Mets baseball blog

Alou may be back Friday

Oft-injured left fielder Moises Alou rejoined the Mets yesterday but is not quite ready to play. The plan is to activate him from the disabled list Friday in Arizona, although GM Omar Minaya said that is not definite.

The 41-year-old has been sidelined since March 6 by hernia surgery. Alou cut short his rehab assignment in extended spring training when a CAT scan showed something in his right ankle that doctors feared was a fracture. But an MRI exam on Monday in New York showed no fracture, clearing Alou to play. Continue

David Wright's 11th-inning hit gives Mets 5-4 win over Pirates

Take a curtain call, David Wright. Or not. Wright's bases-loaded single beyond drawn-in right fielder Xavier Nady, which dropped narrowly inside the foul line, scored Endy Chavez as the Mets beat Pittsburgh, 5-4, in 11 innings Tuesday night at Shea. "I was begging the wind just to keep it fair," Wright said.

How fair was it? "Barely. Barely," said Wright, a career .465 hitter with the bases loaded. "Just a foot or two. I hit it and I saw X (Nady) just kind of stand there. It was just the ball versus the wind, and the wind was slowly taking it, slowly taking it. It got down just in time - a couple of feet fair. I'll take it." Continue

All wrong bringing David Wright into Carlos Delgado's mess of nonsense

You have to understand: Wright is a golden child, one of the chosen. He is a homegrown organization talent, which means he is treated very differently than the latest free agent on the block. He is granted immunity from prosecution for all but the most dire slumps or transgressions.

"The fans have given me and Jose (Reyes) a pass sometimes," Wright admitted Monday, before the rainout against Pittsburgh.It is this way on every team, with every player. Derek Jeter gets more slack from the fans than Alex Rodriguez, forever, or as long as he stays in pinstripes. Wright will receive the benefit of doubt around Shea and Citi field for many seasons to come, cheered for RBI doubles in the gap. Continue

Mets' Delgado: I wasn't sending message to fans

Carlos Delgado insisted yesterday that he wasn't trying to send a message to the fans when he denied their request for a curtain call Sunday in the Mets' 6-3 victory over Atlanta. There are moments that warrant a tip of the hat, Delgado said, but in his opinion, his second home run of Sunday's game was not one of them.

"I hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. We were winning by two. All I did was add another run," Delgado said in a lively 20-minute discussion with reporters before yesterday's rain-out at Shea Stadium. "I didn't think that was the right moment. It wasn't a walk-off home run, it wasn't a tiebreaking home run. It was a home run in April." Continue

Unlucky break for Alou

Moises Alou is headed to New York today, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be in the Mets ' lineup anytime soon.The oft-injured outfielder will be examined by team doctors after a CAT scan performed on Friday indicated the recent swelling in Alou's left ankle could be the result of a fracture.

Alou, who underwent hernia surgery last month, was scratched from starts for Single-A St. Lucie on Friday and Saturday because of the swelling.GM Omar Minaya indicated yesterday that he had no knowledge of how the ankle injury occurred. Continue

Carlos Delgado's two homers power Mets past Braves, 6-3

The fans were standing and cheering for Carlos Delgado, and doing it loudly, like at no other time this season. After all, the oft-booed first baseman finally had given them ample reason to applaud when his second home run of the afternoon sailed over the right-field wall and crashed into the scoreboard.

But that sudden Kiss-Cam love went unrequited as Delgado declined to acknowledge the fickle crowd's demand for a curtain call in the seventh inning of the Mets' 6-3 series-sealing victory over Atlanta Sunday at Shea. Continue

Wright makes Mets boo birds sing a new tune

There were some rare moments of giddiness yesterday at Shea Stadium, even getting fans to display gusto as they belted out the words to the most unlikely anthem: "I'm a Believer." If ever there were an irony, it was these fans singing those words this season. Almost as if fate were making a point, the instant the music stopped, who should step in the batter's box but Carlos Delgado, who fouled out and inspired the popular 2008 chorus: "Boooooo!"

They had booed Delgado in the introductions and booed him during the game. They booed Aaron Heilman after he turned a two-run lead into a one-run lead. They would have booed plenty more if the Mets had not hung on for a 4-3 win over the Braves. Continue

Bats break out and bullpen does rest as Mets beat Braves, 4-3

David Wright didn't take it that hard last April when he went into a slump because the Mets were winning in spite of it. This year it has been different. Wright hit the skids and so did the Mets, losing five of six.

The third baseman and the Mets both got back on track Saturday against Tim Hudson and the Braves. One day after the Mets managed only two hits and Wright's slide reached 0-for-18, the team pounded out nine hits, including his two, and scored a 4-3 victory at Shea. Continue

Delgado on his way out at first

We know how this ends for Carlos Delgado with the Mets. We might not know the exact date or the exact term, be it designated for assignment or outright release, but we see the bread crumbs now heading toward the exit.First, Delgado was dropped in the lineup. Last night he did not start against a righty, Braves rookie Jair Jurrjens. Willie Randolph publicly tries to minimize the relevance of such maneuvers. What else can he do?

His first baseman makes $16 million, and his employer isn't quite ready to dine on that contract. Nevertheless, Randolph's actions toward Delgado are going to speak louder than his words. And his words should not exactly comfort Delgado. Given a direct chance to support Delgado yesterday, Randolph provided the kind of lukewarm endorsement you would expect Hillary Clinton to give Barack Obama. "I can't predict what he will do [statistically]," Randolph said. "I have confidence he will get going and have a decent year for us." Continue

Mets held to two hits, lose to Braves

When Jair Jurrjens stood on the mound with his arms outstretched, complaining about an umpire's call and snared in the throes of an epidemic of wildness that had threatened to finish Mike Pelfrey as well, it seemed the Mets were in control of their series opener with the Braves Friday night.

Jurrjens, Atlanta's 22-year-old starter, walked four consecutive hitters in the third inning, including three with the bases loaded, as the Mets erased an early deficit. Jurrjens angered plate umpire Tim McClelland with his grumbling and he seemed flustered by the free passes, at one point stomping around the mound, smiling and pausing for a deep breath. Continue