Where'd that Come From?!?

So due to injury I've been on medicine the last few days and I'll blame that on my insomnia.  So last night, around midnight, as I was thrashing around, I checked out the Mets score and saw them trailing 4-2 midway through the game.  Typical Mets, at least of the last month, I figured and I rolled over and fought my way back to sleep.

Out of habit as I'm getting ready this morning I check out the score to see the final and lo and behold the Mets won a shoot out, in extra innings!  I literally did a double take and air fisted as a read a 9-8 Mets victory.

Winning ballgames is all the that matters, no matter how heart wrenching those wins may be.  Such as last night's, which saw the Mets blow the lead at the end of the game and came so close to losing the game in extras.  But, they held on and won.  So far away but a game closer to .500.

It was a good feeling this morning to see the team not lay down and die.  They kept fighting and clawing and scratching.  Good job boys.

Start #2 for the rookie tonight.  Should be a good one.  Get at em Matt!

Turnover

So two thirds of the Mets outfield that played majority of the first half of the season is down in Triple-A Buffalo.  And the other outfielder is Jason Bay.

Things are continuing to go south for the Mets as they let the second half of their season crumble underneath them.  Rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis was sent down to the minors and the Mets activated Mike Baxter off of the DL as the troop gets set for three games in San Fransisco.  The same team that just got swept over the weekend by the Dodgers, so maybe the Mets can gain a bit of momentum.

Need to take baby steps in order to get back into this thing.  The record indicates a double digit game deficit in the NL East, but it also shows 8.5 games back in the Wild Card.

One series will not correct those numbers and automatically put the Mets back in contention.  But it can be a start.  An upward trend.

Well Done

Could not have asked for a better debut, huh?  Well done Matt Harvey.  Welcome to the Mets.  Welcome to the big leagues.

Now be our savior and repeat that performance every time out.

Harvey took the hill last night for the first time and pitched well.  5 1/3 innings.  11 strikeouts.  Only three hits and three walks allowed.  In short, he was dominant and looked as if he belonged up here weeks ago.

Going into his next start in San Francisco next week, Harvey can take the mound with confidence and a bit less pressure.  He knows he can pitch up here.  Not much more to worry about.

His stuff is the goods.  He was consistently hitting around 97MPH on his fastball and had command of both the changeup and curveball.  He didn't seem afraid to throw any of those pitches or to pitch inside when needed.

One game is only one game.  But it was a memorable game for the rookie and a great night for the organization.

Big League Debut

Well, in a perfect world tonight would not be happening until September and maybe not even until April, 2013.  But as we've witnessed over the last two weeks, things are not perfect in Mets-land and the script has to be rewritten.

The future becomes the present tonight as prospect Matt Harvey makes his big league debut out in the Arizona desert.

Harvey's been touted for the Mets rotation every since he was drafted out of UNC back in 2010.  The time is now.  And if things go according to plan, and to all wishes, the time of minor league pitching is done and Harvey will be in the Mets rotation for the next number of years.

In what has become a potentially lost season, Harvey doesn't need to come up to the majors and become the new ace of the staff, a savior of sorts.  The best thing he can do is inject some new energy and excitement into this team, pitch well enough to keep his team in games, and to show enough that will keep management and fans confident in him next season and beyond.

No one should be to nervous about the make up of this kid.  Some think that he still needs some more seasoning in the minor leagues, that he's not quite ready.  My personal thought is that he's ready.  He's pitched four years of collegiate ball and two years of minor league baseball.  Matt Harvey is ready for the jump and ready to show New York what he's got.

Good luck Matt!  The ball is your hands tonight.  Go get em!

Monday Night's Game

This is probably the coolest thing I've witnessed at Citi Field so far.

Less than 6 weeks til the wedding day!

Rocked Ace

Now it's officially not good.

When the ace of your staff takes the mound, you expect to win.  You expect the bleeding to stop, if only for a night, and you expect to get a tick in the W column and the opportunity to sleep peacefully.  That's the unofficial definition of an ace.

The bleeding continues after last night.  The Mets dropped another one.  This time is was RA Dickey on the mound.  And the game wasn't all his fault.  Not by a long shot.  Dickey gave up only 4 earned runs (5 in total) in six innings pitched.  Again, there was no offense for him.

But it doesn't matter.  In the end, it's still a loss.  With your ace on the mound.  That's not suppose to happen to good teams.  Or mediocre teams.  It's still to early for me to entirely give up on this team for the 2012 season.  But time is getting away from them and for the fans.

There isn't an ace on the hill for the Mets this afternoon.  But there is for the Nationals in Stephen Strasburg.  Go figure.

Falling Apart

Last night's game did nothing to help halt the bleeding that is the second half New York Mets.  The offense couldn't get anything going, other than two solo home runs.  The bullpen was horrific yet again in extra innings, witnessing Pedro Beato giving up six runs in the top of the 10th inning!

That all equates to the Mets falling 5.5 games out of the Wild Card spot, along with both Beato and Lucas Duda heading to the minors.

It's ripping apart at the seams pretty quickly now.  Sandy Alderson sworn in the off-season that the bullpen was his biggest upgrade and it sucks.  All fans and media thought Duda was going to the be big power bat in right field and over the past 5-6 weeks, he's sucked.

The swoon continues.  But at least for tonight, they got RA Dickey on mound.  It should help.  But only if he throws another one hitter.  Cause you know the bullpen and offense will let you down.

Son of a B*tch

Maybe I don't want to come back writing.  Or maybe, because I stopped writing briefly, that's the reason.  But whatever, however, whomever this needs to get pinned on, the past few weeks as Mets fans have been absolutely brutal.  Disheartening.  Disgusting.  Ugly.  Familiar.

The Mets have fallen under .500 for the first time in 2012.  They've lost eight of nine coming out of the All-Star break.  They can't pitch.  They certainly can't hit.

Yesterday was a great example of the latter.  Only three runs on 16 hits.  Left 14 men on base.  Had two runners on and no outs in extra innings.  Got nothing.

As putrid as the offense as been, the pitching has been doubly as bad.  Dillon Gee and Johan Santana have ended up on the DL.  The bullpen has completely imploded.  The overall staff ERA has almost doubled from the first half.

They now sit 8.5 games out of the NL East lead and 5 back in the Wild Card spot.  There's still time left, the end of July isn't here for another week.  Winning eight of their next 10 would put them right back in the middle of things.

But the way the last two weeks have gone, does anyone honestly see this team capable of that feat?

Didn't think so.

Apologies

Between a number of family obligations and a brutal work schedule over the past two weeks, the posts have stopped.

Sorry for that.

Back to writing.

Rough Patch

Looking at the schedule immediately before the All-Star break, many a Mets fans were probably drooling at the possibility of going 5-1, or at least 4-2, against the two dwellers of the National League.  Let's face it, the Phillies and the Cubs are two teams that good, competitive teams are suppose to beat.

But the Mets struggled and were not able to capitalize on an inferior opponent.  They went 3-3 this past week and finished the first half of the season at 46-40; good for 4.5 games behind the Washington Nationals in the NL East.  With that mark, they are also only .5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the final Wild Card playoff spot.

My gut feeling is that this NL and NL East race will remain this tight all the way through September.  None of the top three teams in the East are flawless and good enough to run away with the division, but also, none of them are showing enough signs of bad play which will drop them out of the race.  They are mirror images of each other and will continue to beat each other up over the next three months.

One instance which may make this a more interesting summer is how these teams will handle the upcoming trade deadline.  Baseball is just over three weeks away from the deadline and all of the teams have a certain need or two that has to be addressed.

Both the Mets and Nationals are going to need pitching help.  The Mets in the bullpen and a starter for the Nationals.  Because of his young age and recent history with injuries, the Nationals will be shutting Stephan Strasburg down near the end of August.  The Braves on the other hand, they may have the most potential.  They're a team without a huge flaw.  Their hitting and pitching is right in the middle of the pack or higher.  But they are inconsistent.  If that area gets straightened out, watch out.

The All-Star break is here and it is a welcome for the Mets.  Not many people expected them to be in this position.  46 wins at this stage was way to many for most people to imagine.  Well they have them and they're digging for more.

Game of the Year?

Last night's come from behind, bottom of the ninth victory over the Phillies may qualify as the game of the season, so far, for the Mets.  Not just because the team won the game or the way they won the game, but the overall fashion of a baseball game.

What was expected to be a low scoring, pitchers duel (as quoted on this site) turned out to be a back and forth, will powered affair that took 53 of the 54 outs to complete.

Neither R.A. Dickey nor Cole Hamels had their best stuff; especially Dickey, who tied a career high with 11 hits allowed and five earned runs against.  But he hung in there and fought hard against the Phils.  He stayed in for seven innings, not allowing the Mets to fall behind to much.  Hamels, on the other side, kept most of the Mets at bay, with his off-speed stuff from the left side.  The main damage against Hamels was done from the two right-handed bats in the middle of the lineup; David Wright and Scott Hairston.

Until the end of the game, both bullpens were very solid.  Jon Rauch, Tim Byrdak, Pedro Beato, and Bobby Parnell all threw up zeros in relief, keeping the team alive and giving them a chance.

The bottom of the ninth inning was just amazing.  Ike Davis' lead-off double followed by Josh Thole's excellent sacrifice to put a runner on third with less than two outs.  But then Jonathan Papelbon did what elite closers are suppose to do; get out of trouble.  By striking out Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Papelbon was down to one last out going against the inexperienced part of the Mets lineup.

However newly recalled Jordany Valdespin worked a great at-bat before getting hit by a pitch.  Ruben Tejada walked in a very gutsy plate appearance.  At least once, maybe twice, I had thought he struck out looking.  Whew.  Bases loaded, the Irish-boy, Daniel Murphy at the plate and on a two-strike pitch rips one up the middle, off of Papelbon's foot, tying run scores, and Citi Field is going crazy!

And before everyone has a chance to sit down and catch their breath, the Mets MVP candidate does this (Murphy's at-bat is first):

Ball game over.  Mets win!  Boom!

MVP

And his name is David Wright. #5. Third baseman.

All he does is collect three more hits, 4 RBI, a home run, and the game winning base hit in the bottom of the 9th.

Said it once, will keep saying it... Pay the MVP his money!

Rubber Time!

The offense and the pitching showed up for either team the last two days.  The were on opposite days however and that's the reason for the two lob-sided victories.  The final game of this three game set takes place tonight when the ace, R.A. Dickey, takes the hill for New York.

It won't be easy for the Mets offense though as Philly is throwing out another left hander, Cole Hamels.  This is one of the biggest areas of concern for the Mets in the second half of the season.  There is a ton of left handed, potential power in the line-up.  However, from the right side, not so much.  Obviously there's David Wright, but then the next threat is Scott Hairston.  So yeah, there's some nerves.

Tonight should be more of a low scoring game, and as much as people should be focused on the righties vs Hamels, that won't be the case.  Dickey is on the mound.  The knuckleball is coming at ya, Philly.  See and hit it if you can.

First Half Final Stretch

Only six more games to go before this season's Mid-Summer Classic.  The Mets return home this evening to face the Phillies for three and then the Cubbies to wrap up the unofficial first half of the season.

During this stretch, I would love to see a killer, put away demeanor from this team.  The team is in a good spot right now; six games over .500 and still 3.5 games behind Washington in the NL East.  The next six games are against two of the worst teams in the National League this season and the Mets need to capitalize and push their mark to eight or 10 games over .500.  Splitting these games is almost unacceptable.  Not now and not the way this team has played so far in 2012.

The schedule gets right into the thick of things as the second half opens up.  The Mets will take on the Braves and Nationals in the first nine of 12 games coming back.  Then they go back to the West Coast for 11 games.  Not the easiest, but also not the hardest to do.

Jon Niese gets the ball tonight.  He's pitched very well of late, going 3-1 over his last five decisions.

Magician Again

Yes, we can all admit right now that there was a hangover in place after Johan Santana's no-hitter on June 1. He struggled in two outings immediately after that game.  Reasons became to pour in as to why this was the case.  Too tired after throwing 134 pitches.  Too sore of a shoulder from that.  Too strong because of the extra days off he received.  Too much hype and distraction.


It was one of those, or a combination.  But it doesn't matter now, it's all over.  Santana finished the month of June with another solid, top notch outing last night.  He allowed only three hits in eight innings, shutting down the Dodgers lineup a day after R.A. Dickey did the same exact thing.


Santana will get one more start before the All-Star break and then will be able to get a much needed breather and rest for his surgically repaired left shoulder.  For both Santana and Mets, the upcoming second half has so much on the line.


For Santana, it's financial.  He is due around $23 million in 2013 and he must prove that he is worth every penny of it.  For the Mets, they are in the thick of a pennant race.   Now just 2.5 games behind Washington, the Mets need the fans to return to Citi Field and to continue to show their renewed love to the beleaguered franchise.


The Mets go for the sweep tonight.  Another nationally televised game.  ESPN prime time.

No Surprise

Well really, none of us should be surprised by what took place in Los Angeles last night.  Okay, maybe a bit of an eye opener that Daniel Murphy continued his torrid week, with another home run and five RBI.  Or even Ruben Tejada, finally getting his stroke back after spending six weeks on the DL, who smacked out four hits.


But as for the pitching.  No.  We all knew it was R.A. Dickey time.  And Dickey delivered again.  Throwing 8 innings of three hit, 10 stirkeout ball.  With the win he pushed his record to a league best 12-1.


It's becoming a league and country-wide story, this knuckle ball pitcher with the Mets.  He locked in his spot in the All-Star game about a month ago, but now the real question is when he'll be announced as the starting pitcher.  He should be in line.  He'll get the ball again on Thursday against the Phillies.  Tuesday would be his normal rotation day.  All of it will depend on how Terry Collins wants to use him post All-Star break.


With the win, the Mets kept pace with the Nationals while opening the gap to 6.5 games between them and the NL East cellar.

Getting Back at It

The sports world was watching last Sunday night.  All eyes on ESPN.  R.A. Dickey took the mound after two straight one-hit shutouts.  He was going up against the Mets in town brother, the Yankees.  Everyone had jumped on the knuckleballer's bandwagon.  He came back to reality.  Gave up five runs in six innings while walking and striking out three.


R.A. didn't get the loss, so his record remains a league best 11-1.  And he's on the mound again tonight in Los Angeles looking for his 12th win.  Maybe getting away from the NY media will help keep him focused on tonight's game (even though LA's media isn't too far behind in infamous as NY's).  Getting back on the road and keeping the distractions at bay.


The ace takes the hill tonight as the Mets look to push their win streak up to three.

Wright Stays Hot

In the early part of the season, the fun catch phrase was 'Pay The Man'.  Although David Wright has cooled off slightly (admit it, we all knew it would be difficult for him to keep the .400 average all season), the new phrase which all fans should use when speaking about Wright is 'Mr. All-Time Met'.

Over his last 10 games, Wright is hitting a cool .395 with 12 RBI and six runs scored.  And over the course of the season, has either established or added on to a number of offensive records in franchise history.

So far this season, Wright has passed Daryl Strawberry for the most RBIs and passed Jose Reyes for the most runs scored.  He also holds the most doubles and last night past Straw for the most walks.  He's within 80 hits of the most hits and 60 away from the most home runs.

With the way he's been swinging the bat this season, ya got to figure that Wright will come pretty close to eclipsing the hits mark by season's end.  Obviously he won't get the home run record this season and won't next season as well.  But, if not next season, will he have the chance?

Nothing new on the contract front has come to light.  Status quo.  Wright doesn't want to talk about it until the off-season.  Can't blame him.  No way he'd want that type of distraction in the way of his All-Star season.  But when Sandy Alderson calls him this winter, he better call from a dump truck.  A truck with a ton of cash in it.

There's no way that the Mets upper management can let Mr. All-Time Met walk away.

West Coast Lovin'

The Mets up and down performances followed suit last night.  After shlaking 17 runs on the Cubbies Wednesday afternoon, the Mets got a nit and grit victory last night in La-La Land.

Chris Young, who's becoming more and more Mr. Dependable in the five-hole, picked up his second victory of the season while throwing seven awesome innings.  Sandy Alderson waited and waited this off-season, walking a very fine line, but in the end made the smart move and brought Young back on a minor league deal to help provide some depth.  With the lose of Mike Pelfrey and the suckiness of the other #5 starters, the depth is proven that it's needed.

The Mets remain 3.5 games behind the Nationals.  It's late enough in the season that the outside world recognize the Mets aren't going to go away.  They're a good enough team to fight to the end.  In the same breath, it seems as if Washington in the same mold, as are the 2012 Braves.  It looks like we may have a fun three team race over the last three months of the season.  We know the first three months have been fun.

Chicks Dig The Long Ball

Well, that's one way to get back on track.  Just bash the hell out of the baseball, score the most runs as a team in about three years, and pitch well.


Going into this afternoon's matinee, most figured that Jon Niese would give the Mets a chance to win.  He's done it almost this entire season and especially so during afternoon games.  But the biggest questions by far would be the team defense and the sleepy offense.


In the end, both woke up.  The Mets played a clean game behind Niese and contributed 17 runs, the most since they scored 18 runs in 2009 also against the Cubs.


Daniel Murphy smacked his first two home runs of the season, Ike Davis had three more hits (including a three run home run) which pushed his average above .200 for the first time all season, and David Wright tacked on five RBIs.  


It's a breath of fresh air to watch as a Met fan.  The team hadn't had an offensive, no brainer output in a long time.  But on the other end, have been in a few games this season that has gone against them.  Hopefully they did not use all their offense since there are still many a games to go this season.


And it's outta here!

This Sucks

I've said it over and over in the early part of the season.  This is team is exciting and fun to watch and compelling and over-achieving.  But they are not good enough to throw games away!


Jon Rauch is going to get the blame from some people, seeing that he gave up four runs in less than an inning.  But ya know what?  Those were all unearned runs because the defense behind him was absolutely atrocious.  Pop up dropped.  Twice.  


They Mets weren't going to win anywho because the offense was still on the plane, coming in from New York.  But it's a sign of what's going on.  One of the worst defenses in the league and the worst bullpen in the National League.  This team will start to wilt if they can't course correct.  And it's so frustrating.

Just Another Game

Last night was a great night.  But not because the Mets beat the Yankees for the first time in 2012.  No, last night was a great night because the Mets won.  The only time it matters more when they are beating a NL East opponents.  Wins are wins and the Mets have been racking them up.

Moving seven games over .500 leaves the Mets only two and a half games behind the Nationals, and about six games clear of the Marlins and Phillies.  The Braves seem like a team that will not go away lightly though, they're hanging just a half game behind the Mets.

But last night was a great night because they got the win.  Jon Niese continued the torrid starting pitching stretch, tossing up a solid six plus innings.  The power is still showing signs of staying hot, with Ike Davis putting up a three run shot in the first.  Oh yeah, Ike is still coming around.  That's great news because we all know the Mets need that pop in the middle of the lineup.  Mr. Today's Franchise David Wright just does what he does, hit the ball, contributing with two more hits.

They have another game tonight.  And that's it, just another game.  Keep plugging along, keep trucking, keep winning.

Sweep

It's become a consistent scenario over the last few series; get swept, sweep a series, get swept, sweep a series.  So yeah, the Mets are 6-6 over their 12 games, but when the winning is taking place, it feels so damn good.

Dillon Gee did his part and answered the bell last night.  He took a one-hitter into the 8th inning and then watched as the bullpen held on for his fifth win of the year.  The Mets completed the sweep and will now get a well deserved day off heading into the their series against the Yankees; the first team to sweep the Mets in this stretch.

This team is easy to love.  They're so young and naive that they don't know they are suppose to roll over and fall apart when a game or two doesn't go their way.  They just battle hard, put the nose to the dirt and grind it out.  The team's record is back up to six games over .500, where it's been for most of the season.  But they are only three games out of first.  It's there for the taking.  They can smell it.

Come and Get It

The sweep is right there.  It's there for the taking.  Dillon Gee, all eyes on you buddy.  Dickey and Santana have set the stage for you.  Don't mess it up.

Terry Collins seems to be rolling the die in this one.  Lucas Duda, Josh Thole, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis are all on the bench so who knows where the offense is going to come from.  That's why it falls on Gee.  Always on the starting pitching.

Go get em.

Power Stick

Yes, yes, we all know that the last two games have been amazing games for the Mets, largely because of their starting pitching.  Johan Santana followed suit last night and delivered six shutout innings as New York posted their second consecutive 5-0 victory over the Orioles.

But what seems to be missed in the run of great starting pitching is the heating up bat of the Mets right fielder.  Last night Lucas Duda went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBI.  Duda has now hit safely in eight of the team's last 10 games, raising his average to just under .270.  He leads the team with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs.

This Mets team is not a very powerful team.  They will play a lot of small ball, slapping singles, moving runners over and waiting for the gap double to plate some runs.  When Duda is on, he changes that mentality.  He has the power to hit the ball out of any park, pull or opposite field.

Over the second half of last season, Duda was the most consistent power threat in the line up.  This may be the time of the year when he begins to really heat up again.  David Wright's been consistent all season long, by far with the highest On-Base Percentage on the team.  Ike Davis has slowly been turning it around, getting so close to the .200 average mark.  Combine those two with Duda's power in the middle of the line and the Mets offense should be able to compliment their starting pitching the rest of the way.

Valdy with Another Start

We all know the talk the past couple weeks has been the storm that is RA Dickey and recently we've all been seeing the bat of Ike Davis start to warm up.  Combined, those two helped the Mets end their mini losing streak and top Baltimore last night.

However there's another bar that should start to get some notice pretty soon.  Jordany Valdespin.

Valdespin has been up and down with the Mets so far this season, basically filling in because of the numerous injuries that have befallen the big club.  Yet, when he plays, he seems to be out of position, either in left field or at short stop.  His two most natural spots, second and third base, are blocked.

Last night, Valdespin started at second base, giving the struggling Daniel Murphy a night off.  And looking at tonight's line up, Valdespin is in it yet again, this time playing left field.

The kid can hit the ball and over the past couple of games, he's been getting more at bats and showing that ability.  Last night he had two more hits, both extra bases including his first career triple.

It's two early for speculation and heat to come onto Murphy, but his bat better get going pretty soon or there will be a legit competition for second base in the near future.

Stunning

It's beginning to get to the point where there are no more words, no more adjectives for the season that R.A. Dickey is having in 2012.

At this point, Dickey leads the National League in wins, ERA, WHIP, strike outs (tied for the major league lead), and complete games.  He's thrown back to back one hit shutouts.  He has his opposing batters completely flustered and lost at the plate.  He's doing all of this with a knuckleball.

It's totally amazing and such a joy to watch.  With every outing, he is more and more of a shoe-in for the All-Star game in July and showing that he deserves to be the starting pitcher.  It's a bit early for post season accolades, but maybe not, so should we start to mention the words 'Cy Young' and 'R.A. Dickey' in the same sentence?

It'll be fun to watch Dickey's next outing, that's for sure.  A Sunday night match up, on national TV, against the NY Yankees; a team that just swept the Mets not even three weeks ago.  A Yankees team that has won 10 games in a row and will match up Dickey with their ace, CC Sabathia.

This is just me, but I feel that Dickey will be up for the task.

Back In The Swing?

As Mets fans, we've been waiting since last May to see the power threat that is known to be Ike Davis.  He showed some glimpses of it during Spring Training and all fans started to dream big.  Another season of Ike in the middle of the lineup, bashing home runs and driving the ball to all parts of the park.  Making a charge to be one of the best first basemen in the National League.

And then the season started.  And Ike began the season 0 for what seemed to be a century.  And he never picked it up.  Keeping his batting average around the .165 mark for the first two plus months of the year.  Everything was wrong.  He had a horrible eye.  Was out in front of way to many pitches.  His hitch was a problem, not a power source.  It translated to some rough defense at times.

There were many a time and many a people (mostly fans and the media) who thought that Ike belonged in the minors for a period of time.  Get his swing back.  Get his confidence back.  But that didn't happen.  Terry Collins stuck with Ike, yes, further down in the lineup but still in there.  The hits would come said the Mets.  Ike is too good for him not to turn this around.

And ya know what?  They may be on to something.  This isn't me saying that Ike is back and he's once again been the force he was last season.  But, he does seem to be coming back around.

During the Mets three game sweep of the Rays, Ike went 6 for 11, including a home run, a double, 3 walks, and 6 RBIs.  Adding on the final two games against the Yankees from last weekend, Ike is 8 for his last 14.  His average has climbed to .188.

The Mets still need not to rush Ike.  They better not push him up to the 4- or 5- hole in the lineup and watch him get exposed again.  Keeping Ike down for the next couple of weeks is crucial.  But let's keep the fingers crossed that he's found his flaw and is getting back into his groove.

One-Hit Wonder

It really is amazing how a good, if not great, starting pitcher can change the dynamics of a ball club.  After a rough stretch, losing five of six games, the Mets come down to Tampa, against a first place team, needing to find themselves.

The offense was able to open up and pour it on Tuesday night, helping guide Chris Young to his first MLB win in over a year.  But then the Mets were going up against the best pitcher (record-wise) in the AL last night, and typically, the Mets struggle against top pitchers.

So what did they do?

The entire team hopped on the back of RA Dickey and rode the train to a 9-1 victory, behind 8+ scoreless innings, one hit against, no walks, and a career high 12 strikeouts.  Dickey broke the Mets team record for longest scoreless streak, 32 2/3s innings.  Over his last five starts, Dickey has struck out 50 while only walking three batters.

Hopefully all will be able to realize that Dickey is the ace of this staff.  His 10 victories lead the majors so far.  He's not only expected to make the All-Star team next month, but there's a great chance that he will be the starting pitcher that night.

He gives his team a chance to win every single night.  That's all you can ask for from your elite pitcher.

Lost Weekend

Oh the mojo is currently gone from this Mets team.  Now it seems as if it's filled with a bunch of head scratching and questioning.  Is the offense good enough?  How bad can the bullpen possibly get?  Can't guys play simple defense?

Over the past week, the Mets dropped five of six games to first place Washington and New York.  They've dropped a full five games out of first place and only sit three games above the .500 mark.  To make matters potentially worse, they are now down in Tampa Bay, another first place team, for a three game set.

The combination of Ike Davis and Jason Bay in the middle of the Mets line up is killing them offensively.  They can't get any sort of sustained inning going because it's almost automatic both of those guys will get out.  Enough is enough.  One would think that the Mets could just reach down to the minors and call someone up to spark an ignition, but there's a problem with that.  Most of those minor league players are already up in Queens due to injury.

The bullpen is in shambles.  All over the place.  Seems as if the only two consistent pitchers are Tim Byrdak and Bobby Parnell.  Other than that, it's a complete crapshoot.  It's saddening and maddening.

And the defense... woof! 

Got The Finale!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's got the most wins of them all?

Wait, mirror, please repeat again... a bit louder.

One more time, having a tough time copying that mirror.

Ahh, that's right... it's R.A. DICKEY!

Dickey picked up his league leading 9th victory today.  Throwing another 7+ shut out innings, striking out eight in the process.  He was able to help the Mets get one victory in Washington before a fun weekend against the Yankees.

RA DICKEY!

Bounce Back

Today is a very big game for the Mets.  They've now lost three in a row, including two to the first place Washington Nationals.  They need to get a victory this afternoon to get back on the right track and to prevent falling far out of first.

One of the biggest problems is that the Mets could have or should have won the last two games.  Normally, in the past, we would all blame the bullpen and their shoddy work for losing games.  This isn't the case this week.  It's been the absolutely putrid and porous defense.

Booted balls, bad throws, balls through the legs.  It's all happened the last two nights and the direct result is two loses.  A damn shame.

What hurts is that the Mets are playing with their backup's backup shortstop.  Does that even make sense?  They are so hurt up the middle, it's almost as if stick figures are playing there.

The Mets were expecting to get Ruben Tejada back this weekend but he aggravated his thigh earlier this week in a rehab game, so that's now out of the question.

RA Dickey gets the ball today and the Mets desperately need him to be the same pitcher he was last Saturday, limiting the opposition to no runs.

What a Weekend

With what has been going on with the Mets organization the past couple of years, this probably will go down as one of the best weekends the Mets have had in quite some time.

Three straight victories over the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  Only one run allowed over the three games.  Three wins by the stating pitching.  Two complete game shutouts to start the series.  And the club's first no-hitter on Friday night.

The team is in a three way tie at top the NL East.  They have one more game this afternoon, weather pending, against the Cardinals before a first place show down with the Nationals in Washington mid-week.

The young guns are contributing.  Duda, and Nieuwenhuis, and Murphy, and Thole are all beginning to warm up and slap the ball around.  The older guys in Wright and Torres are continuing to make plays and get on base.  The starting staff has gone deep into games, giving their team a chance to win and also giving the bullpen some much needed rest.

The team is believing.  The fans are believing.  It's only a third of the way through, so there is still a lot that is needed to be accomplished.  But it's been a great third so far.  On to bigger and better.

Nohan, Johan

For Mets fans, last night, June 1st, 2012, the stars aligned in the galaxy and the spot light was able to shine on the proud, but beleaguered organization they love to root for.

In their 51st season of existence, Johan Santana pitched a no-hitter at Citi Field for the first no-hitter in Mets history.

In the past, seven players had left the Mets and went on to throw no-hitters for other clubs.  35 times the Mets were able to toss a one-hitter.  But never was there a no-no.  Only two teams in baseball were able to say that, and now, that number is down to one lonely team.

When I opened my score app on my iPhone last night to check in on the score, I froze for a moment.  It was the top of the 8th, one out, and I saw that Johan had the no-hitter going.  I struggled to tell my fiance this, I was afraid that I would jinx it if I said those words.  But I mentioned it and immediately whipped our the iPad to watch the game live, simultaneously calling my father to make sure the biggest Mets fan that I know was awake to watch this.

Swing and a miss, strike three on David Freese, ball game over, no-hitter complete, history made.

 

As big of a moment as last night was for Mets fans, it's a bigger moment for the man.  There couldn't be a better person right now who Mets fans would want to toss that historic moment.  A man who came to the club years ago and worked so hard to be the best pitcher he possibly could be.  A man who last year spent the entire season in Florida, rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder.  A man who takes the responsibility as this team's ace very, very seriously.  #57.  Johan Santana.

All Over Again

It's beginning to feel like 2009 and 2010 all over again, and quick, for this year's Mets team.  They got off to such a hot and positive start, only to see the last few weeks fill up with injuries.

Andres Torres, Jason Bay, Mike Pelfrey, Ruben Tejada, Josh Thole, Miguel Batista, Ronny Cedeno, and now Justin Turner have either been on or still on the Disabled List.  The line up that Terry Collins has been forced to put out there the last number of games is looking way to much like a Triple-A line up.

Mike Baxter leading off, Scott Hairston hitting cleaning, Vinny Rottino with the big club itself is a head scratcher.  As been stated before, this isn't a team that can afford to throw games away.  The NL East is to good and the Mets don't have the depth to that.  But playing with a roster that resembles a Spring Training game isn't smart at all.

The club should be getting some of their top guns back soon.  Bay, Tejada, and Thole have all started playing in minor league games to work their way back up.  Sooner than later they will be back in New York and we can all pray that it's sooner.

More Like It

Good pitching will always win games for you.  The Mets were able to see to that over the last two days, getting great starts out of RA Dickey and Jon Niese.  From their efforts, and enough offense, the Mets were able to grab the last two games in Pittsburgh, finish their road trip at .500 and move four games clear of .500 overall as they come home tonight for 11 straight games.

The NL East hasn't changed much in the past week but there seems to be signs of both Washington and Atlanta wanting to pull away from the pack.  Each sit eight and seven games, respectively, over .500 and have played some solid ball of late.  New York welcomes to town one of the worst teams in the National League, the San Diego Padres, for a three game set this weekend and would it be an amazin' time to collect at least two more wins.

In due time the Mets should be getting back some more of their initial starting line up.  Jason Bay and Josh Thole are progressing from their injuries down in Port St. Lucie and should be back in New york shortly.

So Tight

The Mets have come down to earth the last week or so, going 6-4 over their last ten games.  To add to that, the rest of the NL East is picking up steam.  The Braves are the hottest team by far and now sit 10 games over .500.  At the bottom of the barrel, the Phillies have gotten to .500 themselves.  And all other teams are in between, including the Mets, at 21-19.

This is a bit of disturbing news because of the way the club's been playing lately.  They have certainly cooled off from their great start.  But now their starting pitching has started to abandon them.  Their starting ERA is over 4.50.  Over the weekend, Jon Niese and Miguel Batista went only five innings combined.  Jeremy Hefner is slated to start in the next rotation since Batista has ended up on the DL.  And, as it's been most of the season, the bullpen continues to struggle.  Part of it is due to ineffectiveness and part of it is because of fatigue.

A silver lining is that the Mets have not played many of the soft teams in the NL.  Most of their games have been against the NL East, which they have done fairly well against, racking up the most division wins so far in the East.

They must capitalize on the weaker opponents.  Get the wins that are laying right there in front of them.  It's the only way to make the season worth while come August and September.  Need to get wins that are right in front of them and not throw any away.  They can not afford it.  Three games in Pittsburgh this week will hopefully get them on the right track.

Woof

They suck tonight. Dang Niese, can't get a pitch pass a batter if his life depended on it.

Well, thats why they play tomorrow.

Still Not Pretty

It's been a rough couple of days watching this Mets team.  Mostly, it's all because of the bullpen.  The team has lost three of its last five, but two of those loses are a direct relation to a faulty bullpen.  A leaky faucet that can't be shut off.

The team made a move to help address the issue, sending reliever DJ Carrasco packing and bringing up Robert Carsons.  Maybe a new, fresh arm is something that can help this team.  But maybe not.  Who knows?  The bullpen, all across the majors, is the biggest question mark, all the time.  Some years teams have a great one, and other years they stink.  And sometimes that changes every month.  Or week.

This bullpen does need to turn it around though.  They need to get hot and become reliable.  The National League East is extremely tight.  All five times are within four games of each other.  Every game matters.

More Like It

After a blown weekend (no pun intended.  Yeah, right), in which the Mets could have, should have swept the Miami Marlins on the road, the team was able to get back on the winning side of things last night against the Brewers.  The astonishing news is that Miguel Batista was able to throw seven shut out innings.  The fantastic news is that the bullpen protected the three run lead and was able to get the final six outs to preserve the victory, although a run was scored in the ninth.

Trouble and headache were eased for one night but something tells me this problem isn't going to go away.  Frank Francisco is not a solid choice for the closer role, but he's there.  To add to the issue of his pitches are getting crushed, is the fact the guy is a bit of a loose cannon.  And with that, how much longer can he survive in the New York market?

The fans have already started to turn on him; showering him with boos upon entering the game last night.  If this guy blows another lead and causes the team to lose yet another game and it happen it home, there's a chance he may not make it to his car without personal injury.

It's only a matter of time before media completely turns on him as well.  Once that happens, in this town, it's all over.  As a player and a person, he'll have to do so much to get the media back on his side and it does not seem, at this point, that he's the person who can do such a thing.

Five games over .500 is a happy and grand place for the Mets to be right now.  But when you look at the last week or so, and think that it's possible for them to be about seven, eight, or even nine games over that mark, that's what's frustrating.  This Mets team is playing good baseball, no doubt.  Yet over the course of the season, they are not good enough to be throwing away baseball games and expect to be in the post season.

The Franchise

Some how, some way, the Mets need to come up with the money and pay David Wright.  Off to one of the best starts in his career, Wright is entering today's finale against Miami with a .402 average.  Yes, that is tops in all of baseball at the moment.  He is also near the top in RBIs, Runs, and Walks, while keeping his strike outs to a minimum.


The Mets new regime is implementing their Money Ball ways.  Lots of young talent coming up through the minors, no long term contacts that will have handcuffed repercussions down the line, and slim pluckings from the off-season free agency list.


But GM Sandy Alderson needs to keep Wright.  This season's Mets club is exciting to watch.  They're winning games and beating teams from the toughest division in the National League.  As time goes on, if they continue to play well and win ball games, the fans will return to Citi Field.  It's just the way of sports.  The way of life.  It's a beaten horse, but winning really does cure everything.


When the Mets fans come back to Citi.  When they spend their hard earned money on tickets, and parking, and beer, the Mets need to reinvest that money into the reason for their return.  David Wright.

He is the main veteran in the club house.  Everyone looks up and listens to their third baseman.  He is a man that bleeds Blue and Orange; has since he was just a kid growing up in Virginia.  He is the man that belongs to become a lifer.  A few weeks ago he became the Mets all-time RBI leader, among other franchise leading stats.  He deserves the chance to add to all of those numbers.  Break every one of them.


He is also the man that deserves to lead this team back to the World Series and back to it's prominent place in baseball.


Pay the man his money!

Slowed Down

The Comeback Kids were ready to strike again.  After falling behind early in the game, in the first inning actually, the Mets were poised to win their sixth straight game as they took a 5-3 lead late in the ball game.  Things crashed back to reality for New York as the bullpen, but specifically Frank Francisco, squandered that lead and caused the Mets to lose the opener in Miami.


The Mets have made it a habit this season of winning games from behind.  I'm guessing that they wouldn't want this trend to continue all season long, but they'll take the wins when they can, so if it means beating up the opponents bullpen, so be it.  It just comes back to suck when the opposing team then beats up on the Mets bullpen.


The average is still low, below .200, but Ike Davis may be turning it around.  Another home run last night was added to his total and his strike outs seem be coming at a less frequent rate.  As long as balls are being put into play, the better the odds of him snapping out of this season funk.

Full Steam Ahead

It is early, still only the second week of May, but this is time of the season is exciting to be a Mets fan.  This team is producing results.  They're charismatic, they're energetic, they have a never say die attitude and that is translating into wins.

For the first time in six years, the Mets went into Philadelphia and swept away a series from the Phils.  At some point in all three games, the Mets found themselves down, and facing a number of quality starters.  But this team never laid down.  They fought and battled and rallied.  When they did enough damage to get the opposing starters out of the game, the Mets batters feasted on the weak bullpen of Philadelphia.

That right there is what good teams do.  They find the weakness in their opponent, wait for the right moment, and exploit it!  Teams can get an anxious and too worrisome if they are not scoring runs early enough and are always playing from behind.  But this Mets team knew to be patient, that their opportunities would be presented later in the game.  Bide your team and the results will come.  And that's exactly what's been happening.

This is a team that will still cause fans grief every now and then, but there seems to be much more positives coming from them.  Almost the entire roster is contributing in a positive nature.  It's a fun time to be a Mets fan.

Sweetness

Coupled with losses from both the Flyers and 76ers, last night was a just a bad night to be a sports fan of any Philadelphia team.  The Mets made sure to keep that trend going as they picked up their second win of this series.

Down 4-0 in the second inning, it would have been real easy for the Mets to have just packed it in, especially with Miguel Batista on the hill.  But this is the new Mets, the 2012 Mets.  They don't have that quit in them.  They just keep playing until the umpires tell them no more.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda, and David Wright all contributed with big hits down the stretch, the bullpen held on to some narrow margins and boom! Victory for the boys in blue. 

The Mets have the best record so far against NL East teams, raking up 12 wins so far.  Keep doing this and we'll be on to something.

A Bit More Like It

So by no stretch of the imagination did the Mets offense light it up last night against Roy Halladay and the Phillies, but they did score more runs than their counterpart and that's what we care about this morning.

Halladay was cruising along until a small blip in the sixth inning.  A walk and a single set the stage for David Wright and the man did what he's always done in the Mets uniform; he drove them home with a double down the left field line.

Ya knew it was a good game when this offense was able to get an extra base hit, but ya knew it was a great game when a home run was added to the mix.  And that's what happened in the top of the ninth.  Rookie Jordany Valdespin crushed a Jonathon Papelbon (the man can't close out the Mets) pitch into the right field stands giving the Mets a 5-2 lead and victory.

This team as the feel and look of a .500 team for the long haul.  Exciting, energetic and young one day but inexperienced, over-matched and lost the next day.  It's exciting and frustrating all in one for fans.  But for this team, it'll be taken.  A team everyone had counted out.

Very Offensive

In the sense that the offense has gone bye bye the last two series. 

About a week ago the Mets went to the higher air of Denver and a series against the Rockies seemed to do wonders for the offense.  But in the two series since, at Houston and at home against Arizona, the offense has gone pretty flat.  That's evident because they ended up losing the first four of those games.

Luckily, the Mets were fortunate enough to get outstanding pitching from both Johan Santana and RA Dickey the last two days and were able to get Ws in both of them.

Here's hoping that the offense can respond again due to their next stop on the map.  Heading down to Philadelphia for a few days, the Mets do face some quality pitching but will also be swinging the bats in a hitter friendly park. 

The big boys have to get going.  David Wright's been slapping some singles around, but power is needed.  Lucas Duda should hopefully have his timing back from his missed games and be a huge stick in the middle while Ike Davis is still looking for his stroke, still looking for his groove.

They dropped to .500 last week and due to their recent pitching, they've remained above it for the entire season.  Now it's time for the O to prove it's worth and help push them further away from that line.

Home Sweet Home

After a very poor series in Houston, the Mets are now home for the week and then remain on the East Coast and hopefully will be able to get them back on the winning track.  It's not going to be easy as they welcome in the young, left arms of the Diamondbacks and then head back to Philadelphia before going to Miami the first time.


The Mets should be able to get a boost back in their lineup with Lucas Duda, who missed the last three games due to the flu.  First on the team in home runs and near the top in RBI, Duda's lefty bat in the lineup was sorely missed in Houston as the Mets only scored seven runs in the three game set.


Another question that will be addressed in the upcoming days is what to do with Mike Pelfrey's pitching spot.  Chris Schwinden has taken his place the last two times through the rotation and stunk up the joint in each outing so I do not see how he can get another outing.  Jeremy Hefner seems to be the logical choice from the minors since both Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins have strongly said prospect Matt Harvey is not ready yet.


The Mets are still over .500 for the season and playing better than most expect.  They just need to right their ship soon to stay on that path.

Roller Coaster

Heading into today's finale against Houston, the Mets stand at 2-3 on this road trip. Getting this last game on the trip is important for the team and it's mentality.

Being able to go on the road, not at full strength, and to come home with a .500 road trip is a strong quality for a club. To add on the pressure, New York is throwing rookie Chris Schwinden today.

The team knows they will have tonight and tomorrow off, so they can't become complacent. Work and fight hard. Get the win.

April Recap

Not many people would have thought this in March, but the Mets finished the month of April at 13-10, good for third place in the NL East.  The strongest aspect of the club as been the starting pitching.  Aside from a glitch here and a bump there, the rotation has kept the Mets in almost every game so far.  On the flip side, the overall team defense needs to straighten itself out.  The defense is directly responsible for the loss last Friday.

Team MVP: David Wright - Although he missed a few games with a broken pinky, Wright's been the best player by far.  He's second in the NL in batting average while tops in OBP.

Team LVP: Ike Davis - Call it rust, just a slow start, or to much pressure, whatever you'd like to call it, it's bad.  Davis is batting under .200 on the season and for the most part, just looks lost.

Best Pitcher: Jon Niese -  Niese brought a no-hitter into the 7th inning in his first start of the season and has been very solid ever since.  His new contract and his new nose have cleared his mind and allows him to utilize all of his pitches.

Worst Pitcher: Manny Acosta - In nine appearances so far, Acosta has allowed 11 earned runs, 15 in total.  Not as reliable out of the pen as he was last season, Acosta has also walked as many as he's struck out.

Best Moment: Following the incredible outing by Niese on Easter Sunday, the Mets were able to finish off a three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves to open their 2012 season.

Worst Moment: Absolutely no offense visible as the Mets got swept by the San Francisco Giants in a single admission double header.

Welcome Back

Last night the Mets were able to welcome back their Opening Day center fielder, Andres Torres.

Torres missed part of Spring Training with a strained calf muscle, then deemed himself ready for the season, only to pull up lame in the first game of the season which landed him on the 15 day DL.

For the Mets, there was definitely a silver lining in the Torres injury.  When he went down, they organization was able to promote Kirk Nieuwenhuis.  Known as an outfield prospect for the past two seasons, Nieuwenhuis was never able to get a shot in the bigs because of his tendency to become injured.

But this season's been different for Nieuwenhuis.  He's been able to stay healthy and provide a much needed, early season spark to the Mets.  Mostly in the leadoff spot, he's batting .325 on the season to go along with eight RBI and two home runs.  He does have seem to strike out a bit, but the Mets can live with that if he continues to get on base 39% of the time.

Nieuwenhuis has been up and down in the field as well.  He's made a couple highlight reel worthy catches in center field, but was also responsible for the dropped popup last week and, while in left field for the first time ever last night, couldn't come up with a bloop hit behind shortstop that allowed Houston to score their first run.  Torres reclaimed his centerfield position upon his return last night.

When Jason Bay returns from his DL stint in the next week or so, the Mets will have a dilemma on their hands.  Nieuwenhuis has done enough to prove to continues to play ball up here.  But it's a numbers game and someone is going to be squeezed.

Another Series Win

Sports overall, but especially baseball, are great because there are always games to be played, always a way to right the ship when things seem just a bit off.  Only a week ago, the Mets were about to have a double header swept away from them by the San Francisco Giants, evening their record at .500 on the year.

But after yesterday's gut check victory, the fifth in six games, the Mets record is four games on the plus side and the team is only a game behind Atlanta and Washington near the top of the NL East.  Heading into the season, many of the 'experts' claimed the month of April would be a pretty difficult month for New York because of the five divisional series they had scheduled plus a visit from the Giants.  Well, regardless how tonight's game goes, the Mets will finish April over .500.

Yesterday's game for New York had a lot of hits.  Ike Davis put up three hits on the afternoon, including the game winning RBI single.  Ruben Tejada also followed suit with three hits, collecting 10 in the series.  David Wright put up two more well Josh Thole connected on his first home run of the season.

There seems to be the feeling that this Mets club wants to get on a bit of an extended streak.  For the most part, the pitching has been there for them most of the season.  It's been the lack of runs that's slowed them down at times.  But the offense used their trip to Colorado to correct that.  Davis is beginning to find his swing.  Lucas Duda has shortened his stroke the past week and looks more comfortable at the plate.  Nothing seems to big for the kids either as Tejada, Daniel Murphy, Thole, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis are all contributing to the offensive effort.

Rough Outing

That's a statement thats true for everything but the offense in last night's game. Rookie starter Chris Schwinden struggled in his first start of the season, but it was mainly due to throwing errors.

Committing four throwing errors in one inning will mess up every teams chance of winning a ball game. That became evident last night as the Rockies put up 11 runs in the fifth inning alone, 18 total.

Sloppy play and giving extra outs to professional teams will haunt any team every time.

The offense came out strong on the road trip, putting up nine runs in the effort. Scott Hairston was the man of the night, recording the Mets first cycle since 2006.

They get back at it tonight with Dillon Gee taking the ball.

Behnd the Mask

One great story early on this season, even if it is kept quiet for the most part, has been the play of catcher Josh Thole.

Thole's entering his second season as starting catcher but was doing so with a bit of a short leash.  When he entered the majors near the end of 2010, Thole was a contact hitter.  He was able to slap the ball the other way and was good at working deep counts.  However as last season came and went, Thole was not the same hitter.  He struggled offensively for most of the season, unable to maintain a high, or even overly respectable, average.

So far 2012 has been a great bounce back year for the backstop.  Thole is tied with David Wright for the highest batting average on the team at .362.  Going into tonight's game at Colorado, Thole is carrying a nine game hitting streak.  He has been a steady presence at the bottom of the Mets lineup which is very important because it'll allow the team a good chance to clear the pitcher's spot and turn over the order.

Very early in the season indeed, but a start the Mets wanted to see.

How Sweep It Is!

The Mets were able to take care of business this afternoon, coming from behind again to finish off the sweep of the Marlins.  This is the second sweep of a division rival for the Mets this season.

Once again, great starting pitching took most of the headlines today.  Jon Niese was awesome for the Mets, following in the week footsteps of Johan Santana and RA Dickey.  He allowed two runs over seven innings.

But he was not able to get the win since the Mets offense was pretty stagnant for most of the afternoon.  They scratched out a run in the first inning but then entered the bottom of the ninth with only that run to show.  Miami pitchers continued their wild trend as Heath Bell walked three Mets before Justin 'Ginger Power!' Turner stepped up to the plate.  Turned had the at bat of the season, working 14 pitches from the Marlins closer before finally being walked himself to push in the tying run.

That set the stage for rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who had already collected a triple and a single.  Nieuwenhuis continued his impressive big league stint with a rope to the right field and his first walk off hit.

To make things even sweeter... Jose Reyes laid up another goose egg and finished his Return to New York series 1 for 12.