Regular Season Game 14-Cubs at Mets

The New York Mets will try and win 2 games in a row for the first time this season when they host the Chicago Cubs this evening at 7:10PM. Mike Pelfrey is making the start against Carlos Zambrano. Here are some of the notes and the lineup for tonights game. Mike Pelfrey recorded his first save of his career on April 17th in the 20th inning when he recorded a scoreless inning. The Mets pitching staff has the 3rd lowest era in the NL and 7th in the majors at 3.50. They have a 1.19 era over their last 31 innings pitched. Jason Bay will e presented with the 2009 Tip O'Neill Award handed out by the Canadien Baseball Hall Of Fame and Museum before tonights game. He had a good day yesterday and will look to continue that and end his rough start. Mets Lineup: Reyes(SS) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Francoeur(RF) Davis(1B) Pagan(CF) Blanco(C) Pelfrey(P)

Regular Season Game 13-Cubs at Mets

The New York Mets return home tonight to take on the Chicago Cubs. They will try to win their first series of the year. Here are some of the notes and lineups for tonights game. Ike Davis the Mets big time first base prospect has been called up and Tobi Stoner was sent down to AAA Buffalo. The Mets have lost their first 4 series to start the year. The last time they failed to win one of their first four series was in 1997. They had 2 longer streaks losing their first 6 series in 1962 and their first 7 in 1964. That was when they first came into being though. The Mets are one of only two teams that have yet to allow an unearned run. The other team is the Minnesota Twins. The Mets have 9 homers in their first 12 games ranking 23rd in the majors in that category. The only teams with fewer are Detroit, Washington, Oakland, Seattle and Houston. David Wright leads the majors in walks this season with 17, he also has 10 hits being one of 11 players to have double digits in both categories. He is the only one with more walks then hits. The Mets bullpen leads the national league and is second in the majors in era. They have a 2.34 era. 27 french high school students will be attending the game tonight. They are grounded in NY due to the volcanic eruption in iceland and can't get back home. They are staying at the Laguardia Marriot and are guests of the Mets tonight. Mets catchers have thrown out 3 of 6 base stealers which is tied for best in the majors. Mets Lineup: Pagan(CF) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Francoeur(RF) Davis(1B) Barajas(C) Cora(SS) Niese(P)

Mets blow lead and end trip on sour note

The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 5-3 this evening. They led 3-0 mostly with the help of poor defense by the Cardinals. John Maine pitched better but once again his pitch count was up to 115 in 5 innings. He gave up a 3 run homerun to Colby Rasmus in the 5th inning. The Mets offense once again was no where to be found. They didn't do anything with Adam Wainwright after scoring 3 runs. They had 4 hits all game and they just haven't been able to get it going offensively. Jason Bay has started off bad and Jeff Francoeur after being so hot has not had a hit in the last 2 games. Jose Reyes is still in spring training mode and although Wright has hit a couple of homeruns he isn't doing much either. The Mets are expected to call up super 1st base prospect Ike Davis tomorrow and see if that injects some life into them. If they don't win on this homstand the manager will get fired and maybe even the general manager. The question is who would come in to take over. The rumblings right now are Bob Melvin or Bobby Valentine. If Valentine comes in then most likely it would be a whole new staff including general manger but if it is Melvin then maybe Omar Minaya will buy some time. It will be a interesting week and the Mets better get some wins.

Regular Season Game 12-Mets at Cardinals

The New York Mets designated Mike Jacobs for assignment and called up pitcher Tobi Stoner. I think that is the best name in baseball, after yesterdays marathon they wanted to have a fresh arm which makes sense. The Mets will play at 8:05 tonight, i will have the notes and lineups a little later. Mets Lineup: Reyes(SS) Cora(2B) Wright(3B) Catalanotto(1B) Francoeur(RF) Matthews(CF) Barajas(C) Pagan(LF) Maine(P) Cards Lineup: Schumaker(2B) Ludwick(RF) Pujols(1B) Holliday(RF) Rasmus(CF) Molina(C) Freese(3B) Ryan(SS) Wainwright(P) Enjoy the game tonight on ESPN, hopefully since it starts at 8:00PM it won't be like yesterdays game. I don't think any of us can make it for too many hours tonight.

Mets win a wild one

What can I say that game was unbelievable. The Mets defeated the Cardinals in 20 innings by the score of 2-1. There were position players pitching and pitchers playing the outfield. There was no score until the 19th inning when Jeff Francoeur hit a sac fly and then the Cardinals came right back to tie it. The Mets won it in the 20th on a Jose Reyes sac fly. The Mets have had these type of games in their history. The longest one in their history was in 1974 at Shea Stadium when they lost 4-3 to the Cardinals. They lost in 24 innings to the Houston Astros in 1968. It was the longest scoreless game in history. The Cardinals had plenty of chances but couldn't come through. Mike Pelfrey who started on Thursday closed out the game for the Mets. K-rod blew the save but was up in the bullpen a bunch of times. He said he was just gassed from getting up and sitting down so many times. The two teams will play tomorrow night at 8:05PM eastern time in Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. I wonder what they will do for an encore?? I will have my article I wrote for Worldnewsvine on here probably tomorrow morning.

Regular Season Game 9-Mets at Rockies

The New York Mets will try and salvage a game in Colorado this afternoon. Mike Pelfrey will be making the start. Here is the Mets lineup for todays game. Mets Lineup: Reyes(SS) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Francoeur(RF) Tatis(1B) Blanco(C) Pagan(CF) Pelfrey(P) Jorge De La Rosa is the starting pitcher for the Rockies. Today is the 63rd anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier and making his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In honor everyone in baseball today will wear #42. The Mets lost their 3rd straight series which was the first time since 1997. Jeff Francoeur has collected at least one hit in the first 8 games. The Mets are 4th in the NL with 36 walks. They have also given up 36 walks which is 4th most in the NL. The Mets bullpen has been a bright spot so far with the 2nd best era in the majors. They have a 2.08 era. Their starters though have a 6.91 era which is 28th out of the 30 teams. They need starting pitching and that will be their downfall all year if they don't find pitching or someone they haven't doesn't step it up. David Wright is 6 hits away from tying Howard Johnson for 8th on the Mets all time hits list. He is 2 doubles shy of tying Edward Kranepool for the team record with 225.

Regular Season Game 4-Nationals at Mets

Here is the Mets lineup for tonights game against the Nationals. Mike Pelfrey makes the start against Garrett Mock. Mets Lineup: Pagan(CF) Cora(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Jacobs(1B) Francoeur(RF) Barajas(C) Tejada(SS) Pelfrey(P) Here are some of the game notes. Ruben Tejada is the youngest player to start a major league game at SS since B.J. Upton did it with Tampa Bay in 2004. The Mets have 5 rookies on the team which is the most in the major leagues. Jenrry Mejia is the youngest player in the majors and Ruben Tejada is the second youngest. Ryota Igarashi became the 11th Japanese born Met to appear in a game when he got into last nights game. Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur have collected at least 1 hit in each of the Mets first 3 games. Fernando Nieve has pitched in all 3 of the Mets games and hasn't allowed a run.

Mets lose rubber game to Marlins

The New York Mets lost their rubber game of their 3 game series with the Marlins by the score of 3-1. The offense was just lifeless as the Mets pitching was good especially the bullpen. Jon Niese game them 6 pretty good innings. He gave up 3 runs on 8 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Hisanori Takahashi and Ryota Igarashi each pitched scoreless innings giving up a walk. Fernando Nieve retired the only batter he faced and Pedro Feliciano pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up 1 hit. Angel Pagan and Jeff Francoeur each had 2 hits with Francoeur picking up a rbi. The only other guys to have hits were Luis Castillo, Jason Bay and Rod Barajas who each had 1 hit. The Mets were 0-4 with runners in scoring position so they didn't even threaten to score too much. It was a very poor offensive game for the Mets and there was no energy at all at the ballpark. The attendance was only 25,000+ which is not good at all for a team trying to erase all the negativity from last season. The Mets will now take on the Washington Nationals in a 3 game weekend series before hitting the road. I guess the positive the Mets can take out of this game is that they got a good pitching performance from someone not named Santana. They did get good news after the game when Jerry Maneul announced that Jose Reyes will rejoin the team tomorrow and play on Saturday. Luis Castillo though has sore calves and will be replaced by Alex Cora for tomorrows game.

Mets lose then cut down roster

The New York Mets lost to the Tampa Bay Rays tonight by the score of 4-2. After the game they told Kiko Calero, Chris Carter, Elmer Dessens, Bobby Parnell, Russ Adams and Nelson Figueroa that they will not be on the 25 man roster. I guess with this news it looks like Frank Catalanotto and Jenrry Mejia will make the team. The Mets got a good pitching performance out of Mike Pelfrey and hope this will carry over and he can have a good season. He pitched 6 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits. He didn't allow a walk and struck out 4 batters. Fernando Nieve came into the game in the 7th inning and wasn't great allowing a run, 2 hits and walk. He did strike out one in his 2/3 of an inning. Pedro Feliciano retired the only batter he faced. Jenrry Mejia pitched one inning allowing 2 hits and 2 runs but the runs were unearned. The Mets didn't too much offensively against Matt Garza who pitched very well. Mike Jacobs hit a 2 run homerun in the ninth and Jason Bay was 2-2 with a walk. Gary Matthews Jr. had a hit and a walk and Jeff Francoeur had a hit. The Mets play their last exhibition game tomorrow in Sarasota against the Orioles, gametime is 1:05PM. Jose Reyes was 1-4 in a minor league game today, he hit a homerun. He also played 7 innings in the field.

Grapefruit League Game 30-Mets at Rays

The New York Mets are playing the Rays at Tropicana Field this evening. Mike Pelfrey will make the start. Also available to pitch tonight are Ryota Igarashi, Jenrry Mejia and Pedro Feliciano. Here is the starting lineup for the game: Cora(SS) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Jacobs(DH) Bay(LF) Matthews Jr.(CF) Francoeur(RF) Tatis(1B) Barajas(C) Jerry Manuel said on WFAN today that the Mets will be making some decisions on the roster tonight after the game. He wants Jenrry Mejia on the team, said he could eventually be the 8th inning guy. He also said he believes they have enough talent in the bullpen to get the job done. Alex Cora will be the starting SS on Opening Day. He will play both Gary Matthews Jr. and Angel Pagan based on matchups. He is leaning towards breaking up his right handers. Mike Jacobs will probably be the cleanup hitter since he will now be the first baseman.

Mets lose To Nationals

The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals this afternoon by the score of 9-3. John Maine got the start for the Mets and was up and down. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Ryota Igarashi pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up 1 hit and 2 runs with a walk. Sean Green looked really good today striking out the side in his one inning of work. Bobby Parnell pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up 3 hits and 2 runs. Hisanori Takahashi got out the only 2 guys he faced. The Mets offense was led by Frank Catalonatto and Ruben Tejada who each had 2 hits. Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr. each had a hit and Matthews also drew a walk. Mike Jacobs hit a 2 run homerun, he will now be the first baseman and have a real chance to not let go of the position. Fernando Tatis had a hit for the Mets. The Mets will play the Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow night at Tropicana Field, the game is at 6:10PM.

Mets defeat Marlins but have more bad injury News

The New York Mets defeated the Florida Marlins 6-3 this afternoon. Nelson Figueroa pitched 3 scoreless innings giving up 3 hits and striking out 3. Raul Valdez and Hisanori Takahashi pitched a scoreless inning in relif. Jenrry Mejia pitched 2 innings giving up a run but only because of a dropped ball in center by Angel Pagan. David Wright hit another homerun and Mike Jacobs hit 2 doubles. Jason Bay and Chris Carter also hit homeruns. Jeff Francouer was hitless and is only hitting 208 on the spring. The big news of the day was that Daniel Murphy is out 2-6 weeks with a sprained knee. This opens the door for Mike Jacobs who was maybe on his way out but will be the starting first baseman now. Jerry Manuel also announced his rotation for the first week and it is Johan Santana followed by John Maine, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez. I don't think it matters to much how you put it because it is basically Santana and then hope the rest of the games. I don't think you can feel good at all about this rotation. Jon Niese may be good but the other starters are showing a lot of questions. Perez is what he is and Maine hasn't been healthy in a long time and when he is, he is basically a 5 inning pitcher anyway. Mike Pelfrey is the guy who really needs to step up but has looked bad this spring. Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting that Jose Reyes will not be with the Mets on Opening Day. If this is true he will miss the first 5 games, the Mets want to be cautious with him according to Heyman. He will not start in any grapefruit league games either then and will keep working in the minor league games. I guess we will see how this plays out the next couple of days.

Jose Reyes closer to returning

The New York Mets defeated the Florida Marlins by the score of 7-6 today. They also got good news when Jose Reyes took live batting practice and looked good. He is likely to run the bases next and then play in a minor league game. The Mets won't say if he will be ready for opening day or not, I am not sure if they really know. Jon Niese got the start and pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up 6 hits and 4 runs, 3 of them were earned. He had 3 walks and 3 strikeouts.Bobby Parnell pitched 1 inning giving up 2 hits and 1 run. Jenrry Mejia pitched a inning giving up a hit and a run, Pedro Feliciano pitched a inning giving up a hit and 0 runs with 2 strikeouts. Fernando Nieve pitched a inning giving up a hit and 0 runs with a strikeout. Pedro Feliciano wants to be the 8th inning guy but he is too valuable as a lefty specialist. Jeff Francoeur led the offense with 3 hits, Daniel Murphy had 2 hits. Angel Pagan had a hit and rbi, Gary Matthews Jr. had a hit, rbi and walk. Henry Blanco had 2 hits and 2 rbi, Ruben Tejada had 2 hits a rbi and walk. The team will have information about the final pitching staff on Thursday. Pedro Feliciano said after the game that he feels he will get the job as the setup man, that he isn't comfortable being just a lefty specialist. Johan Santana will pitch in a minor league game tomorrow.

Mets and Marlins Tie

The New York Mets took on the Florida Marlins this afternoon. They tied 8-8, it was called after 11 innings. Nelson Figueroa gave up 8 hits and 7 runs in 2 2/3 innings. Jenrry Mejia faced 6 batters in 1 1/3 innings. He gave up 1 run and 3 hits. Fernando Nieve and Pedro Feliciano each pitched a scoreless inning. David Wright had a big day hitting a solo homerun and a 2 run double. Alex Cora also had a solo homerun, the Mets have really been hitting the longball this spring but I don't think it will carry over at this rate. I do think the Mets will hit more homeruns this year and be fine offensively just by having Reyes and Beltran will be back eventually. Jason Bay will add a bunch of power also. Angel Pagan had 3 hits, a rbi double and a leadoff walk. According to Brian Costa of the Star Leger Jenrry Mejia said he is ok with whatever the Mets decide. He said if they send him to the minor leagues he understands and just has to work hard and get to the majors eventually. The Mets will play the Nationals tomorrow at home tomorrow, the game will be televised on WPIX.

Grapefruit League Game 21-Mets at Marlins

Here is the Mets lineup for this afternoons game. Pagan(CF) Castillo(2B) Wright(3B) Bay(LF) Murphy(1B) Francouer(RF) Cora(SS) Barajas(C) Figueroa(P) Pedro Feliciano, Fernando Nieve, Jenrry Mejia and Pat Misch are also scheduled to pitch. I will have the game recap and maybe some notes later on today or this evening.

New York Mets drop close one to Cardinals

The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals today in Jupiter by the score of 2-1. The encouraging thing for the Mets about this game was the way John Maine pitched. He started and pitched 5 innings giving up 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and he also had a strikeout. This is the best he has pitched all spring. Fernando Nieve pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit. Kiko Calero pitched a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. He hasn't given up a run all spring and may be the 8th inning guy. I know a lot of people want Jenrry Mejia to be that guy but Jerry Manuel has said if he makes the team he wants to break him in slow and I agree with that. I personally wouldn't bring him up just yet but I think the Mets will bring him North. Elmer Dessens pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk. Pedro Feliciano faced one batter and got him out. The offense only managed 4 hits with 2 of them by Fernando Tatis. Frank Catalanotto had a hit, rbi and walk and Jordany Valdespin had the other hit. I never heard of him, he must be up from minor league camp. The Mets will be in Jupiter again tomorrow to take on the Florida Marlins. The game is at 1:00PM. If you check out Matthew Cerrones Metsblog.com you can see an exclusive interview Jose Reyes has with SNY. It will be on Sportsnight.

Grapefruit League Game 14-St. Louis Cardinals at New York Mets

Here is the lineup for todays game that is just starting. The lineup is courtesy of Matthew Cerrone and his metsblog.com. Luis Castillo(2B) Ruben Tejada(SS) David Wright(3B) Mike Jacobs(1B) Jason Bay(LF) Fernando Martinez(CF) Jeff Francoeur(RF) Rod Barajas(C) Fernando Nieve is making the start. Jon Niese, Francisco Rodriguez,Pat Misch,Sean Green,Tobi Stoner and Elmer Dessens are all scheduled to pitch also. Francisco Rodriguez is making his spring debut today. The Mets made their first cuts of the spring today. Here is the list of who was reassigned to minor league camp. Josh Thole Shawn Bowman Eric Niesen Jack Egbert Josh Fogg R.A. Dickey Travis Blackley Bobby Livingston Arturo Lopez Eddie Kunz Andy Green Mike Hessman Mike Cervenak Jesus Feliciano Luis Hernandez Clint Everts Kirk Nieuwenhuis I heard a disturbing thing today. John Maine pitched poorly in relief yesterday and afterwards said he just wasn't that into it. I understand your a starter and all of that but you haven't been healthy in a couple of years. I think you need to be into whatever the team asks you to do. This is very discouraging to the Mets and their fans. He claims it was a waste of a day for him, being up, down, up, down.

Mets win Opener of Exhibition Season

Carlos Beltran was the latest player to be involved in the FBI investigation into Dr. Galea. He was questioned last week he revealed today. He said that he did get treatment from him for his knee but never had anything injected into him. It appears that he has been cleared as was Jose Reyes. The Mets had their grapefruit league opener today and got off to a great start with a 4-2 win over the Braves. I know it is exhibition but they want to get that winning feeling going early. Nelson Figueroa started and allowed 2 hits and 2 walks over 2 innings. He struck out the side in the second inning and did not allow a run. Elmer Dessens came on in relief and allowed a run on 2 hits and then was hit on the leg by a line drive and had to leave the game. Bobby Livingston who is a non roster invitee replaced Dessens and pitched 2 2/3 effective innings. He struck out four and got the win, which I am sure made him feel good as he is a long shot that is trying to open some eyes. Top prospect Ike Davis had a couple of hits including a double. Ryota Igarashi came on in the ninth and got the save in his first North American action of his career. Jerry Manuel appeared on WFAN today and said that Jon Niese is the front runner to be the fifth starter. He also said Daniel Murphy is the front runner to be the first baseman with Mike Jacobs being a good power bat for the bench. He also sees Angel Pagan leading the race for center fielder until Carlos Beltran gets back.

Mets have intrasquad game, get ready for first Game Tomorrow

The New York Mets had a intrasquad game today and will have their first exhibition game tomorrow. Manager Jerry Manuel told reporters after the intrasquad today that Johan Santanas first start will probably be on March 9th. Jose Reyes hit a leadoff triple in the first at bat he had today, he showed no lingering effects of his hamstring as he was running around the bases. This was a very welcome sight for the Mets and all of their fans, this is something you should see quite often in Citi Field if he can stay healthy. Jose Reyes is the sparkplug and I really think he needs to remain the leadoff hitter but I think he will bat third until Carlos Beltran comes back. Tomorrows game is at 1:00PM against the Braves. Nelson Figueroa will get the start. The lineup will be Gary Matthews Jr. hitting leadoff and playing center field followed by Luis Castillo,Jose Reyes,David Wright,Jason Bay, Mike Jacobs who will DH, Jeff Francoeur,Ike Davis who will play first and Chris Coste will do the catching. There wasn't much else coming out of today, Matthew Cerrone on his blog, this is where I got the lineup for tomorrow stated that it feels much looser in camp this year and that there is better chemistry. I hope the Mets do have a better attitude and stay healthy, if they do that they can win some games, but pitching is the key and they need someone from the group of Mike Pelfry, Oliver Perez and John Maine to step up.

The Day in Mets Camp

Here is a list of Mets pitchers for the intrasquad game on Monday, the first exhibition game will be on Tuesday. There is also a list for the first 3 exhibition games. March 1-Egbert,Everts,Blackley,Niese,Stoner,Dickey,Mejia March 2 vs Atlanta-Figueroa,Takahashi,Parnell,Dessens March 3 at Atlanta-Misch,Feliciano March 4 vs St. Louis-Dickey,Stoner Jerry Manuel said today that he doesn't believe that Kelvim Escobar will be able to contribute at the beginning of the year and may start it on the disabled list. He didn't rule out that he could start with the team but he hasn't even thrown off a mound yet, nevermind even throwing BP or in a game. There are some good pictures and video as always on Matthew Cerrones Metsblog.com which can be found at http://metsblog.com