METS FINALLY SEO UP WIN NUMBER 70

Mets 7, Marlins 1 (NYM: 70-66; FLA: 72-64) NL East: 7.5 GB, Wild Card: 2.5 GB

It occurred to me during the Mets' run in Arizona that the Diamondbacks were (are) not a very good team. It occurred to me after the Mets' 1-0 win in San Francisco (their fifth straight) that the offensive explosion a week and a half ago could have been some very bad pitching, as opposed to really good hitting by the Mets. But that all went away with the onset of the important divisional games, and the Mets' dramatic win over the Phillies on Tuesday night. I haven't written since then (and with school starting Tuesday and the football season being right around the corner, I need to take this opportunity to say the postings have the potential to be fewer and farther between...depending on my workload), and since then the Mets have dropped four straight - including an ugly one on Saturday night in Florida.

But all that said, after a big win on Sunday (they're all big wins from here on out), and with all the right teams losing, the Mets are still just two-and-a-half games out of the Wild Card. There are three teams in between the Mets and the Phillies (as well as the division-leading Braves - which is now a seven-and-a-half game deficit), but it's still just two-and-a-half games.

The Mets have to go through Atlanta now, and then they have to go to Saint Louis. Saint Louis is not playing the best ball right now, but they're still a good measuring stick - and Atlanta has been hot. So it's make-or-break time. If the Mets come away with a winning record, we're talking some exciting September baseball. If not, then it's a good thing the Jets start up on Sunday.

Let's talk about Sunday's game. Jae Seo again pitched brilliantly - 1 run, 6 K's in seven innings - and he continues to make me wonder "what if...." about the time Kaz Ishii spent in the majors while Seo was in Norfolk. Cliff Floyd homered - and it was a rifle. He's been hitting the ball hard lately - this homer (his 29th of the season) was a line drive that carried all the way over the center field wall. It makes you wonder what he has in store for the stretch run. David Wright and Carlos Beltran* also contributed - and I just wonder if Beltran* can take this team on his back the way he did the Astros a year ago, to make up for the struggles all season.

It's pretender or contender time. The Mets spend Labor Day in Atlanta to open up their series against the Braves. And the number one contender or pretender, Steve Trachsel, is on the mound for the opener. He wants to start the big games? There's nothing bigger right now. I want to see how he does when there's something on the line - he can show all Mets fans if he can handle it on Monday afternoon.

I never had the chance to give an August roundup - remember, the Mets had lost 13 games a month until August - 11-13 in April, 15-13 in May (to be .500), then 13-13 in June (staying at .500), then 14-13 in July (a game over), then they got hot, going 16-11 in August - the second best record in the National League in the month. They are off to a 1-3 start in September - not good, but they need the hot finish to be able to play more than their two scheduled games in October.

One other note - I mentioned an ugly game on Saturday. I only heard bits of the last inning and post-game show on the radio late Saturday, but it seems Willie Randolph opened himself up to second-guessing by putting in Shingo Takatsu (released by the White Sox, picked up by the Mets) with the bases loaded instead of sticking with Juan Padilla. The Mets also stunk it up in the field though - Ramon Castro apparently made a bad decision, and Victor Diaz lost a fly ball in the lights, leading to a 2-run homer. It seems like it was a disheartening loss...but the fact that the Mets came back with a 7-1 win should be encouraging.

ELTRAN*'S: Beltran* contributed on Sunday with a 2-for-5 day, with 2 RBI. Hopefully a sign of better things to come. For the second half:

44-for-164 (.268 AVG.), 4 HR, 20 RBI, 31 Runs, 12 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: David Wright was also 2-for-5, with 2 RBI - and a double.

SECOND HALF: 14 SEASON TOTAL: 36 TEAM RECORD: 44

WRIGHT NEEDS 9 IN THE TEAM'S FINAL 26 GAMES TO BREAK THE RECORD!!

Minor League Note: The Norfolk Tides won their division - the regular season ends Sunday....but there will be some post-season. I don't know how this affects end-of-season call-ups. I know, for example, that Royce Ring is still playing with the Tides.

METS MAGIC

Mets 6, Phillies 4 (NYM: 69-62; PHI: 70-62) East: 5 GB Wild Card: 0.5 GB

Those of you who know me well, or read my blog, know how I feel about the Philadelphia Phillies. If the final playoff spot came down to a Mets-Phillies one-game playoff (not that it would ever come to that, because Philly would have choked long ago), I'd book the Mets a flight to Playoffville. No questions asked. (Where is Playoffville?, you ask...and don't the Mets have a traveling secretary to take care of booking their flights? All good questions - for another night.) So when the Phillies jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Jae Seo in the first inning, and then led 4-1 mid-way through, you'd better believe I was not switching off my television set. Nope. I was pretty sure the Mets would either make a game of it, or they'd come back and beat the Phillies outright. Both happened.

It looked like the Mets blew their chance in the seventh. The bases were loaded for Cliff Floyd - and the Mets got to within 4-3 on a wild pitch by Ryan Madson. Then Floyd flailed at a pitch, he looked just awful swinging at it (he was 0-for-4 - bad night for Floyd), striking out and stranding the two runners, with the Phillies up 4-3.

In the eighth, though, the Mets made the move I'd been waiting for all game. Future Hall of Famer David Wright led the inning off with a walk. He stole second during Mike Jacobs' at-bat (he struck out), and barely....I mean, BARELY, made it. Victor Diaz then worked a walk from Ugueth Urbina, before Ramon Castro hit a three-run homer to left. So clutch. Amazin'. It's the type of thing that happens to the Mets in championship seasons. Braden Looper was very good getting the save - 1-2-3.

Actually, the Mets bullpen in its entirety was good on Tuesday night. Aaron Heilman relieved Seo, and was his usual effective self. Then Juan Padilla pitched a good inning of relief. As bad as his first inning was (almost 30 pitches), Seo was able to gut out five innings for Willie Randolph, giving up just the four runs. He gave up homers to Kenny Lofton and Pat Burrell in the first, by the way. But the bullpen has been good in recent days - they keep the Mets in games that they're behind in, allowing the Mets to come back, or else they've been holding leads. It'll be interesting to see what the Mets do if they trade Trachsel, and what they get in return.

Also interesting is the fact that the Mets have no lefties in the bullpen right now. They survived without one Tuesday, and they just have to get to Thursday when the rosters can expand. We'll probably see Dae-Sung Koo again and Royce Ring, probably, too.

The Mets got some help, but not enough, on Tuesday night. They drew a game closer to the Braves in the NL East, but unfortunately that means the Nationals, who were playing the Braves, also won. The Marlins came back after blowing a lead, to beat the Cardinals by a run. And the Astros beat the Reds. But the Mets are still tied with Houston, and the Marlins and Phillies are now tied atop the Wild Card standings, a half-game in front of New York.

ELTRAN*'S: This could be a turning point game for Beltran*. We'll have to watch and see, as September nears. He went 3-for-3, homering in his first at-bat, and looking very good in all at-bats - a rare thing this year. He also walked.

39-for-144 (.271 AVG.) 4 HR, 18 RBI, 27 Runs, 11 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright was 1-for-3 Tuesday night, upping his average to .315, but no doubles.

SECOND HALF: 13 SEASON TOTAL: 35 TEAM RECORD: 44

NEEDS 10 DOUBLES IN TEAM'S FINAL 31 GAMES TO BREAK RECORD!!

GAINING GROUND

Mets 5, Pirates 1 (NYM: 61-58; PIT: 51-69) 7.5 GB East, 2.5 GB Wild Card

Two in a row over Pittsburgh. Just what the Mets neeeded. There's no room for celebration yet, though, because the Mets need to sweep this series. After these first two games, there's no reason to think they can't do it....but we're talking about the Mets here, so you never know.

Teams continue to walk Cliff Floyd intentionally to get to David Wright (when he hits behind Floyd). Wright is the first person I've seen in a long time who says he's personally offended when teams do that, and then has the ability to come through consistently when that happens. On Wednesday night, Carlos Beltran* (more on him later) singled, stole second, and then Floyd was walked. After a wild pitch put those runners on second and third, Wright ripped a single, scoring both men, putting the Mets ahead 3-1. Only thing better would have been a double.

Some good news comes out of this game. First and foremost, Beltran* was back. He started and played center field. I didn't see him get many chances out in center, but his first at-bat he walked, and then scored all the way from first on a single into right-center field by Floyd. So that was a good sign. Then he singled, and stole second...and later scored on the Wright hit. He doesn't seem to be bothered psychologically (on offense at least) by the collision. And he played one of his better offensive games of the year. So that's a very good sign of things to come from Beltran*.

Other good news was the game pitched by Tom Glavine. Again, he had a strong outing. One run in seven innings. He gets the win, improving to 9-10. Aaron Heilman got the save, pitching a very strong two innings in relief of Glavine (coming in with two runners on and leaving them both stranded). The RBI by Wright were numbers 74 and 75 on the year - putting him one behind team leader Cliff Floyd, who picked up one RBI on the night. A solid game all around.

There was some bad news, though. First off, Mike Piazza missed the game, and is day-to-day with a small fracture in his left wrist. The team doctors want to wait for the swelling to go down before they decide how much time he will really need to miss. The Mets want to avoid putting Piazza on the disabled list, so for now Piazza won't be in the lineup the next couple of days.

Also bad news is that on Thursday Steve Trachsel will make his (supposedly) last rehab start at Triple-A Norfolk. I say supposedly, because his last rehab start was supposed to be his last. He doesn't seem happy - I think he thinks he's being jerked around by Willie Randolph. Really, though, I can't blame Randolph. Jae Seo's been pitching lights out. The problem here is Seo should have been in the rotation long ago, and the Mets shouldn't have messed around for so long with Kaz Ishii. If the Mets can somehow move Seo to the bullpen a la Aaron Heilman, that might solve a little of the reliever problem, and make Trachsel happy by getting him back into the Major League rotation. I think if Seo goes to the bullpen it would be very similar to the relief role Masato Yoshii played in the 1999-2000 post-season runs - and it would be effective.

The Braves won Wednesday night, so the Mets couldn't gain ground in the division (everyone in the East actually won, except for Washington, losers to Philly). The Phillies, with the win over Washington, moved into a tie for the wild card with Houston. This is good news, because, all together now: PHILLY DOESN'T SCARE ME. The Nationals play a doubleheader with the Phillies tomorrow, so that could be good - either one team gets swept, and the Mets pick up some ground no matter what (granted, a Mets win over the Pirates is essential), or the teams split, and it's essentially no harm no foul. But the better news is that then Washington has to play the Mets - so hopefully it's a taxing doubleheader.

Now is the time for the Mets to make a move. A big weekend against the Nationals could put them within a game of the Wild Card. I've been saying it all week - these six games at Shea are huge, before the Mets head West again. So far, the Mets have taken advantage of a bad Pittsburgh team. We'll see how they do Thursday against Pittsburgh phenom Zach Duke, who I've mentioned here before. He's having a fabulous rookie season. He was called up on July 7, the day before the Mets went to Pittsburgh before the All-Star break, so he didn't face them then, but he's been shutting everyone down since his call-up. I have a feeling he's going to get a little bit roughed up before the season ends (all rookies do), so I hope the Mets start that trend, before he goes on to a great career.

ELTRAN*'S: In his return, Beltran* was 1-for-2 with 2 walks. He scores a lot when he gets on base - that just shows how important he is to this offense. Much like Jose Reyes. So, for the second half: 28-for-101 (.277 AVG.) 3 HR, 15 RBI, 22 Runs, 7 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: The aforementioned RBI single for Wright, in a 1-for-2 night, lifts his average to .304, but no doubles.

SECOND HALF: 10 SEASON TOTAL: 32 TEAM RECORD: 44

WRIGHT NEEDS 12 DOUBLES IN THE TEAM'S FINAL 43 GAMES!!!

THE KID'S KIDS: Ho-hum. Another day, another win for the Mets. 9-3 over the Nationals. 32-15 on the season, 10 games ahead. Still no word from Port St. Lucie on a post-season. I'll try calling again tomorrow.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: It has just come to my attention that the Jets-Vikings preseason game will be televised on Friday night nationally on CBS. Chad Pennington will be starting for the Jets. Seems like this weekend will be a good time to start up johnnyjets.blogspot.com. Stay tuned, please.

KAZ-UALTIES OF WALKS

Phillies 6, Mets 3
(PHI: 40-38, NYM: 38-39; 7.5 GB, pending outcome of Washington's rain delay)

The Mets have an interesting combo in Victor Zambrano and Kaz Ishii. They both battle wildness, but they're both very capable of pitching themselves out of jams. Zambrano won praise for his pitching lately - there have been write-ups about how well he's doing, and how he's progressing, after Tuesday night's win, and people have been comparing him favorably to the year Scott Kazmir has been having...starting to think it might not have been a bad trade. Mike Piazza says Zambrano is wild to catch, because he gets himself into so many jams, but he says it's amazing how he pitches his way out of it.

All this is to set up the fact that "pitching yourself out of jams" is not going to help you play good baseball - because sooner or later, you're going to be just cruising through the first three innings, and then walk the first three batters in the fourth, and then you're going to give up a 2-run single, and a 3-run homer, and your team is going to be down 5-0 before they can manage to get a hit off the opposing pitcher, and then your team is going to lose. That's the long and short of Wednesday night's game, and start, by Kaz Ishii. Ishii did strike out Thome after loading the bases, so he did get himself within a groundball of getting himself out of the jam, but he still walked three straight batters. It's not the first time this season - it had better be the last. This loss is entirely on Ishii.

Changing gears - last night I mentioned my arch-nemesis Kenny Rogers breaking the pinky on his non-throwing hand throwing a hissy fit after a bad outing. Well, another hissy fit followed on Wednesday before the Rangers' game - Rogers attacked cameramen on the field in Arlington. He pushed one guy, then ripped a camera from another guy, threw it to the ground, and kicked it. Apparently, he has a huge temper, and it's becoming more apparent why Rogers couldn't cut it in New York, with the Mets and the Yankees. However, I do NOT remember him showing this much emotion after HE WALKED IN THE WINNING RUN IN THE 1999 NLCS. Probably because that game doesn't reflect in his personal stats.

Interesting fact from the Rangers-Angels series - Vladimir Guerrero has at least one hit in all 30 games he has played against the Texas Rangers. I think that's phenomenal. One more game this series Thursday afternoon in Arlington.

I was reading the Daily News online today, and Bill Madden talked about how the Mets want to be buyers at the (fast-approaching) trade deadline, but they don't really have much of a farm system to deal from. But they should be able to get something for Jae Seo - he won again on Wednesday for (1st place) Norfolk, and is now 6-2. He struck out nine in eight and a third innings, and has a 1.92 ERA since he was sent down on May 5. I'm not saying he's worth a ton - but he's gotta be worth something to somebody.

Let's talk Marlins for a minute: Jack McKeon will miss the next few games because of a death in his family....but that might be a good thing for Florida. Apparently, there is some unrest there - with players tiring of McKeon's old-school ways. Also, there are big-time trade rumors surrounding A.J. Burnett (I had no idea), and the players aren't happy about that at all.

Lastly tonight, I crunched the numbers on Piazza. I drew the line at May 26. To that point, Piazza had been hitting .239, with 4 HR, 10 runs scored, and 10 RBI in 42 games. Since then, he's hitting .316 (.322 before a 1-4 on Wednesday night) with 3 HR, 13 RBI, and 11 runs in 25 games. We'll probably never see the Piazza of old again...but I'll take the Piazza of late.

By the way, the Phillies still don't scare me.

CARTER COUNT: The Gulf Coast Mets had their game against "Washington" suspended in the first inning - they trailed 1-0. Two games on Thursday, putting their perfect record on the line.

SO FAR, SEO GOOD

Mets 10, Nationals 5 (WAS: 9-9, NYM: 10-8, 1 GB)

This game turned out to be the best-case scenario for the Mets. Ed Coleman brought up a valid point on WFAN Friday, saying that a rain out might be the best possible thing for the Mets on Saturday, after it was revealed Kaz Ishii was going to miss the start and be placed on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his side. The Mets did one better than the rain out, playing the game, and winning quite handily, 10-5.

I didn't get to watch this one, but I tuned in for a half-inning on the radio as I drove to work. By that point, the Mets were already up 10-0. The Mets beat up Tomo Ohka and Joe Horgan. Jae Seo was called up to make the start on Saturday, after pitching 4 and a third innings for Norfolk on Tuesday - so that was short rest for him. He was very good - going 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, no walks, just one run, and striking out 4 to pick up the win. Seo has been very inconsistent at the major league level, but sometimes he just pitches brilliantly, like he did today. He was starting to get knocked around a bit in the fifth inning (I heard on the radio that Carlos Beltran made an outstanding catch, diving headfirst into the gap to rob a hit, after Seo started to tire), but the Mets probably won't need him to be the answer to their pitching woes...for a while at least.

Here's the deal with the Mets' rotation. Thursday is an off day, so the Mets can skip the five spot. Then the following week, they can get away with skipping number five again. So the Mets won't need a fifth starter until the second week in May, and by then, Kris Benson is expected back. So a bullet might have been dodged today by a great outing from Jae Seo.

Notes from this game: Cliff Floyd went 2-for-4, he now has a 10-game hitting streak. He NEEDS to stay healthy....Future Hall of Famer David Wright went 2-for-4 - is he breaking out of his slump?....Carlos Beltran* was 2-for-2, which is great, but Mike Piazza was 0-for-4, which is not great.

Two points that I want to get into further. First is the asterisks following the names of Beltran* and Pedro Martinez*. If you don't know why they're there, go back to the end of spring training in my archives and see if you can find the article where they started. The point here, though, is that I feel like I should get rid of them, because these guys are doing awesome, and aren't like those free agents of the past who shy away from the Mets uniform. The problem, though, is that these guys have been doing great with the asterisks attached to their names, so I'm afraid if I take the asterisks away, one of them will get hurt or something. So I'm going to keep asterisking, although it might not be relevant any longer...now it's superstition.

Secondly, Victor Diaz. Diaz went 4-for-4 on Saturday, with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI. He's sixth in the National League with a .362 batting average. When Mike Cameron gets back from the DL, Willie Randolph wants to send Diaz back down to Triple-A to get him regular at-bats, rather than sitting on the bench at the major league level. I understand Randolph's point there, but the Mets need to keep Diaz's bat in their lineup. I think at this point, Diaz is better than Cameron. Cameron showed he wasn't as great a center fielder at Shea Stadium as he might have been anywhere else last year...he's the reason Beltran* and Martinez* have asterisks after their names! He also showed he wasn't willing to move to right field for a clearly better player, and it wasn't until he realized the Mets' potential with Beltran in center that he agreed to move to right. The Mets don't need Cameron over Diaz. I say trade Cameron as soon as he shows he's back and healthy, and give Victor Diaz right field at Shea.

Speaking of Shea, the Mets are now 7-1 at home, and they've won 10 of 13. A big test comes on Sunday, against Livan Hernandez. Victor Zambrano will try to outduel him. The Mets have shown they can beat up the lesser pitchers...I'd love to see them get 10 runs off a quality pitcher (Livan Hernandez would qualify...I'm not so sure about Al Leiter). After the Nationals leave town, the Mets will host the Braves.

Mets 5, Expos 4 (47-47, 3 GB)

David Wright is the New York Mets third baseman. A few thoughts occurred to me as I was watching last night. It's weird to see a career begin like we're seeing with Wright. Provided he's the star everyone's making him out to be, it could be possible that 25 years from now, we'll see Wright's number 5 go up with all the other Mets' retired numbers. Ideally, 5 would go up with 7, as The Greatest Ballplayer Who Ever Lived Jose Reyes and Wright retire together. And their numbers would hang with all the Mets championship banners from 2004-2029. (OK, that's a stretch, the Mets would probably get beaten out twice in that span of years.) But in this day and age, it's pretty much near impossible for those two guys to stay with the Mets their entire careers, and for those careers to be productive too. But it sure is fun to think about right now.

Last night's game is just what the Mets needed. Finally, a break went their way. That hasn't been happening much lately.

Bottom of the 8th, Ty Wigginton on second, Todd Zeile pinch-hitting, he grounds it to third, it looks like the game's going to stay tied into the 9th....but Nick Johnson drops the ball at first!!! I remember that happening to the Mets early in the year. Maybe their luck is changing. Braden Looper got a big double play in the ninth to finish off his 20th save of the year.

Mike Stanton, again, was not effective. He relieved Jae Seo (who pitched very well, but tired) with two men on, and promptly surrendered a 3-run home run to the first batter he faced. Way to go Mike. Luckily, the Mets survived.

The Mets need these games against Montreal. MSG showed an interesting graphic during last night's game - everyone in the NL East has been beating up on the Expos. The Mets need to follow suit, because they haven't shown that they can dominate against other teams in the division. So far, so good. I wouldn't mind a couple of blowouts, though.

David Wright was 0-for-4 in his big Mets debut, but he looked pretty good in the field. He ended the first inning with a nice play moving to his left, snaring a grounder, then throwing a strike to first base. I'd like for him to get a hit one of the next couple of nights just so he's not pressing very long for his first major league hit.

The addition of Wright forced a couple of changes for the Mets. First, Dan Wheeler was sent to the minors so they could bring him up. That was (obviously) not based on performance, because Wheeler has been one of the more reliable pitchers the Mets have coming out of the bullpen. But everyone else who would have been a candidate to go to the minors has some kind of stipulation (out of options, in contract, etc.) in which it couldn't happen. So expect a trade soon so the Mets can clear a roster spot and bring Wheeler back up.

Secondly, expect that trade to include Ty Wigginton. All he's done now is shown he's valuable at another position, after playing so well at first base last night. And before the game, when asked about moving to first for Wright, Wigginton flat out said he wasn't happy about it. Wigginton is not the type to cause trouble around the clubhouse, but he's not happy, and as my friend Steve said recently, let's face it - this is about as good as he's ever going to play. So the Mets might as well deal him and get something good for him while his value is so high. The question now is, what are they going to get in return, with the deadline less than 10 days away??

Mets 6, Yankees 5 (41-39, 2 GB)

SWEEP!! Wow, even I didn't think that would happen. But that's huge. That was number 3, 4, and 5 in the rotation...and now Tom Glavine and Al Leiter start off the four-game series against the Phillies. There's a very good chance the Mets could be in first place by the All-Star Break. Consider - the Mets have been blasting the ball the past couple of games - and Mike Piazza hasn't been part of the home run barrage. He's well overdue for a homer. And now the team heads to the launching pad that is Citizens Bank Park. If they keep hitting the ball this way, everyone will homer in this series.

Steve Trachsel did exactly what I hoped he would do on Friday night. Hopefully his bad starts are behind him, and he'll pitch consistently the rest of the season like he did in the first game of the Yankees series. Matt Ginter is in trouble - he might have lost his rotation spot with Saturday's performance. But the Mets were still able to pull out a win, which was big too. Then Jae Seo - I'm telling you - somehow he comes up big in big games. He's kind of like the Masato Yoshii of this Mets team - he has some real klunkers out there, but when it comes down to it, he gets the wins when it really counts (or in Sunday's case, he puts the Mets in position to win).

I saw Sunday's game, but didn't really see much post-game. (Although I was subjected to Yankees/YES coverage at my Yankees-fan aunt's and uncle's house.) Anyway, I never got a rule interpretation, but I don't understand what all the fuss was about when Jorge Posada got hit with the ground ball. I understand if the Yankees thought Piazza deflected the ball and then it hit Posada. Then he shouldn't have been out. But if the argument was that Posada got hit with the ball after it was past Piazza, I don't get it. I was always under the impression that if a grounder hit a runner, no matter where the fielder was, that was a dead ball, and the runner was out. Because what's the rule? Is it still a playable ball? I wouldn't think that's the case...but who knows. That could be why the Yankees put the game under protest. But I think I heard that the umpires ruled the second baseman (Ty Wigginton) could have had a play on the ball. So that would make the whole argument (and the Yankees' protest) moot.

So, what's next? The Mets play the first of four at Philadelphia on Monday night. The Marlins are home against the Pirates, also at night. In the NL East, the Mets are now tied with Florida, 2 games back of the Phillies. Florida's won just 2 of their last 10. The Mets are very capable of beating Philly here in these next four games. And then if Florida is still reeling after that, the Mets have a very good chance of taking that series. I really feel that the Mets will build off the momentum of this Yankees series and run off a bunch of wins here leading up to the break. They're playing great baseball right now. This should be a fun week.

ALL-STAR NEWS: Mike Piazza will be the starting catcher for the National League, voted to the All-Star team by the fans. Tom Glavine was named to the squad by Marlins manager Jack McKeon. Braden Looper also probably deserved to go, but I think the team is pretty fair, because a lot of other closers are having big years. Armando Benitez, Eric Gagne, Danny Kolb, and Danny Graves are all very deserving. So it'll be Glavine and Piazza representing the Mets in Houston next Tuesday. Not bad. Next year will be interesting to see whether Piazza makes the team as a first baseman...and it'll probably be the first All-Star appearance for THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes.

WRIGHT WATCH: Bad weekend for David Wright. He went 1-for-10 for the weekend, with 2 walks, and three strikeouts. His average dropped from .355 on Thursday to .319 on Sunday. He'll still be called up after the All-Star break, though.

Mets 6, Indians 2 (31-34, 5.5 GB)

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Lots going on this morning. First of all, great trade. The Mets got Richard Hidalgo from the Astros for David Weathers and Jeremy Griffiths. Hidalgo will play everyday in right field, which automatically makes the Mets better. And as much as I'm sad that Karim Garcia wasn't included in the trade, now he's an extra left-handed bat off the bench. Hidalgo had a great April, but right now he's hitting .256 with just 4 homers and 30 RBI. The Mets only gave up an aging reliever who hasn't done too much for them this year, and is very replaceable, and in Griffiths, a young guy who time will tell whether or not he pans out. I'm not sad to see him go...but I hope he doesn't turn into a star. Hidalgo is probably only going to be here until the end of the year, unless the Mets can work out a more economical deal with him, but they didn't sell the team to get him. So I'm happy overall. Maybe the change of scenery will get his power back. At the very least - even a .256 average would be among the Mets' team leaders right now - so he's bound to boost the offense.

And the Mets won last night. They busted out of the rain delay and won, 6-2, spurred by a homer by the ever-so-slowly-heating-up Mike Cameron. He's getting it back. A bunch of others contributed key hits as the Mets expanded their lead. It was a good overall effort. Jae Seo pitched well again before the rains came - four scoreless innings. I've been impressed by him. I feel like every other start is great...and he's only had a couple of disastrous ones.

Tonight is the big Mike Piazza party. The Mets are honoring Piazza before the game for becoming the all-time leader in homers by a catcher. Among those in attendance will be Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Lance Parrish, I think, and Hall of Famer Gary Carter. The Tigers are in town, so it would be sort of classy for the Mets to include Ivan Rodriguez. The Mets need these games against Detroit, to get back to .500 before 12 straight games against the Reds and Yankees. I'll be happy with two out of three, but I'd be thrilled with a sweep. Tom Glavine, Al Leiter, and Steve Trachsel go this weekend. They need to be in top form.

WRIGHT WATCH: David Wright's first Triple-A game without a hit. He went 0-2 with a walk as Norfolk lost again.

REYES WATCH: Saturday's game is the earliest we'll see Jose Reyes back with the Mets. We'll see...At the very latest, as it stands now, the return will be sometime next week. Let's hope.

Mets 4, Marlins 1 (27-26, 2.5 GB)

Thursday, June 3, 2004

I really think Jae Seo wasn't trying very hard during spring training. I've written this before, but I'm going to say it again. Whether it's a cultural thing, or a language thing, or whatever, I don't think he ever grasped the fact that he could lose his starting job in spring training.

For those of you who need a refresher, Seo had a very impressive season as a rookie last year (9-12, 3.81 ERA in 32 games). He came into spring training with the understanding that he was Art Howe's number four starter. For whatever reason, Seo did not pitch well during spring training. As a result, he started the season in the minor leagues, and did not get called up until Scott Erickson got hurt in the first week of the season. Seo took the minor league assignment as an insult, and after the call-up, he's only had a couple of bad starts. Last night, he gave up just one run on three hits in six innings pitched, improving to 3-4 on the season. That was his second straight solid start against the Marlins. I really think Seo didn't understand that he wasn't an established veteran, and that spring training for him this year was not just an exhibition season, but also a long tryout. The fact that he feels a little bit of heat as Scott Erickson nears a return to the majors is sort of a contributing factor, but overall, I think Seo is a solid pitcher, and these types of outings will be the norm from him.

Ty Wigginton continues on his torrid pace. He set a Mets record last night by getting an extra-base hit in his eighth straight game. I think that it's kind of funny that Jason Phillips is just about as hot as Wigginton right now, but Wigginton's hits keep finding the gaps, while Phillips keeps hitting it right at people. Once Phillips starts getting a little luckier, the offense should pick up.

Speaking of the offense picking up, isn't it amazing that the Mets are doing all this with minimal contributions from Mike Cameron? I think he's starting to come around, though. He's had a couple of 2-RBI games during this 4-game winning streak, and he's starting to look like he has a clue at the plate again. That was also a nice aggressive steal of third base last night after he doubled.

The versatility of the Mets infield right now (without Jose Reyes) is pretty fun to watch. I love how Wigginton just upped and moved to second base without skipping a beat, allowing Todd Zeile to play everyday. I like Danny Garcia, but a Zeile-Matsui-Wigginton-Piazza infield right now is much better than one with Garcia. It also allows for some creativity when Piazza gets pulled in the late innings, whether it's Joe McEwing, Garcia, or Eric Valent replacing him in the field.

Notes: I was surprised that A.J. Burnett pitched pretty well last night in his first start back. That's a pretty promising thing for Florida. I had forgotten, though, his record against the Mets. After last night, Burnett is now 0-5 against the Mets, winless in 10 career starts...The rest of this series should be great - too bad I can't watch any of it on the Comcast package. I guess I'll have to rely on the ESPNEWS crawl and the internet.

Cubs 3, Mets 1 (7-10, 4.5 GB)

Friday, April 23, 2004

Who's going to start getting some clutch hits? The Mets need a big inning sometime soon, just to prove they can drive in some runs. First inning - Shane Spencer steals second base - a nice, aggressive play. But Mike Piazza leaves him there.

Bases loaded in the third. Piazza grounds back to Greg Maddux, for a 1-2-3 double play. Then Mike Cameron strikes out. How many different ways are the Mets going to let their opponents get out of bases-loaded situations?

Eighth inning - Spencer singles to short. Piazza and Cameron both strike out - at least put the ball in play guys! Make something happen!

I'm not even going to talk about Jason Phillips (0-for-his-last-23).

At least Jae Seo (0-3) looked better yesterday. Maybe he's settling down from the bad spring. We'll see what he has to offer the next time he's out there. Seo just gave up the homers to Moises Alou and Todd Walker, which is pretty good when you look at the Cubs lineup. Seo pitched well enough for the Mets to win. And has the bullpen turned a corner? After John Franco and Braden Looper pitched so well on Thursday, yesterday Mike Stanton and David Weathers held the Cubs scoreless in relief of Seo. That's part of what the Mets need to win games. The other part is putting some runs across the plate.

Notes: I know I said Tyler Yates' last start would tell us something about the young pitcher, but that was against the Expos. Now let's see how he does against a good offense. Today's the day - Yates vs. Kerry Wood at Wrigley Field. Let's go Mets. Gotta start winning.

Braves 6, Mets 1 (4-4, 3 GB)

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

I was pretty excited that the game didn't get washed out last night. Now I wish it had. I hope the weather had something to do with Tyler Yates' (0-1) performance. That 3rd inning was brutal. Those five runs felt like ten. Hopefully he'll bounce back in his next start. I'll reserve judgment on this start in the cold and rain until seeing how he reacts in his next start Monday. Maybe he'll have a big Trachsel-like bounceback.

Another sidebar coming out of last night's game was that apparently Mike Piazza wasn't told by Art Howe that he was starting at first base instead of catcher. The newspapers are trying to make a big deal out of it, but Piazza says it's not a big deal. Hopefully they leave it at that. The Mets don't need manufactured controversy over stupid little stuff like that. Save it for the inevitable controversies they'll create themselves this season.

Nice outing by Jae Seo yesterday - I wonder if he falls into the same category as 2001's Ichiro and this year's Kaz Matsui. They both had poor springs before breaking out during the regular season. Seo lost his starting job late in spring training, and he wasn't pitching well, but maybe it was because he felt he would save his best stuff for the regular season. Maybe it's part of a mentality players from the Far East have. Let's see how he pitches when he gets the start on Sunday.

Notes: Encouraging to watch the solid outing by the bullpen. Seo (2.2 IP), Dan Wheeler (2), John Franco (1) and Grant Roberts (1) combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings to give the offense a chance to get back in the game. It was especially good to see Roberts not give up a run. He needs the confidence boost....I think I need to ban my future wife from watching Mets games with me. She's watched the past two Wednesday games, and the Mets have lost by a combined score of 24-11. She doesn't seem too upset by my threat.