A new manager, the same outcome that most Mets fans have come accustomed to this season.  Jerry Manuel’s first game as interim manager of the Mets didn’t go as he had hoped as the Mets were beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 on Tuesday night.  It was supposed to be a big pitchers duel between John Lackey and Johan Santana but Lackey got the best of the Mets while Santana gave up three early runs.

Santana gave up three runs in the first inning as the Mets fell behind early in the game.  An error in the first by Carlos Delgado helped the Angels in the first inning but Santana was still having problems without that error.  Santana ended up throwing six innings and giving up eight hits and five runs (four earned).  Jeff Mathis took Santana deep in the sixth inning as well.

Aaron Heilman and Claudio Vargas both pitched one inning in relief. Heilman pitched a scoreless seventh inning but Vargas gave up a run in the eighth inning on a infield single.

The one run for the Mets came in the first inning when David Wright grounded into a double play that scored Damion Easley.  Easley was pitch running for Jose Reyes who left the game in the first inning with some tightness in his left hamstring.  Hopefully Reyes won’t be out too long but you never know with a hammy.

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 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 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 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  

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   

The New York Mets beat the New York Yankees 7-4 on Saturday.  This was a good win for the Mets especially after their horrible series against the Washington Nationals.  The Mets dropped three of four to the Nats and have been playing uninspired baseball.  Comments made by closer Billy Wagner after Thursday’s loss caused a lot of Mets’ discussions, callers flooded the airwaves of sports talk radio, and Mets stories filled the pages of the New York newspapers.  It seems that Carlos Delgado and Wagner have cleared the air and apparently the two met privately on Friday to discuss Wagner’s comments.  After that meeting, the Mets had a team meeting and although the specifics of that gathering have not been disclosed, you get the sense that the Mets cleared the air as a team and are ready to get back to baseball. 

Stopper Johan Santana took the mound for the Mets, his start had been pushed back one day so that he could pitch the first game of the Subway Series, however because of Friday’s rain out, Santana took the mound on Saturday with extra rest and it showed, Santana struggled early, walking lead off hitter Johnny Damon to start the bottom of the first, the second guy to come to the plate was Met killer Derek Jeter who hit a home run to left field and with that it looked like as if it would be the Yankees day, the Mets were down 2-0 and Santana had yet to record an out.  Santana was not sharp but managed to get out of the first inning with out giving up anything else and also pitched a scoreless second.  With the score still 2-0 in the bottom of the third, the game turned in the Mets favor.  Johnny Damon lead of with a single, Bobby Abreu hit a long double to right fielder Ryan Church, he cut the ball off in the gap and the Mets executed a perfect relay play, Church hit cut off man Luis Castillo who threw to catcher Brian Schneider, Schneider did a perfect job of blocking the plate, Damon who was trying to score from first was thrown out at the plate and the Yankees would not score again until Jason Giambi hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh.  But at that moment, something changed and you could feel the momentum swing in the Mets favor.  Santana settled in and as the game went on he got better and better, he did give up three homeruns; two of them were solo homers but Santana pitched deep into the game going 7 2/3 giving up 7 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks and 5 strike outs.  In the bottom of the eighth Billy Wagner had a chance to put up or shut up and did just that, he recorded a four out save, although the bottom of the ninth might have been a little more exciting than one might have liked, Wagner finished it out and the Mets won the first game of the series.    

Andy Pettitte pitched for the Yankees and in the first two innings looked unhittable, in fact, in the first two innings Pettitte had already recorded five strike outs.  To their credit, Mets batters hung in and had some good at bats, in the top of the fourth the Mets would take the lead and not look back.  Ryan Church lead off the inning with a single to center, David Wright got credit for a single when he hit a ball to center that that Jeter lost in the sun and was unable to make a play on, Carlos Beltran followed that up with a singled to left fielder Johnny Damon.  Ryan Church took advantage of Damon’s lack of arm strength and scored from second on the play.  Andy Pettitte then walked Moises Alou to load the bases; Carlos Delgado popped up and Damon Easley was called out on strikes but with two out Pettitte walked Brian Schneider which also walked in the tying run.  Luis Castillo came to the plate with the bases loaded and hit what basically amounted to a swinging bunt that looked as if it might go foul, however it stayed fair and neither Pettitte nor third baseman Alberto Gonzalez could make a play on it, everyone was safe and the third run of the inning crossed the plate. 

The Mets scored three more runs in the top of the seventh off reliever Kyle Farnsworth.  Farnsworth has been to the Yankees what Aaron Heilman has been to the Mets, and today, he did not disappoint.  Jose Reyes hit his third homerun of the season in the top of the seventh off of Farnsworth who then walked Church and gave up a homer to David Wright to give the Mets a 6-3 lead.  The Mets would tag on one more run in the top of the ninth off Joba Chamberlain, Carlos Beltran hit a tripled on a line drive to left and scored on a two out single by Carlos Delgado.  

All in all it was a much better performance by the Mets.  Who knows with these guys.  Maybe all the controversy this past week with the awful series against the Nationals and the angst in the clubhouse actually did bring them together as a team.  For me as a Mets fan, it always is hard when this series comes around and the Mets aren’t playing well.  However, hanging in the game to win instead of quitting when they were down which we have seen so many times is a good sign, winning this series might be what the Mets need.  There was a renewed sense of excitement in the dugout today, and the TV cameras caught it more than once, it was almost a flashback to last season when the team actually seemed to be having fun.  

I know as a Mets fan I tend to get mad and complain and be hypercritical of the Mets play and of some of things manager Willie Randolph says and does.  But the truth of the matter is, I love the Mets, I love this team.  By and large, they are my guys, some I like more than others, but at the end of the day-they are still my team and my guys.  We just want them to win.  We want them to play better, and let me tell you, we want them to beat the Yankees. 

The Subway Series will wrap up tonight on Sunday Night Baseball.  First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 pm.  The Mets will face Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang and Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets.  Perez has had some good games against the Yankees, I just hope we see a good Oliver Perez tonight. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets wrapped up a four game series with the Washington Nationals, losing the final game 1-0, and dropping three of four.  Met’s starter Mike Pelfrey pitched a gem; he had a no hitter going through six, but in the top of the seventh Aaron Boone singled to right to break up Pelfrey’s no-hit bid.  I hope we see more of this Mike Pelfrey, he pitched great going, 7 2/3 giving up just three hits, one earned run, three walks, and four strike outs.  Too bad the Mets offense was no where to be seen.

The Mets got just five hits yesterday and have been pathetic at the plate the entire series-and pretty much the entire season.  David Wright, Carlos Delgado, Ryan Church, Ramon Castro all had 0-fers yesterday.  Wright’s average is down to .268.  And when the Mets did get on base, they apparently forgot how to run the bases.  In the eight inning, Jose Reyes lead off with an infield hit, Luis Castillo came up to bunt which was supposed to move Reyes to second and would have except  Reyes’ aggressive nature got him in trouble, he noticed that no one was covering third and decided to try and take two bases on the sac bunt, however, Aaron Boone threw a perfect strike to Christian Guzman who beat Reyes in a footrace to the bag and like that Reyes was tagged out at third base for the second out of the inning.

Here is my question though, what was Willie Randolph doing?  Why is Castillo bunting there?  Isn’t Reyes supposed to get a chance to actually steal a base?  Isn’t that what he does?  Then once he steals second then maybe bunt him over to third?  You know from watching Mets games, when Reyes in on first with the threat of a steal, it puts a lot of pressure on an opposing pitcher.  Randolph jumped the gun there, he has to let it play out; he has said more than once that he thinks Castillo is still there best two hole hitter, so then let him do his thing Willie.  Seriously, I know it was a tight game, I know the Mets needed to win, but it all seemed to not make sense.  Maybe you can tell that there is a sense of urgency and that everything is not all ok, like Randolph likes to make it sound.  It is getting a little late in the season to say that it is still early.  The Mets have been terrible.  Not just this season, but dating back to the end of last year.  In fact, in a whole calendar year, the Mets are a .500 team.  And we all know with the money they have spent and with the talent on this team, they are way under achieving. 

I think we are starting to get some insight into the dynamics of the Mets Clubhouse.  Billy Wagner pretty much put it out there yesterday when he made comments to the New York newspaper reporters and reiteratied his point again on his weekly radio spot, his point was that everyone has to be held accountable, and that he is sick of the other guys not holding up their end of the bargain.  It seems he was talking about the Carloses.  Rarely do either Beltran or Delgado answer questions, however yesterday, Carlos Beltran was available to the press and did answer some questions, but more often than not, guys like David Wright and Billy Wagner are left to answer for their teammates.  Paul LoDuca said basically the same thing last year, but it turned into a problem because his comments came across as racist, he said some thing to the affect of, talk to those guys over there, they speak English.  But like Wagner and Wright this year, last year LoDuca was often the go to guy for quotes because other guys didn’t make themselves available to the press. 

The fact is, the guys who have a lot to do with how poorly the team is playing right now, don’t seem to want to be accountable.  Even Aaron Heilman, who is a head case and who just stinks right now, even he answers questions after he has a terrible outing.  Now I am not a huge Heilman fan right now, but I respect the fact that he stood in there and answered questions about why he stinks!

Mets fans get killed here local on sport talk radio and in the newspapers for booing this Mets team-and while I’m not really one for booing I understand.  This is what is it, and this is New York.  These guys make a lot of money, they have a strong fan base, and they get a lot of media attention, but some how they don’t want to be accountable.  I think they have really fragile egos, and I think the Carloses are the biggest of the babies.  Enough is enough and if these guys don’t get this figured out soon, Willie Randolph is going to be standing on an unemployment line-and I’m starting to think that might not be a bad place for him right now. 

The Mets start a three game series with the last place New York Yankees tonight.  Johan Santana will pitch for the Mets and the Yankees will send Darrell Rasner to the mound.  Game time is set for 7:05 pm.  

Mets Blog

The New York Mets lost to the Los Angels Dodgers 5-4 on Tuesday.  Nelsen Figueroa started the game for the Mets.  While he had a mediocre outing, he did pitch well enough to keep the Mets in the game.  Figueroa pitched five innings, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits, and one homerun, while walking four and striking out three.  Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith, and Pedro Feliciano all pitched in relief and all put up zeros across the board. 

Figueroa gave up an inside the park homerun that scored the tying and go ahead runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Blake DeWitt hit a line drive that Ryan Church went back on, Church hit the wall and appeared to be dazed for a moment, he told reporters that he thought the ball had gone out and instead, when he realized that the umpire was signaling that in fact they ball was still in play, it was too late to recover, both Russell Martin and DeWitt would score. After the inning was over, Church actually apologized to Figueroa, putting the blame for the loss of the lead (and the game) on himself. 

Early on the Mets had a 4-1 lead, and after chasing starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda from the game, seemed as if they were in control.  Ryan Church hit a solo homer in the first inning making the score 1-0.  In the second, the Mets would add on two more.  In the third, the Mets scored their fourth, and final run on a double steal.  With Brian Schneider at the plate, Angel Pagan on first and Moises Alou on third, Pagan stole second, drawing a throw from Dodger’s catcher Russell Martin, which allowed Alou to steal home, both runners were safe and the Mets had a 4-1 lead.   

That 4-1 lead would not be safe.  While you could argue that Figueroa did not have a quality start, if you watched the game or even read the box score, the real problem with the Mets was and continues to be the struggling offense.  The Mets were 2-14 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday night and as a team, left 13 guys on base.  David Wright was 0-4 with 3 strike outs and was the only Met to not record a hit in the game.  Wright’s average has fallen to .265.  There are only two Mets who have .300 or better batting averages and that is Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. 

The Mets are getting killed in the middle of the line up Carlos Beltran’s average is a horrendous .219 and Carlos Delgado’s average is .216-which is actually exciting when you consider a few weeks ago he was hitting .180.  Not only are their averages awful-the RBI guys have a combined 29 RBI-Beltran 13, Delgado 16.  Wow Beltran 13-hitting in the clean up spot?  Just for reference, Jose Reyes, has 14 RBI.  The team leader is David Wright with 26.  You tell me, who is not pulling their weight around here?   

My new favorite Met is Ryan Church.  Coming in to the season there was so much speculation that he would not hit well, can’t hit lefties, yada, yada, yada…Church right now leads the team in average, .314, has the second most RBI (23) and has the second most homeruns on the team (5).  The only Met that Church is second to in these categories is David Wright. 

Carlos Beltran was scratched from Tuesday nights game with flu like symptoms.  It was unclear whether he will be back in the line up for Wednesday’s game.  The Mets will play the final game of the series on Wednesday, with a 3:30 (EST) start.  John Maine will pitch for the Mets and Brad Penny will be on the mound for the Dodgers. After an off day Thursday, they will open a three game series with the Cincinnati Reds.

 Mets Blog