GETTING HOT IN FLORIDA

Mets 9, Marlins 2 (NYM: 9-4, FLA: 6-8)

(I'm having trouble with pictures tonight, so imagine a Mets-Marlins image here). The Mets pounded out 17 hits on Wednesday night in Florida, beating the man they had such a hard time beating for so long, Dontrelle Willis. Besides starting pitcher John Maine, the only starter to not get a hit on Wednesday was Paul LoDuca (and I forgot to mention this Tuesday, so it's worth mentioning now, that LoDuca took a foul tip off the throwing hand in Tuesday's game, and was hurt so much that he had to leave the game. Throw in an 0-for-5 on a night where everyone was hitting, and I wonder how much pain LoDuca is in.).

The Mets struck early - scoring 4 runs in the first inning, before an out was even recorded. It was pretty much over there. The Marlins apparently had a late flight out of Houston on Tuesday, and an early arrival home on Wednesday, but boy were they awful. A couple of errors in the first aided the Mets. The only thing that made this game worth watching after the first few innings was the fact that - again - John Maine carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning (although the first batter in the seventh put a stop to the thoughts that the Mets might finally get one). Maine keeps teasing us...perhaps he'll be the first pitcher to toss a no-no for the Mets. In all, Mets pitchers (Aarons Sele and Heilman finished the game) combined to give up just three hits, with Maine giving up a 2-run homer in the seventh for the Marlins only scoring. (It should also be noted that the Marlins entered the game leading the Majors with a .288 batting average.)

Offensive highlights for the Mets, on a night with 17 team hits, included a 4-for-6 night for Jose Reyes (with 2 doubles), 2-for-5, including a 2-run homer for Carlos Beltran, 3-for-5 for Jose Valentin, and a 2-for-5 night for David Wright.

The Mets wrap up the quick 2-game series with the Marlins on Thursday night before coming home for a weekend series with Atlanta. Orlando Hernandez pitches against Rick Vanden Hurk.

Programming note: Not sure if I'll be writing over the next few nights. I'll try to keep track of Players of the Game, and update over the weekend. I might be able to do Thursday night's recap...no way I can do Friday...maybe Saturday I'll be back.

(Imagine a picture of John Maine here) RED LOBSTER JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: A tough night to select one performer out of so many highlights, but I'm going with John Maine - he improved to 2-0, and took a no-hitter deep into the game, and didn't implode once the no-hitter was gone. Final line - 7 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 7 strikeouts. Maine was also aided (because he walked 4) by 2 more double plays behind him. Also, another game with no errors by the Mets. They're off to a very good start to the season defensively.

WRIGHT WATCH (IT'S BACK!): David Wright was 2-for-5, so he has a 13-game hitting streak for the season, 25 overall dating back to last year. Over two seasons, he's still not quite halfway to DiMaggio's 56-game total.

DONTRELLE: Entering Wednesday night's game, Dontrelle Willis was 11-2 in his career against the Mets, with a 2.02 ERA in 16 games. I think the Mets started to figure him out a little last year, too....nope, I just checked, and he dominated them pretty good last year. So this was a good win for the Mets, to get to Willis like that.

ON THE SUBJECT OF NO-HITTERS: I'm aggravated. I spent so much time away from the TV this evening, and then I only had on the Mets, then the Phillies-Nationals game. No one mentioned that there was another no-hitter going on, and I never did my customary channel-switching to see if there were any possible history-making scenarios in any of the other games. Of course, that means there was. I switched on ESPNEWS, and saw that Mark Buehrle had thrown a no-hitter against Texas. I like watching the last few innings of no-hitters...I'm really mad I missed it. Then, to make matters worse, the woman who did the ESPNEWS highlights was AWFUL. So friggin' awful. She debuted on ESPNEWS a couple of weekends ago, and I haven't seen her very much...but she's SOOOOO bad. It's a disgrace that she's on ESPN. While I'm ranting, I switched to ESPNEWS in the first place so I could see Rangers (hockey) highlights - they swept the Thrashers, and not one game was on national television. Not one. Versus showed about three Penguins-Sentaors games, and a couple of Islanders-Sabres. No Rangers. I feel like writing a letter to the NHL, and saying, THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE NO FANS....Versus?!?! Come on, really.

TROUBLE IN PHILLY: Apparently things are unraveling in everyone's favorite NL East city. First of all, after Tuesday night's loss to the Mets, manager Charlie Manuel got into it with a Philadelphia radio host, who wanted Manuel to fire up the team more. Manuel challenged the guy to a fight. Never good. Then, Wednesday night, the Phillies responded by going out and needing extra innings against the Nationals (I was hoping I could write that they lost to the Nats, but I need to go to bed, and it's the 12th inning.) All the more reason why the Phillies don't scare me.

BALTIMORE CLOWN: Kevin Millar is a clown. He's an absolute clown. (And I don't think I'm saying this in a negative way...I actually kind of like his attitude.) We saw it a lot when he was up here in Boston. Now in Baltimore, he's still goofing around. On Opening Day in Baltimore, a couple of weeks ago, when they introduced the Orioles to the crowd, Millar came out and did the dance Ray Lewis always does when he's introduced with the Ravens. Funny stuff. Wednesday, he was "wired" in the dugout on MASN's "Wired Wednesdays". He was DH, so he was on the bench the whole game. They showed a montage of stuff he was doing, one of which was staring down a teammate. He was sitting next to the guy, staring at the back of his head, until the guy turned around. The guy said something like, "You been staring at me this whole time? It was weird, I could almost feel it. Isn't that weird?" It was pretty funny. Keep it up, Millar.

BEAT THE STREAK: Since I'll be away, and unsure if I can pick a new guy each day, I'm going to ride Wright's streak. I have him through Sunday's game. David DeJesus had an 0-fer against the Tigers, so I'm back to 0.

REIGN OUT

Mets 4, Braves 1; Mets 8, Braves 0 (NYM: 86-52, ATL: 66-73)

I like to think the Mets were sending a message. Coming off back-t0-back weak offensive games, then a rain out, the Mets showed the Atlanta Braves exactly why they won't be celebrating their 15th straight division title - and why the Mets are going to be the new National League East champs.

I only saw about 4 of the 18 innings in Wednesday's doubleheader, but I saw enough to get the impression that the Mets pretty much dominated both games. In game one, Dave Williams (I'm really sorry I underestimated you, Mr. Williams) turned in another stellar outing, getting the win, and Billy Wagner notched the save. ESPN showed a stat that wih the Mets, Williams' ERA is about 3.24 or so, where it was 7+ in Cincinnati.

Then in game 2, Jose Reyes led the game off with a homer, and the Mets never looked back. Paced by Oliver Perez's best outing as a Met, by far, (5 hits, 6 K's, in a complete-game shutout), the Mets broke the game open with a 4-run 6th inning.

There weren't really many stellar performances, but a couple stood out for the Mets. Jose Reyes was 4-for-8, going 2-for-4 in both games. And Shawn Green had his best games as a Met, going 6-for-8, 3-for-4 in both games, with a homer in both.

I thought the doubleheader Wednesday was supposed to be day-night, so I apologize if I wrote that, because it obviously wasn't the case. Back to one game at a time on Thursday, when the Mets host the Dodgers.

MAGIC NUMBER: The Mets did their part, winning both of their games on Wednesday, making the Magic Number 9 before the Phillies even took the field for their game against Houston. Then Houston got 4 runs in the top of the ninth, beating the Phillies, knocking the Magic Number to 8. From 11 to 8 - a 3 number day!

THOSE FLORIDA MARLINS: Finally, a no-hitter. I wait for the first no-hitter of the year every year (still waiting for 2005's). Besides the Mets, it's the next best part of the DirecTV baseball package...finding out there's a no-hitter going on, then watching it. Well, Wednesday night that moment finally came for 2006 - in the unlikely form of Anibel Sanchez of the Florida Marlins. He seemed very likable in his post-game interview, so I'm glad he did it. I am also impressed by all of the Marlins' young pitching.

And finally, on the Marlins - I understand that Jeffrey Loria doesn't see eye-to-eye with Joe Girardi. But the man can manage. And somehow, because this is the way things always work in sports, Girardi will end up managing the Cubs next year, because he's from the area, and Dusty Baker will be gone. But Loria shouldn't let Girardi go, because this season has been an amazing managing job by him, and the Marlins will take a step backwards if Girardi leaves...I'm sure of it.
GOOD NEWS: I've figured out the ideal way to handle the blog and the post-season. As you may or may not know, I get very tired during the school year, and become like an old man, with an early bedtime. I can't blog after the games, like I do during the regular season. So I thought, what with the Mets playing deep into the post-season this year (hopefully), how can I chronicle the run to the title?

Well, fret no more. I have a laptop for work, so I think I will write in a word document as the games are going on, so I capture the emotion of the live event, and just cut and paste it the next day. (I wouldn't be able to put the word document on-line until the next day at school.) The postings will be a little late, but at least they will be there. So I think that will solve all our problems.

THE KID'S KIDS: The St. Lucie Mets gave up three runs in the ninth, but held on to beat Palm Beach in Game 1 of their best-of-three series Tuesday night, 6-4. Wednesday night, they advanced to the Championship Round, with a 6-5 win. This was Hall of Famer Gary Carter's first managing post-season series win - two more wins (I think) from a minor league championship!

FINAL FOOTBALL REMINDER: I would love all of my readers to sign up for our football pick 'em game, on Yahoo!. The instructions are on the Jets site - with the updated info you need - the League ID #. So sign up ASAP! Picks must be in by 5 minutes before kickoff of the week's first game - which in this case is Thursday night. (Thanks to The Wife, Dave in Brighton, and the Southern Bureau for already signing up.)

WEST COASTING

OK, it's only the bottom of the first as I write this, but if things continue like this, the Mets are on their way to a 27-0 win. They're already up, 3-0, after a leadoff homer by THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, and then a two-run homer by Carlos Delgado. Delgado has been slumping lately, so a homer in pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium (snore) is a good sign.

I would love to see a solid outing from Alay Soler tonight.

This week isn't going to be great, because of the late starts out west...maybe I'll pull out some of my old scorecards and play the ol' "Recap Games I Went to Years Ago" game. Not sure if that was popular when I did it last year. We'll find out, I guess, if I do it again. This year I can add pitcures of some of the old players.

LASTINGS IMPRESSION: Apparently our boy Lastings Milledge is making a bad reputation for himself. Milledge drew the ire of some of the Giants on Sunday after hitting his game-tying homer in the 10th inning, and celebrating a little bit too much. After the Mets finished batting that inning, Milledge slapped hands with some of the front-row fans on his way out to right field. Willie Randolph reportedly talked to him about that after the inning, saying something like, "People will know who you are, you don't have to draw attention to yourself." In his own defense, Milledge said something like, "I was just sharing the excitement of my first major league homer with the fans." I don't think I have a problem with Milledge being enthusiastic with the fans. I haven't seen video of this or anything, but it seems harmless to me. I think it's a good thing that he's establishing himself with the fans. If it comes off as pompous when I see video of it, I may change my mind, though. The Giants seemed to think it was self-serving.

AROUND THE MAJORS: I just saw Carlos Zambrano lose a no-hit bid in the eighth inning at Houston. Too bad. It's been a while since the last no-hitter in the Majors. That was Randy Johnson's perfect game versus Atlanta. It happened on my honeymoon. Best part of being in Hawaii was the time difference - nothing like waking up at 7am and watching a 1pm East Coast baseball game. It was over, and I still had the whole day in front of me. That was a Blue Jays-Twins game - I think the Twins won it in their final at-bat. The perfect game was later in the day.

But speaking of Atlanta - they lost to Washington tonight - their fifth straight loss at home. Tough times for the Braves.

THE KID'S KIDS: St. Lucie won on Monday, 11-1. The game was called in the seventh inning. Either there's a new mercy rule, or it was raining...or this was a part of a doubleheader I wasn't aware of....but the Mets won...so that's good.

FANTASY UPDATE: Lost two out of three again today. Things are getting bad. I'm a game under .500. Three important games against the Pirates on Tuesday - they're in the wild card hunt too. I have some weaker opponents coming up after that, though - maybe I can make up some ground. I picked Jae Seo up off the waiver wire, and got rid of 4-11 Jerry Koosman. He didn't live up to his good numbers, I'll tell you that.

BEAT THE STREAK: Now we're talking - Carl Crawford got me to a 6-game streak. I have Miguel Tejada on Tuesday, because the Orioles are hitting against a Blue Jays pitcher named Ty Taubenheim. If Tejada doesn't get a hit off Taubenheim, I may just give up on this game forever. I didn't even bother looking at other matchups.

WAGNER LOSES GRIP ON BANNISTER; METS LOSE IN 10

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

OK, it's my fault. I take the blame. I'm the one who called my parents in the sixth inning to let them know they should watch the Mets, because Brian Bannister had gone five no-hit innings. Then I told my sister, and no sooner did she say, "Isn't that supposed to jinx it?", did Bannister give up a double...then hit a batter....then give up a 3-run homer to Nick Johnson. The Mets still led, 4-3, but I told my sister, "Yes, it jinxes it." Sorry Brian.

I also messed things up for Billy Wagner. I'm sitting there, thinking, as the Mets head into the top of the ninth with their 4-3 lead, "So this is what if feels like to have 100% confidence in the bullpen." Wagner promptly went 3-0 on Ryan Zimmerman, then got back to 3-2, then left a fastball up that Zimmerman turned on and hit over the wall to tie it at 4.

It got worse. In the tenth, Jorge Julio gave up 5 runs, and the Nationals went on to a 9-5 win.

Now, eternal optimist that I am, there were lots of positives in this game. (I'm not nearly as upset by this loss as I probably should be.) I'll start at the beginning - Brian Bannister pitched very well. (He was wearing number 40 - I'm surprised the Mets gave up Braden Looper's number so soon.) He got himself in a jam in the 2nd inning, with men on 2nd and 3rd, and managed to pitch out of it with a strikeout and a flyout. He was clearly gassed in the sixth, and still faced a few batters, striking out his final batter, after giving up the 3-run homer to Nick Johnson.

The Mets' bats were working early - they blew a 4-0 lead. David Wright had an RBI single in the first (after Carloses Beltran* and Delgado struck out with runners on 1st and 2nd), Xavier Nady homered to make it 2-0 (he is tattooing the ball early on), and Delgado rebounded later with a 2-run bomb of a homer to make it 4-0.

Anderson Hernandez looks great at second base. He saved Aaron Heilman (who actually pitched well in his second game - as did Duaner Sanchez, getting the 4-3 lead to Wagner) by fully extending and diving into right field for a ball hit over his head. He stayed down for a while, but it looked like he only knocked the wind out of himself. He also made a great play running into right field's foul territory, catching a ball over his shoulder, and then calling off Carlos Delgado on a similar play in foul territory behind first. A great defensive game from Hernandez.

Believe it or not, I thought Jorge Julio actually pitched well too. He hung a curve to Jose Guillen that Guillen just put over the left-field wall (Cliff Floyd actually mis-timed his jump, or else it would have been a long out), but his stuff looked good. After the Guillen homer, he struck out Nick Johnson, but the ball got away from LoDuca, and Johnson reached. Then a nubber in front of the mound was thrown away by LoDuca, and it snowballed. But I expected a lot worse from Julio, and I was encouraged by the way he played.

The Mets had mounted a 2-out rally in the bottom of the ninth, after Wagner's blown save, by the way, and LoDuca flew out to right with the bases loaded, following a pinch hit single by Julio Franco (47 years old!) and a walk (!) by THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes. The Mets just couldn't get their bats going after the fourth inning.

NO SNY: I couldn't watch the game on SNY because as soon as the game started, DirecTV blacked out the SNY feed, and I had to watch the Nationals feed. That's OK - SNY needs to work out all their bugs. I was watching the pre-game, and some dude tossed to sound, and the sound never rolled. It's uncomfortable to watch. Speaking of uncomfortable to watch, one of SNY's big shows is "Daily News Live", hosted by Gary Apple. Not good. Rob Schneider was a guest on the show, promoting his new movie (very knowledgable in sports, by the way), and he should have hosted. At one point, Apple says, "Coming up after the break, we'll switch gears and talk football with......with.......with, uh......" And Rob Schneider says, "With WHO?!?!?" It was great. Turns out, Apple forgot he was having the Chicago Bears' Thomas Jones on the show. So SNY's programming has a long way to go, in this humble opinion. They should have made me their official blogger...I wouldn't be nearly as hard on them. I really do want to see Gary Cohen do a game on TV, though.

COMMERCIAL WATCH: Heineken is out with a few good new ads for baseball season, the best of which features a couple of brothers visiting their parents, and the less responsible brother wins points by bringing Heineken. It's much better when you see it - not read about it in my nutshell recap. Also, from the "Didn't Expect That" category, Suzy Kolber is the new spokeswoman for Chevy. Seriously.

BEAT THE STREAK: I picked Miguel Tejada, he had a hit in the Orioles win over Tampa Bay, so I have a 2-gamer going (Wells had a hit yesterday). Tomorrow, it's Jose Reyes.

The Mets' 3 hour-37 minute, extra-inning loss has me up way past my bedtime. Big game for Pedro* in his season debut now on Thursday night. You can see that game on ESPN - unfortunately, I'll have to watch the Nationals feed, because I think it's Chris Berman.

NO NO-NO: NOOOOOOO!!

Dodgers 2, Mets 1 (LA: 53-64; NYM: 59-58)

Newsflash: The Mets have still never thrown a no-hitter in their 43-year-history. Pedro Martinez* still hasn't thrown a no-hitter in his career. It's a little bit funny (and seriously, it's only a little bit funny....a very, very little bit) that Pedro* is now with the Mets. He's like a microcosm of the team's history. Great pitcher, never threw a no-hitter. The Mets have had some great pitchers in their history, and have never had a no-hitter.

The worst part of the no no-no by Pedro* is that he lost the game. First of all, Gerald Williams could have caught the ball that went off the wall. It's actually a miracle that Pedro* went seven and a third no-hit innings with Gerald Williams in center (for Carlos Beltran*), Victor Diaz in right (for Mike Cameron), and Marlon Anderson at first (for Doug Mientkiewicz). Diaz isn't great shakes on defense, Williams cost Pedro* the no-no, and Anderson still doesn't know which foot to put on the bag to get the best possible stretch for throws. It's like watching someone play first base backwards when he's out there.

So Pedro* gives up the one-out triple to Antonio Perez which should have been a long fly ball out, and then a 2-run homer to Jayson Werth. And the shutout is gone, the 1-0 lead is now a 2-1 Dodgers lead.

The Mets mount a mini-threat in the top of the ninth. David Wright struck out, then Anderson doubled. He stole third with Victor Diaz up, then on 3-2, Diaz hit a check swing grounder to second base. Anderson was off on contact, but I didn't see the play, because a huge blast of thunder and lightning knocked out my satellite picture. I swear if this happens during football season I am going to be so disappointed in DirecTV, and might pull the naming rights to my house. But Anderson was out, I saw later on ESPNEWS, and Kaz Matsui then struck out to end the game.

A very disappointing end to a disappointing and costly road trip. A win would actually have salvaged the trip at 3-3, but 2-4 is much worse. I don't know that Carlos Beltran* will be back when the Mets open up their 6-game homestand on Tuesday - I suspect we'll find out on Monday about that.

The Mets also missed a chance to capitalize on a loss by the Astros, and fell to 8-and-a-half behind the Braves. The season may just have come to an end on the West Coast....although the wild card deficit is just three games...and the Nationals are coming to town at the end of the week.

Interesting note: I switched quickly to the Red Sox rain delay after the eighth inning (and the no-hit bid was lost) and Eric Frede said someone on the staff pointed out the history between Gerald Williams and Pedro Martinez* as a possible reason why Williams didn't lay out for the fly ball to prevent the no-hitter. The history is that Pedro* and Williams had run-ins when Williams was on the Devil Rays and Pedro* was with the Sox, and Pedro* on occasion pitched Williams very far inside. One instance, I think, featured Pedro* hitting Williams to lead off the game, and then retiring something like 20 D-Rays in a row, losing a no-hit bid late in the game. Something like that. But the comment was made jokingly - and I just think it's funny that these two are playing on the same team now. And I hope they've made up.

WRIGHT WATCH: A 2-for-4 day for Wright lifted the average to .305, but no doubles.

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

THE KID'S KIDS: No games on Sunday in the Gulf Coast League. The Mets beat the Dodgers on Saturday, so the record is at 30-14. I will call down there this week and see about the post-season.

Mets 4, Rockies 0 (22-22, 3 GB)

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Well, I'm back, and so's the website. And the Mets are back to .500. Didn't think it was going to happen, did you? All we were hoping for was the Mets to be within striking distance by the time they started playing the Phillies and Marlins. Well, they've done a bit better than that - 3 games out, with 12 straight games against Florida and Philly. (Tomorrow I'll do an NL East recap, since the Mets are off tonight.)

As an FYI - last year, the Mets went 7-12 in the season series against both Philadelphia and Florida. They need at least .500 this year. And they can do it...my prediction: in these next 12 games, the Mets will go 8-4. First place, here we come! (Sounds weird that this can actually happen, but I really feel that it can.)

A couple of things about Tom Glavine's performance yesterday. First of all, he's having an outstanding season. Second of all, I will reiterate my earlier prediction that one Mets pitcher will throw a no-hitter this year. They're just pitching that well. Thirdly, and don't get mad, I think it's my fault Glavine lost the no-hitter. The game wasn't available to me on the Extra Innings package, so I was following the progress on ESPNEWS and by calling my dad. When it got to be 7.1, I realized ESPN usually pops in at about this time, so I switched over, and saw that there were 2 out in the 8th. The first batter I see - boom - double to right. Un-freakin'-believable. I don't know if I'm ever going to see a Mets no-hitter. Oh wait, I just predicted one for this season. So I guess I will see one - this year.

A few notes on the events of the past couple of weeks: Kaz Matsui might indeed break Rickey Henderson's career leadoff homerun record. Every one he hits is a leadoff homer...I watched the Mets lose, 12-5, in the first game in Arizona two weeks ago. (Bank One Ballpark's nice, but I liked Minute Maid better, as a new park.) After the Mets lost the next game, things weren't looking so great. Then Glavine beat Randy Johnson, and I go to Hawaii, and the Mets start winning incredible games. Comebacks against the Astros, Cardinals, then the Rockies series. You get the sense something good's happening, don't you. (With that said, Mets, please don't blow these next 12 games.)...I have to admit, I think I was rooting against Glavine throwing a no-hitter yesterday. If a Mets pitcher is going to throw a no-no, it'd better happen while I'm at least watching the game, if not AT the game. Like I've said, it's the least they can do for me...I just reminded myself, before I left, my last posting asked the Mets to throw a no-hitter in Arizona when I went to the game. Instead, James Baldwin got rocked. Oh well...Oh, and when did the Mets release Raul Gonzalez, and why? I just read about that the other day. That's too bad. I kind of liked him. Time to turn my attention to Esix Snead.

Tonight - Mets vs. Dodgers (Mets are 7-12, 6 GB)

I hereby declare these next few games are the key to the Mets' season. If they come out of Los Angeles and San Diego within sniffing distance of .500, they're in OK shape, with Jose Reyes coming soon to boost the lineup. (Cliff Floyd should be back before the Mets visit the Padres.) We're talking 2-out-of-3 in both series, or a split of the 6 games is even good. If they're swept by one of the teams, forget it - that's too big of a hole to get out of. Tom Glavine needs to come through tonight - this is what happens when you're named the number one starter. You've got to be a stopper. And Glavine needs to stop this slide.

Here's the weekly NL East update:
Florida - 13-6
Atlanta - 10-9, 3 GB
Philadelphia - 7-10, 5 GB
Montreal - 5-15, 8.5 GB

The Mets fall in between the Phillies and Expos. If the Mets are to make the post-season, I think they're going to have to win the division. I think the rest of the National League is too strong for one of the East teams to contend for the Wild Card. Of course, for the Mets to contend, they need to catch the Marlins. Florida has been on fire. They own Philly and crushed Montreal. But they've struggled against the Braves - losing five of six. The Mets don't face Florida until the end of May. They need to keep themselves within striking distance so we can see how they handle themselves in important games. Then again, at this point, they're all fast becoming very important.

Atlanta just took a big hit - Chipper Jones was placed on the 15-day DL (strained hamstring). They are out west against the Giants, before facing the Rockies in Colorado. The Braves are in an unfamiliar position for this time of the year, just a game above .500. It'll be interesting to see how they respond to that. They've lost a little of their luster, but I still don't think you can count out the Braves.

Philadelphia might have passed the Mets, but this is what I expected of them. I think they'll struggle all year. Right now, they're in Saint Louis, then they return home to face the Diamondbacks. The Cardinals got off to a shaky start and then turned it around, and the Diamondbacks have been struggling. The Phillies probably won't make up much ground this week.

Montreal continues to chase records of futility. They're the only NL team hitting worse than the Mets, and scoring less runs. Their schedule sucks too - after playing just three games at home in Montreal (after opening the season in Florida and Puerto Rico), the Expos are now out west. They play the Padres and Dodgers - I wouldn't be surprised to see them come out of that trip with only one win in seven games.

Notes: I received confirmation from barnesandnoble.com that my order of the Jeff Pearlman book is on its way...With Matt Clement's near no-hitter of the Mets on Sunday, I've been thinking about the fact that the Mets have never thrown a no-hitter. As I mentioned earlier this year (it's somewhere on the blog, if you search for it), I think one of the Mets pitchers will throw a no-hitter this year. They've just looked so good. But I hope it happens when I'm there. I just feel like with all the time I put into this team, it's the least they can do for me. Make my ticket stub a piece of history. Mets pitchers, if you're reading this, please throw a no-hitter May 10th in Arizona. That's the next game I'll be at. If not then, I'll let you know the next time I'm in attendance. Thank you.