Phillies Myers Is Back And Talking About Mets

PHILADELPHIA - APRIL 29: Brett Myers #39 of t...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Phillies “ace”, and I use that term loosely, Brett Myers is back from a three week stint in the minors and is already talking about the Mets. He’s likely to start Wednesday against John Maine. Myers told reporters as reported by Philly.com:

“I can’t think of a better team for me to come back against,” he said yesterday.

Why?

“I don’t like ’em,” he said. “We’re not supposed to like them. Nothing against the guys on the team – they’re our rivals. We like beating them; they like beating us.”

This season Myers is 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA in 17 starts. Between the lack of skill that he and Adam Eaton have shown this year, it caused Phils GM Pat Gillick to trade three prospects for Oakland A’s Joe Blanton last week.

Bring it on Brett!

Zemanta Pixie

On Deck- July 20- Mets At Reds Game 4

New York Mets (52-46 Road: 24-28) at Cincinnati Reds (48-51 Home: 28-20) 1:15pm

Mike Pelfrey (8-6 3.64) vs. Edinson Volquez (12-3 2.29)

TV: CW11  Radio: WFAN

What to watch: This is probably the best pitching matchup of the four game series. And that’s saying something in a series that Johan Santana pitched in. The Mets really need this game badly to avoid losing 3 of 4 to the lowly Reds. The Mets absolutely need to win this game to have a little momentum going into the Phillies series that begins Tuesday at home.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game. You can access the chat room for Mets fans on the "Live Game Chat" link above or just click here.

Pedro’s Bullpen The Story Of The Game

Pedro Martinez waves goodbye after signing som...Image via Wikipedia

The biggest story of the Mets game wasn’t the game. It was Pedro Martinez throwing a bullpen session during the game. He’s trying to recover from hip, groin, and shoulder pain and had a cortisone shot in his hip just days ago.

Last night the word came from Jerry Manuel after the game that Pedro won’t pitch against the Phillies this week. The plan is for him to pitch in next weekend’s series against the Cardinals. Pedro did feel good after throwing last night though, the first time he’s thrown since his last start on July 12th.

“OK, for the time being,” Martinez said. “I’d say it’s a positive day. We’re going to see how it feels tomorrow.”

He’s pitched so poorly this season (3-2 6.25 ERA) and missed so much time with injuries that it’s really been a wasted season for Pedro. Unfortunately, this is the last season he’s under contract with the Mets. So his pre-season comments about proving his health and ability to gain another deal with the Mets is seriously in question.

It would take a big run by Pedro in the last two months of the season to warrant the Mets offering Pedro a contract beyond the end of this year. He’s a definite Hall of Famer but he’s been hurting the Mets for more than two years now.

Zemanta Pixie

Mets Streaking Again, Lose Second In A Row

Despite a good effort by Oliver Perez the Mets lost their second straight game to the Cincinnati Reds 7-2. Perez went six innings giving up three runs, two of which were earned. The story of the night was the Mets having tons of opportunity to score against Reds starter Josh Fogg and not taking advantage of it. The Mets had ten hits and only scored two runs in the game!

In the seventh inning Mike Lincoln came in with the bases loaded and struck out David Wright and Carlos Beltran, both looking.

Pedro Feliciano came into the game in the seventh inning and got rocked for four runs in .1 innings. Ouch. It didn’t help that Aaron Heilman relieved Feliciano and gave up a bases clearing triple to Joey Votto.

The most surprising part of the game was watching Beltran kick the ball around the outfield. He’s always such a consistently good fielder. I know there are some balls that he doesn’t come in on very well. But it just seems like he never makes a mistake in the field. Last night he kicked two balls around. One he was charged with and error, only his third of the season, and the other he misplayed on the fly then kicked on the ground but wasn’t charged an error.

The Mets try to even the series in the final game before coming home for an off-day and then the Phillies at home.

Box score

Video Highlights

On Deck- Mets At Reds Game 3

New York Mets (52-45 Road: 24-27) at Cincinnati Reds (47-51 Home: 27-20) 7:40pm

Oliver Perez (6-5 4.44) vs. Josh Fogg (1-2 7.94)

TV: SNY   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets don’t have the pressure of a winning streak hanging over them anymore after last night’s loss. But the team can still guarantee a split in the series against the Reds with a win tonight. Perez has been stunning in his last three starts, absolutely dominating the opposition. Fogg has gone back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen for the Reds, and hasn’t won a game since April 9th.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game. You can access the chat room for Mets fans on the "Live Game Chat" link above or just click here.

Mets Injury News- El Duque, Pagan, Nixon

The Mets injury list is a deep one and is certainly casting shadows over the Mets needs at the non-waiver trading deadline. Here’s the latest:

  • El Duque- Another setback with his right foot. After leaving the game in Binghamton after one inning because of discomfort in his foot, he visited a doctor in New York about the problem again. The Mets will have a shoe specially made for him and orthotics to try to relieve the pain he’s experiencing.
  • Angel Pagan- It  looks like he’s done for the year with a torn labrum in his shoulder. He’s going for a second opinion but the initial diagnosis is that he needs season ending shoulder surgery.
  • Trot Nixon- Unconfirmed reports that he’s done for the season due to a hernia operation.

With Pagan and Nixon possibly out for the year, and Ryan Church a serious question mark, the Mets will probably need to jump into the corner outfield market before the trading deadline. I would assume that they would go with a B-level player as opposed to emptying the top prospects for a Jason Bay or Xavier Nady type of player.

Mets Ten Game Streak Is Dead, Hope Lives On

The Mets ten game winning streak came to an end in Cincinnati last night at the hands of Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo. He threw a terrific eight innings giving up only two runs. The four hits he gave up were all the Mets could muster after Reds closer Francisco Cordero, last night’s losing pitcher, came in to shut the door in the ninth. That happens sometimes. A hot starting pitcher can be a buzz saw for a team, and Arroyo sure was- leading the Reds to a 5-2 victory.

The bigger question is John Maine. After his dazzling spring training, he hasn’t lived up to the hype during the regular season. I expected him to have a break out year but it’s been anything but that. His start last night was a microcosm of his season. He had way too many pitches, 102 through 4.2 innings. That’s no way to pitch successfully. The killer was that he walked five. The Mets bullpen didn’t help either walking four more Reds for a season-high-tying nine walks.

Carlos Beltran had a nice game going 2 for 4 with a double and a triple but he didn’t get much help from his teammates.

We knew the streak would end sometime. But I really hoped the 2008 version of the Mets would at least tie the team record 11 game streak of the 1969 version of the Mets. After such a gloomy start to this season, it would’ve been a nice feat for this team to hang their hat on. It wasn’t meant to be and that’s okay because the season has turned around so dramatically over the last month. Hope lives on.

Box score

Video Highlights