ENDY MAKES SURE METS' FIRST EXTRA-INNINGS GAME ISN'T A DRAG

Mets 2, Rockies 1 12 innings (NYM: 13-6, COL: 8-13)

By this time last year, the Mets had played about a dozen extra-innings games (slight exaggeration). Tuesday night, the Mets played their first extra innings game of 2007, and made staying up later than expected pay off.

In the bottom of the 12th inning, with runners on second and third and two out, Endy Chavez laid down a perfect drag bunt to bring home Shawn Green, and the Mets kept themselves a half-game in front of the Braves in the NL East with a 2-1, 12 inning win.

The dramatic win was set up by some drama in the 10th. After Billy Wagner had given up a run to the Rockies in the top of the 10th, Damion Easley hit a pinch-hit, 2-out, 2-strike home run to tie the game at 1, and force more extras.

The 12 innings (and the tenth inning comeback) nearly made you forget that Orlando Hernandez turned in an outstanding start in this game. El Duque went 7 innings without giving up a run, surrendering just 4 hits, walking two, while striking out 5. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh in one of many early failed Mets rallies. They blew a lot of chances to win this game early. But that's not to take anything away from Rockies starter Aaron Cook, who also went 7 scoreless innings.

The win was the first in the young career of Joe Smith, who gave the Mets two-thirds of an inning, retiring the two batters he faced. Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis also had scoreless outings in this one.

It should be noted that in the 11th inning, with the winning run at second, David Wright had a great at-bat. He managed to work a walk, but he fouled off a few pitches, and looked the most locked-in I've seen him look all year - sort of like David Wright last year. It made me wonder if there's been something else on Wright's mind all month - because Tuesday night was the first night I really felt he looked like himself. For what that's worth. He finished 2-for-4, with one strikeout.

The Mets and Rockies play an afternoon game on Wednesday, getaway day. Mike Pelfrey against Josh Fogg.

Extra Sugarfree Gum johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Damion Easley. Easy call here - without Easley, Endy never gets a chance. Can't do much better than one at-bat, one home run...and in a very important spot.



MONDAY NIGHT'S RESULT - Mets 6, Rockies 1

VALENTIN'S DAY - Jose Valentin earned johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game honors with a homer and 4 RBI. He was 1-for-2, scoring just once - he had a sacrifice fly in addition to a 3-run homer, single-handedly lifting the Mets to a 4-0 lead by the 4th inning.

John Maine benefitted from Valentin's outing, as well as Carlos Delgado's first home run of the season, improving to 3-0 on the season, and the Mets jumped back into first place, a half-game ahead of Atlanta.

I was a bit under the weather, sorry I didn't write. I'm feeling better Tuesday night, but I'm told this bug I have could last 7-10 days. Bad headache, coupled with a nauseous feeling. It may or may not include vomiting. It did for me.

TURNING TWO...HUNDRED: I've been thinking about this all season, since the Mets turned four double plays on Opening Night in St. Louis. I finally did the math tonight. I thought the Mets were on pace to set some sort of record for double plays turned in a season. They are, if my calculations are correct. They're on pace to turn more than 200 double plays right now - the team record is 171. So there's a new feature this year, and it's called "Turning Two...Hundred":
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 2 SEASON TO DATE: 26 TEAM RECORD: 171

**OK, there's a problem here. The Mets' media guide has the team record at 171, done twice - in 1966 and 1983. But mlb.com says the 1999 Mets had 294 double plays - reasonable, since that was a great defensive team. But mlb.com also has every 1999 team as the top 30 in double plays all time. So I think something is wrong there. I need to straighten this out before we take Turning Two...Hundred too far off the ground. I also need to get the all-time record straightened out, too, because I'm having a hard time believing the 1999 Devil Rays turned almost 400 (although they probably allowed a lot of baserunners...)

SNY: I haven't commented on this yet this season, but Lee Mazzilli has been doing pre-and-post-game studio work for the Mets on SNY this season. I can't comment on his performance, because I usually don't watch the pre-and-post-game studio work. The past couple of days, I've caught a bit of the pre-game shows, and for some reason, Dave Gallagher is doing the job. I haven't been too impressed...but I'm more impressed that he has remained visible enough to actually have a high-profile job like this. Dave Gallagher - I hold a grudge against him because I think he was the first Met to wear number 8 after Gary Carter. He was one of the "ordinary guys" I always think of, too, when I think of the early-90's New York Mets...Bill Pecota, Jeff McKnight, Dave Gallagher. I seriously considered naming one of my fantasy teams after him, but went with Jeff McKnight, because I really do hold that number 8 thing against Gallagher, unfair though that may be.

STERLING: God forgive me for the following: So I was listening to a lot of WFAN in New York over the weekend (Thursday through Saturday, truth be told). On Thursday, driving down to New York, I got to hear a little of Joe Benigno's mid-day show - I enjoy listening to him. They were giving John Sterling crap because of his call of the previous day's home run by A-Rod...actually, maybe this was on Friday...I'm getting my days confused. Regardless, they were making fun of the call where Sterling was saying..."An Aaaaaa-Bomb, for Aaaaaa-Rod." Now, I think Sterling is a dope, and can't stand listening to a Yankees game on the radio. But on Saturday, Benigno had Sterling on his show, and was interviewing him, and I'll be darned if it wasn't a great interview. Sterling came across as intelligent and knowledgeable. I can't believe it - it almost made me change my opinion about him. But then I started to dislike him even more, because if he's that coherent in an interview, he should be enjoyable to listen to during a game.

Also on WFAN, on Friday (I confused my days in the above paragraph, I apologize...but I know Sterling was interviewed on Saturday, when Benigno was filling in for Russo, and I know I heard the following on Friday), Mike & the Mad Dog interviewed Theo Epstein heading into the Yankees-Red Sox series. It was a fantastic interview. Epstein was great, and when Chris Russo asked him about the Doug Mirabelli trade (for Cla [Russo actually pronounced it like it is spelled, instead of 'clay', which I thought was hilarious] Meredith and Josh Bard), Epstein was honest, and called it an awful trade for the Red Sox. He went on to say that the Red Sox will never be impatient again. The intelligence and honesty that Epstein showed in this interview made me remember why I liked listening to his press conferences when I was working in TV. And showed why the Red Sox are lucky he came back as general manager.

BEAT THE STREAK: I take personal responsibility for David Wright's 0-for-15 slump. It was all because I kept picking him for Beat the Streak. He finally got a hit Tuesday night, so he's off the hook. I have a one-gamer, and I go with Jimmy Rollins to tie my season high on Wednesday.

GOOD OLIVER

Mets 7, Braves 2 (NYM: 11-5, ATL: 11-6...Mets 1/2 game up)


If Oliver Perez can stay under control this season, I maintain he will be a valuable member of the rotation. Perez bounced back from his 7-walk performance in his last outing to shut down the Braves (again), improving his record to 2-1.

Perez didn't dominate - he gave up 9 hits over 6-and-two-thirds innings, but he only gave up 2 earned runs, and here's the important part - 9 strikeouts, 0 walks. We'll need to watch his control all year long.

Perez also benefitted from a comfortable lead. After being shut down by Tim Hudson on Friday night, the Mets' bats woke up again, pounding out 11 hits (10 against starter Chuck James), and scoring 7 runs. Carlos Beltran was 4-for-5, missing a chance at his first career 5-hit game, and Jose Reyes was 3-for-5. Reyes also stole his 9th base of the year. I just hope we don't ever take Jose Reyes for granted - he is THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED.

David Wright hit 2nd, as Paul Lo Duca is still mending, and was 0-for-4 (guess I still have the magic 'Beat the Streak' touch/jinx, killing people's real-life streaks - the 26-game streak came to an end Friday). Damion Easley started at second base, and homered. Ramon Castro homered again in relief of Lo Duca. Everyone is contributing - and the guys who aren't contributing will very soon. (Neither Carlos Delgado nor David Wright have a home run yet this season. Wright, at least, is hitting, albeit not for power. Delgado is hitting just .209.) (A secondary parenthetical thought - "projected stats" are a little ridiculous. It's funny to see that Alex Rodriguez, based on his stats to this point, is "projected" to hit 122 home runs. But it's silly to see that Delgado is "projected" to hit 0.)


MARRIOTT RESIDENCE INN JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: It could very easily have been an offensive player, but you want Carlos Beltran? Check espn.com. My 'Player of the Game' honor goes to Joe Smith. His line? One-third of an inning, 1 strikeout. Why does that merit an honor? With the Mets up, 7-2, and after Scott Schoeneweis had just walked Chipper Jones to load the bases, Smith was brought in to face Andruw Jones. Smith was described on WFAN as "cool as a cucumber", never changing his expression, and he struck out Jones to end the inning and the threat. Looking at the bigger picture, Smith's ERA is 0.00 in 10 appearances. And Mets relievers have allowed just 4 out of about 30 inherited runners to score. I think Inherited Runners-Scored is just about the most accurate and worthwhile stat to judge relievers by, and the Mets are doing awesome in that category right now.

FRIDAY NIGHT

The Braves beat the Mets on Friday night, 7-3, in a dominant outing by Tim Hudson, who earned johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game honors. Hudson has been great so far this year. Hudson's numbers on Friday night: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K's, 0 ER. His ERA on the year is 0.62, and he is 3-0 on the season.


The Mets and Braves play the rubber game on Sunday - John Smoltz against Tom Glavine. I get the game on TBS, not on DirecTV. I'd rather a few channels before I watch the Braves broadcast, but watching the Braves broadcast is preferable to no game at all.

OTHER DOMINANT PITCHERS: Cole Hamels of the Phillies is very impressive. Last year he was very good, then had a pop in his elbow, if I remember correctly, and was shut down for a while. He's off to a good start in 2007, and on Saturday against the Reds, he pitched a complete game, striking out 15 in the Phillies win. He's a very good young pitcher who I like watching, even though he plays for the Phillies. I just hope he's able to stay healthy...especially in light of the Mariners' Felix Hernandez leaving with an elbow injury on Thursday night.

OVER THE AIRWAVES: So the rescheduled weekend in New York became a Friday overnight in Connecticut to attend a funeral. The TV in the Marriott Residence Inn had YES, but did not have SNY, so we watched the Red Sox-Yankees, while listening to the Mets-Braves. I had to play with the clock radio for a while, though, before I could tune in the Mets. What I stumbled across before finally finding WFAN:
1. Reds-Phillies (Phillies broadcast...I think)
2. Yankees-Red Sox (on one FM station, and a few AM stations)
3. Blue Jays-Orioles (Baltimore broadcast...I think)
4. Indians-Devil Rays (Cleveland broadcast...I think)
5. Finally, Mets-Braves on WFAN.

I never realized so many stations could come through on a little clock radio in a hotel room. I need to experiment with my radios around here and see if any of those can come through all the way to Massachusetts.

BEAT THE STREAK: My David Wright jinx continues until Sunday.

ROUNDUP

A week and a day away from the beginning of the season! I have to get a post in here or there before the game recaps take over all of my time.

I was switching around as I watched the Rangers beat the Bruins in a shootout, and discovered I had the Mets game today on SNY. Not sure how DirecTV works this, but they black out most preseason baseball games, and I only catch them once in a while. I've seen parts of about three Mets spring training games this year. But I caught a little of the split squad loss to the Orioles, and there were a couple of things worth noting:

-Chan Ho Park pitched three perfect innings, then was lifted for Joe Smith (more on him in a minute). Park was apparently really mad about being taken out of the game. The plan is to use him again on Monday, and see if he can handle being used more than once every fifth day, and compete with Aaron Sele in a long relief role. (The role vacated by Darren Oliver's departure to Anaheim.) Sele has apparently had a good spring.

-Smith is a sidearming righty. He's the Chad Bradford replacement (he signed with Baltimore), and has wowed the Mets this spring, and will likely be in the bullpen to start the season. Interestingly, with a much more mature Lastings Milledge showing up at camp (haven't written about that at all - but it seems like he did some growing up this off-season), and Smith taking up a bullpen role, it seems both Padres the Mets got this off-season in exchange for Royce Ring and Heath Bell will be starting the season in the minors. There doesn't look like there will be room for Ben Johnson or Jon Adkins. Milledge is expected to start the season on the bench, but in the majors, as the Mets won't need a fifth starter until mid-April, so Milledge will stay with the team until then.

-Speaking of that fifth starter, it's looking more and more like Mike Pelfrey, which is just outstanding. Pelfrey is going to be very, very good, and I think he's better off at this point being with the major league team than off in the minors. Besides the fact that I think he's a better option than some of the flotsam the Mets have been collecting to fill that role. As for the other exciting young Mets pitcher, Philip Humber will be starting the season in the minors...and most likely spending the entire year there. He'll be a factor next year, but I wouldn't expect him to get more than a cup of coffee in the bigs this year.

-Is it just me, or is Moises Alou having just about the quietest spring training in the history of sports? I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I still say he has to prove to me that he's worth the Mets' acquisition.

-Carlos Delgado is in no danger of missing any regular season time due to the birth of his child. His wife went into labor this weekend, and Delgado went to Puerto Rico to be with her, so he'll be ready on April 1st.

-Pedro Martinez* is still on track in his recovery, taking his throwing program to the next level.

FANTASY ROUNDUP: Here's a rundown of what I'm doing fantasy sports-wise this year, since you're bound to hear about these things throughout the baseball season:

1. East Coast Bias - This is the only fantasy baseball league I thought I'd ever do for the rest of my life (more on that later), with Justin from NYC, The Southern Bureau, and Dave in Brighton. It's fun and it's different. We can only pick players from the AL and NL East (making scouting easier), and we have different categories than the average league. I came in 3rd place last year, after leading most of the first half, then falling out of second place on the last day of the season as I threw all my hopes onto 7 different starting pitchers (none of them good) on the final day of the aforementioned season. I am determined to win our trophy this year.

2. The Orange Couch - Named for The Southern Bureau's blog, this league was created primarly for The Southern Bureau's dad, so that he had a league to play in, after their long-time league disbanded. So it's a good bunch of guys (featuring the same 4 from East Coast Bias, along with 6 others, including Dave in Brighton's dad, too), and it's a full player universe. So even though I thought I'd never be doing another fantasy league like this, here I am. I want to do respectably well in this league. And one of the biggest banes of fantasy baseball - player trades - has been a good experience for me so far. On a whim, I offered Ramon Hernandez for Mike Piazza, who you all know I like this year. The other player countered with Hernandez and Octavio Dotel for Piazza, which I thought was too much, so I thought no deal would happen, until finally I threw out there Hernandez and Jonathan Broxton for Piazza, and I landed him. So I'm happy about that. Coming soon: I feel good about a certain pitcher in the majors this year, who I forgot to mention in the season preview. He's still a free agent in this league, and I will pick him up on Sunday to fill Broxton's roster spot. Stay tuned to find out who I'm talking about.

3. I will be doing my New Baseball Pool again this year. It was a huge success last year, and has grown this year.

4. Beat the Streak - I love it. Can't wait for it to start up - it's always one of the last things mlb.com gets going. I will create a league, and I hope you all join up to compete against me. Someday I'll get to 57 games....this year, I hope to get past 17.

5. mlb.com also has a fun game called Survivor. You pick teams until you lose. It's fun, it's free. I won't start a league, but I'll be playing, I'll let you know if I win anything.

SUNDAY COMICS: One of my small enjoyments in life is that I read the comics in the newspaper everyday. I read most of them, there are a couple I skip. One that I skip is called 'Zippy The Pinhead'...or sometimes, just 'Zippy'. But this caught my eye in the Sunday comics a week or two ago. I don't read this comic because I never get it....it's not funny, it doesn't even make sense. This one doesn't either, but I had to point it out. Poor Mr. Met...how did he get involved in something like this?!