The Mets were off on Monday, preparing for a homestand against the Pirates and Nationals. So I will clear up a few things. First of all, I said in my last post that the Mets were three back of the wild card - it was actually four, and now it is four-and-a-half because the Astros beat the Cubs on Monday.

I forgot to mention a quote I read from Doug Mientkiewicz. He reacted to David Wright's great bare-handed diving catch last week in San Diego by saying it was the "play of the year. [Wright] better not get a girlfriend before February, because I want to go with him to the ESPY'S."

The Mets are really keeping the information on Carlos Beltran* very close to the vest. It's making me worried. Mike Cameron will most likely be out the rest of the season. But Beltran*, they first made it sound like he wasn't hurt at all. Then it turned out he spent the night in the hospital, and now Beltran* may undergo some facial surgery. It's not only affecting the Mets' lineup, but it's affecting my fantasy lineup. I just wish they'd make a declaration about him.

It doesn't have anything to do with the Mets, but Randy Winn hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats on Monday. He has found new life since his trade to San Francisco. And in other baseball news - Curt Schilling is the worst closer ever. Monday he blew a win for Bronson Arroyo in Detroit. Last week he gave up about ten homers in the weekend series to the White Sox. (Have you noticed yet that when I'm not sure about the exact number of some stat I make up some outrageous number to cover up for that fact? Man, I do that a lot. Maybe I should start looking stuff up.)

There is an e-mail to check, so I'll do that:

"JohnnyMets-

Quick baseball question for you: in yesterday's Sox game that was rained out, do the stats count? This has been weighing on my mind all morning.

Thank you.

-Your Wife"

Hi, Wife. No, the stats do not count. This is unfortunate for White Sox fans, who may have cared that their players' RBI's or Runs scored don't count. But for Matt Clement, who gave up five runs, it's a great feeling. If it were a Mets game, and David Wright had a double erased by the rain, I'd be mad.

Sometimes, if it rains torrentially in the 7th inning and the game is tied, but it's an official game, the stats will count, but the game will be started over when it is made up. That's about the only time stats from a rained out game will count.

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright is now tied for fifth in the National League with 32 doubles.

WRIGHT NEEDS 12 DOUBLES IN THE TEAM'S FINAL 45 GAMES TO TIE THE TEAM RECORD.

Seems pretty do-able, doesn't it?

THE KID'S KIDS: A 9-0 win for the Gulf Coast Mets. Now 31-14, 11 games up in their division. 10 games left. They've clinched something, but I have to call down there and figure out if that means anything.

WRIGHT ON, PADRE!

Mets 12, Padres 0 (NYM: 49-46, 4.5 GB; SD: 50-46)

The Mets wanted a hot streak, they went out and got themselves on a hot streak. Now they need to keep it up.

Thursday afternoon's game was never in doubt (OK, that's sort of a lie - Kaz Ishii started, so it wasn't a guarantee). But Ishii pitched himself out of a few jams, and the Mets got to San Dieo ace Jake Peavy...in a big way.

You knew it was going to be a good game for the Mets when the first bats to get going were Doug Mientkiewicz and Ramon Castro. Mientkiewicz opened the scoring with a solo homer early on, and Castro added a two-run laser in the fifth. The Mets broke the game open with seven runs in the sixth, including two hits in the inning from future Hall of Famer David Wright.

Wright was celebrating his first year in the majors. He was called up on July 21, 2004, in a game against the Montreal Expos. Wright's numbers over that year - in 161 games he hit about .290, with 28 homers, and 87 RBI. The Mets announcers said those numbers compared very favorably with current (within the past 15 years or so) superstars in the majors - actually ranking Wright fourth statistically, behind Vladimir Guerrero, Mike Piazza, and Nomar Garciaparra. I think all of those guys hit over .300...and Wright's numbers were better than current young stars like Miguel Cabrera.

The Mets not only had a huge sweep against the first-place Padres, but also picked up big ground on the Nationals - now just four-and-a-half games out of first place. The best part about this is that now I'm not the only one who thinks the Mets have a shot at winning the NL East - now the Mets are starting to think that way too. The Nationals lost to Houston Thursday night, and the turmoil continues to build in Washington, D.C. The latest saga involves Livan Hernandez, who said Wednesday night after he lost his start that he was going to have season-ending surgery on his troublesome knee, and said he was mad about something, which he'd fill reporters in on after the season was over. Hernandez came back on Thursday to say that he would NOT shut it down for the year, in an expletive-filled tirade to reporters. He apparently said he was misquoted too. I doubt it, for some reason. The Nationals, by the way, are still trying to talk Barry Larkin out of retirement. And, at the top of their worry list - they are no longer alone in first place - the idle Braves moved into a tie for first with the Nationals' loss.

Hopefully the 12-0 win was a sign that the Mets bats are alive and well - they need to keep up that offense...especially when Kris Benson is pitching. He's been the hard-luck pitcher of the year - pitching very well, but getting no decisions or tough losses. Another good sign out of the Padres series is that Cliff Floyd has gotten hot again - he had cooled off right before and after the All-Star break..but looks good again.

The Dodgers are in New York for a weekend series - with the way the Mets pitching lines up, this too is a very sweepable series.

ELTRAN*'S: Carlos Beltran* was 0-for-3 Thursday, but he did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the 2nd half, he is 7-for-27 (.250-ish) with 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 runs, and 0 SB.

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright was 2-for-4 on Thursday, with both hits coming in the sixth inning, and one of those hits was an RBI double. SECOND HALF: 2 doubles SEASON: 24 TEAM RECORD: 44

THE KID'S KIDS: The Gulf Coast Mets are now 16-8, losing to the Nationals, 8-6 on Thursday. They still have a 3-game lead in their division.

METS LEIT UP MARLINS

Mets 10, Marlins 1 (NYM: 8-8, FLA: 9-7 - 1 GB)

Things are starting to turn the Mets' way. During the first week of the season, the Mets couldn't buy a break. On Thursday night, the baseball gods more than made up for that as the Mets cruised to a 10-1 win. Here's what I mean:

The Marlins jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Pedro Martinez* and the Mets early - Juan Pierre led off the game with a double, and came around to score to make it 1-0 in the first. So right away you think, with Al Leiter on the mound, having shut down the Mets just 5 days ago, and with the Mets' bats having been silenced on Wednesday night, that this won't be a good night.

But in the second inning, Cliff Floyd walks. Then he steals second! Wait a second, you think...wait a second. Then future Hall of Famer David Wright walks. Then Ramon Castro drops down a bunt, which actually is a pop-up, but it floats over Leiter's head, and lands in between Leiter, Carlos Delgado, and Luis Castillo!! Bases are loaded, Doug Mientkiewicz steps in, and BAM grand slam, 4-0 Mets. That's just the kind of thing that hadn't been happening that first week of the season - if it was the first week, the pop-up would have been caught, and both Mets on base would have been doubled off (or tripled off, as the hypothetical case may be).

So anyway, there are still no outs in the second, and after Mientkiewicz, Victor Diaz walks. Pedro* sacrifices him over, and then THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, singles him home. Then Kaz Matsui singles. Then Carlos Beltran* hits a fly ball to left, scoring Reyes, and on the play Matsui even tags up to second. Then up comes Cliff Floyd (again - he led off the inning, remember), and he singles home Matsui. Then, with the Mets now leading 7-1, he again steals second base!! Wright grounded out to third to end the inning, but the Mets sent 11 batters to the plate, scored seven runs, and stole two bases.

Let's put this in perspective...Marlins starters had the best ERA in the league - the Mets did some damage to that. The Marlins hadn't given up more than four runs in a game so far ALL YEAR....the Mets got seven in the second inning!!! The Mets went on to a 10-1 win - Carlos Beltran* added a 2-run homer. A couple of thoughts overall:

It's really awesome when the Mets' offense gets going like it did tonight, and on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. I think they're capable of doing it against good pitchers...unfortunately we haven't really seen that yet. We've seen it against Vicente Padilla (who has owned the Mets in the past...let's keep that in mind), and Al Leiter, who they were seeing for the second time in less than a week. But the offense can be explosive...they just need to be a little more consistent.

Here's why I'm not so bothered whenever David Wright gets into a slump like he is in right now. He still gets on base. In Thursday night's game, Wright walked ahead of Mientkiewicz's grand slam. He went 0-for-2, but still got on base and scored. Reyes will hit his way out of slumps...Wright will work his way out of slumps with patience.

Doug Mientkiewicz is a bit of a hothead. I've brought up this point earlier in the season - during spring training. I mentioned he has a bit of a big mouth - I think it was probably around the World Series baseball controversy. But in his next at-bat after the grand slam Thursday night against Leiter, the first pitch was high and slightly inside (sort of like Manny versus Clemens in Game 3 of the ALCS in 2003). In other words, just high. Mientkiewicz took a couple of steps in Leiter's direction and stared at him. I don't think Leiter was sending a message. He was trailing 7-1 at the time, and couldn't find the plate. I think it was just a high pitch...but Mientkiewicz took issue.

Also intriguing, was the fact that Cliff Floyd stole two bases in the second inning. The first one I understand completely - Leiter has a long motion to the plate, and doesn't hold runners well. The Mets were down 1-0, so Floyd took the opportunity to put himself in scoring position. Great work by him. But then, with the Mets up 7-1, in the SAME INNING, Floyd did it again. I thought that broke one of those unwritten baseball rules (I don't mind - I love when the Mets run it up like that...I'm just pointing it out). I wonder if Floyd feels slighted by Leiter leaving the Mets, or if there's some bad blood there, and Floyd just wanted to prove to Leiter he could steal the bag. Just wondering. I have a feeling this win by the Mets got in the Marlins' craw a bit. Jack McKeon got very upset when the Marlins got crushed by the Red Sox in 2003 (I think that game was 25-7). This one was different, but embarrassing to Florida nonetheless. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some animosity between the Mets and Marlins the rest of the season.

That's all I have for tonight. The Mets take on the Washington Nationals for the first time this weekend at Shea.

NOT SO GRANDA

Reds 9, Mets 5 (CIN 2-0, NYM 0-2)

I'll start on a positive, on a night when I'm not feeling too positive. I watched this game on FSNOhio, and I have no complaints at all. George Grande (the old ESPN guy) is the play-by-play guy (I think), and he does the games with some former pitcher named Chris (I think). They did an outstanding job - not homers, very fair, very easy to listen to. Far cry (in the good direction) from Ted Robinson and Fran Healy.

Now the bad news. Tom Glavine pitched poorly - and I think he let some bad umpiring get to him. Glavine got into a jam in the first inning - first and second, no out. He gets a double play, then loads the bases. Glavine goes to 0-2 on Joe Randa. Randa takes a pitch - right down the middle - and home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether calls the pitch a ball. Unreal. This pitch was RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. I mean, there are close calls...but this one was a no-doubt-about-it. So, two pitches later, Glavine gives up a 2-run single to Randa, it's 2-0 Reds, and Glavine's in trouble.

Future Hall of Famer David Wright and big mouth first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz swapped spots in the batting order Wednesday - Wright hitting sixth, Mientkiewicz seventh. Not sure why that was reversed on Monday - perhaps it's a lefty-righty thing. Wednesday night, Mientkiewicz homered in the top of the second off of lefty Eric Milton - Mientkiewicz isn't supposed to be able to hit lefties well. The aforementioned unknown color guy mentioned Mientkiewicz's recent wrist problems, and how Mientkiewicz says they're behind him, and the replay showed Mientkiewicz's wrists were clearly not a problem on the homerun swing. Then unknown color guy made a joke about Mientkiewicz getting the home run ball back from the fan and keeping it, like he did the Red Sox ball. It was well done.

In the top of the third, future Hall of Famer Wright tied the game at two with a solo home run to the opposite field (career home run number 15).

The tie didn't last. In the bottom of the fourth, Glavine again threw a close pitch, called a ball, could have been a strike - definitely should have been a strike - just as much down the middle as the pitch to Randa. That would have gotten Ken Griffey, Jr. with the bases loaded. But Griffey comes back with a 2-run single off Glavine, making it 4-2, then Sean Casey made it 5-2 with another RBI single.

The Mets got the tying run to the plate in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. In the sixth, Mientkiewicz hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, making it 5-3, Reds. And the thing about the Mets lineup is that you feel that if one guy gets on at any time, they have a chance to score. When the top of the lineup is up, Reyes and Matsui are setting the table for Beltran*. Then it's Piazza, and Floyd, who's come out of spring training ripping the ball. Then Wright, Mientkiewicz are a pretty darn good 6-7, and in Wednesday night's case, Victor Diaz was the 8 hitter, in right field. So it doesn't seem too hard to build a rally...but the Mets couldn't on Wednesday. Beltran struck out looking at a pitch down the middle (surprised, maybe, that Meriwhether didn't call it a ball), and the Mets never got closer.

Mike DeJean came in in the bottom of the eighth inning, and a huge argument delayed the game for a good five minutes - maybe even ten. The gist of it was that Willie Randolph didn't announce a double switch before DeJean started warming up, so DeJean had to lead off the ninth inning (the Mets pinch-hit), but the delay definitely affected DeJean. He couldn't find the plate...he loaded the bases, then served up a grand slam to Joe Randa. The Mets added a couple of runs in the top of the ninth to make it a 9-5 final.

A couple of things I noticed watching baseball the past couple of days - the Dodgers weren't wearing names on the back of their road uniforms in San Francisco. Not sure if that's a permanent change or a throwback occasion or something. (If it was a true throwback game, though, they would have been playing in New York.) And I have to admit, seeing the way the Red Sox lost to the Yankees on Tuesday made me feel a tiny bit better about the Mets' loss on Monday. Just a tiny bit. Let's check some mail:

"JohnnyMets,

You told us that you expect the Mets to win the NL behind MVP Carlos Beltran and Cy Young Pedro Martinez*. But you did not tell us how you expect them to fare against your predicted AL champion Anaheim Angels.

Wait. Let me guess. 4-0 sweep.

Dave in Brighton"

My bad, Dave. First of all, let's remember that it's now the Los Angeles Angels, and it would be a five-game World Series win.

"Dear JohnnyMets-

OK. So we've been together for five years. And you've LIVED with me for one year. So let me ask you... *how* can you pick the Yankees to win the AL East this year??? Yes, they have Johnson, Jeter, Matsui and the two BALCO boys. And yes, the Sox looked like crap against them Monday night. But honestly, do you want to continue having our house sponsored by DirecTV? Because with predictions like that, it might just be shut off and we'll have the House Sponsored by Rabbit Ears Antenna.

Sincerely,

Your Wife"

Wow. The wife weighing in. I think she meant the Sox looked like crap on Sunday. We'll keep this e-mail handy and re-evaluate in October.

The Mets-Reds series wraps up Thursday afternoon, 12:30, in Cincinnati. Mets need to come out with a win.

The Mets had their Thursday night spring training game with the Cardinals rained out.

I will just make a few comments about the Wednesday game before I go to bed:

-Kaz Matsui reportedly played a good second base...as Dave aptly pointed out. It seems his only miscue was the ball that fell in between he and THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes.

-Another good note about Matsui - he plays up the middle, or at least further up the middle than Doug Mientkiewicz expected. This is a good thing, says Mientkiewicz, because Mientkiewicz can range far to his right. So he says it gives the Mets maximum coverage on the right side of the infield with Matsui positioning himself where he does.

The Mets have a really good infield right now - I'm can't wait to see them play for real. That's all I got for tonight. Enjoy the weekend.

Helloooooooo, Wilmington, North Carolina!!

Baseball season is around the corner, and johnnymets.blogspot.com is back for another season. I've overcome my winter sadness over the acquisition of Pedro Martinez, and am now really psyched about the Mets' upcoming year.

Since I've last written, the Mets have parted ways with the likes of Vance Wilson, Richard Hidalgo, Al Leiter, John Franco, and Art Howe. They've replaced, and upgraded, in all of those spots.

Willie Randolph is the new Mets manager, and he's bringing some Yankee style discipline to the team. Randolph allows only mustaches, so all of the Mets will look clean-shaven this year - no more Mike Piazza beards...or fu manchus. And Randolph has outlawed music in the clubhouse, a Mike Cameron favorite. Players are only allowed to listen to music on headphones. Cameron says he's going to fight this rule.

Cameron isn't a new player this year, but he's playing a new position. Cameron moves to right field to accomodate the big prize - centerfielder Carlos Beltran. I expect Beltran's power numbers to decline a bit with the Mets, but there's no reason for his average or stolen base output to go down. I'm psyched about watching Beltran play*. I just hope he adjusts to center field at Shea Stadium better than Cameron did last year, and that Cameron now makes a smooth transition to right. (* - see Pedro Martinez below)

Pedro Martinez. I've decided that there are worse things in the world than your baseball team adding a potential Cy Young Award winner to their pitching rotation* (an already-strong rotation, incidentally). (* - here's where the asterisks come in. As a Mets fan, you have to be leery of any free agent acquisitions, especially when the players have had huge success before coming to New York. In this case, I think the additions of Martinez and Beltran make the Mets a whole lot better, I really do, but it's just so hard to trust any players in New York until you see them succeed in a Mets uniform with your own eyes. So until they can prove that they are the same Martinez and Beltran that have played for other teams, all references to Martinez and Beltran from here on out will be marked with an asterisk, referring to this footnote.)

I am giving Pedro a chance, starting now. He seems to respect Willie Randolph, which gets him off to a good start. His first bullpen session was strong, he was throwing the ball with "zip". He seems to have a good rapport with the young Latin ballplayers....and there are Red Sox players right now who say they really miss Pedro. Perhaps he isn't a clubhouse cancer. Maybe he'll be a good influence on other Mets. So, Pedro, you're getting a chance to prove yourself to me. Don't blow it.

One other new addition I want to mention is Pedro Martinez' former Red Sox teammate, Doug Mientkiewicz. Mientkiewicz has a big mouth. He's already been talking about that World Series ball controversy, and in Sunday's (or Monday's) New York Daily News he started talking about how the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry didn't quite match up to the Twins-White Sox rivalry. Give me a break, Doug. He's done a lot of talking for just the first two days of camp. I hope he doesn't start rubbing people the wrong way, because he's a legitimate first baseman, something the Mets haven't had in five years.

Other things to look for this year include: the Jose Reyes-Kaz Matsui swap that never had to be, but is taking place this year....the continued emergence of THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, David Wright (Reyes lost that title last year, some of you may remember, due to excessive injury)....Mike Piazza's adjustment back to catcher....who's in the bullpen.....who's on the bench.....and just how good are the Mets going to be this year?

There's a lot of spring training left...I can't promise I'll write every day, but I can promise that beginning next week, Wednesday will continue to be the regular e-mail day, and I will respond to e-mails as long as you get them to me by early Tuesday. Then, once the regular season begins, there will hopefully be daily updates, with Wednesday remaining e-mail day.

Thanks for reading - I hope you had a restful winter - and get ready for BASEBALL SEASON!!