Both of the starting pitchers did everything they could to let the other team win, but the Mets managed to pull out the victory this evening. 

Oliver Perez pitched scoreless first and second innings, but that is about the only thing that went well for Perez.  He allowed a 2-run HR to Cristian Guzman in the third, and the fourth was even worse.  The Nationals had four hits in a row off of Perez and seven total base runners in a row, including when Nelson Figueroa relieved him with one out in the third.  The Nats scored five in the fourth, and another in the fifth. 

You know, it seems sort of fabricated when we talk about Perez being poor against worse teams but it is really the truth.  For somebody so talented it becomes increasingly frustrated when in a September game he can’t manage to be decent against a below-average Nationals team. 

The Mets and Carlos Delgado never backed down.  Ryan Church had a homerun, David Wright had an RBI single but Delgado stole the show.  Delgado hit two HRs, one of them a monster shot off the scoreboard in right center.  Carlos Beltran also hit a home run and through six innings, the Mets were winning 10-8.  Thankfully, the score never changed again.   

Jerry Manuel was certainly exuberant with the fact that he had an expanded roster this evening.  In total, he used six relievers including Luis Ayala who recorded his sixth save of the season.  Ayala now has more saves than blown saves, which was previously not the case.  The bullpen was strong once again with only Brandon Knight allowing a run.  In total the bullpen threw 5.2 innings. 

I would like to formally issue my most sincere apology for everybody who watched the Mets game last night, and was forced to listen to the announcing team of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan.

In a given game, the pair consistently:

• Makes ignorant comments, without statistics or logic to back them up.
• Gets side tracked from the game.
• Mispronounces names despite their hardest efforts to say them correctly.
• Babbles on endlessly about something we don’t care about.

Now, let’s play the guessing game: Guess which picture is of Jon Miller, and which picture is of one of the "Bobs" from Office Space (the movie).

Candidate 1:

Candidate 2:

Which one is actually Jon Miller? Which one is Bob from Office Space?

If you thought that the first one was Bob and the second one was Jon Miller, you were wrong. The first one is actually Jon Miller, with the second one being Bob. Thanks for playing.

The Mets look to avoid a crushing defeat and sweep tonight as the ace lefties for both teams, Johan Santana and Cole Hamels take the hill.

Keys to the game:

• There’s a Church in Right Field! Beyond adding needed thump to the Mets lineup, Ryan Church will added some needed defensive help in right that Pedro Martinez certainly would have appreciated.  There were two doubles to right that Fernando Tatis couldn’t come up with and Church probably would have this afternoon, and the Greg Dobbs HR just barely got over the fence - and while unlikely - Church might have had a shot at snagging that ball too.  Even though Tatis is in left this evening, at least Johan has Church in right.
• Jump on Hamels Early.  When you’re facing an ace, you can’t let him get into a groove because if he mows you down the first few innings, he’ll be comfortable for the rest of the game and mow you down the rest of the game.  The Mets have to get on Hamels, work his pitch count and get runners on base. 

For a full lineup, head over to Adam Rubin’s blog Surfing the Mets. 

For in-game chat, banter and sweet commotion, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers. 

Avoid the sweep boys, go Johan!

As Ernie Banks used to say, “Let’s Play Two!”

Two aged starters take the mound today as Pedro Martinez and Jamie Moyer are set to duel in game one of this doubleheader.

Keys to the game:

• Get Us Started Jose.  Jose Reyes was 0-4 against Brett Myers Friday night, and the Mets were  unable to score.  Although most of the Mets batters failed to succeed against him, it is also a testemant to how much the Mets need Reyes to spark the offense.  If he can jump on Moyer early and not fall into his crafty traps, the Mets will be in good shape.
• Play the Match-ups.  Even though it is a double header, the Mets have have a plethora of arms in the bullpen, many of which can only handle certain situations.  If Manuel can save guys like Pedro Feliciano and only have them face one or two batters (lefties for Feliciano of course), then they also might be available for tonight’s game.  Playing the match-ups might be the best course of action for getting batters out and conserving arms for this evening’s action.

For a full-lineup, head over to Adam Rubin’s blog Surfing the Mets. 

For in-game chat, banter, discussion and edgy Mets fans, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers. 

Today, us Mets-Jets Fans have quite the conundrum. 

On the one hand, the New York Jets make their season debut at 1 PM, preparing for a rebound season led by future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.  Not to mention, the former quarterback and golden boy Chad Pennington is starting against the Jets for the division rival Dolphins. 

On the other hand, at 2:15 the Mets take on the division rival Phillies in a close division battle.  This is game one of a double header, where the Mets could potentially widen their division lead to four games or see it slip into a tie for first. 

Quite the conundrum. 

Obviously some people like football more, and will watch the Jets and obviously some people like baseball more and will watch the Mets.  At least everybody should get an hour of football in before the Mets game starts - except for those die hard fanatics who insist on watching 30 minutes of pre-game show everyday. 

I undoubtedly love baseball more - but there are only 16 games in a football season, and this is an opening day for what should be an exciting debut for the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets.  How should folk like me solve the problem?

Well, there will be some intense flippage going on, for sure.  But thank god for PIP - or how common folk know it - Picture In Picture.  This wonderful invention allows me to watch both games at the same time! Amazing, right?  Honestly, it’s a life saver. Well not literally, but you know what I mean. 

Other potential solutions include:

• Record one game and watch it later - but make sure to block yourself from hearing the score of the recorded game so everything still comes a surprise. 
• Good ‘ole fashion flipping between two channels during ads and down time. 
• Go to a bar where both games will most certainly be on.
• Watch one game on TV and follow the other game online with some sort of play-by-play.

So, to whomever is having this issue: the battle of timing is one we can win, just don’t go in there unprepared.   

In his column for SI.com today, Jon Heyman lays a few nuggets about the Mets. 

Heyman notes that until Wagner comes back, Jerry Manuel will have to play roulette with the bullpen with various new arms such as former closer Al Reyes and fire-baller Bobby Parnell. 

This is clearly the best way to handle the bullpen right now, nobody is suited to for a certain inning, but lots of the relievers are good in certain situations against certain types of batters.

We saw a bit of that today as Manuel used lefty Ricardo Rincon for two-thirds of an inning this evening. 

Heyman also notes that John Maine tried to tough it out with his injury for now, but as of now it looks like he won’t make the finish line.  He also reminds us of other Mets that won’t finish the season: El Duque, Moises Alou, Angel Pagan, and Matt Wise. 

I missed the excitement of Pagan, hopefully he’ll be a nice bench piece next year. 

Heyman also notes that Carlos Delgado is “stunningly” a candidate for NL MVP.

WRONG - in my opinion, Delgado is fifth on the Mets for MVP, nonetheless the entire NL.  Just because his positive efforts have been concentrated over a small period time do not negate an entire two months of terrible performance and a lack of effort. 

Finally, Heyman adds that the Mets are trying to extend Omar Minaya who’s contract finishes at the end of 2009. 

I think Minaya did a great job turning the franchise around, but more and more the future of the game is turning into developing your own cheap talent through the system, something that Minaya hasn’t proven he can do yet.  I would hope the Wilpons think long and hard about extending him, and not accept it as a foregone conclusion. 

Mike Pelfrey and the Mets take on Brett Myers and the Phillies in the last Mets-Phillies series of the regular season, and the last ever Mets-Phillies series at Shea.

Keys to the game:

• I love it when you call me Big Pelf-rey.  Pelfrey has been a second ace for the Mets lately, and if continues to pitch the way he has the Mets will be in great position to win this game.
• Revenge. It’s September, and it’s the Phillies.  The easiest way to expel the demons of last year would be to come out and widen our division lead this weekend.

For a full lineup, head over to Adam Rubin’s blog at the Daily News.

As always, for in-game banter, discussion and edgy Mets fans, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers.

Quietly, the Marlins have fallen out of contention in the NL East and are currently eight games behind the Mets in the division.  Nonetheless, the Marlins competed for most of the season and surprised everybody. 

For a team above .500, the Marlins have the worst home record in baseball at 38-34.  Perhaps the fans - or lack thereof - have something to do with it.

According to The Record, the Marlins only had 600 fans at the time of first pitch for Wednesday’s game against the Braves.  The Marlins won the game 5-3 and star Hanley Ramirez was 2-4 with a double and a HR. 

Should Marlins fans be ashamed for showing such a lack of support for a team that put up a fight for most of the year?  After all, although it was very hot outside, the Marlins are still an above .500 team and they were playing a division rival.  An attendance like that is certainly embarrassing for the team, when as the report describes, “the ballpark was so quiet that home-plate chatter could be heard.”

It’s not the price that is driving people away - according to the Boston Globe, the Marlins have the 7th lowest average ticket price in baseball.

On the other hand, why should Marlins fans go to a game? Even though they managed to win a World Series in 2003, fans have to see an under financed team that usually gets rid of its star players once they become moderately expensive and hit arbitration.  Why should these fans go out and give ownership money for a team that they aren’t really putting any money into?

The Marlins have a payroll of around $21 million, which is less than half of the payroll of any other team in MLB.  Alex Rodriguez himself gets paid more annually than the entire Marlins team.  The Marlins finally locked up some of their good talent long term, when they signed Hanley Ramirez to a six year $70 million deal.  But - Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs, Kevin Gregg, Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco and Jorge Cantu are all due raises for next year as they hit arbitration, and will the Marlins fork over the money?  Or will they continue to ship off their moderately expensive pieces such as the way they did with Miguel Cabrera? We’ll see.

For now though, it’s tough to disagree with Marlins fans who refuse to give ownership money when ownership fails to put money into the team. 

Thanks to MLBTR for the link 

According to the Elias Rankings, which Detroit Tigers Thoughts has posted, as of right now Oliver Perez has type A status.  However, Perez is right on the border and could potentially slip out if he really struggles down the stretch. 

Having a type A status means that, assuming the Mets offer Perez salary arbitration, the Mets will receive two picks in compensation for Perez.  The first pick would be the other team’s highest pick that is unprotected (picks 1-15 in the draft are protected), and the second pick is a sandwich pick between the first two rounds.  For a full explanation, head over to MLB Trade Rumors. 

As expected, Pedro Martinez has neither Type A nor Type B status, meaning the Mets will receive no sort of compensation should he sign elsewhere.