WFAN radio is reporting that the Mets-Pirates game tonight is rained out in Pittsburgh. The teams are scheduled to play tomorrow at 12:35pm so it would make sense to play a double header tomorrow.
The injured Mets could really use an extra day off though right now. So they’re probably trying to work out a date when they can get back to Pittsburgh for a game later this season. So Mike Pelfrey will be moved back to tomorrow’s game as things stand right now.
New York Mets (28-23 Road: 11-14) at Pittsburgh Pirates (24-28 Home: 14-11) 7:05 pm
Mike Pelfrey (4-1 3.88) vs. Ross Ohlendorf (5-5 4.45)
TV: SNY Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Mets try to salvage something out of this series in Pittsburgh behind Pelfrey. He’s pitched five good starts in a row and should be able to keep it going against a weak Pirates lineup. Ohlendorf has lost his last two starts and given up at least four runs in his last three starts. We’ll see if Carlos Beltran can finally get back into the lineup after being out since Saturday with the flu.
Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans!
Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post is reporting today that SNY producer Dan Barr was sent back to New York and put in isolation while being evaluated for swine flu. With Carlos Beltran and John Maine already missing time due to the flu, this is a scary situation.
Beltran hasn’t played since he left Saturday’s game feeling ill. And Maine left his start on Sunday feeling ill with stomach problems as well. The Mets feel that both players are not at risk for swine flu.
Barr did travel on the team flight to Pittsburgh on Sunday, that’s when he started feeling sick. The Mets are so banged up right now that this is the last thing they need.
Maine stayed in New York to recover and flew to Pittsburgh today. I was surprised that Beltran wasn’t playing again today. The good news is that Alex Cora is back on the roster today. He replaced Angel Pagan who went on the disabled list yesterday with a strained groin.
The Mets lost their second straight to the lousy Pirates team. There just wasn’t much offense to support Johan Santana. But Zach Duke did a good job for the Pirates. Santana gave up 3 runs in 6 innings to raise his ERA to 2.00. He’s been victimized by a lack of support in most of his starts this season.
There wasn’t much offense to speak of tonight for the Mets. They only had 8 hits and three were by Jeremy Reed who was starting for Carlos Beltran again. Beltran is still too sick to play since he came out of Saturday’s game with the flu.
The only run for the Mets was scored by Ramon Martinez in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Luis Castillo. While sliding into home Martinez dislocated his pinky finger. He’s heading back to New York to get it looked at as the walking wounded total continues to increase.
The story of this game is that the Mets were hitting and scoring early, but the bullpen blew the game in the eighth inning. It was reminiscent of a 2008 game. Livan Hernandez was back to his average self again going 5.2 innings and giving up 3 runs to raise his ERA to 4.33.
The Mets put up 5 runs in the first three inings and looked like they were on their way to a beat down of the Pirates. But they only got one hit after the third inning. We should’ve know it was a sign of trouble when the offense was led by Jeremy Reed and Wilson Valdez with 2 hits apiece.
J.J. Putz was awful again giving up 4 runs without getting an out on four straight hits. He was out early before the game working with Dan Warthen but it didn’t help at all. Supposedly, they’re trying to get him to stop tipping his pitches. They need to work on finding the velocity that he’s lost before the pitch tipping issue. He’s just been terrible.
The Pirates scrapped their way back from being down 5-0 in the third inning. This was a really ugly loss.
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