Mets 3, Marlins 2

Thankfully, John Maine lasted six innings before the stomach pains finally got to him. First Beltran yesterday, now Maine. Who's next? Something's going around and you know somebody's going to get it. My money's on Castillo or Wright, one of the final couple of regulars not miss any time due to injury recently.

Maine was on his game today. He was throwing strikes, very unlike what he's shown this season. Hopefully we'll see this type of performance in most of his outings the rest of way, minus the early exit of course.

J.J. Putz tried his best to blow one today, turning a 3-0 lead in the eight into a 1st and 2nd one out situation with the score at 3-1. Bobby Parnell eventually put out the fire, not before giving up a first pitch single to Hanley Ramirez to make it 3-2 with 1st and 3rd one out. Further damage was prevented with a big strikeout of Jorge Cantu and a flyout by Jeremy Hermida. Is Parnell slowly taking over as the eight inning guy? Putz is sliding down the depth chart and will continue to do so until he finds his command.

K-Rod continues to do his thing, striking out the side in the 9th, despite walking one. At least one half of our winter pen-bolstering duo is performing up to standards. K-Rod is still perfect on the year in save opportunities.

Angel Pagan, Spider-Man pictured on the right, left midway through this game after pulling up lame in the outfield. Looking at his reaction, you gotta feel for the guy.

That wraps a nice 5-1 homestand. Continue to take care of business on this upcoming road trip please. Seven games vs. the Pirates and Nats.

Detroit beats Pittsburgh in game 1 last night. Go Wings.

Guaranteed Loss

The lineup, with starting pitcher in the 9-hole:

A Pagan LF
F Martinez RF
C Beltran CF
F Tatis 3B
D Murphy 1B
R Martinez 2B
B Schneider C
W Valdez SS
T Redding P

You have what resulted in a 7-3 loss in a lifeless Citi Field today, on such a beautiful spring day.

This was an absolute throw-away game. For a team that missed out on a playoff spot by one game in each of the last two seasons, you can't have any of these. Do both David Wright AND Gary Sheffield need a rest on the same day? Sheffield is going to be treated like a catcher rest-wise. There's one problem. He's not a catcher. He's a 40+ year old outfielder who we need (who'd a though when we signed him) out there as much as possible. He can rest when he retires. If he asks out and says he needs a break, fine. If he can go, he has to play. Same goes for David.

Which leads to the 5th starter situation. Tim Redding should pitch only when he has to. If there's a day off in the schedule- take Monday, June 8th for example- you have to avoid that spot in the rotation at anytime possible. Redding is slated to start Thursday the 4th. With the day off on the 8th, do you want him pitching in that three game series vs Philly as he is scheduled to do so if they stick with a strict 5-man rotation? Enough of this giving the starting pitchers as much rest as they can get business.

Baseball players do strange things. Licking a bat?

Remember this game at the end of the season. Make today worse for a better tomorrow? I'm sorry Gary, I disagree.

The Omir Show

You are one of two catchers on the active roster with a third catcher ready to come off the disabled list the next day. You are tabbed to start the game. What do you do? Be responsible for just about all of the team's offense, with a solo homerun to tie the game in the 5th and the game winning walk-off hit in the 11th. Omir Santos is here to stay. Sure enough Ramon Castro was traded to the White Sox not long afterward.

Now we just have to hope this clutch stuff keeps up. Did you see the graphic SNY showed comparing the numbers between Ramon and Omir since Schneider went down? Aside from the clutch hits, Castro had the slightly better numbers. Jerry seemed like he had a thing for Ramon like he had for Church. Tough love? Either way, you hope this does not affect team chemistry too much as Castro was a class clown in the clubhouse.

Mike Pelfrey and a rookie pitcher by the name of West were outstanding tonight. Pelfrey came close to completing eight innings but could not finish off some guy who's name sounds like Tom Coughlin. Bobby Parnell finished the job.

Pelfrey will probably hit or come close to hitting Cody Ross at least once every game (although tonight was more of a uniform brushing). Wonder when Ross will snap like he did last season when he got hit by Pelf.

We saw another leadoff walk by J.J. Putz.

Did you notice they put a camera in the left field corner? Maybe it will clear up the next controversial homerun touched by a fan in left field.

After Further Review…

Citi Field will lead the league in homeruns needing the aid of instant replay. For the second time in this homestand, the Mets benefited. Both times they were awarded homeruns for just missing them. In Citi Field, almost is good enough. Maybe the umps feel pity for the Mets and their paltry homerun totals.

Following the questionable homer, Ramon Castro hit one that fooled Gary Cohen, getting an “it’s outta here!” while harmlessly falling into the left field corner. That was the exact same ball he hit in Fenway the other night that just got out over the monster. Only in Fenway Park.

Adam Dunn is a monster. Anyone know where that ball he hit landed?

Gary Sheffield continues to look like the Sheffield we were hoping for.

You just knew Fernando Martinez was in trouble when he was still standing at home plate while the catcher was waiting for that popup to come down. Were you screaming “run!” as I was before it fell in play? Inexcusable no matter what your experience level is.

What’s another J.J. Putz appearance without a leadoff walk? Never mind the fact that he will break his right hand reaching out for a comebacker one of these days.

Enough of the negatives- nice job sweeping the lowly Nats. Good to see Daniel Murphy break out. Of course you almost forget that Johan Santana got the win tonight in a very un-Santana like performance, with 6 walks. Bring on those pesky Marlins.

Does freakin’ Versus HD ever work? I swear, that thing is out half the time. Speaking of hockey, a fellow Mets and Rangers fan from Queens, Howie Rose, recalls a great night 15 years ago.

Complete Game

First off, thankfully we did not have to see the Mets in those red hats.

We got to see a throwback tonight. A complete game by Livan Hernandez. It's not exactly a no-hitter, but for the Mets it almost seems as rare.

Gary Sheffield hit a homerun for real this time. Yes, the one yesterday counted, but you know it would not have gone out had the fan not reached out and touched it. What was great about tonight's homer was how he reached for that low pitch and managed to hit it hard. I will be the first to admit I was against the signing. Dead wrong. Unlike my NHL playoff predictions (Detroit is one win away from setting up the rematch in which Pittsburgh will win this time around. Ugh).

We got to see the debut of Fernando Martinez. It was time, seeing how the Mets were dropping like flies and he was already hot at AAA. With Carlos Beltran declared out for the next three days, Jose Reyes and Ryan Church were placed on the DL, at long last. Fernando did not do too much, but what do you expect? For all the hype he has not exactly dominated the minor league level. He had a great May thus far. Show me more the rest of the way. He'll get his chance with the big club for the next week or so.

Home Sweet Reviewable Home

The Mets tried their best to give the Nationals a chance to come back and win the game, an affair in which the final three innings took longer to complete than the first six. It started with a video review and continued with a load of walks.

Gary Sheffield was saved by the lack of a camera in the left field corner that could show the trajectory of his homerun as it came down and eventually would have struck the wall below the orange line (barely) had a fan not interfered. The inconclusive replay was not enough to overturn the original call on the field, which was a homerun.

I don’t have a problem with instant replay on homerun calls. The problem is seats that allow a fan to reach over and interfere with a fair ball, especially homerun balls. You would think something like this would be remedied with new parks, but it has only gotten worse. There’s a simple fix for Citi Field. Get rid of the high wall in left. The park is deep enough already. Simply put an additional fence, about half the height of the current left field one, and put it a few feet in front of where the current one stands. No more controversial homerun calls in left field and half-hour delays in getting the call right.

Marquis Grissom has let it go since retirement. You wouldn’t have thought this guy was once a threat on the bases for the Expos back in the day.

John Lannan is a Ranger fan, but was also a Yankee fan. Boo.

Bobby Parnell had to know he hit 100 on the gun the other night. The fastball tonight was a. nowhere near the strike zone and b. not close to 100. You wonder if it affected him even a little bit.

Apparently a road trip of over a week is still not enough time for someone to install a camera in the visitor’s bullpen so SNY can give you a decent shot of whoever is warming up.

We’re still waiting for J.J. Putz version 2007. We’ll continue to wait if he keeps walking the leadoff hitter.

5-5 Trip

If you were told the Mets would go 5-5 on the long road trip just completed, you would take it. It was against three of the best home teams.

Omir Santos shocked everyone with a go-ahead two-run homerun in the 9th inning off Jonathan Papelbon on Saturday. After issuing a leadoff walk, Papelbon had struck out David Wright and Jeremy Reed. It was over. He was blowing everyone away. Santos saw that he was throwing nothing but dead-red, looked for it and nailed it.

J.J. Putz can thank his defense for his second save of the season. Every ball was hit hard. We need a few outings of dominant J.J. before we can restore our faith in him.

Ramon Martinez had the game of his life defensively. He still has no arm and needs to replaced at shortstop ASAP.

Mike Pelfrey settled down and was on cruise control after a rough first inning. No case of the yips in this one.

Papelbon blows his first save of the season, and over in the Bronx, Brad Lidge blows one for the Phillies. The Mets and Yankees really helped each other out on Saturday. However, there was still a part of me that was disgusted the Yanks came back with a dramatic 9th inning victory. I can't help it, no matter what the standings say. It's May, for crying out loud. I know, I know, but what if we lose by a game in the standings...

Sunday was a different story. Tim Redding looked like the Steve Trachsel he initially reminded me of in that first inning in L.A. Failing to get the final out in the 5th, he handed the ball to Sean Green, who in one pitch managed to blow a Met lead.

Brian Stokes has come back to earth. 1.1 innings, 6 hits and 5 runs. Yikes. Hey, the ERA is still a respectable 2.89.

Ramon Castro hit a pop up to left field that was a homerun. Only in Fenway park.

David Ortiz is on the interstate with a .195 batting average. Amazing. OK, now it's time for Big Papi to heat up.

One out of Five?

It's not good enough. Johan pitched yesterday. How many errors did he have to fight through for yet another start? There were another two from Ramon Martinez. Which leads us to the injury situation.

Jose Reyes continues to be out. Then last night, Carlos Beltran has some knee issues, giving us the adventures of Gary Sheffield in left field instead of DH. At least we did not lose much with Jeremy Reed in center field (who would have played left). He mad a nice play late in the game, bouncing himself off the big wall in left center after making a running catch.

I think Johan started that incident with Kevin Youkilis after hitting him in the elbow. Youk's elbow was clearly above home plate; the pitch was not even inside, it was just high. Johan was peeved and let him know it, which was good for him because he took that anger and shut everyone down the rest of the way. I still can't hate Youkilis. Must be that thing with the Yankees.

I'm with Gary on his opinion of the Yankees-Phillies series. I could not care less because it's May. Part of me was happy the Yanks finally lost after how many games already. But then there were the Phillies, who slugged their way to another victory. They hit some bombs in that park last night.

I Hate L.A.

At least the Mets don't have to go there anymore, unless there's a postseason encounter a la 2006.

J.J. Putz continues to look ordinary and not the lights out reliever we anticipated. The more he's out there, the less you are confident. The guy had two seasons of 70+ innings pitched where his walk totals were 13 for each season. He has 12 in 23 innings so far this season.

With a steady backup like Alex Cora out, the last thing we need is Jose Reyes to miss any time. After leaving the game and heading back to New York for an MRI, it revealed only tendinitis. Ramon Martinez is an automatic out and it's time to explore other options down on the farm if this continues.

Now it's time for three games at Boston, with our buddies from Philadelphia in town to play the Yankees. A rare few days where Met and Yankee fans are united. By the way, how many homeruns do you think you are going to see in that series? For that matter, when was the last time a Met hit a homerun?

Late Night Stinker

The game was not even worth a morning DVR review upon finding out the score on the news this morning.

With Carlos Delgado out for ten weeks, the offensive is suddenly falling asleep, as if it was not asleep already. Two of the three runs last night was a result of a John Maine bases loaded single.

Why is Ramon Martinez playing second base last night? Three strikeouts and a GIDP, a night after committing two errors. Is Jerry trying to recapture some late-September magic from last season? Oh wait, that didn't turn out so magical...

Outrage over Gary Sheffield not playing left field last night was subsided by the fact that he was a bit under the weather. Now is the time where he has to play every day to see what's left and platoon the former left field platoon of Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy at first base instead. Jeremy Reed can go back to being a defensive replacement in the outfield.

I'm starting to see John Maine as just your average 4th/5th starter who will finish with an ERA in the high 4's, nothing like the Maine we saw in 2007, which we were hoping for this season.

Comedy of Errors

You gotta love DVR. Why kill yourself staying awake if you have to get up the next morning, when you can simply just record the game and wake up a little earlier and watch it the next morning over breakfast, Japan-opener style. I called it a night after an inning last night. The headline was going to be "Welcome back Steve Trachsel". That's who Tim Redding reminded me of in his first Met start.

Redding gave up two runs and made that first inning last what seemed like an hour, and included not one but two consecutive fake-to-third-throw-to-first moves. However what we saw was not the case at all the rest of the way. He settled down quite nicely and the game flowed along.

The story was the five errors the Mets committed. Where do you start with this one? It did not look promising just looking at the lineup. Angel Pagan was leading off and playing left field. Ramon Martinez, our down-the-stretch 2008 second baseman started at short. Martinez made two of those errors. Carlos Beltran was charged with one, but Pagan insisted to catch the ball after the center fielder in charge called him off ten times. Sean Green throws one away. To cap it off, outfielder Jeremy Reed, playing only a handful of innings at first has a ball find him in a key spot leading to the game-losing error, a throw intended for home that got away.

Then there's Ryan Church. A go-ahead run in the 11th was erased when an appeal play at third called him out. Church had missed third base on his way to scoring from second. Here's my take on Church. The guy is mentally screwed up and it's not his fault. With fifty outfielders on the roster, Jerry Manual had no choice but to get other guys in the lineup and pulled Church during his hottest stretch of the season. It's been downhill ever since. Never mind that the guy is one of the only pure outfielders on the team, aside from Beltran and Reed, who's playing first base instead. But it's clear from postgame reaction that Church will probably continue to be the odd man out. What's wrong with this picture?

Who's fault is it that we had an aging Carlos Delgado with hip trouble and no backup pure first baseman? Who's fault is it that the roster continues to get an influx of outfielders when the problem is in the infield? Ramon Martinez? Look I know you did not expect Alex Cora to get injured with Jose Reyes out, but Martinez with his second base arm is the best we can do as a third-string shortstop? Speaking of Reyes, I asked last week for a one-game benching, not a week with a mysterious calf-injury. It's obvious they need him back in the lineup soon, dumb mistakes aside. You only hope he learns from them, but it's been more than a few years now.

Three out of four

Friday:
Livan Hernandez was awful early and the Mets were trailing reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum by a score of 5-1. It did not look good. You were surprised to see him bat in the bottom of the 6th after he gave up a couple in the top half. I guess the Giants did not want to go to their bullpen and were they ever right. The Mets eventually got to Lincecum in the 7th, knocked him out and pounded on the relief core, highlighted by a three-run double by David Wright. Does anyone notice Brian Stokes has an ERA of 0.56? The Giants closer, the funny looking guy with the strange haircut was touched up for some winning runs in the 9th for the second straight night.

Saturday:
The Big Unit is done. There's a first time for everything and on Saturday, Randy Johnson gave up four hits to the first four batters in a game for the first time ever. Eventually something like that is going to happen if you keep pitching when you're pushing 50. Johan was not his usual-self, which of course was going to happen in a game where he got plenty of run support. Can Eric Karros kiss the Mets ass anymore than he did on that Fox telecast? At least the Giants had their hometown guy, Jon Miller, doing the game on Sunday night, the ESPN sportsync radio special (I did not get a chance to use the handy sync radio for the Fox game as I did not watch live and had to settle for DVR- at least a familiar voice in Kenny Albert was doing the play-by-play).

Sunday:
Mike Pelfrey committed three balks. You only hope this is not the start of Chuck Knoblauch/Rick Ankiel-like mental problems. If it is, we're in trouble. Matt Cain was walking the country early in the game and the Mets did not take advantage. Add Alex Cora to the list of injuries, forcing Fernando Tatis to play shortstop for the first time in a very long time. I cannot recommend the sportsync radio enough to avoid listening to Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips. All I hear the next day is people bitching about having to listen to that broadcast. Fix it.

Late Night Steal

The Mets took a backseat in the first few innings for game 7 of the Hurricanes-Bruins. If you're a diehard of both sports and have a choice of innings 1-3 of Mets in May or a game 7 playoff overtime, you watch the hockey. The 'Canes kept my final four intact. They will go on to lose to Pittsburgh, while Detroit beats Chicago to set up the Stanley Cup Final rematch. Back to the Mets...

The Mets set a franchise record with seven stolen bases in the game. Jose Reyes was not in the lineup, but not for the reasons I wanted him out for this evening, which makes the record even more amazing. David Wright, with four steals, felt like he needed to pick him up in that department and did he ever. Let's not forget Wright's clutch hit in the 9th inning. Maybe everyone complaining about his clutch hitting can relax now. The guy is now at .331 with an on base of .417. We just need the HRs to come around.

Gary Sheffield actually had a couple of hits for the second game in a row. This could be the start of something. It will be interesting to see if Daniel Murphy gets some time at first base, as he's been the odd man out since Delgado went down and Sheffield's power bat was needed in the lineup.

We saw a chink in the Bobby Parnell armor as he was shifted to the eight inning and struggled a bit.

The start John Maine had reminded me of the fiasco last season, also against Jonathan Sanchez, but Maine settled down quite nicely.

Getaway Entertainment

These getaway days at Shea- now Citi- never cease to amaze. Make it 0-6 in weekday home games I have attended since last season. It's not just that they have lost all of these games, it's how they lose them.

Today they waste a Fernando Tatis grandslam and a game tying homerun by Gary Sheffield. Defense let them down again. David Wright, another costly error. JJ Putz gave up double after double, although somehow got out of it by allowing only one run. The Braves hit seven doubles!

Jose Reyes needs to sit tomorrow. Send a message. I'm sick of his act. Talent can only get you so far. On Tuesday, he gets thrown out by a mile at third base, greedy for a triple in a situation where he has to stay in scoring position with one out. Today, on second base, he gets thrown out by a mile at third base on a ground ball hit to shortstop, right in front of him. He did not even slide. Then, leading off the 12th, he admires a ball he hit, thinking it's out for a game-tying homer, only to go off the top of the high wall for a double that should have been an easy triple. Instead we have to waste an out to get him over to third.

Gary Sheffield is either a walk, a strikeout, or a hard groundout, with the occasional homer mixed in. If he does not produce with Delgado likely being moved to the DL it's time to cut ties.

Why is Ramon Castro being pinch hit for in the 11th? Is Jeremy Reed going to do that much better? The move forced the pitcher in the lineup to bat 7th in the order, since Omir Santos was the only option available to hit in the 9th spot in the 11th, and then had to stay in the game. It did not much matter anyway, lineup-wise, but you could see how that would've burned Jerry if the Mets tied it in the 12th and Tatis came up with a base open.

These midweek day games don't sell at all. I have no choice but to go to them and I look forward to breaking my six-game losing streak on June 25 vs St. Louis. Maybe it will rain.

Mets 4, Braves 3, 10 inn.

Did the Mets actually win that game? Jair Jurrjens was cruising for Atlanta, on his way to a shutout. JJ Putz gave up an insurance run in the 8th to make it 3-0. Stick a fork in 'em. Out of nowhere, after a couple of singles in the 8th, Jose Reyes hit one of the left field wall. Greedy for a triple he was out by a mile. Instead of one out runner in scoring position at second base, we had two out and nobody on. It was a big hit, but a stupid decision by Reyes.

Carlos Beltran did it all. Leadoff double, steal of third, score the tying run in the 9th, and lay off a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded to walk-in the winning run with two out in the 10th.

Today is the dreaded mid-week afternoon game. I will be attending. I don't know how bad a loss you can have after winning eight of nine, but hopefully nothing too bad today.

Braves 8, Mets 3

Johan Santana was brilliant again tonight. He got the loss. The boxscore says he gave up seven hits, but really, how many "hits" did he give up? The defense let him down. You had a feeling David Wright was going to bounce that throw in the first inning; it felt like he had to make that throw from the outfield when he fielded that one.

For all the questions of why Jerry Manual left Pedro Feliciano in to face lefty killer Matt Diaz, we know that it should not have ever come to that matchup had it not been for the Jose Reyes boot. That being said, do you want a Feliciano vs Diaz (who had been struggling vs anyone this season) matchup or a Stokes vs lefty pinch hitter, like Greg Norton. I'll take the former- Pedro's your guy in that spot, he's gotta get the job done. You could say you wanted to see Parnell pitch the whole inning, but what's Pedro's role in the bullpen if he does not come in to face their best hitter in the 7th, a lefty in a big spot?

Stokes and Takahashi were bound to give up a run at some point.

Derek Lowe looked good, but remember, he wanted four years. Give that contract some time.

NHL playoffs:
-When you watch two teams you despise, the best thing in that situation is to watch the visiting team win a couple of games in a row in overtime. Nothing like seeing the fans stunned. I really hate Pittsburgh, I'm kind of rooting for the lesser of two evils, the Caps, in game 7. But go Boston or Carolina in the next round.
-Roberto Luongo gave up 7 goals. Wow. Bye bye Vancouver. Still don't like you since '94.

Mets 8, Pirates 4

Livan Hernandez did not have his best stuff early, and this looked to be an all-too-familiar third game of a series where the Mets fail to put the hammer down. But this is the Pirates we are talking about.

In the 4th, Carlos Delgado his another bomb, although this one off the wall, and the Mets started to chip away. Omir Santos had another key opposite field hit, scoring two. Brian Schneider, take your time returning. You couldn't ask for anything better than what your getting from Castro and Santos.

You would've liked to see David Wright bust open that game in the 7th. Bases loaded, two out and he struck out again.

Sean Green will be continued to be used in mop-up duty.

Rare mistake by Gary Cohen, who not once, but twice said that Eric Hinske, the fifth batter of the game, was the first batter who Livan did not fall behind 2-0. Two batters earlier, Nate McLouth hit a sac fly behind 1-2 in the count. It's OK Gary, we forgive you.

Smallball: Mets 10, Pirates 1

It's nice to see a laugher when your team is on a roll. When you get the W and you see that Ken Takahashi and Brian Stokes took care of the last three innings, you know it was a good game.

They did it with small ball, except for a bomb by Carlos Beltran, hit into the second deck in left field, the first this season to reach the "left field landing". Wouldn't been more appropriate to name the first deck left field landing, since most homeruns will go there anyway? Then again maybe more balls will land up top as the weather gets warmer. Anyway...

Reyes, Beltran, Delgado and Wright each had two hits. That's the recipe for a blowout in our favor, assuming the pitching holds up. And John Maine did just that- one run in six innings.

You will not see many homers in Citi Field like the one Paul Maholm hit. Just over the Mo-Zone in rightfield, yet underneath the Porch. Not much room for the arc of the ball to find that spot. Either it hits the facade of the porch or it's caught by the rightfielder.

Screw Pittsburgh. They're more concerned with what they're hockey team is doing anyway. Speaking of which, how's my final four doing?

Mets 7, Pirates 3

The winning streak continues. Fears of yet another let down against an inferior club were erased with one swing of the bat by Carlos Delgado, launching a three-run blast that busted this one open in the 8th inning. The odds were not in Carlos' favor. He was facing a lefty with a release point that came from behind his back, a pitcher who lefty opponent batting average was 1-for-a lot this season. It was good to see. Carlos had been strugging with the hip and you were concerned that he was going to go back to second half 07/first half 08 form.

Congrats to Bobby Parnell, who earned his first major league win. Did I already say I like this kid? Who doesn't, the way he throws.

Does Jeff Karstens look like he's related to David Weathers?

I like Nyjer Morgan. OK, there's a little bias there because I picked him up for my fantasy team earlier this season, but looking at him play for the first time, I was impressed.

Great job by Jon Niese. 6 innings, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts, 0 walks- what more can you ask? You wish you could get that kind of outing by Oliver Perez. Give the kid another chance against Atlanta in the dreaded mid-week afternoon home game next week, especially since that was the team in which he had his best outing in his few starts last season.

Can't do anything about that misplayed fly ball between Beltran and Church. What are the odds both guys could not pick up the ball?

JJ, you're up 5 runs, let them hit it.

Werthless: Mets 7, Phillies 5

The difference is we have a bullpen now. Sure, Pedro Feliciano gave up a two-run homerun to Jayson Werth in the 8th inning, but it was an at-bat Werth should never have had. That pain in the ass Shane Victorino intentionally threw himself at Jose Reyes in the middle of a rundown and got the call from umpire, interference on Jose, allowing the pest to go to second and avoid the double play. Jerry Manual argued, his third beef of the night and finally got tossed, something you knew was coming.

Kudos to the Pepsi Porch, Mo-Zone, or whoever came up with that Jay-son Werth-less chant late in the game. Nice and audible on TV.

It was nice to see the Mets hit some homeruns in Citi Field for a change. Ryan Howard hit a bomb, though- if he wanted to prove this park can't hold him, he did it by going to the deepest part of the park. Now do it in over the left-center wall.

Bring on Pittsburgh. Stay thirsty my friends.

Welcome to Citi Field: Mets 1, Phillies 0

Johan vs Chan Ho. Sounds like trouble. How many times to you see a lopsided pitching matchup like this one but it never turns out the way it is supposed to? But Johan did what he's been doing all season, and you have to go back to a game last July before you find a less than stellar start from him.

Chan Ho Park however, was nothing like his last start vs the Mets last week. Five innings of no-hit ball?

Why the hell does Jose Reyes continue to slide headfirst into firstbase? The day will happen- following the slide, the trainer will come out, he's out of the game, we find out about a fracture or torn ligament the next day, and he's out several weeks.

Chase Utley hit a ball that was clearly out in Citizens Bank Park, but a harmless flyout yesterday. Take that!

For the second straight day, the Mets benefit from a throwing error by the opposing thirdbaseman, this time scoring the only run they needed in the 9th inning. Thank you Pedro Feliz.

Great job by Pedro Feliciano in the 8th inning with JJ Putz not available, striking out Ryan Howard. Other than the K, a flyout to the warning track in left field would have been just as nice.

That's two- Mets 4, Braves 3

It was almost a loss, but it wasn't. A loss that would have been the worst of this young season and quite possible the worst of the season, especially if we need another final win come game 162. But it wasn't.

PPK (Parnell-Putz-KRod) did their job. K-Rod didn't have to walk unknown Clint Sammons there in the ninth inning, especially after going ahead 0-2, but give credit to the Sammons fellow, who battled and worked out the walk. Omar Infante pops one up and Delgado drops it. A single later and Chipper Jones is up with the game at 4-3 and the tying run at 3rd.

The odds here were not in our favor. What was surely a win, became surely a heartbreaking loss either in the 9th or extra innings, but came back to being a win and Chipper harmlessly flew out to right. Icing on the cake after his two-run error gave us the insurance we would eventually need. Plus he likes Shea and even bought a couple of Shea seats. Maybe I won't mind another three years of Chipper on the Braves.

Jose Reyes only had one hit last night, but should have had three. How many of you thought Yunel Escobar was going to throw him out on that ball in the hole in the 6th? Wow.

Flipped over to the Red Sox-Yankee game afterwards to watch a rookie pitcher walk three straight Boston batters and get pulled after going 2-0 on Mike Lowell. You almost felt sorry for the kid. Almost. How bad is that pen aside from Rivera? I don't know the details, but Joba's got some ego if he does not volunteer to put himself back in that 7th-8th inning if Wang ever comes back to form.

Two-run Homer: Mets 6, Braves 4

It looked like another snoozer by the Mets. Instead of scoring early and going to bed, they chose to just go to bed. Then out of nowhere in the 6th, two-run homer by Beltran. Two batters later, two-run homer by Wright. The Mets had a 4-3 lead. The next inning, with a man on, boom, two-run homer by Beltran again. A 6-3 lead was enough for the bullpen, a Chipper Jones homerun off JJ Putz notwithstanding.

Parnell-Putz-K-Rod. Should work most nights. You breathed a sigh of relief as soon as John Maine escaped that jam in the 6th, reaching a 100 pitches and due to lead off in the top of the 7th, because you knew the bullpen formula was going to work.

Ollie's in the pen now. That's one formula I hope we do not see in a meaningful situation. Eventually we will, just not now. Let's get his confidence up in mop-up situations. Maybe an assignment to the minors would've destroyed him. At least he looked happy in the bullpen, judging by those shots of him in there early in the game.

Good to see Jose Reyes steal a couple of bases. He's gotta have the dominant type of stolen base season Carl Crawford is having right now. I don't buy the fact that he's worn down by the end of the season stealing too many. As long as the opportunity is there, run Jose run.

At least Derek Lowe is not pitching tomorrow.

Rainout

The Mets and Phillies were rained out today, so that gives them another day to decide what to do with Oliver Perez. The decision is easy. Send him to the minors. See Bobby Jones 2000. See Steve Trachsel 2001. You even don't have to go back that far to look at the defending champs (ugh)- see Brett Myers last season. Give Ken Takahashi a start in his place next turn in the rotation. If that does not work out, you might have some options in the minors, whether it's Nelson Figueroa or Jon Niese, the latter off to a slow start and might not be so deserving, but he has options.

In Ranger news, there is word Markus Naslund will retire. A classy move, considering he was guaranteed $3 million for next season. It's good for the Rangers. They need all the cap space they can get to resign some key RFAs.

A rainout gives us the Ducks and Red Wings, with the Ducks winning in triple overtime. Nice to see some overtime playoff hockey. Apologies to those who wanted to watch Equestrian on NBC. It has been rescheduled for May 16 before the Preakness. Can't wait. Not.

Walk- Phillies 6, Mets 5

August 30, 2008 and May 2, 2009, Aaron Heilman or Sean Green, the result the same. The Mets lose on a walkoff walk.

Awful performances by the pitching staff at the start and finish overshadowed what was an impressive effort in the middle by the bullpen, with the exception of a Pedro Feliciano pitch to Raul Ibanez. It was the second straight night our lefty specialist gave up a homerun to a lefty. Oliver Perez was a disaster again. Ken Takahashi was great as a long, going 2.2 scoreless. He could be making the next Perez-scheduled start on Thursday. Bobby Parnell and JJ Putz pitched three scoreless. Green was awful, loading the bases, then walking in the winning run in the 10th and that was it.

Just when it looked like the Mets were going to go another game without solving Jamie Moyer, Daniel Murphy and Ramon Castro hit back to back homeruns to tie the game in the 6th.

Jose Reyes is mired in a deep slump. After Alex Cora led off the 10th with a single, Reyes could not even get a bunt down. How long before we see Cora spot Reyes a game at short?

Luis Castillo made his return to the lineup and was removed in a double-switch in the 6th. If he keeps sliding like he slid into home in the 3rd, we're going to see a lot less of him. That was a tumble that looked like nothing but hurt for the 33-year old who looks like he's 43.

The Sportsync radio worked like a charm today. Fox's HD-feed was 8 seconds slower than the radio call, just enough to delay the handy radio to the max 8 seconds and be able to watch while listening to Howie on the Fan.

He Slid! Mets 7, Phillies 4

A game is never over in Citizens Bank Park. The Mets have been blowing multiple-run leads in pitcher's parks. What's there to feel safe about a 5-0 lead in that place? As the lead was cut to 5-3 you were thinking this is awfully familiar, but it was a pleasant surprise to see them hold on.

Parks like this is just what the doctor ordered. Daniel Murphy hit a first inning homerun, and David Wright had a couple of hits. One of those hits scored Carlos Beltran, who in a close play at the plate actually slid into home!

Chan Ho Park continues to look like the guy who was one and done with the Mets two seasons ago. Since he's on the Phillies, that's a good thing. How long will he be on the Phillies is another story.

Whether it's his penchant for not moving a muscle if a pitch comes close to him, hitting a homerun vs the Mets, or his greasy hair, I can't stand Chase Utley.

I know KRod has to live on the edge, but would it be too much just to see one 1-2-3 inning? OK, to be fair, ball 4 on Utley should have been strike 3.