Manuel: Mets Are Second Team In New York

NEW YORK - MAY 18: General Managers Omar Minaya of the New York Mets and Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees meet before the start of their game at Shea Stadium May 18, 2007 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

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One of the hot topics yesterday was Mets manager telling reporters before the game against the Yankees that the Mets are New York’s “second team”.  You know what? He’s right. It’s funny how the media gets these things and runs with them like there’s some major story here.

The Yankees do dominate the New York baseball scene. There have been moments for the Mets, like in October 1969 and 1986. But by and large New York is a Yankees city. The Yankees have been here since 1903 and won 26 World Series’ and 39 American League pennants. Those are the facts.

So what’s the story here? The Mets franchise is still in it’s infancy compared to the Yankees. Jerry Manuel may be too honest with the media for his own good at times. I dislike the Yankees as much as anyone. But Jerry’s right. I’m still holding out hope that we can change that for a month in October 2008.

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Ollie Sensational As Mets Top Yanks 3-1

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Oliver Perez was unstoppable today throwing seven innings and only giving up one solo homer to Wilson Betemit in the seventh. Perez only gave up three hits and no walks with eight strikeouts. His fastball was in the mid- 90’s and was consistently throwing strikes. Consistent is rarely used to describe Perez.

Perez made some changes both mechanical and strategic. He moved to the middle of the rubber, added some rock back to his motion, and threw a much higher percentage of fastballs.

Luis Castillo and Endy Chavez had three hits apiece in the game. Ryan Church went 2 for 4 in his return from the disabled list.

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Mets Roster Moves: Church Activated, Nixon To DL

NEW YORK - MAY 17: Chad Moeller #19 of the New York Yankees waits for the ball as Ryan Church #19 of the New York Mets slides home with a fourth inning run on May 17, 2008 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City.

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The Mets activated Ryan Church from the disabled list today and he was inserted into the lineup against the Yankees. It’s the first game he’s played since June 5th after suffering from post concussion syndrome.

To make room on the roster the Mets put outfielder Trot Nixon on the disabled list with a strained groin that he suffered in Los Angeles last week.

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On Deck: June 29- Yankees At Mets

New York Yankees (44-37 Road: 22-19) at New York Mets (39-41 Home: 21-18)  1:10pm

Darrell Rasner (4-5 4.50) vs. Oliver Perez (5-5 5.29)

TV: CW11   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets are forced into a position of counting on Oliver Perez to avoid a home sweep by the Yankees before leaving for St. Louis tonight. The Mets have had almost no offense in the last two games but do get Ryan Church back today. The word is that he’ll probably hit sixth today behind Carlos Delgado.

Santana Loses Again As Yankees Win 3-2

image Johan Santana takes another hard luck loss today. He has to be wondering why he came to this team that has no offense. The Mets attack consisted of two solo homers, one by Ramon Castro and the other by David Wright.

Santana ( 7-7) wasn’t terrible but wasn’t great either. He went six innings giving up three runs on four hits and four walks, but he did have eight strikeouts. His ERA increased to 3.03 for the season.

Jose Reyes demonstrated again that he has no concept of situational strategy. He was on second base with Damion Easley on first. David Wright was at the plate with two outs. Inexplicably, Reyes gets picked off second base by Andy Pettite leaning toward third base. There’s no reason for him to be going for third base with two outs and David Wright hitting with two runners on base. It makes no sense. This is a situation that needs to be addressed by Jerry Manuel. High school players know enough not to do that. Reyes can’t have the “green light” to run anytime. He clearly doesn’t understand the game well enough to have that responsibility.

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Mets Injury News: June 28- Alou and Church

NEW YORK - MAY 11: Ryan Church #19 of the New York Mets is congratulated by teammate Moises Alou #18 after hitting a home run in the 5th inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Shea Stadium on May 11, 2008 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

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Prior to the game today Jerry Manuel told reporters that Ryan Church should be ready to be activated from the disabled list prior to the game against the Yankees tomorrow. He also said that Moises Alou is targeting a return to the active roster next weekend in Philadelphia.

Manuel also talked about how the double header yesterday forces the Mets to seek outside help for a starting pitcher on Tuesday. Most likely Tony Armas, Jr. will be called up from Triple-A New Orleans. But Manuel left the door open for Omar Minaya to acquire a starter from outside of the Mets organization. Armas has pitched very well for the New Orleans Zephyrs this season going 5-6 with a 2.50 ERA in 16 starts.

There aren’t that many starters on the street that I can think of. There’s David Wells and Jeff Weaver out there, but I think Armas would be a better option. Wells hasn’t pitched all season and Weaver was released byt the Brewers after getting bombed in Triple-A Nashville. He made nine starts and went 2-4 with a 6.22 ERA.

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