Yesterday and today

Yesterday was a game that the Mets never should have lost, and yet, as it was playing out, most people would have been sure that they were going to lose. Especially after the 5th inning.

The Mets had a 7-1 lead through 4 1/2 in Philly. You'd be excused if you thought the game was in the bag. Perhaps with a solid starting effort from Pedro, you would have been right. But control was an issue today; Pedro gave up 5. And so it was 7-5 with 4 innings to go.

And Mets fans know that a 2 run lead is rarely enough for the Mets bullpen. Stokes was okay, but Heilman and Schonweis gave up the tieing (9th inning) and winning (13th inning) runs.

The Mets ability to score in the first inning has gotten a lot of publicity, but what I have noticed is that they rarely score in the later innings.

That all changed today. Trailing 3-2 after 7, the Mets scored 4 in the 8th. Delgado hit 2 homers on the day; Murphy had a clutch double. Now this is more like it! The Phils bullpen is not unbeatable. Santana gave up 3 in 5; the bullpen, especially Stokes and Ayala, were solid.

click here for the Mets game wrap-up

nervous wait

I'll be watching the results of the Dodgers-Phils game today. If the Phils win like they did yesterday, they will be 1/2 game out of first. The Mets were looking fantastic, having won 9 of 10, but they have dropped the last 2 at home against the Astros, once again proving that they can't match it up with the NL Central's best teams. It doesn't bode well for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, John Maine got belted yesterday, and may not return this season. Pedro Feliciano was the goat today, giving up a couple of homers in the 10th. Aaron Heilman also allowed a run to score when he relieved Oliver Perez in the 7th. Perez was solid but not exceptional by his standards. And Heilman?

"We aren't going to be perfect out there," Heilman said.

Thanks for that, but I had already noticed.

Jekyll and Hyde (with Hyde hiding at the moment)

I'm enjoying this Jekyll phase of the Mets season. Another shutout (Santana, who pitched 7); a perfect bullpen (Heilman and Ayala each pitched an inning and set down 6 straight - I was especially encouraged by the formerly 'bat-shy- Ayala's 10 strikes and 1 ball); and timely (and lucky) hitting by David Wright, who blooped a single, and the red-hot Brian Schneider, who slammed a 2-run homer.

The Phils are slamming the Dodgers, so the lead will stay at 2 1/2.

Bay Side Story

The Mets are gonna have their way tonight!
The Mets are gonna have their day tonight!
The Mets are gonna get a hit from David Wright!

pulling away a little

The Nationals offered a little help today, breaking a 12 game losing streak to edge the Phillies 4-3 in Philly. Meanwhile, Carlos Delgado was silencing his critics. With a little help from the official scorer, he went 5 for 5. Only one of those hits, a ripped double to right, was clean. There were 2 ground balls through the middle, and a third that was fielded and thrown away by the second baseman. I'm not sure how the official scorer turned that one into a hit. In the ninth, Delgado hit a liner to left that was a sure out, but the left fielder lost it in the lights. That also went as a hit, and Wright scored in a walk off win.

Pedro Martinez pitched 8 plus strongs innings, then Ayala got the win, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless. He must have that arm angle all fixed now.

The Mets are 2 1/2 games in front and have won 9 of 10. The Marlins have dropped back to 6 out.

Mets get another pitcher

The Mets won again today, as did Philly, so the race stayed the same. But one thing did change: the Mets added another dodgy pitcher to their stable. Al Reyes had been sent to the minors by Tampa Bay after having a tough year: two stints on the disabled list, and 2 tazer incidents with Florida cops. He was pitching well when he returned by his second DL trip, but maybe there is a little more to the story than that. In any event, this guy is a real closer: he saved 26 of 30 games last year. The Mets are hoping that a change of scenery will heal his arm and halt his late-night bar episodes. He'll go straight to double-A ball until he gets it together.

It's not a bad strategy: with Wagner still on the DL and looking doubtful for return this year, to assemble a bunch of possible diamonds in the rough, in the hope that a couple will shine up real good. The only thing is: would you trust any of these guys when they walk to the mound, in, say, game 7 of the World Series?

...and they blow it open

The Mets 5 run 8th inning, started by Delgado's bases-loaded double, ensured a comeback win against the Braves at home. The Phillies just started a series against the Nationals at home, and they won, so the Mets are unlikely to widen the gap between the two teams in the next couple of days.

watch Delgado's double on Gameday

New face Louis Ayala faced 2 batters and retired both (on fly balls, strangely). Supposedly, the Mets think that he can be effective again if he changes his angle of delivery.

the drama that baseball creates

Well, it all comes down to this.

Delgado was hitting in July, but has fallen off in August.

He's 0 for 3 in this game.

He comes up in the bottom of the 8th, bases loaded, 1 out, Mets trailing 3-2.

What does he do?

Double to drive in 2 runs!

That won't help his stats much, but it's important to remember how clutch that hit was, even if the Mets bullpen blows this game.

Mets find kindred spirit for their bullpen

What do you do if, like the Mets, your bullpen has the highest ERA in the majors? You trade for a reliever with an ERA that's 150 points higher! What do you do if your bullpen has the pitcher with the second most losses in baseball (Heilman with 7)? Not good enough! You trade for the guy with 8! Oh, man. At least that's what Jerry Manual said when he heard about Luis Ayala's stats for the year. Ayala is a once-talented 30 year old right-hander who hasn't been the same since an arm injury in 2006. He's a ground ball pitcher with good off-speed stuff, but it's a confidence thing. Ayala is another Minyana 'love child', having pitched well for the GM when they were at the Expos. Kunz will be demoted to make way for Ayala.

6 straight on the road

The Mets have now extended their winning streak to 6 games, all on the road (albeit against lesser teams). Using a combination of solid starting pitching, clutch hitting, and an adequate bullpen, the Mets have beaten the likes of the Nationals and Pirates in Washington and Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, the Phillies have been blowing leads. Their bullpen is experiencing a severe case of 'Mets-itis', and they call it. Now the Mets are in first, 2 games ahead of the Phils.

The Mets bats have been good enough to open up 4 to 7 run leads when needed, so last night, when Kunz came in and got belted, they had enough of a cushion to win anyway.

Speaking of Kunz, everyone was wondering why he was called up if he was only going to warm up in the bullpen and not get into a game. Well, he finally got in yesterday, and he went quite mad, giving up hits, hitting batters, etc. With Wagner coming off the DL, I hear he will be going back down to the minors now, where he can pitch regularly and hone his craft. I don't know anything about Kunz, but I do know that, in my opinion, Wagner is just not good enough to carry the Mets to a series. Just my feeling.

By the way, Johan 'the Ace' Santana pitched a complete game, 3 hit shutout today, and Schneider and Beltran belted homers.

Back in first

The Mets have benefitted from a good schedule to take three from the listless Nationals. After scraping in with a 4-3 win, they smashed Washington in the next two games (12-0 and 9-3). The bullpen became a non-issue, with Aaron Heilman safely protected a 6 run lead in the ninth inning of that third game.

Suddenly, the starters have been brilliant, and the setup men like Smith and Sanchez have been solid. The Nationals will make you look a bit better than you are.

But the Mets are hitting. Wright is seeing the ball beautifully and swinging with confidence. Dan Murphy is starting to hit homers. Beltran is out of his slump. Delgado is still belting extra base hits. Even Brian Schneider homered the other day.

I am severely disappointed in former Met Lastings Milledge. I thought he had real potential to become a solid player and was not in favor of the Mets getting rid of him. Now he is hitting .258 at Washington, so it seems I was wrong. I wasn't blogging at the time that the Mets got rid of Milledge, so there was no reason for me to admit this mistake - I must have a bit of honesty in me after all.

Now the Mets are in Pittsburgh to play another sub-500 team. I think the Pirates gave the Phils some problems a few days ago, so I don't expect them to be as easy to beat as the Nationals were. The game has just started and the Mets are up 2-0 in the third.

Up and down

...but today was up. Santana gave up 3 in 7; Smith and Feliciano were effective, and it was the Nationals, so everyone looks better than they are in opposition. Beltran and Delgado had the big hits, but it was Easley getting hit in the helmet with the bases loaded that gave the Mets the lead.

Santana's last win was on July 27th (although he has been pitching well). He's got a 2.89 ERA, so this guy was definitely worth it, even if he has lost some pop on his fastball.

The Phillies lost to the Dodgers, so the Mets are a game out of first.

One of the great things about watching baseball on TV is how partisan the local broadcasters are. When Easley got hit, the Nationals play by play guys were siding with Acta, the Nationals manager, who was claiming that the ball had hit Easley's bat, even though at the same time, they were watching slow-motion replays that clearly showed the ball glance off the helmet and go nowhere near the bat!

click here for the full wrap and boxscore

The Legend of Dan Murphy

Rookie Dan Murphy continued his legendary playing streak, coming in today and cracking a pinch-hit 2-run homer to extend the Mets lead. Beltran and Delgado homered as well, and the Mets built up an 8-4 lead with a couple of innings to go. As I may have mentioned, the shakey Mets bullpen needs about a 4 run cushion to have a chance to hold the lead. Joe Smith and Duaner Sanchez gave a couple of runs back, but Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman were effective.

The Phils won, so the Mets are still a game out of first.

find out more about this game at GameDay

Reversal of form?

The Mets have gotten 3 excellent starting performances from Martinez, Santana, and Perez, and they managed to win 2 of them. Today, it was almost like a different Mets team was out there. Perez was his usual recent-form self, pitching 7 scoreless innings. The weird thing was that Aaron Heilman came in, pitched the final two innings, and, believe it or not, retired all 6 batters he faced. I assume this means the ball is coming off his hand well, which is the way he described his pre-all star break form.

David Wright, who won the game yesterday with a walk-off two run homer, came up today in the first with the brilliant rookie Dan Murphy on base, and had an interesting and aggressive at-bat. Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss. Swing...and another two run-shot! That was all the offense the Mets needed, but Delgado added a nice one-handed homer to left center a few innings later.

read the wrap at Gameday

Scrounging a Tatis-based win

With Billy Wagner on the 15 day DL, and Aaron Heilman in a miserable slump, the best the Mets can do is hope they get some deep and decent starting pitching, and that they can open up (at least) a 4 run lead for the bullpen to play around with. Tonight, they managed both. Pelfrey pitched 6.2 and gave up two runs. All of the bullpen was effective, save Heilman, who was spectacularly ineffective, giving up a three run shot in the ninth to make the win a close 6-5 one for the Mets. Fernando Tatis was the hero. He pulled 2 home runs (one a three-run blast that he hand-steered around the foul pole. His raised arms at home plate were showy but deserved.

Going downhill

Another loss, this time a 4-0 shutout. The good news is that the bullpen didn't blow a lead. :)

And there are really bad problems with pitching injuries. Wager has pain and does not know when he will pitch again, pending an MRI. Maine is on the DL; we don't know when he'll pitch again. Kunz is up from double-A, which will please a lot of fans that wanted him up. And the Mets are slipping away, in 3rd place, 2.5 games out of 1st.

playing games at Gameday

Somehow over at Gameday was messing with our heads. After Delgado was intentionally walked with 2 out in the 7th to put Reyes at 2nd and Delgado at 1st, Gameday reported the LaTroy Hawkins then intentionally walked Tatis! I was about the check the record books for the last time that had occurred when Gameday corrected itself. Tatis had not been given a pass. Instead, he was called out on strikes. The way the Mets pitchers are pitching, this almost seemed like where they opened the door to lose the game. Sure enough...Mets lose 5-4. This time, Wagner and Heilman blow the lead. And if Dan Murphy hadn't robbed someone of an extra base hit and turned it into a double play, Duaner Sanchez would have blown it earlier.

Each game, one or two bullpen pitchers find a way to blow the game. Consistently.

The Phillies won and extended their lead to 2 games. Any scientists noticing a trend here?

Huh?

How's that for bizarre? Three leadoff home runs given up in the first 4 innings by Pedro Martinez today. I would have been tempted to consider taking him out for a pinch hitter in the top of the fourth when the Mets had 2 on, 2 out. Instead, he stayed in and gave up that third home run. But it was probably the right choice; he pitched his 5 innings and gave up 3 runs - not a bad effort.

But once again, it was the bullpen. This time, Smith was effective but Heilman gave up another home run - this time a grand slam. I shut down my Gameday browser window in disgust when that happened, then opened it up a little later to make sure the Mets didn't stage some Amazin' comeback, which they didn't.

The obliging Phillies lost too, so the Mets still trail by 1 game.

Early Mets Memories: Jack Fisher

Jack Fisher was one of the starting stalwarts of the Mets staff from 1964 to 1967. During that time, he boasted won-loss records of 17-10, 24-8, 14-11, and 18-9. Okay, one thing: I've reversed those numbers to put the losses before the wins. Those 24 losses remain a tie for the most losses in a season. In 1966, he had his best year as a Met, with that 11-14 won-loss, and a miserly 3.68 ERA. Unfortunately, he had a sub-par year in '67, and was traded to the White Sox (where he had a very respectable 2.99 ERA in 180 innings pitched). Jack didn't get a chance to stick around and enjoy any of the successes that happened in 1969; he was 31 that year and players didn't have the specialized exercise regimen that allows them to keep going late into their 30s or even 40s. It would have been nice if he could have been a part of the pennant drive, especially if he could have brought some of them 2.99 ERA to the table.

Jack Fisher's Wikipedia article

Jack Fisher's stats at the Baseball Almanac

An unfair system

It's not right that the Phillies should get to play the Nationals on a travel day for the Mets. But the Phillies took advantage of this, beating the Nats and widening their lead on 1st to 1 full game. Just as a sidenote to my baseball expertise, I noticed that former Met Lastings Milledge is hitting something like .237 for the Nationals. I thought this guy was going to be a star, and I was a little disappointed when he got traded. Maybe he will come good, and I'll end up looking like a seer. Or maybe I just really liked his name; I always wanted someone on the Mets with a name that sounded like they just stepped off the Mayflower.