FINALLY COMING TO BLOWS?

I’m not trying to stir up trouble. And all things considered, I’d rather the Mets fought with members of another team than among themselves.

But I have a bad feeling that this is the year Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado finally come to blows in the dugout or in the clubhouse.

I’ve written about this before, and I’ve never been fond of it...and I can’t imagine it’s not getting old for Reyes.

Any time Reyes makes a bad throw, or even a throw that makes Delgado move the slightest bit off the bag, Delgado stares down Reyes. It happened again on Wednesday night, when Reyes threw a ball to Delgado’s right that Delgado didn’t even make a good effort to get in front of. It could have easily been an error on Delgado, but it was scored a throwing error on Reyes. Delgado gave Reyes a look as if to say, “Enough with the bad throws.” The camera I saw (I was watching Fox Sports Ohio, the Reds’ channel) showed a reaction shot of Reyes where he gave a look back to Delgado.

Now, I don’t know anything about their relationship. Maybe they have worked this out in the past that Reyes says he needs the reminders from Delgado to get pumped up and make good throws. It certainly seems that the next time after these situations Reyes throws a strike to Delgado.

But if I were Reyes, I wouldn’t like it. It might have flown when he was younger, but he’s a veteran now, and probably doesn’t want to be treated like a rookie. And Reyes has shown a resistance to authority - remember Jerry Manuel’s debut in Anaheim, when he tried to lift Reyes from the game and Reyes publicly pouted? He wouldn’t fight a manager, but he’d fight a teammate.

One other thing that bothers me about this situation is that it’s one thing for Delgado to shoot a look when someone else isn’t perfect, but he’s not perfect himself. He is notorious for coming off the bag too quickly on forceouts - too close for comfort in some instances. Wednesday night (I fell asleep, but read about this afterwards...I’ll try to watch the video) he got called on it, in the 9th inning, when he came off the bag to throw home after a throw to first.

I bet no one shot him a look....but I hope someone did.

OTHER THINGS: I love that the Southern Bureau is fully on board writing this season...David Wright had a double Wednesday night - too early to count those game-by-game, but the first one's worth mentioning (Ryan Church already has 3)...Just an absolute tragedy for the Angels. I wouldn't be surprised if this derails their season.

HOT STOVE TALK

A bunch of different topics on my mind today, all revolving around the Phillies' World Series championship and the Mets' off-season:

1) Jimmy Rollins has about as much class as the Phillies fans. During the parade celebration, he took a shot at the Mets, saying Johan Santana is a good pitcher...but it takes more than one player to win a championship - it takes a team. Of course, he got the rise out of the crowd he wanted - they booed at the mention of the Mets and Santana. Rollins is a showman and a pot-stirrer, and he does these things in a mostly good-natured way (he was smirking as he said these things, knowing what the reaction would be)...but the Mets had better not be laughing about it. And come Wednesday, May 6, 2009, when Jimmy Rollins leads off for the Phillies at Citi Field, whoever is pitching had better give him something high and tight. And I hope he charges the mound. Because it's about time the Mets started playing with some kind of fire - and had other teams hate them for a reason other than their showboating with nothing to show for it. By the way, nothing Rollins said was wrong - I just don't like the forum he chose to take a shot at his division rival.

2) That said, if I'm Jerry Manuel, I'm playing that tape of Jimmy Rollins at the parade before every game next season. Because to me, that means that the Mets are ensconsed in the heads of the Phillies. They're at the pinnacle of thier sport, and what's one of the things on their mind? The Mets. That's good news for me as a Mets fan. To me, it means in the back of their minds, the Phillies know that the Mets are still their biggest competition, and maybe, but for other circumstances, it could be them having the parade.

3) The Mets exercised their 2009 option (for $12 million) on Carlos Delgado. I don't know. I just don't feel like when the Mets are celebrating their World Series win it will be with Delgado at first base. That's just my gut feeling.

4) I also don't feel like it will be with Jose Reyes at shortstop. I was going to save this...and maybe I'll get into it in a little more depth later this week. But I'll plant the seed here. The Mets need to do a lot of work to re-build there team, without starting from scratch - there are too many holes. They have some young infielders that they can use to fill in the gap losing Reyes would create. But Reyes is a divisive figure in the division, and he disappears when the Mets need him most. So I think he's expendable. (I know David Wright hasn't done much more to bring them a championship, but when looking at this situation, Wright is the better clubhouse influence.) So I say trade Reyes for some pitching - both starting and relieving. A lot can be had if the right deal is made. And the Mets should make it. More to come on that as the season goes on.

CAUSE FOR CONCERN

The Mets put John Maine on the 15-day DL Monday with the bone spurs and sore shoulder that have been bothering him for a while now. He might be out for the season - if he makes it back this year, I wouldn't be surprised if he pitches in relief.

So there's a couple of problems here for the Mets - not the least of which is that their rotation is weakened without Maine. I know he hasn't been great this year - but when healthy he's solid. And he showed in 2006 that he is a clutch pitcher in the post-season.

There are legitimate worries about the rest of the rotation. Oliver Perez is still way too inconsistent. He's been pitching well lately, but you never know when that will end. Pedro Martinez* isn't the Pedro Martinez of old...every time he starts it looks like he's working too hard to get out six innings with only three runs allowed. Whoever replaces Maine will be young and inexperienced - most likely right now Jon Niese - but the Mets will finagle things so they won't need that rotation spot for a week or so. Mike Pelfrey has been great - I'm actually least worried about him.

Johan Santana, though, I'm a little worried about. I know I was among those calling for him to go deeper into games. But I'm not sure he's that type of pitcher. I just worry that he's throwing too many, against his will, because he's succumbing to the media pressure of New York City. And I worry that he's going to hurt his arm, and the Mets will be left with no one come playoff time. Maybe I'm worrying too much. But Santana has never been the type to go deep into games...and this great stretch of games that he has pitched seems out of the norm for him (innings pitched-wise). As great as it has been, I hope he's doing it because he can...not because he feels he has to because of the bullpen.

Finally, this is actually the opposite of a 'cause for concern' - more of a cause for celebration. I've been meaning to write it for a while, but haven't had the right forum. So I'll just throw it out here now:

Carlos Delgado has been on fire for about two months now. And the key, it seems to me, is his willingness to go the other way. Every time he has a multiple-hit game, it seems like a couple are going to left field. Monday night he hit an opposite-field homer. I'm not saying all of his homers are going that way - but enough have that it makes you think that's the key. I wonder if it is the work of hitting coach Howard Johnson, or if he figured it out for himself. Either way, he's been the most valuable Met since early July.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

This week marks the last week before the "overlap" season. Although school meetings begin (not to mention two fantasy football drafts in the evenings this week...and the possible birth of my second-born), I should have time to write this week, and the writing will be mostly about the Mets.

Next week, with the NFL season looming as of Thursday and the following weekend, will be Jets Week. I'll have Jets previews on the offense, defense, a division preview, and an overall look at the NFL standings. That'll start probably on Tuesday the 2nd, going through Friday the 6th.

After that, I'll try to balance between the Jets regular season and the Mets regular and (hopefully) post-season. I've also liked doing the bi-weekly MLB updates - I'll try to do some variation on that weekly with the NFL. And if I can get some folks to share their picks each week, maybe we'll get back to some sort of picks competition - I always like that.

And to reward you for sticking through the boring updates above, here's a look at where David Wright stands in his hunt for the doubles records, entering Sunday's play. Wright had two doubles the game where Carlos Delgado had the cheapest five hit-game in history (the first baseman threw way wide of first to the pitcher covering on one 'base hit', and the game-winner was a dropped fly ball by the left-fielder. Someone explain to me how that's a hit. But I digress.).

WRIGHT (2008): 36 Doubles
TEAM RECORD: 44
WRIGHT (career): 177
ALL-TIME RECORD: 792

ALONE IN FIRST

For the first time since mid-April, the Mets are atop the National League East by themselves.

How they got there on Thursday, considering the way they've played this season, could surprise you.

Carlos Delgado had the game-winning hit, snapping a 1-1 tie in the 8th inning with a 2-run double, capping a series where he smoked the ball nearly every at-bat, and continuing to be hot at the plate.

Oliver Perez came up big in another big game, striking out 12 over seven-and-two-thirds innings, while walking just one.

And the Mets took two out of three from the Phillies, after Tuesday's potentially devastating loss, to improve to 9-4 against Philadelphia this season.

Just like last year never happened.

NOT NEWS: Fred Wilpon admitted he "screwed up" with the firing of Willie Randolph. Apparently he had a chance to convince Omar Minaya to wait until the morning, but didn't do it. In other news, the sky is blue, dogs chase cats, and the Phillies don't scare me (anymore).

FACT AND FICTION

So which game of Friday's two-stadium doubleheader between the Yankees and the Mets was most indicative of the Mets?

A 15-6 thrashing of the Yankees in Game 1, where the Mets' hot bats (most notably Carlos Delgado, with a team-record 9 RBI) bailed out a pitching performance by Mike Pelfrey that wasn't so great, but gritty enough to keep the team in the game long enough to pull out the win?

Or the 9-0 shutout in Game 2 by the Yankees, where retread Sidney Ponson gave up five hits and walked four, but the Mets couldn't push anything across while Pedro Martinez* battled through five and two-thirds innings, giving up six runs and walking five himself?

Unfortunately, and no surprise here (I'm getting tired of being so negative, but how else can I look at this season), Game 2 was certainly more 2008 Mets than Game 1.

The common denominator in the two games (besides, I guess the two teams) was the Yankees pitchers. Game 1 - Dan Giese - a reliever, mostly, making the start, and Game 2 - Sidney Ponson - who's Sidney Ponson. In other words, two pitchers the Mets by all rights should have smoked.

And there were times in Game 2 it looked like the Mets would chase Ponson early, and cruise to an easy win. They loaded the bases twice in the first three innings, and Ponson got out of all of the jams he pitched himself into. I was half-watching the game, half-doing other things, and I kept looking up and being shocked that there was no score, the way the Mets were getting on base.

But, this being 2008, I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised. Because this is just how the year has gone. Every time the Mets have shown flashes of life (like scoring 15 runs in Game 1), they come right back down to earth with a thud and remind everyone why they're no better than .500.

And this might be a subject for another day - but the last two starts by Pedro Martinez* have been incredibly disappointing, mostly because of the promise they have shown. Pedro* goes for about four innings, and looks great, then hits a wall. It's tough to watch, because he really starts laboring after just four innings.

Just another example of the high expectations for the 2008 Mets that turn up nothing but disappointment.

E-MAIL

The Southern Bureau wrote on Saturday about Carlos Delgado:

"Will Carlos Delgado please make up his mind. Is he done or not?? A week ago he looked like his career was on the fast track to nowhere. Now he’s had a great week – including a big home run today. Johnnymets….what’s the deal??

-Southern Bureau"

Even though I know you are selfishly motivated here, Southern Bureau, I'll give you an honest answer. (Currently I'm three points back in the fantasy baseball standings...but sharing my knowledge of Delgado won't make any difference.)

You and I aren't the only people who have wondered about Delgado. Only about every other Mets fan is thinking about it.

Right now, he reminds me of Bobby Bonilla (ouch). It seems that whenever he comes up with a "big" hit, it's after the Mets are already down or ahead - nothing's very clutch. One of the things that you hear about Delgado is how proud he is. That he takes it hard when he is moved around in the batting order - he doesn't like to think of himself as an older ballplayer - he still thinks he's a cleanup-type hitter who can and will contribute.

Well, I don't think so. I feel the same way I felt about Delgado in the spring - I just don't know which version of him will show up from day to day. He'll get hot maybe for a month or two, but I think he'll fade by the post-season. The Mets will need better performances from everyone else to cover up that weakness....because Delgado is more liability than asset right now.

And now that I've said all that, expect him to turn it around and fast...because what do I know?

NOTES FROM A PHONE CONVERSATION WITH STEVE IN NYC

With the Rangers just having tied their playoff game with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 1, I called Steve in NYC to talk hockey. Soon after, the Rangers were down, 3-1, and the conversation turned decidedly sour. Some lowlights:

WHAT IS WRONG WITH METS FANS?
I didn't really know about this until I saw an article on-line today - apparently, the Mets fans got pretty pumped after Carlos Delgado hit his second home run of the day on Sunday, and cheered louder and louder, but he didn't come out for a curtain call. And I guess, with the rainout on Monday, and nothing else to talk about, Mets fans took Delgado to task for "snubbing" them.

Steve and I are 100% on Delgado's side here. "There are moments, and there are moments," said Delgado. "A solo homer in the 7th inning is not a moment." He's right. It wasn't a game-changing home run. Meanwhile, it was one of three on the year for Delgado. Mets fans need to get a clue. Or I need to get to Shea to show people what to cheer for and how to do it.

One other cheering thing that we talked about - the fact that Mets fans booed Johan Santana during his first start. Don't boo him in his first home game. Idiots. I'm sensing some restlessness tonight, too - Santana just gave up a homer to Jason Bay - following up a leadoff homer by Nate McLouth (having an awesome start to the year, by the way) - and if he gives up anything else, I'm sensing some boos. Get a grip Mets fans - Santana gives up homers. If the offense would get it in gear, two solo homers wouldn't be the end of the world. Boo some of the offensive players until they get it going.

WILLIE RANDOLPH'S JOB SECURITY
This was another topic of conversation - and I've been meaning to bring this up. Steve said Mets fans should save their boos for Randolph, because he's doing a terrible job. I can't disagree. It's occurred to me for a while that if things keep going this way for the Mets, they need to shake things up. Maybe it's the manager's job that goes. I'm going out on this limb - if the Mets are not in first place by the end of May, they should fire Willie Randolph. That might get things going.

LET'S GO *YAWN* METS
Steve is upset about the Mets - even more upset about the way the Mets are playing than maybe the Rangers possibly going down 3 games to none. I said I wish I was that upset about the Mets. The problem for me is that they're uninspiring, and they look uninspired. It's just not getting me excited. Maybe that's Randolph's fault - maybe they need someone to fire them up. But we expected great things this year. Great things haven't started happening yet. I feel like I should be more upset about that than I am. They're not making me stand up and give a care.

MEET THE METS - CARLOS DELGADO

A preview of the 2008 Mets, presented in the expected batting order, followed by pitching rotation, followed by impact bullpen/bench players. Today we focus on first baseman Carlos Delgado.

2007: .258 avg, 24 HR, 87 RBI, 71 runs, .333 OBP, .448 SLG

A year ago, it was second base that was looking like the Mets' big weakness, and I predicted that Jose Valentin, though he was the starting second baseman at the start of the season, wouldn't end the season the same way. This year, I'm making that same prediction for the Mets' first base situation.

I don't know who might unseat Carlos Delgado, but unless he plays better than he did last year, the Mets will need to find an alternative.

There's one potential saving grace here - Delgado is in the last year of his current contract. There is an option for a fourth year, which would be next year, or a buyout. Perhaps the fourth year will be an incentive that will cause Delgado to produce Carlos Delgado-type numbers (read: about 10 more homers and 20 more RBI than what he gave the Mets last year). And if not, because it's the last year of the contract, the Mets might turn elsewhere sooner than they would have otherwise.

There's one other piece to Delgado's poor season last year. I wonder how much the steroid rumors got to him (and whether or not there is some sort of legitimacy to them....but I'm not going to go there). You look at everything Roger Clemens is going through, and what are the first years the allegations against him come around? His Toronto years, when the numbers of his teammate Delgado also spiked. There were all sorts of reports last year about how slimmed-down Delgado looked, and his numbers certainly took a nosedive in 2007....but could that just have been because he knew of things in Toronto, and didn't speak up? Or because he was involved in them, and was afraid he'd get dragged into the report? Either way, that's now free and clear, and maybe he'll play 2008 with a clear mind.

So there's a couple of ways to go with Carlos Delgado. He could continue this slump that lasted most of last season, and continue to look like his career is coming to a quiet end. Or he could have one last hurrah in a contract year. Or he could bounce back from a slumpy season with a season more indicative of the type of player he has been throughout his career. If it's option one, I think the Mets won't waste their time going with some other option at first base. If it's either of the last two, it will be nice to have a version of Carlos Delgado with the Mets closer to the more productive 2006 version than the disappointing 2007 one.

ROAD WARRIORS

The Mets have wrapped up another road trip and are coming back to Shea. Uh-oh.

In one of the stranger differences of the year between the 2006 and 2007 Mets, the team has struggled at home, while putting up some impressive numbers on the road. The 2006 Mets were a very good road team...but when they played at Shea, they had a home field advantage. The 2007 Mets have a much better record on the road:

2006
Home: 50-31 .256 avg., 96 HR, 383 RBI, 3.76 team ERA
Away: 47-34 .272 avg., 104 HR, 417 RBI, 4.56 team ERA

2007 (123 games)
Home: 32-27 .270 avg., 60 HR, 247 RBI, 3.87 team ERA
Away: 38-26 .277 avg., 71 HR, 305 RBI, 4.09 team ERA

I'm surprised when I look at those numbers. For the Mets to be hitting .270 at home and be that close to .500 is surprising. And then factor in how much higher that average is than last year, you'd think the Mets would be dominating at home. Sure, the ERA is higher, but it's not that much higher, and it's still a very good ERA. The road averages are very impressive, and certainly explain the good road production, but I'm surprised at the stat comparison there.

The biggest reason, I think, for the Mets' struggles at home, is Carlos Beltran. Beltran has struggled at Shea, and that has continued this year. Even last year, his best as a Met, Beltran was awful at home. Here's a breakdown of Beltran's last three years at home and on the road:

2005
(This was a bad year all around, and Beltran actually played well at Shea)
Home: .275, 6 HR, 34 RBI
Away: .258, 10 HR, 44 RBI

2006
Home: .224, 15 HR, 38 RBI
Away: .317, 26 HR, 78 RBI

2007 (so far, and keep in mind he has had a stint on the DL)
Home: .251, 5 HR, 23 RBI
Away: .275, 19 HR, 52 RBI

The past two years' differences at home and on the road for Beltran are eye-popping. Last year, Beltran was protected by a great season by Carlos Delgado, who spread his power pretty evenly between home and road games (18/20 HR, 55/59 RBI....though he hit just .226 at home while going .304 on the road). This year, with the slow starts the Mets' hitters have gotten off to, no one has been picking up the slack, and the Mets' record has suffered as a result.

The Mets now come home to face San Diego and Los Angeles - the Padres, incidentally, have the best pitching in the majors. The Mets are coming off another very good road trip - 5-1 against the Pirates and Nationals. (I know it was the Pirates and Nationals, but the Mets swept Washington, which is good, and they always struggle in Pittsburgh. They should have swept the Pirates, but for the Mets to just blow one game in Pittsburgh as opposed to two or three means this was a great road trip.) The Mets need to carry that momentum into this homestand...and while they're at it, continue to put some distance between themselves and the Phillies and Braves. And Carlos Beltran needs to pick up where he left off, with two homers on Sunday in Washington.

WRIGHT WATCH: It's back. Here we are, with a month and a half to go in the season, and David Wright is making his annual run at the team record for doubles. Wright hit three between Saturday and Sunday in Washington, to take over the team lead, and get to 30 on the season. In a few years the Wright Watch will become his chase for the all-time doubles record (792), but for now we'll focus on Bernard Gilkey's 44.

METS STILL CAN'T SOLVE ATLANTA

One of the most satisfying things about the 2006 season was that it seemed like the Mets had turned the tide against the Braves. Instead of going to Atlanta and getting beat, and having the Braves come to Shea and whipping them, it looked like the Mets were going to even the record a little bit.

It's now looking like last year was more of an aberration than a rule, as the Mets are now 4-8 on the season against Atlanta, dropping two out of three in each of the four series the two teams have played.

If you're looking for signs of encouragement, the games haven't been one-sided. The Mets have had a chance in almost all of them. But the fact is, they've come out behind more often than on top, and that could end up being a problem.

I honestly believe the Mets will win the division, and that their losses to Atlanta will end up giving the Braves nothing more than a little false hope. But you can't avoid the fact that these games with Atlanta are big, and could be previews of October baseball...and if that's the case, the Mets will not fare well.

Thursday's afternoon game was more of the same against the Braves this year - the Mets jumped out to an early lead, blew it (another rocky start for John Maine - one thing about him - he has these bad stretches of two or three bad starts, then comes back and is lights-out...I'd be interested to see how well he pitches very soon), then rallied at the end and came up just short.

Now, I must admit, I fell asleep and missed the very end of Thursday's game, but apparently Willie Harris robbed Carlos Delgado of a game-tying home run in the ninth inning. So, a little more luck, and the Mets could have won this game. Again, that's the encouraging thing - it's not like the Mets haven't been in these games. They also blew their opportunities early on Thursday - they ended the first inning up 1-0 against Tim Hudson, but it could have been a lot more.

Bottom line - these games against the Braves, and the Mets' lack of success therein, aren't the end of the world. But they could be one of the signs that the end could arrive sooner than we fans had hoped.

BIRTHDAY NEWS

Saturday was a big day for me. Not only was it my birthday, but it was pretty much THE birthday I've been looking forward to since I was little. 7/7/07. It's a small consolation for being born a year too late, in my opinion, which would have had me born on 7/7/77. I'm jealous of those people who have that birthday. But we celebrated during the day Saturday (Justin from NYC tells me he threw a huge, worldwide concert in my honor of my 29th birthday - and the codeword was to substitute "John" for "Earth". I had just read in the paper all about this "Concert for the John". He's a great guy.), and then on Saturday night, watched most of the Mets' big 17-inning win against the Astros (and watched Carlos Delgado homer at 7:07 [Central time] on 7/7/07...I love it!). And it got me thinking...how often did the Mets do well on my birthday? How often have they even played on my birthday?

As a kid, my birthday parties usually revolved around the Mets - we'd have cake at my house, then pile into a car and my dad (God bless him) would take a bunch of little boys to a baseball game at Shea. But this rarely happened on my birthday - either it was the All Star break, when no one played, or the Mets were not playing at home. So I decided to actually look up the information, and found out some great stuff (this is only since 1978, on the day that I was born):

• The Mets are 13-11 all-time on my birthday ...2-9 at home, 11-2 on the road.
• Including Saturday night, there have been 3 extra innings games, with the Mets winning all three.
• The Mets have had 3 3-game losing streaks on July 7th's, and have never won more than two consecutive years, which they've done six separate times.
• Gary Carter went 1-for-8 in two games on my birthday (1985, 1986).
• Todd Hundley homered three consecutive years on my birthday (1994, 1995, 1996).
• Andy Benes pitched a one-hitter against the Mets on my birthday in 1993, and the Mets' loss that day was one of the hard-luck Anthony Young losses that year- it dropped him to 0-12.
• In 2000, I remember watching the Yankees beat the Mets 2-1, on what I believe was a Friday night. El Duque outdueled Al Leiter. The next day, Roger Clemens beaned Mike Piazza. That was the angriest July 8th I've ever had.
• How about Sid Fernandez, the official pitcher of my birthday - he pitched in 1985, 1989, 1990, and 1992! In the 1992 game, El Sid got the win, Anthony Young came in for the save.
• And then there's Saturday, which I couldn't make all the way through - I conked out in about the 12th inning. But it'd be tough to beat as an all-time July 7th (into the 8th) classic. David Wright and Carlos Delgado homered in the first nine innings, then it was scoreless for the next 8, until Carlos Beltran drove home the winning (go-ahead) run. Beltran also saved the game defensively with a Mays-esque over-the-shoulder catch going up the hill in center field with two men on and two out in the extra innings.

ALL STAR BREAK: Not sure what I'll be posting this week - I'll try to do an All Star recap, since there are some Mets implications...but I do have some work this week, Monday through Thursday. So there's definitely not going to be a radio show this week.

BEAT THE STREAK: An update - I'm taking a 9-gamer into the break. That's fun.

UPDATE - METS WIN

Mets 5, Giants 4, 12 innings

There are not many events worth turning the computer back on for - but this win is one of them. Right after I logged off, the Giants scored in the top of the 12th to take a 4-3 lead. Omar Vizquel barely beat a Paul LoDuca tag on a groundout to first base. But you can't ever give up on the Mets, so I stuck around, watched the bottom of the 12th.

First of all, the closer was Armando Benitez. The Mets had gotten to him already this year. Then, he walks Jose Reyes. That's always a recipe for trouble. With Endy Chavez at the plate, Benitez balked. This one was questionable. But Reyes took second, then Chavez bunted him to third, so there was one out, man on third, for Carlos Beltran. Beltran grounded up the middle, but the second baseman was playing in, and fielded it for the out. We needed a fly ball there, Carlos.

But that was forgotten quickly, because Reyes danced down the line, and induced ANOTHER balk by Benitez! There was a clear flinch this time. So the score is tied, 4-4. Benitez is definitely rattled. Then he proceeds to give up a game-winning homer to Carlos Delgado, and the Mets win, 5-4. Pretty outstanding.

The Mets are a tough team to beat...and they don't go down easily.

Tough call on the player of the game - but I think it's got to go to Jose Reyes. The easy award would be Delgado's, for his two homers, and if I gave out co-awards, he'd share it. But this is the Blog Talk Radio johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game award, and it goes to Jose Reyes for the things he did to create this win.

Great win for the Mets.

STILL TIED....

Mets 3, Giants 3
I have underestimated Omar Vizquel for a long time. Probably because he was never the greatest fantasy player - he hit for a decent average, but had little to no power, and he wasn't worth a draft pick in my eyes. But that interfered with my ability to recognize what he was good at - and he is a solid ballplayer. He is also a great defensive player, something I realize even more the later it gets in his career. He has game-changing defensive abilities, even now. And he showed that off on Tuesday night, saving the game for the Giants in the 9th inning against the Mets.

As I write, the play is a game-saver, because the game is not over, and I'm not going to wait much longer for it. They're tied at 3, heading into the 12th inning. (It figures - this game was flying by, through 9 at 2-and-a-half hours, but of course, here we are an hour later, and it's still tied.) But back to the play - the Mets were in position for a walk-off win. David Wright led off the ninth with a double (his 12th of the year) off the right field wall (he thought it was gone...so did I). With two outs, Wright was at second, Paul LoDuca had been intentionally walked and was at first, and Julio Franco was pinch-hitting. He hit a sharp grounder up the middle, which Vizquel dove to his left to smother, then tossed sort-of-blindly to the second base bag, where Kevin Frandsen stretched and barehanded the ball for the out. Just a great play, and it came at a clutch time.

The Mets got another good start from Oliver Perez in this one - 3 runs on five hits over 7 innings...no walks and 8 strikeouts. The bullpen was just as good - better, considering they haven't given up any runs yet. And maybe we can breathe a sigh of relief about Aaron Heilman - he went an inning-and-a-third and was very good.

Perez was victim to the long ball Tuesday night - he gave up solo homers to Randy Winn and Bengie Molina in the first, then in the 7th, with the Mets up, 3-2, a solo shot to Dan Ortmeier (either Justin or Steve in NYC - any relation to Jed?). The Mets had taken a 3-2 lead after a 2-run homer by Carlos Delgado (he pulled this one - but what's really good to see out of him lately is how much and effectively he's going the other way), and an RBI double by Carlos Beltran.

So here we are, tied at 3, in the 12th inning. I'll say this - whoever puts an end to this game gets Player of the Game honors. I'm off to watch the rest of this in bed.


EXCITING INFORMATION: We're still working out the bugs, but johnnymets.blogspot.com is proud to announce two new ventures. Justin in NYC, Dave in Brighton, the Southern Bureau, and johnnymets are working on a radio show, called "East Coast Bias", starting next Monday at 7pm. You can listen live, and even call in if you'd like to contribute. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/eastcoastbias



Johnnymets.blogspot.com is also working on a post-game Mets wrap-up show that will air daily after the Mets games...probably beginning next week, what with school winding down. Again, there will be a number for you to call to discuss the games. We hope you'll listen, and contribute. www.blogtalkradio.com/johnnymets



BEAT THE STREAK: I'm waiting on Nick Swisher to extend my five-gamer, but I'm going with Edgar Renteria on Wednesday night.

DELGADO MAINE'S MAN

Mets 7, Marlins 2 (NYM: 31-17, FLA: 23-26)

Among the many things that were missed in my time away from the site was a string of bad starts by John Maine. That string came to an end Saturday night as he held the Marlins to 2 runs over 6 innings, picking up his first win in three weeks, as the Mets beat Florida, 7-2.

Maine got lots of help early, and the Mets coasted in this one. Carlos Delgado led the way, belting two homers, continuing to smoke the ball after showing signs Friday night that he was breaking out of his slump.

The Mets have not been firing on all cylinders yet this year. Delgado and David Wright have slumped most of the year. Now that Wright and Delgado are heating up, Jose Reyes hasn't been hitting. Then there are the injuries.

I owe apologies to guys like Jose Valentin and Moises Alou, who I didn't think would be effective this year. They've been great...but unfortunately, neither has played in a while because they're both on the DL. You expect, with the age of the Mets players, that a considerable number would be spending some time on the DL this year. That's why it's important to have some depth. And now I owe Damion Easley an apology, because he has provided depth at second base, which I didn't think would be the case. And as for Alou, it's allowed more playing time for Endy Chavez, which has been great, so there's no big problems there. But now, Friday night, Shawn Green fouled a ball off his foot, and has a broken bone in his foot. So, while not being placed on the DL, now Green is out indefinitely. And his replacement was injured in the second inning of Saturday's game - Carlos Gomez hurt his foot, it looked like, running out a ground ball. He had to leave the game.

So while none of the injuries have been costly to this point, you hate to keep tempting fate. Lately, with every close call going against the Mets (did they tick off someone in the umpiring office?), and all of these injuries, it seems as though the Mets are a tiny bit snakebit. Of course, it's hard to make that argument when they're playing so well...I guess the important thing is that they haven't lost any key pieces, and I'll continue knocking on wood so that doesn't happen.

The Mets go for the sweep on Sunday in Florida as Jorge Sosa looks to continue his impressive Mets stint.

Joe's American Bar and Grill johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Carlos Delgado, I think, is officially out of his slump. Delgado was 3-for-5, with 2 homers, and 5 RBI on Saturday night. He also scored three times, accounting for 6 of the Mets' 7 runs.


See below for the last couple of weeks' worth of "Player of the Game"s.




MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME:

A recap of the Players of the Game from when I was unable to write:

5/12 – Milwaukee beat the Mets, 12-3, just kicking their butt. This is when Mike Pelfrey was sent down. J.J. Hardy (5 RBI), gets the nod.
5/13 – Mets beat the Brewers, 9-1 - Oliver Perez (1 run in 8.1) nearly goes the distance...pulled after giving up the run.
5/14 – Mets beat the Cubs, 5-4, on a walk-off walk to Carlos Delgado with the bases loaded. David Wright (3-4, HR, 2RBI) had a bigger game.
5/15 – No one stands out in the Cubs' 10-1 win over the Mets. Aramis Ramirez, I guess (4 RBI).
5/16 – Mets beat the Cubs, 8-1, behind Jorge Sosa (1 run, 1 hit, 7 innings). Long rain delay in this one.
5/17 – Great game, of which I saw none because it was a day game. The Mets won, 6-5, scoring 5 times in the 9th inning. One of those "turning point of the season" games. Carlos Delgado (1-5, gw 2-run single) gets the Player of the Game honor.
5/18 – The Mets beat the Yankees 3-2. Endy Chavez (2-run HR) was the difference.
5/19 – The Mets built a big lead against the Yanks, then held on to win, 10-7. David Wright (2-2, 2 HR, 4RBI, 3 BB) had a big game.
5/20 – The Mets couldn't complete the sweep, losing to the Yankees, 6-2. Tyler Clippard (6 innings, 6 K, 1 run, 3 hits) shut down the Mets.
5/22 – The Braves beat the Mets, 8-1. Kyle Davies (8 innings, 1 run, also homered) took his turn shutting down the Mets.
5/23 – The Mets bounce back to beat Atlanta, 3-0. Oliver Perez (7 shutout innings, 4 hits, 5 K’s) gets another one.
5/24 – The Braves took two out of three, winning, 2-1, behind John Smoltz (7 shutout innings, 7 hits, 5 K’s).

WHAT A STEAL!: Jose Reyes continues his assault on the Mets' record books - he had a stolen base Saturday night, his 27th of the year.

BEAT THE STREAK: Beltran got me to three games. I'm taking Jason Bay against the awful Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.

METS FINALLY GET TO SUPPAN (TOO LITTLE TOO LATE)

Mets 5, Brewers 4 (NYM: 22-12, MIL: 24-11)


I keep thinking (and I think I said something to this effect in my season preview) that it doesn't matter who comes out of the NL Central, because none of those teams poses much of a threat to the Mets. I still believe it, but just sitting down to write this, the Brewers could be dangerous in a short series. Especially against the Mets...and mostly because they have Jeff Suppan, who started against the Mets on Friday night.

Now, Suppan has pitched well in his career against the Mets - last October wasn't a fluke. So Friday night was a good look to see how the Mets would play against him...and they played well. Suppan shut them down without a hit for the first three innings, and then the Mets busted out.

David Wright started the fourth inning off with a solo homer, his third of the year (number 70 on his career). This might be the hot streak that gets him going. (He's also been hitting well from the number two spot, and might have a new permanent home in the lineup there.) Carlos Delgado hit a 2-run shot two batters later, and Paul Lo Duca (now seemingly permanent in the number 7 slot) had an RBI single. The Mets led, 4-0, and wouldn't look back, though things got a little too close. Damion Easley's solo shot in the 7th looked like pad, but it proved to be the difference.

Jorge Sosa had his second solid start for the Mets, going 6 and two-thirds, giving up just 2 runs. (I had heard El Duque might be back for Friday's game, I guess that was wrong.) Sosa gave way to Pedro Feliciano for a third of an inning, then Aaron Heilman continued his descent by giving up 2 runs before getting an out in the 8th. He eventually got three outs, and Billy Wagner got the save. Continue worrying about Heilman.

The weekend series with the Brewers continues Saturday afternoon - I suspect I won't be able to see it because of the FOX broadcast rights, even though they don't go on until 4, and the other games are at 1. I don't understand that. Oh well, it will allow my report cards to get written, I suppose.


Dunkin' Donuts johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: I feel like I've been sticking a square peg through a round hole trying to get David Wright a Player of the Game honor. I think it's merited Friday night. He got things going for the Mets, and even his first out he gave a ride to right. On the night, Wright was just 1-for-4 with the homer, but it set the tone for a big inning for the Mets against a nemesis, and was the first run of the night, en route to a win.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENT: The Southern Bureau, coming through with inside information about Aaron Sele, NOT shaving his head. Thanks for that. He needed to have his hair for a family photo. As of Friday night, Sele still hadn't shaved his head. Jose Reyes is quoted as saying he may do it Saturday. Willie Randolph is quoted in the Friday AP game recap as saying the Mets are a close team, the head-shaving thing didn't necessarily bring them closer. He says they just had too much time on their hands. Incidentally, not many of the Mets look good with a shaved head.

APPENDICITIS: Just throwing this out there - is appendicitis a side effect of steroids? I'm not accusing anyone, but Roy Halladay now has appendicits, and will be out 4-to-6 weeks. Remember last year (or was it two years ago now), Xavier Nady had appendicitis? And there were a couple of other major leaguers who did. And a few NFL players missed some time, in training camp, and I think during the season, with the same deal. I wonder if there's a connection. Just seems like a lot of these cases have been popping up lately.

BEAT THE STREAK: It's a Vladimir Guerrero weekend, against the Rangers. Unfortunately, I'm back at 0, since he was 0-for-2 with 2 walks Friday night. I'm pretty sure that's just the second time he's ever not gotten a hit against Texas. I've had him in 'Beat the Streak' both times. I have him up to and including Sunday.

METS TAKE TWO OUT OF THREE IN SAN FRAN

Mets 5, Giants 3 (NYM: 21-12, SF: 17-16)


The Wife's jinx on Armando Benitez is alive and well. For those of you unfamiliar with the jinx: Back in the early stages of The Relationship, I took The Wife and my brother to a Mets game. Armando Benitez came in. It was against the Reds. I told The (future) wife, this guy throws hard. He threw hard, and Ken Griffey, Jr. hit it hard - the Mets lost, 2-1. (I think Benitez entered a tie game that day.) From that day forward, Armando Benitez was a wreck to watch, especially in the playoffs, and the commond denominator seemed to be The Wife. She was a jinx on him. Whenever she was in the room, he blew a save...so she learned to leave when he entered games.

The jinx seemed to reverse itself when Benitez was on the Marlins, and had incredible success against the Mets...but it's back.

The Wife, The Baby, and I went for a walk when the Mets and Giants were in the bottom of the 8th inning. We went for a shorter walk, me thinking we'd be back in time for extra innings. But we were back in the top of the 9th - bases loaded, one out, David Wright at the plate. Benitez went to 3-1, and then Wright, sitting fastball, ripped a 2-run double to left. Beautiful, and the Benitez jinx still works. It was great to see Wright come through in a clutch situation. He had a good series - hitting .384, with 3 doubles - maybe he's starting to come around.

Delgado has also been struggling, and he came through in a clutch situation. Delgado hit a solo homer into the water early in the game (4th inning), and he tied the game late with an RBI double. Ruben Gotay also hit a solo homer, in the third.

John Maine had a rocky start - 3 runs, 6 walks, in 6 innings. When I was listening on the radio on the way home, Howie Rose was saying Maine had a lot of trouble locating the ball. But he avoided the loss, so he's still 1-0. Scott Schoeneweis, Aaron Heilman (who got the win), and Billy Wagner (8th save) shut down the Giants the rest of the way.

After losing the two out of three to the Marlins early last week, the Mets had a nice road trip. They went 5-2 in Arizona and San Francisco. They have Thursday off before hosting Milwaukee this weekend. Orlando Hernandez might be back Friday night. I heard that about a week ago, I think.

AT&T johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: I wanted to give this to David Wright for driving in the go-ahead runs, but Carlos Delgado put the Mets where they needed to be. Delgado was 2-for-5, with a solo homer and an RBI double, 2 RBI total, scoring once.




TUESDAY'S RESULT

Monster.com johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Tempted as I was to give it to David Wright (again) - 2 doubles and an RBI - I have to give it to Tom Glavine, who gave up just one run (a Barry Bonds homer) in 7 innings, striking out five, giving up 7 hits and a walk, and picking up career win number 294. I saw none of this game, so I really have nothing further to comment on.


MONDAY'S RESULT


PacBell johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Bengie Molina had 2 home runs and 5 RBI in a 9-run fifth inning against the Mets in the series opener. Oliver Perez gave up 8 of the 9 runs, but only two were earned - he was hurt by a couple of errors. Molina's line - 2-for-3 with a walk, 5 RBI, 2 HR, and 2 runs scored. (Those Molina brothers have caused the Mets a lot of problems in the past six months or so.

HAIRCUTS: The Mets apparently bonded on Tuesday by shaving their heads before the game, with Tom Glavine shaving his head after the game. As far as I know, the only person who didn't do it was Jose Reyes (who has a 14-game hitting streak, by the way). On the radio, Howie Rose was talking about Jay Horwitz's newly-shorn head, so I can only assume some front office folk also were involved in the fun.

BEAT THE STREAK: Albert Pujols screwed me over on Monday, but Ivan Rodriguez and Jose Reyes have me back at two games. No worse feeling than coming back from 1 game after building a 12-gamer. I have Miguel Tejada on Thursday.

SLUMPBUSTERS CAN'T GET METS WIN

Marlins 5, Mets 2 (NYM: 15-10, FLA: 13-13)

This is the moment you've been expecting if you are a Mets fan...but there's encouraging news. The pitching staff has been hit by injuries, and Mike Pelfrey needs to step up after a tough loss and get you a win. He didn't come through, but there's good news out of the Mets' second loss in a row.

Pelfrey got off to a bad start - walking (and hitting a batter) the bases loaded, and then giving up a 3-run triple to Josh Willingham. After that, though, he managed to hold the Marlins to a 3-0 lead for the duration of his outing...and he settled in very nicely.

Unfortunately, the Mets were never able to overcome that 3-run deficit, and they left a few runs out on the field. Two runners were tagged out at the plate (Jose Reyes on an attempted steal of home [see below] and Carlos Delgado on a play where he could have hustled a bit more), and a couple of rallies never got as big as they should have.

The other good news (I almost don't feel as though the Mets lost, there was so much good coming out of this game) is that David Wright and Carlos Delgado showed signs of life - finally. Delgado was 2-for-4, and both hits went to left field against the shift. Unfortunately, Delgado was nailed at the plate, on an off-line throw up the third base line, where the catcher was able to tag Delgado easily without being run into - Delgado went out of his way to avoid the catcher, rather than run through him in the baseline.

Wright had a night - 3-for-4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored (both Mets runs, incidentally). Wright hit an opposite field homer (#68 career - I actually had to look that up, it's been so long), and had his fifth double of the year - a rocket off the left field wall. Finally, signs of the old David Wright.

The Mets cut it to 3-2, before Aaron Heilman gave up a 2-run homer to Willingham which took the Mets out of the game officially. I think it's time to sound the alarm and get a little bit worried about Heilman. Wright will be OK, so now let's shift our focus to Heilman and see if we can't figure out why he's not as clutch this year.

Bottom line - Pelfrey gave the Mets what they needed on Tuesday. I think he'll be even better in his next start, because I don't think he'll get off to as bad a start as he did in this one. The Mets need to find a number five (while El Duque is out) better than Park, and I think they'll be fine. But I'll feel a lot better about that statement if they go out and get a win on Wednesday.

The Mets play a day game against the Marlins Wednesday before heading out to Arizona. This week hasn't started as I had hoped - I'd really like for the Mets to go on a five-game winning streak right now. (I won't be able to watch Wednesday's game, but I'll try to write about it at night.)

Citi johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Josh Willingham owns the Mets, and he certainly owned them Wednesday night. Willingham was 2-for-4, driving in all 5 Marlins runs, while scoring once. He's hitting over .300 against the Mets in his career.



MONDAY'S RESULT

You should know that there's a small "Heroes" addiction going on at the House Sponsored by DirecTV, and Monday night sports viewing suffers as a result (as does blog writing). So a day late and a dollar short, a quick Monday recap. Chan Ho Park started (aaaaaaahhhh!) and made us think he would pitch well with 2-and-2-thirds very good innings, then giving up a 5-spot in the third (the defense didn't help him - so he's not 100% at fault - although he's at fault for not being very good). The Mets lost to Florida, 9-6.
DirecTV johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: I am going with what I heard Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez say at the end of the game - that Randy Messenger deserved a Player of the Game nod because he shut down the Mets after they attempted several rallies. So I'll give him that nod, because I don't have anyone better. Messenger pitched one inning, throwing just 6 pitches, and I guess he was the most effective pitcher of an ineffective evening for pitchers.


WHAT A STEAL!: Only a caught stealing by Jose Reyes on Tuesday (he did get his 17th stolen base on Monday night). The caught stealing (his 4th on the year) is worth explaining, though. Reyes was on third, Wright stole second, and Reyes tried to steal home. He was thrown out at the plate. This happened in the first inning of Tuesday's game, ending a Mets threat.

MONTHLY COUNT: April came to an end with the Mets at 15-9. Not bad, but considering the way the Mets lost a few of those, and the fact that a couple came at the hands of Washington, it could have been a much better month.

INJURIES: When last I wrote, I mentioned both Jose Valentin and Orlando Hernandez were being checked out in New York due to injuries. Well, both were placed on the DL Monday. Hernandez was replaced by Chan Ho Park for Monday's start, and Ruben Gotay took Valentin's roster spot. We have yet to see Gotay - Park can head back to New Orleans and stay there, as far as I'm concerned.

The Braves are also hurting, though - they had to place Bob Wickman on the DL.

AROUND THE MAJORS: The Cleveland Indians sent pitcher Fausto Carmona down to Triple-A, and I'm not sure why (I could read an article on it, but then I could no longer speculate). Carmona struggled the past year or so as a closer, and was absolutely awful in that role. This year, I've seen him start a couple of games. He shut down the Yankees at Yankee Stadium the day that they came all the way back down 6 with 2 outs in the ninth (not against Carmona), and most recently beat Baltimore on Sunday. Now that I look at his numbers, they're not bad, but they improved significantly after his last three very good outings...still, not sure why he was demoted. Maybe we'll keep an eye on that.

BEAT THE STREAK: Jose Reyes extended my season-long streak on Tuesday night to 8 games. I'm putting it on the line Wednesday in Colorado with Ray Durham - hitting more than .400 career against Rockies starter Jeff Francis.

ROLLINS KEYS METS WIN

Mets 11, Phillies 5 (NYM: 5-2, PHI: 1-6; Mets 0.5 GB)


Jimmy Rollins is right - the Phillies are the team to beat in the National League East - and the Braves, Marlins, and now the Mets have taken them up on the offer. The Phillies are now tied with Washington as the "team to beat" up on.

It's big talk now that the game is over, but the Phillies led this game into the 8th. The Mets had cut it to 5-4 before rallying against Geoff Geary. Moises Alou led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, followed by a Shawn Green single. Jose Valentin's bunt attempt resulted in an out at third, and then pinch hitter Julio Franco walked.

It was then, with the bases loaded and one out, that Jose Reyes grounded to shortstop. Jimmy Rollins drifted to his right, and couldn't field the grounder, allowing a run to score, and the bases to stay loaded. It was 5-5, and then there was a wild pitch, and the Mets led, 6-5. Paul Lo Duca walked. Carlos Beltran hit a sacrifice fly, 7-5 Mets. Carlos Delgado walked. David Wright extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a long double to left, making it 9-5, Mets. (Wright's third double, en route to a record, on a 1-for-5 day.) Alou singled home the final two runs, and the Mets went on to the 11-5 win.

I didn't see any of this game, in fact, I just saw the highlights on ESPN. I tuned into ESPN GameCast for the first time this year after dismissal at school, when the Mets were down 5-3, so it was exciting to see the rally. I like to think the Mets broke the Phillies for the year, but I doubt it. I will say, however, that after one game, the Phillies still don't scare me.

John Maine wasn't great in this game. He pitched 4-and-2-thirds innings, giving up just 2 earned runs, but walked six, and gave up 5 hits. He threw 104 pitches in that short amount of time. I'd say he struggled. Ambiorix Burgos also struggled, giving up a homer to Ryan Howard, and three runs in an inning and a third. Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano (who got the win), and Billy Wagner combined for three scoreless innings.

On the Phillies' side, Cole Hamels was good - striking out 7 in six innings, giving up 3 runs, only 2 of which were earned. He's a good young pitcher.

The Mets and Phillies have Tuesday off before resuming on Wednesday at Shea. Oliver Perez tries to replicate his first start against Adam Eaton.


naturalbl0g.blogspot.com JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Delgado was 3-for-3, with a walk, and 2 runs and 2 RBI. I wasn't watching the whole game, so I don't know for sure, but it seemed to me he was in the middle of all of the Mets' action. He scored the Mets' second run in the 4th inning, with a headfirst slide around the tag of Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. He hit a sacrifice fly to put the Mets ahead 3-2, and then had an RBI single to bring the Mets to within 5-4 in the 7th. And he scored after a walk in the 8th. Seems like a good day to me.

WEATHER-RELATED STUFF: Forgot to mention this Sunday - I know it was cold in Atlanta, but every wide shot I saw of the stands when the Mets were down there this past weekend showed empty seats. I'm pretty sure this was even the case at Friday's home opener. The Atlanta fans are horrid.

Also, the Cleveland-Seattle series never got off the ground because of snow. The Indians moved their homestand now to Milwaukee, where they'll play the Angels.

ASTROS: Brad Lidge's nightmare continues. He was officially taken out of the closer's role on Monday, replaced by Dan Wheeler (Former Met).

BEAT THE STREAK: After saying I was going to pick Ichiro, I actually forgot to log on and do it. Good thing they were snowed out. So I'm still at 0...I'm going with Andruw Jones to try to get me started against a Washington Nationals pitcher named Matt Chico.

BOUND TO HAPPEN....

Braves 5, Mets 3 (NYM: 4-1, ATL: 4-1)

I knew the Mets weren't going to go 162-0, but I still wanted to see just how long they could stretch the season-opening win streak. I guess it was just four games. But the Mets were done in by one of the things that keyed them to their 4 straight wins - their defense.

The Mets looked all set after the top of the first, after jumping out to another 1-0 lead - this one from an unlikely source: a homer by Paul Lo Duca. Tom Glavine gave it right back, though, and you could tell by the way he was working that career win number 292 was not going to come easy - of course, it didn't come at all.

The Braves' first started with an innocent grounder to second, which turned into their first baserunner when Carlos Delgado dropped the throw from Jose Valentin. Kelly Johnson then came around to score on a grounder to short. Matt Diaz homered in the second to give the Braves the 2-1 lead, and the Mets their first deficit of the season.

In the fifth, the Mets did their manufacturing run thing, after a leadoff walk by Jose Reyes. He stole second, went to third on a grounder to second by Lo Duca, and then scored on a single by Carlos Beltran. The Mets knocked around John Smoltz, but he seemed to get the outs when he needed to.

Unfortunately for Glavine, the outs couldn't come because of his defense. After no errors in 4 games, the Mets committed two on Saturday. In the bottom of the sixth, with the bases loaded, Shawn Green dropped a Matt Diaz fly ball that allowed one run to score. The next batter, Woodward, flew out to right off Pedro Feliciano, and Green made a nice running catch, but the ball was deep enough to score a run to make it 4-2. Then Joe Smith came on and got a groundball, but it was too slow for Reyes to make a play, so the Braves took a 5-2 lead. All 5 runs were charged to Glavine, but only two were earned.

The much-improved Braves bullpen held the Mets to one run the rest of the way, though the Mets did threaten Bob Wickman in the ninth. Trailing 5-3, Carlos Delgado walked, and David Wright singled (extending his hitting streak on an otherwise horrid day - 3 strikeouts against Smoltz). With two outs and runners on second and third, Green lined one towards right field, but the ball was snared by Craig Wilson at first. A tough way to end the game, but it showed the Mets still have that ability to come back late in games, and you still get the sense that they're never out of a game.

CHICK-FIL-A JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: No one really stood out in this one, so we'll go with Matt Diaz, who had a homer and lifted the fly ball that Shawn Green dropped. At least he put it in play, and you have to give him some credit for that - chances are the then-go-ahead run would have scored anyway. Diaz finished 1-for-2 with 2 RBI and a run scored.

NOTES ON THE GAME: The Braves have no true leadoff hitter, now that Rafael Furcal is gone. They also have no true second baseman. Kelly Johnson is playing second and leading off, but I also noticed this on Friday night, when Chris Woodward was the starting second baseman and leadoff hitter. That's a step back from Furcal, and Marcus Giles at second.

ALSO THE WAY I FEEL: Tim Kurkjian was guest host on Mike & Mike In The Morning the other day (I think it was Thursday), and the subject of the DirecTV/other cable providers Extra Innings packages came up. (An aside: I find the Mike & Mike show to be much more tolerable when someone like Kurkjian or Buster Olney is on for the entire show rather than the regular Mikes...but that's another story for another day.) Kurkjian said he has DirecTV, and the day he got it, he says, "was, other than the days my kids were born, the greatest day of my life." So, he said, it wouldn't be right for other people to not have the opportunity to get the package. I agree.

SNY 2007: Friday night was my first chance to see a Mets game on SNY. Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez were in the booth, and were very good (for the amount I saw before I fell asleep). A couple of notables:
-Slightly newer, snazzier graphics.
-Good ads - one, a tribute to Ron Darling for being named best New York sports analyst (I think, I was a little fuzzy on the award). The other was hilarious - it was a cartoon of Cohen, Darling, and Hernandez sitting on the couch watching the game, and Hernandez keeps saying, "I sound great. Wow, I'm doing a great job." And Darling and Cohen end up taking off Hernandez's mustache, and the announcer says, "Watch the Mets with Gary, Ron, Keith, and Keith's mustache." Good stuff. I hope there are different commercials like that each week. Hilarious.
-Also, forgot to mention this, so might as well here - Lee Mazzilli is the new studio analyst this year. I haven't seen enough of his work to comment yet.

1986 ROUNDUP: I don't remember seeing him all last year on camera, but Roger McDowell is still the Atlanta Braves' pitching coach. They showed him on Friday night, and either Keith or Ron said, "Roger smiled a lot more as a player." I thought that was funny.

MORE BROADCASTING: Caught the Reds' games over the weekend, and Grande was doing the games. Wonder what kind of a rotation they have going there. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

A WORD ON THE WEATHER: This year is more extreme than most, but I feel like every year there's a hubbub about the season-opening weather, and moving all of the openers to warm weather cities. Now, I don't know that that's a foolproof option - I hear there's a chance of snow in Arlington, Texas, for the Red Sox game Saturday night, which is surprising to me, but I feel like this is always a controversy in April every year, and then it dies down and is forgotten. I do feel, however, that this year has been extreme, as I mentioned above, extreme not only in weather, but also in outcry over the weather. And I think there will be some fallout - especially since Cleveland and Seattle are losing a game because of the weather, and because Victor Martinez got hurt in the bad weather, AND because of the controversy on Friday surrounding the weather and the way the game was called off. I don't know how much fallout, but I feel like the situation won't die away so easily, and maybe there will be some change next year.

BEAT THE STREAK: After no hits Friday by Xavier Nady and on Saturday with Derek Jeter, I'm going with as sure a thing as I can on Sunday, with the Cleveland doubleheader. I'll take Grady Sizemore - all he needs is one hit in two games to get me started.