Mets baseball blog

Misch shuts out Marlins 4-0

Jerry Manuel approached Jeff Francoeur in the visitors' clubhouse before Sunday's game and told the right fielder he would have to play despite being banged up. Otherwise, the manager joked, the Mets might face a fine for the ragtag lineup opposing the Marlins.

Francoeur, who has played with a torn ligament in his left thumb that will require surgery after the season, responded by belting a two-run homer and scoring twice and Pat Misch tossed only the second complete game by a Met this season in a 4-0 rubber-game victory against the Marlins on Sunday. Continue

Mets lose another to Marlins

Injury replacement Cameron Maybin hit a three-run homer in Florida's seven-run fifth and the Marlins rallied to beat the New York Mets 9-6 on Saturday night.

Maybin ran for Cody Ross in the fourth inning after Ross was hit on the left hand by a pitch from John Maine (6-6). He hit his third homer an inning later to give Florida a 7-3 cushion.

Maine allowed seven runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out three, walked two, threw two wild pitches and hit consecutive batters in the fourth.

Carlos Beltran hit a solo homer in the eighth and Angel Pagan and Anderson Hernandez scored in the ninth on pitcher Matt Lindstrom's error, bringing the score to 6, but David Wright and Beltran struck out.

Sean West (8-6) worked five innings for Florida, yielding three runs, two earned and seven hits.

Maine throws 5 scoreless in win vs Nats

The Mets went into the 2009 season with a top four in their starting rotation of Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Oliver Perez.

Unless there's a significant trade or free-agent signing, the Mets will go into the 2010 season with a top four in their starting rotation of Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Oliver Perez.

That's why Sunday's start by Maine was more meaningful than your usual because-it's-on-the-schedule-and-we-have-to-play-it mid-September game between two of the three worst teams in the NL. The Mets need some clue if Maine will be able to help them next season.

In his second start back from shoulder woes, Maine gave them hope. He pitched no-hit ball for four innings and shutout ball for five in a 6-2 win over the Nationals at Citi Field. Continue

Redding solid vs old team in Mets' win

Manager Jerry Manuel said before yesterday's game that the Mets "need a win bad," and in the eighth inning, when they nearly botched their lead over the Nationals, the same thought creeped into Jeff Francoeur's head.

"After things started to fall apart in the eighth," Francoeur said, "I was thinking to myself, 'Oh God, we need this one really bad.' "

This time, the Mets held on, as Francoeur delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning to give the Amazin's a 3-2 win, snapping their six-game losing streak. Continue

Make it five in a row

The Braves' first seven-game winning streak since 2006 might deserve an asterisk.

The last three wins, after all, are over the reeling Mets.

Brian McCann hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the fifth inning last night to lift the Braves to a 7-3 victory.

The Mets have lost five straight and nine of 10 to fall 21 games under .500 for the first time since Oct. 2, 2004, when they were 70-91.

"Has it been that long?" said Daniel Murphy, who had three hits, including a homer. "I didn't know. . . . Losing is frustrating, whenever it happens." Continue

D does Mets in once again

Ike Davis once hit off Goose Gossage before an Old-Timers' Day in the Bronx. Now, the son of former Yankees pitcherRon Davis is closing in on playing in Flushing.

Davis has been tabbed as the Mets' Sterling Minor-League Player of the Year and could unseat Daniel Murphy at first base sometime in 2010. Murphy did himself no favors Wednesday night, committing two fielding gaffes in the ninth as K-Rod was charged with his sixth blown save and the Mets lost to the Braves, 6-5.

K-Rod, trying to convert his first save exceeding one inning since July 1, 2007 with the Angels, couldn't believe Garret Anderson led off the ninth with a double with Murphy hugging the first-base line. Murphy said he thought the ball was foul. "Regardless if it's a foul ball, that ball should not go through," Rodriguez said.Continue

Mets swept, Pedro's performance adds insult to injury

Postseason elimination for the Mets had been a foregone conclusion since roughly mid-July, but it seemed only fitting that Pedro Martinez made it official last night.

The three-time Cy Young winner, who wanted nothing more than for the Mets to re-sign him this season, continued his magical comeback by pitching the rival Phillies to a 1-0 win in the second game of a day-night doubleheader, to complete the sweep at Citizens Bank Park.

The twin losses -- Philadelphia took the opener, 5-4 -- officially ended the 63-81 Mets' playoff chances. Martinez applied the knockout blow on national TV with eight masterful innings of six-hit ball to improve to 5-0 since signing with the Phillies in late July. Continue

Wright erupts and all is right for a day for Mets

David Wright's power numbers might look better if he called Philly rather than Citi Field home.

Wright belted a pair of two-run homers in the final two innings, the latter off newly installed closer Ryan Madson with two out in the ninth, to cap a six-RBI day that lifted the Mets to a 10-9 win against the Phillies Saturday.

Wright, who hadn't homered since Aug. 5, belted his ninth and 10th longballs this season while matching a career-high RBI total. He also drove in six runs at San Diego on Aug. 10, 2005, and at Milwaukee on Aug. 5, 2004.

He had been in a 3-for-27 rut since the start of the last home stand. He also had matched his career high by striking out for the 118th time this season on Friday. Continue

 

Parnell gets rocked in Mets' loss

Jerry Manuel brought his ragtag band of Mets together for half an hour before last night's game - yet another meaningless one for his team - to remind his players that they need to keep focused on what's ahead, regardless of playing out the string on 2009.

So, naturally, Manuel's players went out and looked even worse than usual.

It was a 13-4 win by the Marlins in a sparsely populated Citi Field, the 78th Mets loss of the season. It began with Anderson Hernandez booting a sure double-play grounder to load the bases in the first; Bobby Parnell then walked in two runs, and Angel Pagan made yet another mental error on the basepaths, this time forgetting the number of outs to get doubled off second in the seventh. Continue

Same old story Mets lose to Marlins

Lefthander Pat Misch, who earned his first major-league win last week in Colorado, couldn't build on the success. Misch surrendered a three-run homer to Cody Ross during a four-run first inning by the Marlins, and the Mets lost to Florida, 6-3, Wednesday night. Misch (1-2) also surrendered a solo homer to Dan Uggla in the sixth.

David wright went hitless in three at-bats to drop to 2-for-19 on the home stand. Jerry Manuel suggested he would have given Wright off tonight if the Mets weren't facing a lefthander, Sean West.

Wright nearly turned an inning-ending double play in the first inning that would have kept Florida (74-65) off the scoreboard. But after fielding Uggla's bases-loaded grounder and stepping on third base, Wright bounced a throw that glanced off Daniel Murphy's glove at first base as Nick Johnson scored. Ross followed with the three-run homer.

"I did everything that I could. Just the throw was a little off line," Wright said. "It's a play I want to make." Continue