Die Hard Sports Fan

The Mets have to opportunity to go into the Bronx and sweep the Yankees tonight.  Even though it’s just interleague play, the Amazin’s do need to win some games to improve upon their less than stellar record.  We all know how great Wang has been during the regular season of the past two seasons, but maybe Oli can keep our boys from Queens in the game tonight.  Or maybe the Mets can figure out how to get Wang out of the game as fast as possible so they can get to the bullpen.  After the Mets sweep the Yankees, the Mets travel to Atlanta tomorrow and play a four-game series with the Braves.  It begins with a day/night double header on Tuesday.

Mets.com:

Mets’ winter prize pays early dividends - Mike Bauman likes what he’s seen from Johan Santana so far in 2008.

Randolph confident in Reyes’ focus - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Yankees.

Mets’ win not without crisp defense - Marty Noble explained how well the Mets played defense in yesterday’s game against the Yankees.

Close call won’t linger for Easley - Marty Noble captured Damion Easley’s thoughts on striking out with the bases loaded in the fourth inning in yesterday’s game against the Yankees.

Cathedral doesn’t disappoint Alou - Marty Noble found out what Moises Alou thought about playing in Yankee Stadium for the first time in his long career.

Newsday:

Pitching matchup: Tonight’s game

Santana hardly dominant but stops Mets’ bleeding

Pettitte glides along until fourth inning - Kat O’Brien walks us through the fourth inning of yesterday’s Mets-Yankees game.

Reyes enjoys big day against Yankees

Church to Castillo to Schneider makes Omar proud

Mlicki still a fan favorite in Subway Series - Jim Baumbach found out what Dave Mlicki thinks about that memorable shutout he pitched in the first-ever Mets-Yankees regular-season game in 1997.

Mets win with fire and passion for Randolph

Wagner sounds off with a save

New York Daily News:

Victory takes a strong Will

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

Billy Wagner pitches like he talks

Billy Wagner douses the fire

Jose Reyes’ power returns - I don’t know if I would call ‘power’ a home run over the short porch at Yankee Stadium, but his production is more than welcomed.

Ryan Church answers his critics with solid numbers for Mets

Mets’ arms wake up in Subway Series opener on Saturday

Billy Wagner, following in long line, makes his talkie gig a must-listen - Bob Raissman discusses athletes who do weekly spots on local radio shows.

Nelson Figueroa’s statements show it’s A-OK to go gender bashing

New York Post:

MET LOAF ALWAYS ON MENU - Phil Mushnick wrote another article about nothing.  It’s either that or complaining about something.

SERBY’S SUNDAY Q&A WITH… - Ryan Church.

BIG CY OF RELIEF

HAUNTED HOUSES - Mike Vaccaro explained why, “Tough-guy, no-nonsense managers from the past such as Billy Martin and Gil Hodges wouldn’t necessarily fare so well in today’s baseball.”

BILLY CLOSES OUT YANKS, COMMENT CONTROVERSY

25 BEST MOMENTS AT SHEA: NO. 19

REYES BESTS JETER

WILLIE OR WON’T HE? - Joel Sherman stated that, ”Mets’ management is still waiting for Willie Randolph to improve the energy and effort seen daily from a club that has been underachieving far too long.”

New York Times:

In His Former Home, a Spirited Randolph

Sealing Victory, Wagner Is Happy to Talk About It

The Star-Ledger:

Another Raindy Day in the Bronx

Desperate houseguests - Lisa Kennelly explains why both the Mets and the Yankees needed the victory yesterday, and then Kennelly offered her thoughts on how it played out.

Wagner lets his arm talk

Hitters heat up with big homers

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I’ve read a bunch of articles about everyone thinks that the Mets are doing the right thing by holding back Johan Santana until Friday night against the Yankees.  I strongly disagree with this concept, and I can care less what the Mets do in the interleague games.  The Mets need to win as many interleague games as possible, but not as much as they need to win division games and NL games.  The Mets make sure that their aces face the Yankees every year.  Last season, if they lost one more game against the Yankees and won one more game in their division then they would’ve won the NL East and played in the Playoffs.  The Mets are playing a four-game series against the Nationals right now.  They lost one already so they need to slam the door on the Nats.  So I believe Santana should remain in his normal spot.  Should New York bragging rights cost the Mets the division title?

Mets.com:

Order is restored - Marty Noble summarized last night’s game between the Nationals and the Mets.

Mets anything but conventional - Marty Nolbe wrote a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Nationals and the Mets.

Mets make several roster moves - Marty Noble lists all of the roster moves that the Mets made yesterday.  The New York Post covered this yesterday.

Shea Apple may move over to Citi Field - Marty Noble stated that the Home Run Apple may move over to Citi Field.  Mets COO Jeff Wilpon stated that it hasn’t yet been determined whether the old one can handle the move or whether a replacement will be necessary.  This is already old news.  This was released during Spring Training.

Newsday:

Church leads Mets to victory over Nationals - Anthony Rieber also summarized last night’s Nationals-Mets game.

Mets cut Figueroa loose

Vargas, Wise, Tatis replace Figueroa, Sosa, Pagan

Looks like Mets will have big apple at Citi Field

New York Daily News:

Ryan Church, John Maine lead Mets past Nationals 6-3 at Shea - Adam Rubin also put together a game recap for last night’s game between the Nats and the Mets.

Forget collapse, time for Mets to avoid a May daze - John Harper believes that the Mets have to take advantage of winning in May so they don’t have to worry about must wins in September when they may be unable to do it.

‘Girls’ can cheer as Figgy gets cut

Mets finally relieved of Jorge Sosa

New York Post:

METS GOING TO CHURCH - Bart Hubbuch summarized last night’s Nats-Mets game.

SANTANA GETS OK TO START VS. YANKEES

CITI FIELD SHAPING UP - Howie Rumberg describes how far along Citi Field has come.

New York Times:

For the Mets, New Faces, Better Result - Ben Shpigel summarized last night’s game between the Nationals and the Mets also.

Mets Making Moves and Noise

The Star-Ledger:

Clearer picture at new ballpark

Church rings true in win

Santana will start vs. Yanks

Final: Mets 6, Nationals 3

Thank you, Rick Peterson… - Dan Graziano thanks the Mets as an organization for pitching Johan Santana against the Yankees.

Game 37: Nationals at Mets - Jeremy Cothran provided the lineup for last night’s Nats-Mets game.

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Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reported that the Mets made a bunch of roster moves today in their Mets Blog.  The Mets activated Matt Wise, and they purchased the contracts of Claudio Vargas and Fernando Tatis from Triple-A New Orleans.  To make room on the roster, the Mets designated Jorge Sosa and Nelson Figueroa Jr. for assignment and put Angel Pagan on the DL.

Mets.com:

Highlights aplenty, but no win in end - Marty Noble summarized last night’s game between the Nationals and the Mets.

Mets play on until Pedro’s return - Marty Noble put together a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Nationals and the Mets.

Alou psyched about Cathedral trip - Marty Noble found out that Moises Alou is pumped up about playing at Yankee Stadium this weekend because he never played there before.

Castillo sits with quadriceps injury - Marty Noble reported that a strained left quadricep muscle kept Luis Castillo out of the lineup last night against the Nationals.

Mailbag: How are Mets doing so far? - Marty Noble answers questions posed by Mets fans’.

Education is power - Howard Kussoy pointed out that some Mets players are taking part in a program called ‘School is Amazing’ around the city.

Newsday:

Nationals get under Figueroa’s skin in Mets loss - Anthony Rieber also summarized last night’s Nationals-Mets game.

Ex-Met Milledge always at center of controversy - Lastings Milledge had a pretty good game last night, and Erik Boland tells us all about it.

Looks like Mets’ Santana will start Subway Series

THIS DAY AT THE OLD BALLPARK - Newsday lets us know what happened at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium on May 13th of another year.

New York Daily News:

Photos: Surfing the Mets tours Citi Field

After Mets’ loss, Nelson Figueroa calls Nationals ‘bunch of softball girls’ - Adam Rubin summarized last night’s game between the Nationals and the Mets.

Sideshow takes over in latest act of Shea circus - Filip Bondy described the situation where the Nationals were singing in the dugout last night.  It really upset Figgy.

Say it ain’t so on Joe Smith - Sean Brennan offers a few suggestions for the Mets to make regarding their pitching dilemma.

Pedro Martinez is starting to show progress - Adam Rubin tells us what the Mets have Pedro Martinez doing down in Port St. Lucie.

New York Post:

‘FIGUER’ HATER - Mike Puma revealed what Nelson Figueroa Jr. had to say about the Nationals after last night’s game.

INJURED DUQUE MAKING PROGRESS

PITCH & MOAN - Mark Hale found out that Pedro is frustrated about having to rehab and not being on the team.

PEDRO PREPARED FOR SIMULATED GAME

New York Times:

Only Applause for Mets Comes From Nationals

Santana Receives an Extra Day of Rest and a Date With the Yankees

The Star-Ledger:

Progress at Citifield

Mets drop Figueroa, Sosa in flurry of moves

Will they clap for John Maine?

Nats frustrate Figueroa, Mets

Pitcher chides cheers - Colin Stephenson also examined the Mets pitching options.

Valentine’s success well-documented - Lisa Kennelly also wrote an aritcle about the three NYU students that made a documentary about Bobby Valentine titled, “The Zen of Bobby V”.

Mets bow to Nationals, 10-4

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The New York Mets (19-16) are playing Game 36 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Washington Nationals (15-23) at Shea Stadium.  It’s the opener of a four-game series.  The game began at 7:10 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Nationals Lineup: Lopez, Guzman, Zimmerman, Johnson, Milledge, Kearns, Mackowiak, Flores, Perez.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Church, Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Easley, Schneider, Figueroa.

On the Mound

Nelson Figueroa Jr. (2-2) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Top of the 1st, Figueroa pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Figueroa gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Johnson grounded to first but Delgado (Error on Carlos Delgado) made a poor throw to Figueroa to give the Nationals a leadoff runner (I saw it as an out, but the Umpire called him safe).  Milledge drew a no-out walk.  Kearns grounded to second, and Easley made the out at first as both runners advanced.  Rob Mackowiak hit a sacrofice fly to the warning track in center, and Nick Johnson tagged up and scored and Lastings Milledge tagged up and went to third.  Figueroa struck out Flores looking.  Figueroa gave up 0 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Perez lined a leadoff single into right.  Lopez grounded a no-out single through the hole on the right side, and Perez went to second.  Guzman hit a chopper to second, and Easley made the out at first as both runners advanced.  Figueroa hit Zimmerman with the pitch so the bases are loaded.  Figueroa walked Nick Johnson which scored Odalis Perez and kept the bases loaded.  Figueroa got Milledge swinging through strike three.  Kearns lined out to center to end the inning with the bases juiced.  Figueroa gave up 2 Hits,  0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Mackowiak drew a leadoff walk.  Figueroa hit Flores with the pitch.  Perez dropped down a bunt towards third, and Wright made the out at first as both runners advanced.  Lopez grounded the ball back to the pitcher, and Figueroa (Error on Nelson Figueroa Jr.) threw the ball way off the plate so Rob Mackowiak came home to score and Flores went to third.  Zimmerman grounded to second, and Easley tossed the ball to second to end the inning.  Guzman flied out to shallow center.  Figueroa gave up 0 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Johnson grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  Milledge popped up to first, and Easley made the catch.  Kearns flied out to the warning track in right.  Mackowiak drew a two-out walk.  Jesus Flores lined a two-out 2-run double down the left field line which scored Nick Johnson and Rob Mackowiak.  Odalis Perez lined a two-out RBI single down the right field line, and Jesus Flores came around to score.  Lopez drew a two-out walk.  Guzman popped up to shallow left, and Reyes made the catch to finally end this inning.  Figueroa gave up 3 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  Figueroa left the game after pitching 5.0 Innings allowing 5 Hits, 6 Runs, 4 ER, 5 BBs, and he had 4 SOs.

Randolph replaced Figueroa with Jorge Sosa to begin the Top of the 6th.  Zimmerman led off by grounding a double down the left field line.  Johnson drew a no-out walk.  Lastings Milledge hit a no-out 2-run double about 3/4 of the way up the left field wall which scored Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson.  Kearns grounded to third, and Wright made the out at first as Milledge advanced to third.  Sosa struck out Mackowiak on a foul tip.  Sosa intentionally walked Flores.  Odalis Perez grounded a two-out RBI single up the middle which scored Lastings Milledge, and Flores went to second.  Felipe Lopez dropped a two-out RBI single into left, and Jesus Flores came around to score.  Guzman grounded to second, and Easley made the out at first to end another awful inning.  Sosa gave up 4 Hits, 4 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.

Randolph replaced Sosa with Duaner Sanchez to begin the Top of the 7th.  Sanchez sent the side down in order.  Sanchez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 7th Inning.

Randolph replaced Sanchez with Joe Smith to begin the Top of the 8th.  Smith struck out the side.  Smith gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 3 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Randolph replaced Smith with Billy Wagner to begin the Top of the 9th.  Guzman lined a two-out double over Alou’s head in left.  Wagner fanned Zimmerman.  Wagner gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 3 SOs in the 9th Inning.

At the Plate

Odalis Perez (0-3) was the starting pitcher for the Nationals.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Wright drew a two-out walk.  With Beltran at the plate, Wright stole second without a throw.  Carlos Beltran lined a two-out RBI single to left which scored David Wright.  Alou lined a two-out single to left, and Beltran advanced to second.  Perez fanned Delgado on three straight pitches.  Perez gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Damion Easley led off with his first home run of 2008 which went right over the wall in dead center.  Schneider grounded out to first.  Perez got Figueroa looking at strike three.  Reyes dropped down a bunt towards the pitcher, and Perez did not even make a throw to first so Reyes ended up with a two-out single.  Church grounded a two-out single through the hole on the right side, and Reyes advanced to second.  Wright grounded to third, and the ball bounced off of Zimmerman and into Guzman’s glove.  Guzman proceeded to make the out at first to end the inning.  Perez gave up 3 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Alou dropped a one-out single along the right field line.  Perez got Delgado swinging at strike three.  Damion Easley dropped a two-out RBI single into right, and Carlos Delgado came around to score.  Schneider grounded to the pitcher, and Perez made the out at first to end the inning.  Perez gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Reyes lined a one-out single into left.  With Church in the batters box, Flores threw out Reyes as he attempted to steal second.  Perez fanned Church.  Perez gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in th 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Wright drew a leadoff walk.  Beltran flied out to right.  Alou lined a one-out single into left, and Beltran moved over to second.  Delgado grounded to second, and Lopez made the out at first as both runners advanced.  Easley flied out to right to leave two Mets in scoring position.  Perez gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Perez pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the game.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 7th, David Wright smacked a one-out solo shot to left.  Beltran grounded to third, and Zimmerman misfielded the ball so Beltran beat it out.  Perez gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  Perez left the game after pitching 6.1 Innings allowing 11 Hits, 4 Runs, 4 ER, 2 BBs, and he had 5 SOs.

Acta replaced Perez with Chris Schroder with one out in the Bottom of the 7th.  Alou flied out to right.  Delgado flied out to the warning track in left.  Schroder gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 8th, Schneider grounded to the pitcher but the ball bounced off of Schroder’s glove and went towards second, but Lopez made a bad throw to first so Schneider beat it out for a one-out single.  Anderson is pinch hitting for Smith, and Anderson popped up in foul ground along the first base line and Johnson made the catch.  Reyes drew a two-out walk on four pitches.  Schroder gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  Schroder left the game after pitching 1.1 Innings allowing 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs.

Acta replaced Schroder with Saul Rivera with two outs in the Bottom of the 8th.  Church drew a two-out walk to load the bases.  Wright grounded to third, and Zimmerman made the out at first leaving the bases full of Mets.  Rivera gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 9th, Rivera quickly slammed the door on the Mets.  Rivera gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 9th Inning.  Rivera left the game after pitching 1.1 Innings allowing 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO.

Final Score: Washington Nationals 10 - New York Mets 4.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Nelson Figueroa Jr. (2-3) got the loss and Odalis Perez (1-3) got the win.

The Mets got beat up and battered by another subpar ball club.  W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L, W, L.  What does all of that equal?  .500 baseball, and the Mets are great at it.  Sometimes they go W, W, L, L, W, W, L, L.  In the end, it equals the same thing.  The Nats were all over Figueroa.  After swinging for the fences every at bat, Milledge finally got a big hit against his former team.  He just missed a 3-run shot, and ended up with a 2-run double that bounced off of the left field wall.  The Nats put up a 10 spot on the Mets.  Who da thunk it?  The Mets had control of this game for a few innings, but Perez and the bullpen got out of some jams leaving many Mets on base.  The Mets need to cash’em in $$$$$$$$ the next three games.

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The New York Mets (16-14) are playing Game 31 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Los Angeles Dodgers (18-14) at Dodger Stadium.  It’s the second game of a three-game series.  The game began at 10:10 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.Mets Lineup: Reyes, Church, Wright, Alou, Delgado, Pagan, Schneider, Castillo, Figueroa.

Dodgers Lineup: Pierre, Jones, Kemp, Kent, Loney, Martin, DeWitt, Hu, Kuroda.

At the Plate

Hiroki Kuroda (1-2) was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers.  In the Top of the 1st, Ryan Church hit a one-out solo shot to center.  Wright drove the ball just foul of the right sideline, and Kemp made the out.  Alou lined a two-out single into center.  Delgado grounded to short, and Hu made the force out at second to end the inning.  Kuroda gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Pagan dropped down a bunt towards the pitcher and Kuroda made a bad throw to first so Pagan is safe.  Schneider pulled a single down the right field line, and Pagan went first to third.  Luis Castillo lined a no-out RBI single into center which brought Angel Pagan home, and Schneider advanced to second.  Figueroa dropped down a bunt towards the pitcher, and Kuroda (Error on Hiroki Kuroda) made a bad throw to third so the bases are loaded.  Jose Reyes lined a no-out RBI single into center, and Brian Schneider scored.  Church grounded to the pitcher, and Kuroda got the out at home before Martin got Church out at first.  Kuroda fanned Wright with Mets on second and third.  Kuroda gave up 4 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Alou grounded to third and DeWitt (Error on Blake DeWitt) couldn’t field it properly so Alou is on base.  Delgado grounded a no-out single up the middle, and Alou went first to third.  Pagan grounded to third, and DeWitt got the force out at second.  With Schneider at the plate, Pagan stole second so Martin attempted to throw him out but didn’t and then Moises Alou stole home.  Schneider drew a one-out walk.  Castillo grounded to second, and the Dodgers only got the out at second on the double play attempt.  With Figueroa in the batters box, Castillo stole second.  Figueroa drew a two-out walk to load the bases.  Reyes grounded to short, and Hu tagged second to leave the bases loaded.  Kuroda gave up 1 Hit, 1 Run, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Wright drew a one-out walk.  Alou lined a one-out single into left, and Wright advanced to second.  Kuroda gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  Kuroda left the game after pitching 3.1 Innings allowing 8 Hits, 4 Runs, 2 ER, 3 BBs, and he had 1 SO.

Torre replaced Kuroda with Hong-Chih Kuo with one out in the Top of the 4th.  Kuo fanned Delgado.  Then Kuo fanned Pagan leaving two Mets stranded.  Kuo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Kuo hit Castillo with the pitch to give the Mets a one-out base runner.  Figueroa drew a one-out walk.  Reyes worked the count full before looking at strike three.  Church also worked the count full prior to staring at strike three with two Mets on base.  Kuo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 3 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th, Kuo quickly retired the side.  Kuo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Top of the 7th, Kuo sent the Mets down in order again.  Kuo gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 7th Inning.  Kuo left the game after pitching 3.2 Innings allowing 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 8 SOs.

Torre replaced Kuo with Jonathan Broxton to begin the Top of the 8th.  Church lined a two-out double into the right field corner.  Broxton struck out Wright looking.  Broxton gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Torre replaced Broxton with Takashi Saito to begin the Top of the 9th.  Pagan lined a two-out bloop single into center.  Schneider lined a two-out single into right, and Pagan advanced to second.  Saito caught Castillo looking at strike three to end the game.  Saito gave up 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 S in the 9th Inning.

On the Mound

Nelson Figueroa Jr. (2-1) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Jones drew a one-out walk.  Kemp grounded to third, and the Mets only got the out at second on the double play attempt.  With Kent at the plate, Kemp stole second.  Kent drew a two-out walk.  Loney grounded the ball hard down the third base line, and Wright dove to make the stop but couldn’t get the out so the bases are loaded.  Martin flied out to center to leave the bases juiced.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, DeWitt grounded a leadoff single through the hole on the right side.  Figueroa fanned Hu.  Kuroda dropped down a bunt towards first, and Figueroa made the out at first as DeWitt moved over to second.  Juan Pierre lined a two-out RBI single into right, and Blake DeWitt came around to score.  With Jones in the batters box, Pierre attempted to steal second and Schneider threw him out.  Figueroa gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Kemp drew a one-out walk.  Kent grounded to third, and the Mets only got the out at second on the double play attempt.  Loney grounded a single up the middle, and Kent went first to third because Pagan bobbled the ball.  Martin drew a two-out walk to load the bases.  Blake DeWitt pulled a two-out 2-run single past Delgado and into right which scored Jeff Kent and James Loney, and Martin advanced to second.  Hu flied out to right to leave two Dodgers stranded.  Figueroa gave up 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Jones lined a two-out single up the middle.  Kemp lined out to third to end the inning.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Martin lined a two-out single into center.  Blake DeWitt hit a two-out in the park home run off of the top of the wall which scored Russell Martin and himself (Church attempted to make the catch and just laid on the ground thinking it was a Homer, and didn’t make a play).  Hu grounded to third, and Wright (2 Base Error on David Wright) made a poor throw to first so Hu advanced to second.  Kuo grounded to third, and Wright tagged Hu as he was running to third.  Figueroa gave up 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning.  Figueroa left the game after pitching 5.0 Innings allowing 8 Hits, 5 Runs, 5 ER, 4 BBs, and he had 3 SOs.

Randolph replaced Figueroa with Aaron Heilman to begin the Bottom of the 6th.  Kemp lined a one-out single into right field.  With Kent in the batters box, Kemp stole second.  Kent grounded to short, and Reyes made the out at first.  Heilman gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 7th, Heilman pitched the Mets first 1-2-3 inning of the game.  Heilman gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 7th Inning.  Heilman left the game after pitching 2.0 Innings allowing 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs.

Randolph replaced Heilman with Pedro Feliciano to begin the Bottom of the 8th.  Hu grounded a leadoff single up the middle.  Young is pinch hitting for Broxton, and Young dropped down a sacrifice bunt which moved Hu to second while Feliciano made the out at first.  Pierre grounded to first, and Delgado tossed it to Feliciano who tagged first while Hu advanced to third.  Feliciano gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Randolph replaced Feliciano with Joe Smith with two outs in the Bottom of the 8th.  Smith got Jones looking.  Smith gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 8th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 4 - Los Angeles Dodgers 5.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Nelson Figueroa Jr. (2-2) took the loss and Hong-Chih Kuo (2-1) got the win.

The Mets already lost this series against the Dodgers.  The Mets were smacking the ball around the park against Koruda, but Torre had enough of that and replaced him with Kuo.  Kuo was lights out against the Mets giving up no hits, one walk, and 8 K’s.  Then the Dodgers’ Bullpen continued to keep the Mets from scoring.  The inside the park homer by DeWitt was pathetic because Church just laid there on the ground.  In the Bottom of the 9th, I had no confidence in Castillo to do anything at the plate.  He had an RBI in the 2nd Inning so it was very unlikely that he would do it again.  This slump he’s in is serious.  The Mets left a ton of men on base all night though so it’s not just his fault.

Maybe the Mets can get out of there without getting swept.  Maine is facing their ace Penny tomorrow.

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The New York Mets (14-11) are playing Game 26 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Pittsburgh Pirates (10-16) at Shea Stadium.  The series opener got postponed so it’s the second game of the two-game series.  The game began at 1:10 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Pirates Lineup: McLouth, Sanchez, Bay, Doumit, Nady, LaRoche, Bautista, Gomez, Gorzelanny.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Church, Delgado, Pagan, Molina, Perez.

On the Mound

Oliver Perez (2-1) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Top of the 1st, Bay drew a two-out walk.  Perez fanned Doumit to leave one stranded.  Perez gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Nady drew a leadoff walk.  Perez caught LaRoche looking at strike three.  Bautista drew a one-out walk on four pitches.  Gomez drew a one-out walk to load the bases.  Tom Gorzelanny grounded slowly to second, and Castillo (Error on Luis Castillo) barely release the ball so it ended up on the ground while everbody is safe and Xavier Nady came home to score.  Nate McLouth drew a one-out walk which scored Jose Bautista.  Freddy Sanchez grounded a one-out RBI single up the middle so Chris Gomez came home to score, and the bases remained loaded.  Jason Bay hit a one-out sacrifice fly to center, and Tom Gorzelanny tagged up and scored.  Ryan Doumit pulled an RBI single over the third base bag which scored Nate McLouth, Sanchez went first to third, and Doumit got out of being caught in a rundown and advanced to second.  Perez gave up 2 Hits, 7 Runs, 4 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  Perez left the game after pitching 1.2 Innings allowing 2 Hits, 7 Runs, 2 ER, 5 BBs, and he had 2 SOs.

Randolph replaced Perez with Nelson Figueroa Jr. with two outs in the Top of the 2nd.  Nady dumped a 2-run single into right which scored Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Doumit.  LaRoche drew a two-out walk.  Bautista grounded to second, and Castillo made the out at first to stop whatever it is that I’m watching on television.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, McLouth grounded a two-out single through the hole on the right side.  Sanchez flied out right to end the inning.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Nady drew a two-out walk.  LaRoche grounded a two-out single through the hole on the right side which moved Nady to second.  Figueroa also caught Bautista looking to leave two Pirates on base.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 2 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Gomez grounded out to short.  Grozelanny popped up to short.  McLouth grounded a two-out double over the first base bag.  Freddy Sanchez hit a two-out RBI single into left as Nate McLouth came around to score.  Figueroa fanned Bay on three straight pitches to leave one Pirate on base.  Figueroa gave up 2 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 5th Inning.  Figueroa left the game after pitching 3.1 Innings allowing 5 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 2 BBs, and he had 3 SOs.

Randolph replaced Figueroa with Jorge Sosa to begin the Top of the 6th.  Doumit led off by hitting a Ground Rule Double over the left field wall.  Xavier Nady drove a no-out RBI double to the gap in left center, and Ryan Doumit came around to score.  Sosa fanned LaRoche.  Bautista grounded to second, and Castillo made the out at first while Nady advanced to third.  Gomez grounded to third, and Wright (Error on David Wright) bobbled the ball so Gomez was safe at first while Xavier Nady scored.  Bixler is pinch hitting for Gorzelanny, and Bixler hit a two-out broken bat single into right center as Gomez moved over to second.  Nate McLouth drove a two-out 2-run double over the head of Pagan which scored Chris Gomez and Brian Bixler.  Freddy Sanchez drove the ball to deep left field, and Pagan (Error on Angel Pagan) dropped the ball so Sanchez ended up with a double as Nate McLouth came around to score.  Bay lined out to short to end another ugly inning.  Sosa gave up 4 Hits, 5 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.

Randolph replaced Sosa with Pedro Feliciano to begin the Top of the 7th.  Nady grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side (Mientkiewicz is pinch running for Nady).  LaRoche grounded to short, and the Mets turned the double play.  Feliciano gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.

Randolph replaced Feliciano with Aaron Heilman to begin the Top of the 8th.  Heilman pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Heilman gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  In the Top of the 9th, Heilman retired the side in order again.  Heilman gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 9th Inning.

At the Plate

Tom Gorzelanny (1-3) was the starting pitcher for the Pirates.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Wright drew a two-out walk.  Beltran also drew a two-out walk.  Gorzelanny fanned Church to leave two Mets on base.  Gorzelanny gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Pagan drew a one-out walk on four pitches.  Gorzelanny struck out Molina on three pitches.  Figueroa lined out to center to leave one Met on base.  Gorzelanny gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 2 SOs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Grozelanny sent the top of the lineup down in order.  Gorzelanny gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Gorzelanny caught Beltran staring at strike three.  Church drew a one-out walk on four pitches.  Delgado grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side, and Church went first to third.  Pagan blooped the ball into shallow center, but Sanchez made the running catch.  Molina popped up to shallow right, and Nady made the catch leaving Mets standing on the corners.  Gorzelanny gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of 5th, Reyes drew a one-out walk.  Castillo popped up in foul ground along the first base line, and Doumit made the catch.  Wright grounded out to short to end the inning.  Gorzelanny gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  Gorzelanny left the game after pitching 5.0 Innings allowing 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 5 BBs, and he had 4 SOs.

Russell replaced Gorzelanny with John Van Benschoten to begin the Bottom of the 6th.  Beltran drew a one-out walk.  Ryan Church drove a no-out RBI double into the gap in right center, and Carlos Beltran came all the way around to score.  Delgado grounded out to short.  Van Benschoten fanned Pagan.  Molina flied out to right to end the inning.  Van Benschoten gave up 1 Hit, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 1 SO in the 6th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 7th, Van Benschoten retired the side in order.  Van Benschoten gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 7th Inning.  Van Benschoten left the game after pitching 2.0 Innings allowing 1 Hit, 1 Run, 1 ER, 1 BB, and he had 3 SOs.

Russell replaced Van Benschoten with Evan Meek to begin the Bottom of the 8th.  Wright drew a leadoff walk.  With Beltran at the plate, Meek threw a passed ball so Wright moved over to second.  Beltran popped up to short, and Gomez made the catch.  Church grounded out to short.  Delgado drew a two-out walk.  Pagan also drew a two-out walk which loaded the bases.  Molina grounded out to first to leave the bases juiced.  Meek gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 3 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 9th, Meek retired the side in order.  Meek gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 9th Inning.

Final Score: Pittsburgh Pirates 13 - New York Mets 1.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.

The Mets already had to play a day game following a late extra innings night game.  Then, today’s game was delayed 40 minutes because a water main broke.  Oli was simply awful today.  He pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 7 runs while 5 were unearned.  The Mets made 3 errors today which made everything worse than it could’ve been.  The Bullpen allowed even more runs to score.  The offense isn’t even worth discussing since the Mets only put up 1 run on the scoreboard.  This was torture to watch.  On the Pirates, X-Man was on fire today.  Nady was 3 for 3, with 3 RBIs and 2 walks.  I hope Omar goes after him.  The Pirates put up 12 of their 13 runs in just 2 innings.

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The New York Mets (10-8) are playing Game 19 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Chicago Cubs (13-6) at Wrigley Field.  It’s the second game of the two-game series, and the final game of 2008 at Wrigley Field.  The game began at 2:20 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Pagan, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Easley, Clark, Casanova, Figueroa.

Cubs Lineup: Johnson, Pie, Lee, Ramirez, Fukudome, DeRosa, Cedeno, Blanco, Lilly.

At the Plate

Ted Lilly (0-3) was the starting pitcher for the Cubs.  In the Top of the 1st, Lilly sent the top of the lineup down in order.  Lilly gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 1st Inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Lilly retired the middle of the lineup in order.  Lilly gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Lilly now pitched perfectly the first time through the lineup.  Lilly gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning.  In the Top of the 4th, Lilly got Reyes swinging at strike three.  Pagan drove a one-out double into the gap in right center.  Wright drew a two-out walk.  Beltran also drew a two-out walk to load the bases.  Delgado popped up in shallow left, and Cedeno made the out.  Easley popped up to shallow right, and DeRosa made the catch to leave the bases juiced.  Lilly gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 4th Inning.  In the Top of the 5th, Clark led off by lining a single into right.  Casanova grounded slowly to third, and Ramirez made the out at first as Clark moved over to second.  Figueroa grounded out to short.  Reyes drew a two-out walk.  Pagan popped up to second base to leave two Mets on.  Lilly gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Top of the 6th,  Beltran drew a one-out walk on four pitches.  Delgado lined a one-out single into right.  Easley dropped a one-out single into shallow right.  Brady Clark grounded to second, but DeRosa only got the out at second so Carlos Delgado came home to score.  Casanova grounded to short, and Cedeno made the force out at second to leave two Mets on.  Lilly gave up 3 Hits, 1 Run, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  Lilly left the game after pitching 6.0 Innings allowing 4 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 4 BBs, and he had 4 SOs.

Piniella replaced Lilly with Bob Howry to begin the Top of the 7th.  Howry sent the Mets down in order.  Howry gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.

Piniella replaced Howry with Carlos Marmol to begin the Top of the 8th.  Marmol breezed right through the Mets.  Marmol gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 2 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Piniella replaced Marmol with Kevin Hart to begin the Top of the 9th.  Anderson is pinch hitting for Sosa, and Anderson drew a one-out walk.  Casanova grounded a one-out single up the middle, and Anderson advanced to second.  Chavez grounded to first, and Lee made the force out at second as Anderson moved over to third.  Reyes grounded out to first to end the game.  Hart gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 9th Inning.

On the Mound

Nelson Figueroa Jr. (1-0) was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Figueroa pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Figueroa gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 1st Inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Ramirez drew a leadoff walk.  Fukudome grounded the ball to first under the glove of Delgado and into right field so Fukudome arrived safely at first as Ramirez went first to third.  DeRosa drew a no-out walk to load the bases.  Figueroa fanned Cedeno on three straight pitches.  Blanco grounded to short, and the Mets turned the double play to get Figueroa out of a jam.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 2nd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Pie grounded a hard two-out single to first which hit Delgado and went into right field.  Lee lined out to left to end the inning.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 3rd Inning.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Fukudome grounded a one-out single through the hole on the right side.  DeRosa flied out to center.  Ronny Cedeno lined a two-out double into the right field corner, and Kosuke Fukudome came around to score.  Figueroa intentionally walked Blanco.  Lilly grounded to second, but nobody covered first so Lilly beat out the play to load the bases.  Reed Johnson lined a two-out 2-run single into left scoring Mark DeRosa and Ronny Cedeno.  Pie grounded out to first to end the inning.  Figueroa gave up 4 Hits, 3 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 4th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Lee drew a leadoff walk.  Ramirez flied out to right.  Fukudome drew a one-out walk on four pitches.  DeRosa flied out to right, and Lee tagged up and went to third.  Cedeno lined out to right to end the inning.  Figueroa gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 2 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 5th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Blanco led off by grounding a single under Reyes and into left.  Fontenot is pinch hitting for Lilly.  This move brought Randolph to out to the mount to make a pitching change.  Figueroa gave up 1 Hit, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  Figueroa left the game after pitching 5.0 Innings allowing 7 Hits, 3 Runs, 3 ER, 5 BBs, and he had 2 SOs.

Randolph replaced Figueroa with Scott Schoeneweis with no outs in the Bottom of the 6th.  Fontenot dropped down a sacrifice bunt along the first base line, and Scoeneweis made the out at first as Blance advanced to second.  Johnson drew a one-out walk.  Pie grounded right in front of home plate, and Casanova made the out at first as both runners advanced.  Schoeneweis gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.

Randolph replaced Schoeneweis with Joe Smith with two outs in the Bottom of the 6th.  Lee flied out to the warning track in dead center, but Beltran made the out to leave two Cubs on base.  Smith gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 6th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 7th, Ramirez grounded a leadoff single through the hole on the left side.  Fukudome drove a no-out double that one-hopped the wall, and Rameriz went first to third.  Mark DeRosa lined an RBI single into right center, and Aramis Ramirez came home to score and Fukudome advanced to third.  Smith caught Cedeno swining at ball four to strike him out.  Smith gave up 3 Hits, 1 Run, 0 BBs, and he had 1 SO in the 7th Inning.

Randolph replaced Smith with Pedro Feliciano with one out in the Bottom of the 7th.  Soto is pinch hitting for Blanco, and Feliciano threw a wild pitch to Soto so DeRosa moved over to second.  Soto drew an intentional walk to load the bases.  Feliciano gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.

Randolph replaced Feliciano with Jorge Sosa with one out in the Bottom of the 7th.  Murton is pinch hitting for Howry, and Murton grounded to first so Delgado made the out at home.  Johnson popped up to second to end the inning.  Sosa gave up 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BBs, and he had 0 SOs in the 7th Inning.  In the Bottom of the 8th, Pie lined a leadoff single into right.  Lee grounded a no-out single through the hole on the right side, and Pie moved over to second.  Ramirez flied out to the warning track in left.  Fukudome drew a one-out walk to load the bases.  DeRosa grounded to short, and Reyes made the out at home as DeRosa beat out the relay throw to first.  Ronny Cedeno smacked a Grand Slam near the foul poul in left scoring Derrek Lee, Kosuke Fukudome, and Mark DeRosa.  Soto lined a two-out single into left.  Marquis popped up to shallow left, and Reyes made the catch to end the inning.  Sosa gave up 4 Hits, 4 Runs, 1 BB, and he had 0 SOs in the 8th Inning.

Final Score: New York Mets 1 - Chicago Cubs 8.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Nelson Figueroa Jr. (1-1) got the loss and Ted Lilly (1-3) got the win.

OUCH!!!  It bothered me a little bit when the Mets lost the final game of the Phillies series, but I figured that the Mets would recover quickly and sweep this mini-series.  As you can tell by the scoreboard, the Mets got stomped twice by the Cubies.  The Mets starters pitched decently.  Wright was the one that stopped driving in the runs.  He’s been the only one doing that for the Mets so if he stops then the Mets only put up a run a game which isn’t enough.  This Cedeno kid beat the Mets by himself.

The Mets need to get out of Chicago ASAP.  Maybe things will turn around as soon as they get off the plane in Washington.  The Mets are 10-9 now.  They are disappointing me right now.

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Who doesn’t love it when they know the Mets have a chance to sweep a divisional rival?  We know it’s a 50/50 chance tonight, and it is less stressful to watch the final game of a series that has already been won.  It makes it even better when the Metsies do it to the NL East Champs.  Today’s game begins at 8:05 p.m., and it will be aired on ESPN.  Mike Pelfrey will be facing Adam Eaton, and you don’t want to miss it. 

Mets.com:

Heilman gets right back on horse - Marty Noble walks us through the eighth inning of yesterday’s game between the Mets and the Phillies where Aaron Heilman came in and struck out two batters with the bases loaded.

Pelfrey, Mets go for sweep of rival Phils - Joseph Santoliquito put together a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Phillies.

Schneider sore, OK after injury scare - Marty Noble reported that the Mets thought that Brian Schneider might of suffered a broken bone in his right arm from a foul tip by Chase Utley on a 97-mph fastball from Billy Wagner that struck Schneider on the top of the forearm and eliminated some of the function of the arm.  Noble wrote that, “X-rays were negative, and Schneider intended to ice it all night. But the Mets were already making plans to summon an understudy from their Triple-A team.”

Mets putting last year in rearview mirror - Mike Bauman feels like the Mets are turning the page of 2007 by beating the Phillies four straight games.

Reyes feeling no ill effects after collision - Joseph Santoliquito wrote that, “Jose Reyes woke up Saturday morning without any swelling or wooziness and without feeling any after effects of being jarred in the head by the knee of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley while attempting to steal second in the third inning of Friday night’s game.”

Randolph not happy about missed sign - Joseph Santoliquito found out that Willie Randolph wasn’t happy that Luis Castillo didn’t pick up the signal for a suicide squeeze during Friday night’s game against the Phillies.  If Castillo can’t even walk then how is he supposed to pick up a sign, or more importantly execute anything.  I have no idea how Luis got a four-year deal worth more than the league minimum when they guy can’t walk, hit, or field.

Newsday:

Start spreading news: Starters ace it! - Johnette Howard pointed out how great the starting pitchers have been for the Mets so far this season.

Mets beat Phillies, 4-2, for fifth straight win - David Lennon summarized last night’s game between the Mets and the Phillies.

Determination, patience land Figueroa with Mets - Barbara Barker wrote up a Bio about Nelson Figueroa Jr., and how he ended up back on the Mets.

METS NOTEBOOK: Battered battery member - David Lennon also talks about the injury status of Schneider.

New York Daily News:

Jose Reyes, Oliver Perez lead Mets past Phillies for fourth straight time - Adam Rubin also summarized yesterday’s game between the Phillies and the Mets.

Cheering over Jose Reyes injury pains Billy Wagner - Adam Rubin gathered the thoughts of Billy Wagner on the Phillies fans after they booed when Reyes getting the wind knocked out of him.  Wagner said,

It’s really sad when humanity comes to the point where somebody getting hurt, it’s fun to watch. It’s sad when that happens. Nobody wants anybody to get hurt. I don’t want Jimmy Rollins getting hurt. I don’t want Pat Burrell to get hurt. I don’t want none of these guys. I want to compete against these guys because they’re the best, and you want to beat the best. You don’t want excuses. When you see Reyes laying there - it’s a tough shot, a clean play - and the fans cheering that he’s hurt, that just goes and shows you volumes about where our society is headed.

Brian Schneider’s arm hit on foul tip, swells up

New York Post:

IN THE ‘BANK’ - Bart Hubbuch discusses the Mets-Phillies rivalry

METS TAKE SHOTS AT PHIL FANS

METS PLAN ON EDDIE TO BE THERE IN END - Tim Bontemps tells us how Eddie Kunz is doing down in the Minors.

HEILMAN KING FOR A DAY

New York Times:

With Mets on Edge, Heilman Prevents a Fall

Hit by Hit, Wright Puts Last Season Behind Him

The Star-Ledger:

Three Sunday Thoughts (Mets Edition)

Mets take it to Phillies again

Schneider hit, X-rays negative

Final: Mets 4, Phillies 2 - Jeremy Cothran summarized yesterday’s game between the Mets and the Phillies yesterday.

News, notes & lineups: Game 17 - Jeremy Cothran provided the lineup and more for yesterday’s game between the Mets and the Phillies.

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So the Metropolitans are down in the City of Brotherly Love to battle the Phighting Phils for the weekend.  This is a big series for the Mets because they can take another series from them.  Here’s the probable pitching matchups:

• 04/18/2008 - Johan Santana (1-2) - Cole Hamels (2-1)
• 04/19/2008 - Oliver Perez (1-0) - Jamie Moyer (1-0)
• 04/20/2008 - Mike Pelfrey (2-0) - Adam Eaton (0-0)

I’m all pumped up about this series. 

Mets.com:

Mets clinch sweep in wild 14th frame - Marty Noble summarized last night’s game between the Nationals and the Mets.

Mets, Phils take rivalry national on FOX - Ken Mandel noted that tomorrow’s game between the Mets and the Phillies will be aired nationally on FOX at 3:30 p.m.  I hate when FOX or ESPN does MLB games.  Joe Buck or Joe Morgan…I have not tolorance for them.

Santana’s goal: Keep Phils in the park - Marty Noble put together a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Phillies.

Mets gaining confidence in Smith - Marty Noble tells us about Joe Smith’s early success.

Beltran out of lineup with stiff neck - Marty Noble pointed out that Carlos Beltran didn’t play in last night’s game because of a stiff neck.

Mets to honor NFL’s Jets on April 28 - Anthony DiComo wrote, “In yet another nod to the past, the Mets will honor the Jets on April 28 with a pregame salute to the team that once spent 20 seasons playing at Shea Stadium.”

Newsday:

Wild pitch in 14th gives Mets sweep over Nats - Jim Baumbach also summarized last night’s game between the Nationals and the Mets.

Fraternization makes Mets’ Randolph hostile - David Lennon noted that Willie Randolph feels a little uncomfortable coaching against the Nationals Coach Manny Acta, who previously worked under Willie for the Mets.

Local product Lannan: 11 strikeouts for Nats - Roderick Boone pointed out how well Chaminade product John Lannan pitched for the Nationals last night against the Mets at Shea.

Beltran out with stiffness in left shoulder

New York Daily News:

Damion Easley scored on wild pitch for Mets in 14th inning to beat Nationals

Cole Hamels eager to face Johan Santana in new rivalry - Kristie Ackert discussed tonight’s pitching matchup between Johan Santana and Cole Hamels.

Carlos Beltran’s injury is a pain in neck

New York Post:

EASLEY DOES IT

FIGUEROA TAKESAMAZIN’ JOURNEY

STIFF NECK A BIG PAIN FOR CARLOS

FIGUEROA FACES FELLOW NEW YORKER - Tim Bontemps covered last night’s pitching matchup between two local guys facing each other: John Lannan from Long Beach and Nelson Figueroa from Coney Island.

New York Times:

Bullpen Gives Mets Enough Time to Finish a Rally

Figueroa’s Fan Club Moves With His Pitches - Joshua Robinson covered Figueroa’s Fan Club who have attended both of his starts at Shea this year.

Reyes’s Smile Is Back, and So Is His Effectiveness

The Star-Ledger:

Lineups, news & notes

Bienvenidos a Filadelfia. - Jeremy Cothran wrote about tonight’s game between the Mets and the Phillies.

Easley scores on wild pitch to lift Mets in 14th

Change is a good thing for Phils’ Hamels - Jeremy Cothran explains how good of a pitcher Phillies ace Cole Hamels has become.

Mets Win 3-2 in 14

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The Shea Faithful are catching their first glimpses of Johan Santana today.  Santana is making his Shea debut against the Brewers, and the Mets have a 2-1 lead in the Bottom of the 3rd.  Unfortunately, Johan is not looking as sharp as he did in his other starts.  We’ll be bringing you a Game Recap shortly.

Mets.com:

Figueroa lives a dream as Mets roll - Anthony DiComo summarized tonight’s game between the Brewers and the Mets, and he found out what Nelson Figueroa thought of pitching for his hometown team for the first time.

Johan more than ready for Shea debut - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for tomorrow’s game between the Brewers and the Mets.  Johan Santana is expected to make his Shea debut.

Reyes leaves early, out Saturday - Anthony DiComo reported that Jose Reyes left tonight’s game with tightness in his left hamstring.  Reyes is expected to take tomorrow off.

Castillo plans to return on Saturday - According to Anthony DiComo, Luis Castillo felt well enough to make the start today but didn’t due to the wet conditions.  Castillo stated that he plans on starting on Saturday.

Endy content with biding his time - Anthony DiComo found out that hot starts for Ryan Church and Angel Pagan mean fewer starts for Endy Chavez, but Endy says he is cool with it.

Newsday:

Beyond the call … - Erik Boland lets us know what Figueroa thought about pitching for the Mets last night.

Heilman defends union on drug issues - Erik Boland wrote this on Aaron Heilman’s stance on the drug issues in the Majors, “Aaron Heilman said the modifications to baseball’s joint drug agreement should address once and for all the players’ desire to clean up their sport. He also said not to expect more changes anytime soon.”

Easley jumps in, gets job done for Mets - Roderick Boone explains how Damion Easley contributed to last night’s game against the Brewers.

New York Daily News:

Nelson Figueroa earns first win in five years as Mets roll Brewers - Peter Botte summarized tonight’s game between the Brewers and the Mets.

Jose Reyes runs into trouble with hamstring injury

New York Post:

NO WAY, JOSE!

DUANER ON FAST TRACK TO BIGS - Mark Hale reminds us that Duaner Sanchez is attempting to pitch back-to-back days.  That is the requirement for him to make the roster.

SIT-FOR-BRAINS FAN ‘VANDALS’ IN SHEA BUST - Erika Martinez and Lukas I. Alpert reported that “Two knucklehead Mets fans kicked apart a seat during the team’s final home opener at Shea Stadium and tried to steal the broken bits as souvenirs, authorities said yesterday.”  They also wrote that “A third man, Joseph Trudden, 32, of Farmingdale, LI, was arrested separately for trying to steal bunting that hung in the stadium’s right field corner, prosecutors said.”  All three men were arrested.

METS DIDN’T FIGURE ON FIGUEROA - Tim Bontemps tells us that injuries got the Brooklyn-born pitcher on the mound last night.

New York Times:

Mets’ Figueroa Is Beaming but Reyes Is Ailing

Instead of Understudy, Pagán Is a Leading Man

The Star-Ledger:

Weather update

Today’s lineups

Reyes out today

Some gameday nuggets - Brendan Prunty provided some tidbits for yesterday’s game against the Brewers.

Journeyman Figueroa lifts Mets

Reyes hobbled but not worried

Mets lean on Figueroa for 4-2 win over Brewers

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