Weekly Recap, June 18-24

Another week has come and gone in Ireland, and another six games have gone by in the saga that is the 2012 New York Mets. Here's what you missed this week on Midwestern Met.

Team Record: 4-2 (39-34 overall)
June 18-20, Orioles Series: W, 3-0
June 22-24, Yankees Series: L, 1-2

The Good Stuff:

• Just about everything went right against the vaunted Baltimore Birds in the week.
• R.A. Dickey tossed his best game since...well, the last one, delivering his second consecutive one-hitter on Monday night and solidifying himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball today.
• Johan Santana followed up with a dandy of a performance himself, finally shaking off the fatigue of his historic no-hitter and tossing 6 shutout innings en route to a W.
• After initiating Chickengate earlier in the week, Frank Francisco followed up with his 18th save (albeit a difficult one) Friday night against the Yankees.
• The team's newest mascot, Little Jerry Seinfeld, also got some Good Stuff this week, moving to a chicken sanctuary where he will live out his days doing standup at the coop on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and three shows on the weekend. Good times.
• Sunday night saw the return of a key piece in the New York lineup: Ruben Tejada hit second in the order and went 2-4 with 2 RBIs. His presence will be key as the dog days of summer are fast approaching.

The Bad Stuff:

• Unfortunately for the Mets, it was the other New York team who got the last cluck this weekend, as the Bronx Bombers took the last two games of the Subway Series, giving them 5 wins in 6 matchups in 2012.
• And they did it all while living up to the Bomber name: two quick blasts erased a 3-0 lead on Saturday and turned it into a 4-3 affair.
• On Sunday, after the Amazin' offense bailed out a very human R.A. Dickey, Miguel Batista served up the go-ahead homer to Robinson Cano in the 8th to give the Yanks the Sunday Night win on ESPN.
• Also no clucking matter was Frank-Frank's unfortunate trip to the DL. The closer's role will now go to Bobby Parnell, who I still believe has the stuff to fill the role, but will have to get his nerves under control if he wants the job for good.

Final Analysis:
So it was a disappointing end to an otherwise great week, but the Mets did a great job holding their own against two of the best in the American League. With the Interleague schedule in the books and the toughest stretch of the year in the rearview mirror, New York is 5 games over .500 and second place in the NL East. With the halfway point and the All-Star break in sight, all the Mets have to do is win a few series against the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, and Cubs again, and they'll be in prime position to make a run for a Wild Card slot.

MM

Irish Pics of the Week:

Spent the weekend in County Kerry in the west of Ireland. Here's Killarney National Park.

A very nice waterfall in the park

One of the spectacular views on our motorboat ride across the lake

Dingle Town, a quaint little seaside resort community. Reminds me of South Haven in Michigan a bit.

The westernmost point in Europe

The boat to go see Fungi the Dingle Dolphin (and a very nice view of the town at whole)

Weekly Recap: June 12-17

Welcome to Midwestern Met's second overseas weekly recap. It's been a busy weekend for me here in Ireland; you'll see some snapshots of my trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland at the end of the post. But first, let's get to what's happened in Flushing this past week.

Team record: 3-3 (35-32 overall)
June 12-14, Rays Series: W, 3-0
June 15-17, Reds Series: L, 3-0

The Good Stuff:

• "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Charles Dickens might has well have been writing A Tale of Two Ballclubs, and writing about the Mets this week. The middle of the week was all Good, the weekend all Bad. Let's start with an improbable end to a then-disastrous road trip.
• New York didn't just sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in the Trop, they blew them away like a hurricane: 11-2, 9-1, 9-6. Highlights included:
• R.A. Dickey's second career one-hitter on Wednesday night. Overshadowed by Matt Cain's perfect game in San Francisco a couple hours later, Dickey turned in arguably the best performance of his career: 1 infield single in the 1st inning, 1 unearned run in the 9th, 12 strikeouts, no walks, becoming the first pitcher to reach 10 Ws this year. R.A.'s been nothing short of Cy Young-esque over his last 5 starts, picking up wins every time while sporting an ERA of 0.23, 50 strikeouts and just 3 walks in 39.2 innings, and most importantly, no home runs. That he'll be on the All-Star team is a given fact now with the only question being whether he would get the start on baseball's biggest stage in Kansas City.
• Of all the offensive prowess we could talk about in this series, Ike Davis's emergence was the most significant. Ike went 6-11 in the series with a double, home run, 6 RBIs, 3 walks, and just 2 strikeouts. Currently on an 8-game hitting streak, Davis is just barely riding the interstate with an average up to .194; if he starts off this week 2-4 or better he will have reached the Mendoza line of .200.
• When the dust had settled, the Mets were out of St. Petersburg with 3 wins and a 4-5 record on their toughest road trip of the season. The team hoped to turn that momentum into another series win over the weekend...until the worst of times came around.

The Bad Stuff:

• In the words of Tim McCarver (sort of): "As good as the Mets were in the first half of this week, that's how as bad as they were this weekend." On Father's Day Weekend at Citi Field, the Cincinnati Reds came in and stomped on all New York's momentum, delivering losses of 3-7, 1-4, 1-3.
• After only managing 4 hits on Friday night against Bronson Arroyo, New York combined to go 3-17 with RISP on Saturday and Sunday. Apparently they didn't save enough offense for the weekend and used it all up against the Rays.
• But the biggest emotional blow of the weekend was Jason Bay's second concussion in two years on Friday. I don't expect to see him the rest of the season, and I wouldn't be surprised if we never see him put on a baseball uniform again. These things are crazy dangerous; more and more research is coming out it seems almost daily. As Terry Collins put it, it's not about baseball anymore: it's about quality of life, about whether this sort of thing will affect Bay 20 years down the road.

Final Analysis:
It was like someone turned off the immersion and suddenly the red-hot Mets were icy cold (it's an Ireland thing; they have to heat up their own water here; crazy!). After a stunning week down south it quickly turned stunningly awful for the team as they fell right back to where they started the week. New York has lost 9 of 13 and the schedule doesn't get any easier with home series against the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees this week. It's been said before, but this week may be one of the more crucial ones for the Mets in 2012. After this week, which could leave them under .500 or sky high, we'll have a clearer picture of what this team will be at the end of September.

MM

Irish Pics of the Week:

Some friends and I went up to Belfast for the weekend. Here's the famous City Hall, with the Olympic Rings to recognize the UK's hosting of the Summer Games in London.

The Queen's University in Belfast. Beautiful campus, like something out of a Harry Potter film.

A Rose Garden in the Botanical Gardens near Queen's campus. Artsy shot of a friend.

Carrick-a-Rede on the northern edge of the island. Those far out rocks? You need to cross a rickety rope bridge to get there. Yay survival!

The Giant's Causeway. Yes, those stones are all natural.

On Sunday we took a Black Cab tour around the significant sights of The Troubles. Here's a Bobby Sands mural on the Catholic Republican side of Belfast.

Conversely, a mural for William of Orange on the Protestant Loyalist side.

Queen's again. This time on a rare sunny day.

That's it for this week; check back again Monday for another update.

WD

Weekly Recap: June 5-11

Good morning to all you in the States. It's about 5:00 over here in Ireland, and this is a first for me in many ways: the first overseas Midwestern Met post, as well as the first post of a weekly recap variety. Being five hours ahead of EDT, watching the game every night is basically impossible with all that's going on here. And frankly, the way things have been going this past week, I'm kind of glad I wasn't around to see it live. Here's what's happened on the week that's been in Mets baseball.

Team Record: 1-5 (32-29 overall)
June 5-7, Nationals Series: L, 1-2
June 8-10, Yankees Series: L, 0-3

The Bad Stuff:

• You wanna try everything? Whether it's been the offense, defense, starters, relievers, it all fell flat for the Amazin's this week.
• Five, count 'em, 5 errors in 2 games cost the Mets in Washington, including two at shortstop in the 10th by Jordany Valdespin that helped extend the first game. Two more Es helped the team blow a 3-0 lead in the final game of the Subway Series.
• I could go on, but frankly, it's just depressing. Let's get to the one redeeming quality of the week.

The Good Stuff:

• The Mets have their medic, one Robert Allen Dickey, who came in to stop the bleeding and salvage the final game of the Nationals series with 7.1 scoreless innings and 8 strikeouts. He has now surpassed his Win total from the entirety of last season and leads the league with 9 Ws to his name. Dickey has solidified himself as the Ace of the staff and is now on the shortlist of starters for the NL All-Star team.
• Yesterday (Monday) was a day off, so no Bad Stuff could happen.

Final Analysis:
After reaching a high last weekend with Johan Santana's no-hitter, New York fans hit the ground and bounced like a dead cat this week. The team is now just above .500 and 5 games out of first place in the NL East. While they're still a long way from last (the Phillies took a similar nosedive), the optimism of last weekend has all but dissipated.

What I see from this week is a team has a razor-thin margin of error. The Mets were winning when everything went right, and they tend to lose when a couple things blow up, especially with the gloves and the bullpen. If this team fires on all cylinders, they will win; they're good enough. But if something fails during the course of the game, something will have to give on the other side, a.k.a. the other team has to make a mistake.

That being said, things don't get any easier this week with series in Tampa Bay and hosting Cincinnati, so those cylinders are gonna have to start firing quickly.

MM

But that's not all!

Irish Pics of the Week:

The Rathmines neighborhood, just outside of Dublin, where I'm living and going to class.

Christchirst Cathedral in Dublin, where they film The Tudors

The Irish President's house in Phoenix Park...look familiar?

The Gravity Bar on top of the Guinness Factory, complete with an overview of all of Dublin. There's mountains back there, who knew?

Rody Bolands pub in Rathmines, everyone's getting set for the Ireland-Croatia EURO 2012 match. The Irish, much like the Mets this week, fell flat, losing 3-1.

Oh by the way, that above was the second floor of the pub. This is the first floor. Absolutely packed, a wonderful atmosphere.

So that's what I've been up to this week. Check back next Monday for another recap and more pictures.

LGM,

WD

When Irish Eyes are Smiling

The Mets start a long road trip tomorrow night in Washington, and I am about to embark on a long journey of my own. On Wednesday morning I board an airplane in Chicago that will take me all the way to Dublin, Ireland. I shall be there for the next six and a half weeks on a study abroad program in the city.

While this is a very exciting time in my life, unfortunately it will take me away from another passion of mine: this team and this blog. The time difference between the Eastern time zone and Dublin is about 5 hours, meaning it will be just about impossible for me to write nightly game recaps.

Fortunately this is not the only site you keep up-to-date on the New York Mets with, and if it is...you need to go back to Internet school and find the hundreds more, buddy! I will do my best, however, to post at least a weekly update to bring light to the highs and lows of what's going on in Flushing.

So long for now, and remember: "When Irish eyes are smiling, sure, they steal your heart away." But when Amazin' eyes are smiling, they'll steal it right back.

See you around July 21.

WD

Game #55: Cardinals 5, Mets 4

Dillon Gee strikes out eight and allows three runs (two earned) Monday. (NYDailyNews.com)

Well...can't win 'em all.

Allen Craig's 2-run homer off Jon Rauch in the top of the 8th put the Cardinals up for the third and final time as the Mets can't put together and fall 5-4.

The Bad Stuff:

• The Mets went down twice in this game and both times came back to tie it in the very next half inning. There was no comeback in them for a third showing, though. Jon Rauch came on to relieve Dillon Gee in the 8th, gave up a leadoff single, and then the go-ahead home run to Allen Craig two batters later to pick up the loss.
• New York did Amazin' this weekend because their starters pitched just about every inning. Unfortunately, this just doesn't happen very often any more. But if the bullpen were to pull itself together, my goodness, how great this team would be.
• Kyle Lohse has traditionally been Mr. Met's punching bag, but today he had some fight right back in him, allowing 1 run in 6 innings and only needing 76 pitches (had he not been pinch-hit for in the 7th he might've had a shot at a complete game).
• The Mets got runners on second and third with 1 out in the 8th but could only plate 1 as David Wright flew out to right to end the inning. New York then went down 1-2-3 in the 9th to officially run out of chances.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee wasn't great today but was very good, once again, turning in a quality start with 3 runs (2 earned, but the error was his) on 6 hits in 7 innings, walking 2 and striking out 8. He gets a no decision but certainly deserved a W.
• Lucas Duda pounced out his fourth home run of the series, a monster blast to the Pepsi Porch in the 4th inning that tied the game at 1.
• Down 3-1 in the 7th, David Wright led off with a single. After two groundouts that sent him to third, Scott Hairston came on to pinch-hit for Ike Davis. The Mets' "lefty-buster," as Gary Cohen referred to him as, did his job by launching a towering home run to left to tie it at 3.
• Andres Torres had the other RBI, hitting a sac fly in the 8th that was just a few feet from being a 3-run homer.

Final Analysis:
While the team's first-ever 4-game home sweep of St. Louis would've been nice, the Mets nevertheless win the series and complete their homestand with a 7-4 record, plus some history on the side. The bullpen blew a few opportunities that could've resulted in a couple more wins, but overall the team is playing very, very well, with starting pitching and power shining through this first week of June. They're just a half game out of first place, and with some key pieces coming back this week (Jason Bay as soon as tomorrow, Ruben Tejada soon thereafter), a chance to make some more noise against the best of the best in both leagues is coming.

The Mets start a 3-game series at Washington tomorrow, followed by a set at Yankee Stadium over the weekend and then down to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays at the Trop. It's the toughest stretch of the season, but as they've shown this weekend, Terry's boys are up to the challenge.

MM

Game #54: Mets 6, Cardinals 1

Winning pitcher Jon Niese congratulates Kirk Nieuwenhuis after the outfielder's two-run homer. (NYDailyNews.com)

Faced with the even-more impossible task of following a no-hitter and a complete game shutout, Jon Niese carved out his own place in this weekend of weekends in Flushing.

Niese struck out 10 batters in 6 shutout innings and the Kirk Nieuwenhuis-Andres Torres 1-2 punch provided the pop as the Mets cliched the series against the Cardinals 6-1 on national television.

The Good Stuff:

• It was just about a lose-lose situation for Jon Niese tonight. On a weekend when Mets fans had seen Johan Santana pitch the team's first no-hitter and R.A. Dickey deliver a performance just as impressive, not to mention the Mets Hall of Fame induction of one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history (John Franco), Niese had to go out and continue the streak against the defending world champion Cardinals on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Remarkably, Jonathan found a way to get a big win.
• Niese tossed 6 scoreless innings, allowing 6 hits, walking 1, and striking out a career-high 10 Cardinals. New York was in their black uniforms for the first time all year tonight in honor of Franco, and black was the color St. Louis was seeing all night long.
• Niese extended the Met starters' scoreless streak to a mind-boggling 24 innings. Bobby Parnell got it to 25 with a scoreless 7th, and Frank Francisco struck out 2 in a scoreless 9th.
• The Mets went up quickly in the 1st as Andres Torres doubled and came home on a Lucas Duda single. In the 4th, Jon Niese knocked out his second hit of the game, and three pitches later Kirk Nieuwenhuis blasted a home run to right center.
• Nieuwenhuis and Torres broke it open in the 6th when Kirk singled home a run and Torres grounded a triple to the corner in right field to score two more. When the lights went out on tonight's game, Kirk & Andres combined to go 6-9 with 3 runs and 5 RBIs.
• Torres also made an impact with his arm: in the 6th inning, he gunned down David Freese at the plate to preserve the shutout and get Niese out of a jam in his final frame.

The Bad Stuff:

• Elvin Ramirez made his major league debut in the top of the 8th, and while his 0.65 minor league ERA implied there were only a few guys he couldn't get out, all those guys were in attendance tonight. Ramirez's first pitch was a hard single up the middle and his second lined off his leg before he could control it for the out. After striking out Matt Adams, he gave up an RBI single to Adron Chambers to break the scoreless streak and earn a hook in favor of Tim Byrdak, who got his man for the last out of the 8th. Ramirez's run in 2/3 of an inning equates to 13.50, definitely not pretty. "Hey rookie, welcome to the big show."

Final Analysis:
When was the last time the Mets had a weekend this fun? Flawless starting pitching, great offense, and all against the defending world champions. These three games were about as Amazin' as they possibly get, and the result was a series win, at least 7 wins in an 11-game homestand (they can go for 8 and their first 4-game sweep of STL since 1986), and a tie atop the NL East with the Nationals and Marlins. One third of the way through the season, the New York Mets are 31-23, 8 games over .500 for the first time in almost two years, and in first place. Dare I say it, the Mets are playing like...contenders. "Believe it, amigo!"

MM

Game #53: Mets 5, Cardinals 0

NY Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is pumped as he baffles the Cardinals all afternoon at Citi Field. (NYDailyNews.com)

How do you follow up a no-hitter? Like this.

R.A. Dickey turned in a masterpiece of his own and the Mets benefited from a strange 2nd inning on the way to beating the Cardinals 5-0.

The Good Stuff:

• In the first game of the post-No-han era, R.A. Dickey earned his own spot in the limelight. That knuckleball danced its way to a complete game, 7-hit shutout in 100 pitches. It was R.A.'s 8th win of 2012, matching his total from the entirety of last season, and lowered his ERA all the way down to 2.69. Without that rain-soaked April affair in Atlanta, that number would be down to 1.71. "Real All-Star"? You bet.
• Dickey had the benefit of a solid Mets infield that turned 3 double plays over the course of the game, one 4-6-3 and two of the 6-4-3 variety.
• New York got its best offense in the 2nd on one of the strangest sequences of the year. Ike Davis led off with a single and Omar Quintanilla was hit by a pitch. Josh Thole then hit it where they weren't, pounding out an infield single. Up came R.A. to help out his own cause, which he did by hitting a sharp groundball that second baseman Daniel Delasco couldn't handle; Delasco's throw was low to first, and everyone was save with Ike coming home to score. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Andres Torres also had RBIs in the inning on two groundballs, making it 3 runs in the 2nd that came when the ball was never more than a couple feet off the ground at any time.
• Another run came in in the 7th when Daniel Murphy came home on an Eduardo Sanchez wild pitch. The last run came in the 8th when David Wright blasted a solo home run to right field.

The Bad Stuff:

• Once again, the Bad from this game was more like just the Other. Unfortunately, there are a couple injuries to report in the aftermath of last night's party.
• You had a feeling Mike Baxter was seriously hurt after The Catch, and that feeling was spot-on: Baxter suffered a displaced collar bone and will likely miss 6 weeks. Sure, it sucks that the injury bug has bitten once more, but I would say he willingly gave himself to that bug. Six weeks may seem like a long time, but it's an alright price to pay for baseball immortality.
• This injury, however...this one's a little harder to explain. Ramon Ramirez injured his hamstring during last night's no-hitter celebration and will go on the DL. File this one under the "GOB" category.

Final Analysis:
To borrow a phrase from legendary Cub voice Harry Carey, "Ho-ly cow!" While it wasn't a no-hitter, it was just about a perfect outing from R.A. Dickey, and the result was the Mets' first back-to-back shutouts since...last weekend. Guess who was responsible for those two outings? The All-Star one-two punch of Santana and Dickey.

Felt bad for Dickey that he had to follow a no-hitter? Think about how Jon Niese must feel having to follow both those guys, oh by the way, in front of a national primetime audience on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. But the way Met starters are rolling right now (a 1.53 ERA in the last 8 games), he's got as good a chance as any.

MM

Game #52 (8,020): Mets 8, Cardinals 0

(NYDailyNews.com)

And in this, the 8,020th game, "It has happened."

It was Johan Santana who made the night of June 1, 2012 an immortal one in New York Mets history as he tossed the first no-hitter in franchise history, blanking the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0.

The Good Stuff:

• Here are the numbers we will have burned into our minds for years to come: no runs, no hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts, 134 pitches.
• Santana's previous career high was 125 pitches and the most he had gone this season was about 106. Once the 7th inning was complete, the only concern was whether this man who was coming off major shoulder surgery would be allowed to go back out there for the 8th. At this point, with 50 years of history staring in his face, there was no way Terry Collins was going to lay a finger on his starter. He went back out for the 8th, and then the 9th, getting Matt Holiday to line out to center, Allen Greg to fly out to left, and David Freese to fish after a beautiful 79 mph changeup to send 27,069 Citi faithful and millions more from Long Island to Long Beach sky-high.
• After being mobbed by his team on the mound, Johan went to the dugout to receive a handshake and a hug from the man who had the confidence to leave him in. He then went in for an on-field interview with SNY's Kevin Burkhardt, and after addressing the fans, "I know you've waited a long time for this," received a whipped cream pie in the face from Justin Turner, boot and all. "At least it wasn't shaving cream!"

The Other Stuff:

• Let's face it, there's no Bad Stuff tonight. Just the Other.
• The closest the Cardinals came to a hit was in the 6th inning when Carlos Beltran (who was warmly received by the Citi Field crowd...that's what I was going to write about tonight) hit a line drive down the third base line that was ruled foul. Replays and a mark in the chalk showed otherwise, and I'll leave it at that.
• Every one of these things has "the catch that saved the no-no," and tonight that came in the 7th inning. On a 3-1 fastball with one out, Yadier "That Guy" Molina sent a rocket to left field. Charging to the wall came Mike Baxter, and The Whitestone Kid secured it in his glove before crashing shoulder-first into the padding. Baxter left the game with a shoulder contusion, but received a standing ovation for keeping history alive. Something tells me that will dull the pain better than any anesthesia.
• Oh by the way, the Mets' bats scored 8 runs tonight! Lucas Duda led the way with 4 RBIs, including a 3-run homer in the 6th that all but clinched the W. In the 7th, David Wright drew a bases-loaded walk and Daniel Murphy singled home two more later. Murphy also had an RBI triple in the 4th inning.

Final Analysis:
At the beginning of the season, this the Mets 50th Anniversary campaign, I made a bold prediction: I said it was R.A. Dickey who would break the drought and give team it's first no-no. Never have I been more happy to be wrong.

One of the more well-chronicled phenomena in baseball history, the Mets had at least a dozen men who pitched no hitters either before coming to or after leaving the franchise. It had even been almost 37 years since a Met last took a no-no bid into the 9th (Tom Seaver, on his 3rd attempt). Eight thousand nineteen games had been played in New York Mets history, and 8,019 times the other team had at least a "1" underneath their "H" column. But in Game #8,020, against the defending world champions, Johan Santana gave the fans an Amazin' moment they thought would never come.

Three things come to mind as I wrap up this post I never saw coming. First, the Mets were not the last team to get its first no-hitter (suck it Padres). Second, the team doesn't have to do anything else this season; they could lose every game from here on out and it would still be a successful year. Third, one of the first things I did after the euphoria of the initial celebration with my dad, a lifelong Met fan himself, was check NoNoHitters.com, a daily reminder to Met fans of how long it has taken. It was down. How appropriate.

But now, one more question remains. For the last 50+ years fans have waited for this moment. Now it has come and gone. So...now what?

"Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts."

MM

June 1, 2012

Game #51: Phillies 10, Mets 6

Mets starter Dillon Gee talks things over with catcher Rob Johnson. (NYDailyNews.com)

For a short time it looked like New York would channel the play from last night's win. Instead, they pulled a Monday. And we hate Mondays.

The NY bullpen choked up 9 runs in the last 3 innings and buried the team in a hole there was no coming out of as the Mets dropped the series finale against the Phillies, 10-6.

The Bad Stuff:

• Dillon Gee left with a 3-1 lead and the W in sight. Three pitches from Bobby Parnell later, and that was all for naught as Carlos Ruiz went deep to tie it at 3, the second time the Phillies tied it a half-inning after the Mets took the lead.
• In the 8th, Jon Rauch put runners on the corners before striking out Ty Wigginton. Shane Victorino hit a hard sac fly to center that brought home speedy Juan Pierre to give Philadelphia the lead.
• For the second time in three days, the Mets were down just one run in the top of the 9th, and a good showing from the bullpen would give them a good chance in the bottom half against a pitcher they had gotten to earlier in the year (Jonathan Papelbon). Unfortunately, the Mets would come up in the 9th with not a single-run deficit but one of too many to overcome. Tim Byrdak and Ramon Ramirez split the runs allowed on Jimmy Rollins's 3-run homer, and 2 more runs came in on Chris Schwinden's watch. When the dust settled it was 10-3. Even the best teams can't come back from a 7-run deficit with 3 outs to go.
• This horrid outing skyrockets the bullpen's ERA to a major league-worst 5.45.
• The Mr. Q Magic finally ran out as Omar Quintanilla went 0-4 with a strikeout.

The Good Stuff:

• The bullpen's collapse wasted what would've been a really quality win by Dillon Gee, who out-dueled Cliff Lee and went 6.2 innings of 2-run, 6-hit ball, walking 1 and striking out 5.
• New York showed their mettle in the 9th inning, fighting back for 3 runs in garbage time to cut the final deficit. Lucas Duda led off with his second home run of the game, giving him 3 on this homestand and the team lead with 7 round-trippers. Andres Torres doubled in Kirk Nieuwenhuis with 2 outs and Daniel Murphy singled Torres home to make it 6 for the home team.
• David Wright led off the scoring in the 1st inning, just barely missing a home run to dead center but settling for an RBI double. David went just 1-5 in the game but picked up another RBI in this series.

Final Analysis:
The rough outing from the bullpen will take the headlines tomorrow morning, but that's old news already. The 3-run 9th gets rid of some of the bad taste in Met fans' mouths. Lucas Duda's hitting the ball hard now, like he should. And as the SNY crew pointed out from the Pepsi Porch in right field, that last frame was a snapshot of the team mentality on the season: even with their backs against the wall in impossible situations, they refuse to give up.

The Mets have their first off day in almost three weeks tomorrow as they get ready for a 4-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals and welcome back "party" for one Carlos Beltran. It will be interesting to see what the Amazin' faithful will do when he first comes up to the plate; expect a post from me on Rising Apple tomorrow that addresses that reunion.

MM

Game #50: Mets 6, Phillies 3

Mets pitcher Jeremy Hefner helps his cause with a solo home run blast in the fourth inning. (NYDailyNews.com)

Four extra base hits from the 8 and 9 spots in the order? Just another day at the ballpark for the New York Mets.

Jeremy Hefner won his first game in the majors and helped his own cause with a home run and Omar Quitanilla made a splash in his return to the bigs to inspire the Mets to a solid yet soggy 6-3 win over the Phillies.

The Good Stuff:

• He gave up a couple runs early but Jeremy Hefner was not discouraged, picking up a quality start with 6 innings of 3-run, 6-hit ball, including no walks and 4 strikeouts in his first career W. It was only Hefner's fourth major-league appearance, but it was the third in normal circumstances and the third which impressed. Last time's trouncing against the Padres was a fluke because of the rain he had to sit through; tonight's outing is closer to the Jeremy Hefner we will likely see in the future, as the Pride of Perkins, Oklahoma has earned himself another start for the orange and blue.
• Hefner also had a big night at the plate: in the 2nd he bunted Omar Quintanilla (we'll have more on him later) to third, which set up Mike Baxter for the go-ahead RBI double. By the 4th, Hef was having so much fun out there today he said, "Hey, why don't I help out my own cause?" Not even seconds after guest Bud Harrelson declared his support for the DH, Hefner launched his first career home run to deep left to make it 4-2.
• Speaking of having fun out there, welcome back to the major leagues, Omar Quintanilla. The 30-year-old journeyman was brought up to be shortstop after Justin Turner's placement on the DL and made a splash right of the bat. When the dust settled, he was 3-4 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. Hefner's earned himself another start tonight, and I'd say Mr. Q has earned himself one too.
• Quintanilla's second two-bagger came in the 6th, just before Scott Hairston pinch-hit for Hefner. Keith Hernandez on SNY just finished expressing his preference to leave Jeremy in there to bunt again when Hairston took a 3-2 changeup from Joe Blanton and deposited it in the left field stands. It was the last pitch Blanton would throw on the night and Hairston's 6th round-tripper of the year, giving him the team lead. Said Keith: something to the tune of "Well, that's better than a bunt."
• David Wright and Ike Davis each had RBI singles in the 1st inning to get the scoring going for New York.
• When Hefner made his exit, the suddenly rock-solid Mets bullpen took care of the rest. Bobby Parnell got through the 7th inning in just 8 pitches and Jon Rauch gave up a leadoff single but otherwise breezed through the 8th. A rain delay of just over an hour looked like it would wash out the final frame, but when it stopped pouring, Frank Francisco took care of business with his 14th save to send those soaked few remaining from the crowd of 25,487 home happy.

The Bad Stuff:

• Lucas Duda continues to struggle at the plate, going 0-3 with a walk and 2 Ks before being lifted for a defensive sub in the 8th. Big Dude is now down to a .245 batting average and is hitless in his last 4 games.

Final Analysis:

This is the kind of win that would've been considered Amazin' earlier in the season, especially with the lineup that was sent out to start. But dare I say it, this was a routine win for the Mets tonight. Solid pitching, clutch hitting, reliable bullpen work. It's also another case of the team not getting down on itself after a tough loss the day before.

These kinds of wins are becoming commonplace at Citi Field, thanks to the hard work of the 25 men who put on a Mets uniform. Terry Collins had it right earlier today: "When you put that uniform on, there's a certain expectation about how you're going to play." Two years ago that kind of sentiment would've gotten a laugh at the local papers, but nowadays it's becoming a matter of fact. Today, those expectations were realized. Tomorrow we expect their best as well, and we'll get it no matter the result.

MM

Game #49: Phillies 8, Mets 4

The Mets lose shortstop Justin Turner to a sprained right ankle during a rundown in the third inning. The team’s options at the position are woefully thin. (NYDailyNews.com)

On a day we use to remember, New York made it one to forget.

A couple comebacks were wasted when Manny Acosta served up a 3-run homer in the 9th that put it out of reach for the Mets, who dropped the Memorial Day affair to the Phillies, 8-4.

The Bad Stuff:

• Jon Niese didn't have the best of outings, giving up 4 runs on 2 hits and 5 walks in 5 innings. New York bailed him out but it was definitely an L-worthy performance from Niese today.
• Already paper-thin in the infield, the Mets suffered another injury as Justin Turner went down with a nasty ankle sprain on a rundown in the bottom of the 3rd inning. The injury turned out to be not as bad as it looked in real time, but Le Grande Orange Jr. will still miss 2-3 weeks. This forced Terry Collins to get creative with his infield: Vinny Rottino moved in from left field to third base, and David Wright took over Turner's void at shortstop.
• After the Mets came back twice with 2-run homers (see Good Stuff below), Bobby Parnell couldn't hold back the Philadelphia bats in the 7th, as a single, walk, and 2-out single brought home the go-ahead run.
• Even by the time the 9th inning rolled around, New York was still in it to win it: down just 5-4 with a closer they had already gotten to earlier in the year (Jonathan Papelbon), their chances were still pretty good. But Manny Acosta came in and put all those hopes to rest, allowing a 3-run homer to Ty Wigginton that ended all hopes of a comeback. Acosta's ERA now stands at 11.86 on the year, numbers that make DJ Carrasco look like Mariano Rivera.
• David Wright grounded out to end the game and end another 0-for: Wright went 0-4 and is hitless in his last 4 games, hitting just 4 for his last 26. With dreams of .400 in the rearview mirror, now David has to focus on getting back on track and becoming the (slightly more believable) superstar he was meant to be.

The Good Stuff:

• The Mets showed their fight in the 5th and 6th innings, coming back from 2-run deficits in each of the frames. Vinny Rottino opened the scoring with a 2-run homer in the 5th, the second of his career and second in three days. In the 6th, Scott Hairston went deep for another 2-run bomb, tying the game at 4-all and tying him with Wright and Ike Davis for the team lead in longballs with 5.

Final Analysis:
Toughest stretch of the season? You bet. Turner's injury cast a pall on the entire team this afternoon, and Acosta's latest stinker sunk the ship. If the Mets want to hold their own over this next month and be contenders post-All-Star break, two things have to happen. First, injuries need to go away quickly (a completely unpredictable phenomenon, so it will be hard to guard against. Second, Manny Acosta has got to go (a much more controllable proposition). A roster move will be required to replace Justin on the active roster tomorrow, why not bring up another reliever, as well? It'll give the man from Buffalo some company.

MM

Game #48: Mets 2, Padres 0

Cousins Olivia Nuzzo and Stephanie Giangrande of Brooklyn display the winning banner. (NYDailyNews.com)

It was a Banner Day at Citi Field...before, during, and after the game.

R.A. Dickey turned in another superb outing and the Mets held the Padres scoreless for the second straight afternoon, winning the game and the series, 2-0.

The Good Stuff:

• R.A. Dickey had the knuckler dancing all afternoon, turning in 7.1 shutout innings and 10 strikeouts. It was the first time a Met has thrown back-to-back double digit strikeouts since Pedro Martinez in 2006. R.A. gave up just 3 hits and didn't walk his first man until his last batter, departing to the dugout and tipping his cap to the adoring crowd of 28,361.
• Tim Byrdak came in to clean up Dickey's mess in the 8th, taking down two San Diego hitters to send it to the 9th. Then Frank Francisco came on and retired his 10th, 11th, 12th consecutive batters to secure the victory. "Who is this guy?" quipped Howie Rose when Frank-Frank was through. This is a guy, Howie, who is back on track as a closer and has still technically only blown 2 saves in his 15 tries.
• The Mets got all the offense they needed in the 1st inning: taking advantage of a walk-happy Edison Volquez, Daniel Murphy punched home David Wright with a 2-out RBI single.
• In the 5th, Mike Baxter led off with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and came home on the very next toss thanks to a passed ball given up by Nick Hundley. It was a Padre gift and gave New York a cushion it would not need in the end but was still so very nice to have.

The Bad Stuff:

• David Wright turned in another 0-for, making it his third straight game without a hit. The slump has brought his average down to "just" .382, and it appears the chase for .400 is over before the quarter pole was even out of reach.
• Ike Davis went 0-3 and struck out twice, snapping his brief hits and RBIs streak.

Final Analysis:
I said it on Thursday after the rain-induced loss: win the next three and it's still a successful series. Well guess what: the Mets did just that, and in grand fashion on this Memorial Day weekend, turning in back-to-back shutouts for the first time in just over a year (not to mention 26 scoreless innings overall).

The team is now comfortably 6-games over .500 as they turn into their toughest stretch of the season: Phillies, Cardinals, Nationals, Yankees, Rays, Reds, Orioles, Yankees. If they can hold their own over this next month, the New York Mets may still be legitimate contenders by the time the All-Star Break rolls around.

MM

Game #47: Mets 9, Padres 0

Johan Santana tips his cap to the Mets faithful after his complete-game four-hitter vs. Padres Saturday. (NYDailyNews.com)

They gave him a 4-run cushion. And this time, Johan Santana didn't squander it.

Santana tossed a complete-game shutout and three home runs gave him more than enough run support as the Mets dominated the Padres, 9-0.

The Good Stuff:

• Johan Santana got high run support his last time out in Pittsburgh, but a weak Pirate offense managed to get the best of him. This time, Santana was masterful on the mound, channeling his Cy Young-worthy days in Minnesota and pitching a complete-game 4-hit shutout in 2 hours 18 minutes and 96 pitches.
• San Diego starter Clayton Richard also threw 96 pitches in 6 innings, but it was his first 26 that most helped the home team.
• Andres Torres singled, then after Justin Turner flew out, David Wright drew a walk to bring up Scott Hairston. After Torres forced Richard to balk, Hairston golfed a low 3-2 fastball into the Party City Deck to give his team a 3-0 lead.
• After Lucas Duda hit a groundball for out number 2, Vinny Rottino came up with something to prove. At age 32, career minor leaguer Rottino was still looking for his first big league home run. On a 2-1 fastball, Vinny swung and sent one that just kept going, going, going all the way over the fence. 4-0, lifelong dream realized, Mets in the lead.
• The scoring stopped until the 8th inning when New York poured it on like the rain from Thursday night.
• Justin Turner led off with a single against former Met Dale Thayer. After David Wright grounded out to advance Turner to second, Ike Davis came up to pinch hit. Davis had 4 RBIs in the series already and looked for more, driving a ball to the wall in left center for an RBI double.
• Ike's resurgence would've been enough to close the story for the day, but Mike Nickeas had other ideas. Four batters later the bases were loaded for light-hitting Nickeas, and on an 0-1 fastball he swung hard and drove it hard for his second career home run, the team's first grand slam of 2012, and a nail in the Padre coffin.

The Bad Stuff:

• First time I've got to say this this year: these kinds of games spoil us as fans! After such a great outing, just about anything that can come tomorrow will be a letdown. Well, just about everything...the only thing that could be better is the one thing that separates us from the Padres in one key category.

Final Analysis:
And I thought yesterday's win was a dominant one. Johan was vintage, the power was there, and Ike's re-surging. What could be more Amazin'? Keep it up, boys.

MM

Game #46: Mets 6, Padres 1

Lucas Duda crushes second-inning home run to tie the score against the Padres on Friday night. (NYDailyNews.com)

With the game inching closer to the variety of yesterday's laugher, the local boy reeled in the ball, the game, and eventually, the win.

Mike Baxter's game-saving catch in the 1st inspired one of Dillon Gee's best career starts and the Mets rebounded to take down the Padres, 6-1.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee had put runners on first and third with one out in the 1st and appeared in deep trouble as Jesus Guzman launched one to left field. But the Whitestone Kid, Mike Baxter, made a leaping grab up against the wall and made a toss to first to double off Yonder Alonzo for the inning-ending double play. The first run did score, but the play seemed to energize the whole team, and San Diego would score no more.
• The game was tied in the 2nd when Lucas Duda blasted his first home run in about a month. In the next inning, Gee helped his own cause with a 1-out double, and soon came home on another double by "my good friend Baxter over here." Baxter was in turn brought home by Kirk Nieuwenhuis on a line drive single, and all of a sudden the Mets were up 3-1.
• New York put it away in the 5th when after Nieuwenhuis singled and Duda drew a 2-out walk, Daniel Murphy laced a double to left to score one. On the very next pitch, Ike Davis lifted a line drive into center to bring home two more and make it 6-1. It was Ike's second straight game with a 2-run single, and Met fans get more hopeful with every swing of the bat.
• The run support was more than enough for Dillon Gee, who turned in one of his best starts as a major-leaguer, going the Solid Seven, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, and striking out a career-high 9 batters to pick up his 4th W of 2012.
• After Gee made his exit, the New York bullpen came in and did brilliant mop-up duty: Tim Byrdak worked the equivalent of 3 Byrdak appearances by going through a whole inning, and Ramon Ramirez handled a 1-2-3 9th to secure the win.

The Bad Stuff:

• David Wright went 0-3 with a walk to drop his average to .397, but really we're just fishing for Bad Stuff at this point; if the Mets can score 6 runs with David Wright going hitless, that's a pretty darn good day.

Final Analysis:
This is the kind of game we expected last night before the rains came. Better late than never: the Mets had solid pitching, clutch hitting, and fantastic bullpen work, and it resulted in one of the more convincing wins they've picked up this season. Ironically, it can still be counted as a comeback win: down 1, New York scored 6 unanswered runs to secure the victory. Funny how those things happen, right? One of the many, many reasons I love baseball.

MM

Game #45: Padres 11, Mets 5

The fans in San Diego must've done a rain dance, because that rain gave their team the most offense they've had all season.

Jeremy Hefner was roughed up after the rain delay and the bullpen couldn't keep it close as the Mets fell to the Padres, 11-5.

The Bad Stuff:

• In his first big league start with his family in town from Oklahoma, Jeremy Hefner was cruising through 2 innings, getting through the first couple frames with just a hit against him in 17 pitches. Then the rains came, and Hefner's mightiest opponent tonight was the 68-minute delay. He lasted less than 2 innings more and had 6 earned runs put up against him.
• Normally this would be a case of the Curse of Mike Pelfrey's Old Spot and Jeremy Hefner would be the third such man to try and fail to dam that river. However, considering his arm was probably a wet noodle after sitting out in the rain for an hour, I think it's fair to withhold judgment until his next start, when all is likely the rain gods will be pelting somewhere else in the majors.
• Judgment cannot be withheld any further on Manny Acosta, however. He allowed 3 more runs in 2 relief innings and let the Padres pull away for good. With an ERA now standing at 10.80, the calls will be even louder to give him the hook. I'd have to agree: Acosta's been completely ineffective in 2012, and a trip to the minors might do him some good (it would certainly do the team some good). I can envision a scenario in which the very next pitcher to come up, starter and reliever, would put in motion Acosta's demotion.
• Lefty Robert Carson wasn't so hot in his 2 innings either, allowing 2 more runs including a home run to the least power-effective team in the NL. I'm all for giving Carson more experience, but I thought the explanation was kind of lame: giving Tim Byrdak a few days off because he's overworked. I know he's had a lot of appearances, but the last 12 of them have been to retire a single batter. If GOB Bluth were here right now he'd have something to say about that.

The Good Stuff:

• David Wright is a .400 hitter for at least one more day: the world's hottest hitter went 3-5 with a 1st-inning double and a 2-run homer to dead-center in the 6th, moving him into a tie with (believe it or not) Ike Davis for the team lead with 5 longballs. Wright's average stands at .405.
• With the pressure of a potential demotion lifted from his shoulders, Ike Davis came to bat in the 8th a little less angsty and drove in 2 runs on a solid single. Any time Ike does something good, a little light goes off in our heads, and this time is no exception: maybe, just maybe, with the knowledge and relief that he won't be visiting Buffalo any time soon, Ike Davis will be able to turn the ship around.

Final Analysis:
I'm not usually one to make excuses, but I have to say the rain took this one away from the Mets. Jeremy Hefner was money on the mound before the delay, but 68 minutes later he was spent. Maybe with a regular game flow he would've gotten the job done and I'd have Good Stuff ahead of Bad Stuff after this one.

You never want to expect a sweep, although one against the hapless San Diego Padres would've been less difficult than against other potential foes. However, 3 out of 4 ain't bad. As long as the Mets limit the Padres to just one game's worth of hap this weekend, it will be a successful series and a great way to start the homestand.

MM

Game #44: Mets 3, Pirates 1

Jon Niese throws 7-2/3 innings of one-run ball for the Mets Wednesday, picking up his third win of the season in a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. (NYDailyNews.com)

He started out the trip with a whimper, but Jon Niese closed it out with a bang.

Niese went nearly 8 innings and got all the offense he needed from Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and David Wright, as the Mets took the rubber game against the Pirates 3-1.

The Good Stuff:

• After giving up 4 home runs in 3 innings in Toronto on Friday, Jon Niese was looking for a bounceback effort. And oh, did he bounce back: 7.2 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts to pick up his first W since his second start of the year.
• New York's offense was able to give Niese a lead before he even took the mound: Kirk Nieuwenhuis singled with 1 out in the 1st, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on David Wright's flyout, and came home on a hard-hit single by Lucas Duda.
• Nieuwenhuis returned the favor at the plate in the 5th, launching a long sac fly to left to score Rob Johnson. On the very next pitch, Wright took Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton deep, missing a home run by just a couple feet off the 20+ foot wall in right; he would have to settle for the RBI double that scored Mike Baxter and provided a comfortable cushion against the worst offensive team in the National League.
• The Mets had that cushion and more on Monday and couldn't hold it, but Niese kept from imploding and the bullpen took care of the rest: Bobby Parnell struck out Andrew McCutchen with runners on second and third to end the 8th, and Frank Francisco delivered another 1-2-3 save, striking out 2. Frank-Frank's circus act has become less, um, "entertaining" the last few outings, as he has retired 8 men in a row. I like excitement as much as the next guy, but when it comes to my closer, I'd prefer just a stroll through the park. Francisco's headed in the right direction.

The Bad Stuff:

• Had to fish for some Bad today but here it is: David Wright dropped under .400 for the year, going 1-4  to bring his average down to "just" .399. Wright's in what we would consider a "mini-slump": 1 for his last 8 at the plate. But if this is as rough as it gets for David this year, he'll win MVP.

Final Analysis:
It's a simple equation: Great Pitching + Clutch Hitting = Win. The Mets rode that formula all the way twice in the last 24 hours and escaped Pittsburgh with a well-deserved series win.

As tumultuous as this road trip seemed, the Mets held their own, going 3-3 and winning 3 of their last 4. The team is back up to 4 games over .500 and feeling good going home to face the hapless San Diego Padres. If they take 3 of 4 against the Friars, they'll have won 6 of 8 when the rival Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals come to town; with the momentum from the past week, New York should be able to "wipe out that excess red from their ledgers."

MM

Game #43: Mets 3, Pirates 2

Mets starter R. A. Dickey did not issue a walk as he struck out a career high over seven innings. (NYTimes.com)

Even with Frank Francisco manning the last inning, there was no way New York was letting this W get away from R.A. Dickey.

Dickey struck out a career-high 11 batters and the Mets scored 2 runs in the 8th inning en route to a nail-biting 3-2 win over the Pirates.

The Good Stuff:

• In baseball's ballroom of a ballpark, the knuckleball was in its spiffed up best, and one Robert Allen Dickey was its dashing escort. R.A. may as well have worn a tuxedo tonight he looked so good, going the Solid Seven allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, walking none and dishing out 11 Ks with that most baffling of all pitches. It was Dickey's 6th win in 9 starts this year, bringing him within 2 Ws of his total from all of last season. His ERA stands at a solid 3.45, and even that is misleading: 8 of those runs came in one rainy start in Atlanta; take that outing away and he's down to 2.38. He's on pace for 20 Ws in 2012, and knuckelball or not, he deserves a spot on the NL All-Star team. Here's hoping Tony La Russa isn't discriminated against the slow dancer.
• Locked in a duel with James McDonald, a pretty good pitcher in his own right who picked up 8 Ks of his own in 7 innings, New York was tied 1-1 going into the 8th inning. After Andres Torres struck out pinch-hitting for Dickey (see Bad Stuff for more), Mike Baxter got on with a double that skipped out of Andrew McCutchen's glove in center. After Kirk Nieuwenhuis fought back an 0-2 count to draw the walk and David Wright struck out again (again, see Bad Stuff for more), Lucas Duda came up an blasted a line drive just off the mitt of Garrett Jones at first base to score Baxter and make it 2-1. Daniel Murphy then hit a line drive straight to third baseman Pedro Alvarez, who mishandled it and allowed Nieuwenhuis to score unearned.
• After Jon Rauch let in a run but got through 2 outs in the 8th, "Big-Time Timmy-Jim" Tim Byrdak came in to strike out Alvarez and notch his astounding 12th straight one-and-done appearance. Then in the 9th, circus music all queued up as Howie Rose on WFAN called for, Frank Francisco sent Pittsburgh down 1-2-3 to end the ballgame.
• That unearned run in the 8th turned out to be the difference. Hey, we gave them one yesterday, they decided to return the favor today. Now we're even.

The Bad Stuff:

• David Wright had a rare rough day at the plate, going 0-4 and striking out thrice. Everyone has those kinds of days, but with David as red-hot as he's been all year, it's still jarring to see him put up an oh-fer.
• Back to that pinch-hit in the 8th. R.A. Dickey had only thrown 89 pitches and was mowing down Pirates like he had his own lawn service, but in a tie ballgame Terry Collins opted to send out a struggling Andres Torres to try to get on base. Torres is mired in a slump and now "hitting the interstate," that is, in the .100s. Even with a pitcher up, it was a pitcher that nevertheless made contact more often than not (WFAN mentioned Dickey's only swung and missed twice all season, outstanding for a pitcher at the plate). It didn't cost the team at all in this game, but I'll question the decision to take out your red-hot (well, as "hot" as a knuckleballer can be) pitcher for a slumping pinch-hitter with an inconsistent-to-say-the-least bullpen backing the team up.

Final Analysis:
The last time R.A. Dickey set a personal strikeout record, it was around this time last year against this same Pirates team and even the same pitcher; in Game #54 last year, the Pittsburgh bats were the ones that woke up late and Dickey's stellar  outing was ruined. This time, it was R.A. who got another strikeout record, the W, and the last laugh over James McDonald and the Bucs.

It was a nice bounceback win for the Mets, who were able to put the awfulness of last night's L behind them and tie the series. One more win tomorrow afternoon and this tumultuous road trip finishes up 3-3, which you have to admit looks a lot better than it's felt.

MM

Game #42: Pirates 5, Mets 4

Johan Santana can't keep the Pirates in check on Monday night. (NYDailyNews.com)

When Pittsburgh opened up PNC Park back in 2001, it replaced the old cookie-cutter-style Three Rivers Stadium. When you replace that ugly a place with one of the most beautiful ballparks in the world, all that ugly has to go somewhere. Most of the time the Pirates themselves have absorbed all that aesthetic sin, but the Mets come in close second when it comes to bad baseball at PNC Park.

An early 4-0 lead wasn't enough as the Mets committed 3 errors that led to a Pirates comeback and a very bad 5-4 series-opening loss.

The Bad Stuff:

• David Wright came into today with 1 error on the season, a dramatic improvement from years past. Today he regressed a bit, committing 2 key errors that almost led to Pittsburgh runs. Thing is these errors were committed after the Pirates plated their runners, so they did not have any adverse effects on the game.
• The E in the 8th, however, had the worst kind of effect you could possibly have on a game. Tied 4-4 in the 8th, Jon Rauch got Neil Walker to hit a routine fly ball to left center, a ball which belonged to Kirk Nieuwenhuis in center. But Mike Baxter, getting some rare playing time in left field, did not back off for Nieuwenhuis to make the play; the ball trickled out of Kirk's glove as he ran into Baxter, and Walker was on with a 3-base error. Two batters later, he came home on Clint Barnes's sac fly to right, just barely sliding in under the Mike Nickeas tag after a nice throw from Lucas Duda.
• Under normal circumstances, the Mets would have never been in this situation, allowing 5 runs to by far the worst run-scoring team in the National League. But Johan Santana picked a bad time to have a relatively rough outing. Santana allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 6.1 innings, including 5 extra base hits: 4 doubles and the game-tying 2-run homer to Michael McKenry in the 7th. He remains stuck on 1 W for the season, but this time he wasn't robbed.
• After a 4-run big bang in the 2nd, the New York offense would score no more, hitting 2-7 with RISP and stranding 9.
• But perhaps the saddest part of today's loss was the continued ineffectiveness of Ike Davis. With the start at first base given to right-handed Vinny Rottino, Davis came off the bench to pinch-hit with 2 on in the 7th. As he has done all-too often in 2012, Ike struck out chasing a slider in the dirt. In the 9th, Ike came up again, this time the team's last chance against Pirate closer Joel Hanrahan. A great closer nonetheless, Hanrahan overpowered Davis on 5 fastballs to get the K and the win for his team. The worst part about this was from the get-go you knew Ike Davis had no chance. Now at .161 for the season and showing no signs of figuring it out any time soon, maybe now is the time to send him down to Buffalo for a couple weeks to see if he can figure it out. The trouble with that agonizing decision, as my dad pointed out a couple weeks ago, is there as much of a chance that going back to the minors will destroy Ike's confidence for good rather than help him build it up again. He goes down, and there's a chance we never see him again. It's an awful thing to think about, but something has do be done, for the sake of the team and Ike Davis himself.

The Good Stuff:

• David Wright's uncharacteristic ills in the field did nothing to deter his skill at the plate: David went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI to increase his league-leading average to .415.
• Tim Byrdak continues to be the left arm from heaven out of the bullpen: he got Pedro Alvarez to strike out swinging to end a Pirate threat in the 7th. This makes it the 10th straight appearance in which Byrdak pitched to just one man and got his man, and his 25th appearance overall in 42 games.

Final Analysis:
Maybe it was the grandeur and the beauty of PNC Park. Maybe it was the conversion back to American standards after spending the weekend (not to mention a holiday weekend) in Canada. Maybe it was the awe of playing in the city where The Dark Knight Rises was filmed (coincidentally coming out on my 21st birthday, July 20). Whatever it was, the Mets were just not in it to win it tonight. Sloppy defense, poor starting pitching, un-clutch hitting; you name it, New York had it tonight. This is one of those games you just want to put out of your head as quickly as possible. All they have to do is win the next two and it'll be out of our our memories, replaced by a successful road trip. But if the Mets drop one or two more, we'll look back on this and say, "Missed an opportunity there."

MM

Game #41: Mets 6, Blue Jays 5

David Wright goes 2-for-4 with a walk Sunday, raising his average to .412. (NYDailyNews.com)

New York led wire-to-wire in Toronto, and though that wire was down to its last threads by the 9th, it held to the very end.

A 3-run 1st gave Dillon Gee an early lead and he and the bullpen held off a Blue Jays' offensive assault as the Mets salvaged the series finale, 6-5.

The Good Stuff:

• The Mets got to Henderson Alvarez early: Andres Torres led off with a walk and Mike Baxter stretched a single into a double (this time without incident). David Wright drove them both home with a double and came home two batters later on Kirk Nieuwenhuis's double, which bounced out of Colby Rasmus's glove at the last second in center.
• A red-hot Baxter brought home another in the 2nd on an RBI triple and finished the day a home run shy of the cycle.
• New York scored 2 more in the 5th on RBIs by Daniel Murphy and Ike Davis to make it an even total of 6 runs on the day...
• ...All of which they would need. But Dillon Gee got his job done in 6.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits (one was a solo home run to Jose Bautista, but that guy's going to hit his against anyone; best to limit the damage and allow a 1-run shot).
• 2 more runs came in on Bobby Parnell's watch, but Tim Byrdak got his man once again to send it to the 9th. In came Frank Francisco, who has built up a reputation even more so than K-Rod as the ultimate "tightrope closer" (Howie Rose even went so far as to say they should hand out top hats whenever he takes the mound because it's a real circus). Frank-Frank issued a leadoff walk and an opposite-field single to Bautista, but buckled down to get the next three Toronto hitters, all of them with the potential to be big boppers, to big-bop their way back to the dugout with swinging strikeouts. Eric Thames was the last to go and the Mets got out of town avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Canadians.

The Bad Stuff:

• In a rare "high-leverage" situation, Bobby Parnell folded under the pressure in the 8th inning, giving up 2 runs and raising the blood pressure of Met fans from Long Island to Long Beach. One will remember last year when Parnell was given an audition at closer and couldn't get it done; it makes you wonder whether he's got the nerve to be a 9th inning guy. I'm in favor of giving him another chance if Francisco remains inconsistent, but if he fails again he may be doomed to the earlier innings for the rest of his career.
• New York kept this game unnecessarily close with more than a few missed chances, leaving 11 men on and coming up short with a prime opportunity in the 8th: Ike Davis led off with a double, went to third on a passed ball, and was thrown out at the plate trying to advance on another one. Ronny Cedeno hit what would've been an RBI single a couple pitches later, and Rob Johnson followed with a base knock of his own. After Andres Torres struck out (he's cold as ice, right now hitting .200 on the dot for the year), Mike Baxter walked to set up David Wright with a prime bases-loaded opportunity. Baseball's a funny game, let me tell you: we all gawk at David's .412 batting average through this year but we forget that the best to play the game still got hits in well less than half their at-bats. Even getting hits 41% of the time, Wright's getting outs 59% of the time. This was one of those 59% times: David struck out swinging to end the threat and complete the rare 0-run, 3-hit, 3-left-on inning.

Final Analysis:
Whew! The Mets almost gave this one away, but at the last second took the offer off the table and pocketed it for themselves. They will lick their wounds going back south of the border tonight and head into Pittsburgh for the last leg of this road trip looking to take a couple games and even things out. Simply put: if they can play like they did for most of today, they'll win. If they play like they did on Friday, Saturday, and at times today, they'll lose. The question for this inconsistent bunch is which team will show up to the beautiful PNC Park tomorrow night?

MM