As many of you noticed during today’s game, Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins was a late scratch from the lineup for reasons unknown to the boys in the booth.  After the game Phillies manager Charlie Manuel stated that he benched Rollins because he was late to the park today.   Eric Bruntlett hit leadoff and played short in his place going 3-for-4 with 2 doubles.  As you may remember, Rollins was benched earlier in the season for lack of hustle.

First off, if this was Reyes, the media would crucify him.  I can hear the callers on WFAN right now.  Secondly, I know that Bruntlett did a great job filling in for him but what is Manuel thinking.  Rollins is having a down year, but he is still the reigning NL MVP and Gold Glove winner.   I understand the importance of setting an example for the team, but this was an important game.  Despite what the calender says, these two teams were tied in the standings with only 6 remaining head to head games.   Rollins is a leader on the field and in the clubhouse for this team and while he should be disciplined he should have been in the lineup today.

The Mets lost to the Padres tonight by a score of 2-1. For a full box score, go to SNY.tv.

Scott Showenweis gets the loss, hitting Padres LF Paul McAnulty with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Show came in to pitch in the top of the ninth and promptly walked the first two batters he faced. He retired the next batter on a comebacker off his leg before issuing an intentional walk to set up the double play. His first pitch to McAnulty came high and tight and hit him square in the back. As many of you may remember, he walked the first two batters he faced on Tuesday night in San Francisco, before surrendering a 3 run home run.

Pelfrey pitched effective, but not great. The Padres are clearly a bad ball club and they were just 1-for-9 with RISP. Pelfrey gave up 8 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings but seemed to always get himself out of the jam, which is good but probably wouldn’t happen against a better team.

Josh Banks seemed to really confuse the Mets at the plate. Jose Reyes was on base 3 times but the Mets could only plate him once, on a David Wright rbi single in the sixth to tie the game. Oddly, Padres Manager Bud Black took Banks out after 6 innings and just 71 pitches, but the Mets couldn’t take advantage of the Padres bullpen.

This 4 game series continues tomorrow night as The Mets will send ace Johan Santana to the mound against lefty Randy Wolf.

Well that was certainly disappointing. It looked like the Show might have been able to escape the ninth out of trouble with a young hitter up. If you’re going to lose, at least make them earn it. Lets go out and get the next few, just like in San Fran.

The Mets defeated the Giants tonight by a score of 9-6 to go a game above .500. For a full box score, visit SNY.tv.

For those of you who didn’t stay awake to see this one, it wasn’t as close as the score may indicate.

The big story of course, was the return of Pedro Martinez. Pedro pitched well, despite the cold weather, and earned the win tonight in his first start since April 1st. Pedro surrendered a run in the first and then settled down for the next few innings before giving up 2 more in the fifth. Then, to the amazement of everyone, came out and pitched the sixth inning as well with an 8 run lead. In the sixth, he pitched himself in and out of a first and third no out jam. He finished the night with 6 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 3BB and 3K on 109 pitches. He was also 2-for-3 at the plate with a run and an rbi. It was his first multi-hit game since 1997. Joe Smith and Feliciano each pitched perfect innings in relief. Show came in to pitch the ninth and gave up 3 runs on 2 walks and 2 hits before being rescued by Wags who came in and got 3 outs on 2 pitches for the save. Show has been pretty consistent this year and if he was due for a bad outing, I’m glad it happened when we had a 6 run lead.

Barry Zito was awful as usual and I’m sure Met fans were more than happy to see him wasting San Francisco’s money and not ours. The Mets struggled early, getting men on base but not capitalizing on those opportunities. Then came the fifth inning. In that inning the Mets finally got a hold of Zito, sending 12 men to the plate and scoring 8 runs. The inning was capped off by a Damion Easley double with the bases loaded. They were helped by the Giants defense which continues to look awful, committing 3 errors and a bone head play in the field by veteran Omar Vizquel on a routine ground ball to short. The 8 runs are the most in an inning by The Mets this season, and their largest total since putting up 11 against the Cubs in July of 2006.

Rubber game of this series is tomorrow afternoon as John Maine takes the mound versus Matt Cain.

Good to see the Mets finally break through offensively in this series. I’ll chalk Monday’s game up to the travel and you know what we have to do tomorrow. Pedro tonight was huge on so many levels. Tons of talk around town about his presence in the clubhouse as well as his performance on the field. He’s absolutely a huge factor in the success of this team and lets hope he continues to pitch well and stay healthy.

The Mets lost to the Nationals tonight by a score of 5-3. For a full box score, visit SNY.tv.

Well, Claudio Vargas pitched well.   Aaron Heilman did not.  Heilman relieved Vargas in the 7th with a runner on first and one out.  After retiring the first batter, he gave up 3 hits and a walk; surrendering 4 runs in the process.  Vargas’s final line was 2 ER on 3 hits while striking out 6 and walking 4.  He is credited with the loss, although  it should go to Heilman.

The Mets were shut down for most of the night by Nationals pitcher Tim Redding.  Redding pitched 6 solid innings, surrendering only one run via a Brian Schneider home run.  Schneider finished 1-for-4 with 2 rbi.  The Mets fought back after going down 5-1 and added a run in the 7th and 8th innings but were retired in order in the 9th to end the comeback.  No Met had multiple hits, and Jose Reyes continues to struggle going 0-for-3 with a walk.  Moises Alou was ejected in the 5th for arguing balls and srtikes.

The Mets look to split this series tomorrow in the finale of this 4 game set.  Mike Pelfrey will pitch opposite Jason Bergmann.  Game time is set for 1:10pm and tune in to SNY to see Gary and Keith broadcast from the upper deck.

We need to pick it up and show some consistency.  Let’s hope Pelfrey has it going tomorrow.  Losing 3 of 4 at home to the Nationals would be embarrassing.

The Mets defeated the Dodgers today by a score of 12-1. For a full box score, go to SNY.tv.

It was a great game all around led by John Maine. Maine finished with 1 run, 2 walks, 4 K in 8 1/3 IP. Maine also added a 2 RBI single that capped off a 6 run 5th. Huge effort by Maine, showing the pitcher we all expected coming out of spring training. Duaner Sanchez came in and finished it off in the 9th.

The Mets were able to get to Dodgers starter Brad Penny early, scoring 4 in the second and then 6 in the 5th. Those runs in the 5th all came with 2 outs. Ryan Church went 3-for-4 with a solo HR and scored 3 times. Luis Castillo was 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI. Wright and Casanova each added 2 RBI. Angel Pagan was 1-for-2 with an RBI and made a great catch in left before leaving with a shoulder injury. The Mets finished 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Tomorrow is an off day. The Mets begin a 3 game series at home versus the Reds on Friday. Mike Pelfrey is scheduled to pitch against Matt Belisle.

Just what this team needs to hopefully get them rolling. Maine put the team on his back and got the bullpen some much needed rest going into tomorrow’s off day. However, this game is an example of why we;re so frustrated with this team. They have the ability to play this well every night. Maybe not score 12 runs, but it makes losses like last night’s that much harder on us.

The Mets were defeated tonight by the Dodgers by a score of 5-1. For a full box score, check out SNY.TV.

Well, Oliver Perez pitched better, but not well. Perez lasted 6 innings, which should please Billy Wagner, and brought his walks down to a very reasonable 2. Unfortunately, the pitches over the plate were hit a long way to the tune of 3 HRs. Perez finished with 5 ER and 3K. Show and Sosa each added scoreless innings in relief.

On the offensive side, well, there wasn’t much. Beltran was the only multi-hit Met, going 2-for-4 with a triple and scoring the Mets only run. Credit Alou with his first RBI of the season. Reyes, Church, and Wright were a combined 0-for-10, which should tell you all you need to know about this game.

This series continues tomorrow as Nelson Figueroa takes on Hiroki Kuroda.

The offense looked sluggish tonight and the Mets squandered some early opportunities to score. In the top of the second, down 2 runs, the Mets had runners on second and third and one out. But they couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as Schneider struck out and Castillo grounded out. Then, down 5 in the 6th Beltran led off with a triple and then Alou singled him in. Instead of building on that momentum Delgado hits into a double play, and the Mets were more or less done from there.

Tough loss but tomorrow is another day. Let’s roll off the next 2 and come back home on a high note.

The Mets (15-13) finish up their series versus the Diamondbacks (21-9) in today’s rubber match. Johan Santana will pitch for the Mets opposite Dan Haren (Hey, I hear he may be available). The lineup’s are courtesy of Adam Rubin’s blog for The Daily News.

Lineup:

• SS Reyes
• RF Church
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• LF Alou
• 1B Delgado
• C Schneider
• 2B Castillo
• P Santana

As Dan reported earlier, Schneider is back today and the Mets are playing with their full lineup for the first time this season.

Catch the game starting at 4:10pm locally on the CW, or on WFAN. As always, head on over to the Hot Foot Bleachers to chat about the game and discuss the over/under for Alou’s next injury.

Vegas has the line at 4 games. I’m thinking under.

In response to the recent commotion over the Willie Randolph-Manny Acta drama, Brad Bortone over at Bugs and Cranks reminds us that…It’s Just A Game. And maybe, just a little bit, Willie needs to relax a bit.

Bortone says:

By purposely avoiding the batting cage camaraderie with Acta (a likable guy if there ever was one) and questioning the motives of his players who were there, Willie sounded eerily similar to his old employers.

Bortone also notes that while there is a rule concerning this, there are also rules prohibiting pitchers from rubbing the ball on cold nights, covering gear in pine tar, and wearing baggy uniforms.

I tend to agree with Brad here. When it’s time to play, the players are focused. What’s wrong with chatting up friends and former teammates during BP. Willie needs to focus less on player fraternization and more on the upcoming series against the Phillies.

The Mets defeated the Nationals by a score of 3-2 tonight in 14 innings. Damion Easley scored the winning run on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.

Sweep!

Game ball to the entire bullpen, who combined for 7 scoreless innings, using everyone with the exception of The Show. Jorge Sosa gets the win, going 2 innings allowing 2 hits and getting 2 strikeouts. 5 hours ago, Nelson Figueroa started for the Mets and pitched a great game. Figueroa went 7 innings, striking out 7 and surrendering 2 runs on 3 hits.

Game ball for P Joel Hanrahan of the Nationals who gift wrapped the win tonight with 2 wild pitches and an errant pick off throw, allowing Easley to cruise around the bases and eventually score.

Not too much on the offensive side with Easley and Reyes the only Mets with multiple hits. Church hit an rbi double in the 1st, and Delgado came through in a big spot in the 8th with 2 on and 2 out to tie the game.

The Mets travel to Philadelphia for 3 games vs the Phillies. Johan Santana will pitch vs Phillie ace Cole Hamels.

The Mets are on a roll. It’s a good time to be hot going into Philly. Lets hope this continues. By the way, in the 14th inning stretch the Mets played Take Me Out to the Ballgame for a second time, followed by the Macarena. Hello 1995!