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.

Unhappy Recap: Pirates 5 Mets 2

After a 6-game winning streak the Mets returned to their old formula of poor clutch hitting and worse relief pitching.

Let's start in the first inning where the Mets got 2nd and 3rd with nobody out and David Wright struck out, again. Beltran got a run in with an out (I don't complain about that) and Delgado left a runner stranded.

The Mets did get an unlucky break in the 3rd when Joe West ruled Argenis Reyes turned towards second. I guess he did by the strictest letter of the rule, but only much more egregious cases than that get called.

In the fourth it was once again 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Then Delgado hit a weak tapper to first (like he did every at bat for the first 3 months of the season) and after Tatis walked, Easley grounded into a doubleplay.

Easley also grounded into a doubleplay in the 7th, the 4th one he hit into in the past 2 games. He has 13 this season, more than anyone else on the team. He grounds into a double play once every 22 plate appearances, an almost impossible ratio.

Nick Evans led off the 6th with a double and after Wright flied out Beltran struck out (I guess he already reached his productive out quota for the game. And once again Delgado stranded a runner on third.

But he wasn't through, the most disappointing of all the disappointing innings came in the 8th when the Mets could have bounced back to take the lead, only to see Delgado make out again. And of course there's no way Endy should have been bunting on a 2-1 count to lead off that inning. He has no confidence in himself to reach base any other way.

And even though Jerry Manuel got ejected I still think it was his call to take out Maine after 5 innings. I know he had thrown 96 pitches, and gotten through a tough 5th (after a single on a pitchout) but when will they learn that the bullpen will ALWAYS blow these games. I'd rather lose by stretching the starter than asking the bullpen for four innings.

Almost immediately Brian Stokes blew the lead, but got through the inning, and then the 7th with help from Schoeneweis.

Here's where Alomar/Manuel made the biggest tactical error of the game. When Schoeneweis came in he should have double-switched in Jose Reyes and tried to stretch Schoeneweis. This is another huge problem with the Mets, it's as if they are trying to use every reliever in every game. They have so many guys, and they all suck, so when a guy comes in and gets 2 outs, stick with him.

They didn't, Feliciano gave up a hit and then Duaner Sanchez imploded. Something is definitely wrong with him as he nothing like the pitcher he was two years ago before the injury.

We can't complain about a 6-1 road trip except for the fact that it should have been an 8-game winning streak. It seems the only way the Mets can win is if the starters don't give up any runs, because the offense doesn't score enough and the bullpen blows every lead.

Happy Recap: Mets 12 Nationals 0

It's nice to take a breath and have an easy victory for a change.

Great job by Brian Stokes to give the rest of the bullpen a day off. Maybe he can stick around as a long man.

John Maine looked good through 5 innings and it was nice to be able to work him back in slowly and not worry about the bullpen blowing it.

The offense was just great, everyone deserves to be commended, but a lot of it probably had to do with bad pitching by Jason Bergmann who melted down in the third inning.

David Wright actually got a sacrifice fly in the first inning.

Daniel Murphy is awesome. There's always the doubt that he can keep this up (obviously he can't) but so far so good for this guy.



Ok the third inning was so awesome I have to run it down:
David Wright reached on infield single
Carlos Delgado walked
Carlos Beltran grounded out to first
Daniel Murphy singled to left, Wright scored
Fernando Tatis singled to left, Delgado scored
Brian Schneider walked
John Maine walked, Murphy scored
Jose Reyes singled to left, Tatis and Schneider scored
Argenis Reyes struck out
David Wright walked
Carlos Delgado walked, Maine scored
Carlos Beltran doubled to center, Reyes and Wright scored
Daniel Murphy lined out

Unhappy Recap: Marlins 7 Mets 3

An old problem is popping back up and threatening the good feelings that have surrounded the Mets this month. The Mets are 4-3 in the last 7 games and in all 3 losses the bullpen imploded, blowing a lead and allowing at least 4 runs in an inning each time. If they don't figure out something (and I'm not advocating a trade) the bullpen will surely combust at the wrong time and cost the Mets a playoff spot for the second year in a row.

John Maine's health is now another worry. He hasn't been great lately but the Mets can't afford to lose him, especially while we don't know what kind of performance Pedro will provide when he comes back. Maine says he'll be ok but clearly Dan Warthen noticed something in his delivery and the next pitch after their meeting was hit for a home run.

Fernando Tatis drove in 2 more runs.

David Wright scored a run for the 12th straight game, tying a Mets record.

Happy Recap: Mets 6 Phillies 3

Nice to see the Mets bounce back after a horrible loss. But they've taken so many losses like that this year and last I guess they are used to it.

Good performance by John Maine, throwing strikes, keeping his pitch count down and going deep into the game.

And Mets fans have never been so happy to see Billy Wagner. With all the talk about how he does in big games this was a crucial one, and he nailed it down, 1-2-3.

Huge home run by Jose Reyes, reminds me of back in 2006 when he was in the middle of every big rally, often getting a big hit. His stats this season are remarkably similar to back in 2006, except for RBI.



Two hits from Brian Schneider, maybe a couple days off did him some good. Or maybe a couple home runs by Ramon Castro scared him.

Unhappy Recap: Reds 5 Mets 2

Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher and John Maine was awful again. He continues to have bad control, he throws too many pitches, works too many deep counts and is unable to put guys away with 2 strikes. He's been awful 4 straight times now (14 ER in 19 innings) but was the beneficiary of some good luck and the Mets got two wins in his starts during the winning streak. The Mets need him to start pitching better right away.

All that said, sometimes things happen, which is why every team wins 50 and loses 50. 10-game winning streaks wouldn't be so rare if there wasn't a little luck involved. Though Maine made his own bed with 2 walks and a hit batsman (twice forcing in a run with the bases loaded) he also got unlucky as Wright got fancy on an infield chop (he had time to field it normally and step on third) and then a bloop hit to rightfield. But Maine made his own bad luck and those breaks had been going the Mets way for so long they were bound to turn around.



As I've said numerous times the big failing at the beginning of the season, and the biggest reason (bigger than the starting pitching) for the recent resurgence has been timely hitting, and the Mets didn't get any last night. There's no need to panic or point fingers, it's the nature of the game. But I really thought the Mets could make a comeback after Beltran's leadoff triple in the 7th, but Easley struck out and Tatis grounded into a double play. But both of those guys have been excellent so I have no complaints with them, it's just the way the game goes sometimes.

Happy Recap: Mets 7 Giants 3

Fernando Tatis comes up with another huge to hit to keep the Mets incredible run going.

I absolutely love this guy. There seems to be some kind of intangible about him that he is able to deliver when the Mets need him most.

Obviously his late home run was huge but his early double was also a key to victory. On this current streak the Mets have been able to take early leads and hold onto them, their formula for success back in 2006.

John Maine has now replaced Oliver Perez as the most frustrating pitcher on the Mets. He continues to throw way too many pitches, which forced him out of this game in the 5th inning. But even when he pitches well his pitch count seems to go too high too soon. He had 3-2 counts on 9 batters in this game, including the first four.

The bullpen was excellent in holding the Giants scoreless for 4 1/3 innings, especially a day after the pen contributed 4 perfect innings.

Now that Alou is out for the season I think he needs to stick with Tatis in left until his bat either slows down or his glove starts to hurt them (which I don't think will happen). Endy Chavez should play right and bat second while Church is hurt.

Happy Recap: Mets 9 Phillies 4

This was an important win for two reasons. Obviously it was crucial because of the heart-breaking defeat in the first game of the series. But also because of the way this one unfolded. Ever since last year the Phillies have dominated the Mets in terms of bullpen performance. During any game that was close late the Phillies bullpen would shut down the Mets offense, until the Mets bullpen gave it up. The opposite happened here.

Maine actually pitched better than his 3 runs in 5 2/3 innings line would indicate. The only hit he allowed was a homer to Ryan Howard, but it happened to come after a hit by pitch and a walk.

I love Ryan Church batting second, but I think unfortunately they need him to bat 5th.

I also like the fact that Manuel isn't afraid to use his backup catcher as a pinch hitter. Sure it's a risk, but a remote one, and his gamble already paid off as Schneider delivered a big hit. I hope he continues this because Castro is one of his best righthanded bats off the bench.

Damion Easley has been doing a great job during Castillo's absence. He's 10 for 21 with 6 RBI in 5 games during July.

Two injuries put somewhat of a damper on this one, but Maine's problem was in his left arm and shouldn't force him to miss a start, and Church says his migraines are something he's had since his youth (it runs in his family) and not related to that pesky brain injury.

Unhappy Recap: Cardinals 7 Mets 1

John Maine was awful in this one but it wouldn't have mattered since the Mets couldn't score any runs of Kyle Lohse.

The defense didn't help him much either as Wright's error led to a run, but at least he was trying to make a play. When Castillo let a grounder go right through his legs for a run it was embarrassing. There was nothing difficult or challenging about that grounder, he just didn't bend, or didn't keep his eye on it.

This is the third time the Mets got blown out in one week. It was 11-0 to the Mariners, then 9-0 to the Yankees, now 7-1.

Maybe that proves the theory that when they get down they don't fight back.

Happy Recap: Mets 8 Mariners 2

The Mets really needed this one. But I'm still not going to get too excited. This has been their MO all season, win a few lose a few. That's what a .500 team does.

It was nice to see David Wright break out of his slump with two huge home runs. But I promise you there is no possible way there can be such a direct correlation between his day off and his 2-homer day.

There were a couple discouraging signs in this game however.

After exploding for 8 runs in 3 innings they didn't even get a single base runner off the Mariners' bullpen in the last 5 innings.

Also, once again John Maine threw way too many pitches in 6 innings (102) and had to come out of the game. Heilman, Smith and Sanchez all had to come in, which is unfortunate because it would have been nice to give them 2 days off before the big doubleheader against the Yankees.

Happy Recap: Mets 7 Rockies 2

I was worried about John Maine after the first inning homer but he settled down and Jerry Manuel gave him tons of chances to keep working through trouble. And when he finally took him out he brought in Smith for one out, and I think he would have left Smith in for the 8th if his spot in the batting order hadn't come up.

The key to this game was Delgado's homer in the first. The Mets are a very weak psychological team right now, they can go either way, and the fact that they got right on the board after going down 2-0 was another key factor.

The Mets need more innings like the 2nd, when everyone keeps getting hits.

Monster home run by Trot Nixon.

Brian Schneider's base running was interesting in this one. First he scored from second on a single by Chavez with a perfect slide, getting his hand in just before the tag. That's a play Alomar never would have sent him on.

But then, when the Mets has bases loaded and no outs in the 7th, Reyes dumped one into right field but for some reason Schneider was bag at the bag, trying to tag up. And he got thrown out at third. I've never seen that before. It was scored as a fielder's choice meaning Reyes didn't get credited with a hit.

The Mets defense was awesome tonight as Endy Chavez, as per his usual, made an incredible running catch with a man on. Trot Nixon made a nice sliding catch to strand two runners in that same inning.

The Mets are back at .500 and need to keep it going with Pedro on the mound.

Great defense
Brian Schneider's base running.

Unhappy Recap: Rangers 8 Mets 7

When is Willie Randolph going to learn that he has to leave the starters in when they are in trouble. The bullpen blows it way too often for him to rely on them. The Mets actually had a chance in this game until 5 runs scored on the bullpen's watch. He has to let the starters go deeper or this is going to keep happening.

Another thing Willie has to do is let Reyes steal more. He was on in the first and 5th to lead off the inning and he didn't even try to steal.

I'm not going to make the leap that the Mets would have won if the bullpen could have cut off a few more runs, because everything else would have changed. The Rangers pitched much differently because they had a 6-run lead. There's no guarantee the Mets would have scored 7 runs if the Rangers only had 6.

That said I was impressed by 2 great rallies they put together in the 8th and 9th. The only problem was two rally-killing double plays. The first one was totally Sandy Alomar Sr's fault. He should have sent Schneider on Tatis's single. The Rangers probably wouldn't have even let the ball go through because it would have put the tying run on second base if Schneider scored. Also, worst case scenario Schneider gets thrown out, the Mets still have 2nd and 3rd. Instead Alomar held him, but had him tag on a shallow fly ball by Reyes and he was out by 10 feet killing a rally.

In the 9th, 5 of the first 6 batters to come up reached base, the only one who didn't was the awful Carlos Delgado who grounded into a crushing double play.

Getting big hits in this game were: Fernando Tatis, Ramon Castro and Carlos Beltran.

Delgado did have a homer and another run-scoring single.

Just like Oliver Perez, the Mets are 7-7 in games started by John Maine. The only difference is when Maine loses, he gives up 3 or 4 runs, and when he wins it's 1 or 2. As oppoesd to Perez who pitches shutouts or gets bombed. Either way, the Mets win about half the times those pitchers start. They are 2 and 3 in this rotation, so this is where the Mets need to make up wins in order to improve from below .500.

Unhappy Recap: Diamondbacks 9 Mets 5

The Mets had been finding new ways to lose, but this time they went back to the same old way. A starter who can't go deep, a horrible bullpen and an offense that can't score run when it needs to.

I understand it was hot but John Maine has to go more than 5 innings.

There's nothing to say about the bullpen. Every guy sucked. Nothing Willie Randolph can do when every guy he brings in gives up runs.

The best thing the Mets bullpen did all night was when Schoeneweis and Wagner helped the grounds crew hold down the tarp.



And the offense pounded 5 runs in 2 innings then completely went in the tank.

I will say Moises Alou helps the offense a lot, but they need Church back too. And they need Wright and Beltran to get hot as well.

The scene before the rain delay was crazy. Shit was blowing all over the field, and I'm not talking about the Mets players.

Happy Recap: Mets 5 Giants 3

This has now become a prolonged winning streak, exactly what the Mets needed. 7 out of the last 9, but because they lost 7 out of 8 right before it, they're actually worse off than they were on May 18th.

A key during this stretch has been scoring in the first inning, of course helped out by the hot hitting of Jose Reyes. Who by the way apparently had his reached base streak ended because an error is not sufficient to prolong the streak.

Reyes did however make an error, his 10th, that led to a run, and some extra pitches for John Maine. But he made up for that with a 2-run homer, his 8th. Reyes has shown uncharacteristic power this year, but also uncharacteristic bad defense.

John Maine pitched pretty well, but I'd like to see him give the Mets a little more length. Other than Santana there doesn't seem to be a guy on the staff who can pitch more than 6 innings.

Carlos Beltran is now officially on fire. He's 6 for 16 with 2 homers and 7 RBI starting with that game-tying shot against the Dodgers on Saturday. And he was starting to heat up before that.

The Mets have now won their third straight series.

They are 7-2 this season in rubber games of a 3-game series.

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.

Unhappy Recap: Rockies 4 Mets 1

Right now the Mets are a bad team. Bad teams always find ways to lose and the Mets did it again.

I know John Maine did not pitch great and like every other Mets pitcher seemingly does he threw a ton of pitches and therefore couldn't get deep in the game. But he allowed only 3 hits and he should have been out of the 4th inning but Reyes let an easy double play ball go through his legs. The next guy hit a 3-run homer and that was it.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with Reyes. He's hitting and getting on base but his head is not in the game. He was picked off again, and made that crucial error.

There's nothing else to even say about this, they just stink right now. They can't hit, they can't field, and the pitching while not terrible was bad enough to send the Mets to their 6 loss in 7 games.

With the first place Marlins coming in the Mets are in danger of falling 6 1/2 games out if they don't win the series. While it's still early that's a big hole to be in before June starts.

Unhappy Recap: Braves 6 Mets 1

This game started off very promisingly. Castillo homered (his second as a Met) then Wright, Beltran and Church all reached base (Wright could not have scored on Church's single). Run in, bases loaded no outs then Alou and Delgado stranded the runners. They both hit the ball hard but why can't the Mets ever get a sacrifice fly?

After that the Mets went down 22 straight.

John Maine was bad but he's been so good so far this season that you really can't complain, the occassional bad start is going to happen. Plus he wasn't so bad that the game was out of reach, he just didn't have his best stuff.

Aaron Heilman sucks. But every outing like this (gets ahead 0-2, gets to a full count and allows a home run) means he's less likely to ever pitch in a pressure situation again, and hopefully it's one step closer to him being off the team.

Glavine struck out Delgado in the fourth inning on a high inside fastball that Glavine blew right by him. I don't understand why every team doesn't throw every pitch to Delgado a high inside fastball.

This is why Mets fans weren't overly excited about the sweep of the Yankees. It can all turn around so quickly, especially against the Braves in Turner Field.

If the Mets don't win the nightcap they'll have erased all the good work they did against the Yankees.

Happy Recap: Mets 6 Nationals 3

This game was basically won by the only three Mets who are performing above expectations this season.

John Maine was excellent and circumstances conspired to hold him to 6 innings more than his performance did. Easley's error cost him a few extra pitches and the fact that his turn in the order came up in the bottom of the 6th made it the right decision to take him out.

Wins and losses are sometimes dismissed as useful statistical tools in evaluating pitchers, but with Maine the 5 wins are meaningful. There are a lot of ways to get a 2.81 ERA but the fact that Maine has done it with 7 straight starts of 2 runs or fewer, shows that he is keeping his team in the game and giving them the best shot to win.



Ryan Church has got to stay in the number 2 hole. He has been awesome and is constantly getting the big hit with men on base. Also one of my pet peeves is when a pitcher gets a lead and immediately gives it back. Maine did that by allowing the Zimmerman home run, but Church got that run right back in the bottom of the inning.

I hate when the announcers say a player looked like he was trying to prove something to his old team. But in 7 games against the Nationals so far this season Church is hitting .367 with 11 runs, 2 homers and 9 RBI.



Billy Wagner still has not given up an earned run this year. He did blow one save and give up unearned runs in another appearance but his ERA is still 0.00.

The Mets need Duaner Sanchez for that 8th inning, but those two walks could have killed us.

Damion Easley is a huge offensive upgrade over Luis Castillo and he allows Church to bat second, but if he keeps playing defense like that, the Mets will have to come up with another option.

And I have to praise Carlos Delgado for his performance in this game. The bunt single was great. I have been begging him to do that for more than 2 years now. If he does that once every 10 games (and I believe he could do it more often than that) he can add 30 points to his batting average. For math wizards, estimating 33 at bats per 10 games (seems reasonable) 1 extra hit per 33 at bats adds 30 points to your batting average.

He also crushed that ball to centerfield with two men on but Milledge made a great play on it.

But what about that play by Kearns? That was just awful. Did the wind have something to do with that? I can't remember seeing a guy whiff like that, not even Todd Hundley during his outfield experiment.

After the game Maine denied it but I think he hit Felipe Lopez to lead off the game as a response to the "softball girls" controversy from the previous game. First pitch, first inning, off the leg, seems a little suspicious?

The Mets started this game 0 for 8 with men in scoring position before Church's big "double" in the 6th. But over that same span they were 4 for 5 with a man on first.

Before being called up Fernando Tatis has 12 homers in 120 at bats for AAA New Orleans.

Annika Sorenstam threw out the first pitch, just hours after she announced her retirement from golf at the end of the season.
She was given a jersey with #59 on it, a nod to her best ever round. Kudos to the clever Mets staffer who thought of that, even though it likely went over the heads of almost everyone watching.
But why did her jersey say Annika and not Sorenstam on the back?
She gave a very thoughtful interview with Kevin Burkhardt from her seat behind home plate. Burkhardt is an excellent "sideline" reporter, whether he's interviewing dignitaries or relating a story about a particular player, his reports always seem unobstrusive and he always keeps his eye on the game during them.

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.

Happy Recap: Mets 7 Diamondbacks 2

There's just something about going to Arizona that wakes up the Mets bats.

You can talk about anyone you want, Johan Santana, Oliver Perez, Carlos Delgado, Aaron Heilman, but no one matters as much to the Mets' success as Jose Reyes. When he leads off with a triple, and then adds 3 more hits, the Mets are going to win games. He had a bad game in the blowout loss but in the past three games he's been on base 13 times in the last 4 games.

I think the only thing I enjoy more than watching Reyes leg out a triple is watching Reyes leg out inside the park home run (even if he gets thrown out at home). Do you think Reyes and Alomar knew that he needed a homer for the cycle when they elected to try for the inside the parker? I hope so. Do you think its bad sportsmanship to pursue individual goals like that.

Ryan Church is an excellent number 2 hitter and it will turn out to be a huge positive externaility of Alou's return that Church can now bat second. Willie cannot be stubborn and stick Castillo there. The Mets need someone with power in that spot.

David Wright also had a huge night also falling just short of the cycle.

I like the fact that even though he is struggling Beltran continues to draw walks and has a pretty decent on-base percentage. If he can keep this up with Alou back, it could provide Alou some good RBI chances.

I guess it's an accomplishment that John Maine made it through 6 innings but isn't this the type of game in which a starter should be able to pitch 7, 8 or even 9 innings? Why do all the Mets pitchers hit the 100 pitch mark in the 6th inning?

It's disappointing to have to use 3 relievers to protect a 5 run lead. Especially with the way the bullpen has been overused.

I was disappointed we didn't get to see the real Micah Owings on the mound or at the plate. The Mets walked him twice and pounded him because he has a bad ankle. It will not be as easy against Brandon Webb and Dan Haren.