Blogger Problems

Thanks to a glitch, I lost my entire post that I had just spent time on. Looks like my blogging is going the way the Mets season did a couple of weeks ago.

My post in a nutshell, Mets took two of three against Phillies, costing them the wildcard. We'll be tied for third when we're done beating up on the Rockies.

Playoffs starting soon, something to get excited about. I just have to pick a team to root for.

Mets Sweep Nationals

I'm not sure what's worse, having this late season surge when things obviously don't matter, or if we'd played this way earlier in the month only to see the bottom fall out at the end. Either way, the Mets have put together an impressive run. They've won seven of their last nine games, they're once again above .500 (barely), and they actually have a chance to pass the Marlins and finish in third place. All of these mean little though, because even if we win our last seven games, the Mets will still have underachieved this season.

Friday night's game was a tight affair. The Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the sixth on a two run single by Cliff Floyd. The score would remain 2-0 until the bottom of the ninth when Ramon Hernandez gave up a two run shot to Carlos Baerga to send the game into extra frames. Steve Trachsel saw his six solid innings go to waste (five hits, seven strikeouts).

The Mets wouldn't take too long to answer. In the top of the tenth, Carlos Beltran hit a three run shot into the seats in rightfield and the Mets walked away with a 5-2 win. Aaron Heilman closed the game out and earned his second save of the season.

Yesterday, the score was the same (5-2) but without the drama. The Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning mostly due to a David Wright grand slam. That cushion allowed Tom Glavine to coast to his twelth win of the season as he gave up two runs through eight innings of work.

This afternoon's game provided some drama. With the game tied 3-3, the Mets took a one run lead in the top of the sixth on an RBI double by David Wright. The Nationals answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and once again, the Mets were down. It was David Wright again in the top of the eighth. He homered to tie the game, and Mike Jabobs followed it up with a solo shot of his own as the Mets took the lead. Mike Piazza homered two times earlier in the game to account for the Mets first three runs.

Kris Benson was roughed up, but for once, the bats were there. Aaron Heilman got into trouble in the ninth by walking two batters, but he escaped the jam and earned his third save of the season.

The Phillies are on deck this week as the Mets play their final seven games of the season. The Phillies won today, and the Astros are down so if that score holds, the Phillies will be a game back of the Astros for the wild card. Looks like we can play spoiler once again.

Mets Win Second Straight Series, Top Marlins in Dual of One Run Games

It's nice to see that the Met's aren't going down without a fight. After their horrible run, they've now won their last two series. Heck, even Baseball Prospectus is giving them a very small chance at making the playoffs (right around a .001 percent chance).

All three games were one run games, and they beat the Marlins twice, hindering their chances of making the postseason. The Mets got off on the right foot Tuesday by edging the Marlins 3-2 in 12 innings. Everytime Florida scored a run, the Mets answered and an RBI walkoff single by Mike Jacobs won the game. Jose Reyes scored on a wild pitch in the fourth and Cliff Floyd drove in his 94th run in the bottom of the seventh. A.J Burnett had a no-hitter through six innings, and the Mets only managed four total hits, but they made them count.

Kris Benson had his best start in a while, but it was the bullpen that really shined. Five shutout innings by three different pitchers allowed the Mets to walk away with the win. Aaron Heilman walked away with his fifth win of the season.

Wednesday was another walk off win. Miguel Cairo singled home Jose Reyes in the bottom of the ninth to win it. The Mets had a 3-2 lead, gave it up in the eighth, then tied it in the bottom half of the inning. Jose Reyes scored two runs and stole two bases, and his season stolen base total is now up to 57.

Jae Seo was spotty but effective enough. Brandon Looper was shelled again and we needed Ramon Hernandez to pick up the pieces. He won his seventh game of the season.

Yesterday, the Mets failed to lock up the sweep. Despite another great outing by Pedro Martinez (who was held to 75 pitches), the Mets offense only managed one run on six hits. Ramon Castro homered in the third to account for the Mets only run.

The Mets travel to Washington to take on the Nationals this weekend. The Nats are on the outside looking in, and if we take two of three, we'll pretty much end their playoff chances. At this point, playing spoiler is the only thing we have to look forward too.

Mets Win Meaningless Series

I guess I should be happy that the Mets FINALLY pulled together a series win. It's been a couple of weeks, and frankly, it's been tough coming back here and writing about the Mets' woes. I've been doing this now for most of the season (mid-May), and I'm not quite sure how the great Mets' blogs do it. But I've committed myself to plugging away, and even though the Mets are now done, I plan on doing some things in the offseason (continuing the Tom Seaver series and maybe a few more historical things along with tracking the Mets in the winter) so be sure to check back now and then.

Back to this weekend. The Mets got some great pitching in their two wins and this was the first case of that. Pedro was, well, Pedro. A six hit complete game shutout and he struck out ten. He improves to 15-7 and should get more Cy Young consideration then he'll probably get, even though it's hard to argue with Roger Clemens. In his seven losses, he's had 1-3, 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4 games. He also has a 2-3 no decision, and he also had the game where the Mets gave up an 8-0 lead. On a "good" hitting team, he's a 20 game winner. Heck, with the Cardinals offense, he's more then that.

Yesterday we ran into Tim Hudson. In all, the Mets were held to seven hits, but three of those were homeruns. Steve Trachsel was less then stellar and the pen didn't too much better.

This afternoon, Tom Glavine threw the gem against his old team. Six hits, and the only ding against him was a solo homer by Marcus Giles. The Mets scored all four of their runs in the fourth, and the rally was capped off by Cliff Floyd's 32nd homer of the season, a new career high for him. Jose Reyes stole two bases and he's now up to 54.

Florida is on deck this weekend, so we can still make our mark on the playoff picture by being the spoiler. We did tie the Brewers this weekend in the Wild Card standings, so I guess that's some consolation.

Hang in there Mets's fans.

Free Falling

The last few weeks have been rough. The Mets were so close, yet they've fallen so far. At this point, the Mets are in danger of slipping past the Reds who were one of the worst teams in the first half of the season.

Monday was more of the same. The Nationals jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead and the Mets just couldn't get the bats going. In total, the Mets managed five hits, and one of the runs was driven in by Tom Glavine, who had a good start go to waste. His ERA is now down to 3.88, and he's 10-13, so it's apparant he hasn't gotten much run support.

Yesterday, the Mets got a few more runs and few more hits, but so did the Nationals. Kris Benson continued his mediocre second half and dropped to 9-8. Carlos Beltran went three for four with two RBIs and Kaz Matsui scored twice.

Today's game took the cake. Cliff Floyd hit a grand slam as the Mets came back from a three run deficit to take a one run lead. Brandon Looper put two men on in the ninth, and Kaz Matsui's field error resulted in an unearned runs and extra frames. In the bottom of the tenth, Roberto Hernandez gave up a walk off RBI single to Vinny Castilla to wrap up the sweep.

The three losses now put us at 71-75 and it's looking more and more like we'll have a sub-.500 season. It's time to do some venting, but I'll save it for another time.

End Game

Well, there reaches in a point in a season where you go from believing the team has a shot to knowing they're done. The Mets are done.

Prior to winning today, they had lost ten of eleven and it was only recently that they fell out of the race. Mostly because it was such a tight race and no team seemed like it was going to break from the pack. The losing caught up with them though and they now stand 5 1/2 games back of the Wild Card, tied with the Brewers. I hope the team will prove me wrong by going on a nice winning streak but I don't see it happening. So, I'm tempering my expectations as the end of the season plays out.

The one good piece of news is Mike Piazza came back. Man, we could have used him last week, but it's nice to see him in the lineup. Unfortunately, he got plunked in the head in his game back on Saturday and didn't play today.

Thursday we were shut down by a guy who should be right there when the Cy Young voting wraps up. Chris Carpenter held the Mets to four hits, all of which were singles. Carlos Beltran had two of them. Kris Benson, who's seemed luke warm recently, threw a decent game. Unfortunately, he'd need to be perfect to walk away with a win in this one.

Friday, a great start by Jae Seo went to waste. He had his first career complete game and he gave up only three runs on five hits. Jason Marquis was a just a bit better though as the Mets only managed two runs. Cliff Floyd went two for four with a run and David Wright drove in his 88th run of the season.

Saturday, we got to see the return, and departure, of Mike Piazza. He had a great first game back (two for three with a homerun) but then got beaned in the head. So far, it looks like Piazza will be ready to go Tuesday, but they left him out of today's game as a precaution. Oh yeah, we lost, again.

Today was Pedro, who's looked very un-Pedro like as of late. He got the job done today though, throwing eight innings in which he gave up only eight hits and two runs. Victor Diaz had a three run shot and Carlos Beltran hit his fifteenth homer of the season.

The Nationals are on deck, and while we're out of it, we can still have an impact on the playoff picture. The Nationals are on the fringe of contention, and if we can take two of three, it could cost them a shot at the wildcard.

Finished

It's almost sad when you're excited about losing a series 2-1. That's how I felt as I watched last night's Mets game, although the Mets couldn't even manage that. I no longer live in the area so seeing the Mets on ESPN or WTBS is a treat. Of course it's only a treat when your team doesn't lay an egg.

And that's exactly what they did, and with it, their playoff hopes pretty much went out the window. They've won only three of their last twelve games and now sit five games back in the wild card race. The Mets are just as close to having the Brewers pass them as they are of slipping by the Nationals and it only gets worse because we head to St. Louis for a four game series against the best team in baseball.

Monday was the first of two games of the series decided by two runs. Carlos Beltran doubled home Jose Reyes in the first to give the Mets their only lead of the game. Homeruns by Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones cost Steve Trachsel the game in his second start back from surgery.

On Tuesday, we ran into John Smoltz in a battle of the aces. The odd thing about this game was none of the four runs were driven on hits. Three scored on groundouts and one was a sacrafice fly. Pedro looked mortal by giving up three runs through six innings of work.

Last night was the game to cry over. The Mets scored two runs in the first inning (one on a Cliff Floyd ground out and one on a David Wright single). The Braves finally got on the board in the fifth, but otherwise, Tom Glavine looked like the early 1990s version of himself. Roberto Hernandez came in to finish up the eighth, and heading into the ninth, the Mets had a one nothing lead.

In comes Brandon Looper, who gives up a game tying double to Ryan Landgerhaus. The Mets actually get a run in the tenth to take the lead again, only to see Brandon Looper load up the bases. Takatsu ended up serving the two run single to Langerhaus, but the runners were originally put there by Looper. He now has seven losses and six blown saves. Not the kind of numbers you want from your closer.

Baseball Prospectus has us down but not quite out. They're giving us a 5% chance of making the playoffs. They need to take three of four from St. Louis. Anything less, and it's basically the end of the season.

And yes, I'm hanging on longer then most are. I just think if the Mets can put together a five game winning streak, they'll get right back into the mix.

Mike Piazza might actually make it back soon, at least that's what Will Carroll mentioned in a recent Under the Knife. And the Norfolk Tides are down 1-0 in their playoff series to the Toledo Mudhens. At least somewhere in the country someone affiliated with the Mets is playing for something.

Hanging On

The Mets have lost three straight series, and two of those were against teams that were ahead of us in those Wild Card standings. The only good thing is, we didn't get swept in either series, and by pulling out those single wins against the Phillies and the Marlins, the Mets have been able to just hold on to a chance at the Wild Card.

Friday, the Mets ran into Dontrelle Willis. They only managed eight hits and only one of those was for extra bases (a double by David Wright). Victor Zambrano got roughed up for twelve hits in five innings of work. Only four Marlins crossed the plate though, so it's not like he pitched the Mets out of the win. Willis won his nineteenth game.

Saturday's game was the tough. The Mets jumped out to a 4-2 lead which included a two run Cliff Floyd homer. Kris Benson was awesome through six innings, but he got roughed up in the seventh inning. The killer was a bases loaded/clearing double by Miguel Cabrera that put the Marlins up by a run (at this point, the pen, i.e. Juan Padilla, was in the game). The Mets got nothing in the final innings and walked away with a loss.

Yesterday, Jae Seo saved the day. He's been the best Mets pitcher over the last few weeks, and that's with some tough competition in Pedro Martinez. Seo went seven innings and gave up only one run on five hits and he struck out six. Carlos Beltran, Cliff Floyd, and David Wright all drove in two runs in the rout.

Today, the Mets lost to the Braves, so we're now three games out of the Wild Card spot. The Nationals passed us, so we once again we have four teams in front of us. The Astros are up 4-1 against the Phillies, and if that stands, the two teams will flip flop in the standings (right now, the Phillies are a half game ahead of the Astros). If the Phillies come from behind, we'll then be 3 1/2 games back, so I'm rooting for the Astros (today).

Still no Mike Piazza. Ramon Castro has done his best, but we need our big bat back. Will Carroll hasn't mentioned anything about Piazza, although he did say that Trachsel is being inserted into the rotation to give Pedro an extra days rest.

Wrong Direction

Things started out so good. Some good relief pitching and a big three run homer by Ramon Castro put the Mets a mere half game back of the Phillies. You know things are bad when your worst pitching outing is the one in which Pedro pitches.

Yesterday's game started off innocently enough. The Mets gave Pedro Martinez a two run cushion on a Cliff Floyd RBI single and a Ramon Castro solo homer. Then in the fourth, Ryan Howard homered off of Pedro. No big deal, right? Two innings later, Chase Utley went yard to tie the game up. Then in the seventh, the Phillies tagged Pedro for two more homers, and the score was 5-2. The Phillies added three insurance runs (which they didn't need) in the ninth off of Heath Bell. The Mets managed a grand total of six hits in the game.

This afternoon, things were even worse. Tom Glavine had a very nice game, but he would have had to have been perfect to walk away with a win. He went seven and gave up two runs on three hits with four walks and six strikeouts. This time the Mets only managed four hits, and the only run scored on Kaz Matsui's ground out.

Ten hits in two days isn't going to cut it. The only consolation is that a bunch of runs didn't go to waste yesterday. The loss might have been even more annoying had we scored six for Pedro and still lost. Of course those three runs in the ninth might not have played out had the Mets had the lead.

So the Mets are 2 1/2 games back of the Phillies with the Astros and the Marlins in front of them. The Nationals (yes, they're still hanging around) look like they're going to lose, so they should drop a half game back of the Mets.

Another huge series is on deck this weekend. The Mets host the Marlins, who are a game ahead of the Mets and a game and a half back of the Phillies. Two out of three means we tie one of the teams ahead of us, and possibly more. A sweep would be huge.

Mike Cameron was placed on the 60 day disabled list, so as expected, his season is done. The bigger concern is Mike Piazza's hand, which appears to be healing slower then expected. We need all of the offensive help we can get, so hopefully that situation changes soon. We'll probably get another report from Will Carroll on the situation tomorrow.