Blogging Mets

Riding a four-game losing streak, the Mets were facing a pitcher on Tuesday making his major league debut. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to get back to winnings ways. Well, the by the time the feeble Mets offense got to him, it was a case of too little, too late because the Cardinals potent offense was busy destroying Mets pitching.

John Buck can talk to Dillon Gee all he wants, but it didn’t help Mets avoid 5th straight loss.

The Cardinals jumped all over Dillon Gee in the first. Matt Carpenter led off with a walk. Carlos Beltran hit a grounder to Ike Davis. He tried to throw to second base to start a double play; instead he hit Beltran with the throw and the error put runners on first and third. Matt Holliday doubled just over the outstretched glove of Juan Lagares in center to score Carpenter and move Holliday to third. Allen Craig singled and just like that it was 3-0 before Gee could record an out. Gee was able to get out of the inning without allowing any more runs.

A single and a walk put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth. Pete Kozma singled past Justin Turner, in at short in a desperate attempt for offense, to plate one run to make it 4-0. After starter John Gast struck out trying to sacrifice for the second out, Carpenter singled to right to extend the Cardinals lead to 5-0. Beltran then singled up the middle to score another run — 6-0 Cards.

Gee lasted four miserable innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits with three walks and five strike outs. He is now 2-5 with a 6.13 ERA.

Robert Carson was even worse. He walked the first two batters in the fifth, including Gast who was trying to sacrifice. After getting one out, Beltran hit a blast into the second deck in left field. The 437-foot home run made it a 9-0 game.

With one out in the sixth Daniel Murphy singled. David Wright walked and John Buck singled to left to score Murphy and put runners on first and third. Lucas Duda hit a sharp grounder to the first baseman. He stepped on first for the second out and Buck was hung up between first and second. However the Cardinals botched the rundown and Buck was safe at second. Wright also scored on the play to make it 9-2. That extended the inning, and that was bad news for Gast because Marlon Byrd took him deep to cut the lead to 9-4.

Carson was back on the mound for the bottom of the sixth, and he was no better in his second inning of work. Jon Jay hit a ball over the wall that was just out of the reach of Lagares to make it 10-4. Carson’s ERA now stands at 12.00. That is not good.

Mets lose their fifth straight, 10-4.

The Mets bullpen has allowed more runs than any pen in the National League. It was at it again Monday night in St. Louis, turning a tie game into a Cardinal victory as the Mets dropped their fourth straight game.

Rick Ankiel went 0-3 in his Mets debut, but scored in the 2nd after walking.

Jeremy Hefner got hit hard in the first inning. He walked leadoff batter Matt Carpenter and retired Carlos Beltran on a long fly to center. Matt Holliday hit a bullet up the middle to put runners on first and second. Allen Craig hit a ground rule double to score Carpenter and put Holliday at third. Yadier Molina walked to load the bases. John Jay hit a sacrifice fly that scored Holliday to make it 2-0. But for some reason Craig tried to tag up and was tagged out to end the inning when David Wright cut off the throw. Hefner was lucky to get out of the inning surrendering just two runs; he can thank Craig for that.

The Mets took the lead in the second thanks to an old friend and some shoddy defense. Two walks put runners on first and second and with two outs Daniel Murphy hit a line drive to right. Beltran seemed to have it lined up but it went right past his glove. He may have lost it in the sun. Whatever the reason, it went for a double and both runs scored tie the game at two. David Wright then hit a slow grounder up the middle. The speedy Wright was going to be safe, but shortstop Daniel Descalso booted the ball, allowing Murphy to score to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. No error was called on the play.

But Hefner could not hold it. Two singles and a sacrifice put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the second. Carpenter singled to score one run to make it 3-3. Hefner walked Beltran to load the bases but then got Holliday to bounce into a double play to end the inning.

It looked like it was going to be a slugfest, but both Hefner and Cardinals stater Lance Lynn settled down and neither of them gave up any more runs. Hefner ended up going six innings, allowing the three runs on five hits, with two strikeouts and four walks. Lynn lasted seven innings and 124 pitches. He allowed his three runs on four hits, with seven strikeouts and five walks.

With one out in the seventh, Ty Wigginton hit a liner to center off of Scott Rice. Ankiel initially froze and then came in. He dove but the ball bounced out of his glove. It was a catch the fine fielder should have made. Instead, Wigginton had a double. Carpenter then hit a shot that bounced off of Rice’s foot. Rice and John Buck both ran into foul territory between home and first to field it. Wigginton took advantage of the fact that no one was covering home and hustled around to score to break the tie and give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead. Scott Atchison came on and Holliday greeted him with a two run home run to make it a 6-3 game. He then allowed a single and a ground rule double and his night was done. Greg Burke, just back from the minor leagues where he was banished after pitching to a 7.36 ERA in seven April appearances with the Mets, got a strikeout to end the inning.

Mets lose 6-3.

After dropping two out of the first three games against the Pirates at home, the Mets really needed a win on Sunday in the finale. They had Matt Harvey on the mound, so you’d figure it was all-but a done deal. Well, Harvey did not have his best stuff, but he managed to keep the Mets in the game. However the inept offense and a leaky bullpen sent the Mets down to their third straight defeat.

Juan Lagares makes incredible circus catch against Pirates.
Screenshot courtesy SNY

Lucas Duda got the Mets on the board in the second with a solo home run to center field. It was Duda’s eighth home run of the year to go along with his 12 RBIs. How is that even possible?!

However Matt Harvey gave the run right back in the bottom of the third when Clint Barmes took him deep to tie the game at one.

Juan Lagares made one of the better circus catches you’ll ever see on the next batter. Opposing pitcher Jeanmar Gomez hit a sinking liner to center. Lagares dove for the shoestring catch. It bounced out of his glove, but luckily it bounced forward and Lagares was able to snag it as he continued his dive.

Good thing he made that catch because Harvey then walked Starling Marte and allowed a hit and run single to Travis Snider to put runners in first and third with one out. He walked Andrew McCutchen to load the bases. Garrett Jones flew out to right, scoring Marte on the sacrifice fly to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Harvey was able to get Jordy Mercer to pop out to end the inning.

The Mets got a huge assist when Pirates manager Clint Hurdle removed Gomez from the game after five innings and just 65 pitches. Gomez baffled Mets bats, allowing just two hits. Gomez started the season in the bullpen and this was only his third start, so perhaps Hurdle wants to bring him along slowly. But Gomez has been a starter for most of his career, so he should have been able to go further.

The Mets cashed in against the Pirates bullpen in the seventh. John Buck walked with one out. He went to second on a wild pitch. Mike Baxter, the new Mr. Clutch, singled to right as Buck motored home to tie the game at two. By the way, Buck stole his first base since 2009 earlier in the game. Perhaps inspired by Buck’s sudden base running abilities, Baxter stole second. Lagares struck out, but Baxter stole third on the play. Justin Turner pinch hit for Harvey but he struck out to strand Baxter at third.

So Matt Harvey went seven innings and 101 pitches. After his early trouble he settled down and seemed to get better as the game went on. He allowed two runs on five hits, with two walks and four strikeouts — his lowest strikeout total of the season. Harvey’s record remains at 4-0 after his fourth straight no decision. His ERA ballooned to 1.44, up from 1.28.

Scott Rice, making his league-leading 21st appearance, got the first out in the eighth but then walked McCutchen. Brandon Lyon came on and walked Gaby Sanchez. Lyon struck out Jose Tabata for the second out. Bobby Parnell was summoned and he allowed a single to Pedro Alvarez to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead.

Daniel Murphy broke out of an 0-17 slump with a double in the eighth with one out. Murphy advanced to third on a passed ball. David Wright walked (they were pitching around him). Ike Davis struck out for the second out as Wright stole second. Duda then hit a shot that hit off the first base bag. That’s usually good, as the ball will bounce somewhere crazy. But this time it bounced right to second baseman Brandon Inge, who tossed to the pitcher covering for the final out to keep it a 3-2 game.

The Mets went quietly in the ninth to end a 2-4 homestand.

Is there something wrong with Jonathon Niese? He turned in yet another poor performance as the Pirates drubbed the Mets Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.

Jonathon Niese with another awful start Saturday against the Pirates.

The Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the second inning via two hits and a walk. Clint Barmes singled to right to score the game’s first run and keep the bases loaded. Fortunately opposing pitcher Francisco Liriano was the next batter. He hit a chopper to David Wright, who fielded it right on the bag. Wright stepped on it and threw to first to turn the inning-ending double play to help Niese escape with just one run allowed.

Niese wasn’t so lucky in the third. With a runner on second Andrew McCutchen singled to make it a 2-0 game. Jose Tabata then hit a two-run homer to center to extend the Pirates lead to 4-0.

The wheels fell off in the fifth. With one out Jordy Mercer hit a solo home run to make it 5-0. Niese then walked two straight batters and Jose Tabata doubled to deep center to bring another run home. That was all for Jonathon Niese, who gave way to Scott Atchison with runners on second and third. Atchison got the second out, but then Michael McHenry singled to left to score two more runs to make it an 8-0 game. Barmes singled on the next pitch to knock in McHenry to extend the lead to 9-0.

So Jonathon Niese went 4.1 innings, allowing eight runs on eight hits, three walks and just one strikeout. Niese dropped to 2-4 and his ERA soared to 5.93.

The Mets finally broke through against Liriano, who was making his first start of the season, in the sixth. Wright led off with a single and with one out Justin Turner singled to advance Wright to third. Marlon Byrd reached on an infield single to score Wright and put Turner on second. Liriano was taken out of the game and Bryan Morris was able to retire the  next two batters to keep the score 9-1.

With the score 10-1 in the eighth, Mercer added another solo shot to make it 11-1.

The game was stopped by rain in the middle of the ninth inning. As usual it is beautiful here in sunny Los Angeles and I want to go out. I am not waiting around, so I assume the game will be called and end at 11-1.

UPDATE:

Did they really finish this game?! Apparently yes, after the stupidest 47-minute rain delay ever — stupid except for Andrew Brown, who hit his first home run as a Met, a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth to make it an 11-2 loss.

Shaun Marcum is not good. There, I said it. Marcum’s third start for the Mets was just as poor and short as his first two, as the Pirates crushed the Mets Friday night at Citi Field.

Jose Tabata is thrown out at 3rd in second inning.

Marcum found trouble in the second. A double and a single put runners on first and third with no outs. Pedro Alvarez singled to right to score one run to make it 1-0. But Jose Tabata, trying to going first to third, was thrown out by Marlon Byrd on a fine throw for the first out. It was crucial because Marcum couldn’t get any outs on his own. A double and a hit by pitch loaded the bases. Opposing pitcher Wandy Rodriguez smacked a bullet up the middle that hit Marum on his wrist, knocking his glove off. It bounced to Justin Turner, who was able to get the out at second, but a run scored to make it 2-0. With runners at first and third and two outs Sterling Marte hit a slow grounder to short. Ruben Tejada double-clutched and the speedy Marte was safe at first to extend the Pirates lead to 3-0. Another single loaded the bases, but Marcum was able to get Andrew McCutchen to fly out to end the inning.

In the fifth Marum hit the leadoff batter and allowed a single. Garrett Jones then hit a ball to right that was just out of the reach of Mike Baxter. It also just cleared the orange line on the wall and after an umpire review, it was correctly ruled a home run — 6-0 Pirates.

Shaun Marcum was done after 4.2 inning. He allowed six runs on nine hits. On the bright side, he didn’t walk anyone, but he did hit two batters. Marcum has failed to go five innings in any of his starts. He also was the loser of that 15 inning game. He is now 0-3 with an ERA of 8.59. If Shaun Marcum were not signed for $4 million his time with the Mets would be over (see Laffey, Aaron). But the Mets will not eat that much cash.

Anthony Recker finally got the Mets on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a rocket into the seats in left. His first home run as a Met made it a 6-1 game.

Scott Rice allowed a run in the ninth and it was an important one because Jordany Valdespin hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 7-2. Ike Davis singled and Recker then walked. With two outs Andrew Brown singled to score Davis to make it 7-3 and put runners on first and second. Had Rice not given up that run, Tejada would have come to the plate as the potential tying run. Instead, he was not, and he flew out to center to end the game, anyway.

Mets go down 7-3.

The Mets offense these days can be described as feeble, at best. Yet they have been able to win two out of their last three games, and we can thank Mike Baxter for both of those wins.

Justin Turner not happy after being thrown out trying to stretch single into double.

The Mets got on the board against the Pirates in the second. John Buck led off the inning with a single and went to third on a Justin Turner single. Turner was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Buck scored on a sacrifice fly by Marlon Byrd to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Dillon Gee was pitching very well until the sixth inning. He allowed two singles and hit a batter to load the bases. Brandon Lyon came on and surrendered a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one.

Gee threw 101 pitches over his five innings, allowing one run on five hits.

The Mets offensive woes continued against some guy named Jeff Locke, who held the Mets to three hits and that one run over six innings.

In the seventh inning Andrew Brown collected his first hit as a Met and with two outs Ike Davis laced a double to right-center to drive home Brown and give the Mets the lead again, 2-1.

LaTroy Hawkins, who had not allowed an earned run since April 10, came on to pitch the eighth. Pedro Alvarez broke that streak, slamming a solo shot to right to tie the game at two.

Juan Lagares saved the game for the Mets in the ninth. With two outs and a runner on first, Andrew McCutchen drove a Bobby Parnell pitch deep to center. Lagares went back to the wall and leaped, snagging the ball for the third out. It might have gone out or hit the top of the wall. Either way, the sensational catch kept the game tied. And now we know why people rave about Lagares’s defense.

And the Mets made that catch count. Byrd led off the ninth inning with an infield single. Brown bunted him over to second. And just like he did Tuesday in the tenth inning, Baxter came through, getting a pinch hit single to win the game 3-2.

A nice win by the Mets.

The Mets and their fans quickly came down to earth from Matt Harvey’s near-perfect game when Jeremy Hefner took the mound at Citi Field on Wednesday. Hefner’s two previous outings have been very good, and he wasn’t terrible tonight, but he is no Matt Harvey and the White Sox beat the Mets 6-3 to split the brief two-game Mets-White Sox series.

Lucas Duda congratulated after homer Wednesday in Mets-White Sox game.

The White Sox apparently wanted to show early on that it would be a very different kind of night — Alejandro De Aza led off the game with a bullet into the seats in right that got out of the stadium in hurry for a 1-0 lead.

Lucas Duda got the run back in the second with a bomb of his own, into the second deck in right field to tie the game at one. Duda now has seven home runs with a whopping 11 RBIs.

A bunt single and infield single put runners on first and third with one out in the top of the fourth for the Sox. Alex Rios doubled to make it  2-1 and put runners on second and third. Conor Gillaspie then hit a bloop to shallow center that  no one could get to. It went for a two-run double to give the White Sox a 4-1 lead.

Hefner went six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits, with one walk and five strikeouts. Hefner was done in by some soft hits in that fourth inning. Bloops or rockets, though, they all still count.

Scott Atchison allowed a run in the seventh as the White Sox ran the score to 5-1.

The Mets could do nothing against Jake Peavy. The former Cy Young Award winner held the Mets to just one run on three hits over 6.2 innings.

Ruben Tejada led off the eighth inning with a single. Pinch hitter Justin Turner followed with a hit down the line in right. He should have had a double but he stumbled rounding first base and had to head back there. Rios bobbled the ball out there, allowing Tejada to score on the error to make it 5-2. Later in the inning Duda came to bat with two on and two outs, representing the potential tying run. He struck out swinging. Hey, at least he took the bat off of his shoulder.

Rios homered off of Jeurys Familia in the ninth to bring the score to 6-2.

In the bottom of the ninth Mike Baxter tripled with one out and came around to score on a two-out Tejada single to make it 6-3. After Turner reached on an infield single, Juan Lagares came to the plate as the potential tying run. But he struck out to end the game.

There will be another two-game Mets-White Sox matchup next month in Chicago. Ah, the perils of daily interleague play.

With all of the days off and rainouts the Mets have had recently, Matt Harvey hasn’t pitched in a week. There were concerns that the break in his usual routine would negatively effect him. When will everyone learn that nothing fazes this kid? All Harvey did was go out against the White Sox and take a perfect game into the seventh inning, eventually throwing nine one-hit, shutout innings. But the Mets couldn’t score, either, and they would win the game in 10 innings.

Matt Harvey pitches first inning with bloody nose.

Not even a bloody nose could bother Matt Harvey. The game was delayed a few minutes because Harvey was dealing with the issue. The crack Mets medical staff couldn’t stop it, so he pitched the first inning with blood coming out of his nose. It had no effect on him whatsoever.

With two outs in the seventh and Citi Field praying for a second franchise no-hitter,  Alex Rios hit a ball into the hole at shortstop. Ruben Tejada made a nice play and one of those Derek Jeter jump throws, but Rios beat the throw by a hair to break up the perfect game.

Meantime Hector Santiago was nearly as good for the White Sox. The Newark native who grew up rooting for the Mets held his boyhood team scoreless in his seven innings, allowing just four hits, striking out eight and walking two. He was removed after throwing 111 pitches.

Harvey made it through nine innings, allowing just that one hit, no walks and a career-high 12 strikeouts. He threw 105 pitches, which was apparently enough for Terry Collins. So Matt Harvey pitches the best game of his life and gets a no decision for his considerable efforts.

Ike Davis led off the 10th inning with a walk. He was sacrificed to second. Pinch hitter Mike Baxter came through with a single to right to score Davis for the 1-0 win. Bobby Parnell, who pitched the tenth, gets the win. But we all know who was the star of this game.

And then there was one — one reliable starter on the New York Mets. Jonathon Niese can no longer be considered as such after another dreadful outing on Sunday against the Braves. After two solid starts to begin the season, Niese has had just one positive outing in his last five starts.

There was nothing David Wright could say to help Jonathon Niese on Sunday.

The third inning was one of the uglier innings for the Mets this season. With one out Andrelton Simmons doubled to left. Niese walked Chris Johnson. Justin Upton singled to score the game’s first run and put runners on first and second. Freddie Freeman then hit a long drive to the warning track in left. Lucas Duda looked absolutely lost and the ball ended up dropping over his head. Both runs scored to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. A ground out advanced Freeman to third. Niese then threw a pitch low that John Buck just didn’t catch. It went all the way to the backstop and Freeman scored to make it 4-0. It was ruled a wild pitch, but it never hit the dirt and Buck should have caught it. Niese then walked Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton followed with a hot shot to third. It hit off of David Wright’s glove and was properly ruled a hit. Reed Johnson singled to plate Uggla to make it 5-0. Niese walked opposing pitcher Tim Hudson but got Simmons on a ground out to end the awful inning.

Back to the Duda play for a moment. The ball was well hit, and this is not to say that he should have caught it, but a competent outfielder would have had at least had a chance. Instead, it cost the Mets two direct runs, and possibly more because the inning would have ended earlier. You could live with such outfielder butchering if Duda were in turn producing runs at the plate, but he is not doing that, either.

Anway, the Mets got two of the runs back in the top of the fourth. Daniel Murphy led off with a walk and Wright followed with a two-run blast to center to cut the Braves lead to 5-2. It was the third straight game in which Wright has homered. He looks like he is about to enter one of those grooves in which he seems to get a hit every time up. Those are always fun.

But the game was lost in the fifth. Evan Gattis singled to lead off the inning. Niese then walked Uggla and B.J. Upton to load the bases and that was all for Jonathon Niese. Jeurys Familia came on and allowed a single to Reed Johnson to score two to extend the lead to 7-2. Familia was able to close out the inning without allowing any more runs to score.

So the linescore on Niese was not pretty — four innings, seven runs on seven hits, six walks and three strikeouts. Jonathon Niese now has a record of 2-3 with an ERA of 4.66.

Freeman homered in the sixth to make it 8-2.

The Braves needed four pitchers to get out of an eighth inning that featured two hits, two walks (one of them with the bases loaded), a hit-by-pitch, a wild pitch, Justin Turner pinch hitting for Ike Davis and Marlon Byrd striking out with the bases loaded to end the inning. They managed to score just two runs to make it 8-4.

The Braves added a run in the eighth to bring the final score to 9-4.

With a ”pissed off” manager, the Mets really needed a win in Wednesday’s Mets-Marlins matinee. It didn’t look good early, but some pinch hitting heroics by Jordany Valdespin gave the Mets the win to break their six game losing streak.

David Wright gets kudos after homering in 4th inning in Mets-Marlins game.

The Marlins jumped all over Dillon Gee in the first inning. He walked leadoff batter Juan Pierre and Greg Dobbs. Justin Ruggiano singled to score Pierre and Chris Valaika doubled to plate two more and just like that the Marlins had a 3-0 lead.

After Daniel Murphy got stupidly picked off of first base with David Wright at bat to end the third inning, Wright hit the first pitch of the  fourth with a no-doubt-about-it home run to left to make it a 3-1 game.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth Nick Green doubled off of Gee. Pitcher Wade LeBlanc singled to center, and the third base coach made a poor decision to send Green home. The throw from Juan Lagares was up the line, by Green was still out by a mile. The decision cost the Marlins a run because Pierre then singled to score LeBlanc to make it 4-1. LeBlanc slid awkwardly and John Buck’s shinguard hit him in the chest, but he was able to stay in the game.

Wright led off the sixth inning with a double and with two outs scored on a Marlon Byrd single to cut the Marlins lead to 4-2. After Ike Davis singled, LeBlac was removed from the game. A.J. Ramos came on to face Valdespin, and just like he did five times last season, Valdespin slammed a pinch hit home run to give the Mets the lead, 5-4.

Gee made the third out of the sixth inning, yet he was taken out of the game for the bottom of the inning. Presumably Terry Collins didn’t want to waste a pinch hitter with two outs and none on. Gee threw only 73 pitches, but they were not particularly good pitches. He allowed four runs on nine hits over five innings, walking two and striking out two. Still, he won his second game of the year against four losses. His ERA rose to 6.16.

Murphy and Wright, who had three hits on the day, both singled with one out in the seventh to put runners on first and third. Buck then doubled to the wall in right to drive in two as the Mets extended their lead to 7-4.

With one out in the seventh Scott Atchison allowed two singles and then Ruggiano singled to left. The ball took a high hop and bounced over Lucas Duda’s glove, rolling all the way to the wall. Two runs scored on Duda’s error to make it a 7-6 game, and Ruggiano landed on third. Atchison was able to get out of it and the Mets maintained the lead.

LaTroy Hawkins allowed a double to Green in the eighth, who later advanced to third, but Scott Rice came on to get the final out to strand him there.

Bobby Parnell, who was angry that he was not asked to close Tuesday’s game (he had pitched two innings in Monday’s marathon), got the call today, tasked with holding a ninth inning lead for the first time in this series. But unlike the first two games, Parnell was able to nail down the win with a one-two-three inning.

The Mets salvage the final game of the Mets-Marlins series, 7-6.