Harang Scratched Replaced with Wood, Thole to The Bench Tonight

Aaron Harang has been scratched with lower back issues, according to the SNY Pregame.  Mike Wood, a lefty, will make the start instead for the Reds.

To counter that move Josh Thole is no longer in the starting line up, instead Rod Barajas will get the start against the lefty.

Also Tejada and Cora has swapped spots in the order.  Tejada is now in the two-hole, with Cora hits eighth.  Another lefty adjustment...

Game time is just minutes away.

Let's go Mets.

Mets vs. Red at 7:10, Line Up

No Reyes again tonight, but according to Metsblog he will be in there tomorrow.  Josh Thole gets another start, nice to see what the kid can do.  Although I can't help but think this might have something to do with Cliff Lee, just saying.  Here's the line up courtesy of Michael Barron at Metsblog:


Angel Pagan CF
Alex Cora 2B
David Wright 3B
Ike Davis 1B
Jason Bay LF
Josh Thole C
Jeff Francoeur RF
Ruben Tejada SS
Mike Pelfrey P

The Reds are tough, and they are led by Scott Rolen who's been unreal this season.  This will not be an easy series, but I like the pitching match up here tonight in favor of the Mets, as long as Pelfrey keeps the ball down...

Let's Go Mets.

Mets Bats Secure Split With Nats, Come Home To Face Reds

Yesterday the Mets bats came to life in a 9-5 victory over the Nationals yesterday (wrap/box score). 

Jason Bay had a huge day with 4 RBI, and Davis hit a homer while driving in two himself.  Pagan and Francoeur also added RBI for the Mets, with 2 and 1 respectively.  On the hill, Takahashi started out well for the first few innings and then started to get hit again.  Fortunately for the Mets they had enough of a lead at that point that the Nats spend most of the day trying to make it close, instead of realistically having a shot to tie and win the game.

Tonight the Mets face the Reds in the "Citi" as Aaron Harang heads to the hill for the Reds against Mike Pelfrey...

Let's go Mets.

After Yesterday's Blow Up, Mets Look For Redemption at 1:35

I'm not going to waste any time talking about how annoying K-Rod is to watch, or how he is bound to blow saves pitching the way he does....

Instead, I'll be happy that the Mets weren't dominated by Strasburg because that means maybe the future won't be so bleak in the NL East afterwards.  Yeah Strasburg's probably going to be very good, BUT, sometimes teams can just have your number.  Maybe the Mets can be that team for Strasburg...

Redemption time today.  Here's today's line up courtesy of Adam Rubin:

Pagan CF
Cora 2B
Wright 3B
Davis 1B
Bay LF
Francoeur RF
Barajas C
Tejada SS
Takahahsi P

No Reyes again, as he's still sore.  But it's time for the team to split the series...

Let's Go Mets! 

Late Postgame Friday

Last night in Washington, the Mets held off the Nats as Jon Niese went seven strong and gave up only one run. Niese has been the savior of this team, really stepping up when the Mets need a victory. This was definetly a big win, coming off of a loss thursday and the debacle in San Juan. Niese threw a career high 117 pitchers and stuck out eight.

One again we saw another dicey K-Rod outing as he let up two runs on two hits before picking off Bernadina at second to end the game.

David Wright stayed hot, smacking 3 hits and Alex Cora came up huge with a three run triple.

Mets split the first two games of this series and it would be a huge confidence booster to win today vs. God (Strasburg) going up against a guy who's completely opposite stuff (Dickey). Knuckler vs. the Ultimate Flamerthrower, Mets get their first taste of the chosen one this year. Game is 4:30 on Fox.

Lets Go Mets

Mets/Nats Tonight at 7:05

Tonight in Washington the pitching match up is Luis Atilano against Jon Niese.  Here's the line up courtesy of the Mets on twitter:

Pagan-8
Tejada-6
Wright-5
Davis-3
Bay-7
Barajas-2
Francoeur-9
Cora-4
Niese-1

Pagan is back in the line up, as is Jason Bay, which should help spark the Mets offense.  Unfortunately the team's true spark plug Reyes is out again, but SHOULD be back tomorrow.  The bottomline is the Mets need to take control of games, as they've had the the games taken to them so far on this road trip.  A nice big top of the first, followed by a goose egg from Niese would be the perfect medicine for that...

Let's Go Mets.

Beltran Might Be Back Monday, Or July 15

So, it looks like the countdown to Carlos is getting real.  According to Adam Rubin of ESPN NewYork, here, the two dates the Mets are targeting for Beltran's return are July 5th and July 15th.  In his article Rubin goes on to explain that if Carlos will not be available for Monday against the Reds, then it wouldn't be worth activating Carlos for the last series before the all-star break.  The reasoning being that once Carlos gets going, they wouldn't want him to have days off for the break, and might rather have him play through the break and then activate him on the 15th instead.

I can't deny the logic there.  It makes sense to keep Carlos playing and active.  Although I would love to have him up by Monday, if he needs a little more time then July 15th sounds great to me.  It would be a nice boost for the team to have Carlos back before the break, and it will certainly create an interesting outfield scenario for the Mets as the trade deadline approaches.  It'll be interesting to see what happens to Angel Pagan and Jeff Francoeur's playing time once Beltran returns. 

But having too many good outfielders is a nice problem to have, especially when one of them is a healthy Carlos Beltran...

Johan Pitches Well, But Nats Are Walk Off Winners Over Mets 2-1

And so it goes for Johan Santana in New York...

Johan was awesome last night, but the Mets line up was unable to muster more than 1 run off of Livan Hernandez and the Nats defeated the Mets 2-1 in walk-off fashion (box score/wrap).

It is really unbelievable how jinxed Johan is in New York.  The guy cannot buy a win, even when he pitches 7 innings giving up only 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 7.  It's gotten to a point for me where if Johan pitches well, I am actually MORE concerned about the team's ability to win that game.  When Johan gets hit, the team usually finds a way to fight back and make things interesting, but not when he pitches well.  Then the team finds a way to make errors, or not hit, and leave Johan hanging there.  It's very frustrating to watch, and I'm sure even more frustrating if you're Johan...

Although the team had 8 hits on the night, they were unable to push in more than one run, which Ike drove in with a first inning RBI single.  They did have a sort of make-shift line up last night, and hopefully Reyes, Pagan and Bay will all return to the line up tonight and that will kick-start the offense.   But there is one thing that needs to be asked...

HOW THE HELL DOES LIVAN HERNANDEZ HAVE AN ERA UNDER 3.00? 

But I digress...

Despite the Mets success on their previous road trip they are currently 1-3 on this one, and their overall road troubles don't seem to have gone away.  The more concerning thing about this road trip is that they're facing the Marlins and Nationals, two divisional rivals, who the Mets have NOT been able to handle this season.  Put those two together and you have some serious reason for concern...

But the Mets send Jon Niese tonight to try to even up this current four game set with the Nats.  Luis Atilano will throw for Washington tonight at 7:05.  The game will air on SNY...

Let's Go Mets! 

Santana Against Livan Tonight, Line Up

Here is tonight's line up courtesy of David Lennon on twitter:

Feliciano-8
Tejada-6
Wright-5
Davis-3
Francoeur-9
Carter-7
Blanco-2
Cora-4
Santana-1


I guess Jose needs another night off.  Hopefully tonight will be the last of that.  Also, it looks like Jerry really wants to keep trying to find ways to get Carter at bats, which I'm fine with, but Bay didn't start on Tuesday either.  Does he really need another night off?  I'm not sure tonight is the best time to sit him.  Also looks like Pagan is getting a little more time to rest, and Barajas has been pretty bad lately, so I like Blanco in there.


Overall...this isn't the normal line up...


But either way...


Let's Go Mets.

Recap: A Win, An Injury, A Rumor, A Rehab

Here's a list of things I want to recap and give my input on.  Normally I would have done them WHILE they were happening but sometimes things get busy...

Last night the Mets defeated the Marlins 6-5 (box score/wrap), despite a poor outing from Mike Pelfrey.  Pelfrey got pounded to the tune of 12 hits and 4 runs in 4 and 2/3 innings of work.  NOT A GOOD NIGHT.  Fortunately for the Mets, the offense and bullpen were able to pick Pelfrey up and get the team a win, which helped them avoid the sweep in Puerto Rico.  K-Rod came in in the eighth after Parnell put the Mets in some trouble, but K-Rod was able to get Wes Helms to fly out.  Then K-Rod made it interesting, again, in the ninth but was able to save the game for the Mets.

The Mets got some nice all-around effort on the offensive end, highlighted by David Wright's 2-5 game with 2 RBI and another pinch-hit RBI from Josh Thole (his second in two night).  And not to be the guy who rains on our parade, because I DO think this team is better overall with Barajas behind the plate, BUT...he's now down to .244 and the staff has been getting ripped lately.  All I really mean to say by that is, I'm happy the Mets decided to wait before considering extending Rod...

Also of note from yesterday's game was Jose Reyes' last minute removal from the line up due to a his side hurting, which you can read more about on Metsblog, here.  In the post, Michael Barron quotes Jerry as saying it had something to do with the turf at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.  That wouldn't surprise me much considering the way Gary and Keith talked about the field basically being built on top of a parking lot, and the cement being the base underneath the field.  Either way, I hope to see Jose back in the line up tonight, BUT, I also wouldn't be surprised if he needed another night off.  Any more missed time than that and I may start getting concerned...

ON TO OLLIE...

I know he's doing rehab starts and all that, but is it really necessary?  He has no trade value anyway.  The best thing the Mets can hope for is that he "suffers a set back" the same way John Maine did and the team can continue on without him.  As for Beltran's rehab seemingly going well, I'm cautiously excited.  I know it's cliche and people have been saying this for quite some time, but Beltran REALLY is the best player the Mets can add at the trade deadline....Well....offensive.

Speaking of Cliff Lee, Metsblog notes some rumors here and here regarding how much the Mets would need to give up to get Lee.  Here's what I would and wouldn't do...

The following I think can be traded in any combination in order to get Lee, of course with the caveat that they cannot take more than 4 from this list: Josh Thole, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Jordany Valdespin, Reese Havens, Bobby Parnell, Brad Holt, Ruben Tejada, Sean Ratliff or Juerys Familia.

NOW, if the Mariners needed one of F-Mart, Wilmer Flores, Angel Pagan or Jenrry Mejia to get the deal done I would NOT want to give up more than one of them combined with NO MORE than two of the guys from the previous list.

Interestingly enough, I think the guy who is closest to untouchable to me is Wilmer Flores.  But, I don't think anyone should be off limits right now.  The farm system seems to have enough in it that you can make this deal without losing all your top prospects.  So Omar, make a deal to make this team a winner.  Just be smart about it, and don't give up too much...