The Mets failed to sweep the Marlins losing 8-2.  Mike Pelfrey who looked as if he had started to figure some things out, has now struggled in his last three starts.  On top of that Pelfrey has failed to win a game against the Marlins this season.  Thus far his numbers against Florida are staggering; in three starts he is 0-3 with a 10.66 era.  For a second start in a row, Pelfrey has failed to go at least five innings.  In Sunday’s start he worked just four and two thirds, giving up six runs on seven hits, he walked three and stuck out three.  Eddie Kunz come in to relieve Pelfrey, with two out and the bases loaded, the run scored on a wild pitch.  Kunz then walked Matt Treanor to load the bases once again, but he got the pitcher Josh Johnson to strike out swinging to end the inning.  In two innings of work Carlos Muniz allowed two runs (two solo homers) on three hits, he didn’t walk a batter and stuck out two.  Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis both tossed scoreless frames.   

The Mets offense was abysmal in the loss, only able to muster two runs off six hits.  In the third inning, Endy Chavez lead off the inning with a triple, he would score on a ground out by Jose Reyes.  In the sixth inning, Jose Reyes lead of with a single, advancing to third on a wild pitch by Johnson, and then scoring on a single to center by David Wright.  After looking as if he might be coming out of a slump, Carlos Beltran was 0-3 with a walk.  Beltran was not the only 0-fer of the game; Carlos Delgado was 0-4 with two stikeouts.  Dan Murphy continues to swing a hot bat, he hit a double, and was 1-3 with a walk.

I don’t really know how to feel about this loss.  I thought that Pelfrey had really seemed to find a good groove and was pitching well, but in his last three starts or so, he really hasn’t been great.  The bullpen has been terrible so the Mets really need their starting pitching to be in there for the long haul, or at least until the bullpen can get somebody out.  As far as the offense goes, there are going to be days when you just face a good pitcher and things will not go your way.  I can accept that-so I guess it remains to be seen if this is an aberation, of it the Mets bats are going to go silent. 

Right now, the Mets have a chance to “take care of business” as they will play five with the Pirates (one a make up game) and three with Washington, both teams are the worst of their divisions.  The Mets have played well against teams that are over .500, this year they are 16-9 against the Phillies and the Marlins, but only 6-5 against the Nationals and Pirates.  The Mets have to get it done against those teams. 

Ryan Church is in Port St. Lucie trying to get himself major league ready.  I had heard rumblings that he could be back as soon as August 19th, but given the circiumstances, that might just be wishful thinking on my part.  

The Mets and Pirates are scheudled to start at 1:10 p.m. on Monday afternoon. 

Mets Blog

The Mets were swept three straight in Houston over the weekend, leaving all of us as baffled as Robinson Cancellooked when he was thrown out at third in Sunday’s game.  And while it is only three games, the Mets are winless in August and are coming off a 2-4 road trip, and were swept by the Astros for the first time since 1993. 

There is plenty of blame to spread around in this terrible streak that the Mets have put together.  They seem to have gone into a slump at the plate; unable to hit with guys on base.  They didn’t run the bases well for example in Sunday’s game Carlos Beltran was picked off first and for some ungodly reason, Robinson Cancel was tried to steal third in the third inning with David Wright up at bat-that was a good move there. 

The Mets were unable to score in 16 innings against the Astros.  In Saturday’s game, they scored a total of four runs two in the second and two in the third.  From there on out, they did nothing.  On Saturday night, the Mets left eight guys on base, and failed to even show up for the later part of the innings.  In Sunday’s game it was pretty much the same issue, only they didn’t score at all.  The Mets left 11 guys on base, they had the bases loaded in two consecutive innings and failed to even get one run home. 

Ah-but it isn’t just the offense that was terrible, the defense had their share of problems as well.  The Mets were only charged with one error, but they didn’t do what they had to in the field.  Nick Evans and Fernando Tatis both misplayed balls in the outfield-and that is what is going to happen when you have ”converted” infielders playing the outfield.  The Mets don’t seem to have a an outfield prospect that they can bring up to help them out.  With Marlon Anderson on the DL they brought up Daniel Murphy to take his roster spot, and while he did have a great play in Saturday night’s game, he too is primarily and infielder.  Well all know that the Mets made no moves at the trade deadline to get any outfielders, and we’re all waiting for the return of Ryan Church-because if you at least have Ryan Church in the line up, you can play Endy Chavez in the outfield, you might not get the offensive production you would like to have from Tatis, but his defense will save runs. 

The starting pitching wasn’t terrible in the three games, it wasn’t stellar though either.  Pedro Martinez pitched the opening game.  It was his first start in nearly three weeks, he was on a pitch count allowing him only to work through the fifth inning, he gave up three solo homers, walked two and struck out five-he did not figure in the decision, because Aaron Heilman gave up a grand slam to blow the game wide open for the Astros.  Johan Santana pitched only 6.1 innings on Saturday, he allowed just one run on three hits, walked two and struck out two.  He left the game, and the Mets had a lead.  Oliver Perez gave up four runs in six innings in Sunday’s game, he was charged with the loss as all four runs were earned.  Perez though, and even Pelfrey have pitched much better, granted Pelfrey struggled against the Marlins and Perez wasn’t great against the Astros, but they have cut down on walks-which was a tremendous problem for them and are a big reason why the Mets had such a good July.  I’m  not going to get crazy just yet as they have both had about four plus good starts, until they revert back to how they were performing earlier in the season, I won’t panic just yet. 

The bullpen continues to be the achilles of this team.  Billy Wagnercouldn’t hold a two run lead.  The bullpen over all has just been putrid.  Since the all star break, the Mets bullpen has pitched 32.1 innings.  They have allowed 30 earned runs on 45 hits.  Aaron Heilman-10 runs in 10 innings of work,  Pedro Felicano-six runs in four and a third, Joe Smith-six runs in five and a third, Scott Schoeneweis-four runs in five and two thirds and Duaner Sanchez has given up four runs in six and two-thirds innings.  (New York Post August 5, 2008)

So, with John Maine on the DL and Billy Wagner probably soon to follow the Mets are in trouble.  They have called up Eddie Kunz and it seems that John Niese will make a start against the Marlins over the weekend.  Also, there is talk that the Mets will be in the mix for Freddy Garcia who is trying to make his way back to the majors after shoulder surgery.

Not to fear though, I think I have found the reason why the Mets pen is struggling so.  I think it is the fact that they really miss Matt Wise.  Yeah, remember him?  Last I heard the guy had shoulder tendinitis, and now has just fallen off the face of the earth.  Seriously, what happened to him?  Is he in the witness protection program?  Did he witness Tony Soprano getting whacked or something?  One minute  you complain that you have shoulder pain and then the next you are wearing cement shoes.  Remind me to keep any shoulder injury I suffer to myself. 

The Mets open a three game series with the Padres and if they can some how find what they had in July, they might just make some headway as the Phillies and the Marlins will be beating up on each other for three games.  The Marlins come to New York for the weekend while the Phillies open a three game set with the Pirates.  So, how important is it for the Mets to play well in the next six games?  As it stands the Mets are three games out of first and in third place.  Yes, there is still almost two months of baseball left and the Mets have five game left with the Phillies, the question is, will they be battling for the division or will they be playing spoiler? 

Tueday’s Starters: Mike Pelfrey 9-7 with a 3.91 era and Chris Young 4-4 with a 4.12 ear.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog

What are the Mets doing?  I realized that they were 18-8 in July, but if it doesn’t carry over into August, then July isn’t going to matter much.  I know, I know not exactly time to panic just yet.  Even though the Mets lost, the Phillies and Marlins did too; the Mets remain one game out of first with the Marlins trailing close behind. 

Pedro Martinez was making his first start in nearly three weeks.  He threw 87 pitches in five innings, giving up three runs (all of which were homers) on five hits, he walked two and stuck out five.  Knowing that Pedro would not be in it for the long haul tonight, the bullpen had to know that the team would be counting on them to keep them in the game. 

The trade deadline has passed so we pretty much know that this team is our team and this is the bullpen we are going to have to count on.  There might be some additions, but it will be of guys who made us better by subtraction-think Luis Castillo.  But the Mets bullpen right now has been atrocious.  I have heard talk this week from guys on SNY and on WFAN trying to tell us that the Mets bullpen isn’t that bad.  These guys then must not watch them night after night like the fans do, because I can tell you, and I’m sure you know it-this pen is horrible right now. 

“Right now” are the key words.  These are the same guys we’ve seen be really good.  And in fairness, the guys who have said that the Mets pen isn’t that bad, preface it by saying that if the pen actually pitched the way it is capable of, then they are actually pretty good.  But, they haven’t pitched like they are capable of anything, and in order to be in the thick of it, the Met have to have all parts working.  Again, the problem is that it isn’t just one guy who is struggling.  From night to night you don’t know who will blow it.  Last night it just happend to be Aaron Heilman.  He gave up a grand slam to Mark Loretta in the bottom of the eighth that really put the game out of reach for the Mets, but why was Heilman ptiching a second inning?  Can no one else pitch in relief and get an out?  Joe Smith finally got someone out, he pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and Pedro Felicano, who came into the game after the Astros had blown it wide open retired both batters that he faced. 

Clearly part of the problem last night was that Pedro Marinez only pitched five innings and the Mets bullpen was going to have to pick up the slack.  But, isn’t that their job?  Seriously, Damion Easley, Endy Chavez, and Fernando Tatis have (for the most part) done their jobs and continue to go out and do them night after night.  Tatis is probably one of the biggest reasons that the Mets played so well in July.  The point is, the bench guys picked up the slack when other guys went down, it is a little concept known as “team.”  And, no, I do believe that the bull pen is stinking up the joint because they want to, but it just seems more often than not they are the problem rather than the solution. 

Pitching wasn’t the Mets only problem.  They had plenty of scoring chances against Brandon Backe on Friday night and didn’t make the most of them.  They left seven guys on base and with no one out in the top of the seventh the Mets loaded the bases but failed to score-Endy Chavez struck out, David Wright grounded into a force play, and Carlos Delgado hit a fly ball to left.  I realize that the Mets have no other option, but Endy Chavez is not a good two hitter.  He struck out in a bad spot last night, and was 0-3.  I know the they are thinking that when Ryan Church comes back that he will hit in the five spot with Carlos Beltran will hit in the two hole.  And really, I am not bagging on Chavez because I believe that he has done a good job stepping in and when he is in the game the Mets have two of the best defensive outfielders in the game.  He isn’t the worst thing out there, he is hitting .268 and has had some big games, but I think that the Mets need a little more consistency, espeically at the top of the lineup. 

John Maine will not start on Sunday instead we will see Oliver Perez.  The Mets a hoping that the rest will work for Maine, he is scheduled to pitch at home on August 8th against the Marlins.  Meanwhile, in his first Triple-A start Jon Niese allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings of work on Wednesday.  Niese could make his major league debut with the Mets on August 11th in a rainout make up game against the Pirates, he will make one more start at Tripple-A before possibly pitching for the Mets.  Daniel Murphy’s promotion lasted just one day in Triple-A as newspapers here in New York are reporting that he will join the Mets tonight against the Astros.  He was hitting .308 with 13 homers and 67 RBI at Double-A-Binghamton and just one day ago was promoted to Triple-A.  I’m not sure what moves the Mets are making to place Murphy on the active roster, the transaction pages have yet to be updated. 

Tonight’s starters: Johan Santana is coming off his first complete game as a Met.  He is 9-8 with a 2.93 era.  Roy Oswalt is 8-8 with a 4.67 era.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Mets Blog    

The Mets took the first of three games against the Cardinals on Friday night, 7-2.  They have now won three straight and have a two game lead in the NL East.   

The Cardinals came to town fresh off a four game sweep by the Brewers, so it was important for the Mets to jump on them fast and keep them down.  And the Mets did just that.  They got a great performance out of Mike Pelfrey and the offense did their job too.   

Mike Pelfrey, was great.  He pitched seven innings giving up just one run off seven hits.  He issued no walks and struck out five.  The Mets have now won the last seven games that Pelfrey has started.  Pelfrey, who earlier in the season was 2-6 and had a 5.27 era (as of May 20^th), now has a 3.67 era with an 8-6 record.  It is amazing, the turn around in this guy, it is like a light went on.  He has been great!

David Wright hit a RBI double in the third that scored Endy Chavez (4-5 on the night) to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead.  The Mets added two more on Jose Reyes 12 triple of the year.  Carlos Delgado continues to make the case to be the player of the Month of July, he is not going to want to see July end.  He had only one hit last night, but it was a big two run homer.  Argenis Reyes had a big night, he hit a RBI single and then in the seventh he hit his first big league homerun, a solo shot to right centerfield.  

The bullpen, once again, tried to make things interesting.  Duaner Sanchez allowed three straight Cardinals to reach base.  With the bases loaded, Pedro Felicano came in and got Skip Schumaker to pop up.  With one out, and the bases still loaded, Aaron Heilman got Ryan Ludwick to fly out, but allowed the run on third to score.  Heilman got Albert Pujols to ground out to third to end the game.   

So, the Mets have a two game lead, and Jimmy Rollins isn’t sweating it.  Glad to know that the Phillies went out and lost to the Braves last night, I guess they are looking just to make things interesting, huh?  Funny, I officially hate the Phillies, for so long they had been a nonentity and Mets fans were always so focused on the Braves, well I guess all of that has changed.   

And also, while we are on the subject of the Phillies, maybe their broadcast guys need to shut the hell up.  Tom McCarthy didn’t seem to have much of a problem with Jose Reyes when he was broadcasting Mets games.  And, isn’t it socially irresponsible for Larry Anderson to advocate throwing at someone’s head?  Everyone’s all pissed off at the fact that Reyes hotdogged the homerun, and while that is not my favorite part of the game these days, Reyes is right, he came through in a big spot.  Also, I would like to hear what Larry Anderson, and Charlie Manual have to say when Ryan Howard strikes his homerun pose?  If you are going to bag on Reyes, then you better start saying the same things about your hotdogs too!   

OMG-Are you kidding me?  Why would anyone trade with the Yankees?  And seriously, Russ Ohlendorf?  Wow, so is this the dialogue between the Yankees and Pirates?  Yankees: “We want Nady and Marte.”  Pirates: “Uh, ok.  We would like “Russ Olendorff, a bag of balls, and throw in a hotdog, cuz you guys have those funny looking hotdog rolls!”  This might be the worst trade I’ve seen since I saw a minor league hockey player was traded for the other team’s bus-no telling who got the better deal there.  This trade makes me so angry-I hate the Yankees!  I know the Pirates have been eyeing Phil Coke for quite some time!  WOO-HOO!!  I just don’t understand how other teams make these trades with Yankees, giving them their gems and getting nothing in return.   

In other trade talk, it seems that the Dodgers on the verge of acquiring Casey Blake from the Indians.  So that is one player less likely to end up with the Mets.  Also, are the Mariners living in reality?  Do they really think the Mets would trade Fernando Martinez for Raul Ibanez? 

Brandon Knight will start for Pedro Martinez on Saturday night, and the Cardinals will have Joel Pineiro on the mound.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Mets Blog

Before game time, I heard that the Mets claimed they would have a packed house for the first of three games with the Phillies.  While I’m not sure if it was a “sell out” crowd, it was a play off atmosphere.  The Mets, the fans, the commentators, everyone knew that this was a big game.  The question is, would the Mets play like it was a big game?  The answer is, they played like it was a big game for about eight innings.  The Phillies scored six runs in the top of the ninth to win the game 8-6.  This game marks the fourth time this season that the Mets have blown a four run lead.   

Johan Santana was fantastic.  He pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, no walks and four strikeouts.  He struggled in the first inning; allowing three straight two out hits to give the Phillies and early 1-0 lead.  But there after, Santana did what he had to do.  He is the guy I felt bad for last night.  It was the third time the Mets have blown a save for Santana.  It was awful.  Santana put up exactly the performance that the Mets (and us fans) needed from him, he was great.  But, he didn’t pitch the ninth inning.  However, after retiring the heart of the order in the top of the eighth, you had to figure that the Mets bullpen could at least get the last three outs. 

Since the all star break the Mets bullpen has been terrible in 14.1 innings of work they have an 8.18 era and opponenets are hitting .271 against them.  I was going to say that last nights game was probably the worst display of relief pitching I’ve every seen, but then that would be a lie, because this whole season we’ve seen one bad pitching performance after another.  Billy Wagner was unavailable last night due to spasms or whatever; he probably would have stunk too.  Duane Sanchez allowed three straight hits; Joe Smith came into the game, faced one batter, but because Jose Reyes was greedy, he tried to turn two instead of getting the sure out at first, and no one was out.  Pedro Felicano came in and was just putrid, he allowed two straight doubles, one to a guy who was 0-16 as a pinch hitter and was 0-5 (or some number like that) against him; the other to Jimmy Rollins, Feliciano had the opportunity to get a double play when Ryan Howard hit one back to him, but he dropped the ball and could only make the play at first.  Aaron Heilman came in and since he isn’t really the guy you think of when you are looking to stop the bleeding, I figured the Phillies would tack on a few more.  Heilman walked the first guy he faced, but finally got Gregg Dobbs to pop up to end the inning.  It didn’t matter, the Phillies scored six, they batter around, and both Jayson Werth and Gregg Dobbs came to the plate twice in the inning.   

The Mets got two big homeruns last night, one from Carlos Delgado and one from Ramon Castro.  Reyes didn’t do anything at the plate he was 0-4 with a walk.  Beltran had an RBI, but no hits.  Endy Chavez was 3-4 but he was thrown out at the plate twice.  But, their offense wasn’t the problem, if they got the three outs they needed we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.   

It isn’t as simple as saying if the Mets had just capitalized on opportunities, maybe they would have gotten the “W”.  Endy Chavez was thrown out at the plate TWICE, although the Mets scored 6 runs they still left eight guys on base.  But the fact is, they had a three run lead and couldn’t get three outs.  That is all they needed to win, as much as I try to find a way that the Mets could have won the game, the truth is, they did have the game in their hands and they blew it.   

Again what you notice is that this Phillies team is never dead, they don’t stop, they don’t give up, they play to the last out.  That is something you can not say about the Mets.  We’ve finally seen a little fight out of them with their resurgence, but if they get a big lead, they kind of just nonchalant it, if they get down by too many they decided to save it for another day.    

Who knows what tonight will hold for the Mets.  Can they shake this loss off and come out and play well tonight?  Remember the Mets lost the first game of the Fourth of July series against the Phillies and then won the next three.  They can’t let last night linger too long or else they will be in trouble.   

John Maine will start tonight and he will be opposed by Brett Meyers, Meyers who apparently hates the Mets-(and might we say the feeling is mutual) is coming of a stint in the minors where he was finding his fastball.  Maine has struggled and would really like for him to find himself tonight.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.   

Mets Blog 

 If you watched the All Star game, you realized that Billy Wagner hasn’t just let the Mets down this year, but he has now let the whole National League down, as he blew a save opportunity to close out the game for the National League.  This performance got me to thinking, and with a suggestion from a reader, I have decided to write my own midseason report card for the Mets.   

Position Players: 

First Base: Carlos Delgado-Delgado’s performance is really the tale of two halves in its own right, the early part of the season (April-Mid June) and the late part of the first half (late June-break).  Early on, I’d have given Delgado an F, not just because he wasn’t hitting, but because he didn’t hustle on the field, he wasn’t helping the Mets out with his fielding.  But, since late June and right on through the All Star break Delgado has almost looked like a different player.  He has raised his average to .248 with 17 homeruns and 52 RBI.  But it isn’t just his hitting that has been better.  He has started to do the little things, like making an effort to field the ball, and taking the extra base when he can.  It is an all around hustle that this team has not had and it is good to see it out of a veteran guy.  So over all I think Delgado deserves a B-/C+.   

Second Base: Luis Castillo-Oh, where do I begin?  I think this guy stinks.  I do not like his body language or his attitude.  I think this signing was a huge waste of money and time.  And, let me tell you this, It does not bother me a bit that he will not have his starting job waiting for him.  He is a terrible fielder, and maybe that has to do with the fact that he can hardly walk, I think he is a nightmare at the plate, that slap crap hitting annoys me.  Also, I just don’t think that he is a good guy.  There was a lot of chatter about his relationship with Jose Reyes last year claming that he really isn’t a great influence on him-especially when you consider the mentoring relationship that Reyes had with Jose Valentin.  I think this guy is a problem in the club house and an all around lazy guy.  Someone also said that part of the reason Castillo is a Met this year is because he and Santana a great friends from their time together in Minnesota, but if that is true, I would say to Santana-you need new friends.  Overall grade-F 

Third Base: David Wright- David is a hard guy to grade.  We all know that this has not been his best season at the plate, yet he leads the team in almost every offensive category hitting .282 with 17 homeruns, 70 RBI and 11 stolen bases.  David has struggled this year, and he has not been himself at the plate.  He has shown glimpses of coming out of it but has been unable to sustain that for any extended period of time.  His fielding has been pretty good, he does have 12 errors, the majority being throwing errors, but they have also been costly errors, especially early on when the Mets were struggling to win games.  David is such a likeable guy, even when he is not performing up to the standards he set for himself by what he has done in past years.  He says the right thing, does the right thing, answers questions the right way, and an all around good guy.  I would take a team full of David Wrights any day.  That being said, he is a huge part of this team, and if the Mets are really going to make a run at this, he is going to have to continue to do his part, and work on getting runners home from third with less than two out and work on his strikeouts.  Overall grade B+ 

Short Stop: Jose Reyes-Reyes went into a slump last September and didn’t come out of it until the end of May.  But, the good news is he did eventually come out of the slump.  He has gotten his average up to .302 with 43 RBI.  He has fourth most hits in major league baseball with 119, having hit 10 homeruns, 10 triples, and 23 doubles.  He is tied for fifth in the majors with 32 stolen bases.  His offensive production is probably one of the factors why the Mets are sitting where they are now.  However, Reyes has  uncharacteristically struggled with his defense at times.  He has already made 12 errors-as a measuring point, he made only 12 errors all last season.  He does also still make some mental mistakes but I do think that it is all a process, and when he came up with the Mets we knew he was going to be good, and every year he continues to get better.  I think Jose will continue to swing a hot bat and will have a better second half defensively.  Over allgrade-B+/A- 

Left Field: Obviously this is one position you can’t give a grade to.  If you were going to say Endy Chavez, then he scores off the charts solely because of his defense, however, as a whole the position gets an INCOMPLETE because they really are in trouble out there, and what’s to come remains to be seen.   

Center Field: Carlos Beltran-Beltran has quietly had a good season.  He is hitting .268 with 15 homeruns and 66 RBI, he has suddenly become more aggressive on the base paths and has 15 stolen bases.  He started the season out slowly, and I think it had a lot to do with some trepidation coming back after having knee surgery in the off season.  His fielding is probably superior to most of the outfielders in the game.  While I do think a lot of balls fall in front of him because he plays too deep, rarely do they go over his head, and more often then not he tracks down balls in the gap that almost nobody gets to.  Early in the season, I really felt that he and the other Carlos were not doing what they should, and I also thought they were causing a division in the clubhouse.  With the departure of Willie Randolph, I think we’ve seen a new Beltran.  I loved the fact that he go thrown out of the game against Seattle, I know that he is not typically a demonstrative guy, but it was great to see him stand up for himself and Jerry Manual.  Overall grade: B+ 

Right Field: Again, if Ryan Church were playing out there, he would get an A+, his defense has been superb and his offensive production is something, until just recently, the Mets lineup was really missing.  I can’t believe how the Mets front offices screwed this situation up, but I do know they remain optimistic that he may be able to rejoin the team after the all star break.  If the Mets can get Church back, and he is able to pick up where he left off, then they might be in good shape out in right field.  Overall grade: INCOMPLETE 

Catchers: Ramon Castro/Brian Schneider the grade here actually goes to Jerry Manual.  I like the way he has played Castro and Schneider.  I don’t know if it is the rest that Schneider is getting or the reps that Castro is getting but this quasi platoon seems to be working in the Mets favor.  Overall grade B+

Starting Pitching:

Johan Santana he is 8-7 with a 2.84 era, with 114 strikeouts, and has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched.  The only concern is that he does give up the long ball, and has given up 14 so far this season.   However, Santana has shown that he has the guts to pitch out of trouble, and to pitch in big spots.  If Santana actually got some run support, or a good job by the bull pen, Santana could easily be 11-4.  However, things haven’t quite worked out that way for Santana.  Some fans get on him, suggesting that he isn’t any good, and as I’ve said before I believe that is because they have unreasonable expectations about his performance.  For me, has he been as good and I “thought” he was going to be, no-but he has been good.  And if you can believe what people say, that he is a second half pitcher, then we have a lot to look forward to.  Overall Grade B+/A-  

Pedro Martinez-Having Pedro back on the bench is a big plus.  I think he brings something to the clubhouse that no other player on the Mets does.  That being said, he has been unimpressive since his return.  Can Pedro be affective?  Can he stay healthy?  In his last start he pitched only four innings because of a sore groin and a stiff shoulder.  Overall Grade D 

Mike Pelfrey- Pelfrey is 8-6 with a 3.64 era.  Again, if you were just grading him on his last three starts then the guys deserves an A, but early on he was less than stellar, and was a big contributing factor to the Mets early season woes.  However, he never shied away or played the blame game, he kept going out there and working, he has had three good starts and has shown that he can in fact pitch with the big boys.  Overall Grade C 

John Maine-after hearing about how Maine was dominating spring training, I thought for sure he was in for a big season.  Maine is 8-6 with a 3.99 era.  He has failed to go deep into the game because he continuously has terribly high pitch counts.  We’ve seen more players foul pitches off with Maine on the mound, then I think I’ve ever seen before.  He seems to be lacking a real put away pitch and has yet to find that.  I think that all of us, Maine included, are disappointed in his season thus far.  Overall Grade C- 

Oliver Perez-With the addition of new pitching coach Dan Warthen, Oliver has had a chance to reinvent himself.  Oliver has an overall record of 6-5 with a 4.44 era, but in the two games he pitched in July he has allowed just one earned run.  He has pitched much better in his last three or four starts and seems to have tinkered with his windup and delivery.  If Perez keeps this up, he might just get the money he was looking for next year.  Perez seems to be either “Good Ollie” and or the “Bad Ollie”, there really isn’t any in between with this guy.  Clearly, he too, is a big reason why the Mets’ found themselves in such a hole early on.  But, as of late he has been in the middle of the Mets’ resurgence.  In the beginning of the season, I would have given him an F, and in his last four starts he deserves an A-.  Overall Grade: C+/B- 

Bull Pen:

The bullpen has had its fair share of issues so far this season.  Since Manual has taken over, I think we’ve seem a mostly better job out of the bullpen.   

Scott Schoeneweis- 2-1 with a 2.65 era.  In the month of June, this guy was terrible he had a 7.20 era in his 14 appearances and it didn’t seem like he could get anyone out.  However, early in the season, he was practically lights out, and he has rebounded stellarly in July, he has allowed no runs in his five appearances. Individual Grade C  

Pedro Feliciano- 2-2 with a 2.86 era.  Pedro too has struggled; he has given up 34 hits in his 34 2/3 innings of work.  Lefties are hitting just 1.72 against Feliciano, but righties are hitting a whopping 3.79 against him.  After getting off to a great start, he has really had a rough go of it.   Individual Grade C

Duaner Sanchez-I think everyone was happy to have Sanchez back, but he has yet to show that he has returned to his pre-injury self.  He is 3-1 with a 3.57 era.  He has really struggled, he was pitching to a 6.00 era in May, but was somewhat better in June appearing 13 games and pitching to a 3.60 era.  However, in July he has pitched in 7 games, and has only allowed only 1 run. Individual Grade  C 

Joe Smith-has a 2.97 era.  He has had 44 relief appearances so far this season, and has allowed 14 runs on 29 hits in 39 innings of work.  He struggled in the early part of the season, and again in June when pretty much the whole bull pen stunk.  Again, pretty much like everyone else, he has been much better as of late.  Individual Grade B-/C+ 

I saved my two favorite bull pen guys for last! 

Aaron Heilman-Heilman is a head case; I think that every time he goes out to pitch, he keeps thinking to himself, “I’m a starter!”  And, maybe he is inside, but not with the Mets.  Anyway, he has appeared in 48 games this season and has allowed 29 runs in 50 innings of work. He has a 4.50 era and a 0-3 record.  Early on he was getting killed with the long ball, and it seemed like he couldn’t get anyone out.  However, when everyone else struggled in June, he was great.  I just looked at his numbers and realized that although I think he has been better recently-like since the winning streak, he is still pitching to a 3.52 era in July.  From what I understand he has added a third pitch, a slider, that seems to help make his fastball and change up more affective, he has been able to keep the ball down in the zone which has kept the ball in the park.  He is a big part of that bullpen whether he realizes it or not.  The Mets need for him to get his head on straight if they are going to over take the Phillies.  Individual Grade C-

 Billy Wagner-has 22 saves in 28 opportunities, his era is 2.31.  He has allowed 15 runs (only 10 earned) in 39 innings.  What I think about Billy is he is the guy who passes all of his quizzes and then bombs the midterm.  What I mean to say is, that Billy got some saves for the Mets when they were easy to get.  But, put Billy in a big spot, and he is going to blow it.  That has become his reputation, and he has done little to dispel that.  I think Mets fans thought he was going to finally get the job done, after  years of watching Franco, Benitez, and Looper blow games, Wagner was the missing key.  Turns out he took over where the other guys left off.  I don’t trust Wagner in a big spot, can’t imagine anyone else does either.  Individual Grade F 

Bullpen Overall Grade: C 

Bench: I am not going to break it down player by player, but I do think the Mets have gotten more out of Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis, and Damion Easley than anyone thought they might.  It is great that they’ve stepped in to be productive. 

So, overall I think the Mets get a C, there is no question that they have underperformed.  But I do think they have to get some credit for where they are today.  The Mets have lucked out and got hot at the right time to pull within a ½ game of the Phillies.  I hesitate to get too excited, while the Mets have won 9 in a row, I also know they are capable of playing as terrible as they did in the early first half.  I do have more hope for the Mets going into the second half because they have shown that the can and want to win.

Mets Blog

Pedro Martinez and the Mets bullpen combined to throw a one hit shut out against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday afternoon and won the game 3-0.  Eight in a row!  Wow, this is exactly what the Mets needed, a good streak heading into the all star break.  What a great win on Saturday.  Their win streak of eight is the Mets longest since June of 2006 and it is currently the longest streak in MLB.  Since June 13^th, the Mets have reduced the Phillies lead of 7 games to just half a game going into play today.   

The Amazin’s seem to be coming together as a team and it looks like they have found what was missing.  Do you realize if the Mets can continue their winning ways, and if they get a little luck and a little help from Arizona, the Mets could conceivably be in first place at the all star break?   

The Mets are finally getting the pitching they expected.  Pedro Martinez started the game Saturday.  He left after just four innings of work because of shoulder stiffness and I have also heard that he is nursing a sore groin.  Pedro has been examined and has been cleared to make his next start after the all star break.  He worked four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while walking three and striking out three.  

The bullpen continues to perform in dominant fashion.  Carlos Muniz came into the game for Pedro in the top of the fifth, he worked two innings, walking one and striking out two, and got credit for the win.  Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis pitched an inning each and both struck out one batter, walked none, and allowed no hits.  And Billy Wagner, with out any drama or undue stress earned his 22^nd save of the season by retiring the side in order.    

The Mets had been scoring a lot of runs, but they have only managed to score five runs in the first two games of this series.  Saturday’s win was good old fashioned baseball.  The Mets manufactured runs, they stole bases, they ran hard on the base paths and they got a homerun.  The Mets stole four bases yesterday and now lead the National League with 91 steals, just nine behind the Tampa Bay Rays who lead the majors with 100. 

In the fourth inning, Carlos Beltran doubled to right, stole third and would score on a single by Fernando Tatis to score the first run of the game.  Jose Reyes hit his 10^th homerun of the season in the bottom of the fifth to make the game 2-0.  In the bottom of the sixth, Carlos Delgado singled to start the inning; he advanced to second on a sac bunt by Endy Chaves and would come around to score on a double by Brian Schneider.   

The Mets look good right now.  If you’d asked me just a few weeks ago, I would not have been able to say that.  But, they are finally getting the pitching they thought they would have.  Both Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez have really taken their games to a new level.  And while Pedro has been cleared to make his next start after the all star break, you will always worry about his health.  This winning streak is nice, and it has put the Mets in a good position, but they are going to have to continue to work and play the kind of baseball they have been playing since the beginning of July.  No one, including myself imagined that the Mets would have started out as poorly as they did this season, and after everything they have been through and after watching them play just awful baseball, I would have never thought that they would be sitting in this spot at the all star break.  

If the Mets can take advantage of their good play and their ability to beat sub par teams, the schedule plays in their favor when play resumes after the all star break.  The Phillies and Marlins will be playing each other at the same time the Mets play an under achieving Cincinnati Red’s team.  It is all starting to really heat up and get exciting.  

The Mets are on Sunday Night Baseball tonight.  (Oh joy, three hours of Jon Miller and Joe “I just keep on talking even if I say nothing of value” Morgan.  Mike Pelfrey will pitch for the Mets and the Rockies will have Mark Redman on the mound.  Game time is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. 

 Mets Blog

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 are the only team in Major League Baseball, when trailing by two runs that has not come back to win the game.  So, when they went down 4-0 in the first inning, it seemed like it was going to be another long night for Mets’ fans. 

Pedro Martinez was awful.  In five innings, he allowed 5 earned runs off 7 hits, two of those hits were homeruns, but he walked only one (so at least the Cardinals had to earn their way on base).  Pedro gave up four runs in the first inning.  Aaron Miles and Skip Schumaker both singled to set the table for the Cardinals, Schumaker would score on Rick Ankiel’s single to center.  Troy Glaus hit his 12^th homerun of the season to make it 4-0.  The 47 minute rain delay that Pedro called a “blessing” might have been just that as when play resumed, Pedro pitched more aggressively and allowed just one more run, a homerun to Rick Ankiel. 

It wasn’t just Martinez that labored on the mound last night.  After a great job by Mets hitters to take the lead 7-5 in the top of the seventh, Aaron Heilman entered the game in the bottom of the eighth and hit a batter, he would leave the game at the point and be replaced by Pedro Feliciano who threw one pitch to Chris Duncan that he sent over the fence in right field to tie the game at 7.  In the bottom of the ninth Carlos Muniz gave up a walk off homer to Troy Glaus, and the Cardinals won 8-7.   

The offense had a much better game on Wednesday.  When they fell behind 4-0 in the first; I figured we’d see them play like they usually do when they fall that far behind that early.  However, the Mets really battled to get some things going offensively.  As a team, the Mets still left 10 guys on base, but they did get 15 hits and everyone in the line up except Endy Chavez and the pitcher had at least one hit.  Jose Reyes was 3-5 David Wright was 3-4 with a walk, and an RIB.  Damion Easley had a great night; he went 3-4 with 3 RBI.  Ryan Church had two more hits last night, but did have some trouble with runners on base as he stranded three.  Carlos Beltran also got a hit last night, but he left four runners on base.

This is what happens; the Mets can’t get everyone on the same page at the same time.  The offense did their part last night, the pitching did not.  And while the effort was there from the offensive and position play standpoint-what happened to the bullpen?  It is just a pathetic display.  You can’t even say it was a better loss for this team-because it wasn’t they were winning at one point. 

On thing is for sure, as much as I hate the Cardinals-and I HATE the Cardinals, they play some good ball.  They run hard, take the extra base, stay in games.  This is something we have not seen from the Mets.  They don’t play hard, they don’t keep their heads in games, and Mets are far from mentally tough.  So, the best the Mets can hope for here is a split.  Which means they would leave St. Luis two games under .500 and in relatively the same place they are now 4.5 games (or so) back. 

The earliest Moise Alou would be back is Monday in Philly but his return is more likely to happen Tuesday when the Mets return to Shea to take on the Giants.  Because of rain in Florida, Alou has not had the opportunity to get in his rehab starts.  The Mets have moved him to Binghamton hoping he will get some play up there before bringing him back to the team. 

First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.  Mike Plefrey will pitch for the Mets and the Cardinals will counter with Mitchell Boggs. 

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