Month: April 2009

Mets 4- Nationals 3 April 24, 2009

42409Johan Santana was fantastic again. It’s hard to believe that a pitcher can be this good consistently. He went 6 innings giving up 1 run on 6 hits and had 10 strikeouts, including the first six consecutive batters. He’s totally in the zone this season.

The Mets put together 4 runs over four different innings. The team left 13 runners on base including 9 in scoring position. That continues to be a problem. The offensive leader tonight was Fernando Tatis. He was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 runs scored. It was good to see him get going tonight. We haven’t seen enough of him so far this season.

Francisco Rodriguez did give up a 2-run homer to Jesus Flores in the ninth. But he hadn’t pitched in six straight days, so I’ll cut him some slack on that. He didn’t look sharp at all.

The Nationals are always good to play to end a losing streak and that was the case tonight.

Box score

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Audio: Omar Minaya, Ed Coleman April 24, 2009

Omar MinayaMets GM Omar Minaya joins WFAN’s Mike Francesa to talk about the current sorry state of the Mets. He debunks the rumors that changes are imminent in the starting rotation or coaching staff. Clearly, he isn’t happy with the way the team is playing but he doesn’t have his finger on the panic button yet.

Omar Minaya audio

Mets beat reporter Eddie Coleman of WFAN talks to Evan and Joe about the debacle of a series in St. Louis this week and the problems with the starting rotation.

Eddie Coleman audio

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Game Preview: Nationals at Mets [Game 16] April 24, 2009

Washington Nationals logoWashington Nationals (3-11 Road: 0-6) at New York Mets (6-9 Home: 3-3)  7:10 pm

Scott Olsen (0-2 9.00) vs. Johan Santana (2-1 0.46)

TV: SNY   Radio:  WFAN

What to watch: The Mets are in a 4-game losing streak and coming off a sweep at the hands of the Cardinals. The Nationals just won 2 of 3 at home against Atlanta. Olsen’s last start was a no decision against the Marlins and was a very good game, 7 IP and 2 ER. Santana hasn’t given up an earned run in his last two starts. He’s been terrific. The Mets need to get things turned around starting tonight. Olsen is the first lefty starter they’ve faced this season. Both Fernando Tatis and Gary Sheffield will be in the lineup.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans!

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Mets Starting Pitching May Force Roster, Coaching Changes

Oliver PerezAfter the Mets humiliating defeat in St. Louis yesterday, manager Jerry Manuel spoke to the media about some possible changes to the roster in the near future. Manuel said that they’ll go one more time, as is, through the pitching rotation. If the starting pitchers, other than Johan Santana, can’t overcome their problems the Mets will make changes.

Manuel said that he would like to immediately add a 13th pitcher to the Mets roster. The logic being that the starters are pitching so few innings right now that it would keep the existing pitchers in the bullpen from getting burned out early in the season. Manuel admitted that he’s concerned about how many innings the bullpen is logging already.

Another issue is to figure out which position player will pay the price by losing a roster spot to add another pitcher. I suspect that Jeremy Reed is the most likely candidate. If it was up to me, I would option Daniel Murphy for reasons written before on this site that I won’t go into again.

Adam Rubin of the Daily News reports that the Mets are already considering making changes to the coaching staff. Rubin also notes that the Mets are considering optioning Mike Pelfrey or Oliver Perez to the minors. That would be quite a shake-up, moving the #2 or #3 starter to the minors!

Although some of these ideas sound desperate, I’m glad that they’re not just going with the status quo because it’s April. The Mets have a lot of seats left to sell and this team isn’t inspiring me to go out and buy more seats. That doesn’t even mention the fact that the last two seasons have been lost to one or two games, so they can’t just give games away even if it is only April.

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Cardinals 12- Mets 8 April 23, 2009

42309The final score actually wasn’t indicative of the beating that the Cardinals handed the Mets today to complete the 3-game sweep. Livan Hernandez was bad again and this game was over by the sixth inning. The Mets starting pitchers, beside Johan Santana, have an ERA over 7. That’s all that you need to know about the Mets current four game losing streak.

Albert Pujols hit two homers today for the Cardinals. Ryan Church and Carlos Beltran hit meaningless homers in garbage time for the Mets as well. Beltran’s average is up to .404 for the season.

The Mets go home and hope to get right against the Washington Nationals.

Box score

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Game Preview: Mets at Cardinals [Game 15] April 23, 2009

St. Louis Cardinals logoNew York Mets (6-8 Road: 3-5) at St. Louis Cardinals (10-5 Home: 7-2) 1:40 pm

Livan Hernandez (1-0 4.63) vs. Kyle Lohse (2-0 2.57)

TV: SNY   Radio:  WFAN

What to watch: Jerry Manuel promised to shake up the lineup after last night’s loss. The Mets have now lost three games in a row. Expect to see Gary Sheffield in LF, Alex Cora at 2B, Carlos Beltran batting third, and David Wright batting fifth. It’s up to Hernandez to keep the Mets from getting swept in this series. Lohse had two very good starts but got hit by the Cubs in his last start for 4 runs in 5 innings.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans!

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