Mets baseball blog

Park unable to prop up Mets in opener

The Mets weren't expecting a gem out of Chan Ho Park, called upon to replace the ailing Orlando Hernandez in the rotation on Monday. All they were really hoping for was a passing grade. And Park did not succeed. The veteran right-hander allowed seven runs in four innings -- including five in the third -- to sink the Mets, 9-6, in the first game of a three-game set with the Marlins. Park cruised early, retiring the first eight Marlins he faced. But with two outs in the third, the veteran right-hander unraveled. Continue

El Duque goes on DL, replaced by Park

Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez was scratched from Monday night's start against Florida and placed on the disabled list with bursitis in his right shoulder. Hernandez was replaced by Chan Ho Park, who was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans. El Duque, 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA in five starts, told the Mets on Sunday in Washington that he felt pain in the shoulder and was sent to New York to see a doctor. Park was 3-1 with a 7.29 ERA in four starts with the Zephyrs, allowing 26 hits in 21 innings - including six homers. (Daily News)

El Duque will undergo shoulder test

n what may turn into troubling news for the Mets, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez headed to New York yesterday for tests on his ailing right shoulder. According to general manager Omar Minaya, Hernandez felt tightness in his shoulder. The 41-year-old right-hander, who threw a bullpen session Saturday, has started strong this season, going 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA.

Hernandez, who battled neck arthritis and a right hamstring cramp in spring training, is scheduled to start tonight against the Marlins and Minaya said he believed Hernandez would still take the mound. If he can't, however, the possibilities would include Mike Pelfrey (he would be pitching on four days' rest but threw a bullpen session yesterday), Aaron Sele or possibly Chan Ho Park. Continue

Beltran's solo shot enough for Maine

Carlos Beltran's solo homer in the sixth helped John Maine outlast Jason Bergmann in an old-fashioned pitchers' duel as the Mets edged the Nationals, 1-0, before 27,361 at RFK Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Jose Reyes reached on an infield single to start the ballgame, but the Mets didn't get another hit until Beltran blasted his solo homer in the sixth. The Mets (15-8) finished with just three hits.

But that was enough as Maine (4-0) turned in another strong start. He gave up no runs on just three hits in seven innings, striking out a career-high eight batters. The right-hander ran into trouble just two times, the worst problem coming in the seventh, when the Nationals (8-17) put runners on first and second with none out, but Maine kept Washington off the scoreboard. Continue

Valentin to get an MRI

Jose Valentin is headed to New York this morning for an MRI on his right knee after leaving last night's game abruptly in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Ronnie Belliard grounded back to the mound for the first out, Valentin experienced weakness in the outside of his knee and suddenly began walking off the field. "It felt like it kind of wobbled," Valentin said. "I don't want to take any chances." Continue

Man at center of scandal was a nobody in clubhouse

The former Mets clubbie at the center of baseball's latest steroid scandal was a quiet, unassuming kid from Long Island, an unlikely candidate to be supplying major league players with hardcore steroids. Former pitcher Ron Darling, now a Mets broadcaster, didn't even remember Kirk Radomski, 37, the Manorville, L.I., resident who authorities say became a major source of drugs for baseball players after Victor Conte's BALCO lab was shut down by federal investigators.

First base coach Howard Johnson, a Mets infielder in the 1980s, said he didn't remember much of Radomski, either. "He was a clubhouse kid, one of several, one of the kids that were there," Johnson said. The man federal investigators say supplied steroids, human growth hormone, amphetamines and other drugs to dozens of ballplayers didn't leave a lasting impression with the team. He was simply one of many kids who ran errands, fetched food and did laundry for the Mets, working the Mets' clubhouse from 1985 to 1995. Continue

Pelfrey will stay in bigs for now

It's official. Mike Pelfrey will remain in the rotation, at least for another turn, when he starts Tuesday against the Marlins at Shea Stadium. Just how long Pelfrey stays in the majors, however, could very well depend on how he does that night. The Mets have tried to remain patient, despite Pelfrey's 7.90 ERA in three starts, and manager Willie Randolph doesn't want his players to feel like they are on a short leash.

"He's my fifth starter," Randolph said. "Just because he's struggled a little bit, it doesn't mean he goes on trial. The team's going well, he's my fifth starter, that's the way it is, plain and simple." Continue

Mets waste chances in loss

The Mets wasted a number of scoring chances Friday and couldn't overcome an early three-run deficit as the Nationals pulled out a 4-3 victory before 21,662 in the opener of the three-game series at RFK Stadium.

The Mets put runners on base in each of the first six innings but stranded a total of nine. The Mets loaded the bases in the fourth and sixth but could push across just one run. They also had the tying run on second with none out in the eighth, but couldn't get the big hit. The Mets entered the game with the highest batting average in the Major Leagues (.295) but couldn't come through at the right times. Continue

Power outage

The Mets entered their day off yesterday in first place in the NL East . . . despite sub-par efforts so far this season from two of their biggest hitters. Cleanup hitter Carlos Delgado's batting average is under .200, and No. 5 guy David Wright hasn't homered yet. As the Mets embark on a three-game weekend series at last-place Washington, the meat of the order is the meek of the order.

Regardless of whether manager Willie Randolph, Delgado or Wright want to call it a slump, the production from two of the Mets' most dangerous hitters must improve. The rest of the lineup shouldn't be asked to pick up their slack for another five months. Continue

Smith glad to be Met, big-leaguer

The TV in the visitors' clubhouse in Philadelphia last week stayed tuned to a real-estate infomercial for an hour. And though Joe Smith desperately wanted to watch something else - anything else, really - he never dared change the channel, even with no teammates in the room ... and despite his overwhelming skepticism he could actually earn $50,000 a month following the plan of buying and selling property.

"I don't think I was allowed," Smith said about touching the TV's remote control, a rookie taboo. "I'd get yelled at." Among NL pitchers 23 or younger, only San Diego's Cla Meredith has tossed more scoreless innings than Smith's 11 - and that's by one-third of an inning. Smith's .184 opponent batting average ranks sixth in the NL among rookies. Continue