Mets baseball blog

Manuel likes his team just the way it is

The Mets appear unlikely to make a move by this afternoon's non-waiver trade deadline, and that would be just fine with Jerry Manuel.

Though Manuel wouldn't mind an eighth-inning arm in the bullpen or another corner outfielder, the Amazin's interim boss said yesterday he likes the group he has and expects it to get stronger with Ryan Church's anticipated return. "I feel very comfortable with the team," Manuel said. "They've played extremely well to this point. There's no reason why we shouldn't continue to play well."  Continue

Mike Pelfrey gets shelled by Marlins, Mets fall into 2nd place in NL East

Mike Pelfrey's winning streak is gone. So, too, is the Mets' brief run atop the NL East. Pelfrey crumbled in a five-run fourth inning and the Mets suffered their lone series loss in July with a 7-5 rubber-game defeat against the Marlins Wednesday night at Dolphin Stadium.

As reports swirled regarding Manny Ramirez's potential relocation to South Florida, the tight NL East race had another shakeup. Philadelphia, which beat Washington, now leads the division by a half-game over the Mets and 1-1/2 games over the Marlins. Continue

Maine MRI shows rotator-cuff woe

The news on John Maine sounds ominous, even as the Mets claim otherwise. An MRI exam in New York late yesterday showed that Maine suffered what the Mets described as a mild strain of the right rotator cuff. The club is listing him as day-to-day, though Maine appears likely to miss at least one start. The Mets have two off days in the next week, so they wouldn't have to call up a starter to take Maine's next turn. Continue

Oliver Perez, bullpen shut down Marlins to keep Mets tied for first

Jerry Manuel used to joke that he had to remain on the top step of the dugout during Oliver Perez's starts, prepared to pounce at the first hint of an implosion from his streaky southpaw. Now, Manuel can sit back and relax. Believe it or not, the once-erratic Perez has emerged as one of the Mets' most consistent contributors.

Perez completed six innings for the sixth straight start and the Mets retained first place in the NL East with a 4-1 win over the Marlins Tuesday night at Dolphin Stadium. Philadelphia remained a half-game behind, while Florida dropped two games back. Continue

Surging Tatis earns starting left field job

Less than three years after he was out of baseball, Fernando Tatis is the Mets' new everyday left fielder. Though the Amazin's might still trade for a corner outfielder by Thursday's non-waivers trade deadline, manager Jerry Manuel gave the red-hot Tatis the starting job yesterday.

"Right now, he is our left fielder - no doubt about it," Manuel said before Tatis laced an RBI triple last night. He also added an RBI groundout on a fielder's choice in the eighth inning of the Mets' 7-3 loss to the Marlins, the opener of a key three-game NL East series. Continue

John Maine hurts shoulder as Marlins beat Mets 7-3 after rally

The Mets had debated whether to even send John Maine to the mound Monday night, considering the pitcher had previously confessed to experiencing discomfort behind his right shoulder. But team doctors advised Jerry Manuel that Maine would not be at any extra risk by starting against the Marlins, since the trouble wasn't in a worrisome area.

Still, by the fifth inning, pitching coach Dan Warthen didn't like how Maine was dropping his arm angle as pain intensified - the concern being that an altered motion could cause a different injury. So Manuel yanked an angry Maine against his will. The Mets not only lost the pitcher, they eventually lost the game, 7-3, to the Marlins at Dolphin Stadium, when Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis combined to allow five eighth-inning runs. Continue

Mets don't want Ramirez, but Ibanez might fit

The Mets don't want Manny Ramirez, and as of now, they don't think they'll be acquiring an outfielder of any kind before Thursday's non-waivers trade deadline. As Newsday reported yesterday, the Mets don't intend to make a run for Ramirez, who is feuding with the Red Sox again, despite general manager Omar Minaya's previous attempts to land the future Hall of Famer. Team officials don't see Ramirez as a fit because of his behavioral issues.

Of the remaining outfield possibilities, the Mets appear to have the most interest in Seattle's Raul Ibañez, though Ibañez bats lefthanded and the Mets need a righty hitter. So far, however, the Mariners' asking price has been too high. Continue

Johan Santana throws complete game as Mets blast Cardinals at Shea

Jerry Manuel speculated that Johan Santana felt stung by second-guessing last week, when the ace willingly departed after eight innings against Philadelphia, only to watch the Mets blow a three-run lead.

So Manuel suggested the ace was "adamant" about pitching a complete game Sunday, even if the interim manager embellished the dugout conversation that occurred during a 9-1 win against the Cardinals at Shea. "Let me finish this," Manuel initially quoted Santana as saying. "Please let me finish this." Then, the interim skipper confessed: "I'm adding a few things." Continue

Amazin's searching for 'relief'

The Yankees beat the Mets to Xavier Nady and got Damaso Marte, too, quite the coup. Also, quite the reason for Omar Minaya to go sleepless until Thursday's non-waiver trading deadline if the Mets haven't won 14 of their last 18 games, still might get Ryan Church Ryan Church back, or don't believe there may be a corner outfielder remaining on the market better than Endy Chavez and Fernando Tatis have been.

Tatis's third hit last night was a straight-away ninth-inning home run that sent the game into extra innings. Chavez had two hits with an RBI and a run scored before Albert Pujols's two-run homer in the 14th off Aaron Heilman sent the Mets down to a 10-8 loss in a five hour and nine minute marathon that lasted almost all the way to the trading deadline. Continue

Albert Pujols, Cardinals beat Mets 10-8; Brandon Knight makes debut

There was no safety net behind Aaron Heilman - just Oliver Perez out in the bullpen stretching, in case the seventh and final reliever used by Jerry Manuel successfully navigated a third inning.

Heilman, though, finally got tripped up in the 14th inning, on pitch No. 45. He surrendered a two-run homer to Albert Pujols and the Cardinals beat the Mets, 10-8, in 14 at Shea Saturday night. Heilman's eventual pitch count - 58 - was the most he had tossed since he started for the Mets in May 2005. Continue