One thing is for certain, the Mets never fail to make things interesting, or maybe I should say make things frustrating.  I guess at least last night’s frustration had a happy ending as the Mets won 4-2 in 12 innings.  

Oliver Perez was great yesterday.  He struggled a little in the first inning, but was great there after. He pitched seven shut out innings, allowing just four hits, while walking two and striking out four.  The Mets took a 1-0 lead off a Carlos Beltran’s homerun in the third, and Perez did something that Johan Santana failed to do in Friday’s game-he held the lead and did not give up a run. 

With the exception of Billy Wagner the Mets bullpen did their job.  When the Mets resumed play after the rain delay, I was less than confident that Pedro Feliciano would actually get Ryan Howard out, but he retired Howard on three pitches. Then of course, Aaron Heilman came in with two on and walked Pat Burrell, and I can’t even tell you what I was screaming at the television-but Heartattack Heilman kept it in check as he got Pedro Feliz to hit a weak grounder back to the pitcher to end the Phillies’ threat in the bottom of the eight.   Joe Smith got the win, he came in with two out in the bottom of the 10th and did not allow a run.  The Mets really got what they needed from that group of guys. 

I don’t know what’s up with Billy Wagner, but is it too much to ask him to close out a game, with out drama, just for once?  Seriously, for a guy who tries to be such a hard ass and tough guy, I have never seen such a wuss.  He can’t enter the game in the middle of an inning because of lack of intensity, he can’t come in for two innings, because he doesn’t get the same adrenaline rush-I guess that is why Mariano Rivera is the real “Sandman”.  When Wagner signed with the Mets, I think we all thought, Yes! We finally don’t have to worry about the ninth inning.  After years of watching John Franco, Armando Benitez, and Braden Looper it looked as if the Mets had the ninth wrapped up.  All we know is, when “Enter Sandman” plays at Shea, the only intensity we feel, isn’t excitement, it is almost dread. 

Mets offense was terrible, with runners in scoring position; they left a total of 14 guys on base.  No one was able to get the big hit to drive in some runs early in the game.  Maybe if the Mets offense had done their job we wouldn’t have to have the Wagner discussion today.  David Wright, had two big strikeouts, and stranded three guys on base, Marlon Anderson didn’t even get a hit.  Jose Reyes was 3-6 but none of those hits came with RISP.  Because of great pitching, (with the exception of Wagner, but I guess that goes without saying) it looked like the Mets would only need two runs to win.  Carlos Beltran gave them the lead with his homerun in the top of the third, and added what was thought to be an insurance run in the top of the ninth. 

Ryan Church did not start on Sunday after leaving the game on Saturday with a migraine, so Endy Chavez was in right field and made a great catch in the top of the second.  Fernando Tatis who entered the game as a pinch hitter for in Marlon Anderson in the top of the 8^th, came through big time for the Mets with his game winning hit in the 12th.  It is a big boost when your bench gets it done; you know they are guys you can count on, and when the bench comes through, they feel like they can contribute and make the most of their opportunity to do so.  I like the way that Manual has juggled things, I also think that the way he has played Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro has worked out for the Met, it is good to get Castro’s bat in the line up and I don’t know if it is the rest or watching his playing time diminish but whatever it is, but Schneider got the big hit in Saturday night’s game, and he had another hit yesterday.  Manuals managerial style seems to illicit the competitive nature in these guys. 

Look, all complaining aside, this was a good win for the Mets, they fought hard.  They are in position to take the series from the Phillies and leave town one game over .500, and only 2.5 out, but the Mets have to win tonight to make that happen.  A split here, the Mets are basically just spinning their wheels, they’ll go home having not gained any ground, and again under .500.  Going in, the Mets had to make some headway on this road trip and really had to take control over getting themselves out of this rut to have a chance of finishing over .500 at the all star break and maybe even being in the mix for a pennant race

Pedro Martinez will be on the mound for the Mets and the Phillies with counter with Adam Eaton.  The Mets have a chance to take a step in the right direction tonight, but Pedro had been dreadful and Eaton is 5-0 lifetime against the Mets.  However, if there is one thing we know about this team, it is that anything can happen.  Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Mets Blog

The Mets completed their three game series with the Yankees on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 win behind Oliver Perez.  The Mets finished 4-2 against the Yankees this season and are the winners of the Subway Series. 

This win was all possible thanks to Oliver Perez.  Yep, you read that right, I said Oliver Perez.  Perez was amazing, I don’t think I have ever seen him pitch that well; he has been working with new pitching coach Dan Warthen and yesterday’s performance showed how much his work has paid off.  Perez has a new delivery and has changed his position from the third base side of the rubber to the middle; as a result Perez’s new delivery allows him to use his legs more and give him more force as he propels his body to the plate.  That force was apparent yesterday as Perez had good speed on his fastball yesterday being clocked in the 94mph range with consistency.  In his 7 innings of work, Perez allowed just three hits, while recording 8 strikeouts.  The one earned run came off a homer to Wilson Betemit in the seventh inning.  Here is the big stat, Perez did NOT walk anyone, he threw 106 pitches yesterday 72 of those were strikes.  In four starts against the Yankees Perez is now 4-0 with 1.54 era.  After the game, Perez said that that performance was the “Real Ollie” let’s hope so!

I must admit that when Billy Wagner gave up the single to Derek Jeter, I thought the Mets were in trouble.  I was having flashbacks to the three consecutive blown saves in early June, especially when it looked like ARod was going to tie the game with one swing of his bat, however, Endy Chavez made the catch on the warning track and Wagner went on to ritire the next two batters he faced and notched his 18th save of the season.

The offense did just enough to get by yesterday.  The Mets scored first in the bottom of the second on a bases loaded infield hit by Luis Castillo, and then added another run in the third when Carlos Delgado hit a bomb to straight away center, his third homerun of the series and his 14^th of the season.  The third run came off a sac fly by David Wright in the bottom of the seventh.  However, again the Mets had a chance to really stick it to Darrell Rasner early on; in both the first and second innings the Mets loaded the bases and scored just one run.  In total they left 11 guys on base and didn’t really get a big hit when they needed one.  David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Fernando Tatis all had 0-fors yesterday.  However, the guys did make some hard outs and while they didn’t score as many runs as you’d like but they did win.

So glad to see Ryan Church back out there yesterday.  In his return Church was 2-4.  Having his bat back in the line up can only be a good thing for the Mets!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is truth to the rumor that Moises Alou could rejoin the team in Philly!   

Also, what is up with Jose Reyes?  For those of you who missed it yesterday, Reyes made a play on a grounder by Melky Cabrera, Reyes’ throw sailed over Delgado’s glove and Cabrera ended up on second.  Yeah, we’d all like Delgado to field a little better but if Reyes was throwing his glove in disgust at Delgado, I would not have wanted to be in the clubhouse after that little temper tantrum.  I can understand Reyes’ frustration, and I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt and I sincerely hope that his reaction was because of his own bad throw, however Reyes should realize while Delgado should have made the play, he didn’t make an especially good throw either.  The Mets have to pull together as a team; this is not a time to fall apart.  I know a lot is being made of remarks by Johan Santana after his start against the Yankees.  He said something to the affect that he is doing his job, and that basically the other guys need to do their jobs too.  I know that you aren’t supposed to “call out” your teammates like that, but I get where Santana is coming from.  He should be mad; he isn’t getting the run support he needs, and has been the victim of some shoddy defense as well.  I have said that Santana hasn’t been as good as I thought he would be, and I realize that my expectations are unreasonable.  Santana has pitched very well, especially for a team that has given him little or no run support. The Mets offense didn’t even show up for Saturday’s game, and that has been the case when Santana has pitched.  If the Mets offense was doing its job he could easily be 11-3 on the season.

The Mets have eight games left going into the all star break.  In these next few games we are going to learn a lot about the Mets.  They play four with the Cardinals who are 47-36 and sit 2.5 games behind the Cubs.  The Mets then head to Philly for four, the Phillies have seen their 7 game lead in the division dwindle to one as they haven’t exactly been playing the best baseball themselves.  The Mets must have a great road trip.  I can’t even predict what will happen.  I’d love for them to go 6-2 but I have a feeling that 4-4 is more realistic.  Then again, with this team, anything is possible (and I mean that both in a good and bad way).

John Maine will pitch for the Mets tonight and the Cardinal have Kyle Lohse on the mound.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. 

Mets Blog

Now there is a win that the New York Mets can really build off of.  They battled back and scored one run in the ninth inning and then another one in the tenth inning as they beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-4 in ten innings of action.  Huge win for the team and hopefully it will give them some good confidence.

Damion Easley hit the game winning home run in the top of the tenth inning to give the Mets the lead.  Prior to the home run, David Wright singled in Jose Reyes to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning.  Wright and Easley came up huge for the Mets!

Wright led the Mets at the plate with two rbi while Easley, Marlon Anderson, and Carlos Delgado all had one rbi each.  Delgado’s rbi came off a solo home run in the fourth inning.

Duaner Sanchez ended up getting the victory and is now 3-0 on the season.  Billy Wagner shut the door on the Angles in the bottom of the tenth inning to record his 16th save of the season.  Mets starting pitcher Oliver Perez pitched six inning while allowing nine his and four runs to get the no decision.

The Mets and Angels will play once again on Thursday.  The winner will win the series and it could be a huge step for the Mets if they can come away with the victory.

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 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 beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon and with the victory they won the three game series by taking two out of three games.  The Mets now have won two straight games and are two games over .500 at 30-28 on the season.

John Maine threw six innings while giving up seven hits and two runs to get the victory.  Maine stepped up big for the Mets and recorded his sixth win of the season.  Duaner Sanchez pitched seventh and eighth innings and allowed one run and then turned things over to Billy Wagner in the ninth who shut the Giants down and recorded his 13th save of the season.

At the plate for the Mets, they got three runs in the first inning and than two more in the fourth inning for all of their scoring.  In the first inning, Carlos Beltran doubled to score Jose Reyes and David Wright.  Beltran then came around to score on a rbi single by Carlos Delgado.  In the fourth inning, it was a two run home run by Reyes that scored both runs.

Reyes and Beltran both finished the game with two rbi while Delgado had one rbi.

The Mets will start a four game series with the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

Mets Blog

The New York Mets used a huge fifth inning where they scored eight runs to defeat the San Francisco Giants by the score of 9-6.  It was awesome to see Pedro Martinez back on the mound and even getting a couple of hits in the game!  It was good win for the Mets, who really need to string together four or five wins in a row.

Martinez tossed six innings and gave up seven hits and three runs to get his first win of the season.  Martinez also had two hits and an rbi at the plate.  Maybe he was working on his batting all this time he was on the disabled list lol.

Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano both threw scoreless innings after Pedro left the game but then the Mets called on Scott Schoeneweis who let three runs score and make the game a lot closer then it should have been.  Billy Wagner was able to record the last two outs of the game and pick up his 12th save.

Damion Easley was the big man at the plate for the Mets as he finished with three rbi while going 3-4.  While Easley had three rbi, it was six other Mets players that all chipped in with one rbi each.  Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Ryan Church, Carlos Delgado, and Martinez all had one rbi.  That is a lot of production up and down the lineup.

The Mets will play the Giants once again on Wednesday as they play an afternoon game out in San Francisco.  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 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.