Welcome to first place, Mets fans; Mets win 10-8

This game deserves more that just a sentence...

Johna Santana has his worst start in blue and orange, lasting a mere four innings and allowing five runs to score before getting chased. The Mets didn't seem to care. The bullpen faltered, for the first time in 22 innings. The Mets didn't seem to care. Billy Wagner blew the save in the All Star game. The Mets didn't seem to care.

After handing away a lead, twice, the Mets faced watching their nine game win streak go up in smoke. The Mets wanted none of that. The team stormed back, tying the game at 8-8 with a two run home run to right field off the bat of David Wright, scoring Argenis Reyes.

After two more singles, Carlos Delgado served the game breaker into left field, plating the go ahead run. Fernando Tatis didn't feel comfortable with just the one run lead, so he singled and drove in one more, bringing the score to it's final of 10-8.

Oh, and Wagner shut down the Reds 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning. No heart attacks tonight.

The winning streak has reached double digits. Possibly the best win of the year for the Mets, as they keep on rolling after the break.

With the Phillies taking a night off, the Mets move into a tie for first place with a record of 52-44.

The Mets are streaking on both sides of the ball

I was gearing up for a lengthy post on how the Mets have turned it around since Jerry Manuel took the helm and how well the players have been playing in July.

Unfortunately (or probably fortunately), Eric Grissom over at Phillies Flow has beaten me to it.

Here's an excerpt of the article, titles "Men on fire":

Overall, the difference between the Manuel and non-Manuel pitching numbers is far more dramatic than the difference between the Manuel and non-Manuel hitting numbers. The Mets are scoring about 4.96 runs per game since he took over compared to about 4.80 per game before he took over, but the difference between the pitching numbers is much larger. After allowing about 4.67 runs per game before Manuel took over, the Mets have allowed about 3.81 runs per game since.

There's some great statistical breakdowns of the starters in July and the runs scored / runs against breakdown between the two months of June and July.

The Mets have been the team that we thought they could be, finally. Mike Pelfrey has blossomed into a wonderful pitcher, Johan Santana has plugged away at his consistently wonderful pace, and Olvier Perez has switched his mechanics and seen great results.

The bats are back too, as Carlos Delgado is getting on track (maybe), Jose Reyes is on an absolute tear after getting off to a slow start, and Damion Easley is filling in admirably at second base.

The All Star break couldn't come at a worse time for the hot Mets, but hopefully it will carry over into the second "half," down the stretch, and beyond.

Great stuff, Eric. Truly worth a read.

TSTDIA: Mets 7 -- Giants 0

Mike Pelfrey was absolutely dominant tonight, throwing seven innings of three hit ball, all the Giants could muster all night.

The Mets got home runs from Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and Fernando Tatis and Argenis Reyes picked up his first major league hit as the Mets moved to within 1.5 games of first place with a Philadelphia Phillies loss.

Mid-Morning Madness: Shoulda, woulda, coulda edition

Boy, did it feel good to sleep in...

Last night's game was one the Mets should have won.

Pedro Martinez gave up four in the first inning, but the Mets battled back to tie it. Then Pedro gave up a solo home run, and the Mets again battled back to tie it. Then the Mets took the lead for the first time in the game, and Pedro Feliciano let the Cardinals tie it. Carlos Muniz then let the game slip away entirely, serving up a walk-off home run to end the game.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Sure, the Mets scored seven runs, but they picked up 15 hits. They left 10 runners on base, quickly becoming a terrible habit of the 2008 Mets. The team needs to find some way to start driving those runners in, or the season really will be lost.

** * **

All the time I talk about Carlos Delgado's days being numbered, but now it seems like the clock is running out on Luis Castillo a bit quicker.

Castillo sat out again last night and now the DL is a possibility, again. I just don't think he has enough left in the tank to continue to perform day in and day out as an everyday player.

Easily Omar Minaya's worst contract dished out as the Mets GM. For now, just start Damion Easley and spell him with giving Castillo starts, not the other way around.

** * **

The bench is back?

Tuesday night, Ramon Castro drove in three runs and last night Easley drove in another three. If the Mets are to salvage this season, it might have to come from the play off the bench.

Early Morning Madness: Yadier Molina is a bum edition

Yadier Molina is on a mission to destroy the New York Mets.

First, it was 2006. Now, he's hitting line drives off of the players. As reported last night, Duaner Sanchez took a screamer off the back of his leg, and went to the ground immediately. He should be all right, but it will probably be swollen, black and blue, and causing him a lot of pain for the next few days.

Molina doesn't just want to beat the Mets...he wants to beat them up.

** * **

Carlos Delgado is playing like an engine starts.

When you put the key in the ignition and turn it to get your car started, it starts to turn over. It sputters and churns, heaving itself to get over that hump and kick into motion.

Delgado is showing spurts of power and ability. The 9 RBI game, couple with last nights 3-3 performance, picking up two doubles and scoring once. Unfortunately, these games were the only bright spots in the last few weeks, if not the last few months.

I don't think Delgado is going to have a come back year, as I predicted way back before the start of the season, but he still seems to have something left in the tank.

** * **

Obligitory Early Morning Madness Ryan Church Comment: 2-5, RBI, run scored. The Mets would be in a much different place right now if Church had been able to stay healthy for the whole season up until now.

His bat is powerful, clutch, and it protects the other guys in the lineup. Carlos Beltran doesn't seem to be reaping the benefits just yet, as he's seeing a lot more strikes with Church behind him instead of Delgado. Beltran went 0-5, driving in one run on a ground ball in the fifth inning.

Stay healthy, Ryan Church.

Giving up on the Mets?? Not me, not yet

Last night's 7-1 drubbing by the Cardinals could be explained by any one of: terrible, awful, disaster, gross, boring, ugly...so on and so forth.

I've heard many claims for trades to go down, to start selling the farm and some major leaguers in return for prospects with talent and futures.

Not me, not yet. And here's why:

It's the first of July. The Mets are 3.5 games back, and only three in the loss column. The Mets have the talent, but most of them are under-performing.

Here are some reasons the Mets won't make the playoffs:

• Pedro Martinez might be done. He just doesn't seem to have it, tipping pitches or not. His power is gone and he seems to be throwing batting practice on the mound.
• Moises Alou is old and injured. 15 games is all Alou has been able to play this season. He's on his way to returning to the Mets, possibly by next weekend, but how long will it last?
• The bench has been awful. Just...awful.
• Another concussion for Ryan Church and he's really in serious trouble. He has to protect that noggin.

Reasons the Mets will make the playoffs:

• Johan Santana is a second-half pitcher.
• Aaron Heilman is a second-half pitcher.
• David Wright is a second-half player.
• Carlos Delgado's days are numbered. He may not be cut, but his playing time will diminish.
• Omar Minaya will pull off another spectacular trade. I'm just waiting for it. I don't know who it will be for, but it will work in the Mets favor.
• Fernando Martinez will be called up in late August and have a Jacoby Ellsbury type of season.

I still think the Mets will make the playoffs. I know my father wanted me to rip into them, but I'm still confident in this baseball team, and probably will be until they're mathematically eliminated from contention.

Hallelujah! Church is back

Ryan Church will return from the disabled list today, after finally recovering from his second concussion of this calendar year.

The odd man out in this situation is Trot Nixon. According to Adam Rubin, "team brass was discussing putting him on the DL over designating him for assignment."

What's hurt? His pride? The man is batting .171 with one home run and one RBI. He's scored twice. Is he really worth keeping around?

Also per Rubin, Church will apparently hit sixth in the order, behind Carlos Delgado. I don't know why Delgado continues to bat 5th in the order. He had one good day all season, yet he still bats fifth. He's put together an improved June, but not good enough to continue to justify batting fifth.

I figured when Jerry Manuel took over, the lineup would be shaken up a bit, but it's taken until now for that to happen. Rubin reports that Delgado will probably drop to seventh in the order when the Mets head to St. Louis in an attempt to split up the two lefties.

Either way, I'm sure the Mets and their fans are glad to welcome Ryan Church back into the fold. Stay away from other players, walls, peoples knees and any thing else that can hit your head.

A tale of two stadiums

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Only hours after the Mets pounded out 14 hits and 15 runs, did any Mets fan in their right mind actually think it was going to continue in the nightcap?

If you've been a fan of this team, for just this year even, you would know the inconsistency of this team. 15 runs? Were you not screaming at the television (or at the players in person) "SAVE SOME RUNS!!!" I know I was. I knew it wouldn't last. And it didn't.

Of course, the Mets come to Shea Stadium, a mere two hours after the last game rout ended, facing a pitcher who can't catch on with any team due to a myriad of off the field problems, and, not surprisingly, get absolutely shut down.

Sure they load the bases a handful of times, even one time with none out, but do they get any runs to show for it? Of course not.

Did Carlos Delgado come to Shea riding high off his 9 RBI performance, and then do something even more spectacular in the nightcap? No way. In fact, he didn't even get a hit. (He did walk twice, though)

Did Pedro Martinez flashback to his Red Sox days and pitch a masterpiece? Not even close.

Did the Mets bullpen stop the bleeding when Pedro was done and take over the game? Nope!

Sir Sidney Ponson was the victor last night, holding the Mets to just five hits over his six shutout innings. The Mets then got to face Kyle Farnsworth (4.11 ERA), Jose Veras (3.09 ERA), and Kei Igawa (13.50 ERA) for three innings and managed only three hits.

Simply a tale of two completely different games, played by two completely different teams, in two completely different stadiums only linked by location and their soon to be destruction.

TSTDIA: Mets 15 -- Yankees 6

That is not a misprint.  This game truly belonged to Carlos Delgado, as he picked up 9 RBI's, including a grand slam and a three-run home run.  Simply spectacular.

Carlos Delgado sets new Mets club record

Carlos Delgado now holds the New York Mets club record for most RBI's in one game.

Delgado picked up a two RBI double in the fifth, then hit a grand slam in the sixth, and just added a three run blast in the top of the 8th inning.

Coming into this game, even if you gave me 1,000,000 to 1 odds, I would not have taken any bet that Delgado would...

• Hit a ball.
• Get an extra base hit.
• Drive in one run.
• Hit a home run.
• Drive in three runs.
• Hit a home run with runners on base.
• Drive in five runs.
• Hit two home runs.
• Drive in nine runs.
• Hit a grand slam, a three run jack, a double and drive in nine runs.

9 RBI's for Delgado.  Well done.

As much crap as Delgado's has gotten over the past year, he has just shut everyone up, at least for the next few hours.  Simply an unbelievable, amazing day for Carlos Delgado.

Hats off to Delgado today.  This game truly belongs to him.  Congrats, Carlos.

Wow

That ball was absolutely crushed.  Holy mother.

Carlos Delgado, are you back?

I kid, I kid.  But just an unbelieveable game for Delgado so far.  Six RBI and it's only the sixth inning.

Maple bats

Ban them. Immediately.

It's as simple as that.

Maybe allow a few days to pass for current maple bat users to get their affairs in order and get some new bats shipped out to wherever they're playing at the time. After that, these weapons of mass destruction should be banned from Major League Baseball altogether.

It's simply not safe for the hitters, catchers, players on third base (Brady Clark spearing Carlos Delgado at third base in spring training), and especially umpires.

Though Carlos Beltran probably wishes he was using a maple bat last night.

Get them out of the league before someone is seriously injured, because I guess bleeding from the head isn't serious enough.

Fix the Mets

We're having a pretty nice discussion over at Mets Lounge about what everyone would do if they were the GM of the Mets.

Pretty simple, I think, but I have a few moves I would make now or in the very immediate future. All moves are in-house.

• Bring up Mike Carp. Send Robinson Cancel back to AAA. This would immediately put pressure on Carlos Delgado.
• Bring up Dan Murphy. Send Trot Nixon back to AAA. This would immediately put pressure on Luis Castillo.
• Look into trading Oliver Perez. If possible, pull the trigger, attempt to get at least two decent minor leaguers in return. Promote Tony Armas Jr.
• If Murphy/Castillo/Damion Easley doesn't work out, call Cincinnati or Baltimore about their second baseman. (via Wrighteous.)
• Don't hurry Ryan Church. Wait until Sunday to bring him back. Make sure he's 110 percent. The Mets need that bat.
• Platoon Endy Chavez, Marlon Anderson, Fernando Tatis in right field.

Anything I missed? Hit the comments for your suggestions.

Early Morning Madness: Smiles edition

Since Jerry Manuel took over, I've never seen the team smile this much.

Almost everywhere you look, players are flashing their pearly whites. U don't even think I saw Carlos Delgado or Carlos Beltran smile under Willie Randolph. Ever.

This team is playing in a completely new environment under Manuel. He demands hustle and quality play, but he also knows it's a game and you can't be 100 percent somber all the time.

The one smile noticeably absent is that of David Wright, who's struggling at the plate against righties. As mentioned below, Wright will finally see some rest tonight. Hopefully this allows Wright to clear his head and just relax at the plate, as it looks like he's pulling off pitches and trying to rush things.

Either way, players finally seem to be enjoying themselves, and instead of treating games like a funeral service, they look like they have a passion for the game again.

** * **

Finally, Manuel is fielding some praise in the New York media, though probably not for the reason one would hope.

From Bob Raissman:

It remains to be seen if Jerry Manuel can lead the Mets to the promised land - or at least a trip to the playoffs. But in the eight days since Omar (It Was My Decision) Minaya gave him the keys to his blue and orange jalopy, the interim manager has provided ample evidence that he deserves his own TV show.

** * **

Man, I miss Ryan Church.

Early bird gets the worm

Jerry Manuel has quickly instituted early batting practice, optional for the players.

I like this, and it seemed to only pop up when there was a dire need under Willie Randolph.

Today, as always, David Wright was out taking the early BP. Joining him, among others, was Brian Schneider and Carlos Delgado, someone who rarely came out early with the previous manager.

Hopefully it pays off, since the Mets struggled last time in Colorado, especially against tonight's starter, Aaron Cook. Last time the Mets visited Denver, Cook tallied a complete game, four hitter on May 25.

Early Morning Madness: Attitude edition

So far, so good. Sure it's only two games, but I like the way Jerry Manuel is handling himself, and more importantly, his team.

He's laying down the law, making it clear he's not going to take any crap from the players, and if they don't give everything they have, they simply won't play.

The team seems like a weight has been lifted off of them. I've never seen them so happy, jovial, and excited to get out and play the bottom of the tenth inning as they were last night. A good start for Manuel, now the Mets just need to keep it going.

As Jerry says, "Gangstas on the field, ladies on the bus."

** * **

A hand must go out to the Oliver Perez and the bullpen for their performances last night.

Ollie was not anything special, but after he gave up three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Manuel brought him out for the sixth, and he allowed only a single before inducing and inning ending double play.

The bullpen then came out and let up only one hit, a single in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Joe Smith. Lights out.

** * **

Every time I think Carlos Delgado is cooked, he does something to surprise me.

One at-bat he looks absolutely lost at the plate, swinging way too early or way too late. A few innings later he comes up and hits a screamer over the center field wall. He then proceeds to look like he's playing in a fog the rest of the game.

Part of me wants the Mets to call up Mike Carp, badly. But, and this part of me must be living in my little pinky toe, thinks Delgado is just a few lucky hits away from getting in the groove. His problem is that he's started to go to left field a whole lot less. Bunt more, I say. And if at all possible, hit the ball to the left side of the mound.

Early Morning Madness: I had a better title 4 hours ago edition

I woke up in the middle of the night with a snappy title and a lot of good things to write about, but I can't remember any of them now. Figures, the night I leave the computer on my desk instead of next to my bed. I digress.

*****

The Mets are in trouble, and something needs to be done. They have, in my calculations, two distinct routes they can take: sell or buy.

They could start unloading contracts now (Carlos Delgado, Oliver Perez, Moises Alou), get some prospects in return, and start planning for next year and beyond.

Or, they could start buying. Pick up expendable players for their own expendables, hoping the new player has something the other player lacked. If the pieces don't fit, try and trade them for pieces that do.

I cannot see the team admitting defeat and start trading people left and right. It would raise a white flag and spell out that the team is heading in a wrong direction. I just don't think the Wilpons, Omar Minaya, and the rest of the Mets brass is willing to do that just one year before they crack the champagne on a new stadium.

*****

Another day, another early lead, another loss. What is up with that?

The Mets always seem to jump out to an early lead, look like they're ready to take on the world, and by the time the third inning comes along you can almost visibly see that they're not going to score another run the rest of the game. And they don't.

*****

Do the New York Mets become buyers or sellers? How long will Willie Randolph last? Will they ever win another game? All these questions will be answered...eventually?

Early Morning Madness -- 6/2

Johan Santana is good. That is all.

###

This team missed Ryan Church. He comes back with a bang (3-4, 2 RBI, run) and shows the team what they've been missing.

Thankfully, Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez filled in admirably while the Mets were missing Church, so though they took a step back, they didn't lose much.

Dear Ryan,

Stop getting hit in the head.

Love,
Mets fans everywhere.

###

I had a dream last night. I dreamt the Mets quietly promoted Mike Carp to AAA. He played there for a week, as the hype grew, and played well, batting near .300 and smacking in a couple of runs.

This must have been an incredibly vivid dream, because I also remember them eventually cutting Carlos Delgado, and promoting Carp to the majors. They then split time between Nick Evans and Carp at first, occasionally sprinkling in Damion Easley.

Very strange.

Delgado has seen his batting average rise six points since May 22, as he hits three game streaks of hitting. From May 22 - 24, he went 4-15, driving in one run and scoring three times. The next three games watched him go 0-5, walking in one pinch hitting stint, and driving in one run. Then, in the Dodgers series, he went 5-15, going hitless last night, scoring three times and setting up the eventual winning run on Saturday with a single in the 8th, after which he was pinch run for.

I can't see the Mets continuing to keep hit bat in the lineup. More and more will they ween him onto the bench and get Evans or Easley out to first as they contemplate what to do with Delgado.

Poll: Keep Delgy on the field

After a long delay for no apparent reason, here are the results from the latest poll:

Where do you stand on Carlos Delgado?
Keep him: 60% (41 votes)
Cut him: 20% (14 votes)
Trade him: 13% (9 votes)
Bench him: 5% (4 votes)

I find it hilarious 14 people want to outright cut him. Delgado has gotten a tad bit better since this poll was posted, but he's quickly writing his ticket out of New York after this season is over with his play.

Next poll: Should the Mets fire Willie Randolph?

The blown call and it's ripple effect

Bob Davidson, the home plate umpire in last nights Subway Series finale admitted he blew the call of Carlos Delgado's home run.

From ESPN:

I (expletive) it up. I’m the one who thought it was a (expletive) foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who (expletive) it up so you can put that in your paper," Davidson said. "Bolts and nuts, I (expletive) up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.

Well...I think the rest of New York actually took it better than Davidson. I am glad that he realizes it though and is man enough to admit his mistakes.

Also, I am glad Willie Randolph argued, as I mentioned last night. I'm very surprised by Randolph's comments today, claiming it's not worth getting throw out of the game just to appease the fans and possibly rile up the team. Jerry Manuel took care of that for him, and got ejected.

Randolph isn't willing to sacrifice his ideals and stance on managing baseball games, even if fans and the media are calling for his head. Last night, the awful announcing team of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan mentioned a Ryan Church quote about Randolph and Manny Acta.

Church said that both Randolph and Acta are not the in-your-face-for-TV types, like Jim Leyland and Ozzie Guillen, but if needed, behind the scenes they will get in your face if your play warrants it.

Good. Very good.

It's too early to call, but this team might just be on the right track again.