Die Hard Sports Fan

Injuries are the biggest Mets stories of the day.  We saw that Castillo was replaced with Easley in the 5th Inning of yesterday’s game, Castillo has soreness in his knees, and is listed as day-to-day.  Matt Wise was placed on the DL due to forearm strain.  El Duque is going to be inactive for two weeks due to a strained tendon in his right foot.

The good news is that the Mets have a 5-1 lead over the Phillies right now.  We’ll bring the game summary shortly.

Mets.com:

In last Shea opener, Mets fall to Phillies - Marty Noble summarized yesterday’s game between the Phillies and the Mets.

Pelfrey set to make first start of 2008 - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Phillies and the Mets.

Wise lands on DL with forearm strain - Marty Noble reported that “The assignment was made on Tuesday, retroactive to April 2, the day after Wise surrendered the walk-off home run to Robert Andino in the Mets’ 5-4 loss to the Marlins. The club recalled right-handed reliever Carlos Muniz from its Triple-A New Orleans affiliate to take Wise’s place. Muniz pitched the ninth inning of the Mets’ 5-2 loss to the Phillies on Tuesday.”

Mets return to past in final Shea opener -  Anthony DiComo wrote about how Bill Shea threw out the first pitch to kick off a year-long celebration.

The future looms large over Shea - Marty Noble describes how far along Citi Field has come.

Castillo leaves with right knee soreness - Anthony DiComo reported that Luis Castillo left Tuesday’s Mets Home Opener against the Phillies after four innings with right knee soreness. Castillo is listed as day-to-day.

Feliciano arrives late to home opener - Anthony DiComo pointed out that Pedro Feliciano had his original flight from Puerto Rico canceled which is why he was unable to pitch in the Home Opener.

Newsday:

Mets’ 9th straight loss to Phils recalls collapse

Rollins loves to fan the fire - Roderick Boone captured the throughts of Jimmy Rollins after yesterday’s game,

I’m almost disappointed - I always expect more. But it’s like the fans aren’t at the game yet. And then when they come in, the game is already going, so it’s like, ‘Ah, well, you missed your chance to do the big boo.’ But it helps you concentrate. It does make the games more interesting because the fans are going to do their best to get under your skin, try to get in your head. So when you smile and give it to them back, then they’ll realize, ‘That’s a pretty good dude. All right, I’ll keep booing him, anyway.’

Randolph critical of Perez’s good outing for Mets

New season, but Phillies still own Mets

Cheer up Mets fans: You can’t collapse in April

Tearing down Shea still unthinkable - Steven Marcus tells us why tearing down Shea Stadium is unthinkable.

Beautiful Citi Field makes switch from Shea easy

Castillo forced out of home opener with sore knee

Strawberry to be joining ‘86 teammates on SNY - Neil Best explains that Darryl Strawberry will be working as a studio analyst with SNY for 15 games beginning April 28.

New York Daily News:

Mets still can’t solve Phillies as final Opening Day at Shea ends in loss

Willie Randolph ignores fans’ sentiment about Scott Schoeneweis - Willie shouldn’t ignore it because Scoeneweis is a steroid user and he sucks.

Never too early to begin booing

Darryl Strawberry joins SNY April 28

Carlos Delgado throws away his good day with error - Christian Red pointed out that Carlos Delgado was having a good day at the plate before the throwing error that costed the Mets two runs.

Jimmy Rollins’ band makes noise 

Billy Wagner throws heat at idea of Mets’ ‘baggage’ - Anthony McCarron wrote that, “Wagner bristled at the suggestion that his team has lost confidence against the team that has beaten the Mets nine straight times. He also griped about some television analysis in which one Daily News reporter said the Mets are bringing psychic baggage into games with the Phils.

Shea patriarch missed at final opener

Mets’ fans wipe tears at last opener in old park, but Phils rain on parade

Pedro Feliciano’s travel woes deprive Mets of relief

New York Post:

PHILS HAVE THEIR SHEA WITH METS

IT COULDN’T START MUCH WORSE THAN THIS

PHILS STILL ROLLIN’ ALONG

BROKEN CLUTCH - Mark Hale pointed out that the Mets are not hitting in the clutch.

FELICIANO ARRIVES IN 7th INNING

DELGADO’S THROW A BACK-BREAKER

IT’S DEJA BOO - Kevin Kernan takes some jabs at the Mets bullpen.

METS DROP FINAL SHEA OPENER

New York Times:

Familiar Bullpen Job Ends in Familiar Way

With Words or His Bat, Rollins Shakes Up Mets

Strawberry Joins SNY as Part-Time Analyst

The Star-Ledger:

Game 7: Phillies at Mets - Jeremy Cothran provided the lineup for today’s game between the Phillies and the Mets.

El Duque shuts it down - Jeremy Cothran reported that, “El Duque has a strained tendon in his right foot and was placed in a protective boot. He’ll be inactive the next two weeks and will then be evaluated.”

Mets suffer 9th-straight loss to Phillies in final Shea Stadium opener

Castillo’s knee forces him out

Company line on Philly needs to be rethought

Even when he’s down, it’s hard to get Rollins out

Final: Phillies 5, Mets 2 - Jeremy Cothran summarized yesterday’s game between the Phillies and the Mets.

I mean, seriously? - Jeremy Cothran wrote a quick blurb about Delgado’s throwing error in yesterday’s game.

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The Mets announced the Pedro is on the DL and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.  Due to this, the Mets activated Nelson Figueroa Jr. to fill in for Pedro.  The Marlins are hosting the Mets in the rubber game of the opening series of 2008.

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

Marlins Lineup: Ramirez, Uggla, Jacobs, Willingham, Cantu, Ross, Carroll, Hoover, Miller.

At the Plate

Andrew Miller was the starting pitcher for the Marlins.  Miller gave up 1 Hit and 0 Runs in the Top of the 1st.  In the Top of the 2nd, Beltran hit a leadoff double to the gap in left center.  Delgado followed by hitting an opposite field RBI single to bring Beltran home.  With one out, Church pulled a 2-run homer to the right field corner which scored Delgado and himself.  Miller was able to get out of the 2nd Inning leaving two Mets stranded.  Miller gave up 3 Hits and 3 Runs in the 2nd Inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Wright hit a leadoff opposite field single into right field.  Beltran rocketed a double off the wall in left field, but the Marlins threw Wright out at home plate while Beltran advanced to third.  With two outs, Pagan lined an RBI double into the left field corner scoring Beltran.  Miller gave up 3 Hits and 1 Run in the 3rd Inning.  Miller retired the side in order in the Bottom of the 4th.  In the Top of the 5th, Wright crushed a 1-out double off the wall in left center.

Gonzalez made a pitching change during the Top of the 5th by replacing Miller with Matt Lindstrom.  With Beltran in the batters box, Lindstrom threw a wild pitch and Wright advanced to third.  Beltran hit an RBI Ground Rule Double to right field which scored Wright.  (The Umpires cannot call the plays accurately because that’s the third time the Mets hit the top of the wall).  Lindstrom gave up 1 Hit and 1 Run (But the 1 Run is charged to Miller) in the 5th.

Gonzalez replaced Lindstrom with Lee Gardner to begin the Top of the 6th.  Church blooped a leadoff single into shallow left.  Gardner walked Schneider.  Perez dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners.  Reyes lined an RBI double into the right field corner scoring Church and Schneider.  Castillo lined a single up the middle to advance Reyes to third.  Wright belted a 3-Run shot to left field scoring Reyes, Castillo, and himself.  Gardner was able to get out of the 6th Inning after giving up 4 Hits and 5 Runs.

Gonzalez replaced Gardner with Taylor Tankersly to begin the Top of the 7th.  Pagan popped up along the right field line, but Carroll dropped the ball so Pagan had a leadoff single.  Church grounded the ball to the pitcher, and Tankersly made the out at first as Pagan advanced to second.  Schneider lined an RBI single into right field to score Pagan.  Clark is pinch hitting for Perez, and Clark grounded into a double play.  Tankersly gave up 2 Hits and 1 Run in the Top of the 7th. 

Gonzalez replaced Tankersly with Justin Miller in the Top of the 8th.  Miller sent the Mets down in order.

Gonzalez replaced Miller with Kevin Gregg in the Top of the 9th.  Delgado lined a 1-out hit to right field.  Gregg walked Pagan.  With Church in the batters box, Gregg threw a wild pitch and both runners advanced.  Church grounded to second, and Uggla couldn’t make the play so Church arrived safely at first while Delgado scored and Pagan advanced to third.  Scheider line a sacrifice fly to left field which scored Pagan.  Anderson is pinch hitting for Feliciano, and Anderson flied out to left to end the inning.  Gregg gave up 2 Hits and 2 Runs in the inning.

On the Mound

Oliver Perez was the starting pitcher for the Mets.  Perez gave up 2 Hits and 0 Runs in the Bottom of the 1st.  Perez retired the side in order in the Bottom of the 2nd.  Perez gave up 1 Hit and 0 Runs in the Bottom of the 3rd, and he racked up 5 K’s so far.  Perez gave up 1 Hit and 0 Runs in the Bottom of the 4th, and he got 1 more K to put him at 6.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Ross hit a leadoff single through the hole on the left side.  Carroll lined out to Castillo, and the hitter was out, but the ball came out of Castillo’s glove so Castillo thought it wasn’t a catch and flipped it to second, but it went over Reyes’ head, and Ross advanced to second.  The Error was charged to Castillo.  Hoover grounded out to short, and Reyes made the out at first while Ross advanced to third.  Wood is pinch hitting for Lindstrom, and Perez walked Wood to put runners at the corners.  Perez gave up 1 Hit and got out of the inning without any damage by Striking Out Ramirez for his 7th K.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Perez gave up 0 Hit and 0 Runs and Struck Out 1 to get his total up to 8.

Randolph replaced Perez with Nelson Figueroa Jr. to begin the Bottom of the 7th.  Figueroa retired the side in order.

Randolph replaced Figueroa with Pedro Feliciano to begin the Bottom of the 8th.  Feliciano gave up 1 Hit and 0 Runs in the inning.

Randolph replaced Feliciano with Billy Wagner to begin the Bottom of the 9th.  Wagner sent down the Marlins in order.

Final Score: New York Mets 13 - Florida Marlins 0.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.

Mets.com:

Mets awaiting word on Pedro’s status - Marty Noble figures the Mets are looking into alternative options to fill the void in the rotation.

Pedro on teammates’ minds after game - Charlie Nobles captured the thoughts of Pedro Martinez’s teammates after Pedro had to leave the game due to a hamstring injury.

Mets hope Church has solved lefties - Marty Noble explains how the Mets will monitor Ryan Church’s at-bats against lefties.

Injury KOs Pedro in first Mets start - Marty Noble says that Martinez went to New York to get an MRI to determine the extent of the left hamstring strain.

Newsday:

Pedro hurts hamstring as Mets lose to Marlins

Pedro hurt immediately, and who’s surprised?

Even if Pedro is out indefinitely, Mets can cope - Wallace Matthews reminds us what the Mets have done without Pedro the past few seasons to help us understand that it isn’t as big of a deal as it seems.  Matthews is correct because Pedro is well past his prime, and I thought he should be the 4th starter anyway because he’s old and injury prone.  Since Martinez hasn’t pitched in so long, I had no expectations.  Pedro said how healthy he felt, but like I said, “Will he walk the talk?”.  I said the same thing about El Duque who is on the DL.  I’m more upset that the Mets bought into what Pedro told them and didn’t bring in more inning eaters.

Mets’ El Duque feeling good, but not ready to return

New York Daily News:

Pedro Martinez’s status in doubt after hamstring injury, Mets fall in extras

Pedro Martinez’s injured leg puts season on shaky ground

El Duque to start for St. Lucie

New York Post:

‘DRO, NO!

OLLIE KEYING ON SEASON, NOT PAYDAY - Bart Hubbuch pointed out that Oliver Perez may be pitching in his first game in his final season as a Met tonight.

GOOD FEELINGS GO POP! - Mike Vaccaro takes us through Martinez’s injury.

New York Times:

Martínez and the Mets Are Left Limping in Miami

Martínez Makes Early Exit on an Injured Leg

The Star-Ledger:

When words lose their meaning…

Breaking (if not surprising) news: Pedro to DL

Update, Big Willie Style

Look, Watson — a clue! - Dan Graziana tells us why Nelson Figueroa could be a good replacement for Martinez.

Last day at The Beach - Dan Graziano expresses his thoughts about Pedro from South Beach.

Fly, fly away - Dan Graziano also has suggestions for the Mets to get by without Martinez.

A new day, hopefully, for the Mets - This morning, Jeremy Cothran jotted down some suggestions for the Mets to get by until Pedro returns.

Pedro Martinez injured in Mets loss

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The Mets won both of their games today.  They are hot right now so I wish it counted.  The best Mets article of the day is “Castro, Delgado injured in Mets game” by Anthony Rieber.  Rieber followed up on the status of both players injured in today’s game.  At least Delgado isn’t as injured as it appeared.

Mets.com:

Pedro blanks Tigers in spring debut - Marty Noble summarized today’s second game between the Tigers and the Mets.  The Mets beat the Tigers 7-4.  Pedro Martinez got the start.  The Mets are 12-7-1 in the Grapefruit League standings.

Young Mets upstage Astros on road - Alyson Footer summarized one of today’s split-squad games between the Mets and the Astros.  The Mets beat the Astros 6-4.  Nelson Figueroa got the start.

Good signs from Martinez in debut - Marty Noble pointed out that Martinez threw four scoreless innings, with four hits and four Ks, and then went on to describe Pedro’s Spring Training debut.  Martinez said “I’m right where I want to be.” after his first start.

Pedro makes anticipated debut Sunday - Finally!!!

With no DH, Johan steps up to plate - After Johan Santana grounded out in his first at-bat of the spring, Anthony DiComo captured Santana’s thoughts, “At least I made contact. I didn’t strike out. It was a little weird, but it’s part of the game and I’ve got to adjust to it. Those are the little things that I’ll have to learn how to do.”

Newsday:

Castro, Delgado injured in Mets game - Anthony Rieber explained what happened to Carlos Delgado, ”Delgado went down in an attempt to dodge the dangerous, pointy projectile, but was hit. His arm was bloodied and he immediately went into the Mets’ dugout and then to the clubhouse. He required four stitches to close the wound and left the ballpark with a playing-card-sized bandage taped to his forearm.”  Next, Rieber told us how Ramon Castro got injured, “Castro, catching Martinez in his first game since March 9, re-injured his right hamstring when running to first on a single in his first at-bat. As soon as he reached the bag and time out was called, Castro limped off to the third-base dugout and was replaced by a pinch runner.”

Baby’s heart surgery: Big save for Mets’ Feliciano - Anthony Rieber followed up on the health of Pedro Feliciano’s baby who had heart surgery during the offseason.  Feliciano described his daughter’s health as:

My baby, after surgery she never gets a fever, nothing, no change color, no blue hands, nothing. They don’t know how she reacts that good after surgery. Strong kid. The same day that they bring her back to the room, she got up. Just got the surgery and she got up and started moving. They had to get the liquid for her to go to sleep.

Castillo’s back for Mets, who are getting healthy - Anthony Rieber explained how Luis Castillo played in his first game yesterday against the Cardinals.  After playing 5½ innings, Castillo went 0-for-1 with two walks.  Luis had this to say about his play, “I feel so good. I feel so happy with myself because I made the right decision having surgery. I feel so different. A long time I don’t feel like that.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? RON HUNT - Jim Baubach stated that, “Ron Hunt, the first Mets player to get a hit, score a run and hit a home run at Shea Stadium, wants to be on hand when the team officially closes the stadium.”  Yet, Hunt hasn’t been invited to a Mets alumni function in many years.  Hunt said, “I would hope since I was there to open Shea, I hope I will get an invitation to put it away, too,” Hunt said. “And then an invitation to open the new one as well.”  In response to that, Mets VP for media relations, Jay Horwitz stated that ”We’re very aware of what he’s done, so I’m sure he will be hearing from us in the season. I’m sure he’ll be back.”

Can Pedro tame Tigers in first real test for Mets?

New York Daily News:

Johan Santana aced by Cardinals

Luis Castillo’s return a success

New York Post:

PEDRO ON MARCH

WAGNER: ROLLINS ONLY HALF RIGHT - The fued between the Mets and the Phillies continues.  In response to the comments Rollins made, Billy Wagner said:

He’s right. He’s right that they’re the team to beat. They’re excited they got to the playoffs. As far as do they want it more? It’s up to the guys in this clubhouse to prove him wrong. Obviously last year he was right and so far he’s been good at telling the future.

I expect it to be fun. I expect it to be high intensity. I expect it to be very - there should be some intensity to these games. We should play better. We should play better against the Phillies. They weren’t the better team. They just played better than us.

The Star-Ledger:

Game 18: Tigers at Mets - Jeremy Cothran provided the lineup for today’s game between the Tigers and the Mets.

Castillo striving to get up to speed

Beltran stepping up to the plate - The Star-Ledger found out what Carlos Beltran is doing to take on more of a leadership role.

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