.  The fans don’t take this lightly, especially because we share this town with Yankee fans, and there is this need to be better than the Yankees.  In fact, I can’t even enjoy the awful season the Yankees are having right now, because the Mets are playing terrible too.  These problems with the fans and this team aren’t just about this season, this dates back to the heartbreak of last year’s collapse.  The Mets as a team might have moved on from that, although the way they are playing now might suggest otherwise, but certainly the fans have not.  If you are going to be the highest paid team in the National League, you are also supposed to be the winningest team in the National League. 

 The Mets  wrap up the series tonight in Atlanta before heading to Denver to face the Rockies for three games.  Johan Santana will start for the Mets and the Braves will counter with Tim Hudson.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

The New York Mets played a day night double header against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, losing the first game 6-1 and the second game 6-2.  Just when you start to think that maybe the Mets are heading in the right direction after their great weekend against the Yankees, the Mets let us down again and under perform and all that negative talk starts again. 

Tom Glavine started game one for the Braves, and in the first inning the Mets had him on the ropes, jumping out to a 1-0 lead off Luis Castillo’s first home run of the season.  The Mets loaded the bases but Moises Alou hit a line drive to Chipper Jones, and Carlos Delgado hit a long fly ball that was tracked down by right fielder Jeff Francoeur after that, Glavine retired the next 17 batters he faced.  Too bad Glavine didn’t pitch that well when he was with the Mets.   

The Mets offense was feeble once again, I know I’ve used that word before, but how else can it be described?  Seriously, the Mets got one run off six hits off Galvine in the first game, and in the second game, against Jorge Campillo, who hasn’t started in the majors since 2005, they got only three hits and scored zero runs.  The Mets did finally score two in the top of the eighth on and RBI double by Ramon Castro, and an RBI single by Jose Reyes.    

Mets pitching woes continue, where was the John Maine who pitched against the Dodgers last week?  Yesterday’s John Maine pitched just four innings, (but did face two batters in the fifth) giving up eight hits, four earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts.  To be fair the Braves did a good job in their at bats against Maine, and ran counts full, fouling pitches off.  However, Maine didn’t exactly put anyone away either.  It wasn’t just Maine though; Aaron Heilman pitched one inning giving up a two run homer to Brian McCann.  The second game wasn’t much better.  Claudio Vargas coming off that great start against the Washington Nationals started for the Mets, however, he didn’t quite pitch as well as he did last week going five innings giving up four runs on five hits with two walk and one strike out.  The Braves added two more runs off Matt Wise who gave up a two run homer to Mark Kotsay.   

Of course, this negative talk isn’t helped by the fact that Willie Randolph is whining to the press that he is unfairly portrayed by SNY-the Mets own television station.  He also made remarks that the way he is treated might be related to race.  He has since back tracked on the race thing, but still believes that he is misunderstood.  Here is the gig Willie, all that Mets’ fans understand is wins and losses, and if you are whining when you are losing you are not leading.  There is a reason why your team is not performing, and it is hard to believe that it doesn’t have something with you not doing your job.  Funny, you told Billy Wagner to keep things in the club house, but you neglected to take your own advice.  If you guys don’t do something in the next two games against the Braves and in your next series against the Rockies, you’re going to return home to one unhappy Mets crowd, and none of this is going to get easier.   

So, if things aren’t bad enough, Ryan Church was hospitalized after the game with a concussion, he hit his head on the knee of Yunel Escobar when he tried to break up a game ending double play.  Not great news as Church is the only starter who has shown any constancy for the Mets. 

Tuesday was a sad day for this Mets fan when ex Met Mike Piazza released a statement regarding his official retirement from Major League Baseball.  Piazza was the reason I started watching the Mets.  He brought an excitement to Shea Stadium that no one has yet to recapture.  Here’s hoping we get to see Mike sometime in the future, maybe on baseball telecasts.     

First pitch for Wednesday’s night game is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.  The Mets will send Mike Pelfrey to the mound and he will be opposed by Jair Jurrjens. 

Mets Blog