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.