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The New York Mets and the Texas Rangers were rained out on Saturday night and played a good old fashioned double header on Sunday.  The Mets had John Maine on the hill for the first game and Pedro Martinez pitched the second.  The Rangers took the first game of the double header 8-7.  The Mets took the nightcap 4-2, taking two out of three from the Rangers.   

John Maine pitched 6 1/3 innings and while he was credited with five earned runs, two of the runs were on base when he left the game in the top of the seventh, both scored when Pedro Felicano allowed an RBI single to Ramon Vasquez.  Maine did not pitch as poorly as his line would suggest, he did give up 7 hits, while striking out five and not allowing any walks.  The Mets’ bullpen did a terrible job once again.  Pedro Felicano was not the only culprit; Joe Smith entered the game with a runner on and gave up a two out two run homer to Ian Kinsler.  Scott Schoeneweis pitched an inning and gave up a homerun to Milton Bradley.   

The Mets did have two late inning rallies, the first in the bottom of the eight, down 8-3.  With one out, Carlos Beltran walked, Carlos Delgado hit a short fly ball single that allowed the run to score.  Trot Nixon hit a double to right field that would drive in Delgado.  Brian Schneider walked, Damion Easley got aboard on an error and that would load the bases.  Jose Reyes had a chance to do some damage with only one out and bases load, but he popped up to right field and for some inexplicable reason, Sandy Alomar elected to send a very slow Brian Schneider home, and he of course was thrown out at the plate by a mile.  However, the Rangers we not finished trying to give the game away.  In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets tacked on two more runs, but fell just short, and lost the first game 8-7.   

The Mets really had an opportunity to take the first game even with the runs the bullpen gave up.  However, they got lousy situational hitting and a really boneheaded move by their third base coach.  This team is not good enough to overcome those types of mistakes.  Guys have got to get their heads in the game.  With Alomar’s brilliance at third yesterday, you can see that it isn’t just the players who have brain lock during a game.   

The Mets did redeem themselves in the night cap of the doubleheader winning 4-2 behind Pedro Martinez.  Martinez struggled early on giving up two runs before the Mets could get on the board, but he hunkered down and pitched pretty well.  In his six innings of work he gave up two runs, just one earned on six hits, allowing one walk and recording four strikeouts.  Much to the ire of the crowd at Shea Stadium, Pedro left the game for a pitch hitter in the bottom of the sixth.  The crowd could be heard in the background chanting, “We want Pedro!”  It worked out in the Mets’ favor however as pinch hitter Robinson Cancel hit a two run single to give the Mets a 4-2 lead.   

The bullpen was much better in the second game.  Pedro Feliciano pitched a scoreless seventh, Duaner Sanchez pitched the eighth giving up nothing, and Billy Wagner came in for the save in the ninth.  Without any excitement, he retired the side in order while recording two strikeouts.  While you could see Wagner was nervous and did not have his great stuff he did what had to be done and finally got a save.  The bullpen finally gave the Mets what they needed.   

The good thing to come out of this series was that David Wright snapped a skid that was something like 6-40 and was a combined 4-7 with an RBI.  He looked much better at the plate; let’s hope he can carry it over to the series with the Anaheim Angels.  The Carloses both had good days at the plate too.  In the two games Beltran was 4-9 with three RBI, three runs scored and a walk.  Delgado was 3-9 with two RBI and two runs scored. 

 Speaking of the Anaheim Angels, them Mets begin a three game interleauge series with them in Anaheim tonight.  Mike Pelfrey, coming off a brilliant performance in his last outing against the Diamondbacks will be on the mound for the Mets, the Angels will counter with Jered Weaver.  First pitch is scheduled for 9:55 p.m. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets bounced back from their extra inning loss on Thursday, winning 7-1 and taking the first game of the interleague series against the Texas Rangers.  The Mets were desperate for a win and played well on Friday getting both great starting pitching and some offense.  On a day when reports again surfaced that Willie Randolph’s job is in jeopardy, the Mets went out to save him for one more day.   

Oliver Perez was on the mound for the Mets and with him you never know what you are going to get.  It looked as if it might be a long night when in the top of the first he gave up a homerun to Josh Hamilton.  But, that would not be the case.  Texas mustard just three hits the entire game.  Perez pitched seven solid innings only walking three (come on, if you’ve watched Ollie pitch, you know that is a big feat), he also had 8 strikeouts.  Perez has really benefited from having Pedro Martinez around.  Funny, both of their contracts expire at the end of the season, maybe they end up somewhere as a package deal.  All kidding aside, Perez has had two good outings since the debacle in San Francisco, but that is the problem, you never know which Perez will take the mound.  He did his job yesterday though and in a time when the Mets are really struggling he went out and put up a great performance.  Not only did Perez pitch well, he hit a single in the bottom of the sixth that drove in a pair of runs.    

The bullpen did their job as well.  And how long has it been since we could say that?  Then again, with a 7-1 lead you would hope that this would be a wide enough margin that the bullpen could hold the lead.  Scott Schoeneweis pitched an inning of relief and put up zeros across the board.  Duaner Sanchez came into the game in the ninth, issuing a walk but recording two strikeouts. 

The Mets scored two in the bottom of the first.  Jose Reyes got aboard with a single and moved to second on a ground out by Luis Castillo.  With David Wright hitting, Reyes advanced to third on a balk, Wright hit a bullet, but right to second baseman Ian Kinsler.  Carlos Beltran hit into right field and Reyes would score.  Carlos Delgado drew a two out walk, and he and Beltran would successfully complete a double steal with Marlon Anderson at the plate.  Anderson hit a bouncer to third, but German Duran’s throw sailed on him, and Anderson was safe at first and Beltran would score to make it 2-1  The Mets would add another run in the bottom of the fifth on a sac fly by Wright.

 In the bottom of the sixth the Mets did what they had failed to do during their losing streak, and that was tacking on runs late in the game.  Carlos Delgado singled to lead off the inning; he would score on a single to right by Marlon Anderson, Brian Schneider would single to right and that advanced the runner to third.  Endy Chavez hit a ground rule double (by fan interference) allows Anderson to score and Schneider to take third.  After a pitching change, Oliver Perez hit a bloop single that just cleared the glove of the short stop allowing both Anderson and Schneider to score and the Mets would go on to win it 7-1. 

The Mets played much better on Friday night.  But the whole team seems to be in shambles.  As I mentioned before the stuff with Willie Randolph has to stop.  Either fire him or put it to rest.  Enough already!  To me, he seems less culpable in this last go around then he was early in the season when the Mets were just going through the motions.  But seriously, how can players respect a guy whose job is hanging by a thread?  Why listen to him if he could be gone tomorrow?

Here is a surprise; Moises Alou is on the DL again, with the same calf injury that landed him there the last go-around.  Clearly they are not going to be able to count on him and they have acquired Trot Nixon from the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Who knows when Ryan Church will play again and whether he’ll be able to come back and be the player he has been for the Mets prior to the head injury. 

I don’t know if anyone caught the Phllies-Cardinals score last night.  In case you missed it, they won 20-2; Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Pat Burrell hit back to back to back homers.  The Phillies are a very good team, and they play so differently from how the Mets play, almost like how the Mets played in 2006 and in parts of 2007.  I wish we could get those Mets back.  The Mets are in trouble, the Phillies are the team to beat, and in a head to head match up I think the Phillies would kill us right now. 

The Mets and Rangers continue their series tonight with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m.  The Mets send Pedro Martinez to the mound and the Rangers will counter with Kason Gabbard. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets wrapped up their three game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon.  The Mets lost the rubber game of the series 5-4 in 10 innings.

Johan Santana started the game and put up probably his best performance so far in a Mets uniform.  He looked sharp, giving up just three hits, and three walks in seven innings of work while striking out 10-that’s right 10!  Of course, the bull pen tried to blow it for him.  Joe Smith came in to pitch the eighth and worked just 2/3 of a inning giving up two walks and two hits and allowing to runs to score.  Scott Schoeneweis came in to record the last out of the inning and preserve the Mets lead.

The Mets scored first in the second inning on a home run by Ramon Castro.  The second run of the game came off an RBI double by David Wright in the bottom of the third.  In the bottom of the 7^th with Dan Harren out of the game, the Mets added two runs.  Damion Easley was hit by a pitch, and Ramon Castro hit a long fly ball to center that was misplayed by Chris Young, Easley would advance to third on the double.  Both Castro and Easly would score on an RBI single to center off the bat of Fernando Tatis.  Jose Reyes hit a double that advanced Tatis to third, Endy Chavez drew a walk and with one out and the bases loaded, Edgar Gonzalez came in to the game-he would get David Wright to hit a pop up in foul territory on the first base side that was caught by Conner Jackson.  He would have to face Carlos Beltran again, but this time Gonzalez won the battle when Carlos flied out to centerfield to end the inning.  Stranding those runners would come back to haunt the Mets because our buddy Billy Wagner would blow another one. 

Wagner came in with a two run lead and with an opportunity to redeem himself from his disastrous outing in Wednesday night’s game.  Actually, Willie Randolph caught some heat for bringing him in after Pelfrey put a runner on to start the ninth.  See, apparently Billy can’t seem to get it up, (his intensity that is) to come into the game in the middle of an inning.  For Wagner, when he starts an inning he is 44-50 in save opportunities with a 2.05 ERA and has given up just six homeruns in those 88 innings.  That is a stark contrast when you compare Wagner’s numbers where he comes into a game in the middle of an inning; he is 3-6 in save chances with a 7.11 ERA, and has given up 3 homers in 6 1/3 innings.  I actually don’t think that Randolph made the wrong move.  Mike Pelfrey did not want to come out of the game and asked Randolph to leave him in.  Pelfrey pitched really well and deserved a shot at a complete game.  Billy Wagner needs to suck it up and do what has to be done.  I think that is especially true when you are the guy who has a lot to say to the media.  

So, I’m not sure then what his excuse was for giving up two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning in Thursday’s game.  He started the inning by walking the lead off man Miguel Montero, he then gave up a single to Stephen Drew, Chris Young doubled to left, scoring Montero, and allowing Drew to advance to third.  Augie Ojeda walked to load the bases, Orlando Hudson grounded to Jose Reyes who threw Drew out at the plate.  Connor Jackson hit a grounder to Jose Reyes, who flipped the ball to second base to get the force, but Drew would score and tie the game at four.  Wagner was able to strike out Mark Reynolds on a called third strike to end the inning, but the damage was done.  The Mets failed to score any runs in the bottom of the ninth and for a second straight game, the game went into extra innings.   

In the top of the tenth Aaron Heilman started the inning by giving up a double to Justin Upton, Jeff Salazar moved the runner to third on a sac bunt, and Upton would score on a sac fly by Miguel Montero.  The Mets could get nothing going offensively in the bottom of the ninth, Ramon Castro hit a popup in foul territory that was playable by Connor Jackson, Luis Castillo pinch hit for Heilman, getting aboard with a soft roller to second.  However, Chris Aguila hit into a double play to end the game. 

It can’t be lost on the Mets that as a team, they left 11 guys on base; the heart of the order being the biggest culprits, Wright stranded five, while Beltran stranded four.  They had opportunities and could not capitalize.  But today’s debacle belongs to the bullpen.  They were handed a four run lead and only had to hold it for three innings.  That is the problem though.  You can’t point to just one thing that is wrong with this team.  If you could then at least it could be fixed. When they get offense, and good starting pitching the bull pen stinks and so on.  This week it happens to be the bullpen, next week it will be the offense.   This team is a mess.  Whatever the case is, it is starting to look like a lost cause, and with that I am at a loss for words. 

The Mets start an interleague series with the Texas Rangers.  Oliver Perez will start for the Mets and he will be opposed by Scott Feldman.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

 Mets Blog 

The New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondback’s 5-3 in 13 innings on Wednesday night stopping a five game losing streak.  Because the Braves lost to the Cubs and the Marlins beat the Phillies, the Mets gained a game in the standings and now sit just 6.5 games out of first.   

The Mets scored three early off Diamondbacks’ starter Brandon Webb.  In the fourth innings, Jose Reyes lead off bunting for a base hit, Luis Castillo singled on a base hit to the pitcher and Reyes advanced to third on the throwing error by Webb.  David Wright was retired on a ground out to third but Carlos Beltran hit a single to center field that scored both Reyes and Castillo.  Beltran advanced to third on a ball hit by Carlos Delgado that was deflected off Brandon Webb.  The ball seemed to hit him in the hip, there was an injury delay but Webb stayed in the game until he was removed for a pinch hitter in the top of the sixth.

Mike Pelfrey had the best outing of his career and left the game after pitching to one hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning.  In 8+ innings of work, Pelfrey had thrown 110 pitches, gave up just 5 hits, with 8 strikeouts, two walks, and one earned run.  That run scored when Billy Wagner gave up a three run homer in the bottom of the ninth.  I felt so bad for Mike Pelfrey when Wagner blew the game.  Pelfrey had caught a lot of heat for some of his pitching performances and rightfully so, but as of late he has had three strong outings, in his last three starts he is pitching to a 1.71 ERA

Billy Wagner had his third blown save of the year, his second in the midst of this losing streak.  With two on and two out, Mark Reynolds hit a three run blast on a fast ball that he took over the center field wall.  That marked that second consecutive blown save by Wagner where he did so by giving up a three run homer.  For the Mets bullpen it was the 13^th homerun that they had given up in 11.2 innings.  However, the rest of the bullpen did their job putting up zeros in extra innings, Pedro Feliciano pitched the 10^th, Aaron Heilman pitched the 11^th and 12^t allowing just one hit and had three strikeouts, and Claudio Vargas pitched the 13^th. 

In the bottom of the 13^th Luis Castillo reached on a fielding error by Mark Reynolds, after fouling off two pitches, Carlos Beltran hit a two run walk off homer to right center.  That hit not only won the game for the Mets but it extended their record to 5-0 in extra innings at Shea Stadium this season. 

Happy Birthday to Jose Reyes, he celebrated his 25^th birthday on Wednesday night.  That was just one night after his 5^th anniversary of his Major League debut.  Also, it looks like I might have overestimated just how long Moises Alou would stay off the DL.  He has apparently reinjured the calf strain, the one that landed him on the DL his last go around.  Anyway, he is scheduled for an MRI today. 

 Johan Santana will be on the mound for the Mets in the rubber game of the series, the Diamondbacks counter with Dan Harren.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m.  On Friday the Texas Rangers make there way to Shea for a three game interleague series. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets coming off a terrible weekend opened a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.  The Mets had John Maine on the mound and Moises Alou back in the lineup.  Early in the day, the Mets held a players only meeting behind closed doors where they discussed their goals for the rest of the season.  They all carried a sheet of paper that is their “blue print” for success.  Written on the paper were some motivational messages like, “team before self”, “We B4 I”, “We have time”.  The Mets plan was to go 62-38, finish with 92 wins and make the playoffs.  However, things didn’t exactly work out for the Mets and their little plan as they dropped the series opener 9-5 and put themselves in the midst of their second five game losing streak of the season.

The Diamondbacks scored first but the Mets came back in the bottom of the inning and scored three runs to take a 3-1 lead.  In the bottom of the second with a runner on base, David Wright hit his 12^th homerun of the season, giving the Mets a 5-1 lead.  That lead would not stay for long as Orland Hundson hit a two run homer in the top of the fifth to cut the Mets lead 5-3. 

John Maine left the game after five innings, giving up five hits, three earned runs, three walks and seven strikeouts; he left the game after five innings because he had thrown 101 pitches.  It has been the same old story for Maine, he leads the majors in the amount of pitches thrown, and he is 30^th in the league in the amount of innings pitched.  John ends up throwing too many pitches early and as a result does not go deep into games.  He doesn’t always make adjustments, or isn’t able to close out innings.  And Tuesday night was no different.

Claudio Vargas was on the mound in relief with a 5-3 lead in the top of the sixth, he walked the lead off man then retired Chris Snyder on a liner to left.  With one and and one on, Justin Upton was hit by a pitch, and a grounder by Jeff Salazar allowed the runners to advance a base; both would score on Augie Ojeda singler that just made it past the glove of a diving Carlos Delgado and rolled into right field.  Ojeda would take second on Endy Chavez’s throw to home, but was stranded there when Vargas retired Chris Young to end the inning.

There was some excitement when in the top of the seventh inning, the weather worsened and the Umps suspended play, Billy Wagner and Scott Schoeneweis came out of the bullpen to help the grounds crew secure the tarp on the field.  All I could think, as nice as it was that they helped out, I figured one of them would end up breaking a finger or spraining their ankle.  Luckily though, the tarp went down without injury and the Mets were on a rain delay for about an hour.  After the rain delay, Joe Smith gave up a homerun to Chris Snyder in the top of the eighth to give the Diamondbacks a 6-5 lead.  The Diamondbacks would hit two homers off Duaner Sanchez in the top of the ninth to make it 9-5.  It should be noted that when Rick Pederson visited the mound in the ninth and when Willie Randolph came to the mound to remove Sanchez from the game, they were both booed. 

As I mentioned before, Alou finally returned to the Mets line up after missing 18 games with a strained right calf.  The Mets are playing their 63^rd game of the season and Moises Alou has played in 15 of them. Judging by this, he should be hurt again by Saturday.  Seriously though, Alou hit the first pitch he saw and drove in two runs.  For the night Alou was 1-2 with 2 RBI.  After the rain delay, he was replaced by Damion Easley because of stiffness in his calf.  Marlon Anderson also came off the DL and pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh.      

 The Mets placed Ryan Church on the DL retroactive to last Friday.  It is thought that he should be able to join the team when they return to Colorado at the end of June.  This whole thing has been a mess and handled so poorly.  Church will not be allowed to resume any baseball activity until he is 100% symptom free, and according to Mets brass, they will make their decision solely on medical advice of Church’s neurologist.  Great, only took them three weeks to figure out what to do.  Consider this, Moises Alou had talked his way off the DL and into the starting line up last weekend during the Padres series, but the Mets waited until Tuesday to allow him to play because they wanted to be “cautious.”   I don’t know if that is an example that the Mets realize that Alou is made of glass or if they really just didn’t pay attention to what was happening with Church but you really have to do a better job than that.  If they had paid closer attention to Church’s condition, maybe he would not be going through this right now.       

Also, I know that it is still technically early, and that headed into play Tuesday night there were 100 games left in the season, but dating back to exactly on year ago the Mets are now 82-82.  There is no reason to believe that the Mets are going to pick it up any time soon and turn this around.  I love the fact that the manager Willie Randolph says that there are still 100 games left to play.  I am sick of hearing that there is a lot of baseball left to play.  What will the excuse be when there are only 81 games left in the season?  Is that still a lot of baseball left to play?  Or, how about last year with 17 games to play, was that a lot less baseball left to play?  Yes, so your point is that the Mets can turn this around.  Funny though, we were saying to ourselves in September there are only 17 games to go, the Mets can’t possibly blow this.  The Mets are not playing well now, they haven’t played well in a whole year, and the fact that it just keeps getting worse, isn’t lost on anyone.  People can clamor all they want about it isn’t Willies fault, or that there is still 100 games to go, but time is running out and the longer the Mets let this go, the harder it will be to over come.  If I was Willie I would be really annoyed by the fact that once the Mets had the lead then went on cruise control.  I don’t know if they have this false sense of security or maybe it is a sense of entitlement, whatever it is, they need to stay in the game, and play the whole game.   

The Mets continue the series with the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, Mike Pelfrey will pitch for the Mets and the Diamondbacks will have Brandon Webb on the mound.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Mets Blog

The New York Mets lost their fourth straight game to the San Diego Padres 8-6 on Sunday afternoon.  The bats came alive early, in the first inning the Mets scored more runs than they had the first three games of the series. Howeve they were unable to capitalize on their offensive production.  With one swing of the bat, Tony Clark drove in the winning runs and the Padres completed a four game sweep, sending the Mets home to Shea 7 ½ games behind the first place Phillies. 

Pedro Martinez did not pitch well.  When he took the mound in the bottom of the first, he had a 3-0 lead.  The Padres scored their first run of the game off a balk by Martinez, for Pedro that was only the sixth balk of his career, the first one in ten years.  Pedro allowed three runs in the first inning, that marked the sixth straight start (dating back to last season) where Pedro had given up at least one run in the first.  Pedro went five innings, giving up four earned runs on ten hits with four strike outs. 

Endy Chavez had a great defensive play in the bottom of the first when he threw out Edgar Martinez at third to record the second out of the inning.  Endy Chavez had kind of gotten lost in the shuffle early on because  Marlon Anderson was getting so much playing time and plate appearances, but with both Ryan Church and Anderson unable to play, Chavez has come in and consistently played great defense and has had some good offensive production as well.  In the top of the seventh, Chavez laid down a perfect drag bunt that scored Delgado from third to add what was thought to be an insurance run, to give the Mets at 6-4 lead.    

Raul Casanova was the surprise starter behind the plate today, as Ramon Castro was a late scratch from the line up, not because of injury but because he overslept and did not show up until one hour before game time.  Great job by Castro, especially considering that he knew that he would be starting today with it being a day game after a night game and a lefty on the mound for the Padres.

Maybe I should write uncomplimentary things about Carlos Delgado every day (like I did in yesterday’s blog), after going 3-4 yesterday, Delgado was 3-5, hit two RBI came off a triple in the first inning.  Although the guys did have a better day offensively, the Mets as a team left nine guys on base.  Maybe a couple of other big hits might have saved this one for them today since their pitching let them down. 

For Billy Wagner, it was his third blown save of the season.  Wagner replaced Duaner Sanchez with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, he allowed a single to Jody Gerut which scored a run (that run was charged to Sanchez).  With the count full, pinch hitter Tony Clark took a fast ball deep to hit his first homer of the season and to give the Padres an 8-6 lead.  8-6 would be the final score as Trevor Hoffman came in to the game in the top of the ninth and the Mets were retired in order to end the game. 

The Mets did a terrible job; this weekend was a big weekend for them (and not in a good way).  They were coming off a stretch where they had just won three series in a row, and were playing the last place Padres, they should have taken three of four or at the very least split the series.  Not only were they playing the worst team in the National League, but their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies were playing each other, meaning the Mets could have gained some ground in the division.  The Braves were swept by the Phillies, and had the Mets played well against the Padres, they would be going home in the thick of the race.  Instead they now go home closer to last place than first.

 If this four game stretch wasn’t bad enough, the Mets return home to face the first place Arizona Diamondbacks who are scheduled to have Micha Owings, Brandon Webb and Dan Harren on the mound in this series.  The Mets will counter with John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, and Johan Santana.  The Mets are in trouble, they have put themselves in a position where every time they take the field now they need to win.  Yes, it is only the second week in June, but the Phillies 7 ½ game lead could become insurmountable quickly as the Phillies are hot right now and the Mets are not. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets dropped their third straight game to the San Diego Padre’s on Saturday night, losing 2-1 for a third consecutive game.  “It is hard to win when you only score one run,” those pearls of wisdom came from Mets first baseman, Carlos Delgado, and while Delgado was 3-4 last night, it isn’t lost on this Mets fan that yes Carlos, it is hard to win when you are only scoring one run, and yes Carlos, you have been a big part of the Mets offensive problems all season. 

On a night when the Mets got a great effort from Oliver Perez, it is their lack of offense that lost this one for them.  The Mets stranded 11 guys on base and were a pathetic 0-9 with runners in scoring position, the lone run coming in the second inning off a sac fly by Endy Chavez, but with only one out and bases loaded, Oliver Perez popped up, and Jose Reyes grounded out to end the inning.  The line up is a mess, Moises Alou has been on the DL for what seems like forever, Ryan Church might just be headed there as well as he is still feeling last effects of a concussion he sustained against the Braves almost three weeks ago.  And, while Endy Chavez and Fernando Tatis are nice bench players, you’d still rather have Church and Alou in the line up. 

It seems that Oliver Perez has benefited from the return of Pedro Martinez as he pitched much better than he did in his last outing, although it would have been hard for Perez to be worse than he was in his last outing.  Perez gave up four hits over 5 1/3 innings, with one earned run, five strike outs, two walks.  The only run Perez gave up was a solo homer to catcher Michael Barrett.  After Perez hit Kevin Kouzmanoff, his second hit batsman of the inning, he was pulled from the game.  Joe Smith took the mound, hitting Khalil Green to load the bases; however Smith settled in and got a great defensive play by Carlos Delgado, and struck out Michael Barrett to end the inning.  Pedro Feliciano gave up the homerun to Scott Hariston in the bottom of the 10^th that sealed the deal; that was the third homerun in 24 innings that Feliciano has allowed this season. 

The Mets are now under .500, and sit 6.5 games out of first.  It just is becoming increasingly clear that team may not get it done.  They aren’t good enough.  And while we have seen some good games out of them recently and thought maybe they were headed out of their funk but that certainly hasn’t been the case in this series against the Padres. 

First pitch of the final game of this series is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.  Pedro Martinez will be on the mound for the Mets and he will be opposed by pitcher Wilfredo Ledzema who is 0-2 with a 4.43 era. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets dropped their second game to the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Friday night.  The Mets offense was absent, as they went 1-5 with runners in scoring positions, leaving the bases loaded twice.  However, it should be noted that the Padres also made some great defensive plays that kept the Mets bats in check. 

Johan Santana started for the Mets last night, giving up seven hits over six innings, two runs, one earned, with five strike outs and only one walk.  However, it was Santana’s throwing error that lead to a run in the bottom of the sixth.  I know it is going to sound like I am bagging on Santana, but it seems like a few too many times we’ve seen him get the lead in one half of the inning and then come back in and give it up.  Granted, Santana got no help from his team’s offense last night, and I know everyone says he has always been better in the second half.  But, while he has been good, he isn’t a good as I thought he would be.  Sometimes I wonder if the expectations exceed what he is actually capable of accomplishing.  

The Mets lone run of the night came in the top of the sixth inning; it was Johan Santana who scored the run.  Santana reached base on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a base hit up the middle by Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo hit a single to right that would move the runners, with the bases loaded David Wright drove a fast ball to deep center field that Scott Hairston made an amazing play on, it was called a sac fly but that would have been a Grand Slam anywhere else.  The Mets would leave the bases loaded as Damion Easley grounded weakly to short to end the inning. 

On a side note, could Luis Castillo hustle, even a little bit?  He was embarrassed in the bottom of the first inning when he casually played a ground ball, the runner was hustling, he was not, and the runner was safe at first.  While it didn’t cost the Mets a run, it is frustrating to see a guy play like that, especially when you are stuck with the guy for at least two years. 

Ryan Church did not play again Friday night, and although he did not comment on why he was he wasn’t even available to pinch hit, someone from the Mets clubhouse mentioned that Church is still suffering from vertigo.  When Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen were talking about Chruch during the telecast, they mentioned that some thing isn’t right with Church and that you can tell when you talk to him that he isn’t himself.  The Mets are taking the approach that they have done the right thing here, but maybe it is time for Church to go on the DL and get him well, and back on track.  The Mets miss him in the line up, but he has to be healthy.

Losing these two games to the Padres is a bad job by the Mets.  The Padres are the worst team in the National League and on a weekend when the Braves and the Phillies are beating up on each other the Mets could really capitalize with some wins and improve their standing in the NL East.  Mets better get it together, because we know how quickly things take a nose dive for them. 

The Mets and Padres play again Saturday, first pitch is scheduled for 10:05 p.m.  Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets; he is coming off a horrendous against the Giants, Perez managed to record only one out before he had to leave the game after giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks.  Hopefully he’ll pitch a little better tonight because the Mets need to win this game.  The Padres will send Cha Seung Baek to the mound; he is 1-2 with a 5.60 era.    

Mets Blog

The New York Mets lost 2-1 to the San Diego Padres last night after Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis, walked three batters (one intentional) and then hit a batter to walk in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Clearly it wasn’t a very good night for Schoeneweis, and one could argue, not a great night for Randolph who probably should have taken him out before it got to that point. 

Mets sent starter Mike Pelfrey to the mound.  Pelfrey was not outstanding by any stretch of the imagination pitching six innings, giving up eight hits, three walks, but only one earned run.  For Pelfrey that was a great sign, all too often when he has that many base runners in a game they all seem to score; however last night he made good pitches when he needed to and he got great defense behind him to keep him in the game.  

Jose Reyes who has ten errors so far this season played a flawless game last night.  He made five dazzling defensive plays that kept the Padres from scoring.  Reyes also had a great night at the plate, going 2-3 with a walk, two stolen bases and he scored the only run on an RBI single by David Wright.  Reyes has his average up to .292 and has started to become the spark that the Mets had been missing earlier in the season. 

The Mets have been playing much better baseball, and last night was just their third loss in 10 games, they have won three series in a row; taking 2-3 from the Marlins, 3-4 form the Dodgers, and 2-3 from the Giants. They find themselves above .500 and still hovering in the middle of the division.  However, last night’s game is a tough one to take.  The Mets benefited earlier in the season that the Phillies and the Braves were not winning games either, however, all three teams have gotten hot at the same time and the Mets can not afford to let games like this one get away if they want to keep pace with the teams that are ahead of them in the division.  That being said, I like the way the Mets are hanging in there, their body language has gotten better, they are playing with confidence and doing (most) everything right. 

Johan Santana will take the mound for the Mets. Santana is 7-3 with a 3.20 era.  Randy Wolf will pitch for the Padres (hey, did the wolf pack move out there too?).  Wolf is 3-4 with a 4.33 era.  First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog