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The Posts Steve Serby does his Sunday Q&A with Gary Sheffield. It’s definitely worth a read. And Ihave to admit that when the Mets signed him I was concerned that he wouldn’t take to riding the bench more than he’s used to. But I’m glad to say that so far I’ve been wrong. Sheffield has a lot more left thanI thought he did. Kudos to Omar Minaya on that one.
Jose Reyes will be joining Oliver Perez and Alex Cora in Port St. Lucie, FL tonight to continue his attempt to return from the disabled list due to tendinitis in his calf. The plan is for him to work out on Monday, play extended spring training games on Wednesday and Thursday, then meet up with the team in Washington on Friday. He’s eligible to come off the DL that day.
Perez is there because he pitched early in the week at Triple-A Buffalo but is still feeling the effects of tendinitis in his knee. So he returned to Florida to continue his rehab.
Cora is making a faster than expected recovery from the strained ligament in his thumb that landed him on the DL. He is going to give it a go without surgery and could join the team in Pittsburgh on Tuesday when he’s eligible to come off the DL.
The Mets could really use Reyes back as quickly as possible. This team is the walking wounded right now and the batting order is starting to read like the Buffalo Bisons starting lineup.
John Maine was looking better than he has all season, cruising through 6 innings without giving up a run. He was warming up for the seventh inning and felt sick to his stomach. He left the game with the same stomach ailment that’s caused Gary Sheffield and Carlos Beltran to lose time in the past couple of weeks.
Angel Pagan had a nice RBI double in the third inning down the left field line that scored Wilson Valdez. In the fourth inning he was chasing down a fly ball in center field and came up lame. He had to leave the game with a groin pull. It’s starting to seem like there are more Mets that are hurt than playing right now.
J.J. Putz struggled in the eighth inning and was pulled for Bobby Parnell. Putz ended up giving up 2 runs in 0.1 innings, no thanks to the RBI single that Parnell gave up to Hanely Ramirez to make the game close at 3-2. But Francisco Rodriguez continues to be perfect getting his 14th save.
The Mets finish their short home stand at 5-1 and head to Pittsburgh to begin a four game series tomorrow night.
Florida Marlins (23-27 Road: 14-13) at New York Mets (27-21 Home: 16-9) 1:10 pm
Chris Volstad (4-3 3.69) vs. John Maine (4-3 4.18)
TV: WPIX Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Mets and Marlins play the rubber of the series today before the Mets head out of town to Pittsburgh. Volstad has been very consistent this season, he never gets completely bombed in a game. Maine on the other hand has had his up’s and down’s over the past season and a half. He really hasn’t been as consistent as I would have expected of him. Good news for the fans going out to the game today is that you’ll probably see a much better lineup from the Mets than we got yesterday. Expect David Wright back in there and we’ll find out if Carlos Beltran has recovered from the stomach virus that took him out of yesterday’s game.
Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans!
Tim Redding had his second straight bad start today and that puts the Mets out of the game early. Going up against Josh Johnson and with a Mets lineup filled with backup’s, Redding had to be very good and he wasn’t. He gave up 7 runs and couldn’t even get an out in the fifth inning when he was pulled by Jerry Manuel. The bullpen came in and did a good job again, highlighted by Ken Takahashi going 3 innings in releif without giving up a run.
There wasn’t much in the Mets offense to write about. Several of the regulars were sitting out and Carlos Beltran had to leave the game due to stomach problems. Fernando Martinez got his first big league hit and RBI going 2- for-5 with a double.
The Mets Report 