The Mets scored 15 runs as they swept the last series they will ever play at Yankee Stadium.  The Mets took the first two games when they played in May, the last game of that series was postponed due to rain and rescheduled as part of a  twilight two stadium double header.  The Mets finished out the sweep of three games with a 15-6 in the first game on Friday afternoon. 

Mike Pelfrey started for the Mets and got the win.  In his six innings of work he gave up four runs on eight hits, walked four and struck out five.  His numbers don’t really tell the story if you go strictly by the box score.  He was able to pitch out of trouble and over come the lack of defense he got early on.  Pelfrey actually faced batters 15 times with runners in scoring position and only gave up four runs.  And while you can say “ONLY?” the fact is, he did what he has to do and has grown as a pitcher.  He seems as if he is starting to grow into his role. 

Luis Castillo scored five runs, but the big offensive production came from the heart of the order.  All 15 RBI came from three players, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado.  It is has been a long time since the heart of the order were hot all at the same time.  David Wright was 4-5 with three RBI, Carlos Beltran was 1-4 with a homerun, three RBI, a walk, and four runs scored.  The real offensive output came from Carlos Delgado who snapped an 0-16 skid when he hit a go ahead RBI double in the top of the fifth.  In the top of the sixth Delgado added to the lead, hitting a grand slam, his 12^th homer of the season.  However, Delgado was not done there, he hit his 13^th homerun of the season, his second of the game to add three more RBI bringing his grand total to 9.  Delgado now holds the Mets record for the most RBI in a game, his 9 RBI in one game beats the prior record of 8 set by Dave Kingman in 1976.

Great job by the Met’s offense today.  They really came through and it was a lot of fun to watch.  Good job too by Pelfrey, he pitched out of trouble and kept the Mets in the game.  The Mets defense was less than stellar, they had three errors in the game.  But, a win ins a win, adn this is one we’ll take.   

I love to beat the Yankees!  But, I must admit I always worry when the Mets score a lot of runs in a game, I figure they won’t have much offense left for the rest of the series.

Mets Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mets Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Mets Blog 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mets Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mets Blog

The New York Mets got rocked on Monday night as the San Francisco Giants beat up on them by the score of 10-2.  The Giants came out and put up six quick runs in the first inning that put the Mets in a big hole that they were unable to get out of.  Talk about a knock out punch right away in the game.

Oliver Perez had a terrible outing as he gave up six runs on five hits while only record one out in the first inning.  Perez gave up two home runs and walked two batters.  That is exactly what you don’t want your starting pitcher to do.

So the bullpen was called on early in the game and Claudio Vargas came in and pitched 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.  Vargas did a ver good job for the Mets.  Carlos Muniz then came into the game and gave up four runs on six hits over 1 2/3 innings.  Once Muniz gave up the four runs, it was all but over for the Mets.

The Mets offense was only able to record six hits in the game.  Usually Giants pitchers give up quite a few hits, but the Mets offense was so bad last night they were lucky to get six.  Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo both had rbi’s for the the Mets.  Reyes had a rbi double in the second inning and Castillo had a rbi single in the fourth inning.

The Mets will try to get back on track as they play the Giants once again on Tuesday.  The Mets are needed to pick up a win as they are back at .500 with a 28-28 record.

Mets Blog

The New York Mets won their third straight game on Thursday night beating the Los Angels Dodgers 8-4.  The Mets are now back at .500 and sit 4 games out of first.  Not only did the Mets spoil Joe Torre’s return to New York, but they manhandled Brad Penny once again.  Penny is now 5-13 lifetime against the Mets is 1-10 at Shea Stadium.   

The Mets had 13 hits last night and David Wright continued his dominance against Penny, hitting two two run homers in last night’s game.  In 21 career at bats against Penny, Wright is hitting a whopping .524 with four home runs, five walks and 19 RBI.  Wright’s average is now up to .284 after going 2-4 with 4 RBI in last nights win.  Luis Castillo, Endy Chavez, and Brian Schneider all had RBI as well. 

The Mets got great defense last night, in the first inning Endy Chavez made a great play to throw out Juan Pierre at the plate to keep the Dodger’s off the board.  Later in the game Carlos Delgado made a great play on a line drive to first, and just missed doubling Russell Martin off first. 

The Mets have done a good job in these past three games.  I don’t know if it is the orange jacket, if it is the fact that Willie seems like he is safe for the time being, or if it is the thought of getting Pedro back, but something has clicked and the Mets have been a much better team, might even be the best we’ve seen them play since the Yankee series.

I applaud Willie Randolph for sitting Carlos Delgado those two games against the Marlins, Delgado was 2-4 last night and played good defense.  When asked about the manager’s decision to sit him those two games, Delgado told the press that he understood where Willie was coming from.  According to the New York sports pages, when asked how he’d feel about a platoon at first, Delgado basically said, that he and Willie would have a problem if that were the case.  Wow-really Carlos?  You are hitting .222 and have killed the Mets this year.  I realize that at one point you were a superstar, but you haven’t shown the Mets that in a year and a half.  I guess you don’t get that “Whatever is best for the team” concept, huh?

The Mets looked so much better the past three nights, watching them has been fun again!  They hustled, played hard, and did not give up.  They have gotten some good pitching performances, and their bull pen has been great.  They are also getting two out hits which is something that we haven’t seen them do.  I get that winning three straight is too soon to proclaim that the Mets are back, but it sure is nice to watch them play good ball once again. 

The Mets will send John Maine to the hill tonight and he will be opposed by Clayton Kershaw who made his Major League debut just five days ago against the St. Louis Cardinals.  Game time is 7:10 p.m.  

Mets Blog  

The New York Mets in unlikely fashion beat the Florida Marlins 7-6 in a 12 inning game in which the Mets came from behind not once, but twice to win.  For a second game, Personal Relations Director Jay Horowitz donned a hideous orange jacket.  Horowitz first wore the jacket on Tuesday night, and it seems will have to wear it until the Mets lose, let’s hope he is wearing that jacket for a long time!  The jacket is a leftover from Jeromey Burnitz era and has often been worn by Pedro Martinez as a club house joke.  Well, the luck it has brought the Mets the last two nights isn’t a joke, for the second night in a row the Mets not only notched a win, but they actually looked better as a team.   

The Mets jumped out to an early lead against Marlin’s starter Scott Olson on Luis Castillo’s two run homer in the bottom of the first inning.  The Mets would tack on another run in the bottom of the fourth on a sac fly by Fernando Tatis.  In the bottom of the fifth Jose Reyes would extend the Mets lead with his seventh homerun of the season.  Reyes extended his hitting streak to 13 games, and has safely reached base in 28 consecutive games.   

The Mets had a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning when Oliver Perez seemed to just lose his concentration.  Although Perez had allowed two homeruns earlier in the evening he had been pitching well, but in the sixth inning with one out, Perez walked Wes Helms; Dan Uggla hit a ball that David Wright was unable to make a play on.  So, with two on and one out Cody Ross came to the plate with one homerun under his belt and on a 2-1 count Ross hit his second home run of the game, a line drive to left field, the Marlins would take the lead 5-4. 

At that point, we knew that the Mets were 1-19 when they trailed in the 6^th inning, however, unlike those other games, the Mets didn’t give up.  They got excellent pitching the rest of the way, and in the bottom of the ninth inning, Endy Chavez came to the plate pinch hitting for Ramon Castro and tied the game with homerun to right field sending the game into extra innings. 

The Mets got great pitching the rest of the way, Scott Schoeneweis put up 0’s.  Aaron Heilman who is suddenly the Renaissance man, was dominant in his two innings of work he didn’t give up a hit and had four strikeouts. After pitching the ninth inning on Tuesday night, Billy Wagner pitched in the 10^th  and recoreded two strikeouts.  Duaner Sanchez pitched the eleventh, and actually had an at bat in the bottom of the inning recording a sac bunt.  After leaving a runner is scoring position in the bottom of the 11^th the Mets looked as if they might be in trouble in the top of the 12th when Alfredo Amezaga took Sanchez deep, giving the Marlins the lead 6-5.  But, the Mets would not be deterred this time, with the heart of the order due up to lead off the bottom of the 12^th, David Wright walked to start  the inning and Carlos Beltran hit a single to left that advanced Wright to third.  Damion Easley came up and struck out swinging, up next was Fernando Tatis who was playing for the injured Ryan Church, and he came through for the Mets hitting a rocket down the left field line that allowed both Wright and Beltran to score and the Met to win the game. 

It was great to watch the guys celebrate the victory, the guys rushed out of the dugout to greet Wright, Beltran and Tatis, jumping and pounding on each other, it was great to see them celebrate.  The Mets have had a long arduous season thus far and you really got the feeling that as much as they were elated with the victory, getting a come from behind win like that in extra innings, at least for one night, got the monkey off their backs.  It was a great game and the Mets played well.  

The Mets got good news regarding Pedro Martinez and his first rehab start.  Pitching in Port St. Lucie, Pedro threw 82 pitches, 63 of which were strikes, he gave up 4 hits and two earned runs-everything came in the fourth inning in the 2-1 loss to Vero Beach.  Pedro is scheduled to pitch for the Mets Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants.

Mets got not so great news about Ryan Church. Church visited a neurologist after suffering ill affects from a concussion he sustained in a game against the Braves.  Church has been told that he must rest and he has to avoid light.  Church has also been instructed that he has to be symptom free for 48 hours before he can resume baseball activity. 

The Mets open up a series against the Los Angels, Brad Penny will pitch for the Dodger and the Mets will counter with Claudio Vargas.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.   

Mets Blog