The New York Mets and the Texas Rangers were rained out on Saturday night and played a good old fashioned double header on Sunday.  The Mets had John Maine on the hill for the first game and Pedro Martinez pitched the second.  The Rangers took the first game of the double header 8-7.  The Mets took the nightcap 4-2, taking two out of three from the Rangers.   

John Maine pitched 6 1/3 innings and while he was credited with five earned runs, two of the runs were on base when he left the game in the top of the seventh, both scored when Pedro Felicano allowed an RBI single to Ramon Vasquez.  Maine did not pitch as poorly as his line would suggest, he did give up 7 hits, while striking out five and not allowing any walks.  The Mets’ bullpen did a terrible job once again.  Pedro Felicano was not the only culprit; Joe Smith entered the game with a runner on and gave up a two out two run homer to Ian Kinsler.  Scott Schoeneweis pitched an inning and gave up a homerun to Milton Bradley.   

The Mets did have two late inning rallies, the first in the bottom of the eight, down 8-3.  With one out, Carlos Beltran walked, Carlos Delgado hit a short fly ball single that allowed the run to score.  Trot Nixon hit a double to right field that would drive in Delgado.  Brian Schneider walked, Damion Easley got aboard on an error and that would load the bases.  Jose Reyes had a chance to do some damage with only one out and bases load, but he popped up to right field and for some inexplicable reason, Sandy Alomar elected to send a very slow Brian Schneider home, and he of course was thrown out at the plate by a mile.  However, the Rangers we not finished trying to give the game away.  In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets tacked on two more runs, but fell just short, and lost the first game 8-7.   

The Mets really had an opportunity to take the first game even with the runs the bullpen gave up.  However, they got lousy situational hitting and a really boneheaded move by their third base coach.  This team is not good enough to overcome those types of mistakes.  Guys have got to get their heads in the game.  With Alomar’s brilliance at third yesterday, you can see that it isn’t just the players who have brain lock during a game.   

The Mets did redeem themselves in the night cap of the doubleheader winning 4-2 behind Pedro Martinez.  Martinez struggled early on giving up two runs before the Mets could get on the board, but he hunkered down and pitched pretty well.  In his six innings of work he gave up two runs, just one earned on six hits, allowing one walk and recording four strikeouts.  Much to the ire of the crowd at Shea Stadium, Pedro left the game for a pitch hitter in the bottom of the sixth.  The crowd could be heard in the background chanting, “We want Pedro!”  It worked out in the Mets’ favor however as pinch hitter Robinson Cancel hit a two run single to give the Mets a 4-2 lead.   

The bullpen was much better in the second game.  Pedro Feliciano pitched a scoreless seventh, Duaner Sanchez pitched the eighth giving up nothing, and Billy Wagner came in for the save in the ninth.  Without any excitement, he retired the side in order while recording two strikeouts.  While you could see Wagner was nervous and did not have his great stuff he did what had to be done and finally got a save.  The bullpen finally gave the Mets what they needed.   

The good thing to come out of this series was that David Wright snapped a skid that was something like 6-40 and was a combined 4-7 with an RBI.  He looked much better at the plate; let’s hope he can carry it over to the series with the Anaheim Angels.  The Carloses both had good days at the plate too.  In the two games Beltran was 4-9 with three RBI, three runs scored and a walk.  Delgado was 3-9 with two RBI and two runs scored. 

 Speaking of the Anaheim Angels, them Mets begin a three game interleauge series with them in Anaheim tonight.  Mike Pelfrey, coming off a brilliant performance in his last outing against the Diamondbacks will be on the mound for the Mets, the Angels will counter with Jered Weaver.  First pitch is scheduled for 9:55 p.m. 

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 lost 2-1 to the San Diego Padres last night after Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis, walked three batters (one intentional) and then hit a batter to walk in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Clearly it wasn’t a very good night for Schoeneweis, and one could argue, not a great night for Randolph who probably should have taken him out before it got to that point. 

Mets sent starter Mike Pelfrey to the mound.  Pelfrey was not outstanding by any stretch of the imagination pitching six innings, giving up eight hits, three walks, but only one earned run.  For Pelfrey that was a great sign, all too often when he has that many base runners in a game they all seem to score; however last night he made good pitches when he needed to and he got great defense behind him to keep him in the game.  

Jose Reyes who has ten errors so far this season played a flawless game last night.  He made five dazzling defensive plays that kept the Padres from scoring.  Reyes also had a great night at the plate, going 2-3 with a walk, two stolen bases and he scored the only run on an RBI single by David Wright.  Reyes has his average up to .292 and has started to become the spark that the Mets had been missing earlier in the season. 

The Mets have been playing much better baseball, and last night was just their third loss in 10 games, they have won three series in a row; taking 2-3 from the Marlins, 3-4 form the Dodgers, and 2-3 from the Giants. They find themselves above .500 and still hovering in the middle of the division.  However, last night’s game is a tough one to take.  The Mets benefited earlier in the season that the Phillies and the Braves were not winning games either, however, all three teams have gotten hot at the same time and the Mets can not afford to let games like this one get away if they want to keep pace with the teams that are ahead of them in the division.  That being said, I like the way the Mets are hanging in there, their body language has gotten better, they are playing with confidence and doing (most) everything right. 

Johan Santana will take the mound for the Mets. Santana is 7-3 with a 3.20 era.  Randy Wolf will pitch for the Padres (hey, did the wolf pack move out there too?).  Wolf is 3-4 with a 4.33 era.  First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog

Talk about an ending that you usually don’t see in a baseball game.  Mets relief pitcher Scott Schoeneweis hit Paul McAnulty with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Mets lost to the Padres 2-1.  Very dissapointing outcome to a low scoring game.

Schoeneweis took the loss as he walked the bases loaded in the ninth inning before hitting McAnulty.  About the worst thing happened for Schoeneweis, you never want to walk the bases loaded.

Mike Pelfrey got the start for the Mets and pitched six innings.  He gave up eight hits and one run in a pretty good outing.  Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith, and Duaner Sanchez all seen action in the game as well out of the bullpen.

The one Mets run came in the sixth inning when David Wright singled in Jose Reyes.  The Mets really struggled at the plate as they only had five hits the entire game.  They really need to start swinging the bat better and putting the ball in play.

Mets Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mets Blog

The New York Mets dropped their third straight game to the Atlanta Braves losing 11-4; their record now is now at .500 for the first time since April.  The Mets have been unable to score any runs against the Braves; in the past three  games they have been outscored 23-8.  The offense is abysmal, and it apparently doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone much, especially considering that Jose Reyes was all smiles and kidding around on the field last night when his team was getting trounced by the Braves. 

Mike Pelfrey was terrible, however one can only imagine if things might have been different if Luis Castillo actually hustles and makes the play on the ground ball by Mark Teixeira; making that play would have ended the third inning with out any further damage.  But instead, Luis didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry, even though Teixeira was busting it out of the box.  Pelfrey who could be seen pumping his fist because he thought he’d gotten the third out, now had to face three more batters before recording the last out of the inning.  But, the damage was done, the Mets would be down 3-1 and wouldn’t recover. 

It wasn’t just Pelfrey who struggled on the mound, the Met’s relief pitchers had trouble also.  Pedro Feliciano pitched two innings and gave up two runs, Joe Smith pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up two runs, Scott Schoeneweis pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up a run.  Clearly, no one is able to do to anything right.  When there is good pitching, there is no hitting.  If the Mets score some runs the pitching lets them down, or as was the case last night, they got terrible pitching and no offense.  Nothing is clicking on all cylinders, and I think the Mets lack of offensive production has lead to a lot of pressure on the pitching staff.  Also, when you aren’t winning, there can’t be too much happiness in the clubhouse.  However, that is one of those things that is a catch 22,  you wonder if they aren’t winning because of a lack of chemistry, but team chemistry is what you need to start winning. 

On a day when manager Willie Randolph made a public apology to his team, the Mets fans, SNY, and Mets ownership, you would think that his guys would want to come out and show him that they got his back, apparently not.   However, that has pretty much been the story, no?  Remember when Billy Wagner came out and made comments about Oliver Perez after his horrible start against the Pirates?  Well, Randolph said, I’ve talked to Billy and he understands that I am not happy about this and that we should keep things in house.  Well, obviously Billy doesn’t  really care much about what Willie thinks because just right before the Yankee series he again didn’t keep things in house and made comments that could really only be directed at the Carloses.  Clearly things within the club house are fractured.  And, in many respects, I think that someone had to say something.  I am not necessarily saying that I thought Billy Wagner is wrong, I’m just saying he didn’t actually do what his manager asked of him either.   

Who knows what the problem is?  Baseball people all the time say things like this team lacks leadership.  Is that the case with the Mets?  After the last three losses David Wright who is considered the face of the franchise has finally had some harsh remarks that sounded like he is at least frustrated by the way the Mets have played.  Is this considered leadership?  Can he lead when he is a youngster on the team?  However, if the egos of these guys are as fragile as they seem, can comments from your leaders cause a bigger divide?

Where do the fans fit in to all of this?  There is still so much discussion about the fans booing, about the fans not giving these guys a shot.  They are a .500 team and have been for a whole year now.  Sorry to keep hammering that point home, but it should be noted that the team in the National League with the highest payroll is underachieving, and yes being at .500 is beyond underachieving.  The fans don’t take this lightly, especially because we share this town with Yankee fans, and there is this need to be better than the Yankees.  In fact, I can’t even enjoy the awful season the Yankees are having right now, because the Mets are playing terrible too.  These problems with the fans and this team aren’t just about this season, this dates back to the heartbreak of last year’s collapse.  The Mets as a team might have moved on from that, although the way they are playing now might suggest otherwise, but certainly the fans have not.  If you are going to be the highest paid team in the National League, you are also supposed to be the winningest team in the National League. 

 The Mets  wrap up the series tonight in Atlanta before heading to Denver to face the Rockies for three games.  Johan Santana will start for the Mets and the Braves will counter with Tim Hudson.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

The New York Mets closed out a weekend series with the Atlanta Braves winning 6-3.  The Mets caught a break as red hot hitter Chipper Jones sat out for a second straight game.  The real story was the Mets offense. 

On a cold day at Shea Stadium, the Mets bats seemed to warm up.  Jose Reyes had been in a 1-25 funk, his batting average falling to .237 with a .265 OBP.  He snapped that when he lead off the first with a double.  He would finish the day with 1-3 with a walk and two strike outs.  Reyes is the catalyst to the Mets offensive production.  Getting Reyes on base seems to be one key to getting the other hitters going.  All in all the Mets would collect 12 hits, 6 of which were for extra bases.  Raul Cassanova (2), Carlos Delgado (2), and David Wright (1) would all record RBI in the win.  

Saturday Mets hitters chased starter Tim Hudson from the game early.  Sunday the Mets did the same to John Smoltz who left the game in the fourth inning.  Having yet allowed a homer this season, Smoltz gave up two in his four innings.  Catcher Raul Cassanova hit a two run shot in the second and Carlos Delgado hit a solo homer to left field in the third.  When Delgado goes the other way good things are sure to follow, as was the case when he hit his second home run of the game in the seventh.  It was a shot to right center that hit half way up the scoreboard.  Delgado had been hearing boos from the Mets fans and refused to come out for a curtain call after he hit his second homer of the day.  The way Delgado has been struggling you would think he would want to bank a little good will with the Mets fans.

New York native Nelson Figueroa took the mound for the Mets.  He was cruising along until the sixth inning when he ran out of steam.  He left the game having pitched 5 1/3 giving up three runs on three hits with three strike outs and three walks.  Joe Smith would enter the game as his replacement and allowed one of the inherited runners to score.  Scott Schoeneweis pitched a scoreless seventh and Pedro Feliciano tossed a scoreless eight.  Feliciano was the eight inning guy because manager Willie Randolph wanted to give Duaner Sanchez a break after pitching back to back games.  Billy Wagner allowed his first hit of the season to Matt Diaz with one out in the ninth, however he retired the next two batters to end the game and record his sixth save of the season. 

It was reported that Moises Alou was close to joining the team.  However, after twisting his ankle in a rehab start, Alou will now be in New York for an MRI because there is concern that his sprain is actually a fracture. If that is the case, the bat the Mets have waiting on is far from joining the line up. 

On Monday the Mets begin a three game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Mets Ace Johan Santana (3-2) is scheduled to start.  He will be opposed by pitcher Ian Snell (2-1).   

 Mets Blog

The New York Mets were leading 2-0 heading into the 7th inning against the Philadelphia Phillies and couldn’t hold their lead as they ended up losing 5-2.  A throwing error by Carlos Delgado was the key play of the game that allowed the Phillies to tie the game up in the seventh, and then they took the lead for good in the next inning.

Scott Schoeneweis took the loss for the Mets as he let three runs score while only recording one out.  Aaron Heilman let two more runs cross the plate in the 8th inning as well.  Starting pitcher Odalis Perez pitched 5.2 innings and only allowed three hits in the no decision.

Ryan Church and Delgado had one RBI each for the Mets.  Not to much offense for the Mets today against Moyer and the Phillies relivers.

Mets Blog