213 Miles From Shea

The Mets started off this road trip on a good foot. At the time, the Giants were three games above five hundred and were second in the NL West. The Mets won the first three games of this series before losing the last game. During this time, the Mets had to start to fight through the injuries that would occur during on this trip and would plague the team for the next 10 games and into the current homestand.

The first game the Mets started off with a bang as the Mets had 7 stolen bases and that was without Jose Reyes. And of course the star of that game was David Wright who managed to swipe four bags. With the exception of Parnell, the pitching staff did a very good job in that game as Maine was effective and Krod was Krod as he got the save in a great inning of work. The next game was a really good sign for the Mets as they were able to get a win against Lincecum. However, that doesn't describe the whole story. After two innings, Lincecum was winning 5-1. The Mets fought back against Lincecum and were able to get the win in a game they were supposed to lose because they were facing one of the best pitchers in baseball (especially when dueling Livan Hernandez). The third win in this series was Johan vs Randy as both of these great lefties had off days but the Mets were able to out slug the Pirates to get their third straight win. Despite very good pitching by Pelfrey, the Mets bats fell silent in the last game of this series as some of the injury problems caught up with the Mets but taking 3 of 4 from the Giants is still a great success.

The Mets however would not fare so well in their next series.

Over the next three posts I will be talking about a few series that I didn't get to review the games due to a busy schedule. Lets go back in time a bit for this one. The Mets opened up this series with the Braves in the midst of a seven game winning streak. The Mets would first lose by a wide margin of 8-2, then won an exciting game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk off walk, and then would lose the rubber game of this series in the 12th inning.

Some notes from this series included a frustrating first game as Santana gave a great performance and it was wasted by a sloppy bullpen followed by some sloppy defense. Really that was what happened in the game as Santana was the star and got no credit for it. The second game was all Beltran as he played great the entire game and then took it to the next level in the ninth inning. He got a double to start it off, and later stole third, on a call that Chipper whined about (and knowing him, the next time we play the Braves he probably will bring it up again) and the Mets drew a few walks and the next thing we know, Beltran is walking into home plate for the winning run. This game was also a big deal because Pelfrey really made a nice start to this game, starting a streak where Pelfrey would be effective on the mound and keeping the Mets in the game. The last game was a tough loss but the Mets might not have deserved this win as they started with allowing over 5 runs in about 5 runs, but the Braves did the same thing.

All in all, it was disappointing to drop 2 of 3 after winning 7 straight, but thats the way the game goes sometimes. The Mets would then after this game embark on 10 game road trip that they faced three very good teams.

Happy Memorial Day folks! To all of the brave men and women who protect our country and our freedoms everyday, I would like to thank you for what you do for this country everyday.

I was at the Orioles game today (probably will post about that later) and during the onfield ceremonies where they were honoring soldiers it hit me how tied to the hip Baseball and American culture is. Its not just how American baseball is (because its not now, its international) but its about how tight of a connection baseball has to our culture (there is a very subtle difference between the two subjects in that statement). Baseball is a Memorial Day tradition. I can't think of memorial day without baseball because its where I have always gone on Memorial Day. It becomes a public forum to thank all of Armed Services in a venue that is inviting to everyone and its a venue to show so many of our aspects of American Culture. It is where Baseball Culture and American Culture hit head on.

I hope everyone out there in Mets land and in the United States (and really all over the world) had a great day today. Once again, thank you to our Armed Forces for protecting us each and every day.

The Mets will be playing the Nationals tonight as they finally return home after a long home trip where it seemed that everyone got injured and the Mets were still able to get out of the trip 5-5 while facing three very good teams. Tonight the Mets will be facing the best pitcher the Nationals have to offer in the form of John Lannan and the Mets will be sending John Maine to face him.

Lannan is 2-3 over 9 games and 52.0 IP and a 3.63 ERA. Over his last three games, he has pitched 18.2 IP and he has a 1.93 ERA, which is very good. With all of his performances considered, it becomes pretty clear that his record is the result of the Nats bats and more over, the Nats pen. In four games against the Mets last year Lannan pitched 22.0 innings and he allowed 11 runs, 5 BB and 22 K. Here are some Mets stats against Lannan:
     Wright 4-15, 2 2B
      Beltran 2-10, 2B
      Tatis 2-5, 2B
      Maine 1-2, 2B
The key for the Mets is to some how, whether its hitting Lannan hard or taking a lot of pitches, need to get him out of the game early because they want to get to that Nats bullpen and do damage there.

Maine is 3-3 on the season with a 4.53 ERA over 45.2 IP and in his last three games he has pitched 18.0 IP and has a 3.50 ERA. He was 3-0 in as many games against the Nationals last year over 17.2 IP with a very nice 1.53 ERA, 9 BB, and 15 K. Maine likes to pitch agaisnt this Washington club. Here are some Nats batting numbers against the Maine Event:
     Zimmerman 4-27, 2B, HR
     Kearns 5-17, 2B
     Belliard 9-15, 2B, HR
     Johnson 2-12, HR
     Guzman 0-8
Remember that series against the Pirates? Well this is the same thing. The Mets need to beat the Nats because they are supposed to beat them and they must in order to keep pace with the Phillies. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Nats!

The Mets took a tough loss yesterday as Green started the mistakes that led the bullpen to give the Mets a 12-5 loss. As disappointing as losing that game was, even with having the lead, the thing is that we should all be happy about this series and this roadtrip on its own. There are only two teams in recent history that have been able to sweep the Red Sox at home so its a tough challenge. The Mets went 5-5 on a road trip where they faced the number two team in the west, the number one team in the nation in terms of record and the number two team in the AL East in a hostile environment.

And they did this while losing Delgado, Reyes, Cora, Church, Krod and possibly Ramon Martinez.

The Mets are playing down a lot of players and they still playing well with a lot of mistakes. Hopefully this spell will be over soon otherwise the Mets just might have to call up all of Buffalo. We have to think, or hope, that if things were worse (as in these injuries were more serious than they appear to be right now) that Minaya would step in and get Manuel some more players but hopefully he doesn't have to resort to that. Lets hope that Reyes (knock on wood) returns on Tuesday like he is supposed to and this lineup returns to form.

That being said, one thing that I am very happy about, and probably will talk about at length over the offseason is that Murphy is playing first base. At this rate, it does not appear that the Mets will be resigning Delgado for next season. If Murphy learns first base that gives the Mets a lot of options in the OF. There is the immediate fix option of trying to sign Matt Holiday or theres the probably better for our future option of giving Fmart his chance out there. But that is a talk for another day.

The Mets play the early afternoon against the BoSox today as they try to go for a great three game sweep. The Mets, after playing a terrible game on Friday (despite getting the win) played a great game last night with a key hit from Santos. With all of the current injuries on the squad, games like last night show the team that they can win no matter the situation. Redding will be making his second start for the Amazin's and Wakefield will be starting for the Nation (I hate how they are referred to as the Nation).

In his first outing of the season for the Major League club, Redding pitched a no decision going 6 innings, allowing 2 runs, walking 4 and striking out 4. He hasn't faced the Red Sox since 2005 where he allowed 6 runs in one inning of work. Redding continued his good work so far this season last time out as he had a quality start following quality games in the minors. Here are some stats the Red Sox have on him:
     Drew 4-10, 2 HR
     Bay 4-13, 2B
     Lowell 4-12, 3 2B
     Ortiz 1-4
     Varitek 2-3, 2 2B
     Lugo 0-2
The Mets kept the Red Sox undercontrol last night and although a lot that had to do with the pitching, a lot of it had to do with the good defense behind the pitching. That must continue for the Mets to continue winning.

The Mets will have to face the Knuckleball of Wakefield this afternoon. This season he is 5-2 over 52.2 IP and a 3.59 ERA. In his last three games he is 2-1 with 18.2 IP, and 4.82 ERA. In his carear he has pitched 7 games against the Mets with 6 starts over 40.1 IP with a 2-3 record and a 2.43 ERA. Here are the Mets stats against him:
     Sheff 9-38, 2B, HR
     Beltran 7-23, HR
     Castillo 9-20
     Martinez 2-4
     Tatis 2-2, 2 2B
Ideally the offense would not like to have to score the winning runs in the ninth inning. A win gives the Mets a sweep against a good team and will help them go back to home on a hight note to finish off this successful month.

This was a great win for the Mets tonight. Pelfrey made mistakes early, but that was it as the scoring stopped after the first inning and the Mets were down 2-1 the entire night. In the top of the ninth though, against one of the best closers in baseball, Santos got the key, two-run, centerfield homer to give the Mets the lead and eventually the win. This is why I love Santos. He is not an offensive monster, but he is clutch and he plays with grit, he plays the game right. Also, he does something that he does not get a lot of credit for. He frames pitches extremely well behind the plate which is a big help to pitchers.

As great as Santos was, there were a lot of other great moments thansk to other players. First is Putz. Krod went down to injury (someone on this team getting injured? Thats a first) and Putz came up in a key situation to get the save and he did it. Wright, Castillo and Martinez all had their best gloves on in the ninth as Wright made an excellent stop, Castillo protected the throw and Martinez made a great catch out there.

This Mets club has had a rough road trip. They started off 3-0, then 0-4 and now 2-0 as they now have guranteed themselves to at least go 5-5 (and best 6-4) before tomorrow's game which is fantastic considering this week they lost Delgado, Reyes has been day to day, Church has been injured and now Krod. This team is starting to see that they can win when they are down on players and that is key to win a championship ring.

The Mets play the second game of a three game set with the Red Sox tonight as they hope to build off of last night's win. The Mets will be sending Pelfrey out to the mound while the Red Sox will be sending out Beckett, a familiar foe who we have have not seen for a while. The key to last night's game was the Mets took advantage of a bad mental mistake by Lugo, and that ended up being the difference in the game. If the Mets can play smart baseball again (note: there were several plays last night that I did not consider smart baseball, mainly from our back up short stop) then they will, for a second straight game, play competitively.

Pelfrey is 4-1 over 41.0 IP and has a 4.61 ERA and in the last three games he is 2-1 with 20.0 IP, a 3.15 ERA where he has 4 BB and 5 K (which is a big deal considering on the season he has 17 BB with 11 K). When it comes to the Red Sox, he has faced none of them, he is an unknown pitcher to them. Being that is the case, I wanted to share a few other Pelfrey statistics so far this season. Batters are hitting about .290 against him and when there are two outs, batters are hitting .320 and .450 when there are two outs and RISP. Thats pretty bad considering with two outs (in any situation) is when you want to buckle down and get of the inning and get your bats back at the plate. An interesting stat is also that during the first PA batters are hitting .298 dips to .286 the second time around and raises slightly to .289 in the third. Thats interesting because usually its a steady increase.

Beckett will be facing the Mets for the first time since 2006, so for many of the Mets, their time against with Beckett was a long time ago when their skills were not as developed. This season Beckett is 4-2 witha 5.85 ERA over 47.2 IP. In his last three games he is 3-0 over 19.0 IP, and a 3.79 ERA. In 2006, his last outing against the Mets, he got the win over 7.2 innings of work and allowed only 2 runs. Here are some Mets Stats against him:
     Wright 1-15
     Reyes 1-14
     Sheff 3-13, HR
     Ramon Martinez 3-4
     Castro 2-4
This should be an interesting game tonight as the Mets will face a good pitcher in Beckett and will face a good lineup in the form of the Red Sox for a chance to win a series against a very good team. Lets Go Mets!

This might be a stretch but thats alright. The mysticism and excitement of Interleague play has worn off for a few years now and now its just part of the normal schedule but there are still reasons to watch interleague play.  Baseball has been changing a lot over the last two seasons in the talent dynamics. Young, powerful pitchers have been appearing on the West Coast in the form generally of the National League. American League Teams on the East have been picking up veteran power hitters. National League teams on the East have been focusing on players like Wright, Reyes, Hanely, Utley, etc.

What is now forming is a changing of the guard in the leagues and the test is now going to happen as these leagues clash again. Although its not as exciting as it used to be, the leagues will  be showcasing starting this weekend, but mostly in June, the new forms of play for their teams. Of course, the old rivalries are there, although they are mostly being played in June this year (and thats referring to New York New York battles, Chicago Chicago, you get the point because we have been living with this now for what seems like forever).

My favorite matches this weekend are right here. The Mets vs Boston shows two great teams playing against each other. The Phillies @ Yankees shows the power play at New Yankee.

You probably have noticed over the last two weeks this site has pretty much been game previews with the occasional note or rant for special situations. Well starting now the site is going to be back in its regular posting, game review, baseball notes mode as my schedule outside of baseball has calmed down and has returned to normal (I have had finals for the last two weeks so it has been tough to post at the rate that I normally do). That being said it seems like the Mets have gone through so many swings through that time. I started to slack off due outside work at the end of the winning streak, then endured the Atlanta series, then through the hot start to the road trip, the four game slide, and then the win tonight. The Mets have had a lead in the division, have trailed, they have played great, they have played worst than little league, and above all they seem to be held together by bandages right now.

And because I am crazy,  I plan on eventually catching up on game reviews for all the games I missed. Lets Go Mets!