ESPN reported early Sunday morning that Mets starter Pedro Martinez would miss his scheduled Tuesday start against the Phillies. The Mets are pushing him back to a weekend game in the following series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The article really gives no reason for the sudden change of heart, even mentioning a few times that Martinez’s bullpen session was viewed as successful. In a quote, Mets manager Jerry Manuel simply attributes it to taking their time with Martinez’s healing process.

At seeing this article, my first thought was, well, here we go again. It seems like with all Martinez’s injuries, the first report is that it is nothing significant. Then suddenly it requires just a few days recovery, and then before you know it, weeks and months are added.

But then I figured other elements were at play. Mostly, I think the Phillies series is viewed as a big series and having Martinez “rushed back” for his Tuesday game might affect both Martinez and the Mets with a bad showing.

But seriously, after suffering through the last three tumultuous years of this four-year contract, I’m almost ready to see the end of the Pedro era as a Met. Injury-ridden veterans are getting to be insufferable.

The Mets squandered two leads en route to a 7-2 loss to the Reds tonight at Great American Ballpark. Josh Fogg got the win for the Reds, and Oliver Perez suffered his first loss in his last four starts.

Perez was ok, but at times went away from what Dan Warthen had taught him and what he had applied in his last three starts. Tonight, Perez was changing his arm slot, and even slowed down his motion for one pitch against Brandon Phillips. Very, very confusing.

The Mets got the scoring going in the 1st when 1B Joey Votto made a throwing error that allowed David Wright to score from third to put the Mets up 1-0.  Wright also smashed a solo homer off Fogg to put the Mets up 2-1.

With the game tied at two apiece, Perez allowed an rbi single to Dave Ross, who had been 1-22 (including two strikeouts his first two ABs) against Perez in his career. Yeah, that about sums up the Mets night.

The Mets had chances in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings, leaving men on base in every inning.

Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman combined to allow four runs in an inning together to break the game wide open.

Tomorrow, the Mets look for the split. The red hot Mike Pelfrey will take on Cy Young frontrunner Edinson Volquez.

I don’t know about anyone else, but tomorrow is a pretty big game for me. The Phillies have Cole Hamels going and if we were to lose and they were to win we’d be two back heading into the series.

After having their 10 game win streak snapped last night, the Mets look to start fresh tonight against the Reds. Oliver Perez will face Josh Fogg. The game can be seen on SNY starting at 7:40 EST and can be heard on WFAN.

Key to the Game:

• More of the Real Ollie: Perez has a .90 ERA in his last 3 starts. He has been nothing less than stellar since Dan Wharthen changed his pitching motion around a bit. Tonight, he faces a Reds lineup than is truly 7 men deep, and maybe all but our old friend Jeff Keppinger can take you deep if you make a mistake. Perez will need to work the corners and hit his spots if he wants to pitch effectively in this bandbox.

For a lineup, head to John Delcos’s blog for the Journal News.

For a chat during the game, head to The Hot Foot Bleachers

The Mets farm system has been considered by many to be “dry”. I took a closer look at the key components and the stats aren’t too shabby. Here’s a look at some of our future Mets.

Triple A New Orleans:

• Val Pascucci: Pascucci, a 29 year old journeyman, has really found a home in AAA this year with the Mets. He is hitting .292 with 18 home runs and 51 rbi in 74 games this year.

Double A Binghamton:

• Fernando Martinez: Martinez has battled injuries this year, but when he has played this year he has more than held his own. As a 19 year old, he is hitting .292 with four homers and 21 rbi in 55 games.
• Eddie Kunz: Kunz, the possible heir to Billy Wagner at the end of the ‘09 season, has done very well as the closer of the Binghamton squad this year. He has saved 25 games, and holds a 1-4 record with a 3.09 ERA. He has registered 37 strikeouts in 43.2 innings.
• Dan Murphy: Murphy has flown under the radar, with the reemergence of Mike Carp and the highly touted Martinez playing in AA, but he deserves some credit. The 22 year old Murphy is hitting .309 with 11 homers and 57 rbi in 81 games this year.
• Mike Carp: After struggling for much of the ‘07 due to injuries, many scouts soured on Carp. He has silenced the critics. Carp is batting .299 with 10 homers and 49 rbi in 92 games, playing 1b and the OF and should once again be touted as a top 10 prospect in the organization.
• Jon Niese: After really impressing in spring training this year, Niese has followed it up with an impressive year in AA. He is 5-7, but has a solid 3.22 ERA in 21 starts. He has struck out 104 in 117.1 innings

Single A:

• Ruben Tejada: Tejada, an 18 year old SS, really struggled for the first few months of the season, but has been slowly getting better and no longer looks overmatched. He is batting .240 with two homers and 31 rbi this year in HiA St Lucie, a league where the regular age ranges between 20-21.

Short Season Brooklyn:

• Ike Davis: Davis has struggled after getting drafted by the Mets with the 18th pick in the draft. The first basemen is batting .253 with no homers and nine rbi in 21 games so far.
• Reese Havens: The Mets other first round pick, Havens has really impressed many around the organization due to his feel for the game. In 17 games this year, Havens is batting .265 with three homers and 8 rbi.
• Brad Holt: Holt’s stats so far this season are showing the Mets made no mistake taking him 33 overall in this year’s draft. Holt is 2-2 with a 1.96 ERA for the Cyclones, and has 30 strikeouts in 23 innings.

Rookie Ball:

• Wilmer Flores: Another young shortstop in the organization, Flores was considered the Mets best sign out of the international market in 2007. The 16 year old Flores has not disappointed so far, hitting .346 with five homers and 22 rbi in 26 games.

This piece will not be as timely, considering the All-Star Game was days ago by now, but I just wanted to comment on Terry Francona’s dilemma.

I’ve obviously had plenty to gripe about as far as the All-Star Game goes, whether it be the notion of it “counting” or the faulty player selection from all involved. But the games of the last three years have certainly been entertaining, and I can safely say that Tuesday’s game was the most entertaining All-Star Game I’ve ever seen.

Games go extra innings all the time, but rarely do they have as many key, dramatic spots in getting there. Miguel Tejada should not have went to the All-Star Game, but he certainly put on a show while there. The opposite can be said for Dan Uggla, who seemed to be cursed or something. How about all those double plays that extended the game? How about that Nate McLouth throw to the plate?

While Uggla made blunders, he was simply nervous and having bad luck. Francona should know how to manage a game better than he did. With all the legends and pre-game speeches and whatnot about how this game means so much, it seems like the only person who didn’t believe that come game time was Francona, who was determined to get everybody in the game.

Of the American League starters, only Cliff Lee went two innings. This led to three closers — Mariano Rivera, Joakim Soria, and George Sherrill — going more than one inning each. Sherrill set the high watermark for relievers, going two and a third innings. If I was an Orioles fan, I would be really angry. Not that my closer was getting taxed, but that it was so avoidable if the manager had been competent.

Meanwhile, the National League had three starters that went two innings each to kick off the game. None of their relievers pitched more than an inning, and Clint Hurdle even held back his own starter Aaron Cook to do a little long relief, showing both his commitment to the cause and his foresight.

So while both managers were basically in the same boat if there was a 16th inning, Hurdle got there in a much more respectable and effective manner. The All-Star rosters already are overloaded, so it is absolutely laughable that Francona ran out of players. The All-Star experience is what it is about. Sure, players would like to get in the game, but honestly, I don’t think there’s much difference from getting in that one-third of an inning under your belt and leaving. But that’s how long the AL saves leader Francisco Rodriguez pitched before Rivera relieved him, one of a few Yankee-pandering moves Francona made that night. Another game-management lowlight was pitching Roy “Seven Complete Games” Halladay for a mere inning.

Toward the end of the game, the FOX crew began to take pity on Francona. After the win, they highlighted that Francona was ecstatic, implying he felt lucky the game ended when it did. It felt like ESPN, FOX, and the national media implied that Francona was at fault for his game management but never really blamed him. In fact, Francona even patted himself on the back in the post-game press conference for getting everybody in. I wonder if New York, Kansas City, and Baltimore are as pleased.