Happy Recap: Mets 6 Dodgers 1

This one went down just the way they drew it up when the assembled this team.

Johan Santana dominated (ok, maybe not quite dominated, but he went deep and allowed only one run). Reyes got on base and started rallies. Wright got a big 2-out hit. Beltran blasted another one.

I was very happy with Santana. I still think he's not quite what he was, but he's still an excellent pitcher and believe it or not he's on track to win between 18 and 21 games. If he keeps pitching consistently well, and the offense comes around he could get there. Remember he's gotten wins in only 58% of his starts and in two of his non-wins he allowed only one run.



Beltran blasted his home run right when Jon Miller was talking about his diminshed power numbers. As soon as Joe Morgan said "but he can get hot" Beltran cranked one.



But the key to that whole inning, and the whole win was David Wright's 2-out single. Without that the Mets don't get any of those 5 runs, and who knows what happens after that if the game is still 1-1. That's the biggest difference between the Mets of the past week, 2 out hits, especially with men on base. I have no idea what suddenly changed, but something did, and maybe it will change back, but for now it's why the Mets are winning.

Glad to see Ryan Church back and right into home run form. I hope Willie gives him the night off to clear his head after a cross-country flight. But Willie may want to rest him on Tuesday against Zito instead.



Scott Schoeneweis has really been awesome this season.

The series drew 208,853, a Mets record for a four-game series.

Jose Reyes has a 17-game hitting streak and a 32-game on base streak.
There has been a lot of talk that Reyes is not the player he was in 2006, but I disagree.
2006: .300 BA .354 OBP .487 SLUG .841 OPS
2008: .284 BA .347 OBP .480 SLUG .827 OPS

Those numbers are essentially the same. And his counting stats are roughly the same (pro-rated of course) as well, except for runs scored, proving that maybe the team isn't quite what it used to be.

Note: I understand that I am making this comparison at a high point for 2008 Reyes while 2006 Reyes incorporates highs and lows. I'm just illustrating that the Reyes lost a step talk is probably not accurate in reality, even if it exists in our perceptions.

Big Brown's jockey Kent Desormeaux threw out the first pitch.

Happy Recap: Mets 3 Dodgers 2

Huge win because the Mets got back the one they gave away the previous night.

And it was especially huge because Beltran delivered the key hit. He hasn't had a terrible season but he's been productive in reaching base than in driving in runners. This homer came at exactly the right time for him and for the team.




What can you say about Fernando Tatis, two game winning hits in a week. Now, I don't expect him to keep up this clutch hitting all season but for now Willie must keep him in the lineup. I truly believe that hitting in big spots is something certain players are good at while others aren't and Tatis certainly seems to have the knack for it.

Mike Pelfrey was pitching for his job and he certainly earned it for at least another start. It's very likely he will remain in the rotation and Vargas will go to the bullpen.

A couple of things impressed me about Pelfrey in this start. First off, he generally has done great in the first couple innings and faded late in games. He reversed that in this game.

Also he didn't allow bad defense mind him to get him rattled in the first inning.

He threw a ton of pitches in the fourth inning but fought back to minimize the damage.



Excellent relief work from Sanchez and Wagner. Wagner dominated in striking out the side.

People often wonder why closers get paid so much to essentially get three outs in a somewhat low pressure situation. This is why, because these late-game comebacks are huge psychologically, and you need a guy to nail it down with ease.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 9 Mets 5

Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher and John Maine wasn't very good, allowing 3 runs in the first inning. But the big one to me was the run he gave up in the 4th, right after the Mets came back to tie it.

Taking the 5-4 lead made it seem like the Mets would have another great comeback win, until Aaron Heilman came in.

I think Willie got a little too cute with him after a couple good appearances. But it seems he's a 5th and 6th inning pitcher, not and 8th inning pitcher. Hopefully we'll never see him in a close game again.



Pierre was definitely out which hurt but four straight hits after that...that's bad pitching. Also I think maybe a more experienced rightfielder would have caught Kemp's double, but those are the things the Mets have to overcome right now.

What is up with Luis Castillo's newfound power.

Even though the Mets did score 5 runs, once again they couldn't get the big hit with men on.

Third inning: bases loaded one out, Beltran sac fly, Tatis grounded out.
Fourth inning: bases loaded no outs, Maine fielder's choice out at home, Reyes fielder's choice out at third, Castillo walked and Wright grounded out.
Seventh inning: Bases loaded one out, Castro grounded out, Delgado walked and Evans struck out.

That's three bases loaded situations, and three runs, but they went 0 for 6 with the bases loaded and that's horrible. I love scoring runs on outs but you need to score runs on hits also.

I can see why Clayton Kershaw is such a hot prospect, he has a sick curveball, but he just didn't have his control in this game.

Happy Recap: Mets 8 Dodgers 4

Things are really starting to build for the Mets. But the biggest thing is, their luck has turned around. But it's not just luck, you need to capitalize on your luck as well. It's better to be lucky than good but really good teams have to be both.

For example, the Mets got a huge break on the catcher's interference call allowing Vargas to reach, but they still need 2-out hits from Reyes and Castillo to turn it into anything, and then a home run by Wright to turn it into something big.



David Wright's 2 homers and 4 RBI gave him 40 RBI on the season, putting him in the top 10 in the majors.



Horrible job by SNY during that play though. They went to commercial after they thought Vargas made out, then came back after Reyes singled, and never mentioned what happened. It was only after several more plays the Gary Cohen mentioned the catcher's interference.

Why have Mets pitchers been giving up so many home runs at Shea Stadium? It should be a pitcher's park.

Notice how much better Willie Randolph has been using the bullpen since they've started getting people out. Using the bullpen is impossible for a manager when the guys aren't going well, but when everyone you bring in is getting people out, it makes the manager look like a genius.

Another great game by Endy Chavez. He got that broken bat hit where he basically threw his bat, but the even bigger play was nailing Pierre at the plate in the first inning. He caught it in perfect position to throw and made a perfect throw, low and on the bounce. And Schneider did a perfect job blocking the plate. Pierre never got his hand in, he was 100% out.

Remember one thing about this Mets mini-run. They still need to get 3 more wins in a row just to get back to where they were before the losing streak. And even that would mean only going .500 over a 14 game span. There is still a lot of work left to do and what they really need is a stretch where they go 20-10 over 30 games or something like that.

I'm excited to see Clayton Kershaw pitch but a little nervous given the Mets inauspicious track record against pitchers they've never seen before.

Happy Recap: Mets 12 Dodgers 1

I guess it was an unfortunate piece of timing that the Mets got their best pitched game of the year on the same day their offense finally erupted.

It must be something about Wednesday getaway games. The three times the Mets ended a series on a Wednesday they won 13-0 (third game of the year, against the Marlins), lost 13-1 (last week against the Pirates) and won 12-1.

I wish John Maine would have completed the game. It might be the only chance we get all season for a complete game. I understand why Willie took him out there, but I would have given him a little more rope.

After two horrible performances with men in scoring position it seemed like everyone was contributing. Even Maine and Castillo got run scoring hits. Neither of them pretty, but they were both effective.

Ryan Church is awesome. I still think he should be batting second but I understand why with Alou and Delgado out of the lineup, Willie moved him down.

Awesome catch by Angel Pagan.

But not as good as the catch by the guy holding the baby.

The Mets play their next 7 games against very weak teams, the Reds and the Nationals and they will miss superstar Edinson Volquez. They need to take 5 of 7.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 5 Mets 4

This was a hard loss to take because they had so many chances and couldn't convert. It was the typical Mets loss, bad starting pitching, failure with men on base, the only difference this time was that the bullpen didn't blow it.

But it still isn't anywhere near as good as the Dodgers bullpen. The Mets got 11 baserunners off Kiroda in the first 3 1/13 innings. They got 4 baserunners over the next 5 2/3 and struck out for 11 of the 17 outs.

Nelson Figueroa's novelty is over. He is a decent pitcher, but he can only really go 5 innings, and even though this was his worst start of the season, I'm not expecting a major rebound from him. But if the other Mets starters were better and pitching deeper Figueroa's problems wouldn't be as pronounced.

On April 19th the Mets won to improve to 10-6. During that span they were 6-2 when Perez, Pelfrey and Figueroa started. Since then they are 6-9 and 1-8 when those three guys start. I could break it down even more but that's telling enough.

Why wasn't Angel Pagan backing up Church on that inside the park home run?

I can't believe Moises Alou is credited with stealing home.

The big play in this game was the 1-2-3 double play Church hit into in the 2nd. The 1-2-3 is always a killer but this was particularly bad because you knew the Mets were going to need a lot more than 3 runs to win the game.

Overall the Mets were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position, and the 2 hits came in the first 3 chances. The last 6 chances were all strikeouts.

I know Delgado has been hitting better lately but if you saw him against Kuo you know that any pitcher with a good fastball can beat him inside. I honestly don't know why teams don't use this against him more often. Do they feel like if they overuse it he'll catch on and figure out what's coming. Is it guilt, like using a cheat code in a video game? Or do they not have confidence that they can get the fastballs far enough inside every time and fearing giving up a homer, like the one he hit off Webb that got too much of the plate?

After a good series in Arizona it would be very disappointing to get swept by the Dodgers and fall to .500.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 5 Mets 1

It's always something with Oliver Perez. This time it wasn't the walks, he only allowed 2, it was the home runs. He had given up only one so far this season but gave up 3 in this game including one to Rafael Furcal, the first batter, on an 0-2 pitch.

That really set the tone, as did Sandy Alomar's horrible decision to hold Carlos Beltran at third on Delgado's double in the top of the second. He would have scored easily. Plus the Mets have to take chances because the bottom of their order is so bad. I honestly feel things would have been a lot different if they would have gotten at least one run back right then.

If Brian Schneider keeps playing like this he'll remind Mets fans of Mike Piazza. He struck out with a man on third and one out and threw two balls into center field on stolen base attempts.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a bullpen that could come in and pitch 3 perfect innings?

By the way, Alomar also made a mistake sending Beltran home on his triple. Beltran ignored Alomar's waving. Even though he would have been safe it would have been imprudent to gamble there with no outs, down 5 runs.

The Dodgers are holding themselves back with the same wrong-headed thinking the Mets fall victim to. They have so many talented young guys yet they spent money on old veterans like Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. I have no idea why they signed Jones rather than give Kemp and Ethier the corner spots with Pierre in center. Now that Jones is literally one of the worst players in the majors this year (194 out of 197 qualifiers in terms of OPS) I'm sure they're regretting that move.

Just for your information, Castillo is 181 on that list.

Since being demoted to the 8th spot Castillo is 0 for 10 (part of an 0 for 17 streak). He's come up 6 times with 2 outs and obviously made the third out all 6 times. So 5 times (one of those at bats ended a game) he couldn't even reach base just to ensure Reyes could lead off the next inning.

The Mets are now 2-5 when Perez starts. In his 7 starts he's given up 5 runs or more 4 times and 0 runs 3 times. This is what I wrote about him in my season preview "he can pitch shutouts and dominate, but he can also get wild and give up home runs" and so far he has been much worse than I expected.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 6 Mets 2

Another series the Mets had a chance to sweep and couldn't put the hammer down.

And it was another mediocre start by a starting pitcher who turned it over to a bullpen that just imploded.

A 2-run double by Wright gave the Mets a 2-1 lead but everything went wrong starting in the 5th. Maine got rocked for 4 hits but only 2 runs thanks to Kemp getting picked off third.

The Mets had a chance to answer back but Alou struck out with the bases loaded.

In the 6th Maine got 2 outs but it should have been 3 because Conine made an error. With two outs and a man on it all went to hell. Gonzalez singled, Furcal singled and Willie took out Maine with the score 4-2. Schoeneweis came and allowed a single to Pierre and a little knubber by Kemp, each of which scored a run.

Happy Recap: Mets 4 Dodgers 3

Another great starting pitching performance, this time from El Duque. The Mets sorely need the starters to go 7 innings. El Duque did give the Mets seven strong but with two outs and none on in 7th he allowed back to back home runs to Luis Gonzalez and Russell Martin.

Carlos Delgado got a huge hit in this game that will hopefully be a turning point for him. After making the third out of an inning twice, stranding 5 baserunners, he got up with the bases loaded and two outs in his third at bat. Instead of booing the crowd gave him a standing O and he delivered a single on the first pitch to make the score 3-0.

The Mets tacked on an insurance run which they needed after Milledge butchered a ball that he should have let fall in front of him for a single, turning it into a triple.

But that run didn't matter as Aaron Heilman came in to get his first save of the season.

If Wagner is going through a tired arm period then why did Willie bring him in on Friday with a 4-run lead? I'm worried that Willie is overusing his pen.

Happy Recap: Mets 5 Dodgers 2

A great performance by Oliver Perez, he worked out of trouble in the first and in several subsequent innings but he held the Dodgers down for 7 much needed innings. His velocity seemed better than in his past few starts but his control was off, 5 walks allowed.

Reyes produced the first two runs with a walk and a steal in the first and a double in the third, scoring on hits from Gotay and Wright. Wright also added a solo homer.

The bullpen tried to blow it, Sosa loading the bases in the 8th and Wagner loading them in the 9th, but each time the Mets got out of it allowing only one run.

Luckily the offense added two insurance runs in the top of the 9th on a big hit by Milledge who had struck out 7 times in a row a streak that ended earlier in this game.

12 straight games of 5 runs or more, the Mets have won 2/3 of those games (8-4).

Happy Recap: Mets 5, Dodgers 4

SCZA checking in with the Recap, and I must start with a disclaimer. For whatever reason, MLB Extra Innings did not offer this game, so I can only go by highlights and recaps, thus the brevity.

El Duque did not have his best stuff, but the team bailed him out, once again making a comeback against ex-Met Roberto Hernandez in the 8th. It's nice to see Carlos Beltran continue to get key hits instead of striking out all the time.

The Dodgers are awful defensively, and it showed big time in the 9th inning. Matt Kemp, who had already made a couple of bad plays in this series, dropped a weak fly ball from Green to allow A-Hern to score the tying run.

More curious defense from the Dodgers in the 10th.

With the score tied at 4, Milledge singled with one out off D.J. Houlton. Beltran singled, and Wright grounded sharply to third, just beating the throw to avoid a double play. Then the immortal Chip Ambres made his Mets debut, hitting a grounder to third.

It really didn't look that impressive off the bat. But for some reason, Nomar was playing in on the grass with 2 outs, and couldn't get to it in time. The ball squirted through, and Milledge scored the go-ahead run.

Billy Wagner had some issues with Shawn Green (playing 1st) and Juan Pierre in the bottom of the inning, but he got Nomar looking for the save.

Next up, Pittsburgh.

Notes: Alou is scheduled to be back in the lineup Tuesday against the Pirates. I would suspect Chip Ambres will be sent back down. It will be interesting to see how much PT Milledge takes from Alou and Green. I would rotate the three to reduce the risk of injury. Also, Damion Easley's father Raymond passed away. It's not known when Easley will return to the team.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 8 Mets 6

The Mets offense stayed hot which is encouraging, but it was a rough start for Jorge Sosa, the second time in three games a Mets pitcher blew a big lead...this time the Mets couldn't come back.

They got on the board with RBI from their best clutch hitters and guys who should definitely be in the lineup more often, Castro and Milledge.

Wright added a 2-run homer to make it a 4-0 lead.

Then Sosa ran into trouble. In the fourth inning he gave up 6 hits to 7 batters, including a 3-run homer by Matt Kemp.

That was too much to come back from. But the Mets might have had a chance were it not for one bad play in the 6th inning. I am looking forward to more playing time for Ruben Gotay but I am a little concerned about his defense. With the bases loaded and one out Joe Smith got the ground ball he needed, but Gotay threw the relay way past Delgado allowing two runs to score, instead of getting out of the inning.

Beltran did add a homer to give the Mets 6 runs, but who knows if that would have happened had the score still been 6-4.

A tough loss because they had a big lead, but the emergence of the offense has to be encouraging.

Happy Recap: Mets 4 Dodgers 1

A good pitching performance from Perez and some clutch hitting, sort of, from Beltran kept things going for the Mets.

Let's start with Oliver Perez who really has been awesome all season for the Mets. He really pitched well, allowing only one run on a home run to Nomar.

The Mets got their run in the first inning thanks to some bad defense by the Dodgers outfield. Anderson reached second and Wright got a two out single to drive him home.

But that was it. Nothing for the next six innings. It wasn't until the 8th that the Mets offense woke up. Reyes doubled then scored on an error (bad defense again) on the sac bunt by Anderson. Then Carlos Beltran got his first big hit in what seems like weeks (maybe since the Philly series) and put the game out of reach.

A little bit of trouble in the 8th after Perez and Smith gave up hits but this time Willie didn't hesitate to go to Feliciano and he got two outs to end the inning.

Wagner pitched a perfect inning for the save.

Now one other thing of major import happened in this game; Jose Valentin broke his leg when he fouled a ball off it in the fourth. It was the same leg that has the injured knee.

He will be out until at least September (6 weeks) probably a little longer. I don't wish for people to get hurt but this injury should improve the team because Gotay is hitting so much better. I don't expect Gotay to continue to hit .350 in a larger sample size but Valentin has been so awful, this definitely has to be an improvement.

The other fortunate part for the Mets is that Valentin put off surgery on his knee so that he could reach 400 plate appearances and get the automatic club option for next year at $4.3 million. There's no way he can reach that total now.

I also hope this injury will allow the Mets to keep Alomar on the roster so that Castro can play and pinch hit more.

Happy Recap: Mets 13 Dodgers 9

The Mets started this game like the team we saw last year, pounding pitchers in the first inning. Reyes singled, Marlon Anderson singled, and they both scored on a double to right that Matt Kemp misplayed off the wall (a weird play Reyes thought it was going to be caught, he crossed third, went back, then retouched the bag and scored). Then Delgado walked and Castro (who continues to be so much better than LoDuca) singled up the middle. They both scored when Green singled to right field and it went right under the glove of Matt Kemp, no RBI for Green, a 2 base error. Gotay's single gave the Mets a 6-0 lead.

But of course Tom Glavine had to give the runs back in the bottom of the first. He loaded the bases with one out then gave up a single to Gonzalez to score two runs. It could have been a lot worse but Green made a great throw to nail Jeff Kent at third base.

But Glavine wouldn't let that stop him. He gave up a two run homer to Kemp in the second to allow a game that should have been a laugher to become a close game again.

The Mets got three more in the second on hits by Green and Gotay, Glavine walked and Reyes grounded in a run and Marlon Anderson drove home two runs to make it 9-4.



But Glavine once again can't stand prosperity, giving up four straight hits before being pulled for a relief pitcher.

Glavine got 9 runs of support and still couldn't get his 299th win.

Sele did a pretty decent job of shutting the Dodgers down and it not for an error by Wright he probably would have.

Carlos Delgado and Ramon Castro hit back to back homers in the 6th to put the game away.

Castro is now 15 for his last 32 with 3 homers and 9 RBI. I'm sick of Willie's loyalty to his veterans costing this team games. LoDuca is an unproductive hitter and should be benched, at least for the short term.

Hopefully the offensive explosion that began with Wright's 3-run homer against the Padres will continue and the starting pitching will settle down.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 9 Mets 1

This losing is starting to get very bad and soon the Mets might find themselves unable to dig themselves out of the hole they are currently digging. It is very likely that by Sunday night the Mets will have lost 8 games in a row, and the Yankees will have won 12 in a row, which would give the teams identical 36-31 records.

Even Jorge Sosa couldn't stop the bleeding. Since May 27, the other Mets starters have a combined record of 1-7, while Jorge Sosa was 3-0, now 3-1. He started this game off well, allowing only one hit through the first four innings. And once again the Mets got him an early lead. I wonder the last time a team has lost five in a row while scoring first in all five games.

He started off the fifth inning by allowing a home run to Wilson Betemit, the second straight day he got the Dodgers started. Then came the biggest play of the game. Kemp weakly hit one to the right side. It was probably Valentin's ball, but Delgado committed to fielding it, therefore Sosa had to cover first. He was late getting over and Kemp was on base. After that Furcal tripled and Pierre singled him home. Maybe at 1-1 it was already too late, Sosa could only win with a shutout, but I would have liked to see how this one would have turned out had he gotten Kemp at first.

In the sixth Dodgers tacked on three more, as Sosa gave up three more hits, then Feliciano allowed the inherited runner to score.

At 6-1 it was over. The Mets could not hit Brad Penny. They got him for one run in the first thanks to David Wright who is playing unbelievable right now. He has 15 game hitting streak and is still diving after balls in the field.

Which is more than I can say for Carlos Delgado. He is absolutely killing the Mets right now. He can't get a hit. I know he got hot for a week, and that he has 3 walkoff RBI but there is no question in my mind that the Mets would be better off with just about anyone else playing first base for them. In this day and age you can't carry a .220 hitter in the middle of your lineup. Plus, for the second day in a row Delgado didn't dive to attempt to stop a ball hit down the line. In both cases with a little more effort he might have been able to at least knock it down.

Brad Penny confronted Shawn Green about something after his at bat in the third inning. Maybe he thought Green was peaking at the signs, or stealing signs when he was on second base in the 1st inning, but Penny was not happy. He took it out on the Mets though, improving to 8-1 with a 2.18 ERA.

Billy Wagner also got touched up for two runs on a James Loney homer but I really don't count that against him. I judge closers by their ability to close games. That's it. I don't care what happens in blowouts, or if they give up 2 runs every time they come in with a 3-run lead. The closer should be judged on his ability to help the team win games. So I'll give Wagner a pass on this one. But not on the homer to Burrell, that was a huge game in retrospect, even bigger than we knew at the time.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 4 Mets 1

The tailspin continues, with another terrible performance by what is allegedly the Mets offense.

A lot of similar themes here, once again the Mets took an early lead, the starter blew it, and the Mets didn't score again.

David Wright singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. He stole second, his 14th steal in 14 attempts. Delgado actually got a hit with men on base, to put the Mets up 1-0.

Then John Maine did what all Mets starters have been doing during this slump, he blew the lead. In spectacular fashion. It started with a home run to Wilson Betemit. Then he did the opposite of what Glavine does when he gets in trouble. Glavine refuses to throw strikes, Maine threw the first pitch right down the middle to Matt Kemp, he homered. Then he threw the first pitch right down the middle again and Hong-Chih Kuo, the pitcher, also homered. Kuo flipped his bat when he went deep, which pissed off Ron Darling, but obviously not John Maine, who didn't retaliate.

Darling has been making a big deal lately out of everything, no one should eat, no one should laugh, they should throw at guys. That's not going to help the team win. They need to start getting some hits.

The Mets have now lost 8 of their last 9, 9 of 11, and 11 of 13. The last 7 times they faced a lefty starter they lost.

Hong-Chih Kuo is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 17 innings against the Mets (not including playoffs) in his career. Against everyone else he is 0-7 with a 5.29 ERA.

Hopefully the Mets new stopper Jorge Sosa can stop the bleeding, but he faces Brad Penny who's having as good a season as he is. The Mets do not want to go into Yankee Stadium with a 5 game losing streak because it could be 8 by Sunday.

Unhappy Recap: Dodgers 5 Mets 3

Another terrible game in a lengthening slump. The Mets have now lost 7 out of 8 and 8 out of 10 in June.

What is perhaps most aggravating about this game is that it was so similar to the previous two at the start, the only difference being that the bullpen didn't implode this time.

The Mets got on top early when Reyes singled and went to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Green. Green, on the first pitch after coming back from a foot injury, stole second and went to third on a throwing error. Beltran failed again with a man on third and fewer than two outs but he did hit the ball very hard. But it was an atom ball as Gary Thorne might say because it was right atom. Wright drove home Green and the Mets had a 2-0 lead. They tacked on one more in the fourth on a Carlos Gomez RBI single, to take a 3-0 lead for the second day in a row.

But El Duque who has been awesome pretty much all season mowed down the Dodgers in the first three innings. But leading off the fourth he made a crucial mistake, he walked Juan Pierre, which is hard to to do. He stole second, then Martin singled and stole second, Gonzalez doubled and Ethier blooped a single to tie the game.

In the 6th Gonzalez led off with a double, then Loney hit one deep to left center that Beltran might have been able to catch but he didn't want to trample a sliding Gomez.



Then the Mets got a break, they pitched out when the Dodgers were trying a suicide squeeze. But the pitch wasn't far enough outside and Abreu bunted it anyway. LoDuca fielded, tagged Loney coming down the line and made a huge mistake. He fired the ball to first, but he was off balance and the throw sailed into right field. A horrible play. Abreu went around to third and the Dodgers lost almost nothing. Betemit blooped a single to make it 5-3.

And the Mets couldn't get a hit in the last four innings (excluding the leadoff single in the 6th).

So things are starting to get pretty bad for the Mets. But at least over the last three games everything has gone wrong, the starting pitching has been bad, the bullpen has sucked, and the offense, while better, still can't get the big hit. Hopefully they will find a way to break out of it soon. Things have been really bad over the last 8 - 10 games, but if you look over the last 20, starting with the loss to the Yankees on Sunday night, they are 8-12, .400 baseball. Not good.