Mets baseball blog

Shea it ain't so! Mets lose playoff spot

Maybe what the Mets really need is a change of scenery. They can only hope for better luck at Citi Field. Evidently, the ghosts of last September's collapse never left Shea Stadium, and the Mets were unable to fumigate the building this year. It seems that the only solution is to knock it down, and the wrecking ball did not arrive in time Sunday to prevent history from repeating itself in a 4-2 loss to the Marlins.

Carlos Beltran hit a tying two-run homer off Scott Olsen in the sixth inning to rally the Mets and energize a crowd of 56,059. But the team's Achilles' heel, its bullpen, conspired to prevent the Mets from earning a playoff berth on the final day of the season -- for the second consecutive year. Continue

Johan Santana shuts down Marlins, saves Mets season

On a sheet of paper posted inside the Mets' clubhouse, this handwritten quote hung from the wall: "It's time to be a MAN." Johan Santana often utters that expression to teammates, with an expletive inserted. He more than lived up to his pet phrase Saturday afternoon.

Santana's $137.5 million contract bought the Mets at least one more meaningful game at Shea Stadium before they tear down the relic. Starting for just the second time in his career on short rest, Santana tossed his sixth career shutout as the Mets blanked the Marlins, 2-0. Continue

Mets falling out of playoff contention, lose to Marlins 6-1

Doc Gooden, Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza might want to borrow some ear plugs from Bobby Bonilla for that Shea farewell Sunday. It could be a venomous atmosphere at the postgame sendoff to the stadium if Johan Santana and Oliver Perez can't save the Mets' season with starts on short rest.

For a second straight year, Florida arrived in Flushing for a season-ending series aiming to knock out the Mets. This time the Fish handed the not-so-Amazin's a 6-1 series-opening loss Friday night that dropped the Mets a game behind the Brewers in the wild-card race and to the brink of elimination. If the Mets lose with Santana on the mound and Milwaukee beats Chicago Saturday, they will have penned a second straight collapse. The Mets (88-72) also fell two games behind the division-leading Phillies with two games remaining, reducing Philadelphia's magic number to one. Continue

Carlos Beltran knocks in game-winner, Mets beat Cubs 7-6

This doomed stadium still has some magic. The Mets overcame a late three-run deficit and beat the Cubs, 7-6, Thursday night at Shea to maintain a tie with Milwaukee atop the wild-card standings. Carlos Beltran's two-out, line-drive single off the glove of diving first baseman Micah Hoffpauir scored Jose Reyes from second base in the ninth with the winning run as the Mets split the four-game series, moved within a game of idle Philadelphia for first place in the NL East and perhaps resuscitated their season with three games remaining. Continue

CUBS 9, METS 6: It’s opportunity knockout

Doubt is starting to creep into the hearts of these Mets. Last night, for probably the first time in a long while, there seemed to be a realization that missing the playoffs is now a very real possibility. That's how difficult it was to stomach this 9-6 loss to the Cubs. The Mets have suffered their share of demoralizing defeats this season. But not one has come at a time with more at stake, and less time to recover. Last night, the Mets blew a 5-1 lead - supplied by a Carlos Delgado grand slam - rallied from a 6-5 deficit, and then stranded Daniel Murphy at third base after his leadoff triple in the ninth inning.

That was only the latest in a succession of missed opportunities. The Mets went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and from the seventh to ninth innings, failed to get a runner in from third with none out each time. Derrek Lee's two-out double off Luis Ayala provided the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and Aramis Ramirez iced it with a two-run homer. Continue

Johan Santana's broken-bat hit sparks Mets' rally in 6-2 win over Cubs

Lou Piniella called it Johan Santana's "magic bat trick." Santana said his quirky grounder should "count for two hits." Jerry Manuel said if the Mets couldn't score in an inning in which a bouncer hit by his pitcher struck the broken maple bat not once but twice, well, "It's going to be tough for us."

Peculiar happenings have affected games between the Mets and the Cubs in past pennant races - remember 1969's black cat? - and Santana's bat-aided infield single in the fifth inning Tuesday night might have been the break the Mets needed to shake off the ghosts of last September's collapse and the stirring of another this season. Continue

Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis hits grand slam, Mets fall to Cubs, 9-5

If the season ended today, the Cubs would be the Mets' opponent in the first round of the National League playoffs next week. As the Mets learned the hard way last September, the season does not end until it ends. Even if it appears more and more that the end is near. The not-again Mets opened the final regular-season home stand at Shea with a null performance circa 2007, getting pounded, 9-5, by the Cubs Monday night before a restless and increasingly panicky crowd in Flushing. Continue

Mets bullpen blows another late lead, Braves win 7-6

Surely you didn't expect the final week would be a drama-free prelude to the postseason, did you? The Mets failed to protect a two-run lead over the final three innings and lost to the Braves, 7-6, Sunday at Turner Field. With Milwaukee's win in Cincinnati, the Mets' wild-card lead was sliced to 1-1/2 games - two in the loss column - over the Brewers. The Mets (86-69) begin a season-ending seven-game home stand tonight against the Cubs, who already have clinched the NL Central.

"We've got to close the deal out at home," Jerry Manuel said. "That's what we've got to do. We've got to give Shea Stadium, hopefully, a nice sendoff. We have the opportunity. It's right in front of us. It's a tremendous opportunity." Continue

Pedro Martinez takes 4-2 loss to Braves 'really rough'

Scratch another game off the Mets' magic number to reach the postseason, even if Cincinnati did the work to reduce it to six. Pedro Martinez's two RBI didn't offset the four runs he surrendered in six innings and the Mets lost to the Braves, 4-2, Saturday night at Turner Field. The Mets ceded first place to the Phillies, and now trail in the NL East by a half-game. Still, with Milwaukee's loss at Cincinnati with CC Sabathia working on short rest, the Mets retained a 2-1/2-game buffer over the Brewers in the wild-card race. Continue

Mets move past Philly into first place with 9-5 win over Braves

- Division winner? Wild card? Jerry Manuel doesn't care. "Regardless of how you get in, we've got to get in," the Mets' interim manager said. "The wild-card teams have done extremely well." Things certainly took a favorable turn Friday night, even if it wasn't pretty. Fueled by pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy's tiebreaking two-run double in what became a four-run eighth against Julian Tavarez, the Mets survived three errors and beat the Braves, 9-5, their first victory in seven games this year at Turner Field. Continue