Nationals 7 Mets 4: I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts

I blame myself for Wednesday's loss, I really do. In a crazy season where it seems that the Mets have lost about one game a week in an unfathomable manner, last night's meltdown in which ace reliever Francisco Rodriquez gave up five runs including a walk-off grand slam as the Mets blew a two run ninth inning lead was maybe a microcosm of the season.


Laying on the couch after a very long work day, watching K-Rod struggle to get Nationals batters out to the point where he walked in their first run of the inning whilst leaving the bases loaded, the thought came to my mind that the only natural way for this game to end would be on a grand slam. After other jarring losses had left me fuming and mumbling to myself loudly, when Justin Maxwell's hit landed over the left field fence, the sense of karmic balance quieted my mood rather quickly. There was no throwing of things at other things, it was just the inevitable acceptance of this year's team imploding upon itself, finding another way to lose a game they clearly had in their grasp.


At any rate, here's the song that came to my mind, I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts by X, shown here from Denver in April of this year.







ESPN RECAP , METS RECAP

Giants 5 Mets 4: Blankety Blankety Blank Blank Blank

The willfully naive part of me that still thought the Mets could somehow manage to make a run for the wild card spot (and I won't even go on about lowered expectations altogether) was finally put to rest today, hitting the ground the same time David Wright did after taking a Matt Cain pitch to the head this afternoon. The post title is a nod to whatever self-control still in my possession after watching the Mets find yet another way to find misery on the baseball diamond.



WRIGHT GETS HIT , GAME RECAP










The only song title that describes my current status.........NUMB

Braves 7 Mets 1: Definitely Not Great Men

Another day, another disheartening loss. (It's too bad the Mets can't replicate Johan Santana and have him pitch every day; but even if that were physically possible, the Mets would still be barely contending for the wild-card playoff spot given the paucity of the Mets offense of late.)


The false hopes that Saturday's 5-1 win against the Braves raised were blasted away by another woeful offensive performance, punctuated by yet another injury with starting pitcher Fernando Nieve pulled up lame with a hamstring injury whilst trying to beat out a throw to first base in the second inning. Given that the Mets wasted a lead-off double by Angel Pagan but failed to send him home has typified the Mets offense in the last month.


In another series of song titles describing the feelings of this Mets fan, today's offering is from the Gang Of Four performing Not Great Men live in Japan in 2005, the same year I caught the band at Coachella performing a white-hot set after being introduced by Anthony H. Wilson. A damn good performance even if the majority of the crowd were waiting for New Order and Nine Inch Nails.




ESPN RECAP

Braves 11 Mets 0: Our Love Lies Limp

Not much to say at this point of the season after tonight's woeful performance in Atlanta, other than to recall the great song from Alternative TV, whose title pretty much sums up my feelings at this time. Bonus positivity: yet another injury, this time in the form of Gary Sheffield's right hamstring.....what could possibly be worse? Well..........in this era of relative parity in major league baseball, being the Washington Nationals would certainly qualify.





THE GORY DETAILS

Dodgers 8 Mets 0: Minor League Team At Major Leagu Prices

Last night's pitiful performance from the Mets in the series offered absolutely no assurance that the June swoon the Mets experienced will change any time soon. No hitting, woeful pitching and shoddy fielding have continually lowered all expectations of the fan base over the last six weeks, and an early lead garnered by the other team usually guarantees a victory for them. Yesterday's gory details can be read about here , a continuation from the listlessness the Mets exhibited on the field from the previous series, a three game sweep at the hands of the Phillies. In fact, the highlight over the past four games has been that of Manny Ramirez getting tossed in the fifth inning for tossing his batting equipment in the air near the home plate umpire, with whom he had previously argued calls over in the first inning. This lovely AP photo from Frank Franklin II gives us the highlight of the game for us disgruntled fans.


TODAY'S UPDATE: Oliver Perez returns to the line-up for the first time in two months and has looked better than he had, but that wasn't a particularly hard thing to accomplish. The Mets even scored their first run in 23 innings, so all things might be possible, right? I'll believe it when I see it!

With Apologies To Jack Buck: "I Don't Believe What I Just Saw!"

YANKEES 9 METS 8: THAT REALLY, REALLY SUCKED!

Mets 3 Red Sox 2: A Game Of Inches

Nice to see the Mets get the breaks against a team with the worst fans in baseball, it's definitely a nice gift after all of the boneheaded team play of the last week.


A two-out, two-run home run from catcher Omir Santos off of reliever Jonathan Papelbon that bounced off of a barrier just behind the top of the Green Monster and back onto the field of play was the difference as the Mets rallied in the top of the ninth inning for the victory. The Mets defense, so suspect in the last few games, managed to keep itself together in the bottom of the inning for the win. (YES, IT WAS ONLY ONE GAME, BUT A WIN IS STILL A WIN, ESPECIALLY AGAINST THE RED SUX ). BTW, it was also lovely to here so many cheers for the Mets in Fenway, yeah die-hard Sux fans would never sell their tickets to anybody but their own kind, right?


Just lovely to see Papelbon try to lead the remonstration of the call in a key play in the bottom of the ninth (a rocket to David Wright at third, who managed to get the ball in the vicinity of second base, where Luis Castillo snagged the ball just in time to get Kevin Youklis for the first out, all in an effort to try to let himself off of the hook for letting a substitute catcher win the game with his second career home run.



The drama of the ninth inning book-ended a good pitching matchup between Mike Pelfrey and Josh Beckett, a slightly rough first inning for the both of them accounting for the lone scores of the game.



One more game to finish the bastards off, their idiotic fans may still crow about the 2004 comeback against the Yankees, but until the Mets and Sux meet again in the post seasons, there will always be the spectre of Game Six in 1986 to hold over those ass-clowns. Fcuk 'em all.





ESPN RECAP

Mets At Houston: A Lost Weekend & Kunz Makes His Debut

A totally lost weekend for the Mets in the Lone Star State, with the bullpen blowing leads both Friday and Saturday and the offense failing to show up today when it was needed the most, being shut out 4-0.


Aaron Heilman had the roughest weekend, being charged with the first two losses. On Friday, he gave up a one-out grand slam to Mark Loretta in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the losing runsin the tenth inning on Saturday after closer Billy Wagner blew another save opportunity with the Mets leading 4-2 heading toward the bottom of the ninth.


The Mets offense disappeared after the first three innings on Saturday, making it 16 straight scoreless innings against a Houston staff that has more questions than the Mets do. They did manage a fair number of hits, but typically for the road trip was the fact that they loaded the bases in consecutive innings but failed to capitalize on those chances.


There were some positive things to recall about the Houston series, with Johan Santana pitching very well on Saturday (but failing to get a win for his work yet again) and Pedro Martinez doing reasonably well on Friday in five innings before he got the hook. There were also a couple of major league debuts for the Mets, the first coming on Saturday with outfielder Daniel Murphy doing his best to save the Mets lead in the eighth with a tremendous leaping catch. Murphy caught a blast from Ty Wigginton in front of the left field fence by timing his catch just right, and then doubling off Hunter Pence at second, who was caught in no-man's land between bases trying to judge if Murphy was going to make the catch or not.


Kunz made his debut today in the seventh inning, taking over after a mediocre Oliver Perez performance, with the Mets trailing 4-0. After getting a called strike on his first pitch, Darin Erstad laid a perfect bunt down between the mound and first base, catching Kunz off guard after he'd made the pitch, and Erstad was safe at first. The next batter, Humberto Quintero, put another bunt down the first base line and Kunz, who fielded the ball, lofted the ball over the outstretched arms of first baseman Carlos Delgado. However, Erstad got greedy on the play and tried to make it to third base, where he was thrown out as the Mets quickly composed themselves after the error from the rookie. After falling behind 3-0 to Dave Newhan, Kunz then steadied himself by getting the ex-Met to ground into a double play and end his inning. Wish I had a picture of Kunz walking around earlier in the day with a bubblegum bubble atop his cap, walking around unaware of its presence. Nice little bit of rookie hazing I'd say.


With the news coming out today of injuries to both Wagner and John Maine, the "sooner" aspect of the prospective call up for Kunz was forced upon the team. No doubt the "off" aspect of the Mets erratic bullpen was another issue to consider as well. At any rate, here's to the ex-Oregon State star helping to patch things together in the Mets bullpen until the injuries are healed. In the parity-driven National League East, where all of the contending teams have picked up the habit of imploding at inopportune times, first place is still within reach.




SUNDAY RECAP






KUNZ CALL UP

Mariners 11 Mets 0: Yet Another Low

Okay, losing 5-2 yesterday to the worst team in the major leagues, with the majority of the winning runs coming from an unlikely grand slam home run from a pitcher not accustomed to batting in the first place, may have been just another step back after the encouraging signs from the Colorado series. However, the totally ineffectual showing against a career spot starter who entered the season with a grand total of 16 wins in four plus seasons with the Texas Rangers certainly proved without a doubt that the Mets do not possess the ability to produce an offense capable of challenging anybody on any given day. The weak showing against the Mariners relievers after Felix Hernandez went down with an ankle sprain yesterday has had most Mets fans in a testy mood, but there certainly seemed to be little fire up the Mets tonight in another vain attempt to come back from an early deficit, save the fourth inning ejections of manager Jerry Manuel and outfielder Carlos Beltran for arguing a strike call.



Other factors that might be remembered from this game is that David Wright sat out for the first time this year and that the Mariners had a balanced offensive attack as Mets starer Oliver Perez had another 'off' night by giving up two more home runs.



Considering that the Mets are still only four games out of first place at this point of the season with a sub .500 record just goes to show the relative parity of baseball these days; the general consensus of Mets fans is that if the team can't get it together against the celler-dwelling Mariners, how will they manage against teams that hit the ball better, such as the Philadelphia Phillies?




ESPN RECAP; THE GORY DETAILS

Mariners 5 Mets 2: Further Indignities Suffered

Once again, in excruciating manner, the Mets come undone by a couple of things that should never have happened en route to another devastating loss, this time at the hand of the visiting Seattle Mariners (yes, the team with the worst record in baseball and one of the worst pitching staffs in the game as well).


It wasn't a bad game that designated ace Johan Santana pitched, but seeing as how he's given up nearly a home run per game, the fact that the one from this game came from Seattle starting pitcher Felix Hernandez and was a grand slam to boot, took the wind out of the sails of the crowd who came to see if the modest strides made by the team out west were more than just baby steps.


Okay, a team can overcome one mistake (truthfully, there was also an error from David Wright prolonged the second inning, the one where Hernandez came to bat with two outs), but the Mets swung the bat so ineffectually against the depleted Mariners staff that the crowd certainly seemed to have lost the will to cheer the team on to an unlikely come-from-behind victory; show us something, it seemed they said, and then we'll get behind you.



The Mets managed just four hits for the game, two each from Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and made the Mariners staff look damn near invincible, save for a brief respite when Sean Green continually fell behind hitters in the ninth, until Arthur Rhodes came in to slam the door shut on the hope of the Mets.


Hernandez pitched masterfully in his stint, but was unfortunately taken off before he could get credit for a win by covering home plate on a wild pitch. Beltran made a clean slide into home, Hernandez just had his foot in the wrong place and Beltran slid into it; fortunately, Hernandez did not have his foot totally planted, so his leg gave way enough to have "just" sustained what appeared to be a severe sprain.


The fact that the home run by Hernandez was the first ever by a Mariners pitcher, and the first grand slam by an American League pitcher since 1971, pointed out the new manner in which this year's Mets would find another way to lose another ball game. Not to dis Hernandez, for he has certainly had an All-Star caliber year, but even after his injury in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets should certainly have done better than they did against a nondescript Mariners relief pitching staff.


Doesn't matter much if the Mets win the last two series, for they have certainly showed the mettle of a team that can't stand its own prosperity.



METS RECAP

Mets Fire Randolph: It's All Fun And Games Till A Window Gets Broken....

.........or your team seriously under performs for the last year, but this isn't a children's book nor are we talking about monopoly money in a fantasy baseball league, this Mets team has certainly been a cause for consternation during that time span.


Omar Minaya let the word slip out just after midnight PST (3:14 a.m in the east) that Willie Randolph would be let go as Mets manager, just a couple of hours after a hard fought 9-6 win over the Anaheim Angels, though the general manager manager would not make himself available for comment for several hours afterward. The very strange timing of the announcement, announced just after the first day on a six-game western road swing for the Mets, certainly has made the Mets front office look incredibly inept, none of my friends have made positive comments about the way Randolph was let go, nor about the way the rumours kept swirling for the last couple of weeks that any game could be Willie's last.


The game itself was a good one, Jose Reyes conjured up a couple of runs by his base running, Carlos Beltran hit a couple of home runs, and a relatively balanced hitting attack (every starter save Carlos Delgado and Trot Nixon) got a hit along with either a run or an RBI. Starting pitcher Mike Pelphrey did a decent job in securing the win, though he faltered in the seventh inning and was charged with all six runs that the Angels scored.


It has to be said that the job Aaron Heilman did in the seventh was great; as team the Mets pitchers only struck out two batters, but those came at a very critical time in the bottom of the seventh and Heilman recorded both of them. The Angels had closed the Mets lead to 8-6 and had runners on the corners with just one out, but Heilman got both Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter swinging at the third strike to quell that rally, leaving Duaner Sanchez to get the Angles 1-2-3 in the eight. Billy Wagner raised blood pressure around the country by getting two runners on base with one out, but got bailed out when Garrett Anderson lined out to Reyes for an unassisted double play to end the game.


Not many Mets fans are arguing that Willie shouldn't have been fired, nor do they seem to expect a bit turnaround now that bench coach Jerry Manuel has been named interim manager, but the actions of the last 24 hours have left a feeling that Minaya certainly knows his days are numbered if the team doesn't turn it around and soon.



METS GAME RECAP

Diamondbacks 9 Mets 5: Shhh, Trainwreck In Progress

Watching the game tonight, I was beginning to feel a bit charitable along with Gary Cohen when he described the pitching of the Mets relief staff during the Padres series as being good, thinking that if a team holds the opponent to just one run, then a team with the offensive firepower of the Mets should be able to have won at least two of the three 2-1 games.



Silly me for thinking that, as tonight showed that even after grabbing a 5-1 lead after two innings, that thought was just a mirage as the bullpen imploded en route to a devastating loss tonight. It's a peculiar feeling of hopelessness, seeing as how now Mets fans have absolutely no faith of the team holding the lead once they have one, nor of them being able to rally from late inning deficits to win games, I think that total for this year at this point is just two wins, but I'm just too cranky to look it up at this point.


Okay, so the bullpen is iffy at best, and not always to blame for the losses, but tonight's debacle must be placed on the shoulders of Claudio Vargas, Joe Smith, and Duaner Sanchez for their ineffectual pitching tonight. The loud booing by the remaining fans at the end of the brief sting by Sanchez in the top of the ninth, giving up three runs on two home runs to expand on their 6-5 lead, certainly was an unmistakable sign about the discontent with the product on the field; sometimes how you lose a game magnifies that type of aggravation.


On the positive side tonight, it was great to see Moises Alou strike the first pitch he saw back in action after his period of inactivity into left field with a two run, two out single to give the Mets a 3-1 lead after the first inning. Such a shame that those good feelings were long gone by the end of the game, lengthened by a one hour rain delay in the middle of the game.




ESPN RECAP

Padres Sweep Mets, Leave Them Sinking In The Bay

The positive feelings created by the Mets winning their previous three series were crushed in an excruciating four game series with the Padres in San Diego. After losing three consecutive games by a 2-1 score (blowing a lead in the last two), their offense finally showed up today in a manner that should have been effective, barring the unexpected collapse of closer Billy Wagner, who gave up a two-out three-run pinch hit home run to ex-Met Tony Clark to cap an 8-6 loss.


If it's not one leak, it's the other, as one part of the team invariably fails to mesh with the rest to provide the reasons for the latest Mets loss. Failing to get clutch hits in the first three games against the last place Padres were a prime factor for those defeats, but now that Carlos Delgado has found his hitting stroke again, there's been no one behind him to capitalize on those opportunities.


The other bad news is that outfielder Ryan Church, one of the most consistent offensive producers for the Mets this year, did not play in the final three games of the series once he exhibited returned signs of the concussion he received in Atlanta last month, with a trip to the disabled list a distinct possibility at this point.


I know there's still 100 games to play, but this team has not given the fans any kind of confidence to believe that they can produce a comeback this season that equals the collapse of last season. It's definitely 'hold your breath' time when the Mets have a slim lead after six or so innings, and the chances of a late inning comeback are remarkably small for such a talented team. Grrr.



SUNDAY'S GAME RECAP

Mets vs. Braves: This Is A Low

The fleeting thought after yesterday's doubleheader loss to the Braves was that maybe the Mets would charge out of the gate and take early control of the game. With the National League east being so balanced at this point of the season, that honestly didn't seem like much of a stretch to my mind.


Today's game started well enough in that Jose Reyes got on base his first two times at bat, stole a couple of bases, and scored the first run of the game in the top of the third on a David Wright single. So far so good. Then the Braves rally for 3 two-out runs in the bottom for the lead and the win, for all intents and purposes. I do believe that a lot of fans have lost a lot of confidence of this team, very few of their wins have been of the come-from-behind variety.


Combined with the erratic pitching, leaky defense and freaky injuries, these elements have truly produced a season so far filled with a lot of aggravation (the boos ringing loudly in Atlanta tonight in the nightmare seventh inning were a clear indication of that). The Mets did score three late cosmetic runs after the Braves were comfortably ahead, but the 11-4 final score was a barely adequate measuring stick of the awfulness of what happened on the field (the Mets could only get one run off of three Braves errors).


The good news is that the Mets are only 3.5 games out of first at this point, but with the recent woeful run of divisional rivals (one win in the last seven games), that may prove to be a mountain too high to climb if current trends continue. The optimist in me says that Johan Santana will stop the bleeding tomorrow, but seeing as how Tim Hudson is going for Atlanta, the Mets will need to score at least two runs to even have a shot to salvaging something from this miserable series. As always, the masochist in me will be tuning in. Err, Let's Go Mets!!!






METS RECAP

Could Enrico Palozzo Have Made The Correct Call?

Oh, probably not, but thankfully the overturned call of Carlos Delgado's three-run home run in Sunday's Yankees/Mets game didn't wind up costing the visitors the game.


A very good performance from Oliver Perez led the way for the Mets bats to take over t he game, Perez scattered three hits over 7 and 2/3 innings while the Mets took a couple of innings to figure out Chien-Ming Wang, as well as battering reliver Ross Ohlendorf for their 11 runs to win the two games in the rain-shortened series.


At least home plate umpire (and crew chief) Bob Davidson had to admit that he EFFED UP overruling third base ump Mike Reilly's call of the ball that hit the fair side of the base of the left-field foul poll, right in front of a couple of Mets fans who were quick to point out where the ball hit. Derek Jeter was among the Yankees to argue that the ball was indeed foul, but the call did little to give the Yankees any momentum for the rest of the game. It was a little bit of justice a bit later to see all of the Yankee fans clamoring for a ball hit down the same line by a Yankee batter later in the game to be ruled fair, even though it was clearly foul; I think by this time the Yankee fans had opted for anything in which to hope that they would win this game against their cross-town rivals.


Almost immediately after the blown call, there was a loud exchange of voices audible as Davidson threw out Mets coach Jerry Manuel from the dugout for continuing to argue the call after the play had been reversed.


The call now makes two home runs taken from the Mets this year, the first came in Miami in the third game of the year as Carlos Beltran was given a ground-rule double when a ball was ruled to have hit the top of the fence rather than the metal railing behind which it actually hit.


At least we can kind of laugh about this and debate the merits of instant replay in baseball, I just hope that Delgado doesn't have too many performance incentives in his contract relating to home runs and RBI's.



MANUEL GETS TOSSED



METS RECAP

Dodgers 5 Mets 1: A Dormant Field Of Opportunity

Gonna take the view that tonight's loss to the Dodgers was just one of those games that'll happen over the year, a game in which multiple scoring opportunities are squandered over the game.


The Mets left 14 runners on base, amazingly on just five hits, but I never really got the feeling that the batter at the plate would come through, Dodger starter Chad Billingsley got a few strike outs at the beginning of the game, and finished his six inning stint with a lot of ground ball outs to kill any potential rally dead in its tracks.


Oliver Perez looked like he hadn't recovered from his disastrous last start against the Pirates, and quickly found himself down 2-0 in the first inning as Rafael Furcal led the game off with a home run, followed up by an RBI single from Russ Martin.


Perez settled down for a lengthy stretch, retiring eight batters in a row, and 11 of 12, until the Dodgers struck for two home runs in the fifth on home runs from rookie third baseman Blake DeWitt (his first career homer), and a two-run shot from Matt Kemp to effectively put the game away from the punchless Mets, who seemed to have been just a bit too aggressive at the plate in general.


Other things that happened: Perez took a hard line drive shot to the gut in the bottom of the first from Jeff Kent, but quickly recovered enough to throw him out.... as a batter, Billingsley struck out ineffectually, causing Vin Scully to state that "he was hoisted on his own petard"....Carlos Delgado made a nice toss of the ball from his glove to Perez covering first to nip Juan Pierre in a close play....the Dodger crowd roared for a curtain call from DeWitt, who responded, but it was a bit funny to see his team mates give him the "cold shoulder" when he returned to the dugout. Okay, it only lasted for a couple of seconds, but it was a good feeling to see the thrill for the young man. It's just too bad that it had to happen tonight. We'll see what happens tomorrow, another offensive performance like this one is defintely a cause for concern, but as has been shown elsewhere in both leagues, there is a high degree of uniform mediocrity at this stage of the season.

Mets 5 D-Backs 2: Mets Take The Series

The Mets take two out of three in a benchmark series on the road against the team with the best record in the National League, winning on Friday and today, while losing on Saturday. Both of the wins were on TV here (albeit with the Fox Arizona announcers sadly), while the Saturday loss, by a 10-4 score, was on a Faux regional broadcast. Call me crazy and delusional, but I honestly figured that they would actually show the game here, being that Arizona is in the Western division; however, we were stuck with the Cubs and the Cardinals as our "game of the week", to which I said "no thank you!" instead.



I can't really comment on that game in terms of having watched the proceedings, and about the only good thing I can discern from the stats is that the Mets were able to hit Brandon Webb (five hits in six innings, with four runs on the board), the bullpen imploded in the eighth inning, allowing five runs which put the game out of reach, and that the seventh place hitter in the lineup, second baseman Augie Ojeda , knocked in six runs for the game. Also, we do know that the D-Backs lineup is potent from first to ninth, and that Friday's starting pitcher, Micah Owings, is now hitting .429 on 21 at-bats, made an appearance today as a pinch hitter and hit a single.


In Friday's game, John Maine pitched well, but the Mets continued their offensive domination of the Diamondback at Chase Park. Jose Reyes led off the game in blazing style with a lead off triple andRyan Church and David Wright hit home runs to keep the Mets in control for the entirety of the game. Reyes wound up the game with a single, a double and two triples, the last triple coming in the eighth inning when he blasted a ball to deep center field; once he saw that the ball went over the head of Chris Young (as well as heeding the advice of third base coach Sandy Alomar), Reyes kept his motor revved around the bases in an attempt to hit for the cycle. However, the Diamondbacks recovered in the outfield enough to relay the ball home to catcher Miguel Montero, who was waiting for Reyes and tagged him out. At first, I thought Reyes was going to make the play, and I assume that Alomar did as well, but seeing as how the game was going at that point, there was no harm in trying to see what could happen, as long as he wasn't going to do a Pete Rose on Ray Fosse move. The cameras showed Reyes in the dugout afterward clearly trying to catch his breath for a few minutes.


Today's game featured a pretty good pitching duel between former American Leaguers Johan Santana for the Mets and Dan Haren for Arizona. Both had their moments of brilliance, although Santana walked four batters but somehow escaped damage in five of his six innings.


One of the plays that'll be talked about for awhile was the play Mets rightfielder Ryan Church made in the bottom of the eighth with the score tied at two. Lead off hitter Chris Burke laid down a surprise bunt in an attempt to get on base, but Mets pitcher Pedro Feliciano threw the ball into right field. The Arizona third base coach judged that it was okay for Burke to try for third, but Church made a terrific one-hop throw to Wright that just beat Burke to the base.


The Mets added the final three runs in the top of the ninth when a key throwing error by Arizona first baseman Conor Jackson opened the door to victory. Carlos Beltran and Moises Alou led the inning off with singles, and when Carlos Delgado grounded out to first base, Jackson went for the runner going to second instead of the batter; his throw wound up in left field, Beltran scored and the Mets still had runners on first and second with no outs. A Brian Schneider sacrifice, a pinch hit by Marlon Anderson (his first of the year, I think), and a sacrifice fly from Reyes rounded out the Mets scoring, leaving closer Billy Wagner a lot of space in the bottom of the ninth to end the game and give the series to the Mets.



On to Los Angeles, where the Dodgers winning streak of eight games was ended today by the Colorado Rockies.


ESPN RECAP FROM TODAY


REYES ON HIS NEAR-CYCLE

New York Mets 4 Phillies 3 (12 Innings): He Was Clearly Safe. Err, Maybe.

Much better played game than the poor showing that what happened on Wednesday, the Mets edged the Phillies 4-3 in the 12th inning as Angel Pagan drove in Jose Reyes from second on a ground single to shallow center field.


There was controversy on that play, as Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth quickly got the ball to home plate, where catcher Chris Coste was waiting, the plate blocked with his left leg. Reyes slid past Coste's leg and reached out to touch the plate with his hand, either a split second before or after the catcher had applied the tag, depending on which team you were rooting for. Since umpire Ted Barrett was right there, I'll go with his call on this one.


Only the Mets Aaron Heilman had what could be called a rough outing, giving up two runs in the eighth inning which allowed the Phillies to tie the score at 3, but the rest of the staffs did reasonably well indeed, though Mets starter John Maine did give up five walks in his six innings.


The new outfield additions to the Mets were largely responsible for the offensive output tonight, in addition to the game winning RBI by Pagan, right fielder Ryan Church opened the score book with a two run single in the fourth. Carlos Beltran got the other RBI in the sixth by driving in Pagan.


The Phillies got two solo home runs, one from Pedro Feliz and one from Ryan Howard, as well as the tying run in the eighth that came via a walk, a single, and a fielder's choice.



The Milwaukee Brewers are next for the Mets starting tomorrow, so Let's Go Mets!



ESPN RECAP

New York Mets 8 Phillies 2: Wrap The Gift Up, We'll Take It

Good God, even as a Mets fan that third inning, an inning in which the Mets scored six runs, was a bit painful to watch. Not that the amazing ineptness in which the Phillies exhibited early on could ease any of the pain from last season's choke-job, but it helped a bit tonight.


Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick walked six Mets in the first two inning, allowed no hits, yet found himself trailing 1-0 thanks to the first of four Phillie errors. The Phillies scratched out the tying run in the top of the second on a series of singles, but Mets starter Mike Pelfrey got out of a jam by inducing a couple of ground balls to end the inning.


The Mets got their six runs in the bottom of the third on four hits, three errors, and a wild pitch (their was another walk, but no runs scored because of that one). Two of the Phillies errors were on substitute shortstop Eric Bruntlett, filling in as Jimmy Rollins was injured. Bruntlett booted two balls that could easily have been double plays, and those errors led to the last four Mets runs of the inning, the first Phillie error of the inning was on catcher Carlos Ruiz, who made a throwing error to third base to load them up when the score was just 2-1 Mets with one out.



The Mets got that second run by opening the inning with three consecutive hits, but then the wheels really fell off, and with Rollins out and Ryan Howard still struggling at the plate, the game was over for all intents and purposes.







ESPN RECAP

Atlanta 3 New York Mets 1: A Game Of Inches

Thanks to the contractual obligations that MLB and Faux have placed on all Saturday baseball games that take place in the same time frame that their regional telecasts air, we were not lucky enough to have been witness to a game in which the Mets lost 11-5, a game that we'll charitably write off as just one of those bad days at the office. And yes, with the current InDemand schedule as it is set right now, there will be no Saturday Mets games for THE REST OF APRIL, barring an act of God.


Today's game, the finale of the short series, Friday's scheduled opener having been rained out and being slated to be played on May 20th, really was a game of inches. However, that's not to undermine the excellent pitching performances that occurred; Johan Santana made his second start and did very well, allowing just one run on seven hits through seven innings. Braves starter John Smoltz did even better, giving up two hits in five innings, while the bullpen gave up just three more in its duty.



The inches came into play in the latter stages of the game, first with Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira's home run over the right field fence that barely cleared it, reminiscent of Carlos Beltran's shot against Florida last week that was taken away by the umpiring crew.



The game was put away in the bottom of the ninth, with Mets runners on first and second and two men out. Catcher Brian Schneider sharply lines a drive over first base and seemingly down the line for a game-tying double. Of course, in situations like this, the first baseman is playing on the line to prevent such a thing from happening, and in this case, Teixeira quickly made an instinctive play on the ball, one that certainly looked like it might succeed in getting past despite his defensive positioning. It was not to be, Teixeira made the play, tossed the ball to pitcher Rafael Soriano covering the base, and that was that.


A disappointing series in a number of respects, what with the shaky pitching from starter John Maine and the bullpen on Saturday, along with the fact that Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo went 1 for 18 in these two games, drawing no walks in the process either. But, the Mets have also allowed just 10 runs in their other four games, so it's not likely that what happened on Saturday will become a weekly occurrence. Still a lot of ball yet to be played though, so it's time to ponder about what happened in Atlanta, but not dwell obsessively over it.



METS RECAP