Unhappy Recap: Nationals 6 Mets 2

The great Jorge Sosa we once knew is no longer. In the second inning he gave up four doubles leading to three runs. Then each time the Mets got a run to cut the lead to two, Sosa allowed a solo home run.
Sosa has now started 14 games for the Mets, in the first 7 (culminating in his great start against Detroit) he was 6-1 with a 2.64 ERA; and in the second 7 he is 1-6 with a with a 7.00 ERA.

Moises Alou made his return to the lineup with a double and a run scored. He actually started what could have been a big inning in the second after the Nationals had taken a 3-0 lead. After his double LoDuca singled, but with first and third and none out Milledge grounded into a double play.

You have to wonder what will happen to Milledge's playing time with Alou back and once Beltran is healthy. I doubt he'll see much action because Willie will be loyal to Green.

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.

Unhappy Recap: Padres 5 Mets 1

Another game full of missed opportunities for the Mets. I am really beginning to worry that they are just an old team that can't do the little things to produce runs, prevent runs and it's clear that they cannot hit with men on base. For the last month and a half the Mets have been a .400 team while getting pretty good pitching. I don't see any signs that this is going to end.

The first blown chance came in the second inning. With Sosa on second Reyes beat out an infield hit (watching him race Wells to the bag was hysterical). But Milledge, who has gotten enough key hits to warrant batting second, hit one hard down the line to third, but it was fielded for the third out.

In the fourth the Mets got their run on singles by Wright, Delgado and LoDuca but Green grounded into a double play to end the inning. Another symptom of a slow old team, rally killing double plays.

In the fifth a walk and a single were wasted when Milledge and Beltran left the runners stranded.

The Mets had one more chance in the 7th, Gotay reached base, and Reyes had a 3-0 count against Heath Bell, he took two pitches in a row and on the 3-1 count Gotay got nailed trying to steal, killing a potential rally.

In the bottom of the inning the bullpen blew up. Joe Smith allowed two singles, then Feliciano came in and tried to get the runner at third on a sacrifice bunt. His throw was horrible and luckily it hit the runner to keep it in the infield. They got one force at home, but Reyes couldn't try on the second ground ball, but they did get out of the inning with only one run.

But that was too much against the Padres bullpen. Linebrink and Hoffman shut the Mets down and the Padres added two runs in the bottom of the 8th including a home run by Mike Cameron.

Sosa pitched pretty well coming off the DL, but like so many Mets pitchers recently a good effort was wasted by an absolutely atrocious offense.

Happy Recap: Mets 8 Phillies 3

The Mets are now 3/4 of the way towards putting the Phillies away for the season. If they get swept I don't think the Phillies have the stones and fortitude to come back from that.

But this may have been a pyrrhic victory as Sosa got hurt running to first base in the 6th inning. He has a strained hamstring and may have to go on the DL. He had another adequate but not great start.

But the Mets gave him a lot of run support, continuing to use the dimensions in Philadelphia and the air (the ball carries) to hit four home runs. In the first LoDuca and Wright homered to stake Sosa to an early 3 run lead.

Sosa gave back two runs in the second and then Ryan Howard crushed one, they said it was 450 feet but I think it might have even been more, to tie the game.

From then on it was all Mets. Sosa settled down and he got some help from the bullpen. The two worst relievers, Schoeneweis and Heilman both pitched good, uneventful innings and then Feliciano pitched the last two innings, starting by getting Utley and Howard.

Beltran had another huge day, hitting two more home runs (four in the last two games), he also singled to right and LoDuca scored on a throwing error. Then Beltran scored on a sac fly by Wright meaning he was involved in the last 5 Mets runs. The runs that made the difference.

Mike Pelfrey will come up to try to get his first win of the season, and give the Mets the sweep. Oliver Perez has a stiff back, hopefully he can go on Tuesday instead.

Happy Recap: Mets 2 Cardinals 1

Great teams find ways to win close games when they are not playing their best. The Mets are looking like a great team again. They are currently riding their longest winning streak of the year, the 5th time they've had a 4-gamer.

I'm really liking the development of Carlos Gomez. I still think LoDuca is the best option in the number 2 hole but if Willie values his bat so much in an RBI spot, I'd love to see Gomez get a few starts batting second. He's hitting much better after his short slump, using his speed and his power to get hits. Shortly after ripping a deep foul ball, he kept one fair for his second major league home run, to give the Mets the lead.



Sosa who was back to his old form in the first few innings got unlucky in the fifth when he couldn't field a comebacker. Then he gave up a single, followed by a sac bunt and an RBI groundout. Second and third and one out, to only allow one run is pretty good.

He didn't quite have his best stuff though, and he couldn't strike anyone out so he threw a lot of pitches and got yanked after 6.



Mike Maroth kept the Mets off balance, not allowing a hit after that Gomez home run. After Maroth, Ryan Franklin came in and pitched 2 2/3 perfect innings, leaving the Mets with only two hits through the first 10 innings.

The Mets had some bad base running plays with both Valentin and Wright getting picked off.





The Mets bullpen was equal to the task though, after Joe Smith got into a whole heap of trouble, he got out of it with a little help from Pedro Feliciano.

Billy Wagner pitched the 9th and the 10th and dominated the Cardinals. Aaron Heilman pitched a good 11th and got his 6th win, tying him with Sosa.

Then Shawn Green came up and ripped a home run, foul. Just like Gomez he followed it up with one in fair territory, off the scoreboard.









It was the Mets 6th walkoff win of the year, the second in three days.

It was the fourth time they beat the Cardinals this year (too bad they couldn't do that last October) in only four games.

Unhappy Recap: Twins 9 Mets 0

For some reason this loss pissed me off more than the others this month that have followed the similar script; starter gets bombed, hitters don't hit and bullpen makes it worse.

But this one pissed me off even more and I did two things I haven't done this season. First I yelled at the TV, loudly. It may be hard to believe but up until now I've been so confident in this time that I haven't allowed their poor play to aggravate me. Second, I turned this game off early. I haven't watched every inning of every game, but this was the first game this year that I remember planning to watch then giving up and watching something else.

And I think what got me so annoyed was the perceived lack of effort by Carlos Beltran on the play that turned the game around. After Torii Hunter singled to start the second, Jeff Cirillo hit a broken bat single to shallow centerfield. Beltran took for granted that Hunter would stop and second and did not charge the ball. Then when Hunter headed for third, Beltran scooped the ball and rushed his throw. It landed in the seats. Hunter scored, Cirillo went to third. The next batter blooped a single over the drawn in infield. Then Sosa blew up, allowing another single, and a walk to the pitcher before the floodgates really opened for 3 more runs.

That made it 5-0, and on this night 1 was too many for the Mets. They had no chance against Santana, even if they hadn't made four errors.

Another horrible performance by a team that doesn't look like it's going to break out of this slump anytime soon. It's only a matter of time before the Phillies and Braves catch them and the Mets will find themselves in third place, fighting the rest of the season to climb out of the hole they are digging for themselves right now.

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.

Happy Recap: Mets 3 Tigers 0

Leave it to Jorge Sosa to break the Mets out of their slumber. He's the first Mets pitcher to get 6 wins in his first 7 games for the team. And in those 6 wins he's allowed 2 runs or fewer. He got some help from good defense, Reyes and Gomez made good plays to prevent hits. In all the Tigers got 4 hits. Sosa threw 116 pitches but he lasted 8 innings, helped by throwing only 5 in the 7th.

Wagner came on and clearly bounced back with no ill effects from his blown save the night before. He pitched a perfect inning and struck out two.

David Wright and Delgado homered for the second day in a row.

The Mets got their third run after Gomez and Beltran singled. Gomez scored on a sac fly by Delgado, but replays show he probably did leave too early. I doubt it would have affected the outcome of the game. I don't think the Tigers would have hit Wagner even if the score were still 2-0.

I really like Gomez batting second. I mentioned before that I think he wasn't getting good pitches in the 8th hole. I also said I thought he was feeling more pressure batting 8th to drive in runs which is not his specialty. I think the biggest reason for the recent offense slump is the weakness of the #2 hitter. If the Mets need to leave LoDuca batting 6th because Alou and Green are hurt then they need to give Gomez a chance.

Happy Recap: Mets 7 Diamondbacks 1

This game started a lot like the previous game, a home run, a 2-run lead, then breaking the game open with a 3-run homer.

The Mets got behind early when Sosa gave up a home run to promising rookie Mark Reynolds.

Then the Mets answered with a Delgado homer, his 8th, and his 5th in the last 8 games.

Then Castro ripped a single that Drew didn't go after too hard, then a Gotay bloop, and a Newhan slow roller led to two more runs.

Sosa dominated after the homer. He was getting ahead with his fastball and striking guys out with his slider.

It was still 3-1 in the 7th when Joe Smith came on to get Alberto Callaspo. Another great dichotomy between the elegance of Spanish names and the blandess of American names.

After that Wright walked, Delgado doubled and Gotay homered to break it open.

The Mets tacked on another run when Gomez broke a long hitless streak and Reyes tripled. Love watching Reyes triple.

Mets go for another series win with Oliver Perez vs. Doug Davis.

Happy Recap: Mets 6 Marlins 4

Jose Reyes started off the game in fine fashion, doubling and stealing third. But he was left stranded as Carlos Beltran hit a weak grounder. Because Reyes stole third with an 0-2 count on Beltran does that count against Beltran's atrocious stats with runners on third and fewer than two outs?

The Marlins took the lead with an old fashioned manufactured run. A single, a stolen base, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly.

But the Mets came roaring back in the fourth as finally the middle of the order produced some runs. Beltran walked, Wright singled, Delgado singled in Beltran. But the big break came when Easley grounded to second and Uggla's throw was ugly, it hit Easley and bounced away allowing two runs to score. After a wild pitch by Scott Olsen Endy singled home Easley.

Olsen was getting furious on the mound and apparently is continuing to have problems with his emotions. You'll remember last year against the Mets he got into a fight with Miguel Cabrera during the game. Seemed like he was mad at Olivo for two wild pitches and a passed ball.

Jorge Sosa wasn't as great as he had been in his first three starts, but much better than he was in his last one. He impressed me in the 6th inning because he was clearly running out of gas, and after allowing the first two runners he stayed in the game and got Cabrera and Willingham before Willie brought in Feliciano for the last out.

Joe Smith pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning. No surprise.

Aaron Heilman gave up a walk, a double and run in the 8th. No surprise.

I guess that's why they call him a setup man because he created a save situation for Wagner who got the save, but gave up a home run. No surprise.

The Mets left the bases loaded in the 7th and 8th innings but did add and insurance run on a single by Julio Franco.

Damion Easley played left field for the first time in his career and didn't make any glaring screwups though he did turn a couple fly balls into adventures.

During this series the Mets could not get out Alfredo Amezega and Miguel Olivo. They hit .478, while the rest of the Marlins hit .086. They also drove in 5 of the team's 8 runs.

Several of the Marlins smeared eye black all over their faces. You can see it on Cabrera's cheek in this picture.



Carlos Delgado is 9-21 in 5 games since being moved out of the cleanup spot.

This was the Mets second sweep of the year. Both on the road. The Mets are 18-7 on the road, best in the majors.

A good reason not to get so worked up over losing 2 of 3 to the Braves. While the Mets were sweeping the Marlins, the Phillies were sweeping the Braves. So the Mets are now 4 1/2 up on Atlanta, two games more than before the teams met.

Unhappy Recap: Braves 8 Mets 1

You knew the Sosa train was going to derail eventually. If he could win every start he wouldn't have gone 5-12 last year. Hopefully this was only a temporary slipup. He had given up 5 runs in three starts before this then gave up 5 runs in four innings to the Braves. But he was really awful in this game. He wasn't just giving up hits, he was walking guys. Hopefully, it's just one isolated bad outing.

Carlos Delgado's slump is really starting to hurt the Mets and it's making me wonder whether it is just a slump. He has been awful all year and in the first inning the Mets had runners on first and third, and Delgado grounded into a double play. I don't think it's time to move him down in the lineup just yet, because the Mets still lead the NL in runs scored. But if another month goes by and he still sucks, he could find himself demoted.

The Mets tried to mount a comeback in the fifth inning when LoDuca and Green singled. Easley hit a groundball and the second baseman clearly dropped the throw. The umpire didn't see it and called LoDuca out. It should have been bases loaded and nobody out. Mets did get their only run of the game on the next play.

Kyle Davis is now 4-2 with a 3.22 ERA in his career against the Mets. But those numbers are inflated by two rough starts he had against the Mets late last season. This was his third great game out of 8 starts against the Mets.

Happy Recap: Mets 8 Cubs 1

Breathe easy, Mets fans, Jose Reyes is ok. He felt a cramp in his hamstring in the 8th inning and was taken out for a pinch runner after he got a single. But after the game he was asking Willie to play him in Thursday's game. I bet he gets the day off the prepare for the Yankees series.

The game started at 10:17pm, after a 3 hour and 7 minute rain delay which was longer than the game took (2:36).

So with that out of the way we can appreciate the third straight great start by Jorge Sosa. He gave up only one hit but was tagged with a run when Joe Smith allowed a runner Sosa walked to score in the 8th. Randolph wanted Sosa to pitch as long as he could but he clearly ran out of gas and even looked relieved when Willie came to get him.



Damion Easley hit another home run, his 6th, which gave the Mets a 4-0 lead.

The game was actually close until the 7th, when the Mets scored 3, including one on a double by the still hot David Wright.

Carlos Gomez played his second major league game and had to more hits including an RBI double in the 7th and an RBI single in the second for the first Mets run. After the game he did a silly little dance with Gotay.



I hope Willie gives Reyes Thursday off and bats Gomez leadoff.

Sosa became the 5th Mets pitcher to win his first 3 starts for the Mets. Sid Fernandez, Bob Ojeda, Pedro Astacio and someone I forgot from the 60s are the other four.

Keith Hernandez was getting a little punchy in the late innings.
He was eating a pretzel and holding it up saying the remaining part could be a "C" or a "U."
Then Gary made fun of his tie which Hernandez said was chartreuse.
In his strangest moment, he said Cayla's favorite cheer "Everybody Clap Your Hands," is not his preferred rallying cry.

Jason Vargas takes Pelfrey's spot as the Mets try to take 3 of 4 from the Cubs before battles with the Yankees and Braves.

Happy Recap: Mets 5 Brewers 4

Both teams got their leadoff hitters on via walk in the first inning but couldn't score. David Wright hit one very deep to right, but Mench caught it at the wall.

Next time up, in the fourth, Wright would not be denied. He blasted a homer to left center, then after Beltran was ruled safe on a close play at first, Delgado smoked one, also to left center. Usually most of Delgado's power is to pull. Then Alou came up just short of the third homer of the inning with a double off the wall in dead center. LoDuca drove him home with a single.

Geoff Jenkins got one run back in the fifth. After Sosa made him look bad with a couple sliders, Jenkins got under one with his huge left handed uppercut stroke and crushed one to rightfield. Prince Fielder crushed a homer to right also, but almost the exact opposite of Jenkins', it was a straight line drive.

Another solid start for Jorge Sosa, he gave up 2 homers and left with some trouble in the 7th for the second straight game. Seems like his is a 6 inning pitcher, which is fine for a 5th starter on a team with an offense as good as the Mets have.

Pedro Feliciano struck out Corey Hart with two on to end the threat in the 7th.

Damion Easley trying to stay one home run ahead of Wright and Delgado homered in the bottom of the 7th. That turned out to be huge because Aaron Heilman came on to pitch the 8th.

Gary Cohen mentioned that he had retired 16 straight coming into this game but Weeks reached on a comebacker that Heilman couldn't handle, and JJ Hardy cut the lead to 1 with a homer to left.

Carlos Beltran walked to lead off the 8th, and the Brewers still used an incredibly exaggerated shift against Delgado. This would be the perfect time to bunt. Anything fair would be an easy single, but he refuses to try it. Instead he popped out to left field.

Wagner came on for another 1-2-3 save and the Mets draw first blood in the battle of the best teams in the NL.

The game lasted only 2 hours and 18 minutes probably the fastest game of the year, even though there were 6 home runs hit.

Happy Recap: Mets 6 Diamondbacks 2

Jorge Sosa vs. Brandon Webb did not look like a matchup that favored the Mets going into the game. But for some reason the Mets own Brandon Webb. Last year's Cy Young Award winner is 1-6 in his career against the Mets.

Sosa pitched six great innings but got into trouble in the 7th. Joe Smith couldn't bail him out. Smith still has a 0.00 ERA but a double allowed Sosa's two inherited runners to score.

Shawn Green homered and drove in three and continues to be the Mets best hitter not named Beltran or Reyes. With Alou out and Delgado and Wright struggling, his contributions have been very important.

LoDuca also drove in a couple runs (aided by an error), which I didn't think he would be great at batting further down in the lineup.

The Mets have won 13 straight in Arizona by a score of 104 - 29.