Happy Recap: Mets 9 Astros 1

The Mike Pelfrey and Carlos Delgado show. Delgado was awesome. I've said it all season, when he goes the other way he is a much better hitter. That first home run down the left field line was crucial.

That gave the Mets 3 more 1st inning runs, pushing their league-leading total to 111. That's an incredible 17% of their runs scored in the 1st inning. The only problem is, they usually don't add on to those leads. But they did this time, thanks another homer by Delgado, crushed to dead center. And the Mets cruised from there.

My only question is, why didn't Jerry Manuel get Pelfrey out of there after they took a 7-0 lead in the 7th. I think it's a good idea to try to conserve his innings, but not in close games, they need to do it in blowout games. As bad as the bullpen is, Manuel should have tried to use relievers for 2 innings to hold a 7-run lead.

There is just so much good going on for Pelfrey right now. Over the last 17 starts (exactly half a season's worth) Pelfrey has a 3.00 ERA. But even more impressive than that, his record over that span is 11-2 and the team is 14-3 in those starts. There is a lot of hope for the future for him, he is emerging as a very strong number 2 behind Johan Santana.

And the last time a Mets pitcher won back-to-back complete games was 1995. And it's been 7 years since a Mets pitcher pitched consecutive complete games.

Jose Reyes was in the middle of the action again getting on base both times before Delgado homered, and then tacking on 2 more runs with a triple, and chasing Pelfrey around the bases. The only thing more fun than watching Reyes leg out a triple is watching Reyes leg out a triple with a pitcher running the bases in front of him.

Now Pedro and Johan take the mound in a huge 2-game series with the Phillies.

Unhappy Recap: Astros 6 Mets 4

If the Mets bullpen gets enough chances, eventually they'll blow the game. This time it was Feliciano but it could have been anyone.

Rough game for Oliver Perez, but as I've said before, his bad starts are getting better, giving the Mets a chance to win them. But Heilman was Heilman and allowed the inherited runner to score. Thankfully he got bailed out by a horrible third base coaching decision.

I have liked just about everything Manuel has done with this team since taking over but I feel that he uses too many relievers. He makes too many changes based on lefty-righty nonsense. With a bullpen this bad if you use every guy someone will be having a bad day. He could have stuck with Schoeneweis, Smith and Ayala a little longer.

The biggest problem with this loss though is that Carlos Beltran's two homers came in vain. He's been struggling recently and if that second homer could have stood up as the winning run it might have been big for him.

Once again the Mets got out early, and couldn't score in the last 7 innings, and the last 15 batters of the game went down in order.

Unhappy Recap: Astros 8 Mets 3

This game was a microcosm for life; some days you get your ass kicked. But in baseball and in life you usually get another chance tomorrow.

So we can't get too upset about one bad loss but there are serious concerns about the health of John Maine. They won't need him should they make the playoffs, but they won't get to the playoffs unless he pitches better down the stretch, especially as they try to take the foot off the gas a little with Mike Pelfrey.

For whatever reason, Maine just doesn't look right out there on the mound. I'm not sure if they need to DL him again, or let him pitch and get stronger, but I know for sure they're not going to move him to the bullpen as speculated about.

I love the new Brian Schneider. Unbelievably he has 4 homers in his last 6 starts.

I also love Daniel Murphy. His star is starting to fade a little bit and his average is dipping, but his approach at the plate is great. He's working counts, getting walks and is really showing that he's ready mentally to be a major league player right now.

Happy Recap: Mets 3 Astros 0

Johan Santana was awesome again. He wasn't even at his best but he still dominated the Astros. Where he was losing games earlier this season by allowing one big hit, now he is getting out of every jam.

His first start after the All-Star break was a bad one but in the 7 starts since then he's 4-0 with a 1.52 ERA. He's currently working on an 18-inning scoreless streak.

Once again the Mets took an early lead by getting a Reyes run in the first inning. Gary Cohen gave the stats but I didn't copy them down, but the Mets are on an incredible run of 1st inning scoring, putting the opponent in a hole and giving the starting pitcher confidence.

Brian Schneider has really woken up. The platoon seems to be working for him, even though Castro has slowed down recently.

It's good to see Ryan Church back in the lineup.

Jerry Manuel seems to have gotten the point that he has to extend his starters as deep into games as possible. First it was Pelfrey pitching a complete game, then he sent Pedro out for the 8th inning and now Johan Santana threw a career-high 121 pitches. I agree with the sentiment but I hope he doesn't overdo it and exhaust a starting staff that is carrying this team. He should keep this strategy in close games, but he needs to look for chances to pull his starters if ever the Mets have a big lead.

And the decreased workload seems to be helping the bullpen. Aaron Heilman pitched a good 8th inning, but only after he threw a strike on a 3-2 count to Berkman to leadoff the inning, getting him to ground out. It seems all of his blowups began with a leadoff walk.

And Luis Ayala could be the new closer. His stats with Washington were terrible but so far for the Mets he's been doing just fine.

Unhappy Recap: Astros 4 Mets 0

If you needed any more evidence that this is not the team that won 10 games in a row earlier this month, this game was it.

This time it was the offense's turn to shit the bed with some of the worst clutch hitting I've ever seen.

First inning: Beltran singles but gets caught stealing.
Third inning: Robinson Cancel gets caught stealing third with two outs and David Wright up. Why he was running I have no idea.
Fourth inning: Bases loaded and one out for Evans and Cancel and they both strike out. At this point, it's only 1-0 so almost any contact by Evans would tie the game.
Fifth inning: With two on, David Wright hit it hard, but right at the second basemen. Tatis flied out with the bases loaded.

So in five innings the Mets had 6 hits, 3 walks and a hit batsman and didn't score.

And I think this is starting to have an effect on the starting pitchers. They know that if they don't leave the game with at least a 4 run lead the bullpen will blow it. And I think in this game Perez knew if he gave up more than one run he was going to lose. That doesn't explain the four straight 2-out hits but you really can't blame a guy who has been as good as he has been and gotten almost no support.

Bright spots: Nick Evans threw two runners out at second base.
Eddie Kunz made his Major League debut and got out of the inning unscathed, though it wasn't easy.

The Mets got out-homered 6 to 1 in this series. Brandon Backe and Mark Loretta each hit 1 homer, same as the whole Mets team. And Kaz Matsui hit two.

The Mets broke a streak of 7 straight wins on Sunday.

Randy Wolf owns the Mets. He's beaten the Mets in his last 4 starts against them, which he's made for 4 different teams (Phillies, Dodgers, Padres and Astros).

Unhappy Recap: Astros 5 Mets 4

The disasters never cease with this horrible bullpen. This is now the 5th time since the All-Star break that the bullpen allowed 4 runs or more in a game.

Billy Wagner sucks. I don't want to hear anything about the fact that his ERA is only 2.30. He has 7 blown saves already. That's bad for a hole season, but he's gonna blow 10 games this year. That's awful. Every time you lose a game that you lead going into the 9th it's also a huge mental blow.

That play that tied the score was crazy. Two runners crossing home plate at the saem time. The last time we saw that LoDuca turned 2 in the playoffs against the Dodgers. This time it didn't work out so well. Tough play for Castro but I think if he holds on at least one of the guys is called out.



This game unfolded in a very similar fashion to a lot of Santana's starts this year. He pitches well but he either gives up a couple runs or doesn't go deep enough. What's happening to him in terms of this tough luck isn't his fault, but he deserves some blame. The Mets bullpen is so bad they need him to pitch a complete game every time. It's not a question of if with this bullpen. In fact, it's not even a question. If this pen has to pitch 2 innings or more, they'll blow it at least 50% of the time.

The Mets offense did enough to win this game, but went into a slumber after the third inning. Once again failing to get that one big hit that makes the difference between winning and losing.

An impressive Major League debut by Daniel Murphy. He singled and scored in his first at bat, then made an incredible catch in left field, right in front of that scoreboard, and fired the ball into second for a double play.

And this is what Keith Hernandez had to say about their pregame introduction:

"I introduced myself to him before he took his swings in the batting cage, and he turned around and said 'Oh, Seinfeld.' I know I'm getting old."

Hernandez also compared the fenced in bullpens in Houston to a concentration camp before quickly correcting himself, "prison camp! Prison camp."

Unhappy Recap: Astros 7 Mets 3

This is the game that proves the Mets did the right thing by not making any trades at the deadline. This team is a .500 team. Take out that 10-game winning streak and they're actually below .500. They have a hot offense but they still can't get a hit in the clutch. They have a horrible bullpen and they have 3 good starters and 2 huge question marks in the rotation.

It is inexcusable how this team constantly leaves runners on base. Bases loaded and no one out and they don't score? In the 7th inning of a tie game. And it happens all the time with this team. As I've been saying that's the biggest reason this team isn't going anywhere, they can't hit in key spots with men on base. For two weeks they were hitting, not they're back to this mess. It's sickening to watch.

But now as sickening as watching this awful bullpen. This is the fourth time in 10 games that the bullpen has allowed 4 runs or more. This time it was Heilman, but they've all been guilty, except Wagner on this recent stretch.

And Pedro sucked again, but was actually better than he's been. He only allowed solo homers this time. He allows about 2 homers every 9 innings so far this year. If he stayed healthy for a full year he'd allow more than 40.

Happy Recap: Mets 4 Astros 1

Pedro pitches 5 shutout innings, but it isn't as great as it sounds. He was in trouble in almost every inning and threw 92 pitches in total. But he got the job done, and as long as he is healthy this has to be considered a successful outing.

In the second inning he got Pence to ground out with the bases loaded after he hit Oswalt with a pitch (a HBP that should not have been granted since Oswalt didn't try to get out of the way).
In the third inning he struck out the first three guys, but Biggio reached first on a wild pitch. He stranded 2 runners in the inning but failed to tie the record for most strikeouts in one inning.
And in the 5th inning he once again got the Astros to strand 3 runners on base.
9 runners in all left on base during Pedro's 5 innings.

The Astros left 3 more runners on base in the 6th, but Willie let Mota work out of trouble after his bonehead play put runners on first and second (he should have taken the sure out) he struck out two in a row and got out of the inning.

As far as the offense, Pedro scored a run after he doubled to left. Beltran had earlier in the game driven in Castillo to tie Wright for the club lead in RBI.



Alou hit a 2-run homer to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

Wagner got the save without allowing a run.

It was the Mets second sweep at home this year, the first was against Oakland in late June. Four other times they lost the third game after winning the first two of a series.

Happy Recap: Mets 3 Astros 1

Tom Glavine pitched a great game, perfect through 5 and 1 hit through 7, but he got a little unlucky in the 8th. He was taken out after two hits (one solid, one bloop) and then Heilman came in and the Astros got another bloop single which tacked a run onto Glavine's account. But Heilman roared back to strike out the side and preserve the lead.

The Mets got their run one at a time in the 3rd, 4th and 5th. First run came on a David Wright home run (he is on fire) then LoDuca doubled in a run and the last run was a Castillo run (walk, steal, to third on groundout, score on wild pitch).

Billy Wagner ended his streak of 5 appearances with a run by pitching a perfect 9th for his 31st save.

This game took only 2 hours and 18 minutes to play.

Happy Recap: Mets 11 Astros 3

The first start for Mike Pelfrey after his breakthrough performance against the Braves was adequate, good enough for a win, but without some luck it might have been a lot worse. He started off with bad luck as Beltran almost caught a home run by Lance Berkman.

In the second inning Pelfrey allowed a single walk and hit batter to load the bases with one out. The pitcher hit a high chop to Reyes. Reyes tried to turn the double play before he got the ball and the ball bounced off his hip, but right to Castillo who stepped on the bag threw to first in time for the double play.

Pelfrey allowed another run in the third but he led off the bottom of the inning with a walk, then Castillo walked and Rodriguez was completely losing his control and got behind Wright 3-1. Wright doubled on the 3-1 pitch to tie the game and Beltran singled to give the Mets the lead. Timely hitting finally seems to be coming around for the Mets.

Pelfrey got through the 4th and 5th and got 2 more runs of support thanks to a Beltran homer and a Conine single.

But in the 6th, Pelfrey once again loaded the bases with one out. Randolph went to Sosa who got Biggio to hit a bloop to right field which Milledge caught with a diving catch.



That catch served as a turning point in this game as the Mets pounded the Astros for 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th. It started with a Reyes triple, and was punctuated by a 3-run homer by Milledge.

Milledge had 2 hits in this game plus the great catch and I love what he brings to this team. I am hoping that he can get some playing time while Delgado is hurt and that Green can get some at bats while playing first base. I really think the Mets should carry Milledge on the playoff roster as a right handed bat, defensive replacement and speedy runner, and start him against lefties. Plus I hope the Mets dump Green and Alou next season and give Milledge and Gomez the starting jobs.

This is the 3rd time in 4 games that the Mets have scored in double digits.

Unhappy Recap: Astros 8 Mets 3

Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher.

The Mets had no chance with Dave Williams on the mound against Roy Oswalt.

Their best chance against Oswalt came in the first inning when Reyes singled, stole second and went to third on a hit by Newhan. But Beltran struck out, Wright flied out and Valentin struck out (after a Delgado walk).

Then Williams went to work, or the Astros went to work on him. He gave up three in the first, two in the second and two in the fourth before Willie had to pull him, even though he wanted to stretch Williams to save a tired bullpen.

Beltran did hit a home run to tie him with Wright for the first half lead at 16.

But that was about it.

Happy Recap: Mets 5 Astros 3

This game will be remembered for Carlos Beltran. He had the game winning hit and an unbelievable game saving catch in the 14th. With a man on third Beltran ran up the hill in centerfield and made a basket catch just shy of the warning track, about 430 feet from home plate. An incredible catch. Made even better by the fact that he later drove in the winning run. His experience in center field from his time playing with the Astros may have helped him with this one.

But it never would have gotten that far were it not for the bullpen. The bullpen was great pitching 10 shutout innings, allowing only 5 hits:
Pedro Feliciano did a great job in the bottom of the 9th to strike out Berkman on three pitches with two men on. But Willie didn't double switch him into the game so he only got that one batter out of him.

In the 12th Schoeneweis got in trouble by falling asleep and letting a runner steal third with one out. Then he walked a man (irrelevant!) so Willie went to Joe Smith. Smith has had trouble with first batters and he hit Biggio (grazed) to load the bases, but Smith nutted up and struck out Hunter Pence.

Then in the 14th Beltran saved the day. Smith hit another batter, than a sacrifice and a groundout but the runner on third with two outs. After a walk, Luke Scott hit one deep to center field and Beltran made the catch.

Aaron Sele pitched two good innings.

Billy Wagner spent the whole game in the bullpen, the last two innings by himself, and at the time I didn't think Willie should save him, but he did, and it worked out as Wagner got the save.



The Mets did miss a lot of chances:
In the 8th Beltran struck out with two men on and two outs. He is batting .125 with runners in scoring position and two outs this season.

In the 9th the Mets had another chance but LoDuca got thrown out trying to go to third on a single to center by Green. He shouldn't have been trying to make it. With two outs late in the game you probably need another hit anyway, so you might as well play station to station, hoping you can score from second on a single by the next guy, or a home run better still.

Top 12th the much maligned Julio Franco singled with Green on second, Green rightly stopped (he would have been nailed at home) but Reyes couldn't get the run home with an out, then Gotay made out also.

And here's what I wrote while watching the first 8 innings of the game, seems irrelevant now but this is what you would have read if this game had ended in 9 innings:

Tom Glavine doing what he always does. With Hunter Pence on first he walked Carlos Lee (almost on purpose) to get to Morgan Ensberg. Then he got Ensberg in the hole and on 2-2 threw one off the plate, then bitched about the call. On 3-2 his sinker got too much of the plate and Ensberg crushed it for a double. Then Burke hit one past the ancient Green to make it 3-0.

But the Mets got two of those runs back in the next inning on a home run by Delgado.

And Glavine did what Williams could not, he got a quick inning right after the Mets scored those two runs for him. And that was all Glavine gave up, he really settled down after that one bad inning.

The Mets tied the game on a home run by Wright but couldn't push another run across until the 17th inning. And it's worth mentioning that the game-winning rally was started with a walk by Reyes, something that has become too rare recently.



But this was an absolutely huge win for the Mets. This is the type of game great teams win. Teams that win championships look back on games like this and remember them as turning points or launching pads.

Side note: My DVR which I normally set for an inordinate length of time cut out after the top of the 15th. Thankfully I got to see Beltran's catch.

Unhappy Recap: Astros 4 Mets 0

The Astros got a lucky run in the third inning. Ausmus hit a dribbler to Wright, he couldn't bare hand it. Then he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Then he stole third but actually slid a foot short of the base and Wright's swipe tag missed him, then Ausmus got up and stepped on third. Castro is now 0-18 throwing out runners this year. But it didn't really matter as Pelfrey then gave up hits to Biggio and Pence. But then Pelfrey settled down and retired Berkman and Lee to escape further trouble.

But the next time through the lineup Pelfrey did what has been doing in every start so far. He got in a little trouble and lost his composure. After a double by Pence drove in a run Pelfrey allowed a 2-run homer to Berkman.

Pelfrey gave up 4 runs in 6 innings (pretty consistent with his 6 ERA) and lost his 7th straight start.

But it wouldn't have mattered if he'd only allowed one run.

The Mets offense was shut out by Wandy Rodriguez, getting 4 hits.

In the top of the 8th inning Reyes hit a little dribbler down the third base line and didn't run to first base. It looked like it might go foul but it stayed fair and Reyes stopped dead about 5 feet from home plate. To make matters worse Lamb who was playing third ran across the field with the ball, embarrassing Reyes even more. Randolph pulled Reyes from the game.

This is the second time this week Reyes was yanked after not running out a ball. Willie said the first time he didn't yank him because of it, that he was giving him an inning off. That wasn't the case this time.

Game time was 2 hours and 18 minutes.

I have no idea why this team can't score runs, but it's going on six weeks of pretty consistent shitty hitting, and this could become a huge problem if it doesn't improve soon.

Happy Recap: Mets 6 Astros 2

Once again the Mets put up another big first inning, scoring two runs on a Reyes triple to that big hill in centerfield. Then Ledee hit one off the first base bag for a single and Delgado drove him home to give the Mets another 2-0 lead.



In the second inning Carlos Delgado crushed one to the deepest part of centerfield, 436 feet, a sure home run in any other stadium, but in Houston it was a double. He scored on a double by the best backup catcher in baseball, Ramon Castro.

John Maine was just what the doctor ordered for the Mets tonight. He was dominating from the first inning when he struck out the side. Then in the fifth Biggio got a hit and Ledee completely fucked up a fly ball by Pence to make it first and second with none out. Maine then struck out Berkman and Lee for a new career high in strikeouts with 9.



Keith Hernandez but his bare feet up on the counter. Then Gary Cohen said he actually wears shoes and it came out that Keith Hernandez wears Crocs, in every color. That's all he wears. Says it's good for his back.

Maine lost his shutout in the 8th allowing doubles to Biggio and Lee. Then Joe Smith came in and allowed the inherited runner to score, meaning Maine allowed 2 runs in 7 2/3 innings, which is good, but not as good to his ERA has 0 runs in 7 innings (would have been 2.56 instead of 2.71), which he would have pitched had the bullpen not been so overworked for the last two nights in Colorado.

Carlos Beltran tacked on a home run in the 9th to avoid an 0-5 night.

Carlos Delgado went 4 for 4.

John Maine is now 10-4 with a 2.71 ERA and he will not be going to the All-Star game.