Die Hard Sports Fan

I really believed that the Amazin’s were going to win 5 straight to offset the 5 game losing streak.  That is the first time this month that the Mets didn’t follow that trend, and it’s pretty late in the month.  So the Mets lost again, and Willie’s big meeting with the Wilpon’s is tomorrow.  During the past ten days, the local press and sports radio stations like The Fan have made this a gigantic story.  I was bored of it last weekend, and it’s not over yet.  Let’s see what happens to Willie tomorrow and in the upcoming weeks.

Mets.com:

Long ball tops Maine, Mets in Denver - Owen Perkins summarized today’s Mets-Rockies game.

Church improving but still woozy

Pedro champing at the bit to return - Owen Perkins lets us know the latest on Pedro Martinez, “Pedro Martinez was scheduled to throw a bullpen session in the Dominican Republic on Sunday and is expected to return to Florida on Monday.”

Minaya sees calmer waters for Mets - Omar Minaya was quoted as saying, “We understand there’s other drama around the team, but we’ve got to win games. I think [the drama] is over. Once Willie apologized, that’s it, move forward.”

Evans, Vargas give Mets a boost in win - Owen Perkins summarized yesterday’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

Tatis’ hard work paying off with Mets - Owen Perkins wrote up a pregame analysis for today’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

Delgado homers past Dawson - Carlos Delgado passed Andre Dawson for sole possession of 35th on the all-time list with 439 home runs.

Anderson latest Mets outfielder to sit - Owen Perkins reported that Marlon Anderson is listed as day-to-day.

Newsday:

On hot seat, Mets’ Willie becomes Good Humor man - David Lennon wrote up a game summary for yesterday’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

Evans’ three-double debut leads Mets

LETS RANT

One watcher’s ride on Mets history by the numbers

Surprise starts: Which teams will stay hot, cold

New York Daily News:

Slumping Mets can’t solve Rockies’ patchwork lineup - The AP summarized today’s Mets-Rockies game.

Willie Randolph gets stay of execution as Mets rock Colorado - Adam Rubin summarized yesterday’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

Ax Willie Randolph? Omar Minaya deserves share of blame

Win some games, Willie Randolph

The Willie Randolph I know well

Willie Randolph tries to stay upbeat as meeting looms

Pedro Martinez is ready, Mets aren’t

Called-up Nick Evans makes mark on the double

Gary Carter just Kidding, now backs Willie Randolph - What’s wrong with The Kid?

New York Post:

BACK TO SLEEP - Bart Hubbuch wrote up a game summary for today’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

‘KISS OF DEATH’

RANDOLPH WINS A REPRIEVE - FOR NOW

25 BEST MOMENTS AT SHEA: NO. 18

METS’ YOUNGSTER IS ‘DOUBLE’ THE TROUBLE IN MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT

VARGAS MAKES PITCH TO STAY

WILLIE RESIGNED TO FINAL CUT

New York Times:

Mets Loss to Rockies Adds Pressure on Randolph - Ben Shpigel summarized today’s Mets-Rockies game.

The Star-Ledger:

Final: Rockies 4, Mets 1 - Jeremy Cothran put together a game summary for today’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

Maine no-hitter finished

Game 48: Mets at Rockies - Jeremy Cothran provided the lineup for today’s Mets-Rockies game.

Finally, all goes right for Mets

Rookie arrives double time

Willie prepared for talk

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The New York Mets (23-24) are playing Game 48 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Colorado Rockies (19-30) at Coors Field.  It’s the final game of the three-game series.  The game began at 3:05 p.m., and it was aired on CW11.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Schneider, Evans, Chavez, Maine.

Rockies Lineup: Podsednik, Herrera, Helton, Spilborghs, Smith, Stewart, Torrealba, Quintanilla, Cook.

At the Plate

Aaron Cook (6-3) was the starting pitcher for the Rockies.  In the Top of the 1st, Cook pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Cook gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Schneider grounded a two-out single up the middle.  Evans grounded to third, and Stewart made the out at first to end the inning.  Cook gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Chavez grounded a leadoff single through the hole on the right side.  Maine dropped down a sacrifice bunt down the third base line, and Stewart made the out at first as Chavez went to second.  Jose Reyes lined an RBI single into shallow center, and Endy Chavez came around to score.  Cook picked off Reyes at first.  Castillo dropped down a bunt towards third, and Stewart made the out at first to end the inning.  Cook gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Cook retired the side in order.  Cook gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Cook retired the side in order for the second straight inning.  Cook gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Maine grounded to third but Stewart (Error on Ian Stewart) batched the ball so Maine ended up on first.  Reyes grounded to second, and the Rockies only got the lead runner out on the double play attempt.  Castillo grounded to the pitcher, and the Rockies turned the inning ending double play.  Cook gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Top of the 7th, Beltran lined a one-out single into the gap in right center.  Delgado drew a one-out walk.  Cook struck out Schneider swinging.  Church is pinch hitting for Evans, and Cook fanned Church to end the inning with two Mets on base.  Cook gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 2 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Top of the 8th, Cook pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Cook gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  In the Top of the 9th, Cook slammed the door on the Mets.  Cook gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 9th Inning.

On the Mound

John Maine (5-3) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Podsednik drew a leadoff walk.  With Herrera in the batters box, Schneider threw out Podsednik as he attempted to steal second.  Herrera grounded the ball through Delgado’s (Error on Carlos Delgado) glove and into right field which allowed Herrera to end up on second base.  Helton grounded to second, and Castillo made the out at first as Herrera advanced to third.  Maine caught Spilborghs looking at strike three to end the inning with Herrera stranded on third.  Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Maine pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Maine struck out the side.  Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 3 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Helton drew a one-out walk.  Spilborghs grounded the ball through Jose Reyes’ (Error on Jose Reyes) legs so everybody is safe.  Seth Smith crushed a one-out 3-run homer to right center which scored Todd Helton and Ryan Spilborghs.  Stewart lined out to short.  Torrealba flied out to center to end the inning.  Maine gave up 1 Hit, 3 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Quintanilla drew a leadoff walk.  Cook dropped down a sacrifice bunt towards first, and Maine made the out at first as Quintanilla advanced to second.  Podsednik flied out to center.  Maine fanned Herrera to end the inning.  Maine gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Helton lined a leadoff double into the corner in left.  Spilborghs lined out to first.  Smith drew a one-out walk.  Stewart grounded a one-out single through the hole on the left side to load the bases.  Yorvit Torrealba hit a sacrifice fly to left, and Todd Helton tagged up and scored.  Maine fanned Quintanilla to end the inning with the bases juiced.  Maine gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.  Maine left the game after pitching 6.0 Innings allowing 3 Hits, 4 Runs, 3 ER, 4 BBs, and he had 8 SOs.

Randolph replaced Maine with Scott Schoeneweis to begin the Bottom of the 7th.  Cook drew a leadoff walk.  Podsednik grounded to short, and the Mets turned the double play.  Herrera grounded out to short to end the inning.  Schoeneweis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 8th, Schoeneweis retired the first batter.  Schoeneweis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  Schoeneweis left the game after pitching 1.1 Innings allowing 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 ERs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs.

Randolph replaced Schoeneweis with Matt Wise with one out in the Bottom of the 8th.  Wise got the two batters he faced out.  Wise gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 1 - Colorado Rockies 4.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  John Maine (5-4) got the loss and Aaron Cook (7-3) got the win.

Game Notes:

• Reyes drove in the only Mets run today.
• Maine only gave up 3 hits, but he gave up a 3-run dinger in the 4th.
• Maine had 8 K’s.

Series Notes:

• The Rockies won the series 2 games to 1.

Other Notes:

• Since May 1st, this is the Mets trend: w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-l-l-l-l-w-l.
• For the first time this month, the Mets did not win as many games as they lost.
• The Mets finished this road trip with a 3-6 record.
• The Mets are now two games under .500 with a 23-25 record.

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The New York Mets (22-24) are playing Game 47 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Colorado Rockies (19-29) at Coors Field.  It’s the second game of the three-game series.  The game began at 3:55 p.m., and it was aired on FOX.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Tatis, Delgado, Castro, Evans, Vargas.

Rockies Lineup: Podsednik, Herrera, Holliday, Helton, Stewart, Smith, Iannetta, Quintanilla, Francis.

At the Plate

Jeff Francis (1-4) was the starting pitcher for the Rockies.  In the Top of the 1st, Reyes grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  Castillo drew a no-out walk.  With Wright in the batters box, the Mets put on the double steal without a throw.  Wright drew a no-out walk which loaded the bases.  Carlos Beltran drove a no-out bases clearing double into the gap in left center which scored Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, and David Wright.  Tatis grounded a no-out single through the hole on the left side, and Beltran advanced to third.  Francis fanned Delgado.  Ramon Castro grounded an opposite field RBI single through the hole on the right side, and Carlos Beltran came home to score and Tatis went to second.  Nick Evans lined a one-out opposite field RBI double into the right field corner so Fernando Tatis came around to score while Castro went first to third.  Vargas lined out to second.  Reyes grounded out to first to end the inning with runners on second and third.  Francis gave up 5 Hits, 5 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, David Wright went yard with a solo shot to right.  Beltran grounded out to second.  Francis fanned Tatis.  Francis gave up 1 Hit, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Evans lined a two-out opposite field double into right center.  Francis fanned Vargas to end the inning.  Francis gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 3 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Francis hit Wright with the pitch to give the Mets a two-out base runner.  With Beltran at the plate, Wright beat out the throw as he stole second base.  Francis struck out Beltran swinging at ball four stranding Wright at second.  Francis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Castro drew a two-out walk.  Evans worked the count full before grounding out to second.  Francis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Francis pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Francis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.  Francis left the game after pitching 6.0 Innings allowing 7 Runs, 6 Hits, 6 ER, 3 BBs, and he had 8 SOs.

Hurdle replaced Francis with Alberto Arias to begin the Top of the 7th.  Arias hit Tatis with the pitch to give the Mets a two-out base runner.  Delgado grounded out to first to end the inning.  Araias gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Top of the 8th, Castro lef off with a Ground Rule Double to left center.  Nick Evans grounded an opposite field RBI double down the right field line, and Ramon Castro came around to score.  Chavez grounded out to second, and Evans advanced to third.  Reyes grounded to first, and Helton held up Evans at third and tagged first.  Luis Castillo lined a two-out RBI opposite field double down the left field line which scored Nick Evans.  Arias fanned Wright to end the inning with Castillo stranded on second.  Arias gave up 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 8th Inning.  Arias left the game after pitching 2.0 Innings allowing 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Hurdle replaced Arias with Josh Newman to begin the Top of the 9th.  Carlos Delgado crushed a solo shot to right field.  Castro grounded a two-out single up the middle.  Easley grounded to short, but Quintanilla (Error on Omar Quintanilla) threw the ball to second off target so Herrera was off the bag and then Castro beat out the throw at first.  Chavez lined out to first to end the inning with two Mets on base.  Newman gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 9th Inning.

On the Mound

Claudio Vargas (0-2) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Matt Holliday hit a two-out jack to left field.  Helton grounded out to first to end the inning.  Vargas gave up 1 Hit, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Vargas pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Vargas gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Francis drove a one-out single off of the right field wall.  Podsednik grounded to first, and Delgado tagged first and made the throw to second to second but not in time.  Jonathan Herrera lined an RBI single into shallow right, and Jeff Francis came around to score.  Holliday grounded to short, and Reyes got the force out at second to end the inning.  Vargas gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Helton drew a leadoff walk.  Vargas then struck out Stewart, Smith, and Iannetta to end the inning.  Vargas gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 3 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Quintanilla grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  Francis dropped down a bunt down the first base line, and Delgado made the out at first as Quintanilla moved over to second.  Podsednik flied out to left, and Quintanilla tagged up and ran to third.  Herrera lined out to left leaving Quintanilla stranded on third.  Vargas gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Vargas pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Vargas gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 7th, Vargas retired the side for the second straight inning.  Vargas gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  Vargas left the game after pitching 7.0 Innings allowing 4 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 1 BB, and he had 3 SOs.

Randolph replaced Vargas with Duaner Sanchez to begin the Bottom of the 8th.  Sanchez pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Sanchez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 8th Inning.

Randolph replaced Sanchez with Pedro Feliciano to begin the Bottom of the 9th.  Stewart drew a two-out walk.  Smith flied out to left to end the game and the Mets finally won a game.  Feliciano gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 9th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 9 - Colorado Rockies 2.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Claudio Vargas (1-2) got the win and Jeff Francis (1-5) got the loss.

Game Notes:

• Carlos Beltran hit a bases clearing triple in the first inning to set the tone in this game.
• Nick Evans went 3 for 4 in his MLB debut with 3 opposite field doubles and 2 RBIs.
• Ramon Castro had 3 hits.
• Claudio Vargas had a solid outing today.

Series Notes:

• The Mets evened up the series with the Rockies today with one game to go.
• Carlos Delgado hit a homer in each game this series, plus one in Atlanta on Thursday night.

Other Notes:

• Since May 1st, this is the Mets trend: w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-l-l-l-l-w.
• The Mets ended their 5-game skid.
• I do believe that the Mets will win the next 4 games to even out losses.
• The Mets are 3-5 on this road trip.
• The Mets are now one game under .500 with a 23-24 record.

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The New York Mets (22-23) are playing Game 46 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Colorado Rockies (18-29) at Coors Field.  It’s the first game of the three-game series.  The game began at 9:05 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Anderson, Schneider, Chavez, Perez.

Rockies Lineup: Taveras, Barmes, Holliday, Atkins, Helton, Spilborghs, Baker, Torrealba, Reynolds.

At the Plate

Greg Reynolds (0-1) was the starting pitcher for the Rockies.  In the Top of the 1st, Reynolds pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Reynolds gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Beltran drew a leadoff walk on four pitches.  Reynolds fanned Delgado.  Anderson lined out to center.  Reynolds got Schneider looking at strike three to end the inning.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 2 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Chavez beat out a ground ball to second for a leadoff single.  Perez drew a no-out walk.  Reyes grounded to second, and Baker made the out at second so Reyes arrived at first safely while Chavez advanced to third.  Luis Castillo slapped a one-out RBI single into left which scored Endy Chavez, and Reyes moved over to second.  Reynolds struck out Wright swining.  Beltran flied out to the warning track in center with Mets stranded on the corners.  Reynolds gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, (Anderson injured his hamstring running out a ground ball, and Willie and the Trainor had to carry him off the field so he will have to be replaced) Reynolds retired the side in order.  Reynolds gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Reynolds retired the side for the second straight inning.  Reynolds gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Castillo drew a leadoff walk on four pitches.  Wright grounded to third, and Atkins made the out at first as Castillo advanced to second.  Beltran grounded to second, and Baker made the out at first as Castillo moved over to third.  Carlos Delgado hit a two-out 2-run homer to center scoring Luis Castillo.  Tatis replaced Anderson, and Fernando Tatis hit a two-out solo shot to center.  Schneider grounded out to second to end the inning.  Reynolds gave up 2 Hits, 3 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  Reynolds left the game after pitching 6.0 Innings allowing 4 Hits, 4 Runs, 4 ER, 3 BBs, and he had 5 SOs.

Hurdle replaced Reynolds with Jason Grilli to begin the Top of the 7th.  Chavez grounded a leadoff single down the left field line.  Easley is pinch hitting for Smith, and Easley grounded a single through the hole on the left side so Chavez went from first to third.  Jose Reyes popped up to shallow left, and Endy Chavez tagged up and scored.  Castillo grounded to short, and the Rockies turned the inning ending double play.  Grilli gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Top of the 8th, Grilli pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Grilli gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 8th Inning.  Grilli left the game after pitching 2.0 Innings allowing 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Hurdle replaced Grilli with Manny Corpas to begin the Top of the 9th.  Tatis lined a leadoff single into right.  Schneider dropped down a bunt in front of home plate, and Torrealba made the out at first as Tatis went to second.  Chavez grounded to second, and Baker made the out at first as Tatis advanced to third.  Casanova is pinch hitting for Schoeneweis, and Casanova grounded out to first stranding Tatis.  Corpas gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.

Hurdle replaced Corpas with Brian Fuentes to begin the Top of the 10th.  Reyes drove a leadoff double into the gap in right center.  With Castillo in the batters box, Reyes was picked off at second base.  Castillo flied out to right.  Fuentes fanned Wright to end the inning.  Fuentes gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 10th Inning.

Hurdle replaced Fuentes with Taylor Buchholz to begin the Top of the 11th.  Delgado drove a one-out double into the gap in right center.  Tatis grounded to second, and Herrera held up Delgado before making the out at first.  Buchholz got Schneider on a check swing to end the inning with Delgado stranded on second.  Buchholz gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 11th Inning.  In the Top of the 12th, Buchholz retired the side in order.  Buchholz gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 12th Inning.  In the Top of the 13th, Wright lined a one-out single into right.  Beltran popped up to short, and Quintanilla made the out.  Delgado lined out to first leaving Wright stranded on second.  Buchholz gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 13th Inning.  Buchholz left the game after pitching 3.0 Innings allowing 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 3 SOs.

On the Mound

Oliver Perez (4-3) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Barmes hit a one-out Ground Rule Double to left field.  Holliday flied out to right.  Garrett Atkins hit a two-out 2-run bomb to left field scoring Clint Barmes.  Helton lined a two-out opposite field single into left.  Spilborghs drew a two-out walk.  Perez struck out Baker on three straight pitches to end the inning.  Perez gave up 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Reynolds drew a one-out walk.  Taveras lined a one-out single into right center, and Reynolds advanced to second.  Perez fanned Barmes.  Holliday grounded to third, and Wright got the force out at second to end the inning.  Perez gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Atkins lined a leadoff single into left.  Helton grounded to second, and the Mets turned the double play.  Spilborghs drew a two-out walk.  With Baker in the batters box, Schneider threw out Spilborghs as he attempted to steal second base.  Perez gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Baker drew a leadoff walk on four pitches.  Torrealba flied out to left center, and Beltran made the catch.  Reynolds bunted in towards the pitcher, and Perez made the out at first as Baker advanced to second.  Taveras grounded to second, and Castillo made the out at first stranding Baker.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Atkins drew a two-out walk.  With Helton at the plate, Perez threw a wild pitch so Atkins moved over to second.  Helton drew a two-out walk.  Spilborghs drew a two-out walk to load the bases.  Baker flied out to right to end the inning with the bases full of Rockies.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 3 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Torrealba beat out a ground ball to third for a leadoff single.  Herrera is pinch hitting for Reynolds, and Herrara drew a no-out walk.  Perez gave up 1 Hit, 2 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  Perez left the game after pitching 5.0 Innings allowing 6 Hits, 4 Runs, 4 ER, 8 BBs, and he had 2 SOs.

Randolph replaced Perez with Joe Smith with no outs in the Bottom of the 6th.  Taveras worked the count full before he dropping a bunt down towards first, and Smith made the out at first as both runners advanced.  Clint Barmes pulled a one-out 2-run double down the left field line which scored Yorvit Torrealba and Jonathan Herrera.  Holliday lined out to left.  Smith struck out Atkins looking.  Smith gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.

Randolph replaced Smith with Scott Schoeneweis to begin the Bottom of the 7th.  Spilborghs drew a one-out walk.  Podsednik replaced Baker, and Podsednik grounded into an inning ending double play.  Schoeneweis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 8th, Schoeneweis pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Schoeneweis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  Schoeneweis left the game after pitching 2.0 Innings allowing 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 ER, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs.

Randolph replaced Schoeneweis with Billy Wagner to begin the Bottom of the 9th.  Matt Holliday hit a one-out solo shot to center field.  Atkins lined a one-out single into center.  Helton lined a one-out single into center, and Atkins went first to third.  Spilborghs grounded to short, and Reyes got Atkins to hold up at third and then made the out at first.  Podsednik worked himself into a full count before popping up to short to end the inning.  Wagner gave up 3 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 10th, Torrealba beat out a ground ball to third the Wright (Error on David Wright) misfielded.  Herrera is pinch hitting for Fuentes, and Herrera grounded to second so Castillo made the out at first as Torrealba went to second.  Wagner struck out Cook, and Schneider threw out Torrealba as he attempted to steal third.  Wagner gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 10th Inning.  Wagner left the game after pitching 2.0 Innings allowing 3 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Randolph replaced Wagner with Duaner Sanchez to begin the Bottom of the 11th.  Sanchez pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Sanchez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 11th Inning.

Randolph replaced Sanchez with Aaron Heilman to begin the Bottom of the 12th.  Podsednik grounded to the pitcher, and the ball deflected towards second so Podsednik beat it out for a two-out single.  Torrealba popped up to second, and Castillo made the catch to end the inning.  Heilman gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 12th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 13th, Herrera grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  Francis is pinch hitting for Buchholz, and Francis dropped down a sacrifice bunt which allowed Herrera to move over to second.  Heilman fanned Quintanilla.  Matt Holliday grounded an RBI single through the hole on the right side, and Jonathan Herrera came around to score.  Heilman gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 13th Inning.  Heilman left the game after pitching 1.2 Innings allowing 3 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Final Score: New York Mets 5 - Colorado Rockies 6 (in 13).  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Aaron Heilman took the loss (0-1) and Taylor Buchholz got the win.

Game Notes:

• Delgado hit a 2-run solo shot.
• The Mets made a ton of mistakes and should’ve won the game in 9 innings.  The problem was that the Rockies made just as many mistakes so nobody wanted to win.

Other Notes:

• Since May 1st, this is the Mets trend: w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-l-l-l-l.
• It is the first time this month that the Mets lost 5 straight games.
• The Mets are now two games under .500 with a 22-24 record.

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The New York Mets (22-22) are playing Game 45 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Atlanta Braves (25-21) at Turner Field.  It’s the final game of the four-game series.  The game began at 7:00 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Anderson, Schneider, Chavez, Santana.

Braves Lineup: Infante, Kotsay, Jones, Teixeira, Francoeur, McCann, Diaz, Johnson, Hudson.

At the Plate

Tim Hudson (6-3) was the starting pitcher for the Braves.  In the Top of the 1st, Hudson pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Hudson gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Carlos Beltran belted a solo shot to deep right field.  Carlos Delgado hit an opposite field homer to deep left on the very next pitch by Hudson (The Carlos’ were in the lineup back-to-back, and they hit back-to-back homers).  Anderson dropped a bunt down towards third, and McCann made the out at first.  Hudson caught Schneider looking at strike three.  Chavez hit a two-out opposite field bloop double to left.  Santana grounded to short, and Infante made the out at first to end the inning.  Hudson gave up 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Hudson retired the side with three ground balls.  Hudson gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Hudson retired the side for the second inning in a row.  Hudson gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Hudson now retired the side for the third straight inning.  Hudson gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning.  Hudson gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Castillo lined a one-out single into left field.  Wright grounded to second, and the Braves turned the inning ending double play.  Hudson gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Top of the 7th, Beltran grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  With Delgado at the plate, Beltran beat the throw as he stole second.  Delgado popped up to center, and Kotsay made the catch so Beltran stayed put.  Anderson grounded to short, and Beltran got caught in a rundown but bought enough time to allow Anderson to get to second.  Schneider grounded out to second leaving Anderson stranded on second.  Hudson gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Top of the 8th, Church lined a pinch hit leadoff single into right.  Reyes grounded the ball down the third base line, and McCann misfielded it so Reyes beat it out and Church advanced to second.  Castillo grounded to the pitcher, and the Braves turned the inning ending double play.  Hudson gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  Hudson left the game after pitching 8.0 Innings allowing 7 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 0 BBs, and he had 4 SOs.

Cox replaced Hudson with Manny Acosta to begin the Top of the 9th.  Wright lined a leadoff single into left.  Beltran lined to second, and Wright got doubled up diving back to first.  Acosta gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.

Cox replaced Acosta with Will Ohman with two outs in the Top of the 9th.  Delgado lined out to center to end the game.  gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.

On the Mound

Johan Santana (5-2) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Kotsay grounded a one-out single up the middle.  Jones grounded to short, and the Mets turned the inning ending double play.  Santana gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Teixeira hit a high chopper in front of the plate which caused Schneider (Error on Brian Schneider) to misfield it so the Braves have a leadoff runner.  Francoeur lined out to the left, and Anderson hit the wall as he made the catch.  McCann flied out to right.  Diaz grounded a two-out single through the hole on the right side, and Teixeira advanced to second.  Kelly Johnson grounded to second, and Castillo dove to make the stop and threw the ball offline to Schneider as Mark Teixeira came home and Diaz went to third.  Santana got Hudson looking at strike three to end the inning leaving two runners on the corners.  Santana gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Jones grounded a two-out single through the hole on the right side.  Teixeira grounded a two-out single through the hole on the left side, and Jones went to second.  Francoeur lined out to left to end the inning.  Santana gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Johnson dropped a two-out single into shallow center.  Hudson grounded back to the pitcher, and Santana made the out at first to end the inning.  Santana gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Santana pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Santana gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, McCann grounded a two-out single up the middle.  Diaz grounded to third, and Wright got the force out at second to end the inning.  Santana gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, an he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 7th, Johnson lined a leadoff double into center.  Hudson dropped down a bunt towards third, and Santana made the out at first as Johnson advanced to third.  Omar Infante hit a one-out RBI single into center which scored Kelly Johnson.  With Kotsay in the batters box, Santana threw a wild pitch so Infante went to second.  Kotsay grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side, and Infante advanced to third.  Chipper Jones lined a RBI single into right so Omar Infante scored and Kotsay went first to third.  Mark Teixeira lined an RBI single into left which scored Mark Kotsay and Jones advanced to second.  Francoeur grounded to the pitcher, and the Mets turned the inning ending double play.  Santana gave up 5 Hits, 3 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  Santana left the game after pitching 7.0 Innings allowing 12 Hits, 4 Runs, 3 ER, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Randolph replaced Santana with Pedro Feliciano to begin the Bottom of the 8th.  Feliciano pitched a 1-2-3 inning to give the Mets one more shot down two runs.  Feliciano gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 2 - Atlanta Braves 4.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Johan Santana (5-3) got the loss and Tim Hudson (7-3) got the win.

Game Notes:

• The Carlos‘ hit back-to-back solo shots in the 2nd Inning.
• Santana gave up 12 Hits which is the most in his MLB career.
• The Mets were unable to manufacture runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th Innings when runners were in scoring position.
• The Braves were able to manufacture 3 runs in the 7th Inning which was enough for them.

Series Notes:

• The Braves swept the Mets in this 4-game series.
• The Braves have outscored the Mets 27-9 in this series, which is pathetic.

Other Notes:

• Since May 1st, this is the Mets trend: w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-l-l-l.
• It is the first time this month that the Mets lost 4 straight games.
• The Mets are now under .500 with a 22-23 record.

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The New York Mets (22-21) are playing Game 44 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Atlanta Braves (24-21) at Turner Field.  It’s the third game of the four-game series.  The game began at 7:00 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Chavez, Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Schneider, Castillo, Pelfrey.

Braves Lineup: Infante, Kotsay, Jones, Teixeira, McCann, Francoeur, Johnson, Blanco, Jurrjens.

At the Plate

Jair Jurrjens (4-3) was the starting pitcher for the Braves.  In the Top of the 1st, Reyes grounded a leadoff single through the hole on the left side.  Chavez popped up to left, and Blance made the catch.  With Wright at the plate, Reyes beat out the throw by McCann as he stole second.  Wright lined out to second, and Reyes dove back to second safely to avoid the double play.  Beltran grounded to first, and Teixeira tagged the bag to end the inning leaving Reyes stranded on second.  Jurrjens gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Delgado drew a one-out walk on four straight pitches.  Schneider grounded to second, and Delgado blocked Johnson’s (Error on Kelly Johnson) view of the ball as he was running to second so Schneider ended up on second and Delgado ended up on third.  Jurrjens fanned Castillo (Castillo has to be able to drive in runners in scoring position when the pitcher is up next).  Pelfrey grounded to the pitcher, and the ball deflected to short so Infante made the out at first leaving Mets on second and third.  Jurrjens gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Reyes grounded a leadoff single through the hole on the right side.  With Chavez at the plate, Reyes beat out the throw by McCann as he stole second base.  Chavez grounded out to first, and Reyes moved over to third.  David Wright lined an RBI single into center which scored Jose Reyes.  Beltran grounded to second, and the Braves turned the inning ending double play.  Jurrjens gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, (SNY reported that Alou left with a cramp in the left leg) Jurrjens pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the game.  Jurrjens gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Reyes drew a two-out walk.  Chavez grounded to short, and Infante made the flip to Johnson to get the force out.  Jurrjens gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Beltran grounded a one-out single up the middle.  Anderson popped up to shallow center, and Infante made the catch.  Delgado flied out to right leaving Beltran stranded on first.  Jurrjens gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Top of the 7th, Castillo beat out a ground ball to short that took a bad hop to give the Mets a one-out base runner.  Tatis is pinch hitting for Feliciano, and Tatis grounded to third and beat it out because part of the bat ended up near Jones (Error on Chipper Jones) so Jones misplayed the ball while Castillo advanced to second.  Jose Reyes grounded to second, and Johnson made the out at second but Infante made a bad throw to first so Reyes ended up on second while Luis Castillo came around to score.  Chavez flied out to right to end the inning leaving Reyes stranded on second.  Jurrjens gave up 1 Hit, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  Jurrjens left the game after pitching 7.0 Innings allowing 5 Hits, 2 Runs, 1 ER, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Cox replaced Jurrjens with Jeff Bennett to begin the Top of the 8th.  Wright grounded to third, and Gotay did not field it properly so Wright ended up with a leadoff single.  Carlos Beltran lined a no-out RBI double down the left field line which scored David Wright.  Anderson grounded to first, and Teixeira tagged first as Beltran advanced to third.  Carlos Delgado grounded to first, and Teixeira tagged first as Carlos Beltran came home.  Schneider grounded out to second to end the inning.  Bennett gave up 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Cox replaced Bennett with Chris Resop to begin the Top of the 9th.  Resop quicly slammed the door on the Mets by pitching a 1-2-3 inning.  Resop gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.

On the Mound

Mike Pelfrey (2-4) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Pelfrey walked Jones on four pitches.  Teixeira flied out to the warning track in right to end the inning with Jones on first.  Pelfrey gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Pelfrey hit Franceour with the pitch to give the Braves a one-out base runner.  Johnson grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side, and Franceour advanced to second.  Blanco worked the count full before Pelfrey struck him out looking.  Jurrjens grounded to second, and Castillo made the out at first leaving two Braves on first and second.  Pelfrey gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, (Anderson replaced Alou) Jones drew a two-out walk.  Teixeira grounded to second and beat out the throw for a two-out single, and Jones went first to third.  Brian McCann drove a two-out 2-run double that one-hopped the wall in right center scoring Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira.  Jeff Franceour drove a two-out RBI triple off of the left field wall which scored Brian McCann.  Johnson popped up in foul ground along the third base line, and Wright made the final out of the inning leaving Franceour stranded on third.  Pelfrey gave up 3 Hits, 3 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Infante hit a two-out bloop single into center.  Kotsay grounded to second, and Castillo made the toss to Reyes for the force out.  Pelfrey gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Chipper Jones led off the inning with a solo shot to dead center.  Teixeira pulled a no-out double down the right field line, and Teixeira ended up on third because Chavez (Error on Endy Chavez) misplayed the ball.  McCann drew a no-out walk.  Jeff Francoeur lined a no-out RBI single through the hole on the left side which scored Mark Teixeira, and McCann moved over to second.  Pelfrey gave up 3 Hits, 3 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  Pelfrey left the game after pitching 4.0 Innings allowing 8 Hits, 6 Runs, 6 ER, 3 BBs, and he had 2 SOs.

Randolph replaced Pelfrey with Pedro Feliciano with no outs in the Bottom of the 5th.  Johnson drew a no-out walk to load the bases.  Gregor Blanco hit a sacrifice fly, and Brian McCann tagged up and scored and Franceour tagged up and advanced to third.  Jurrjens dropped down a bunt towards the pitcher, and Feliciano got the runners to hold up before making the out at first.  Feliciano intentionally walked Infante to load the bases.  Kotsay grounded to short, and Reyes made the throw to Delgado who tagged out Kotsay to end the inning full of ugly Braves.  Feliciano gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, McCann grounded a two-out single through the hole on the left side.  Jeff Francoeur blasted a two-out 2-run shot to left center scoring Brian McCann.  Johnson grounded out to first to end the inning.  Feliciano gave up 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  Feliciano left the game after pitching 2.0 Innings allowing 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs.

Randolph replaced Feliciano with Joe Smith to begin the Bottom of the 7th.  Norton drew a one-out walk.  Infante worked himself into a full count before he drew a one-out walk.  Smith gave up 0 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.

Randolph replaced Smith with Scott Schoeneweis with one out in the Bottom of the 7th.  Kotsay flied out to center.  Schoeneweis hit Jones with the pitch so the bases are loaded (Gotay came in to pinch run for Jones).  Mark Teixeira pulled a two-out bases clearing double down the left field line which scored Greg Norton, Omar Infante, and Ruben Gotay.  McCann grounded to the pitcher and the ball deflected towards second, and Chavez flipped the ball to Delgado but Delgado could not catch it so McCann ended up with a single and Teixeira went to third.  Franceour lined out to second to end the inning with runners on the corners.  Schoeneweis gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.

Randolph replaced Schoeneweis with Billy Wagner to begin the Bottom of the 8th.  Johnson led off with a pop fly single to shallow center.  Blanco drew a no-out walk.  Diaz grounded a no-out single through the hole on the left side, and Johnson went to third and Blanco went to second.  Infante popped up behind the plate, and Schneider made the out.  Wagner fanned Kotsay.  Gotay grounded to short leaving the bases full of Braves.  Wagner gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 8th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 4 - Atlanta Braves 11.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Mike Pelfrey (2-5) took the loss and Jair Jurrjens (5-3) got the win.

Game Notes:

• Big Pelf only pitched 4 innings.
• Reyes, Wright, and Beltran had 2 hits each.
• Mets pitchers hit 2 batters today: Francoeur and Larry.
• During the game, SNY had a text poll with this question: So far in 2008, do you think the Mets are:
  a) underachieving. or
  b) are as good as their record says they are
  74% of Mets fans stated that the Mets are underachieving.  I believe that it is a combination of the two, but more in favor of option b.  I believe Reyes, Wright, and Beltran will get hot, but I don’t feel that way about others like Delgado or Castillo.  The starters haven’t been horrible this year, but the bullpen has which was the problem in ‘07.

Series Notes:

• The Mets already lost the series to the Braves, and the Mets will get swept if they lose tomorrow.
• The Braves have outscored the Mets 23-7 which is pathetic.

Other Notes:

• Since May 1st, this is the Mets trend: w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-l-l.
• It is the first time this month that the Mets lost 3 straight games.
• The Mets are back to .500 with a 22-22 record.

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The New York Mets (22-12) are playing Game 43 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Atlanta Braves (23-21) at Turner Field.  It’s the second game of the four-game series.  The game began at 7:00 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Anderson, Wright, Beltran, Church, Easley, Delgado, Castro, Vargas.

Braves Lineup: Escobar, Infante, Jones, Teixeira, Johnson, Diaz, Blanco, Miller, Campillo.

At the Plate

Jorge Campillo (0-0) was the starting pitcher for the Braves.  In the Top of the 1st, Campillo retired the first three Mets he faced.  Campillo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Campillo retired the first six Mets he faced.  Campillo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Campillo retired the first nine Mets he faced.  Campillo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Reyes lined a leadoff single into right field.  With Anderson in the batters box, Reyes got thrown out stealing second.  Anderson flied out to second.  Wright lined a two-out single into left.  Beltran grounded out to first to end the inning.  Campillo gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Church lined a leadoff single into left.  Easley grounded to short, and the Braves turned the double play.  Campillo fanned Delgado.  Campillo gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Campillo pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Campillo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.  Campillo left the game after pitching 6.0 Innings allowing 3 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 ER, 0 BBs, and he had 7 SOs.

Cox replaced Campillo with Jeff Bennett to begin the Top of the 7th.  Bennett pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Bennett gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 7th Inning.

Cox replaced Bennett with Blaine Boyer to begin the Top of the 8th.  Delgado drew a two-out walk.  Ramon Castro lined a two-out RBI double to the gap in right center which scored Carlos Delgado.  Alou is pinch hitting for Vargas, and Alou grouned a two-out single through the hole on the right side so Castro advanced to third.  Boyer gave up 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 8th Inning.

Cox replaced Boyer with Manny Acosta with two outs in the Top of the 8th.  Jose Reyes grounded a two-out RBI single up the middle which scored Ramon Castro, and Alou moved over to second.  Anderson grounded out to second to end the inning leaving two Mets stranded.  Acosta gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  In the Top of the 9th, Beltran beat out a slowly hit ground ball to third to give the Mets a one-out base runner.  Church grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side, and Beltran advanced to second.  Easley grounded to short, and the Braves turned an inning ending double play (Ryan Church took a shot to the head as he attempted to take out Escobar to interupt the double play.  Church was bleeding, and the training staff took a look at him.  The trainors carried him off of the field.) (Yunel Escobar also needed to be carried off of the field by the Braves trainors).  Acosta gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.  Acost left the game after pitching 1.1 Innings allowing 3 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs.

On the Mound

Claudio Vargas (0-1) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Escobar grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  Infante flied out in foul ground along the right field line, and Church made the catch.  Chipper Jones lined an RBI double down the left field line which scored Yunel Escobar.  Teixeira drew a one-out walk.  Vargas fanned Johnson.  Diaz grounded to the pitcher, and Vargas made the out at first.  Vargas gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Infante drew a one-out walk.  Jones grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side, and Infante advanced to second.  Mark Teixeira grounded a one-out RBI single through he hole on the right side which scored Omar Infante, and Jones moved over to second.  Kelly Johnson lined a one-out 2-run triple down the right field line which scored Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira.  Diaz flied out to right, and Johnson held up.  Blanco lined out to short leaving Johnson stranded on third.  Vargas gave up 3 Hits, 3 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Vargas pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Vargas gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Vargas retired the Braves in two consecutive innings.  Vargas gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  Vargas left the game after pitching 5.0 Innings allowing 5 Hits, 4 Runs, 4 ER, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Randolph replaced Vargas with Pedro Feliciano to begin the Bottom of the 6th.  Feliciano hit Johnson with the pitch to give the Braves a leadoff runner.  Diaz worked the count full before Feliciano struck him out swinging.  Feliciano hit Blanco with the pitch to give the Braves a one-out base runner.  Miller flied out to right.  Norton is pinch hitting for Campillo, Norton grounded to the pitcher so Feliciano made the out at first leaving two Braves stranded.  Feliciano gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.

Randolph replaced Feliciano with Duaner Sanchez to begin the Bottom of the 7th.  Escobar lined a leadoff single to left.  Infante lined a no-out double down the left field line, and Escobar went from first to third.  Jones grounded to second, and Easley ran over to the third base line to tag Escobar out (Infante ended up moving to third, and Jones ended up moving to second).  Sanchez intentionally walked Teixeira to load the bases.  Johnson popped up in foul ground near first, and Delgado made the catch.  Diaz grounded to third, and Wright tagged the bag to end the inning full of Braves.  Sanchez gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.

Randolph replaced Sanchez with Matt Wise to begin the Bottom of the 8th.  Miller lined a one-out single to right.  Mark Kotsay pulled a one-out 2-run shot to right scoring Corky Miller.  Escobar grounded out to short.  Infante flied out to right to end the inning.  Wise gave up 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 2 - Atlanta Braves 6.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Claudio Vargas (0-2) took the loss and Jorge Campillo (1-0) got the win.

Since May 1st, this is the Mets trend: w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-w-l-w-l-l-w-w-l-l.  It’s Amazin that the trend hasn’t broken yet.  What a horrible day for the Metropolitans.  It seems like the Mets haven’t won an important division series since they beat the Phillies in early May with the entire lineup playing poorly except for Utley.  Willie had his team meeting on Friday.  The Mets beat up on the Yankees over the weekend.  Did you see Willie manage differently against the Yankees?  Where was Heilman in that series?  Both starting pitchers went 8 2/3 innings and right to the closer.  Willie did not switch relievers every inning like he does against the division.  The Mets lost both games of the day/night double header against the Braves today.

Jorge Campillo, whoever that is, shut down the lifeless Mets for 6 innings.  Castro drove in both Mets runs with a 2-run shot which was all for the Mets.  As soon as the Mets put up a little fight in the 8th inning, the Braves tacked on 2 insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to make it even more difficult for the Mets to come back and win this game.  The Braves had no trouble scoring on Vargas and Wise.

Once again, the Mets can’t win a division series.  At best, they can split.

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Coming off of the Bronx Beatdown, I hope that the Mets go down to Atlanta and sweep Larry and the Braves.  I hope they win 3 out of 4, at a minimum.  I hope that the Mets knock Tom Glavine out of the game faster than he got knocked out of that game against the Marlins.  After this game, I want to hear Tommy say that it was devastating.  I want Chipper to go 0-for-the-series.  And most importantly, I don’t want to hear any Braves fans doing that stupid tomahawk chop chant the entire series which would mean that the Amazin’s swept the Braves with ease.  Here’s a look at the probable pitching matchups:

• 05/20/2008 - John Maine (5-2) - Tom Glavine (1-1)
• 05/20/2008 - Claudio Vargas (0-1) - Jorge Campillo (0-0)
• 05/21/2008 - Mike Pelfrey (2-4) - Jair Jurrjens (4-3)
• 05/22/2008 - Johan Santana (5-2) - Tim Hudson (6-3)

Mets.com:

Mets answer Church’s prayers to play

Perez cures all that ails Mets in Bronx - Marty Noble summarized last night’s game between the Mets and the Yankees.

Mets coach tossed after close call - Anthony DiComo explained why Jerry Manuel got ejected from last night’s game against the Yankees.

Mets head to Atlanta wanting more - Marty Noble put together a pregame analysis for the first Mets-Braves game tomorrow.

With Alou at DH, Anderson plays left - Marty Noble pointed out that Willie Randolph used Moises Alou as the DH in last night’s game against the Yankees.

Newsday:

Mets’ subway sweep lobs more pressure on Yanks - Erik Boland also summarized last night’s Mets-Yankees game.

Reyes watches and learns for Mets

Delgado shows signs of life

Sore Alou as DH: ‘I’ve got an old body’

Manuel gets ejected instead of Randolph

New York Daily News:

Mets maul Yankees, overcome negated homer to take both games at Stadium - Anthony McCarron put together a game recap for last night’s game between the Mets and the Yanks.

Mets talk a good game, then dominate Yankees in Subway Series

Mets show life in Bronx romp

Umpire admits he fouled up Carlos Delgado home run call - Christian Red got the quote of the umpire that made the incorrect call, and here it is, “I —-ed it up. I’m the one who thought it was a —- foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who —-ed it up so you can put that in your paper. Bolts and nuts, I —-ed up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.”  You would think that Bob Davidson would not speak with as much of a potty mouth, but what do I know.

New York Post:

AMAZIN’S SURVIVE SOME FOUL PLAY

OLIVER ON HIS GAME IN BRONX

REYES POWERS UP

WILLIE MUM AFTER BLOWN HOMER CALL

A REAL FOUL-UP

WEEKEND WARRIORS - Mike Vaccaro asks what a difference a weekend makes for the Mets.

New York Times:

Weekend in Bronx Revives Mets

Pole Leaves Mark, but Not on Outcome

The Star-Ledger:

Mets sign Abraham Nunez - Jeremy Cothran reported that “The New York Mets announced today that they have signed infielder Abraham Nunez to a minor league contract and assigned him to New Orleans (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League.”

Back on the road

Yanks better set for future - Steve Politi debates why the Yankees are better set for the future than the Mets.

Fan sees play up close and personal

Mets Sweep Yankees, Look Ahead to Braves

Davidson: I blew Delgado call

Bench coach Manuel has some choice words

Mets blast Yankees 11-2

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The New York Mets (21-19) are playing Game 41 of the 2008 Regular Season against the New York Yankees (20-23) at Yankee Stadium.  It’s the second game of the two-game series.  The game began at 8:05 p.m., and it was aired on ESPN.  We will have to suffer through hours of Joe Morgan just to watch a Mets game.  In my opinion, a Subway Series should never have national broadcasters.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Anderson, Wright, Beltran, Church, Alou, Delgado, Schneider, Castillo.

Yankees Lineup: Damon, Abreu, Jeter, Matsui, Giambi, Cano, Cabrera, Gonzalez, Molina.

At the Plate

Chien-Ming Wang (6-1) was the starting pitcher for the Yankees.  In the Top of the 1st, Wang retired the side with three ground outs.  Wang gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Wang now retired the first six Mets that he faced.  Wang gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Wang now retired the Mets in order the first time through the lineup.  Wang gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Reyes led of with a double that one-hopped the right field wall for the Mets first hit of the game.  Anderson grounded to the pitcher, and Wang turned around and made the throw to second which got Reyes in a rundown.  Jeter made the throw to Gonzalez who applied the tag on Reyes as Anderson ended up on first.  Wright grounded a one-out single through the hole on the left side, and Anderson went to second.  Beltran drew a one-out walk to load the bases.  Ryan Church grounded to first, and Giambi threw it off target to second to the point where Jeter had to stretch and eventually come off the bag so Marlon Anderson scored and everybody is safe.  Moises Alou lined an one-out 2-run single into right, and David Wright and Carlos Beltran came around to score as Church went first to third.  (Carlos Delgado crushed a no-out 3-run home run which hit the foul poul in left field which would’ve scored Ryan Church and Moises Alou, but the Umpires screwed up the call and it doesn’t count which is bull.  Where is the instant replay?)  (Jerry Manuel was Ejected from the game for arguing the call.)  Carlos Delgado ended up grounding a one-out RBI single through the hole on the right side which scored Ryan Church, and Alou advanced to second.  Schneider grounded to second, and Cano made the out at first as both runners advanced.  Castillo drew a two-out walk which loaded the bases.  Reyes flied out to left leaving the bases filled with Mets.  Wang gave up 4 Hits, 4 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Wang quickly retired the side.  Wang gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Ryan Church belted a leadoff solo shot to straight away center field.  Alou grounded out to third.  Delgado flied out to left.  Schneider grounded out to second to end the inning.  Wang gave up 1 Hit, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Top of the 7th, Wang retired the side in order with ground ball outs.  Wang gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Top of the 8th, Wright led off with an opposite field double down the right field line.  Beltran hit a slow ground ball in front of home plate, and Wang made the throw to first to get the out while Wright advanced to third.  Wang intentionally walked Church.  Moises Alou hit a sacrifice fly to right field, and David Wright tagged and came home to score while Church went to second.  Wang gave up 1 Hit, 2 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  Wang left the game after pitching 7.2 Innings allowing 6 Hits, 7 Runs, 7 ER, 3 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Girardi replaced Wang with Ross Ohlendorf with two outs in the Top of the 8th.  Ohlendorf intentionally walked Delgado.  Brian Schneider lined a two-out RBI single to right so Ryan Church came around to score, and Delgado went first to third.  Luis Castillo grounded a two-out RBI single through the hole on the left side which scored Carlos Delgado, and Schneider advanced to second.  Jose Reyes drilled a two-out 3-run homer over the short porch in right which scored Brian Schneider and Luis Castillo.  Chavez replaced Alou, and Chavez grounded out to first to end the inning.  Ohlendorf gave up 3 Hits, 4 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Girardi replaced Ohlendorf with Jose Veras to begin the Top of the 9th.  Veras pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Veras gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 9th Inning.

On the Mound

Oliver Perez (3-3) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Jeter drew a two-out walk.  With Matsui at the plate, Jeter stole second without a throw.  Matsui lined out to first to leave Jeter stranded at second.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Giambi drew a leadoff walk.  Cano grounded to first, and Delgado tagged first as Giambi went to second.  Cabrera flied out along the right field line, and Church ran a long way over there to make the catch.  Gonzalez lined out to right leaving Giambi standing on second.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Perez pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the game.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Jeter grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  Hideki Matsui crushed a no-out 2-run jack to right which scored Derek Jeter.  Giambi popped up in foul ground behind home plate, and Schneider made the catch.  Perez hit Cano with the pitch.  With Cabrera in the batters box, Cano beat out the throw as he stole second.  Cabrera popped up to shallow right, and Church made the catch.  With Gonzalez at the plate, Perez threw a wild pitch so Cano advanced to third.  Gonzalez popped up to second leaving Cano on third.  Perez gave up 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Molina led off by lining a double off of the right field wall.  Damon grounded to first, and Delgado tossed it to Perez who tagged first as Molina moved over to third.  Perez caught Abreu looking at strike three.  Jeter flied out to center leaving Molina standing on third.  Perez gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Perez hit Giambi with the pitch to give the Yankees a leadoff runner.  Cano grounded to the pitcher, and the Mets turned the inning ending double play.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 7th, Perez pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 7th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 8th, Perez retired the first two batters before Randolph made a pitching change.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  Perez left the game after pitching 7.2 Innings allowing 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 2 BBs, and he had 4 SOs.

Randolph replaced Perez with Joe Smith with two outs in the Bottom of the 8th.  Jeter grounded out to second.  Smith gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Randolph replaced Smith with Scott Schoeneweis to begin the Bottom of the 9th.  Schoeneweis hit Giambi with the pitch to give the Yankees a one-out base runner.  Cano flied out to left.  Cabrera grounded to the pitcher, and Schoeneweis made the out at first to end the game.  Schoeneweis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 11 - New York Yankees 2.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Oliver Perez (4-3) got the win and Chien-Ming Wang (6-2) got the loss.

By the time this game was over, the Mets were able to turn Yankee Stadium into Shea Stadium.  The fans were standing and clapping for Schoeneweis rather than the batters which meant that they were Mets fans.  I mentioned yesterday that the Mets needed to cash in in that 4th inning because they didn’t get much out of the situation.  Today, the did just that by scoring 4 runs in the 4th inning and that’s without Delgado’s 3-run blast that didn’t count.  The Mets swept the Yankees in this two-game series.  I thought the Mets would win two game after they lost two games because that’s the .500 trend that the Mets have been keeping pace with.  Perez pitched better as the game went on.  The Mets batted around in the 4th inning and the 8th Inning so everybody contributed for the most part.  The Mets are the kings of New York for another month until they face each other again.

Onto Atlanta.  I hope the Mets sweep the Braves, but they will probably will lose the first game because that will follow their l-w-l-w-l-w-l-l-w-w pattern…what’s next?  Unfortunately, a loss or a losing streak before they get on a winning streak.  Or just maybe, this meeting by Willie will really be what the Mets needed to get to the next level.

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The Metropolitans and the Yankees duked it out this afternoon, and the Mets won the first battle of the ’08 Subway Series.  A mini-sweep in the Bronx will delay having to listen to annoying Yankees fans for another month when they go head-to-head in June.

Mets.com:

Efficient Johan lifts Mets over Yanks - Marty Noble summarized today’s game between the Mets and the Yankees.

Speed drives Castillo’s move to ninth - Anthony DiComo lets us know why Luis Castillo batted ninth in the order today.

Mets clear the air before rainout - Marty Noble wrote about the meeting that the Mets held which was about Billy Wagner’s comments and the team’s struggles.

After rainout, Santana raring to go - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for today’s game between the Mets and the Yankees.

Subway opener postponed by rain

Randolph plays it cool before opener - Marty Noble stated that Willie Randolph keeps calm amid questions about the Mets’ performance.

Subway Series takes different form - Mike Bauman pointed out that the New York powerhouses hope to turn around their recent struggles.

Mets, Yanks join charity wine effort - Anthony DiComo says that Brian Schneider, Bobby Abreu, and Jorge Posada are working together for a good cause.

Newsday:

Santana, Mets defeat Yankees, 7-4 - Mark Herrmann also summarized today’s Mets-Yanks game.

Randolph’s fate is on the clock … calendar

Wagner apologizes to Delgado; Mets clear the air

THIS DAY AT THE OLD BALLPARK - Newsday tells us what happened on May 17th at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium of another year.

Randolph ‘joking’ about his head being on block

Wagner: Don’t compare me with Lo Duca

New York Daily News:

Johan Santana wins battle of lefties as Mets beat Yankees in opener - Mark Feinsand wrote up a game summary for today’s Mets-Yankees game.

Players can get Willie Randolph in clear

Billy Wagner pitch is an apology

It’s Johan Santana vs. Andy Pettitte as rains set lefty duel

Omar Minaya showing support for Willie Randolph, for now

Pedro Martinez’s next simulated game to be on Monday - Roger Rubin wrote that, “Pedro Martinez will take the next step in his rehab from a strained left hamstring on Monday when he throws a simulated game at the Mets’ complex in Port St. Lucie. ”

Mets and Yankees postponed by rain, won’t be made up this weekend

Joe Girardi, Willie Randolph asked to serve as All-Star Game coaches

New York Post:

SANTANA PITCHES METS TO 7-4 VICTORY OVER YANKEES - George A. King III summarized today’s game between the Mets and the Yankees.

OMAR GIVES WILLIE VOTE OF ‘SUPPORT’

MAKEUP LIKELY PART OF 2-PARK TWINBILL

TIME REFLECT ON A LONG SEASON

QUICK RAINOUT PLEASES JOHAN

TEMPESTS PUMMEL SINKIN’ SHIPS

BRONX BACKING - Mark Hale pointed out that the Yankees’ came to Willie’s support.

METS-YANKEES RAINED OUT

RANDOLPH FIRES BACK AT FIRING TALK

New York Times:

In the Bronx, Santana Shows What Could Have Been - Ben Shpigel summarized today’s Mets-Yankees game.

A Meeting, an Apology and Support for Randolph

The Star-Ledger:

Final: Mets 7, Yankees 4 - Jeremy Cothran wrote up a game summary for today’s game between the Mets and the Yankees.

Delgado struggling

Game 40: Mets at Yankees - Jeremy Cothran provided the lineup for today’s Mets-Yankees game.

Mets’ team meeting clears air

Mets’ search lands Wright man for job - Dan Graziano makes his case on why David Wright should be the captain of the Mets.

Game Postponed Until June

Game Called - No Further Update

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