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More to come but the early word is that Pedro Martinez looked very good in Port St. Lucie tonight. He went six innings giving up two runs on four hits and no walks, while striking out six. He faced 23 batters in the start for the St. Lucie Mets against the Vero Beach Rays.
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WFAN audio with Willie Randolph doing his weekly spot with Mike and the Mad Dog. Wally Backman and Davey Johnson talk to Boomer & Carton.
Randolph talks about his meeting with Omar Minaya and the Wilpons on Monday. Wally Backman talks about his desire to get back to the big leagues after the D-Backs let him go after four days in 2004. Davey Johnson talks about being the Mets manager when things aren’t going so well
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If you’re in the Port St. Lucie, FL area tonight you should head over to Tradition Field to check out the Vero Beach Rays vs. St. Lucie Mets game. You won’t see a much better game than this one. The Rays top pick in last year’s draft David Price is pitching against Pedro Martinez.
There aren’t many Class A games with pitching matchup’s like that. I wish I was there for this game. It’s the old (Pedro) against the new highly touted prospect (Price).
Pedro has already told the Mets that he feels ready to pitch at the Major League level. But tonight will be a good test for him. I’d like to see him have some level of success tonight before making a start next week in San Francisco.
Last night the Daily News website published a new column from Mike Lupica on the Mets so-called racial divide. If you listen to WFAN or other sports talk radio shows, this column doesn’t contain any new information that you haven’t already heard. Omar Minaya gave Lupica some quotes denying that there’s a rift in the clubhouse. No surprise there.
Personally, I don’t believe that there is this rift that we’ve heard about. Paul LoDuca was one of the people that publicly raised the issue last season. Nobody ever accused him of being particularly perceptive or bright though. I wouldn’t use LoDuca as my barometer for anything. He exercised very poor judgment on several occasions while with the Mets and there was evidence on Facebook to prove it.
Billy Wagner’s comments about Carlos Delgado disappearing from the clubhouse after a Mets loss were also tied to the so-called rift. But I don’t understand that. It was one person talking about another person. That’s all.
Florida Marlins (30-21) at New York Mets (24-26) 7:10pm
Scott Olsen (4-2) vs. Oliver Perez (4-3)
What to watch: The Mets play the rubber game of the series tonight against the Marlins. Both Olsen and Perez had terrible starts in their last time out; Olsen in San Francisco and Perez in Colorado. You never know what kind of start it’ll be from Perez. Carlos Delgado may ride the bench again tonight as well.
Johan Santana (6-3) got the win tonight going seven innings giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks, while recording seven strikeouts. The Mets sorely needed a win after losing seven of their last eight games. Santana comes through…
The lineup was juggled a bit tonight with Carlos Delgado riding the pine and Damion Easley getting a start at first base. Easley contributed with a 1 for 3 night, scored a run, and had an RBI. It was nice to see a Mets first baseman putting the ball in play and making an offensive contribution.
Fernando Tatis, getting a start in right field, went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s. Ramon Castro also went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s. The bench players came up big tonight.
The Mets close the gap a little with the first place Marlins by cutting their lead down to 5.5 games.
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ESPN’s Rob Neyer and Andrew Marchand join Michael Kay on ESPN Radio. Neyer makes some great points about why Willie Randolph should have been fired yesterday. Andrew Marchand talks in detail about the scene at Shea Stadium yesterday and the mixed support that Randolph received from the Mets players.
The Mets Report 