http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-don-t-have-plans-to-speak-to-jaramillo-1.1524107 Often when Met fans want someone fired, they don't have a solution to who the replacement is other than someone from the 1986 Mets, or Bobby Valentine. But in this case, if there was ever a person in MLB that could be a significant upgrade over Howard Johnson at the hitting coach spot (and mind you, I don't put a ton of stock into hitting/pitching coaches unless there's significant data that you can't ignore) it'd be Rangers' hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. Like Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, Jaramillo isn't going to stick with his former employer come 2010, and as it would have it, the Mets COULD bring him on board if the club felt Howard Johnson was not the best man for the job. As it turns out, the Wilpons love HoJo, and based on the Mets' team BA of .270 this season (tied with the Dodgers for 1st in the NL), and relatively strong RISP hitting numbers, you can't necessarily find cause to fire him either. From a political perspective, with Rudy Jaramillo once a former managerial candidate for the Metropolitans, you can understand why the club might be somewhat loathe to bring Jaramillo on board in any position other than hitting coach for fear it would be perceived as him waiting in the wings to take Jerry's or Howard Johnson's job. 

As the Mets continue to become more irrelevant in the postseason picture, that means the less games that FOX and ESPN are going to be televising with them involved.

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.

I'm not gonna lie.

This is going to be a pivotal game for the New York Mets in numerous ways. They've already lost the season series against the Yankees, having lost 4 out of 5 games so far. Will tonight be 5 of 6? Or can they escape with a 2-4 season record against the Skanks? If the Mets lose tonight, they'll have been swept at home by the Yankees.

The first Mets-Yankees game this year in which 2B Luis Castillo dropped what should have been the final out and put the Mets up 1-0 in the series, is looming larger than it has in a long while.

But it's more than the Yankees now. If the Mets win, they're going to fall to a record of 37-37, and 3 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies. Falling to .500 at this point in the season is only slightly palatable because the rest of the NL East (not including Washington) are all within 5 games of each other.

This is a Mets offense riddled with injury, and the reserves are not holding it together they way they need to. David Wright may lead the NL in BA, but his power numbers have dropped so far down, that he can't carry the team anymore.

The minor league callups like Argenis Reyes (2B) and Fernando Martinez (CF) have been perfectly fine in the field, and absolutely dreadful at the plate. The middle relief has become a little burnt out, and the minor league callups like Jon Switzer and veteran Elmer Dessens haven't helped any.

The key to the Mets winning games is that the "everyday players" need to step things up at the plate and begin to manufacture runs. You don't have to hit longballs to win games, but you do have to execute when runners are in scoring position. For a team to be 1-hit by AJ Burnett and shutout by the Yankees last night is discouraging. But the Mets only amassed 3 hits and 1 run on Friday night. So they've been outscored 14-1 by the Yankees in 2 games, and
40-15 over the 5 games played so far. Disgusting.

Tonight's pitching matchup pits Chien-Ming Wang (0-6, 11.20 ERA) aginst Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05 ERA). While Wang is winless this season, and hasn't won a game since June 15, 2008, he IS looking better than he did in the beginning of the season. He gave up 3 ER in 5 IP in each of his last two starts (Washington, Atlanta), and while that's nothing great, it's a lot better than the way he was pitching to begin the 2009 season.

Livan has become a solid #2 for the Mets. In his last two starts, he pitched 7 innings each game, giving up 2 earned runs each time out. However, he was the starting pitcher against the Yankees in the first game between these two ballclubs in 2009 in what is forever going to be known as "The Castillo game," and he got rocked hard in that outing for 6 ER in 5.1 IP.

The trick to Livan's success tends to be fiddling around a wider strike zone, and taking advantage of relatively inexperienced hitters who aren't easily fooled by his 80 MPH fastballs and 60 MPH curveballs. Livan has been enormously successful for the Mets against other NL East opponents this season, less so against the crosstown rival Yankees. We'll see if he can save this team from sinking tonight.

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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:
5:11pm: Not a good way for the Mets to start a ballgame. Derek Jeter pounds a shot to deep left-center field which bounces off the wall for a leadoff double.

5:13pm: Nick Swisher grounds a ball to 1B Daniel Murphy who is playing in a little. Murphy seems to have a little trouble getting the ball out of his glove. He throws to 3B David Wright to get Derek Jeter at 3rd base, but Jeter makes it in safely. I don't fault Murphy for trying to make the play, but the sure out at 1st was probably more wise. Swisher safe at 1st.

5:16pm: Mark Teixeira strokes a double down the leftfield line scoring Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher. 2 runs across so far. Yankees up 2-0 and still nobody out.

5:18pm: Alex Rodriguez walks. Livan Hernandez is looking pretty bad through 4 batters. He may end up settling down but he's gotta limit the damage ASAP.

5:21pm: Robinson Cano grounds into 2B Luis Castillo, who throws to SS Alex Cora, and then onto 1B Daniel Murphy for the double play. However, Daniel Murphy drops the ball out of his glove, and his foot was moving off the bag anyways, so it looks like Cano woulda made it safely to first base no matter what. Daniel Murphy can't afford any more mental mistake at 1B. Mark Teixeira to 3rd base. 1 out.

5:24pm: Livan Hernandez almost picks off Robinson Cano at 1st but he dives back in just ahead of the tag.

5:25pm: Jorge Posada hits a sac fly to CF Fernando Martinez. He finally makes a two-handed catch and makes a nice throw home to catcher Brian Schneider, but Teixeira is safe without a problem. Yankees up 3-0. 2 outs.

5:26pm: Robinson Cano is caught stealing by Brian Schneider who throws onto Alex Cora, getting Cano easily. 3 outs.  Livan has GOT to settle down, and no more fucking errors from the Mets defense.

Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:29pm: Daniel Murphy leads off and flies out to CF Brett Gardner. 1 out.

5:30pm: They just showed footage of Livan Hernandez in the Mets dugout after the top of the 1st. Schneider told him he did well, and then Livan gave Castillo a pat on the back for his nice play in the inning. Livan then went into the clubhouse to vomit.

5:31pm: Alex Cora gets hit by a pitch from Chien-Ming Wang and takes his pass to 1st base.

5:34pm: David Wright strikes out at a slider in the dirt. Lovely. 2 outs.

5:36pm: Gary Sheffield singles up the middle, sending Alex Cora to 3rd base.

5:37pm: Fernando Tatis flies out to RF Nick Swisher. 3 outs.

Top of 2nd Inning:
5:42pm: ESPN shows an interesting stat about Livan Hernandez. During the 1st inning this season, Livan has posted a 6.00 ERA. The rest of the game? A far more manageable 3.90 ERA.

5:43pm: Melky Cabrera strikes out swinging. 1 out.

5:44pm: Brett Gardner flies out to SS Alex Cora in shallow leftfield. Cora uses two hands baby. 2 outs.

5:45pm: Fernando Martinez may suck with the bat, but he makes a superb diving catch in centerfield to grab a sinking liner off the bat of pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. 3 outs.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:50pm: Fernando Martinez grounds out to 3B Alex Rodriguez who is perfectly positioned in the 3B-SS hole, away from the line, makes a short dive to his left and throws to 1B Mark Teixeira for the easy out. 1 away.

5:51pm: ESPN shows a replay of A-Rod on the last play wincing a bit after the throw. Did he just hurt his hip a little? I FUCKING HOPE SO!!!!

5:53pm: Brian Schneider takes a 3-2 pitch low for a walk.

5:55pm: Luis Castillo grounds into a 4-6 forceout. 2B Robinson Cano to SS Derek Jeter to get Schneider. Castillo is safe at first as there was no throw from Jeter since Luis can still move.

5:56pm: Livan Hernandez swings at the first pitch he sees from Wang, grounding it to SS Derek Jeter who tosses to 2B Robinson Cano for the force. 6-4. 3 outs.

Top of 3rd Inning:
5:59pm: Derek Jeter hits a solid and hard line drive into the glove of CF Fernando Martinez. 1 out.

6:01pm: Nick Swisher crushes a ball off the FOXBusiness.com sign just on the foul side of the rightfield foul pole.

6:02pm: Swisher hits a line drive on the next pitch into the glove of RF Fernando Tatis. 2 outs.

6:03pm: Mark Teixeira lines out to LF Gary Sheffield. 3 outs. Livan looks like he settled down. But this Mets offense needs to come alive and not allow Chien-Ming Wang to get his shit straight today of all days.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:06pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging at a low pitch in the dirt. Posada drops it so Murphy runs but Posada completes the strikeout by throwing down to 1st. 1 out.

6:09pm: Alex Cora works out a walk.

6:10pm: David Wright hits into a 6-4-3 motherfucking double play. 3 outs. Wang can walk everyone he wants as long as the Mets keep grounding into these fucking DPs.

Top of 4th Inning:
6:14pm: Alex Rodriguez rips a ball into CF for a single. That makes him 12 for 20 off of Livan Hernandez.

6:15pm: Robinson Cano hits into a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play. Castillo to Cora to Murphy. 2 outs. Whew!

6:16pm: Jorge Posada grounds out to 2B Luis Castillo. 4-3. 3 outs.

Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:22pm: Gary Sheffield takes a leadoff walk.

The other ridiculous managerial call was pitching to Derek Jeter in the 9th with Mariano Rivera on deck. Even Jeter thought this was retarded. Seriously! While ultimately the Mets lose the game either way, the fact that Jerry didn't call for the intentional pass to Jeter immediately was one of those huge "Is this guy for real?" moments. The only defense I can imagine Jerry Manuel might have for not walking Jeter initially was a reluctance to put Melky Cabrera on 3rd base, capable of scoring on any wild pitch or passed ball that got away from catcher Omir Santos. 

Now, if you want to go with that defense, fine. Well, not fine, but... I get it. But then on a 2-1 pitch, he changes his mind and gives Jeter ball 4. 

It's a LIVEBLOG doubleheader today, at least, that's the plan if the rain doesn't ruin things in New York. It certainly won't ruin anything in Southern California, since we barely have rain to begin with. That's sometimes a problem, but not when it comes to baseball.

It's an afternoon matinee (or on the West Coast, morning baseball) between the Mets and Yankees. The rubber game between the injury-riddled Mets and the steroid-riddled Yankees. These two teams will meet again in less than 2 weeks, next time at CitiField, the very antithesis of the home run launching pad that is the new Yankee Stadium.

Not even 24 hours after one of the most crushing Met losses of the season thanks to 2B Luis Castillo dropping a pop fly ball where the Yankees then scored 2 runs to win the game in the most unfortunate and soul-sucking torturous manner we've seen in a long time...

Getting swept sucks.

Getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers sucks beyond belief. And the fact that it's happened twice in 3 years now at Dodger Stadium (2007 and 2009)? The ignominy of getting swept by a ballclub that has the world's worst and most classless repugnant fans makes it all the more miserable.

The New York Mets started this road trip by beating the San Francisco Giants in AT&T Park 3 out of 4 games, and the loss on Sunday was at least a good game. They accomplished all that without the help of stars Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado, who is now going to be out until late July at the earliest. They scored 24 runs in those 3 wins, and none of the runs were on homers. The last time the Mets had a homerun,

Things turned really bad when the team got to Los Angeles. Alex Cora was placed on the 15-day DL when he injured this thumb sliding into second base the night before in San Francisco. Ramon Martinez, an emergency call-up whose natural position is 2B and not SS, was part of the error parade on Monday night. And more problematic, Martinez has been dreadful at the plate so far in his 3 games, going 0 for 12 with 1 RBI and 3 Ks to start off.

First, concentrating on the final game of the 3-game series...
Like Monday night, this was another unexpected pitcher's duel between Livan Hernandez and Jeff Weaver. Hernandez has been brilliant against NL East rivals Atlanta and Florida so far, and pretty bad against everyone else. Tonight, Hernandez was brilliant, going 7 IP, scattering 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2.

Livan continues to prove to be 2008 version of Oliver Perez by either being fantastic or dreadful, with little in-between, and no real explanation as to why. Hernandez had a shaky 1st inning, as the Dodgers scored in the 1st inning in all 3 games against New York.

Juan Pierre led off the inning with a swinging bunt that Hernandez fielded and threw to first but Pierre just beat it out. Rafael Furcal singled to rightfield. Orlando Hudson grounded out to 1B Daniel Murphy, moving the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. Andre Ethier hit a sac fly to RF Ryan Church which scored Pierre from 3rd and Furcal took 3rd base safely on the play. The inning ended when Russell Martin flied out to rightfield.

And after that, Hernandez was pretty damn good. Any time he got into trouble over the course of the game, he got out of it with ease.

The problem is that Jeff Weaver was just as stingy. While he only went 5 innings due to him being used primarily as a long reliever this season, the Mets were only able to score once off him in the 2nd inning when Carlos Beltran doubled in Luis Castillo from 1st base.

After Jose Reyes grounded deep out into the 2B hole to lead off the 3rd inning, he re-injured his right calf which has caused him to be on the bench during most of the road trip. Word is that now Reyes is going back to NY to get looked at, and won't play against Boston over the weekend. With Reyes having calf problems and Alex Cora on the DL, the Mets are in deep shit when it comes to having someone competent play shortstop, which has been one of my biggest fears over the last 4 seasons, as there was never a truly suitable backup for Jose Reyes. And this year now that they have one in Alex Cora, he's hurt too.

In any case, the Dodgers bullpen shut the Mets down for the rest of the game. Ramon Troncoso pitched the 6th and 7th innings without incident. Ronald Belsiario walked Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran to lead off the 8th inning. David Wright flied out to deep center which allowed both runners to tag up. At this point, Joe Torre went to lefthanded rookie Brent "No relation to Terry" Leach. With the infield in and Daniel Murphy up in a big spot, he grounded out to 1B James Loney, who promptly stepped on first for the 2nd out, and the runners could not advance.

At this point, Fernando Tatis was put in to pinch-hit for Ryan Church, who doesn't have strong numbers against lefty hitters. Sadly, Tatis grounded out to SS Rafael Furcal to end the top half of the frame.

In the bottom of the 8th, J,J, Putz was brought in a 1-1 game to keep it that way. But he failed.

Putz started the inning by getting Rafael Furcal to strike out swinging, but then gave up a single to Orlando Hudson, a walk to the slumping Andre Ethier, and a single to Russell Martin that scored Hudson from 2nd. David Wright intercepted the throw home from LF Jeremy Reed and threw out Andre Ethier trying to take 3rd base. Ramon Martinez, who was covering 3rd, made the tag on Ethier.

Putz then intentionally walked James Loney and then struck out pinch-hitter Mark Loretta to end the 8th, but the damage was already done.

Big Jonathan Broxton came in to close out the 9th, and as luck would have it again, like the night before, he was facing the bottom of the Mets order which was hardly going to be a formidable opponent for Broxton. Angel Pagan did manage a base hit with 1 out, but Jeremy Reed foul popped out to 1B James Loney, Angel Pagan took 2nd base uncontested, and then Ramon Martinez grounded out to Casey Blake to end the game.

Some Met fans will question why manager Jerry Manuel didn't pinch-hit for Ramon Martinez in this spot with either Gary Sheffield or backup catcher Omir Santos. But Manuel could not make that move because someone needed to still play shortstop in the bottom of the 9th inning had the Mets been able to tie the game. Even a double-switch of positions was not possible since Reyes had gone down with injury and Fernando Tatis had been used as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning. It was Ramon Martinez or bust, and well, he's a bust with the bat.

So that was the ballgame, and the series. The Dodgers completed their 3-game sweep of the Mets, and what began as an encouraging road trip in San Francisco, has turned 180 degrees with the Mets now 3-4 on this trip, and another 3 games against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park to go. Like the Dodgers, Boston doesn't lose at home (15-4).

So now what?

Good news:
The Daniel Murphy at 1B experiment has begun! While he failed twice tonight at the plate in big spots with RISP, he looked perfectly fine at first base, making a couple of nice plays and no mistakes nor errors. Granted, it's only one game, so we'll have to see how things progress. If he's going to become any sort of legitimate fill-in for the injured Carlos Delgado, he's going to need to find his swing again, even if he doesn't hit for power.

Livan Hernandez pitched his best start as a Met, but I already went over that.

Johan Santana pitches against Daisuke Matsuzaka on Friday, so at least the Mets have a fighting chance against the Sawx behind Santana. But if this offense continues to struggle in Boston like they did against the Dodgers.. yikes.

The team is still 21-19, two games above .500 and 1 game behind Philadelphia. No need to panic.

Bad news:
With Jose Reyes hurting again and Cora still injured, WE'S GOT A PROBLEM! Ramon Martinez is a natural 2B, not a SS. So the team is either going to have to use Fernando Tatis at SS for a while, which is not his best position by a longshot, or find someone in the minors at Buffalo or Binghamton to promote in the meanwhile. But there isn't anyone on either of those teams good enough to fill in. Martinez also can't hit, which isn't helping matters, so they may be stuck with him for a bit.

The Mets are back to their old problems hitting with RISP, going 0 for 10 tonight, and 3 for 27 (.111 team BA) in the 3-game series.

No Delgado, no Reyes, no Cora, no Schneider. Only Beltran and Wright are hitting with any consistency now but neither are doing it with the longball.

The Dodgers are now 17-3 through 20 home games, which ties a modern MLB mark set by the 1998 Yankees, also managed by Joe Torre. With the Angels coming in for interleague play Friday-Sunday, and I'm an Angels fan in addition to being a Mets fan, I'm not thrilled with the prospects of watching the Dodgers win even more games while I'm at Dodger Stadium (aka: The Unhappiest Place on Earth) this weekend.

The summary for this New York Mets loss to the L.A. Dodgers is a LOT simpler than the debacle on Monday night in the 11th inning.

Chad Billingsley was shaky early on, throwing a plethora of pitches through 4 innings but was able to right himself after giving up 3 earned runs to the Mets. Billingsley also helped his cause with a walk and two base hits off John Maine, one of which was a double that scored Casey Blake.

John Maine was a little iffy at start, although he wasn't helped out by another Daniel Murphy error in leftfield. Juan Pierre hit a sinking line drive to the opposite field, and while Murphy tracked it down, it went off his glove and Juan Pierre made it to second base with ease. He eventually scored to give the Dodgers the early 1-0 lead.

In the top of the 1st inning, Daniel Murphy got picked off of 1st base in one of those baserunning mistakes that shouldn't happen, as he broke for 2nd far too soon.

The Mets got the lead back in the 2nd inning thanks to a surprising bases loaded hit up the middle from John Maine that scored David Wright and Jeremy Reed.

The Mets tacked on another run in the 3rd when David Wright singled in Carlos Beltran, although Wright got caught trying to take 2nd base on the throw into the infield from CF Matt Kemp.

That's all the Met offense was able to muster as far as runs in this game. The Dodgers got back a run in the 4th when Billingsley hit the aforementioned double.

But the big blow came on Pitch #101. With two men (Loney and Kemp) on base and one man out in the bottom of the 6th, Casey Blake blasted a home run into the leftfield bleachers to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead which they held onto for the W.

The Mets' best chance to fight back came in the top of the 8th against reliever Cory Wade. Beltran led off the inning with a single, and David Wright then walked. Ryan Church flied out to leftfield. At this point, 2B Ramon Martinez was up at the plate. While it was only his 2nd game, Martinez had already struck out three times (all against Billingsley) and was probably not the best guy to be hitting in this position. So of course, I wondered why Jerry Manuel wasn't using Luis Castillo in this spot as a pinch-hitter. It's possible Castillo was unavailable, but I don't know. There's of course, no guarantee that Castillo is able to do the job in this spot, but he does have very good RISP numbers this season, and he's certainly a better hitter than Ramon Martinez.

Martinez ended up grounding into a 4-3 double play.

Big John Broxton pitched an easy 9th inning against the bottom of the order for the Mets (Reed, Santos, Pagan) and that was the ballgame.

Any bright spots for the Mets? Sure. The bullpen didn't let the game get out of hand once Maine left. Ken Takahashi gave up a Juan Pierre single before getting Furcal to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to get the Mets out of the 6th inning. Sean Green pitched a perfect 7th, and Frankie Rodriguez pitched a perfect 8th.

At the plate, David Wright and Carlos Beltran continue to hit extremely well. The problem is, they're currently the only ones doing so, but neither are doing it with the longball.

While the New York Mets curently lead the majors in hitting with a .291 BA, they also have the 4th fewest home runs as a team, with 26 total. While you can definitely win games without the longball, the lack of Delgado's power bat in the lineup is going to start becoming more and more noticeable if no one else (Tatis, Sheffield) is able to step up in the SLG department.