213 Miles From Shea

This was a frustrating loss tonight, but it was a step in the right direction.

The Mets offense tonight was in know way perfect (once again too many runners left in scoring position) however the offense felt more like the Mets offense that we are used to. Reyes, Wright, and Bay all had 2 hits tonight and (more important for Mets-like portion) it felt like Pagan, Reyes and Bay were causing trouble on the basepaths. It was just about stolen bases, these players all made good heads up plays on the paths throughout the night being aggressive to get the extra base. Pagan has been impressive this season in his ability to turn the corner going from first to third. He really hugs that corner and it saves him a lot of time.

The problem for the Mets again was starting pitching. First, my necessary gripe about umpiring. I hate using “ifs” however if that umpire gets that call correct when Reyes flips the ball over to Castillo, the inning could have gone in a completely different direction. Besides that though, Maine had a lot of problems tonight. They say when people expierence anything, you generally remember the first bit and the last bit* and sadly that how Maine will be remembered tonight. He was great in the middle of his outing, but he started off bad, and ended poorly and ultimately put the Mets in a hole they could not climb out of.

Hopefully though the Mets will look at the progress they made tonight, and there was some real progress, and build on it as they avoid the four game sweep tomorrow.

* I first heard this when I was a child. Both my parents are diabetic and when I was younger, my Mom was explaing to me a trick about cereal in the morning. If your first bite is sugar cereal, and your last bite is sugar cereal, thats what you'll remember for the rest of the day, you won't be able to recall the boring Brain middle.

The Mets and Marlins go for game three tonight as the Mets are hoping to finally get one in the win column against the Fish. Last night was just frustrating for the Mets (well I didn't see the game, but from the text messages from my friends who are Marlins fans, it seemed like a pretty frustrating game) and that was a combination of starting pitching and an offense who is losing their ability to click.

Maine is starting to turn his season around, and it couldn't be better for the Mets. His first start of the season was against the Marlins and it was tough to watch as he lasted 5 innings and allowed 4 ER. However in his last three games he is 1-1 over 18.0 innings with a really nice 20 strikeouts. His fastball has started to get that movement on it which made such an effective pitch in the past. The Marlins have these numbers on Maine over his career:

Robertson (3-3, 4.54 ERA) makes his second start this season against the Mets tonight.In his first start he pitched 5 innings giving up 6 hits but only allowing 1 ER. The Mets have these lifetime stats on Robertson:

Lets Go Mets!

Some quick hits to go with your Saturday Morning scrambled eggs:

Another close game last night and another close loss. The Mets and the Marlins play again today as the Mets will send out Perez to face Sanchez of the Marlins. Last night was a good pitching duel with two starters that like to get the ball and throw back quickly and disrupt hitters. For the Mets, today will be a different story as Perez may have his back against the wall.

Perez has shown brilliance so far this season but he has also shown just horrible tendacies. While Maine was the weakest link the rotation at the start of the season, Perez probably took that spot in his last start as he continues to struggle while Maine continues to get better. Perez on the season is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA but in two of his last three starts he has yet to make it out of the fourth inning. Believe it or not, Perez hasn't faced the Marlins since 2008 where he faced them 6 times and was very good against them. During that time he had a 3-0 record over 36 innings with a 2.23 ERA. Lets hope those numbers continue. Here are the Marlins numbers against Perez:

The Mets will have to contend with Sanchez (1-2, 4.08 ERA). The Marlins have lost all three of his last three starts but his ERA has been slightly better than his season average (3.24). He faced the Mets three times last season with an 0-2 record and a 4.91 ERA. The Mets have been able to put these numbers on Sanchez of his career:

Lets Go Mets! Beat the Marlins!

Do you feel that in the air? Its a rush of negative feelings across the United States, heading straight to Philly. For once in the last few years, it feels like the Mets are not recipients of unwarranted hate. However, the difference here is the negative emotions are warranted to Philly. This week another another accusation of stealing signs has been made against Philly. This time it was the Rockies who say that the Phillies are using binoculars from the bullpen and relaying the signs to the hitter.

Generally I slug off these types of things. However this accusation was made last year during the NLCS and it was also made in 2007 by the Mets.

Stealing signs is part of baseball. Generally what happens is the runner on second base can pick up on signs and try to relay them to the hitter. During these times the signs are changed constantly during the inning and some pitchers will choose to show retribution by striking the hitters. The ability to strike the hitters is what makes this stealing of signs part of the game. Something bad can happen to the stealing team. Also its occurring on the field.

But the Phillies are doing using binoculars and, according to the Mets, cameras. This is just irresponsible. However the next move is now placed on Major League Baseball. Every year they send out letters saying to using devices to steal signs is prohibited. The MLB has now warned the Phillies, but they need to watch the Phillies. The next time something happens, they need to slam an unprecedented fine down. Not unprecendented in terms of the amount of money, but one that shows that the MLB is standing for integrity of baseball.

The icing on the cake about all of this of course was Charlie's reaction. His reaction wasn't to deny it, it was to point the finger at the Mets. Apparently we are too good at home, and to bad on the road, to be playing legally. We are obviously doing something bad. Sorry to tell you Charlie, but we aren't hitting that much better at home, and if you have been watching our games (which its understandable that you are not, but you should at least read the box score) the success hasn't been do to our bats, but our pitchers performing well.

And now I turn to the Mets. This week the Phillies have been granted three extra home games. They have been accused of cheating and then they accused you of cheating. What are you going to do about it? Post it on the bullitan board. Get some emotions revving. Beat them on the diamond.

Some quick hits to go with your Friday morning Trix Cereal:

The Mets start a road series tonight in Miami as they take on the Florida Marlins. First off, in case you are wondering, the name of the stadium is now Sun Life Stadium. Anyway the Mets are coming off of a 3-3 homestand where it feels like they could have won every single game. They hope to put together those final few pieces tonight against the Marlins.

The Mets will be sending out Santana (3-2, 4.54) who in his last start wasn't as bad as his line suggested. He personally allowed 3 runers through 7.2 innings (the longest outing by a Mets pitcher this season) but the pen allowed another run to cross the plate. He's already faced the Marlins once this year in the first game of the season as he picked up win with a 6 inning, one run performance where he struck out 5 and walked 2. These are the stats the Marlins have on Santana over his career:

The Mets will have to deal with the ace of the Marlins staff, Josh Johnson (3-1, 3.35 ERA) as he looks to face the Mets for the second time this season. During his first time against the Mets this season, he only lasted 5 innings and allowed 4 ER. However, he is pitching much better in his last three games as he has a 2.57 ERA. The Mets have these numbers against Johnson lifetime:

Lets Go Mets! Fry the Fish!

Some quick hits to go with your Thurday morning Chocolate Chip Pancakes:

The Mets and Nationals head to the rubber game this afternoon at Citi as the Mets look to build off of last night's great win. In cased you missed it, the Mets fell behind 5 runs at one point in the game and at the start of the 8th they were down 6-2. Then the Mets had a 6 run, 12 man ralley that sent them to win the game by a score of 8-6. Anyway, the Mets will send Pelfrey out to the mound to shut down the Nats as they will send out Stammen.

Pelfrey had to rebound in his last start, and he wasn't stellar but he went pretty deep in the game (7.1 innings) and allowed only 3 runs (so a quality start). On the season so far Pelfrey is 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA. His first start of the season was against the Nationals where he pitched 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs. The Nationals over Pelfrey's career, have these numbers against him:

Stammen's stats for the season have been slightly below average as he has pitched 35.0 innings with an ERA of 5.63 and has a 1-1 record. However in his last three games, his numbers are looking better has he has an ERA of 3.57 ERA over 17.1 innings (also the Nationals have lost all three of his last three starts). Last season he faced the Mets three times (1-2) pitching 17.1 innings with a 4.67 ERA. The Mets have these numbers over his career:

Part of the Mets success last night, besides timely hitting, was that Wright and Bay combined to go 6-8. If they can hit together again, then this team will have some real fun. Lets Go Mets!

(NY Daily News)

(NY Post)