Mets baseball blog

Reyes tosses glove after wild throw

Millions of Little Leaguers knew just how Jose Reyes felt yesterday. Reyes knew just how they felt, too. But some would suggest he should be held to a higher standard.After being charged with an error on a wide throw that first baseman Carlos Delgado could have gloved but didn't, Reyes fired his glove to the ground - his sunglasses fell off, too - and then walked off the field instead of hustling to the dugout once the inning was over.

He drew heavy criticism from Mets broadcasters on both the TV and radio sides. Some observers thought he might have been showing up Delgado, who came off the bag but had the high but catchable throw ricochet off his glove and into the Mets' dugout, allowing Melky Cabrera to reach second. Or was Reyes reacting to being charged with an error when he thought Delgado deserved it? Continue

Oliver Perez pitches Mets over Yankees in Subway wrapup

Jerry Manuel was full of chuckles in his postgame press conference Sunday, dubbing winner Oliver Perez "Gangster Ollie" and gleefully telling the story of how he decided to watch only the catcher's mitt - not the pitcher - during the early innings so he wouldn't have a firsthand view of the lefty's usual inconsistencies.

But Perez was only maddening to the Yankees Sunday in one of his best performances of the season. After tweaking his windup and mind-set, "Gangster Ollie" allowed three hits and one run over seven innings in the Mets' 3-1 victory over their crosstown rivals in front of 56,277 at Shea. Continue

Little engine that could? It isn't Pedro Martinez much longer

On nights like this, it's hard to remember what Pedro Martinez looked like when he was the baddest man in baseball, the cocky gunslinger feared as much for his knockdown pitch as his fastball. On nights like this, you wonder how quickly time is running out on Pedro, and whether he has enough left to help the Mets make a second-half run at October this season.

It's not only that Martinez gave up six runs in 5-2/3 innings in a 9-0 loss to the Yankees Friday night, as these two inconsistent ballclubs fittingly split yesterday's day-night doubleheader. Continue

Carlos Delgado's bat does talking for Jerry Manuel, Mets

The afternoon belonged to Carlos Delgado, who drove in nine runs on three swings and might have provided an answer to the brute of a question, high and hard, that was directed at Jerry Manuel. It was before the game, before the 234 minutes that ended with the Mets punishing the Yanks, 15-6, in their house. Now they'll definitely have to tear it down.

Delgado, two days past his 36th birthday, has been playing older than that this season. The sports crowd wants him sent away, pronto. They've seen enough, too much. And the question for Manuel was very close to the complaint heard so frequently on the sports stations. Continue

Jerry Manuel knows Subway Series is key for Mets to go in right direction

Could the Mets' final trip to this Yankee Stadium - barring an October Subway Series - jump-start their season? David Wright hopes so, as the Mets embark on a stretch with consecutive four-game series against the Yankees, then at NL wild-card leader St. Louis and NL East leader Philadelphia.

"We're fortunate to have played as mediocre as we have and still be this close to the top," Wright said before the Mets crept within 3-1/2 games of the reeling Phillies. "I guess it's a blessing in a way, but we can really solidify ourselves as a playoff contender over these next couple of weeks." Continue

Umpire Runge apologizes to Manuel

Umpire Brian Runge apologized to Jerry Manuel yesterday, one day after he bumped and ejected the manager. Manuel said Runge apologized when he brought out the lineup card at the beginning of the game.

"He had spoken to his father [Paul Runge, a former MLB ump], who actually is a good friend of mine," Manual said after last night's 8-2 victory over the Mariners. "And he felt very bad about the whole incident. I accepted [the apology]. No problem." Continue

David Wright, John Maine lead Mets over Mariners, 8-2

Give David Wright another day off. Oh, Thursday's a Mets off-day before the Subway Series? Perfect. Wright, who had been the final big leaguer to play every inning this season, returned from a respite forced on him by interim manager Jerry Manuel and slugged homers in his first two at-bats. Jose Reyes also homered, and John Maine didn't surrender a hit until the fifth inning as the Mets beat the Mariners, 8-2, Wednesday night at Shea.

The rout salvaged the finale of a disappointing series against lowly Seattle, moved the Mets (38-39) back to within a game of .500 and made them 4-4 under Manuel as Thursday's two-borough doubleheader against the Yankees looms. Continue

Heat shifts to Howard Johnson as Jerry Manuel says Mets must hit better

Say this for the Jerry Manuel era so far: The results haven't been so hot, but at least the Mets haven't lacked for entertainment.

The new Mets manager is now 3-4 after losing a second straight game, this one an awful 11-0 thumping, to the worst-in-baseball Seattle Mariners Tuesday night. But for what it was worth, Manuel wasn't around to witness most of the carnage against the bad Oliver Perez and three relievers; wasn't around to bring in a lefthander to face Raul Ibañez in the sixth inning when circumstances cried out for that after Claudio Vargas had just allowed four straight baserunners with one out; wasn't around to watch Endy Chavez ground into a double play after the first two Mets had singled in the fifth, and pop out to short on the first pitch with two on and one out in the seventh. Continue

Enough! Jerry talks shakeup

Jerry Manuel has seen enough. The Mets need to start winning often - or else he'll have to consider making some dramatic moves. The Mets were annihilated last night at Shea Stadium, embarrassed by a horrible team and shut down by an atrocious pitcher. They were trounced 11-0 by the Mariners, the worst team in the majors, in a beating that was beyond rock bottom.

Manuel, who was also ejected in the fourth inning along with Carlos Beltran, pronounced the Mets a flat-out "bad offensive club" and declared there could be radical changes if the team doesn't start putting up. Continue

Clear-headed Mets' Church expects to face Yankees

Ryan Church said he has successfully shaken out the cobwebs and could return to the Mets' lineup sometime during this weekend's Subway Series. Church, on the disabled list since June 9 with post-concussion symptoms, said he is suffering no residual effects of the two concussions he has suffered since March. Church is scheduled to make a rehab start for the Brooklyn Cyclones either tomorrow or Thursday. Continue