34 posts tagged “carlos delgado”

If you believed in hexes or curses, one could certainly understand the troubled case of the 2009 New York Mets.

Written July 7:
The Mets have their next 6 at home going into the All-Star Break. 3 against the Dodgers, owners of the best record in baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds. Figure the Mets go 3-3 over that span, losing the series to the Dodgers, winning the series against the Reds.

Written July 7:
After the All-Star break, the Mets go on the road for 4 against Atlanta, 3 against Washington, 3 against Houston. If this were truly the 2009 Mets with all their healthy starters in the lineup, it would not be absurd to expect them to win 8-9 of those 10 games.

But without those starting players in the lineup and the team's inability to score runs at a consistent pace, the more likely outcome of that 10-game roadtrip is 4-6.

Written July 7:
The Mets will finish up July with a 4-game set at home against the Colorado Rockies, and a 4-game set that extends into August (1 game in July) against the dying Arizona Diamondbacks. Over those 5 games, I'll give the Mets a 3-2 record.

Written July 7:
Taking into account all the series remaining in the month, that would bring the Mets to a July finish of 12-14, and a total record of 49-53 through 102 games played.

Written July 7:
In a perfect world, you get back all your healthy players PLUS Billy Wagner in the bullpen by August 1, 2009. Maybe you already have some of then back already. But the Mets would then need to go around 39-14 over the rest of the season, and pray that other teams in the NL East encounter troubles of their own. While that's not impossible, it's certainly not very probable. Keep in mind that this is also assuming that the team doesn't suffer any additional injuries to major players.

After a 3-game sweep at the hands of NL East rivals and current division leaders Philadelphia Phillies over the July 4 weekend, it's time to call it. The season for the 2009 New York Mets is basically over.

Understand that unlike a lot of Met fans, I'm not the whining complaining blame & flame-throwing type. I don't fault any one person for the failure of the 2009 New York Mets. I don't beat drums about firing everyone in the front office, or demanding that they trade away part of "the core." I'm generally pretty optimistic when it comes to all things baseball. But I'm also realistic.

And the reality has finally set in for this team. It's not Jerry Manuel's fault. It's not Omar Minaya's fault. It's not Fred and Jeff Wilpon's fault.

It's the fault of overwhelming injuries to a multitude of players.

Injuries are the great unequalizer in sports. It's what makes fantasy sports such a tough game to win. You can draft the best players in any fantasy sports league, but if your #1, #2 and #3 picks go down for an extended period of time, you're going to have a very tough time of winning your fantasy league. Now translate that to REAL sports, and you've got a serious problem.

The 2009 New York Mets have lost a lot of players this season to injury. Some minor, many major. Oliver Perez was first to fall. To some, that's not a big deal. But then Carlos Delgado went down with a hip injury. Then Jose Reyes's calf and hamstring. Then JJ Putz with his elbow. Then the oft-injured starting pitcher John Maine and his shoulder.

But the biggest loss on top of all of the others that had already accumulated, was Carlos Beltran and the debilitating and painful bone bruise on his right knee.

There were periods of time in which the Mets were also without starters Ryan Church (RF), Brian Schneider (C), and backup utility man Alex Cora (SS/2B). There's a revolving door/platoon in LF once the Daniel Murphy outfield experiment ended. Fernando Tatis is not hitting at even close to the pace he was in 2008, and the backup players (Alex Cora, Gary Sheffield) are being worn down by playing nearly every day.

David Wright has become a very streaky and inconsistent hitter who has lost his power swing. Despite being the only major Met starter to remain healthy all season, he is going to have a career year in most strikeouts at his current pace, and his final BA could end up being .260 or .350, depending on what streak he ends the 2009 season on. But even assuming the best for David Wright, he's one player. Even Albert Pujols has a superior supporting cast surrounding him.

There are some Met fans who want to blame GM Omar Minaya for not providing a better set of backup players, forgetting that backup players are just that. Backups.

They're the guys who alternate in to give the others rest on a Sunday day game after a Saturday night game, and occasionally a couple of them can fill in for extended periods of time over the course of a season when needed. But when your backup players get hurt, and then you're calling up minor league players to fill-in for THEM before they are ready to produce at an MLB level a la Fernando (K-Mart) Martinez, Nick Evans, Argenis Reyes, etc. it's an unplanned recipe for disaster.

There are some Met fans who want to blame GM Omar Minaya for not having already traded for another offensive player, like an Aubrey Huff, Mark DeRosa or Matt Holliday. The three major problems with these concepts is that one player alone isn't going to turn the Mets around. The second is that despite the simplistic belief of many a baseball fan no matter which team they support, other GMs have to actually agree to the trades. The third is that Minaya has gone on record stating he wasn't willing to mortgage the future prospects of the franchise for short-term solutions. A very wise decision. However, the pill of potentially giving up on 2009 to have a shot at legitimately competing in 2010 and 2011 is proving to be a tough one to swallow.

The indisputable facts are this:

• Through 81 games, the halfway-point of a MLB season, the New York Mets have gone 39-42. They are 3 games under .500, and 4.5 games behind the Phillies.
  
• Last year, the 2008 Mets were 40-41 at the halfway point, 3 games behind the Phillies. They went 59-32 over the 2nd half of the season, which was still a game short of the NL wild card. And that's a team that didn't have nearly the number of injury problems that the 2009 team has endured.
  
• There are SEVEN teams currently ahead of them (Giants, Rockies, Brewers, Cubs, Marlins, Reds, Astros) in the wild card race, with Atlanta just a half-game behind the Mets in both the NL East and wild card race.The Mets are 5.5 games behind current wild card leading San Francisco Giants.
  
• Since June 1, the team has went 11-21, which would only be slightly palatable had they not gone 9-12 in April. Even though the team went 19-9 in May, things started to slide when June came, and went to hell in a handbasket once Beltran went on the DL (5-9 since June 22), including series sweeps against the Yankees and Phillies.

The Mets have their next 6 at home going into the All-Star Break. 3 against the Dodgers, owners of the best record in baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds. Figure the Mets go 3-3 over that span, losing the series to the Dodgers, winning the series against the Reds.

After the All-Star break, the Mets go on the road for 4 against Atlanta, 3 against Washington, 3 against Houston. If this were truly the 2009 Mets with all their healthy starters in the lineup, it would not be absurd to expect them to win 8-9 of those 10 games.

But without those starting players in the lineup and the team's inability to score runs at a consistent pace, the more likely outcome of that 10-game roadtrip is 4-6.

The Mets will finish up July with a 4-game set at home against the Colorado Rockies, and a 4-game set that extends into August (1 game in July) against the dying Arizona Diamondbacks. Over those 5 games, I'll give the Mets a 3-2 record.

Taking into account all the series remaining in the month, that would bring the Mets to a July finish of 12-14, and a total record of 49-53 through 102 games played.

For the New York Mets to actually have a reasonable shot of winning the NL East or even the wildcard, they'd have to amass at least 88-90 wins by season's end at the bare minimum.

In a perfect world, you get back all your healthy players PLUS Billy Wagner in the bullpen by August 1, 2009. Maybe you already have some of then back already. But the Mets would then need to go around 39-14 over the rest of the season, and pray that other teams in the NL East encounter troubles of their own. While that's not impossible, it's certainly not very probable. Keep in mind that this is also assuming that the team doesn't suffer any additional injuries to major players.

Whether the Mets should be buyers, sellers, or neither at the end of July will ultimately be determined how the team plays their next 21 games. Will they still be in the race? Will they be completely out of it? Will they barely be hanging on? And can GM Omar Minaya afford to publicly wave the white flag at the risk of lost ticket sales and other revenues at Met home games in August and September, and depending on what moves he makes, 2010?

Only time will tell, but you can put this one in the books. The 2009 Mets will not make the postseason because they've gone too many games without their horses. By the time the cavalry comes back, it will be too late.

I really hope to be proven wrong, but this time, I highly doubt it.

Go Angels.

Through 75 games, the 2008 and 2009 teams went 37-38. They were 4 games behind Philly at this point last year. And the Mets mostly hovered at the .500 level all of June, often falling 3 games under .500 before the 10-game win streak in early through mid July which propelled them above .500, back into the NL East race.

So turning things around isn't impossible.

But the major difference between last year's team and this year's team through 75 games?

Carlos Delgado was a week away from the beginning of his resurgence.
Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran were healthy.
Oliver Perez was starting to improve.
John Maine was still pitching well and his ERA was under 4.
K-Mart wasn't on the team.
Neither was Argenis Reyes.
David Wright had 12 HRs.

The biggest injury problems the team had were Ryan Church, Pedro Martinez (for the 83rd time), losing Billy Wagner in early August, and the revolving door of leftfielders filling in for Moises Alou.

For all of the fans who think things will be fine and dandy when (or if) Delgado, Reyes, Beltran, etc. come back? Remember that this team went 9-12 in April. So as is the case with baseball, there's no guarantees that their returns will change the team's fortunes, but you'd certainly like to have the opportunity to try and play games with your best players, win or lose.

Today's plethora of roster moves:

- Carlos Beltran to the 15-day DL.
- Fernando Martinez is back WAY too soon out of necessity, again.
- Lefty reliever Ken Takahashi optioned to Buffalo.
- Lefty reliever Pat Misch promoted from Buffalo to Mets.
- Utility man Wilson Valdez DFA'd.
- Reliever Elmer Dessens promoted from Buffalo to Mets.
- Minor league outfielder Wily Mo Pena released from Buffalo Bisons.
- Minor league outfielder Bobby Kielty released from Buffalo Bisons.
- Minor league catcher/infielder Javier Valentin released from Buffalo Bisons.

Mets' Current Disabled List (both 15 and 60 days):
Major Names: Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, John Maine, Oliver Perez, JJ Putz.
Minor Names: Angel Pagan, Ramon Martinez.

The Mets are 6-12 for the month of June, which is a big big problem.

With the Mets playing the Cardinals and Yankees over the next 7 at CitiField, this schedule is not getting any easier and with more players getting hurt and certain members of the bullpen temporarily losing whatever talent they once had (Parnell, Takahashi), this team is limping badly, figuratively and literally.

I've been watching the Yankees-Angels game this morning, and what a fantastic pitcher's duel between CC Sabathia for New York, and Matt Palmer for the Angels. I linked a NYTimes.com profile of Palmer in a post earlier this morning.

Let's start with the New York Mets.

They're 5-5. Not a great start, but it's still .500 ball. What is overlooked is that unlike another team in New York, the Mets have been in every single one of their losses until the very last pitch of the game.

They're not getting obliterated (like the Yankees were 15-5 by Tampa Bay when Nick Swisher had to pitch.)

Nor are they getting completely embarrassed (like the Yankees were at their home opener once CC Sabathia left the game and the bullpen gave up NINE RUNS in the 7th inning, leading to a 10-2 Yankee Stadium opening destruction.)

Of the Mets 5 losses in this early 2009 season, the Mets lost 4 of those 5 games by 1 run, 1 of them by 2 runs. You often have to judge teams not only by their wins, but by their losses. Are they in the game until the end? Are they playing exciting baseball? Is the game over in the 9th inning or the 5th? Teams that play until the final out are going to allow themselves a greater chance of success and comebacks, and so far the Mets are doing just that. Of course, it'd be much nicer for them to win more of those close games, but there are 152 games left to play.

Tonight's game against Milwaukee was another nailbiter for the Metropolitans that saw Gary Sheffield get his 500th career HR in a key situation with the team down by a run, tying the game and allowing the solid bullpen to keep them in the game until Luis Castillo became the hero in the bottom 9 by hitting an infield single with 2 out that scored Carlos Delgado from 3rd for the CitiField walkoff victory.

Of course had the Mets lost tonight, fans would somehow find a way to blame Willie Randolph again.

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It's still very early in the season, and most teams seem to have their fair share of problems right now except perhaps for the Florida Marlins. The Red Sox are in the AL East cellar, and a lot of the standings 10-11 games in, are a tad lopsided. But fans and media pundits alike have to remember that what happens in April rarely reflects the final results at the end of September.

Both the Marlins and Padres are off to very hot starts. Are both going to win their division? Not likely with the Marlins, and no way in hell with the Padres. Is Toronto going to win the AL East? Not a chance. But it always leads to a never-ending string of panic from each team's fanbase that "drastic actions" must be taken in order to right the ship immediately!!!!

Maybe these same people forget how hot the 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks were for most of the season, only to fade away when August (and Manny Ramirez) came around.

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One team that's already had enough problems both on and off the field, are my 2nd favorite team, the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim).

Three of their top starters in their pitching rotation began the season on the DL: John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar.

While Lackey began last season the DL as well (and Escobar spent the entire season on the DL),  Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana stepped up to hold the team together along with Jered Weaver and Jon Garland, until mid-May when ace Lackey came back.

This season, it's even rougher, certainly off the field. The tragedy that all of baseball suffered with the loss of Nick Adenhart, which has affected both the team and fanbase on multiple levels.

Add to that the injury to slugger Vladimir Guerrero, who will be out for at least a month with a pectoral muscle tear injury. There's hope that Vlad can heal without the need for surgery, but losing the team's power bat for any length of time is never a positive, and could potentially shake things up in the AL West. As it is, the Angels are off to a slow start, and Seattle is on fire.

The Angels opened a 3-game series tonight in Minnesota at the MetroDome, and pretty much every one of their pitchers did horribly tonight with the exception of Justin Speier, who ironically enough, usually is terrible out of the bullpen. He pitched 2 IP, 4 Ks, no hits. Everyone else, an utter disaster.

That was capped off by a Jason Kubel grandslam in the bottom of the 8th off of Angel reliever Jason Bulger which took the Twins from down 9-7, to an 11-9 victory taking the opener.

The Angels' bullpen, usually one of their greatest strengths, has not been too strong this season ever since Frankie Rodriguez went to New York. Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields, normally rocks of this team's 7th and 8th innings, currently have 7.20 ERAs on the season. I'm confident things will normalize over the course of the next couple of months, but it does raise an eyebrow or two.

Here are the current contract numbers for the 2009 season:
(all numbers from Cot's contracts: http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2004/12/new-york-mets.html)

Note that the 2009 MLB minimum salary is $400K. 

It all comes down to this. Game 162 of the regular season. Potentially the last game ever played at Shea Stadium.

Game 161 of the 2008 Mets season was quite similar to Game 161 of the 2007 Mets Season. Johan Santana pitched a 2-0 CG SHO over the Marlins to keep the playoff hopes alive. Last year, John Maine flirted with a no-hitter for 7.2 innings against the Marlins while the Met bats scored 13 runs in a decimation, also keeping the playoff hopes alive.

It was the final game of the 2007 season which ended things for the New York Mets. While a lot is made of the abysmal pitching performance of Tom Glavine in that game, who managed to get one man out in the first inning while giving up 7 earned runs, one wonders how the Mets were going to win that game having scored a total of 1 run.

So for the second year in a row, it all comes down to the final game.

The New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers come into this game with identical records of 89-72 competing for the National League wild card. It'll take at least 90 wins to grab the Wild Card this season.

Both teams ultimately control their own fates. If both teams win or lose their respective games today (Mets against Marlins, Brewers against Cubs), the Mets and Brewers will face each other on Monday at Shea Stadium in a one-game playoff to determine the NL Wild Card winner.

If one team loses and one team wins today, the winner gets the NL Wild Card. If it's the Mets, they will face the Cubs in the NLDS. If it's the Brewers, they will face Philadelphia in the NLDS.

Today's Mets-Marlins game pits two leftys against each other. Oliver Perez against Scott Olsen.

Marlins starter Scott Olsen is 1-5, 4.89 ERA over his career against the Mets. That should bode well for the Mets except their offense desperately needs to come alive. 1 run on Friday, 2 runs Saturday, that's not gonna cut it, especially with the superwonky Mets bullpen and Oliver Perez having pitched terribly in September.

The rain in NYC has pushed back the start time of today's game from 1:05pm ET to at least 2:05pm ET, but baseball will happen at Shea Stadium today. That much is certain.

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ALL TIMES PACIFIC

Top of 1st inning:

11:01am: First pitch. Oliver Perez gets ahead of Cameron Maybin with a 1-2 count, and this Shea crowd is super pumped.

11:02am: Perez throws a slider by Maybin for strike 3. 1 out.

11:03am: John Baker flies out to LF Nick Evans. 2 outs.

11:04am: Jorge Cantu grounds the first pitch from Perez to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 3 out.

Bottom of 1st Inning:

11:06am: TBS announcer Harold Reynolds notes as I have, that Scott Olsen is not having a good year, and even less so against the Mets.

11:07am: Scott Olsen goes full count on Jose Reyes before inducing a flyout to CF Cameron Maybin. 1 out.

11:09am: Carlos Beltran has a career .444 BA against Scott Olsen.

11:11am: Carlos Beltran hits a hard grounder directly at 2B Dan Uggla. 4-3. 2 out.

11:12am: With "the shift" on, Carlos Delgado singles to leftfield.

11:14am: David Wright is up having a career year with 33 HRs and 124 RBIs. Yet it is well-known that Wright's numbers with RISP and 2 outs are very poor this year. However, Delgado isn't in scoring position this time.

11:15am: David Wright lines out to CF Cameron Maybin. 3 out.

Top of 2nd Inning:

11:18am: Mike Jacobs lines a rocket into the falling/diving glove of 1B Carlos Delgado. 1 out.

11:20am: Dan Uggla hits a hard shot towards Oliver Perez who deflects it off his pitching hand and the ball deadens before 2B Ramon Martinez can grab the ball. Uggla with the infield single and there is concern from the Mets trainer along with manager Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen. Hopefully no issues will occur out of this. Perez is ok for now.

11:21am: Josh Willingham skies a flyout to shallow right-center, caught by 2B Ramon Martinez. 2 outs.

11:22am: The dangerous Cody Ross is up, and he hits very well against Oliver Perez. Oliver throws 3 straight balls to Ross.

11:23am: Cody Ross walks on 4 straight. Dan Uggla to 2nd base.

11:24am: After another ball is thrown, this time to Alfredo Amezaga, pitching coach Dan Warthen comes out to the mound to make sure Perez is ok. Amezaga is 0-for-12 lifetime against Oliver Perez.

11:25am: Oliver Perez now gets ahead of Amezaga with a 1-2 count.

11:26am: Alfredo Amezaga lines out to CF Carlos Beltran. 3 out.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:

11:29am: Nick Evans leads off the inning by lining out to CF Cameron Maybin. 1 out.

11:30am: Ramon Martinez grounds out to SS Alfredo Amezaga. 6-3. 2 out.

11:31am: Ryan Church strikes out. The fans cheer mid at-bat because the Cubs just went up on the Brewers 1-0.  3 out.

Top of 3rd Inning:

11:35am: Scott Olsen strikes out swinging. 1 out.

11:37am: Cameron Maybin walks. He has amazing speed so Perez is gonna have to be careful.

11:40am: John Baker chases a down-and-away breaking ball way out of the zone and strikes out. 2 out.

11:41am: Jorge Cantu skies a ball to RF Ryan Church. 3 out.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:

11:44am: Ramon Castro hammers a leadoff single into LF.

11:45am: Oliver Perez lays down a bunt but it's too close to the plate, so the charging 3B Jorge Cantu grabs the ball and throws down to 2nd base to get the slow Ramon Castro out at 2B. Oliver Perez barely beats the throw to 1st. 1 out.

11:47am: Jose Reyes strikes out on a 3-2 changeup. 2 out. Unfortunately, Scott Olsen is looking pretty good so far.

11:49am: Carlos Beltran flies out to RF Cody Ross who tracks the ball down just in foul territory. 3 out.

Top of 4th Inning:

11:52am: Oliver Perez gets Mike Jacobs out on 3 pitches. Two sliders in the zone that Jacobs lays off of. A third away that Jacobs swings and misses at. 1 out.

11:53am: Dan Uggla grounds out to SS Jose Reyes. Carlos Delgado makes a very nice play at 1B fielding a weak Reyes throw in the dirt. 6-3. 2 outs.

11:55am: Josh Willingham flies out to CF Carlos Beltran on a 3-1 pitch. 3 outs.

Bottom of 4th Inning:

11:58am: Carlos Delgado leads off the inning. He is 2 shy of 40 HRs this season. Can he work his moonshot magic today with the sun out?

11:59am: Nope. Delgado lines out to LF Josh Willingham. 1 out.

12:00pm: David Wright flies out to CF Cameron Maybin. 2 outs.

12:01pm: Nick Evans hits a grounder past Scott Olsen but is easily fielded by SS Alfredo Amezaga. 6-3. 3 outs. I love me a great pitching duel, but not today please!

Top of 5th Inning:

12:03pm: Cody Ross hits a 1-2 curveball on the ground to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 1 out.

12:04pm: The rain has returned to Shea Stadium. Fans around the ballpark begin to cover up.

12:05pm: Alfredo Amezaga strikes out swinging. 2 outs. I think I see Matt Dillon in the seats behind home plate.

12:07pm: Scott Olsen goes down swinging. 3 outs. Mets need offense now. Badly.

Bottom of 5th Inning:

12:09pm: Ramon Martinez hits a weak groundball to 2B Dan Uggla. 4-3. 1 out.

12:11pm: Ryan Church strikes out again. 2 outs.

12:13pm: Ramon Castro flies out to CF Cameron Maybin. 3 outs.

Top of 6th Inning:

12:17pm: Cameron Maybin hits a ground-rule double to leftfield. Maybin can easily score on a single anywhere.

12:19pm: John Baker is up to bunt Maybin over to 3rd.

12:20pm: Baker can't lay the bunt down and falls to 1-2, but Baker then strokes a single into CF that scores Cameron Maybin easily. Marlins go up 1-0.

12:22pm: Jorge Cantu singles to CF. John Baker to 2nd base. Pitching coach Dan Warthen takes the trip to the mound to chat with Oliver Perez. Joe Smith begins to warm in the Mets bullpen.

12:24pm: Mike Jacobs flies out to Nick Evans in deep LF but both runners tag up. The announcers get on Nick Evans for throwing to David Wright at 3B instead of to 2B. 1 out.

12:25pm: With 1st base empty, Dan Uggla gets the intentional pass.

12:26pm: With righty Josh Willingham coming up with bases jacked, manager Jerry Manuel goes to the mound and that's it for Perez. Joe Smith is coming in.

12:29pm: Joe Smith commits the unforgivable sin of walking Josh Willingham with the bases loaded. John Baker scores. Marlins now up 2-0.

12:31pm: Cody Ross fouls out to 3B David Wright. 2 outs.

12:32pm: Pitching coach Dan Warthen comes to the mound to make sure the defense and pitching is in sync. Alfredo Amezaga turns to the left side, and Joe Smith is not good against lefty hitters.

12:34pm: Amezaga grounds out back to Joe Smith, who runs towards 1st and tosses it to Delgado for the 3rd out.

Bottom of 6th Inning:

12:37pm: Robinson Cancel is pinch-hitting for Joe Smith.

12:39pm: Scott Olsen issues a leadoff walk to pumpkinhead Cancel.

12:41pm: Jose Reyes flies out to RF Cody Ross. 1 out.

12:42pm: Carlos Beltran goes SLAMMALAMMADINGDONG with a 2-run bomb to LF. Mets tie it up 2-2 and the crowd is electric for Carlos Delgado to slam another one.

12:44pm: Delgado strikes out swinging at ball 4. 2 outs.

12:47pm: David Wright grounds out meekly to SS Alfredo Amezaga, 6-3. 3 outs. Brand new ballgame.

Top of 7th Inning:

12:50pm: Brian Stokes is in to pitch for the Mets. Luis Gonzalez pinch-hitting for Scott Olsen. He grounds out to 2B Ramon Martinez. 4-3. 1 out.

12:52pm: Cameron Maybin smokes a ball to LF that hits the bottom of the wall. With Endy Chavez in the outfield, Maybin can't make it to 2nd base. Long long single.

12:54pm: Brian Stokes is ahead of John Baker 0-2, but Baker fights/fouls some pitches off.

12:55pm: Even on a pitchout, Cameron Maybin steals 2nd base easily. Partially due to a bad throw from Stokes, and Castro not throwing it to Reyes' target.

12:56pm: John Baker can't lay off the high heat and strikes out swinging. 2 outs.

12:57pm: Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen goes out to the mound to talk with Brian Stokes. Jorge Cantu up at the plate.

12:58pm: Scott Schoeneweis is warming up in the bullpen, and Brian Stokes throws 3 straight balls to Cantu. Schoeneweis will likely be pitching to Mike Jacobs if Stokes can't get Cantu out.

1:00pm: Jorge Cantu smokes a ball to deep LF but Endy Chavez makes a fantastic catch running back towards the warning track to get a ball that would have scored 2 runs otherwise. 3 outs and the Mets squeak out of a jam.

Bottom of 7th Inning:

1:04pm: Your hero and mine, Endy Chavez, leads off against Marlins reliever Joe Nelson.

1:05pm: Brewers just tied things up in Milwaukee 1-1 thanks to a Michael Wuertz-bases loaded walk to Craig Counsell.

1:06pm: Endy Chavez flies out to RF Cody Ross. 1 out.

1:09pm: Ramon Martinez strikes out swinging on a full count. 2 outs.

1:11pm: Ryan Church strikes out again. 3rd time today. 6th in a row. 3 outs.

Top of 8th Inning:

1:14pm: Lefty Scott Schoeneweis is pitching for the Mets. Righty Wes Helms pinch-hitting for lefty Mike Jacobs.

1:15pm: Wes Helms golfs a low pitch out of the zone and into the LF bleachers. Marlins go up 3-2 and that's all for Scott Schoeneweis.

1:18pm: Double-switch. Argenis Reyes is into play 2B and Luis Ayala is on to pitch.

1:20pm: On a 3-2 count, Luis Ayala serves up a golden ball to Dan Uggla to pound into the LF bleachers as well. Marlins now up 4-2 off the back-to-back jacks.

1:22pm: Josh Willingham flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.

1:23pm: Cody Ross flies out to deep RF but Ryan Church makes the catch. 2 outs.

1:24pm: Alfredo Amezaga flies out to LF Endy Chavez. 3 outs. Mets are in deep shit as the Brewers just went ahead on the Cubs 3-1 thanks to a 2-run HR from Ryan Braun.

Bottom of 8th Inning:

1:27pm: Marlins closer Kevin Gregg is in to pitch, and perhaps early? Jorge Cantu moves over to 1B as Wes Helms plays 3B. Dan Murphy is in to pinch-hit in Ramon Castro's spot but strikes out swinging. 1 out.

1:28pm: Marlon Anderson is in to pinch-hit for 2B Argenis Reyes' spot. I imagine Murphy will go to 2B.

1:30pm: TBS announcers point out that you can blame the bullpen all you want, but the Mets have scored only 2 runs today. And yesterday. Team no hit, team no win.

1:31pm: Marlon Anderson hits a grounder back to Kevin Gregg which deflects off his glove but to 2B Dan Uggla who makes a nice throw to just get Marlon Anderson at first. 2 outs.

1:32pm: Jose Reyes golfs a ball into death valley in right-center. CF Cameron Maybin dives but can't make the catch as the ball hops over the wall for a ground-rule double. Lucky for the Marlins or Reyes would have tripled easily, if not scored on an inside-the-park HR.

1:34pm: Kevin Gregg walks Carlos Beltran, and that's it for Gregg as Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez goes to lefty specialist Arthur Rhodes in the bullpen to face potential lefty Met hero Carlos Delgado.

1:35pm: The Milwaukee Brewers just won their game 3-1 behind CC Sabathia's CG. Can the Mets come back right now? They're gonna have to.

1:37pm: Carlos Delgado flies out to deep LF but Josh Willingham makes the catch. 3 outs.

Top of 9th Inning:

1:40pm: Luis Ayala is still pitching for the Mets, and Jeremy Hermida is in to pinch-hit for Arthur Rhodes.

1:41pm: Jeremy Hermida hits a leadoff single to RF.

1:42pm: Cameron Maybin goes down swinging. 1 out.

1:43pm: Luis Ayala is done as Jerry Manuel is going to the bullpen so lefty Pedro Feliciano can face lefty John Baker.

1:46pm: After falling behind 3-1 to John Baker, Pedro Feliciano strikes out John Baker.

1:48pm: That's it for LOOGY Pedro Feliciano. Jerry Manuel, much like his predecessor Willie Randolph, is forced to play the lefty/righty matchups with his bullpen. Righty Bobby Parnell is in to pitch against righty Jorge Cantu.

1:51pm: Jorge Cantu flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 3 outs. It's now or never. Literally.

Bottom of 9th Inning:

1:54pm: Former Met prospect Matt Lindstrom is in relief for Florida to rub it in. David Wright leads off.

1:58pm: After a long at-bat, David Wright pops out to 2B Dan Uggla in shallow rightfield. 1 out.

2:00pm: Endy Chavez hits a hard grounder right back to pitcher Matt Lindstrom. 1-3. 2 outs.

2:01pm: Damion Easley is in to pinch-hit for Bobby Parnell.

2:03pm: Damion Easley works the count full before taking a walk. Unfortunately, the non-hitting Ryan Church is up now. Now is his chance to atone for his 6 Ks.

2:05pm: Ryan Church flies out to deep center, but Cameron Maybin makes the catch for the final out. Marlina win 4-2, Mets are eliminated from the postseason as the Marlins celebrate their win on the field.

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While the bullpen has blown many games this season, and were the big-picture problem, this entire Florida series came down to the Mets offense not doing anything. 1 run on Friday, 2 runs on Saturday behind Johan Santana, 2 runs today.

Even more disheartening when you consider that Marlins starter Scott Olsen is not someone who historically does well against the Mets. And yet, this offense absolutely and collectively DIED against the Florida Marlins.

Of all the permutations that could have occurred today, this is the one that should never have happened.

The Mets miss the postseason again.

Go Angels and Go Cubs!!!!!

Game 3 of the final series between the Mets and Phillies during the regular season all comes down to this.

The Phillies won the first two games of the series and have shrunk the Mets NL East-division lead to 1 game. If the Phillies complete the sweep at Shea, they will be tied for first place as the two teams go their separate ways. The Mets have a 2-game series against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Phillies return home to face the Marlins in a 3-game set Monday through Wednesday.

A lot is going to be made of this series, but even if the Mets lose this game, there are still 19 games remaining for both teams, and it's very likely going to be a race that goes down to the final week, or even day unless one team... ahem... collapses.

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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:

5:11pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds sharply to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 1 out.

5:12pm: ESPN's Jon Miller reads off a bunch of stats as to how many times Santana has pitched well only to have the Mets' bullpen blow it for him. *sigh*

5:13pm: Chase Utley lines a single into centerfield.

5:14pm: Jayson Werth is up, and he hits lefties VERY well this season, especially with the longball. He has 15 HRs in 2008 against lefty pitching, which leads the majors.

5:15pm: Johan Santana falls behind Jayson Werth going 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, and ends up walking him.

5:17pm: Ryan Howard singles to leftfield scoring Chase Utley from 2nd easily. Jayson Werth to 2nd. Phillies go up 1-0.

5:18pm: Met-killer Pat Burrell is up. Although he's slumping something fierce over the last month. Burrell has 42 HRs against the Mets, the most among all active players.

5:20pm: Johan Santana is having trouble throwing strikes. 20 pitches in the inning so far 11 of them are balls.

5:22pm: Pat Burrell thinks he just saw ball 4, but it was clearly strike 3 that went into Schneider's mitt. 2 out.

5:23pm: Shane Victorino flies out to deep centerfield. 3 out.

Bottom of 1st Inning:

5:28pm: Jose Reyes pops out to 2B Chase Utley. 1 out.

5:30pm: Ryan Church fights off a high fastball and hits it into LF for a single.

5:31pm: David Wright, swinging an 0-2 pitch, fouls it off but also hits catcher Chris Coste's glove on his swing, triggering a catcher's interference call from the home plate umpire. David Wright automatically gets 1st base, Ryan Church moves to 2nd.

5:33pm: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is out to argue and gets the toss for his argument. The fans pop huge and a "LETS GO METS" chant erupts.

5:34pm: Carlos Beltran lines a ball down the leftfield line. Ryan Church scores easily. David Wright beats the tag of Pedro Feliz at 3rd base, Carlos Beltran to 2nd on the throw. Tie game 1-1. Bench coach (acting manager) Jimmy Williams is out to argue the call at 3rd. Replays show Wright may have been out but it's tough to tell. No ejection this time.

5:37pm: Carlos Delgado grounds a ball up the middle for a single, driving in David Wright and Carlos Beltran. 3-1 Mets.

5:39pm: Fernando Tatis grounds a ball up the middle but SS Jimmy Rollins makes a nice play to field the ball, toss to Utley at 2nd for an out, but Tatis beats the throw to 1st. 2 out.

5:41pm: Cole Hamels strikes out Damion Easley. Pretty exciting inning to start this one. Mets up 3-1, a rare catcher's interference call, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel ejected, and Cole Hamels looks very hittable. Hopefully moreso than Santana.

Top of 2nd Inning:

5:45pm: Pedro Feliz goes down swinging at a Johan Santana changeup. 1 out.

5:46pm: Chris Coste takes a trot down to 1st base.

5:47pm: Cole Hamels lays down a bunt in front of Johan Santana who fields it cleanly, fires to Reyes at 2B for the out. Reyes throws to Easley covering 1B, but Hamels beats the throw. 2 out.

5:49pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 out.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:

5:52pm: Brian Schneider strikes out swinging. 1 out.

5:55pm: Johan Santana lines a 3-2 pitch down the leftfield line. If not for 3B Pedro Feliz knocking it down, it would have been a double for Santana. However, he'll settle for a single.

5:56pm: Jose Reyes is not looking good at the plate against Cole Hamels.

5:57pm: Jose Reyes hits a weak groundball to SS Jimmy Rollins who tosses the ball to Chase Utley at 2B, but Utley comes way off the bag and Santana is safe at 2nd. That should be ruled an error on Utley as there was no need for him to field the toss from Rollins that way.

5:58pm: Ryan Church hits a grounder back to pitcher Cole Hamels, but he can' t field it cleanly as it goes off his glove.  Bases loaded for the Mets and that may end up rule being an infield single. David Wright to the plate with bases full and 1 out.

6:01pm: Miller and Morgan note David Wright's less-than-stellar numbers with bases loaded. And sure enough, Wright goes down swinging on a 3-2 fastball from Hamels. 2 out.

6:02pm; Carlos Beltran swings at the first pitch and fouls out to 1B Ryan Howard. Phillies escape the jam. 3 out.

Top of 3rd Inning:

6:06pm: Johan Santana strikes out Chase Utley. 1 out.

6:08pm: Johan Santana strikes out Jayson Werth on 3 pitches. 2 outs.

6:09pm: Ryan Howard crushes the first pitch he sees from Santana into the LF bleachers for his 40th HR of the season. Mets lead cut to 3-2.

6:10pm: Pat Burrell strikes out swinging. Santana ends up striking out the side but gives up the dinger to Howard. 3 out.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:

6:12pm: Carlos Delgado hits a scoreboard moonshot SLAMMA LAMMA DING DONG, which is all the more dramatic considering the piece ESPN just did on him, explaining how the Mets were trying to figure out what to do with Carlos after his subpar first half. Mets up 4-2.

6:15pm: Fernando Tatis hits a hard lineshot into the glove of CF Shane Victorino. 1 out.

6:16pm: Damion Easley breaks his bat with a bloop shot to shallow center which is tracked down and caught by SS Jimmy Rollins. 2 out.

6:18pm: Brian Schneider smokes a shot into centerfield which almost gets past CF Shane Victorino, but Schneider is limited to the single.

6:20pm: Johan Santana grounds out to 3B Pedro Feliz who throws to Utley for the forceout at 2nd. 3 out.

Top of 4th Inning:

6:24pm: Shane Victorino foul pops to 1B Carlos Delgado. 1 out.

6:25pm: Pedro Feliz pops out to 2B Damion Easley. 2 out.

6:26pm: Chris Coste grounds to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 out. A very economical 7-pitch inning for Johan Santana.

Bottom of 4th Inning:

6:28pm: Cole Hamels is going to be lucky to go 5 innings this game with his pitch count now above 80.

6:29pm: Jose Reyes continues to look horrible against Cole Hamels, swinging at a pitch in the dirt for strike 3. 1 out.

6:30pm: Ryan Church grounds out sharply to 1B Ryan Howard who runs to the bag for out 2.

6:31pm: David Wright flies out to 2B Chase Utley in shallow left-center. 3 out.

Top of 5th Inning:

6:34pm: Johan Santana strikes out Cole Hamels, which is now 6 K's through 5.1 IP. 1 out.

6:36pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 2 out.

6:38pm: Chase Utley flies out to LF Fernando Tatis. 3 out.

Bottom of 5th Inning:

6:43pm: Carlos Beltran goes down swinging. 1 out.

6:45pm: Carlos Delgado crushes yet another moonshot off of Cole Hamels' first pitch. This time off a changeup instead of the curveball. Mets up 5-2.

6:46pm: Fernando Tatis grounds out to 3B Pedro Feliz. 5-3. 2 out.

6:47pm: Damion Easley hits a hard shot to LF that bounces up against the wall for a double.

6:48pm: With a base open, Cole Hamels gives the IBB to Brian Schneider so they can face Johan Santana.

6:49pm: ESPN's Jon Miller says Carlos Delgado's 2nd HR went an estimated 460 feet. Wow.

6:50pm: Johan Santana strikes out swinging on Cole Hamel's 109th pitch. 3 out.

Top of 6th Inning:

6:53pm: Jayson Werth grounds out to 3B David Wright who makes a very nice play and throw onto 1st for the out. 1 out.

6:55pm: Ryan Howard flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 2 out.

6:58pm: Pat Burrell works out a walk.

6:59pm: Shane Victorino flies out to RF Ryan Church. 3 out.

Bottom of 6th Inning:

7:02pm: Now pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies is right-hander Clay Condrey. Maybe Jose Reyes can start hitting better now.

7:03pm: Or not. Reyes breaks his bat with a grounder to 2B Chase Utley. 4-3. 1 out.

7:05pm: Ryan Church strikes out swinging. 2 out.

7:06pm: David Wright grounds the first pitch he sees from Condrey right to SS Jimmy Rollins. 6-3. 3 out.

Top of 7th Inning:

7:08pm: Pedro Feliz grounds a ball past Carlos Delgado into RF for a single.

7:09pm: With Johan Santana nearing 100 pitches, this will surely be his final inning.

7:10pm: Chris Coste flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.

7:11pm: Carlos Ruiz in to pinch-hit for Clay Condrey.

7:13pm: Ruiz grounds out to David Wright who makes a diving stop, gets up and throws to Easley for the out. Easley throws on to Delgado at first but Ruiz beats it easily. 2 out.

7:15pm: Jimmy Rollins lines a 3-2 pitch directly at David Wright for the third out. Santana throws 110 pitches for the night through 7, and he's done. Another very good outing from Johan.

Bottom of 7th Inning:

7:20pm: In relief for the Phillies is right-hander Rudy Seanez.

7:21pm: Carlos Beltran just misses a HR by a bit as he hits a long flyball to the warning track, but Jayson Werth catches it. 1 out.

7:22pm: The fans chant "MVP" at Carlos Delgado, which he may be for the Mets team, but certainly a joke if they think it's for the National League. Mind you, a good percentage of these "fans" are the same asshats who were busy booing Delgado in May, demanding his release, and parroting the words "Bring up Mike Carp!" until their empty heads exploded.

7:23pm: It is noted that no Met has ever hit 3 HR in one game at Shea Stadium.

7:24pm: Carlos Delgado strikes out swinging. 2 out.

7:26pm: Jon Miller notes that no one is pitching in the Mets bullpen, which indicates Santana is going another frame.

7:27pm: Fernando Tatis skies a shot into left-centerfield, but it's caught by Shane Victorino. 3 out.

Top of 8th Inning:

7:29pm: Johan Santana pitching another inning to the heart of the Phillies order. Utley, Werth and Howard. Endy Chavez is in LF as a defensive replacement for Fernando Tatis.

7:31pm: Chase Utley grounds out to 1B Carlos Delgado who jogs to the bag for the out.

7:32pm: Jayson Werth pounds a ball to deep CF for a double. Mets manager Jerry Manuel goes to the mound to get Johan Santana, who gets the standing ovation from the Shea fans. Santana even tips his cap to the 1st-base side fans. Sometimes lefty-specialist Pedro Feliciano is coming in from the bullpen to face lefty powerhouse Ryan Howard.

7:36pm: Ryan Howard grounds out to 1B Carlos Delgado who jogs to the bag for the out. Jayson Werth goes to 3rd on the play. That's all for Pedro Feliciano. Jerry Manuel to the mound for the pitching change as righty Brian Stokes is in to face righty Pat Burrell.

7:39pm: Pat Burrell breaks his bat on the first pitch he sees from Brian Stokes, grounding out to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 3 out.

Bottom of 8th Inning:

7:42pm: Luis Ayala is warming up in the bullpen for the 9th. Ayala may be the closer for the rest of the season if Wagner's setback today is as serious as is being reported.

7:43pm: Damion Easley hits a ball over CF Shane Victorino's head that goes just past his glove for a leadoff stand-up triple.

7:45pm: Brian Schneider hits a long fly ball into RF caught by Jayson Werth, but Damion Easley tags up easily to expand the Mets lead to 6-2. 1 out.

7:46pm: Marlon Anderson is in to pinch-hit for Brian Stokes.

7:47pm: Marlon Anderson fouls off two pitches before swinging through the third and striking out. 2 out.

7:48pm: Jose Reyes grounds out to 1B Ryan Howard who is a step away from the bag when he fields it. 3 out.

Top of 9th Inning:

7:51pm: Luis Ayala is on to pitch the 9th in a non-save situation.

7:52pm: Shane Victorino hits an excellent unintentional swinging bunt which deadens downs the 3rd-base line. Catcher Brian Schneider fields it and tries to throw out Victorino at 1st, but the throw sails over Delgado into RF and bounces into the stands. Victorino to 2nd on the error.

7:53pm: Greg Dobbs is in to pinch-hit for Pedro Feliz. Dobbs flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.

7:54pm: Righty pitchers Al Reyes and Joe Smith are warming up in the Mets bullpen. Lefty Matt Stairs is on to pinch-hit for Chris Coste.

7:55pm: Matt Stairs basically does the same thing Shane Victorino did. A swinging bunt, except the ball goes further up the third-base line for an infield hit. David Wright knows he has no chance so he lets the ball go. Victorino to 3rd base on the play. The hide is torn off on this ball.

7:57pm: Tadahito Iguchi is in to pinch-run for Matt Stairs. Andy Tracy is in to pinch-hit for Rudy Seanez.

7:58pm: Andy Tracy hits a flyball to deep LF which Endy Chavez catches near the wall with a slight jump. Victorino tags up. Mets lead cut by one, but they're still up 6-3. 2 out.

7:59pm: Luis Ayala gets the dramatic strikeout game-ender with Rollins swinging and missing. 3 out. GAME OVER. Mets win 6-3.

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With the Mets victory, they lose the series but gain a division lead back on the Phillies to 2 games.

The two teams will not meet again this season, and with Milwaukee looking to be the NL Wildcard team at this point, they can't face each other in the postseason either.

More importantly, the Mets win the season series from Philadelphia 12-7, something they did not do in 2007 when they went 6-12 against the Phillies.

The next 19 games will be very important to both teams, which I believe will go down to the final week. The Mets have a 4-game series against the Chicago Cubs Sep 22-25 which the Mets are going to have to dominate if the Phillies are still in the race 2 weeks from now, and with their upcoming schedule, there's no reason to expect that they won't be.