Game Preview: Mets at Phillies [Game 24] May 3, 2009

Phillies logoNew York Mets (10-13 Road: 4-7) at Philadelphia Phillies (12-10 Home: 6-8) 1:35 pm

John Maine (1-2 5.40) vs. Joe Blanton (0-2 8.41)

TV: WPIX  Radio:  WFAN

Update (12:21 pm): The game has been rained out and will be re-scheduled at a later date.

What to watch:  The Mets and Phils kick off the rubber game of the series this afternoon on WPIX in New York. Blanton’s been having some serious problems this season, while Maine was very strong in his last start against the Marlins. We’ll see if Carlos Delgado feels healthy enough to start today after pinch hitting yesterday. Fernando Tatis has been filling in at first base very capably in his absence.

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

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Troubled Oliver Perez Should Stay With Mets

Oliver PerezThere’s no disputing the fact that something, and maybe everything, is going horribly wrong for Oliver Perez this season. He’s made five starts now and is pitching to a 1-2 record with a 9.97 ERA. Obviously, he’s hurting the team and shouldn’t continue in the starting rotation. The only debate right now is whether he should be sent to Triple-A Buffalo or stay with the Mets in the bullpen in an attempt to right the ship.

I believe that Perez should stay with the Mets in the bullpen. He doesn’t even need to pitch out of the bullpen, but he should stay with the Mets not be banished to Buffalo.

The Mets should bring up Nelson Figueroa to take Perez’ spot in the rotation for one start. This will give Perez a chance to continue his work with pitching coach Dan Warthen and Johan Santana. Figueroa could take Ken Takahashi’s spot on the roster. Perez will have the pressure off him for 10 games and have a chance to just work on finding himself.

Perez is going to be a part of the Mets for the next three seasons. His 3-year/$36 million contract that he just signed assures him of that. So the Mets need to go forward with Perez on the major league roster and show some confidence in him. I think he needs that right now. The going is tough for him but it’ll get better. You can see it on his face that he’s disappointed in himself.

There are examples of established major league pitchers that have gone to the minors and come back better for it. Steve Trachsel did it for the Mets. But you can also look at Barry Zito with the Giants from last season. On April 29, 2008 Zito was off to an 0-6 start with a 7.53 ERA and was moved to the bullpen. He skipped a start and came back much better. He finished the season at 10-11 record after the bullpen move, and that’s with a bad team that finished the season 72-90. Take a look at Zito’s 2008 game log here. I could see the same type of season for Perez this year.

The Mets made a prett sizable investment in Perez this offseason. They shouldn’t give up on him after one bad month. He should stay with the team and work with the best pitching coaches in the organization. That means he stays with the major league team and works through his problems.

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Phillies 6- Mets 5 May 2, 2009

Oliver Perez pitched another complete disaster and couldn’t even make it out of the third inning, and that wasn’t even the worst part of this game. If you’re a Mets fan and didn’t get a chance to watch this game because you were enjoying a nice May Saturday afternoon, you may want to stop reading now to keep from tossing your cookies. Perez’ line was 2.1 innings giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and 6 walks. He was even doing some kind of new pause in his delivery that we haven’t seen before. Perez has absolutely no idea what to do right now.

What I did like about the Mets is that they were down 4-2 and came back to score 3 runs in the sixth inning. That’s a good sign because they haven’t done much coming back this season. Carlos Beltran and Ramon Castro had two hits apiece, and Castro and Daniel Murphy homered in the game.

The devastating part of the game came when the Phillies scored one to tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. Both teams couldn’t get a rally going and went to the tenth inning. Sean Green was in for the Mets and struggling badly. He loaded the bases and ended up walking Shane Victorino to score the winning run. What an awful way to lose a game, especially to the Phillies. As reader TD noted, Green did a great impression of Aaron Heilman. I was surprised that Jerry Manuel stuck with Green through the inning even though he was wild, walking two hitters. I would have pulled him for Brian Stokes. Both Stokes and Francisco Rodriguez were still available to pitch. Another ugly loss.

Box score

52091

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Report: Casey Fossum Signs With Yankees

It looks like Casey Fossum will be joining the New York Yankees on a minor league deal. He was designated for assignment, effectively cut, by the Mets after pitching against the Nationals on April 27, 2009. Ken Takahashi was called up by the Mets to replace Fossum on the major league roster. Takahashi has yet to appear in a game for the Mets.

The Times-Tribune of Scranton, PA reports that Fossum will start for the Yankees Triple-A Scranton team today. Thanks to MLB Trade Rumors for the link.
MLB: APR 26 Nationals at Metshttp://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

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Game Preview: Mets at Phillies [Game 23] May 2, 2009

Phillies logoNew York Mets (10-12 Road: 4-6) at Philadelphia Phillies (11-10 Home: 5-8) 3:40 pm

Oliver Perez (1-2 9.31) vs.Jamie Moyer (3-1 5.09)

TV: Fox  Radio:  WFAN

What to watch:  The Mets took the first game of the rivalry series last night. Perez gets his shot on national TV today against a Phils team that he’s had historical success against. I question how much that actually means but he was 1-0 with a 0.35 ERA in 4 starts against them last season. Perez may very well be pitching to keep his spot in the rotation today. Moyer’s last start was excellent, going 6 innings against the Marlins and giving up only 1 run. There’s word that Carlos Delgado (hip) may go on the disabled list if he isn’t ready to play today.

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

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