The Mets defeated the Nationals by a score of 8-2 today in St Lucie. Pedro Martinez made his second start of the spring and allowed 2 runs in 5 innings of work.

A few notes:

• Wright had 3 hits, including his 1st home run of the spring
• Beltran and Reyes had 2 hits apiece
• Schoeneweis, Wise, and Feliciano all threw well, and each allowed no runs

This team is riding a nice streak right now, lets see if we can ride it into the regular season..

Appearing before tonight’s game, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt reported that Willie Randolph told him that Brian Schneider is about “60 percent and will not catch tonight”.

On Jose Valentin, Burkhardt said that Valentin has no problem swinging from the right side, but the pinched nerve gives him problems from the left side.

The Mets travel to Viera to play the Washington Nationals in game 21 of spring training play. Pitching for the Mets will be Oliver Perez. Unfortunately, the game will not be shown on SNY. Lineups courtesy of John Delcos at his blog.

Lineup:

• SS Reyes
• CF Chavez
• 3B Wright
• 2B Easley
• 1B Tatis
• DH Church
• C Casanova
• RF Fernando Martinez
• LF Clark

As always, head on over to The Hot Foot Bleachers to chat during the game.

The Mets defeated the Tigers by a score of 7-4 this afternoon in St Lucie. Pedro Martinez pitched great in his return, pitching 4 innings, 4 hits and 0 runs. For a full recap, head on over to MLB.com.

Petey, ’nuff said.

A few notes:

• Matt Wise, Scott Schowenweis, Pedro Feliciano, and Rule V draftee Stephen Register all pitched a scoreless inning.
• Marlon Anderson went 3-4 in his return from a bruised chest.
• Luis Castillo went 1-4, but made a baserunning blunder, getting picked off 2nd base.

Bullpen is looking strong, especially the four noted above, could all be major components of the back end. Cant say much more about Pedro, got out of an early jam and pitched brilliantly afterward.

The Mets play host to the Detroit Tigers today in Port St Lucie. Making his first start of the spring for the Mets will be Pedro Martinez. Pitching for the Tigers will be right hander Yorman Bazardo. Today’s game can be seen on SNY as well as MLB.tv

Lineups courtesy of John Delcos at his blog.

Tigers

• C Ivan Rodriguez
• 1B Carlos Guillen
• 3B Miguel Cabrera
• DH Magglio Ordonez
• LF Timo Perez
• RF Brent Cleven
• 2B Michael Holliman
• SS Ramon Santiago
• CF Freddy Guzman

Mets

• SS Jose Reyes
• 2B Luis Castillo
• 3B David Wright
• DH Carlos Beltran
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• LF Marlon Anderson
• C Ramon Castro
• RF Brady Clark
• CF Endy Chavez

As always, head on over to The Hot Foot Bleachers to chat during the game.

SI.com is reporting that former pitcher and current ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe was diagnosed with a treatable form of colon cancer and will undergo series of chemotherapy and surgery.

I find Sutcliffe alot more bearable to listen to than Joe Morgan. Nevertheless, from all the people here at the Foot, we wish you a speedy recovery.

The Mets lost to the Cardinals by a score of 10-3 this afternoon in St. Lucie. Johan Santana was shaky, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits, while striking out 5. For a full recap, head on over to MLB.com.

A few notes:

• Luis Castillo went 0-1 with 2 walks in his return from the lineup from offseason knee surgery.
• Carlos Delgado finally broke out of his mini slump, with a home run in 3 ABs.
• Angel Pagan continues his hot spring, going 1-2 and is hitting .385
• Ricardo Rincon essentially fried his chance of making the team, allowing 4 runs in a third of an inning.
• Billy Wagner pitched a spotless seventh and his ERA is now under 2 for the spring.
• Joe Smith allowed 2 runs in his 1 inning of work.
• Aaron Heilman pitched a scorelesss 9th, and was helped out by nice DP turned by Anderson Hernandez.

Pedro Martinez makes his first start for the Mets tomorrow in St Lucie against the Tigers.

In an article for Yahoo!, Steve Henson relays a story how after the Dodgers and Padres finished their game in China, a group of Korean fans asked Chan Ho Park for his autograph but was unable to sign because he was blocked by a group of Chinese guards who felt they were protecting Park.

Interesting story, who would have thought Chan Ho’s name would appear on this site again?

CBS Sports is reporting that Nats OF Elijah Dukes pulled his hamstring during today’s game and walked off the field slowly. The severity of the injury is unknown at the time.

As Andrew noted earlier, Wily Mo tore his oblique and now Dukes is down with a hamstring. Looks like Lastings will get his shot in the Nats OF right away.

In an article for SI.com, Jon Heyman explains that weeks before the Mets acquired Johan Santana, the Texas Rangers came very close to a deal for the star pitcher. Many believe that Santana’s unwillingness to go a bad team and pitch in a hitter’s ballpark played a major part in the deal falling through.

Who could blame Johan for not wanting to go to Texas? That might be one of the worst 5 teams to be on right now..

The Mets will stay in Jupiter today to face the Florida Marlins. Pitching for the Mets will be John Maine. Maine was great in his last start, throwing four no hit innings against the Astros last Saturday. Pitching for the Marlins will be right hander Ricky Nolasco.

Lineups courtesy of John Delcos at his blog.

Marlins

• SS Hanley Ramirez
• 2B Dan Uggla
• DH Luis Gonzalez
• LF Josh Willingham
• 1B Mike Jacobs
• 3B Jorge Cantu
• RF Brett Carroll
• C Matt Treanor
• CF Cameron Maybin

Mets

• 2B Argenis Reyes
• RF Endy Chavez
• DH Angel Pagan
• CF Carlos Beltran
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• 3B Jose Valentin
• LF Brady Clark
• C Robinson Cancel
• SS Anderson Hernandez

As always, head on over to the The Hot Foot Bleachers to talk during the game.

At his blog for ESPN.com, Andrew Marchand is reporting that the Mets are “likely” to host the 2013 All Star game at Citi Field and there will be an announcement by commisioner Bud Selig soon.

The Mets lost to the Cardinals by a score of 6-5 this afternoon in Jupiter. Mike Pelfrey pitched for the Mets, scattering 6 hits over 4.2 innings, allowing 2 runs(1 earned). For a recap of the game, head on over to MLB.com.

A few notes..

• Jose Reyes went 2-3, raising his spring average to .273
• Carlos Delgado went 0-3, and is now hitting .071 this spring.
• Pedro Feliciano allowed 1 unearned run and was credited with a blown save. His spring era is still 0.00 Jorge Sosa gave up 1 run on 2 hits in 2 innings of work. He threw a wild pitch in the 9th to allow the tying run to score, with the Mets one strike away from victory.
• Finally, Luis Castillo expects to play Saturday in his return from offseason knee surgery.

Contrary to earlier reports, Matt Cerrone of Metsblog is reporting that people in both organizations have said that the teams have not talked about a deal at all and is completely false. The reported deal would have sent Angel Pagan to the Red Sox in exchange for Red Sox OF Coco Crisp.

Just a rumor. Would have made no sense to make that deal anyway..