26 posts tagged “oliver perez”

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.

Tampa Bay Rays 2008 Starting Rotation:
James Shields 14-8 3.56 ERA, 215 IP, 40 BB, 160 K
Andy Sonnanstine 13-9 4.38 ERA, 193.1 IP, 37 BB, 124 K
Matt Garza 11-9 3.70 ERA, 184.2 IP, 59 BB, 128 K
Edwin Jackson 14-11 4.42 ERA, 183.1 IP, 77 BB, 108 K
Scott Kazmir 12-8 3.49 ERA, 152.1 IP, 70 BB, 166 K

- James Shields, drafted by Tampa in 2000.
- Andy Sonnantine, drafted by Tampa in 2004.
- Matt Garza, acquired in a 2007 trade along with SS Jason Bartlett with the Minnesota Twins.
- Edwin Jackson, acquired in a 2006 trade with the Dodgers. Jackson was TERRIBLE with the 2007 Rays, going 5-15 with a 5.76 ERA. Jackson was traded to Detroit for OF Matt Joyce after the 2008 season.
- Scott Kazmir... we know.

At this point in time last year, the Rays were 35-24.

Now we look at the 2009 starting rotation for the Tampa Bay Rays and how they're performing so far...

Tampa Bay Rays 2009 Starting Rotation:
James Shields 4-4 3.53 ERA, 74 IP, 20 BB, 52 K
Matt Garza 4-4 3.67 ERA, 73.2 IP, 28 BB, 66 K
Andy Sonnanstine 4-5 7.07 ERA, 56.0 IP, 16 BB, 32 K
Jeff Niemann 5-4 3.77 ERA, 59.2 IP, 24 BB, 39 K
Scott Kazmir 4-4 7.69 ERA, 45.2 IP, 29 BB, 35 K

And since Kazmir is now on the DL, and the Rays FINALLY called up top draft pick David Price...

David Price 1-0 3.00 ERA, 9 IP, 7 BB, 17 K

So from examining the starting rotations based on the available stats, the only major issues are the falloff of Andy Sonnanstine and the injury to Kazmir. Kazmir will come back later this month. 

Ideally, the Rays would best be suited to have Price and Kazmir healthy and in the rotation, and find another role for Sonnanstine, who likely peaked in 2008.

The offense for the Rays is primarily the same as it was last year with the major changes being Pat Burrell at DH instead of Cliff Floyd.

So despite having a very similar roster to the 2008 team, this is a .500 team at 28-28 on June 3, 2009. 

Every team has injuries:
But the Rays suffered a big blow with 2B Akinori Iwamura tearing his ACL and he's gone for the season.

SS Jason Bartlett is currently on the 15-day DL with a sprained left ankle.

DH Pat Burrell is on the 15-day DL with a neck strain, though expected to return in late June.

3B Evan Longoria has a sore left hamstring right now, but SHOULD be ready to play by the weekend. Losing Longoria for any period of time would be extremely devastating to Tampa.

Closer Troy Percival, who had a huge comeback season in 2008, has had a disappointing 2009 and may be gone for the year with shoulder tendinitis, if not his career.

So yes, you can have a great farm system and develop quality players like Longoria, Shields, Price, etc.

But the Rays also have their share of veterans. Some are extremely productive stars (Carl Crawford) or underrated veterans (Carlos Pena), others are filling up roster space (Gabe Kapler, Jason Isringhausen).

And despite having a very similar team to a year ago, they're not playing the way they were. They could potentially have a strong second half and make a run at the AL East, but with Boston and New York having strengthened their rosters in the off-season, that's going to be a tough going.

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.

Allow me to bottom line this...

Oliver Perez was signed by the New York Mets to pitch against 3 teams.

The Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, and the New York Yankees.

Perez has inexplicably owned the Yankees throughout his entire career, (5-1 in 6 career starts, 41.1 IP, 2.61 ERA). While the Mets only face the Yankees 6 times per season, it would be quite fortuitous if Perez were able to have 2 starts against them.

Last year, Perez dominated the Philadelphia Phillies even more than Mets ace Johan Santana did.
In 4 starts against the Phillies, Perez was 1-0 with a 0.35 ERA over 26 IP. He gave up a total of one earned run in 4 games against Philadelphia.

In 2007, Perez posted a 4-1 record in 5 starts against the Atlanta Braves, with a 3.03 ERA over 32.2 IP.
In 2008, Perez had no decisions in 3 starts against Atlanta, with a 3.72 ERA over 19.1 IP.

For all the talk about how "inconsistent" Oliver Perez is, the reality is that he more often than not, pitches very well against any one of those 3 teams, OR in high-pressure situations. When he pitches against other teams that are merely "regular season games," no one really knows what to expect.

His one good performance in 2009 came against the San Diego Padres. It was a high-pressure situation in that the Mets had lost the CitiField opener to San Diego, and the Mets desperately wanted that first home win ASAP.

The way the schedule works out, unless there are any rainouts, Oliver Perez's next three starts will be against Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Atlanta.

Of course, there's no guarantee that Perez will pitch great those games, but the odds are in his favor based on track record.

If he fails to pitch adequately in these games, then I would say there is great cause for concern. As it is, you don't want to see him pitch so extremely poorly against the rest of the league.

But it's too early in the season to panic, especially when Oliver Perez is about to begin facing teams that he was specifically paid to beat.

Is it really even about the money with Manny Ramirez at this point? Go ahead, offer him $25 million for a year. He turns it down.

Manny wants years AND money. The Dodgers offered 2 years with a 3rd-year option in October which would total $60 million. Manny said no.

Then they offered him arbitration. Manny said no.

Then they offered him $25 million/1 year. Manny said no.

Manny wants 4 years. So far, no team is saying yes. Not the Dodgers, nor the Giants. The Angels, Nationals, Yankees, Mets, have all publicly stated "we're not interested," and surely based on financial information alone, that's quite believable, although I suppose the Yankees could always pull a rabbit out of their ass at the final minute.

If the Mets DID offer him a long-term deal, where's the money available to fill the other slots in 2010 and beyond?

You're going to start the 2010 season with a lot of big-$ contracts already tied up.
Johan Santana: $21 million
Frankie Rodriguez: $11.5 million
Carlos Beltran: $18.5 million
Oliver Perez: $12 million
David Wright: $10 million
Luis Castillo: $6 million
Jose Reyes: $9 million

That's $88 million ALREADY tied up for the 2010 season. Add Manny Ramirez to a 2010 payroll? You're now looking at $115 million.

You still need money for all the players you won't have under contract in 2010.

That's 3 starting pitchers (Pelfrey, Maine, whoever) whose contracts are up after 2009.
That's a catcher you no longer have.
That's a 1B you no longer have.
That's a RF you no longer have.
That's practically an entire bench you no longer have.
That's more bullpen slots to fill. Sanchez, Feliciano, Green, Stokes, etc. All gone. If the Mets pick up Putz's 2010 option, add another $8.6 million to the payroll.

So now with Putz, Ramirez, and the aforementioned players, your exorbitant 2010 payroll is already at $123.6 million.

That leaves around... $30 million to fill ALL of those other positions, with RF, 1B and C being kinda major slots.

Still want to sign Manny?

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!!!!!