After a rough start, the Mets were winning, but then not so much. Or as was sung in the Mets musical, ‘The Circle of Mets.’

John Maine had a rough first, getting taken for three runs, then righted himself and gave up just one more over the rest of his time out there (another five). Everyones favorite whipping boy, Aaron Heilman takes the loss. He gave up four hits while recording no outs, threw a wild pitch, and gets credit for four Dodger runs, with some assistance via The Show. But at least Show retired three batters. For those who’s heads have not exploded yet, Chan Ho Park got the win.

When Chan Ho and Tatis face off, isn’t the result supposed to be unpredictable, wild, and mind boggling? It should be like an episode of Lost, but weirder. Not a groundout.

Luis Castillo homered, according to MLB guidelines, Kershaw must now be sent to the minor leagues. Reyes has now reached safely in 30 straight games. The Mets scored five runs, two via the Castillo homerun, all while just getting seven hits. Only two of which were for extra bases (Wright doubled). Seriously, Chan Ho Park. Three and one third inning pitched. Three walks, two hits, one earned run. Either the Mets offense is 100% dead, or Chan’s juicing. Someone check his locker for checks from Lo Duca.

There’s not too much one can say after this series. The Mets were bad. Extremely bad. Bad in every imaginable way, and a few beyond imagination.

The good: Carlos and Carlos sent a pair of pitches into the stands. Santana also went long, he pitched seven, giving up 3 earned runs. The bullpen is, as always, overworked, and only being needed for one inning will let them enjoy an off day. Feliciano struck out two while pitching the eight inning.

The bad: everything else. Aside from the pair of homeruns and an Endy Chavez double, no one made it into scoring position. While a loss by a small margin looks better than a blowout on paper, when we can’t even sacrifice guys over to third, or even just get them on, then the size of the Braves lead matters not. The team is still looking just as bad in the field as they do at the plate, and Castillo’s nonplay to home was a horrible decision. Even David Wright looked bad, though it is against Met by-laws to point that out. We assure you, those responsible for saying so, will be sacked.

The Mets are now below the .500 mark, got swept in a four game series, so the good news: they really can’t play much worse.

The Mets took another loss today, losing 3 out of 4 to the Nationals. Pelfrey pitched a GEM of a game, flirting with having the first no-no in the Mets franchise, going into the 7th inning without a hit. In the top of the 8th, Big Pelf gave up a hit to Lopez which drove in Flores for the only run of the game, giving him the loss for today’s game. Matt Wise pitched the rest of the game, however the Nationals defense was on top of it and Mets were unable to tie it up in time.

I, for one, would like to know what radioactive spider bit the Nats. To be fair to the Mets, had we already won the series, this would have been considered a good game. Pelfrey pitched amazing and we only lost by one run. On the flip side, however, Bergmann’s ERA coming into today was 11.86…and during the game he walked only two batters while striking out nine. My point being, while this was a good game, it should have been an easy game. When your pitchers are handing you games, don’t throw it away.

Sigh….and the Subway Series begins tomorrow. Johan Santana will face off against Darrell Rasner in the Bronx. This may be the ONLY time you hear me say this…but I agree with Joe Beningo. I hate inter-league play.

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.

Nelson Figueroa turned back into a pumpkin this evening, as the Mets  lost to the Nats by a score of 4 to 10.  He had a strong first inning, then gave up a run in the next three, but seemed to get a bit unnerved by Elijah Dukes and the goings on in the visiting clubhouse. He walked five and was wild. He then gave up 3 more runs in the fifth, and the Nats remained ahead the rest of the night. We couldn’t expect Figgy to pitch lights out every game, afterall there is a reason he’s been playing in random international leagues.  Jorge Sosa didn’t as much stop the bleeding as grab a fork, roll it around in salt, and then stick it into the cut and twist, giving up four more runs in the sixth. Joe Smith, Dirty Sanchez, and Billy Wagner each contributed scoreless innings. Wagner gave up a hit, Smith struck out the side.

The Mets had 12 hits, but not in a manner that scored runs. Reyes went 2 for 4 but was caught stealing second. Alou doubled on a 3 for 5 night. Easley and Wright both had solo homeruns.  

Poor pitching more than anything else tonight. You can try to blame the cold, but its not like it was magically warm up on the mound during the half innings that the Mets were up to bat. Who cares what Dukes was doing, if you get rattled that easily you shouldn’t be playing in New York, or you’re Ollie Perez. I’m sure Straw heard 100x worse coming from the stands in the outfield. The Mets have always seemed commited to Sosa, but with his struggling and Smith still performing, one has to wonder whats happening when its time to reactivate Matt Wise. Offense wise, 12 hits is a good sign, but when 9 of the 12 are singles its generally not going to be enough to win ball games. Unless of course, they all come in one inning.

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 lost their second straight to the Dodgers tonight by a 5-4 score. Check out the entire box score at MLB.com

The story tonight was too many wasted opportunities like Willie Randolph said in the post game report on SNY “we left too many ducks on the pond.” In the first five innings they left 10 men on base and were 2-for-14 with men in scoring position.

Sure the starting pitching wasn’t stellar, Nelson Figueroa pitched 5 innings gave up 8 hits, walked 4 while allowing 5 ER’s but you have to win some 8-6 and 10-7 games. Carlos Beltran, who struck out when called upon to pinch hit for Heilman leading off the eighth, sat out tonight with flu like symptoms but the Mets had plenty of chances to add to the four runs they put on the board.

Things looked good early when the Mets took a lead on Ryan Church’s fifth homer of the season. Then in the third inning Moises Alou stole home on a delayed double steal, yes Alou, that wasn’t a typo, that gave the Mets a 4-1 lead. But the offense was then stimied by Dodger reliever Hung-Chih Kuo who dominated them striking out eight in 3 2/3 innings. The Mets relievers were solid. Aaron Heilman pitched two innings of one hit ball and the combo of Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith didn’t allow a run in the combined inning that they pitched. The Mets did make the ninth inning interesting. After two were out Angel Pagan singled followed by a Brian Schneider single but Luis Castillo struck out looking and once again ducks left on the pond. Story of the night.

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.

Coming into the game on a three game slide the Mets looked to their “Stopper” Johan Santana and he was all world. Not that he was perfect, seven innings, seven hits, walked one and struck out four. He did get out some early trouble but wound up giving up a two run double to opposing pitcher Tim Redding. Santana got his footing and finished strong setting down the last 10 Nats he faced. He also added to the Mets offensive attack, on a weird night of cue shots and some sloppy defense by Washington, Santana had two doubles, both hit hard. Santana also made a great defensive play on a dribbler up the third base line in the second inning.

Did I write “all world” yet, oh yeah, I did.

• Duaner Sanchez continues to impress since coming off the DL, he struck out Ryan Zimmerman while throwing a perfect eighth.
• Billy Wagner after giving up a leadoff walk in the ninth kept up his perfect ‘08 season thus far by striking out the final two batters in the inning. Billy’s yet to yield a run or a hit in the eight innings he’s pitched.

That new windup is doing just fine, nice.

• Carlos Beltran finally had a bit of luck tonight. He went 2-3 and hit the ball hard all night, missing some gloves for a change. Beltran also scored from first on a bad throw from Zimmerman, after having to stop at second, Beltran flew around the bases and looked good doing so.
• Carlos Delgado had an RBI on a FC grounder and also singled in the eighth going the other way.
• Angel Pagan stole second and third in the sixth inning and scored on a Brian Schneider grounder.
• Ryan Church had a very good night with a couple of defensive gems and went 2-4 with two RBI’s.
• Luis Castillo went 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored
• Wright and Reyes were the only Mets not to get a hit tonight.

Good win, beat a team they should, especially with Santana out there. Great stat from SNY tonight, Santana so far this season, 32k’s only five walks, nice.