Rangers 8 – Mets 1 June 24, 2011

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: RY 24: Mik...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Mets couldn’t get anything going on offense and Mike Pelfrey put them in hole by giving up 3 runs in the first inning. That’s a combination for a loss, which the Mets did tonight. It’s clear that the Mets aren’t even close to the class of team that the Rangers are right now. The Rangers completely overpowered the Mets and outplayed them in every facet of the game.

Surprisingly, Pelfrey recovered from his early trouble and stayed in the game for 6 innings and  allowed 4 runs. I was expecting Pelfrey to completely fall apart after giving up 3 in the first but he didn’t.

On offense, the only player that had anything going tonight was Jason Bay. He was 3 for 4 with 3 singles and raised his season average to .241.

The Mets will be lucky to leave Texas with one win in this series. They look like the JV compared to the Rangers.

Box score

Enhanced by Zemanta

Preview: A’s at Mets June 23, 2011

Oakland A’s (34-41) at New York Mets (36-38) 1:10pm

Graham Godfrey (1-0 4.76) vs. Chris Capuano (5-7 4.29)

TV: SNY              Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets need this game to take the series and make their home stand a .500 one before hitting the road for Texas. Godfrey is a rookie right hander who’s only made two starts this year. The first one was really bad in Chicago and his last one was really good against the Giants. There isn’t much big league work to judge him on yet.

Capuano has been tremendous in his last three starts. He’s allowed only 3 runs over 19 innings during that span.

Preview: A’s at Mets June 22, 2011

Oakland A’s (34-40) at New York Mets (35-38) 7:10pm

Gio Gonzalez (6-5 2.69) vs. R.A. Dickey (3-7 4.00)

TV: SNY              Radio: WFAN

What to watch: After losing the first game of the series, the Mets need to win tonight and tomorrow to take the series from the A’s and avoid a losing home stand. It won’t be easy going up against Gonzalez tonight. He’s having an excellent season so far. He did it last year too. In 2010, he had a 3.23 ERA in 33 starts for the A’s.

Dickey will be looking to regain his form after having a terrible start in Atlanta last week. He gave up 4 runs in 4 innings and just didn’t look like himself. Maybe Jason Bay can help him out tonight by continuing to hit the ball again.

Video: Reyes, Alderson on In-Season Contract Negotiations

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: RY 24: Jos...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Yesterday Jose Reyes announced that he wouldn’t negotiate a new contract with the Mets until the 2011 season was over. He said that he wants to focus on baseball and not have the distraction of negotiating what is likely going to be the biggest contract of his career in the middle of this season.

I believe that’s also code for “I’m going to test free agency at the end of the season”. The SNY crew addressed this last night during the broadcast by painting a rosy picture of the situation. They talked about how it doesn’t sound like Alderson is going to trade Reyes during the season. They also stressed the exclusive five day window that the Mets have after the World Series ends if they don’t trade him this season. Keep in mind that SNY is majority owned by the Mets. SNY’s motivation is to keep people motivated to buying game tickets and watching on TV. In other words… Don’t believe the hype.

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf

A’s 7 – Mets 3 June 21, 2011

DENVER, CO - MAY 09: Jason Bay #44 of the New...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I never would have guessed before the game that Dillon Gee would be terrible and Jason Bay would be great tonight. The Mets have now lost three of four games on this home stand to west coast AL teams. It’s an abysmal showing for a team that’s supposed be taking on the fiery personality of Terry Collins.

Gee gave up 4 runs in 4 innings on 3 hits and 6 walks. He couldn’t find the plate and only threw 45 strikes in 87 pitches. It was his worst start of the season by far.

The Mets had very little offense going with only 5 hits and 5 walks in the game. Bay had 3 of those hits going 3 for 3 with a long home run to left field and a triple off the top of the center field wall. He finally woke up! I hope that’s a sign of good things to come from Bay. That’s about the only positive that the Mets can take from this game.

Box score

Enhanced by Zemanta

Preview: A’s at Mets June 21, 2011

Oakland A’s (33-40) at New York Mets (35-37) 7:10pm

Josh Outman (2-1 3.14) vs. Dillon Gee (7-0 2.86)

TV: SNY              Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The struggling A’s are in town for three games. They’re in last place in the AL West but, surprisingly, they’ve won five straight games including sweeping the Giants at home before coming to New York. Outman is a lefty who has made a few starts over the last few years but never getting any consistent time in the big leagues. He’s made five starts this year and four of them were pretty good.

Gee looks to continue his mind boggling run tonight in his eleventh start of the season. The Mets still haven’t lost a game that he started this season. In three starts this month he’s only allowed 1 run. He’s been extraordinary.

Video: Mets Weekly Report on Mike Pelfrey

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 24: RY 24: Mik...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

In this week’s Mets Weekly Report I talk to Kerel Cooper from On The Black about Mike Pelfrey. He’s been on a serious run lately allowing only 5 runs in his last three starts (22 IP). Check out the video and you’ll see that my contention is that we’ve seen these short bursts of success from Pelfrey before. But he always seems to fall into a slump for a period of time.

We also touch on projections for Pelfrey’s career and where he would fit into a rotation on a solid team. And we also get into a question that I asked Kerel in one of our live streaming chats. Is Pelfrey part of the Mets problem or the solution to their problems? Watch the video for my answer to that question.