Charity Begins at Home in Milwaukee With Latest Met Loss

Don't let the Mets offensive explosion of 6 runs fool you in yesterday's 10-6 loss to the Brewers. Sure, they scored, but only because of a very charitable Milwaukee team, which on occasion looked very... well... Met-like in the field.

The Mets scored twice in the sixth when the Brewers' Casey McGehee dropped a very catchable pop fly a la Luis Castillo. It's bad when his teammates kidded him by saying he "Castillo-ed it". Finally! Immortality for Luis!

So that was 2 gift runs to make the score at the time 3-2. But the Mets relief staff would have nothing to do with a close game, so Brian Stokes flamed the fire by allowing a quick 4 runs, followed by equally bad outings from Patrick Misch and Bobby Parnell. (What's with Parnell these days anyway? He looked unhittable a month ago, now he can't get anyone out - Perhaps another possible diagnosis of Heilmanitus?)

So, Stoked to a 10-3 lead, the Brew Crew again felt charitable in the ninth inning, throwing nothing but fastballs down the middle so no Met could reach base on a walk. After the Mets scored 3 times in the inning and put runners on first and second with one out, the Brewers decided to get serious again and brought in their closer. It took Trevor Hoffman exactly one pitch to get out of the inning and send the Mets and previously unbeaten Fernando Nieves (3-1) to their fifth straight loss, with Braden Looper getting the win. Looper couldn't do anything when he was closing games for New York, but his record against the Mets since leaving the team is 4-1. That hurts!

6 runs - 13 hits - all charity. And finally, after McGehee dropped that ball, you know what he did? He hit a grand slam in the very same game. Now that's redemption you usually don't see in a Met uniform these days, right Mr. Castillo?

After Sweep By Yanks, Mets Aren't Half Bad

They're also "half good". After 74 games, the Mets have won exactly as many games as they've lost. They're now half good AND half bad. Over the weekend, we saw the bad. Wanna know if the Mets win their next game? Flip a coin - it's 50/50. Even with all that money, we've got a .500 team here folks.

We all saw how the team was beat up by the Yankees over the weekend - enough said. They fulfilled the MetsFanClub.com request yesterday of just staying in the game and making it exciting to the end, which they did in their 4-2 loss. We can all live with the loss - no one expected the Mets to win yesterday's game anyway, right?

(By the way, I can't believe Jerry Manuel fell for the old "fake hitter in the on-deck circle" trick with Mariano Rivera in the top-half of the ninth inning. The fact that Joe Girardi even thought it would work should tell you what the entire MLB thinks of Jerry Manuel's baseball acumen)

Now, let's focus on the positives. Despite all the injuries... despite all the drop balls... the bad defense... the untimely hitting... the inability to come back from even a 1 run deficit... the lack of home runs... the inconsistent bullpen... the bad managerial moves... the bases-loaded no outs no runs... despite all this: the Mets are sitting in second place in the NL East, a division where it looks like a four team race to the end. I don't think any of these teams will run away with this division, so we'll be looking at meaningful games in September this year and a very unpredictable July and August as well.

If you told me before the season that the Mets would be as ravished by injuries to so many key players, yet be where they are in the standings at this point, every Met fan would take that. So that's good.

With Santana, the team has perhaps the best starting pitcher in baseball and one of the most dominant closers (when he isn't walking 500-save pitchers in the ninth innings for insurance runs) in KRod. With a rejuvenated Livan Hernandez and the emergence of Fernando Nieves, you can make a great case this team is built for the postseason (they just have to get there).

Believe it or not, the Mets have the highest offensive production from the catching position in all of baseball. Plus with Schneider and Santos, you also get some pretty good defense there too. And although it's hard to admit, minus the dropped pop-up, Luis Castillo has been playing a real nice second base both in the field and at the plate. Plus you have Alex Cora doing a good job filling in for Jose Reyes. The team's gotten way more out of Gary Sheffield than even Sheffield probably expected and even though you can make a case that David Wright's slumped in clutch situations this year, he is leading the league in batting average - can't ask for more than that.

If Daniel Murphy continues to improve... if David Wright starts hitting a few more homers... if Nick Evans can give the team some relief in the outfield... if Ryan Church gets his head on straight and plays with more consistency... if anyone can give the team anything in centerfield... if the bullpen can eat up productive innings... if Fernando Tatis stops grounding out into double plays, and if ANYONE can come back healthy from the disabled list, you're going to see the Mets contend.

That's a lot of "ifs", but remember: the Mets are half good. Let's take that attitude forward into Milwaukee and hope for better results on the road than what happened at Citi Field over the weekend.

St. Lucie's 1-Hit Attack Not Enough to Stop Yanks

The Mets' goal was a lofty one in yesterday's game - don't get no-hit. And much to the dismay of the New York Yankees, the Mets succeeded in acheiving that goal thanks to Alex Cora's lone single in the sixth inning of a 5-0 Met loss.

Yes, yesterday's game was a moral victory for the St. Lucie (ahem... I mean New York) Mets. The nerve of those Yankees, actually expecting the Mets to lay down with basically a minor league lineup and going out without even one hit. The Mets sure showed them!

Said losing pitcher Tim Redmond, "I knew I had a hit to work with, but as soon as they Yankees scored that first run, everyone knew the game was over anyway. I felt sorry for Jorge Posada for not having a homerun in his last 15 games, so I grooved one in there for him."

And the Met fans in attendance were really confused about the participants in the game to begin with. Seems they all thought Lou Pinella was in the park, voicing their displeasure with constant angry chants of "Lou!!!!... Lou!!!!... Lou!!!" Wake up Met fans, Pinella wasn't even at the game!

But in all seriousness, this is an actual quote from Met manager Jerry Manuel after the game:

"We'll need a break here or there or error, something like that to, you know, amass any type of threat"

Nice to hear that coming from your manager, right? Talk about a confidence booster for your players, huh? Is Manuel for real? Translation: "We don't have the talent to win". Is this some kind of strange motivational technique gone awry? Whether it's true or not, you don't want to hear that from your manager. When Napoleon invaded other countries, he would instruct his men to burn all the ships so retreat wasn't possible - it was win or perish. Can the Mets possibly contend for postseason play with this guy leading the team with that kind of public attitude, even after everyone comes back from the disabled list?

And for that matter, will these hurt players even be back before the year's out? I have my doubts on Maine, Reyes, Putz, and Delgado. When the Mets expert medical staff give out wishy-washy answers as to the progress of each, it makes me think they're even more clueless than I think they are to begin with!

And finally, how 'bout that Mark Derosa, getting traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for next to nothing? Derosa sure would look good in a Met uniform right now. Where was Omar? - Probably the same place he was when the Braves stole the clutch-hitting Nate McClouth from the Pirates: asleep at the wheel. Perhaps these players don't fit the demographics of the team?

By the way, the Yankees' last one-hitter was also against the Mets in 2006 - Nice to be their personal punching bag. In the last 3 Subway Series games, the Mets have scored 1 run in 27 innings (a Gary Sheffield homerun). Disabled list or not, that's pretty pathetic. We've given up hope of actually seeing a win in tonight's nationally televised game on ESPN. Tonight's lofty goal?: Just keep the game close so we Met fans don't have to turn the TV off after the fourth inning.

The Defense Rests!

With a convincing 9-1 victory, the Yankees drew first blood at Citi Field last night, overwhelming a Mets team that looked starstruck and nervous right from the start. With the Mets defense taking the night off, the Yankees were able to score 4 runs against Mike Pelfrey in the second inning, an inning in which the Mets committed 3 costly errors.

When you give a team like the Skanks 6 outs in an inning, it's going to be hard to beat them. Once the Mets were down by 4, very similar to the last game at Yankee Stadium when they lost 15-0, you knew the game was over right then and there. Any Met fan watching beyond that point deserves any further pain they suffered watching the rest of the game.

In fact, I'm surprised they even scored at all in this game - apparently Gary Sheffield hit a homerun for the Mets lone run (I wasn't watching anymore at the time). And apparently the Yankees jumped on Elmer Dessens and Sean Green in the later innings (I didn't see that either). And apparently AFraud had a "historic" evening by moving past "Mr. October" Reggie Jackson to 11th place on the all-time home run list with his 564th steroid tainted blast (looks like even Yankee fans know this guy's a joke - I so wish we could here Reggie's REAL thoughts on PayRod's "accomplishment").

Let's just leave it at this: the Mets disappointed their fan base once again with a defenseless effort against their major Subway Series rivals. Hopefully today's game goes a bit better. As a Met fan, can I hope for at least a close game to make me want to watch it to the end?

Cora Plunked As Predicted - Mets Avoid Pujols for Victory

As predicted, Alex Cora was drilled in his first plate appearance in today's game, ostensibly in retaliation for Jerry Manuel's bush league move in yesterday's humiliation of the Cardinals when he used pitcher Livan Hernandez to pinch hit in the bottom of the eighth inning with an 11-0 run lead. But other than that, all things ran smoothly for the non-disabled-list Mets who employed just about the best strategy you can use when you're playing the Cardinals: pitch around Albert Pujols.

With a matchup of Cy Young winners - Johan Santana versus Chris Carpenter - you knew it would be a low scoring game when every run mattered. The 3-2 Mets victory was just what the doctor ordered and the injury plagued Mets somehow managed to win 3 out of 4 from a tough St. Louis team, a team I think we'll see in the postseason. ("We" as in baseball fans, not so much "we" as in Mets vs. Cardinals, although that too is still a possibility).

Once again, recently called up Nick Evans was the hitting star with a huge two-run double in a three-run fourth inning. It brought the crowd of 41,221 (the largest in Citi Field's glorious history) to their feet, many who were there as a result of 50% discounts on their tickets.

Santana won his ninth game while giving up just one earned run and seven hits. He lowered his ERA to 3.08 and needed help from KRod to close the game out. After striking out the first two batters he faced in the ninth, KRod wanted nothing to do with Pujols, and unintentionally intentionally walked him. Then, after another walk to the next batter, all that was left was to make mincemeat of Yadier Molina to end the game. (althought Yadier hit the ball well and looked like it might do more damage than a simple flyout to leftfield).

What's the old adage? "Never let their best player beat you". When you pitch around Albert Pujols, you have a chance to win. The Yankees are up next at Citi Field. They may surprised to find out that broken-bat check-swings from righty batters don't result in right-field upper deck homeruns, like they do in that joke of a park called Yankee Stadium.

Manuel Just Can't Leave Well Enough Alone

Leave to Met manager Jerry Manuel to give Met fans something to complain about after tonight's 11-0 victory.

First things first however. The Mets were just awesome tonight. It was the first time this season I can remember them totally imposing their will on their opponent, in this case a VERY good Cardinal team that had shut them out the night before. While David Wright was going 4 for 4, along with Ryan Church's 3-4, 2-rbi night and Fernando Tatis' 3 rbis, Nick Evans was hitting his first homerun of the year for another 2 rbis and Brian Schneider continued to pitch in with another 2-rbi game of his own.

Meanwhile, pitching sensation (can I say that yet?) Fernando Nieves was making Cardinal hitters look inept and confused at the plate. Nieves went 6 innings, struck out 5 and won for the third time without a loss. What a find this guy is! Good job, Omar!

Now, let's get to Jerry Manuel. First of all, it always hurts to continue to overwork a tired bullpen. It would have been nice to see Nieves go longer in the game (and I don't want to hear about pitchcount... after all, we've babied John Maine, Oliver Perez, Billy Wagner, etc. and they're all on the disabled list anyway - along with countless other pitchers from all of baseball. If there's anything more clearer in baseball, it should be that the pitchcount is a totally irrelevant number.)

But here's what really gets me: with the Mets up 11-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jerry used pitcher Livan Hernandez to pinch hit! You pinch-hit a pitcher for a pitcher with an 11-run lead?!?!? Can you imagine? Talk about rubbing it into your opponent! What? 11 runs isn't enough?

Trust me, I know Tony LaRussa and that move I'm sure did not go over well. It would not surprise me in the least if the first batter up for the Mets in tomorrow's game gets drilled with a pitch - and if that happens, I don't want to see any shocked faces from the Mets dugout. When you're up 11 runs (in the eighth inning no less - even the Mets bullpen can't blow that lead), you don't show up the other team with a lowlife classless act like the one Manuel pulled in tonight's game. I know Manuel thinks he's a "gansta" and all, but in the real world, 56-year-olds should know better.

In fact, I could see the embarrassment in Livan's eyes at the plate. Bush move, Jerry. And by the way, if a Met hitter does get plunked (and it'll probably be Alex Cora since he's sure to bat leadoff tomorrow), let's hope he doesn't get hurt or breaks something as a result. With the way the Mets are staffing the disabled list these days, that's certainly a possibility (Sheffield's hurt too now).

And if it does indeed happen, this one's on the Mets' gangsta who may not understand there are sometimes unforeseen consequences for showing up the other team.

Just About Every Player's Hitting Streak Stopped in Loss to Cards

When you think about the great pitchers in the game today, you gotta think of names like Santana... Beckett... Peavy... Sabathia... Pineiro...

Pineiro??? He sure looked it last night, baffling Mets hitters for a full nine innings of 2 hit ball and leading St. Louis to a 3-0 defeat of the Mets. Yes, that was 6 win, 8 loss, 70 mile per hour fastball Joel Pineiro doing a number on the Mets with a sinkerball that Mike Pelfrey could hopefully learn something from. And once again, a rain delay could not save the team from utter failure.

The following Met batters had whatever hitting streak they had going into the game stopped cold: Alex Cora (0-4), Daniel Murphy (0-4), David Wright (0-2), Fernando Tatis (0-3), Ryan Church (0-3), Omir Santos (0-3), and Fernando Martinez (0-3).

Just in case you didn't notice, that's pretty much the entire lineup for the Mets in yesterday's borefest. Of players starting the game, only Luis Castillo managed a hit. (of course he was thrown out trying to steal second). Clearly Livan Hernandez did not receive the offensive effort he deserved, as he once again pitched well enough for a win, but saw his record drop to 5-2 instead.

From a pitching perspective, it looks like Livan has become the number 2 starter on this team behind Johan Santana. We'll leave it to you to determine if that's good or bad news. Meanwhile, the Mets dropped to 3 games behind the Phillies in the standings, with Florida and Atlanta starting to make noise behind them.

This is starting to get very interesting...

Beltran to DL, but Mets are Still Redding, Willing, and Able

Another day, another Mets All Star placed on the disabled list. This time, it's Carlos Beltran's turn to join the other 8 Met players to spend time on the disabled list with a bone bruise on his right knee. He'll miss at least 15 games (although with the track record of the Mets medical staff, it'll probably be way longer than that).

However, there is good news: Tim Redding and the rest of the healthy Mets stepped it up big time in yesterday's improbable 6-4 victory over the Cardinals at Citi. Redding pitched into the eighth inning for his first win with the Mets and substitute setup man Brian Stokes got Albert Pujols to ground into a crucial double play.

Daniel Murphy (2 hits including a homerun), Omir Santos (4 for 4), and Luis Castillo (3 for 3) were the hitting stars in the game while KRod pitched another 1-2-3 ninth for the big save. The team totaled 14 hits with the makeshift lineup in the win - pretty impressive.

Surprisingly, the Mets are a MLB best 17-7 in first games of series this year and are 4-1 when Daniel Murphy hits a homerun. And in the "it can't get more surreal" department, Jose Reyes and trainer Ray Ramirez were rear-ended by a fire truck on the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge en route to the hospital for a checkup.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. But haven't we learned from the Duaner Sanchez incident? Please Met players - stay out of cars!

Homeland Security Outraged Over New Water Torture at Citi Field

Seems the secret is out. Since Guantanamo Bay was closed, reports "leaked" today that the government has been showing live feeds of Met games as cruel and unusual punishment. A high ranking official indicated that today's "waterboarding" will no longer be tolerated in the future:

"The umpires, if they had any mercy at all, could have stopped this abuse of the home team countless times due to rain, but they didn't. It was obvious the Mets were in way over their head, which coincidentally is exactly how waterboarding works in the first place."

And the official was right. In fact, home plate umpire Jerry Crawford even had to be removed from the game for not complying with the edict. (Sure, they SAY it was back pains, but it's obviously another government coverup conspiracy aimed at abusing home baseball fans for shelling out countless dollars to watch uninspired garbage for almost 4 hours plus a rain delay.)

Personally, I'd take waterboarding over what I saw today. The Mets bullpen, once considered a strong point, is an abject joke. Bobby Parnell (again) and Sean Green (again once again) gave up a combined 6 runs without even recording an out between the two. And it would have been way more than that if Ken Takahasi and Pedro Feliciano didn't somehow pull rabbits out of a hat for outs.

Pelf didn't have it. Manuel's clueless as a manager. Church is somehow hitting .276 without any consistency whatsover (are they counting his outs into his batting average?). David Wright continues his torrid hitting without driving in runs and the whole team has made "bases loaded, no out" into a no-run situation. Brian Schneider hit a 3-run shot, his second in the series, to give the Mets a short lived lead in this game, but you knew the bullpen would give it right back - which they did.

This really was torture. The first three Tampa batters went a combined 11 for 16 - WOW!!! That's hitting. And the Mets are now 2-8 this season in rubber games as well as losing every series this month, save the last place Nationals. Add the water and you have an unbearable situation which did not make for a nice Fathers Day gift.

Citi Field... Guantanamo...? Citi Field... Guantanamo...? Tough choice...

Santana's Back - Mets Hitters Are Not

Now this is more like it. Santana pitching well and the team not scoring runs - just like it was at the start of the season! After being humiliated in his last two starts, Johan was tough in this game, just not tough enough to do it all himself against the defending AL Champions.

Instead, Carlos Pena hit a tiebreaking homer off him in the seventh inning, sending the Mets to a 3-1 defeat at rainy Citi Field. The problem was, it wasn't rainy enough to call the game. Tampa Bay snapped a three-game losing streak and handed Johan Santana his third loss in his last four starts. The Mets bats exploded for a big 4 hits in the entire game and on top of that, Carlos Beltran now plans to have an MRI on his aching right knee. Just what the team needs, another injury.

As Met fans, let's just hope Beltran goes to a real doctor for the MRI, not the Mets crack medical staff that always seems to get everything wrong all the time.

With the Ray's James Shields, Dan Wheeler, and J.P. Howell on the mound, you knew runs would be at a premium in this game. That's why it was so nice to watch Sean Green's scoreless streak stop at a career-best 15 2/3 innings as he gave up a big insurance run in the ninth. Way to go Sean... what's in store for tomorrow?

And who tought Dan Wheeler how to pitch? No lead was safe when he pitched for the Mets - now he's an elite middle man. Met's coaching staff perhaps?

The rubber game in the series is tomorrow. Please, please, PLEASE let it rain harder than it did tonight! Obi Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope...

Fernando to the Rescue!

Which one, you say? Well, Fernando Martinez was sent back to the minors batting over .300 and Fernando Tatis is sitting in the doghouse writing his memoir "Me and the Double Play". So that leaves Fernando Nieves as the hero of yesterday's game, going strong six innings to lead the team to a 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay.

Nieves second impressive outing is making Met fans breathe a sigh of relief regarding the Mets starting rotation. But he didn't do it yesterday without help. Brian Schneider of all people hit his first dinger of the year, a 3 run shot in the second that the Rays never really overcame.

David Wright contributed with an RBI Citi Field double (that ball he hit to rightfield lands in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, trust us) and Daniel Murphy also had a big game with three hits. Ryan Church sealed the deal with an insurance run rbi in the bottom half of the eighth.

But you can't say enough about Fernando N. Think about it: he's had to pitch against the top two hitting clubs in all of baseball (Yankees and Rays) and has given up just three runs combined in both starts! Bobby Parnell almost did that in just 2/3 of an inning last night - and he even got credit for a hold!!! (Really, does anyone take the "hold" stat seriously? - Saves are bad enough, but this hold thing is ridiculous!)

Pedro Feliciano and Sean Green also recorded "holds" and KRod got back on the horse from the previous game's brutal outing and saved the game with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 18th save. We challenged him in our last blog post to stop playing with fire and he did it. Met fans across the country can thank MetsFanClub.com for that one.

With Philly's loss to Baltimore (I guess they're not as bad as I thought), the Mets are now just two games behind in the standings with Johan Santana going against the Ray's James Shields. Should be a good one, especially to see if Johan can bounce back from his last two subpar starts to say the least.

When You Play With Fire, You're Eventually Going To Get Burned

And that's what happened to KRod in yesterday's ballgame. So many times this year, KRod's played escape artist... pitching behind batters in the count... walks... hits allowed... basically putting runners on base to make each game interesting. But until last night, he'd been perfect in save conversions (minus the Castillo game of course) so his knack of putting baserunners on the paths has been largely overlooked. But eventually, things had to catch up with him. After all, he's no Brad Lidge, right?

Francisco couldn't hold a 4-3 lead. He walked in the tying run and allowed the game winner to Aubrey Huff as the Orioles beat the Mets 5-4 to take the series from the Mets in Baltimore. The O's had been 0-34 when trailing after 8 innings before their improbable comeback. Nice...

What's amazing is that the Mets actually GAINED a game in the standings during their latest roadtrip, despite losing games Coach Buttermaker probably would've won. Philly's giving us the division, and the Mets are saying, "no, we don't want it."

How about that Livan Hernandez, perhaps the biggest surprise (in a good way) for the team this year. He went seven strong innings, left with the lead, and hasn't lost since April 23rd. He probably could have gone the distance, but you know the rules: gotta yank the starter after 7 regardless, right? And by the way, anybody notice the amazing amount of pitchers on the disabled list these days? The percentage of pitchers going on the disabled list is significantly higher in the past 15 years than anytime previously in the history of the game (like when there was no such thing as a pitchcount). Leading to the obvious conclusion: Maybe babying pitchers makes no difference at all?.... perhaps even a detriment???

The Mets bats started slow in this game, but after scoring twice in the sixth and seventh innings, the team looked poised to win against a horrible O's team. Alas, it was not meant to be. Shake it off KRod - you'll get 'em next time! Next up? Home games against the Rays, followed by the Cardinals and then the Yankees again.

You see what homefield advantage did for the Orioles. How many wins in the next 10 home games can Met fans expect to win? Ah, the postseason... alas, it seems like it was not meant to be...

A Tale of Two Prospects Again Puts Manuel's Strategy In Question

What does the Orioles middle relief staff have in common with the Mets middle relief staff? They both can't hold leads for their starting pitchers! This time, it was Pedro Feliciano's turn to blow a game to a bad team when he entered the game in the seventh to allow the eventual game-winning runs.

Gary Sheffield hit his 507th career home run, but the real home run story belonged to Baltimore's highly tauted Matt Wieters, who hit his first dinger off Mets starter Tim Redding, making the O's 6-4 victors over the Mets last night. The Orioles are high on this kid and seem to be willing to watch him develop, no matter how much he was previously struggling.

While the Mets lost the game, David Wright lost his 11 game hitting streak, Redding lost his control walking 4, and Met fans lost their collective stomachs again watching another puzzling move by Met manager Jerry "Manual".

In the Mets top of the six, after the Mets already scored two runs to tie the game, the Mets had the bases loaded with only 1 out. Rookie Fernando Martinez (already 1 for 3 in the game and hitting over .300 for the season) was scheduled to bat. "Here's a chance to see if the kid can break the game wide open", Met fans were undoubtedly thinking. However, he never got the chance as Manuel pulled him for pinch hitter Fernando Tatis, who never met a double play he couldn't ground into. Sure enough, that's what happened.

So Jerry, how's the righty-lefty matchups going lately? Is there anyone out there who can honestly tell me that, all things being equal, this lefty righty strategy really makes a difference? Was there really anyone out there watching the game that didn't think a disaster at-bat was awaiting with Tatis in that situation?

Jerry - the Met organization is so high on this Fernando Martinez kid. LET'S SEE WHAT HE CAN DO!!! Bad decision... bad move... bad manager... bad loss. Matt Wieters should be happy his manager believes in him.

Dropped Popup Goes Mets Way; Helps Pelfrey to Long Awaited Win

It turns out Luis Castillo isn't the only one dropping easy popups to cost their teams victories. This time, the Orioles Aubrey Huff flubbed a David Wright popup in the seventh inning to account for the margin of victory in the Mets 6-4 win last night in Baltimore.

Baltimore... those schedule makers are tough. Why they make ANYONE travel to play in Baltimore is beyond logic. When people in Detroit say things like "well, things are bad... but at least we don't live in Baltimore", you know Baltimore's a bad town. Everyone always talks about Camden Yards and how great the stadium is. They forget one small problem however: it's in Baltimore.

Anyway, Mike Pelrey finally won a game (it's been about 5 weeks since his last victory - We fully expect Pelfrey to be singing the Subway "5 dollar footlong" jingle) and raised his record to 5-2, going 5 and 2/3 innings and allowing 2 runs against a pathetic Oriole team. How this team's won 27 games already I don't know...

The Mets 6-2 ninth inning lead looked safe until Bobby Parnell started the inning and quickly turned it into a save situation for KRod, which of course, he converted. (This guy's money - Omar gets kudos for this deal). Other than Carlos Beltran and Daniel Murphy (0-fer 8 between the two), the Mets lineup displayed some pretty nice hitting.

Coming off their most lopsided loss in almost 9 years and having lost 8 of their last 12, the Orioles look to be the cure for the Mets woes. David Wright is locked in at the plate with a hit in 11 straight games and going 24-for-43 (.558) during the streak. Tim Redding is going tonight against Koji Uehara (yes, that is spelled correctly) and who cares what the matchup is on Thursday - nothing other than a catastrophe should stop the Mets sweeping this series.

Then again, it's Baltimore - that's a catastrophe in itself!

Mets and Johan Stunned as Yanks Hammer Out Revenge on MetsFanClub.com

The last sentence of our previous post this morning warned the Yankees about facing Johan Santana. I guess we weren't stern enough because the Bronx Bombers thoroughly hammered him into submission and showed MetsFanClub that blind faith in their All-Star lefthander may need to be re-thought.

Santana followed his previous bad outing with a worse one, allowing a career worst nine runs to the Yankees en route to their 15-0 dismantling of the Mets, the most lopsided win in Subway Series history. The Mets had one good chance to get at Yankees starter A.J. Burnett, loading the bases with no one out in the third. No one scored, and the loud sound everyone in New York heard was the simultaneous turning off TVs by Met fans after the third out was made.

I guess if you're looking for excitement it had to happen before the game even started when KRod shouted at Yankees reliever Brian Bruney in left field during batting practice. The two had to be separated by teammates, one day after Bruney and Rodriguez exchanged heated insults through the media.

So, let's recap the weekend. The Mets lose in the worst way possible, then get hammered and completely embarrassed with a 15 run shutout, but take a middle game that no one expected them to win. Why don't I feel bad? Perhaps it's because Boston beat up on Philadelphia? Perhaps it's because all players will tell you it's easier to come back the next game after a blowout then by losing a heartbreaker? Perhaps it's because I really think the Mets can sweep the Orioles in Baltimore up next?

Who knows?... there is no logic when it comes to being a Met fan!

Tri-Nando Leads Resilient Mets to Huge Win

The Mets set a major league record yesterday by having 3 players named "Fernando" in the same starting lineup. Seriously - they keep stats like that! Fernando Tatis scored twice and went one-for-four with a big rbi, Fernando Martinez had 3 hits to raise his average to .333, and the big story was Fernando Nieves baffling Yankee hitters for his first win in over 3 years.

In the shadow of one of the worst losses in the history of the franchise, Nieves came up huge for the Mets in perhaps the most important game of the season thus far. The Mets simply could not have lost this game - and very few Met fans had any confidence the game's outcome would favor their team - us included. But a 6-2 final went the Mets way, and as a result, perhaps the "drop game" isn't as devastating as it could have been.

Omir Santos had a huge day as well, driving in 3 runs with a homerun while raising his batting average to the .300 level. Even the much maligned Luis Castillo had two hits to go along with his flawless fielding. (He also got a nice standing ovation in his first at bat leading off the game at Yankee stadium - why he was even playing is another story which we won't get into right now since we're all in a good mood after a big win).

The Mets finished the game with a season-high 17 hits and did not commit an error in one of their tightest all-around games of the year. Sheffield went "Field" and every batter in the Mets lineup got at least one hit. You can sense the urgency in the way Jerry Manuel managed the game, sending KRod out in the ninth in a non-save situation. Of course he came through again - just like he did Friday night.

Let's hope Fernando-mania lives again in the upcoming games (they're not getting easier according to the schedule). Here's the MetsFanClub.com official apology to Nieves: "We're sorry for doubting your ability to come up big in this MUST-WIN game". And here's the MetsFanClub.com official forgiveness to Luis Castillo: "Luis, Fernando saved you. You're forgiven".

And here's the MetsFanClub.com official warning to the Yankees: "We've got Johan going today... you're lucky you're not getting swept"

Mets "Drop" Heartbreaker to Yankees

"Show me a Met fan that slept last night, and I'll show you someone who's not a Met fan." (Bill Buckner)

Okay, well... maybe Bill Buckner didn't say that. But I did - and I'm sticking to it! Certainly the Mets have lost their share of games over the years in dramatic fashion, but I can't remember EVER seeing what happened last night ever happen before in all the years I've watched baseball (and that's a lot of years).

First off, if you haven't turned on your TV, radio, computer, or just not spoken to a living human being since last night, the Mets last night battled back from 3 different deficits, somehow managed to take the lead and had a 8-7 advantage in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Choke-Rod at the plate. Sure enough, AFraud lifted a routine popup which Luis Castillo tried to catch ... and dropped. The result was a 9-8 loss by the Mets at the joke of a ballpark that is Yankee Stadium. (By the way, the term "joke of a ballpark" is not my opinion - respected baseball analysts are calling the new Yankee Stadium that, not me).

"One small drop for a man..., one giant leap for Castillo haters" (Neil Armstrong)

Okay... well maybe Neil Armstrong didn't say that. But let me just say: just as Mookie Wilson's grounder is the crowning moment of baseball history for the Mets in a good way, last night's play will NEVER be forgotten by the Mets faithful in a bad one. In fact, it has to be the single worst result in the history of the franchise - and this is a franchise that's lost a lot in the past! Somewhere, Marvelous Marv is smiling. For me, it USED to be the stunned feeling I got watching Kenny Rogers walk in the final run against the Braves years back. This easily surpasses that in shock value and henceforth has earned the Mets secondbaseman the moniker "cASStillo".

Okay... so he didn't catch the simple popup that little leaguers catch every day. It happens... actually I take that back. It NEVER happens - but okay, it did happen. Why, after picking up the ball, do you throw to second base and not go home to cut down the runner from scoring from first?

Me, watching the game... not even on the field... with a drink in my hand..., a nanosecond after seeing cASStillo drop the ball, immediate thinks "throw it home... throw it home"!!! Instead, cASStillo upgrades his boneheadedness by tossing the ball to second, presumably to cut down ARod trying to stretch his shot into a double??!?!?! Truthfully, the throw to second bothers me way more than the drop. Physical errors I can deal with - it's the mental ones that drive fans crazy.

Whether or not he had a shot to nail Teixeira at the plate, I don't know. But that point's irrelevant - Luis: you gotta go home with that throw. And I don't want to hear "Oh, it's a split second decision. He didn't have time to think". If I knew to throw home, and my girlfriend knows that, and the drunk sitting next to me in the bar knows that, then cASStillo should know that too.

Here's an interesting thought: As much as I hate to, credit needs to go to Teixeira for running out the play. I wonder if the situation were reversed, whether guys like Reyes, Beltran, and of course cASStillo would have been running it out like Tex was on a seemingly game-ending routine popup.

You play to your strengths, right? Then why can't KRod just go after Mark Teixeira instead of intentionally walking him to put the winning run on base? Sure, this is hindsight speaking, but KRod (arguably one of the top five closers in baseball) surely has the "stuff" to challenge Teixeira in that situation. Seems no one is asking Jerry Manuel that question, but in my opinion, pitching around Teixeira there was a bad move. It would have been a good move if Sean Green were pitching to him, or the hundreds of other mediocre middle relievers in baseball today, but KRod? - I like my chances.

By the way, where was Ryan Church in rightfield? Did he give up on backing up the play? I've watched that final play reply over and over and can't seem to see him in the picture. And I'm sure he had time to get there considering the ball stayed up in the air long enough for Teixeira to run from first to home.

And speaking of Ryan Church, why is it that when he missed touching third base to cost the team an important game, manager Jerry "Manual" calls him out publicly for playing uninspired ball and going through the motions. When Luis cASStillo drops a routine popup while trying to catch it with one hand, "Manual" goes on record saying we need to "rally around" cASStillo and not get down on him. I also hate when Jerry Manuel uses the word "battled" - it makes me long for the Art Howe days.

But what was really pathetic was listening to the Yankee announcers trying to spin PayRod's at-bat into a successful one. "... And ARod wins the game for the Yankees!" Are they for real?

Castillo's error negated so many positives that could have come from this ballgame, including 3 Met comebacks, a Gary Sheffield homer, 3 Church rbis, and getting to Mariano. Instead, KRod lost his first game as a Met and blew his first save as well.

"The fish rots from the head" (Omar Minaya)

Okay, well maybe Omar Minaya didn't say that. But one thing's clear: changes have to be made within this organization. Omar always talks about his commitment to winning, but what the team really needs is a commitment to playing WINNING baseball - there's a BIG difference between the two. We're seeing the manifestation of the Mets failure to instill proper fundamentals in just about every level of their organization, from the minor leagues to the players who seem to lack high baseball IQs, to the coaching staff and up to the manager and owners. This lack of focus will continue to manifest itself in results such as yesterday's atrocity and won't end until the Mets as an organization develop a mandate to stop it.

Here's my challenge to Manuel: Next time a player catches a routine popup with one hand, jank him out of the game - Yes, even if the catch is made. Start DEMANDING fundamentals in every aspect of the game. The fans deserve it.

Oh somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining
bright...

The band is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light...

And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout...

but there is no joy in Metville, cASStillo dropped the final out...

It's Groundhog Day at Citi Field - Again

If you want to know what happened at the Mets game last night, just read our take on the previous game, and replace the final score with 6-3. The Mets take an early lead, blow it, can't hit with runners in scoring position, then lose in extra innings on a homerun with the loss going to Bobby Parnell. Exactly how it happened the game before. Not a good result for Met fans

OK... one out of three against Philadelphia isn't horrendous, but it's not going to get the team where they want to be, especially playing at home. This was a big game to win - and they still couldn't do it despite three hits apiece for Castillo and Wright, plus a 3-rbi night from Beltran, who drove in Castillo all three times. They also wasted a good outing by Tim Redding, who might be putting something nice together as a number 5 starter.

Redding's emergence is even more important now that the Mets put John Maine on the 15-day disabled list with "shoulder weakness" after the game. (Isn't shoulder weakness code for "there must be something wrong with this guy but we don't know what it is"?)

So after a huge loss like this, what does the Mets manager do? On the eve of the first game of this year's subway series, Jerry Manuel goes on record saying publically that the Yankees are the "dominant team" in New York. Even if it's true, I still don't want to hear that from the manager after the Mets just became the meat in a Philly cheesesteak! Just shut up Jerry... please, just shut up.

Next time you're at a restaurant with your wife or girlfriend, tell her "honey, you're okay... but the waitress is so much prettier". See if that goes over well. Guess what, Jerry? You're not the "dominant manager" in town either...

Three Run Lead Werth Nothing

The Mets had a 4-1 lead going into the seventh inning. And that's about where the story ends for Met fans. The Mets quickly built a three-run lead against World Series MVP Cole Hamels, who faced the Mets for the first time since calling them "choke artists" in the offseason -- the latest in a series of verbal barbs between the feuding teams.

Once again, the pitchers were hitters for the Mets. Mike Pelfrey's third inning double accounted for their first run. And after Chase Utley homered in the top of the inning, Pelfrey's single in the bottom fourth drove in a run and contributed to a 3 run inning.

Then trouble started in the seventh. With the bases loaded and no outs, Sean Green relieved Pelfrey - we don't need to go into details here. Suffice to say, the Mets actually escaped the inning tied. It could have been much worse than it was. In fact, I take that back... it did get worse.

The Mets stranded a season-high 16 runners, eight from innings seven through 10. But still, they nearly won it in the 10th on a David Wright liner that Philly rightfielder Jayson Werth made an unbelieveable catch on. Wright, who had three hits and two stolen bases, yanked off his helmet in frustration at first base after Werth's diving catch. (We won't mention Wright's key error in the seventh).

Utley homered again in the 11th to win the game.

The Mets now have 26 losses, but what's really frustrating about their record to this point is that in six of those losses, they had leads of at least three runs. Bullpen... starters... fielding... hitters... it doesn't really matter who we blame. It's just a shame their record isn't better at this point. Those six games would look nice in the standings right now.

... And They STILL Won!

Johan Santana gave up 4 homeruns to Philly hitters... and the Mets STILL won the game. Five earned runs total in seven innings does not make for usual Johan domination, but instead the Mets took advantage of a huge seventh inning homerun from Ryan Church to defeat the Phillies by a final of 6-5 at Citi.

Leadoff hitter Luis Castillo went "Oh fer five" in the game: and the Mets STILL won! That's because before Church's dinger, Carlos Beltran went yard, as did David Wright (finally - he had gone 100 at-bats exactly since his last one). The Mets took a quick 3 run lead in the game, only to see Philadelphia come storming back to actually take a 4-3 lead themselves: and the Mets STILL won the game!

The bottom of the sixth was interesting for the Mets as well. Fernando Tatis started the inning off with a Citi Field double, then reached third on a throwing error by the Phillie catcher. (Remember the score was 4-3 Phillies at the time with no outs) Ryan Church then bounced a ball weakly to firstbaseman Ryan Howard - playing in - and (believe it or not) Tatis tried to score on the play! NO OUTS... and he tries to score on that!?! Insane! Howard's throw went home to nail him, despite the fact that the replay showed that Tatis may have been safe. Either way, he was called out at the plate by the umpire (I think) more on stupidity than anything else - which in any other Met game, kills the rally, right? ... And the Mets STILL won the game!

Oh, and did Jerry "Manual" argue the call? Of course not - arguing plays is not in Willie Randolph's playbook manual. After all, you may get thrown out of the game and your team may play with more intensity.

But back to the good news: Good thing Johan decided to take things into his own hand offensively and double home the tying run after Tatis' gaffe. Then Alex Cora singled for the go-ahead run to make the score 5-4 and KRod saved it for his 16th save. Remember those dominating starts from Santana when he DIDN'T get the win? This was nice payback to up his record to 8-3. The old Mets lose this game, but instead, the team managed to right a few wrongs and STILL won the ballgame!

You Just Don't See This Kinda Stuff on TV

Here are a few clips of some parts of a Met game you won't be able to watch on TV including the 7th inning stretch with Mr. Met, the Lazy Mary sing along, and of course not everyone's favorite, "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond.

Thanks to Met fan David Daniels for the video!

5-Run First Puts Mets in Coast Mode

When your pitcher is pitching as well as Livan "likes his money" Hernandez was, you don't need too many runs to win. Turns out the Mets first inning was enough to help them take the rubber game of a 3-game series in Washington by a final score of 7-0.

The 5 runs they scored in the first inning alone was more than they mustered in the two previous games against the Nats combined. Leadoff hitter Alex Cora took advantage of Craig Stammen's wildness and drew a four-pitch walk to start things off and scored quickly on Fernando Martinez's double. (Sorry Fernando - can't call you F-Mart yet). After a Carlos Beltran's groundout advanced Martinez to third, David Wright walked and then Martinez scored on a wild pitch with Wright taking second. Daniel Murphy (who's playing a pretty solid first base for the team) singled to make the score 3-0. Imagine that - a first baseman playing a good first base. Remind me why he was in the outfield all those games...

Ryan Church (2 for 5) is back! And he made himself known with a double on the next play, enabling Murphy to take advantage of Brian Schneider's sacrifice fly. Then Church scored on another wild pitch by Stammen capping the big inning.

All through the game, Livan was great again. (I know - it's only the Nationals... but what do we keep saying? "You have to beat the teams you should beat to make it to the postseason). He went seven innings of 4-hit ball, walking 4 and K'ing 4 for his 5th win against only 1 loss. Feliciano, Parnell, and Rodriquez (pitching in a non-save situation) all did their jobs as well.

The Mets are still a very injured team. Tomorrow's a day off, but then the schedule starts to get extremely interesting. The Phillies are up next, followed by the Yankees, with Tampa Bay, St. Louis, then the Yankees again. Dear Mets... get well soon.

TUESDAY NIGHT: Tickets to see Johan Santana vs. The Phillies at Citi Field for $20. Get them here NOW

Willie Randolph Playbook Found in Manuel's Office

What else can explain the boring and predictable way the Mets played baseball tonight? When you lose 7-1 to a last place team threatening the major league record for losses in a season, it's hard to take Carlos Beltran seriously when he says the Mets are better than they look.

Then again, when you're having trouble putting runs on the board, sometimes you have to start getting back to good ole aggressive and fundamental baseball. As all Mets fans are painfully aware, those are two things absent from the Willie Randolph playbook that was found in Jerry "Manual"s office after the game.

In the manual, you'll find observations such as "don't try the hit and run. The batter may miss the pitch and you'll be thrown out at second". Or "don't try to steal a base. The catcher may throw you out". And the ever popular, "there's no need to EVER bunt - why waste an out. It works well in the American League".

Of course executing any one of the above plays tends to keep you out of double plays. Instead, the playing-by-the-Manual Mets hit into 5 double plays in a game where John Maine was pounded for 7 earned runs in four innings of work.

You know it's a bad game when the Mets highlight was newly acquired Emil Brown going 1 for 4. What better way to bounce back from being swept by the Pirates than to face the Nationals, right? It's not going to happen when you manage by the Manual. Can we see some desire and creativity please in the next game tomorrow? JERRY, PLEASE THROW OUT WILLIE'S MANUAL!

I'd hate to lose 2 series' in a row from last place teams! What is this? September?

Mets Need 10 Innings to Defeat the Worst Team in Baseball

David Wright recorded a season-high four hits including the go-ahead two-run double in the top of the 10th to help the Mets beat the Washington Nationals by a final score of 3-1. After the debacle that was Pittsburgh, the Mets really needed this one, especially since the Phillies are playing the Dodgers in Los Angeles - perhaps a chance to pick up some ground on them.

Back to the 10th: Luis Castillo led off the inning with a single followed by a Carlos Beltran walk. Wright then lined a 2-2 fastball into the gap in right-center to score both runners off Joel Hanrahan (0-3) and leaving it to KRod to finish up the game. Wright now leads the Mets with 20 multi-hit games and has 27 RBIs in 34 games.

As usual, Rodriquez did not disappoint for his 15th save. Tim Redding started the game and finally pitched well, which is a good sign. He was followed by Stokes, Parnell, and Green (who took the fortunate win) before K-Rod closed it.

The team won despite the usual bad decision baserunning plays that we've seen all season. Three times outs were made at third base (twice by Wright, once by Beltran). But perhaps that's a sign of aggressiveness rather than stupidity, so I can live with that. As Mets fans, I guess we have to be happy just to take the game after the fiasco in Pittsburgh, which appears to be getting Carlos Beltran in trouble with the Pirate's Adam LaRoche after LaRoche called him "classless" because of Belran's comments that the Mets should be embarrassed by getting swept in Pittsburgh.

Perhaps it's embarrassing to take a bad team to 10 innings as well? Oh, and remember when we said J.J. Putz was injured and not hurt? We were right (say that in the little girl from Poltergiest voice). Putz was put on the disabled list and word is that he's out at least 3 months. Knowing the history of the Mets medical personnel, I'm going on a limb and saying we've seen the last pitch of J.J. Putz in a Met uniform. Putz has a 1-year contract with the team and most likely his injury is worse than's being reported (IMHO). Sorry J.J. - we hardly knew ye

Swept By the Pirates, Beltran's "Embarrassed"

Whew... that Andrew McCutchen! He's a tough one! A day after the Pirates traded their best player to Atlanta, McCutchen had a productive major league debut to help Pittsburgh complete a rain-curtailed, three-game sweep of the New York Mets with an 11-6 victory. McCutchen had two hits, three runs scored and an RBI in his major league debut.

For the Mets, Carlos Beltran (playing his first game in five days because of a stomach virus - don't worry, the Mets crack medical staff says it wasn't Swine Flu) homered and doubled off the wall. David Wright broke out of another slump with two hits and two walks for the Mets, who have lost four of five. They were swept on the road for the third time this season, but this time Beltran went on record saying he was embarrassed for the team and that the Mets are much better than they look.

Well, Mike Pelfrey's not looking too good right now. The Pirates jumped on him early with four runs in the first. Pelfrey (4-2) allowed a career-worst nine runs total and nine hits in just 3 2/3 innings. He is the first Mets starter to allow nine runs since Jason Vargas on July 3, 2007, at Colorado. Jason Vargas you say? Exactly... But of course we all know Tom Glavine WOULD have given up nine runs if allowed to stay in the Mets elimination game against the Marlins, remember?

Anyway, enough of dredging up bad thoughts. There's only one good way to look at this Pittsburgh series (besides that it's over): Wednesday's rained-out game means Johan Santana will be available to pitch the Phillie series starting next week. If that game weren't rained out, the Phillies most likely would play the 3 games at Citi Field without facing the Mets ace. And the way things are going so far this season, the Mets need all the breaks they can get!

(I mean breaks as in good luck, not breaks as in injuries... just want to clear that up)

Bullpen Better, But Mets Still Sick

Just when you thought things were looking up, the Mets lose 2 straight games to the woeful Pirates. This time, it was another familiar storyline with the Mets not being able to score runs for Johan Santana. Now we all know the Pirates' Zach Duke is a pretty good pitcher, but you really need to score more than one run off the guy (and the Pirates' bullpen), don't you think?

Despite retiring the first 10 hitters of the game (be honest - you were thinking no-hitter, weren't you?), Santana fell to 7-3 with the Mets 3-1 loss last night. He really didn't have his best stuff anyway, and allowed 3 earned runs in 6 innings of work. The Mets bullpen atoned for yesterday's embarrassment, although J.J. Putz - still suffering from Heilman-itus - thankfully did not appear in the game.

Good thing no one was at the game to see it! Poor Pittsburgh - talk about empty seats in a stadium! The crowd was announced at 10,459 but the actual attendance was much less than that on a night when the NHL Penguins were hosting Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals across town.

From the offensive end, Jeremy Reed had a career day with 3 hits and Luis Castillo drove in the Mets only run with a sacrifice fly. As lieutenant Frank Dreben once said: "Nothing to see here... please disperse... nothing to see here"

Putz Diagnosed with Unrare Ailment in Latest Mets Loss

It's called Heilman-itus: the inability to retire borderline major league hitters in late innings of ballgames. Heilmanitus is a severe and devastating disease that some consider incurable and manifests itself with baseballs flying off bats and runners crossing homeplate. It's not pretty... and J.J. Putz has it.

And unfortunately, it's not a rare ailment in the history of Mets middle relievers. In fact, the disease used to be called Looperism, followed by Benitez Syndrome, Rojasitus, and Franco fever. The worst part about Heilanitus is that even if you leave the team, you're never the same player again and perform equally as badly for the next team you pitch for. (you think Chicago fans are happy with Aaron Heilman's 3 blown saves, 3 losses and his 5.08 ERA in the 24 games he's tortured Cub fans?)

But in all seriousness, the decline of J.J. Putz leads me to 2 possible conclusions: One, he's injured and isn't telling anyone (the most likely scenario). Or two, Seattle pulled a fast one on the Mets knowing Putz has declined into a shell of his once-closer self and can't be counted on to get the simpliest of 3 outs.

Either way, his 8th inning meltdown made him the major culprit in the Mets blowing a 5 run lead and eventually losing 8-5 to the Pirates last night in Pittsburgh. Putz allowed four runs in the loss as his ERA jumped to 5.08. (which eerily is the same ERA as Aaron Heilman). Pedro Feliciano did not fare much better. The team wasted a nice night by Wilson "Exxon" Valdez, who had a double, a triple, and 3 rbis.

So let's assume something's really wrong with Putz. There's a big difference playing hurt and playing injured. If you're hurt, and you're playing, you're a gamer and a good teammate. Playing hurt doesn't bother me and in general, most players will do that - after all, you're bound to be hurt somewhat in the course of a 162-game schedule. However, playing injured is another story. If you're injured, you'll never perform to the level you need to in order to help your team win. Tell the manager, and sit out for the benefit of the team. I think J.J.'s injured. And the best part of injury? You still may be able to recover without Heilmanitus becoming permanent...

Let's recap: HURT - play, INJURED - sit.

Stomach Bug Can't Help Marlins

Carlos Beltran sat out the game with a stomach virus. Then feeling ill and tossing his lunch, John Maine was lifted after pitching six shutout innings and 82 pitches. It was the only way the Marlins had a chance to win the game as Maine struckout 5 and walked 2 en route to his fifth victory of the year.

But the way the Mets are playing these days, they're finding ways to win despite injuries and illnesses.

Entering the 8th with a 3 run lead, J.J. Putz tried to give the game back to the Fish, but Bobby Parnell bailed him out and KRod closed another one by striking out the side in the ninth for his 14th save in 14 chances giving the Mets a 3-2 win.

Besides another big RBI from Omir Santos (he has eight in his last 10 games), there's not a lot to report on the hitting side of this game. But once again, David Wright flashed some pretty nice glovework with a diving grab of a liner to turn a much needed rally-killing double play. Despite a bit of controversy as to whether the ball hit the ground before Wright snared it, it's too bad video review wasn't used on the play or the Mets would be on the favorable end of yet another video call.

The Mets completed a 5-1 homestand to finish 19-9 in May (that includes being swept in Los Angeles) and face a 4-game series up next with the Pirates at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh?... Talk about indigestion!