The Mets were pummeled 11-0 by the Seattle Mariners for a second straight game.  The Mariners jumped out to an early lead scoring early and often.  The Mets have lost the first two games by a combined score of 16-2.

The offense flatlined pretty much the entire game; Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, Carlos Delgado, Trot Nixon, Endy Chavez, all had O-fer’s.  The team stranded 9 players on base and hit into two double plays.  However, in the fourth inning we saw something we haven’t seen since Bobby V donned the orange and blue- a manager argued so vociferous that he was ejected from the game (it was Manual’s first as manager, and his second on the season).  Not only did Jerry Manual have words with home plate umpire Brian Runge but so did Carlos Beltran and both of them ended up being ejected from the game in the bottom of the fourth.  Beltran made some remarks to Runge regarding his strike zone-and I will comment that his strike zone was all over the place, anyway, Runge didn’t take too kindly and made sure Beltran knew it.  Runge actually took off his mask and basically stopped the game and really baited Beltran, and to his credit, Beltran did not bite.  It was when Runge got out of line that Manual came out of the dugout to protect Carlos.  Runge got into a short exchange with Manual and chest bumped him-Manual went crazy, he was thrown form the game, and Beltran, after seeing what happened to Manual, got into with the umpire and made sure that he heard all he had to say before he left the game as well.  

Good job by Jerry Manual and Carlos Beltran.  Something has happened in the past few days or the past week that has lead to a renewal of Beltran we’re seeing a fire in him that he hasn’t show the NY fans since he go there.  Maybe he really didn’t see eye to eye with Randolph, maybe he is just tired of losing, but this is the hardest I have seen him play and he has stepped up as a leader and showing some intensity.  I hope we see more of this Carlos! 

Oliver Perez was awful; he was in trouble from the start.  In his 5 innings of work he gave up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits, one walk, one hit batsman, two strikeouts.  In his post game remarks Jerry Manual address Oliver Perez’s and mentioned that it is a concern and that it is going to have to be addressed.  Perez is 1-5 and his era is almost 8 when facing sub par teams (think back to his starts against the Pirates, Giants, and now the Mariners)

All I can say is that I hope Ryan Church is ready to come back to the lineup, and I hope he can pick up where he left off in a hurry.  Trot Nixon, I understand was a move the Mets had to make and it didn’t cost them anything, but, I’m sick of Chavez, Easley, and Nixon, they need Chruch back and the better figure out who is going to replace Alou and what they are going to do with Carlos Delgado.  Also, as much as I love him, David Wright is killing us, right now he is hitting at .272, I know that he leads the team in RBI but the Mets need more consistency out of him.   I know there is a lot of pressure considering that they started out the season trying to make up for what happened last year, and then have fallen into this cycle where they just haven’t been good any aspect of the game.  It is just hard to believe that with the coaching changes that HoJo is still with the club.  I don’t know how much the hitting coach actually helps, but is appears he hasn’t done much to help Wright. 

The Mets will send John Maine to the mound looking to salvage the last game of the series.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog

The New York Mets lost to the Seattle Mariners 5-2 when Johan Santana gave up a grand slam to Mariners’ pitcher Felix Hernandez in the second inning and the Mets never recovered.  That of course was the first homerun ever hit by a Mariners pitcher and it was the 14^th homerun Santana has given up so far this season.

This is getting old.  The Mets stink and I’m tired of watching it.  Comments after the game by Mets’ players basically said that Hernandez’s homerun was a fluke, and it was, but it cost the Mets the game.  The Mets keep finding ways to lose; they are a team that no one is afraid of.  Basically if your team jumps out to a lead, you’ll win, the Mets give up pretty early on if they are down by more than a run or two.  But even still, if you don’t score early then just wait for the bullpen, someone there is likely to serve one up.  This team is a mess. 

The Mets got just four hits last night and scored two runs, but the first run didn’t come until the fifth inning when the Mets were down 5-0.  That first run was a result of a lead off double by Carlos Beltran, he stole third and then scored on a wild pitch by Hernandez.  It was an exciting play at the plate, as Beltran never hesitated and the ball didn’t get far from the catcher.  Felix Hernandez was hurt on that play; he was standing on home plate when Beltran slid in and would leave the game with a sprained ankle.  Good job by Beltran there ( his aggressive play that is, not that he took Hernandez out of the game because that didn’t actually help the Mets) I’d like to see more of that from him, his aggressiveness on the base path was something that has been missing from his game for a long time. 

In the ninth inning the Mets looked as if they might have a little something going, Jose Reyes singled to center to lead off the inning but, Luis Castillo singled to short and Reyes was erased at second, Castillo would advance to second on a walk issued to David Wright.  Carlos Beltran who has been in a good groove hit a single to center scoring Castillo and moving Wright to second.  Carlos Delgado stuck out swinging and Damion Easley would be out on a called third strike.

So it has been a week since Willie Randolph was fired and the talk is still there.  Of course, the Mets haven’t exactly helped themselves by losing the way they did in Colorado on Saturday and again last night.  And in fact, unless the Mets start winning and really winning, the talk won’t fade.  And it doesn’t help matters that Jerry Manual called the Mets fans fertilizer (although that is a new one) or that her referred to Jose Reyes as a woman.  But hey, if you are Manual why not do what you want to do, what’s the worst that can happen? 

Last night the Mets had a chance to help themselves.  The Phillies’ lead has dwindled to one game; the Mets were sitting in third place three back, with Atlanta a game behind them.  Both the Marlins and Phillies were off last night and the Braves lost.  But instead of gaining ground, today the Mets are four back and one game under .500.   

The Mets are headed into a very tough place in their schedule.  When they wrap up the series with the Mariners they play four against the Yankees, they then go to St. Louis for three, are in Philadelphia for four before returning home to play the Giants and Rockies before the All Star break.  I don’t even want to think about what can happen in that stretch. 

First pitch for Tuesday night is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.  Oliver Perez will go for the Mets and the Mariners will counter with R.A. Dickey. 

Mets Blog