Preview: Pirates at Mets May 30, 2011

Pittsburgh Pirates (24-27) at New York Mets (24-28) 7:10pm

Charlie Morton (5-2 2.61) vs. Dillon Gee (4-0 3.82)

TV: SNY              Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Pirates come to town tonight to start a four game series. They’re currently in fourth place in the NL Central, 6.5 games behind the Cardinals. The Pirates arrived in New York from Chicago having won two of three games there.

Morton has been somewhat of a revelation for the Pirates after having a terrible 2010. The Pirates are 5-4 in his 9 starts and he’s really only had two bad starts. He’s also had two complete game victories this year including one that was a shutout of the Reds on May 18 in Cincinnati.

Gee has also pitched well in his 6 starts this season. The Mets are 6-0 in his starts. You can’t do much more than that. He’s just been a winner both this season and at the end of 2010 when he was called up.

Preview: Phillies at Mets May 29, 2011

Philadelphia Phillies (33-19) at New York Mets (23-28) 1:10pm

Vance Worley (2-0 2.14) vs. Jon Niese (3-5 4.33)

TV: WPIX              Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Phillies are going for the sweep at Citi Field today behind Worley who’s made a few spot starts this season. He started against the Mets on April 29 and threw 6 shutout innings. The Phillies are 2-1 in games he started and he’s 2 for 2 in hold situations this year.

The Mets are 5-5 in games that Niese started this season. He’s been very inconsistent but he has pitched better at home (3.41 ERA) than on the road (5.34 ERA).

Video: Mets Weekly Report- Bullpen, Offense, Reyes

Jason Bay
Image via Wikipedia

In this week’s episode of the Mets Weekly Report, Kerel Cooper of On The Black and I discuss this week in Mets baseball. Specifically, we get into the Phillies series and the bullpen blowing leads in the first two games. The bullpen has been great all year, overachieving actually, until this week.

Kerel also brings up the Jason Bay situation and how he’s been an automatic out for more than a season now. I’m not sure what to do with the guy other than to wait it out. He’s completely untradeable (if that’s a word) and there’s nothing the Mets can do other than try to get him hitting again.

We also talk about the only consistent offense this season is coming from Jose Reyes and, more recently, Justin Turner.

Video: Mets Alderson on Memorial Day and Trades

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 29: (L - R) Saul Katz, CEO...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The most well spoken person in the Mets organization talked to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. He talked about what Memorial Day means to him as an American and a former Marine. He talked about his experience in Vietnam and the different attitude Americans have toward military service now than they did in the 60’s and 70’s.

As expected, Alderson didn’t reveal much about the Mets plan for trades in 2011. He said that they’re still trying to understand what kind of potential the Mets have for this season. Of course, he’s not going to tip his hand this early. So there’s no surprise that he was exceptionally vague.

http://img.widgets.video.s-msn.com/flash/customplayer/1_0/customplayer.swfMLB on FOX: Alderson’s honor

Phillies 5 – Mets 2 May 28, 2011

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

The Phillies took the series with the win tonight and sent the Mets to their third straight loss and sixth in seven games. The only saving grace is that Mike Pelfrey escaped taking the loss because he had a huge game going 7.2 innings and allowing only 2 runs. He lowered his season ERA to 5.00. It looked like he was in trouble in the fourth inning but he got out of the inning only allowing 1 run. Typically, Pelfrey falls apart at any sign of trouble but he worked out of it and kept it together until the eighth inning.

The bullpen has been a strength of the Mets all season couldn’t get one out in the eighth inning to bail out Pelfrey. Mike O’Connor, Jason Isringhausen, and Tim Byrdak struggled to get one out and gave up the lead and more to the Phillies, who are clearly in another class than the Mets in terms of performance.

The Mets didn’t do much on offense only getting 7 hits and no walks as a team. Of course, Justin Turner got things started again with an RBI single in the first inning after Jose Reyes doubled and stole third. They did have 5 steals in the game but it wasn’t enough to get a win against Cole Hamels and the Phillies.

Box score

Preview: Phillies at Mets May 28, 2011

Philadelphia Phillies (32-19) at New York Mets (23-27) 7:10pm

Cole Hamels (6-2 3.06) vs. Mike Pelfrey (3-4 5.37)

TV: FOX              Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Phillies can win the series with a victory today over the Mets at Citi Field. They have a good chance to do it behind Hamels because they’re 8-2 in his starts this season. He’s won two straight decisions and the Phillies have won three straight games that he started.

On the other hand, the Mets are 3-7 when Pelfrey starts this season and they’ve lost two straight that he started. He got hit hard by the Yankees in his last start giving up 5 runs in 6 innings on 8 hits and 2 walks.

Report: Einhorn Could Own Majority of Mets in Three Years

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Owner Fred W...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

ESPN is reporting that the real motivation for David Einhorn to invest in the Mets is coming to light. We were all wondering what Einhorn was really getting for his $200 million dollar investment. Apparently, he doesn’t get much, if any, say in the running of the Mets. That will still be up to the Wilpon whether we like it or not.

The report states that Einhorn is buying 33% of the Mets for his $200 million. In three years, Einhorn will have the option to increase his percentage of ownership to 60%. But the Wilpons can block that move by giving Einhorn his $200 million back while allowing him to maintain 33% ownership.

If the ESPN story is true, it sheds some light on Einhorn’s real motivation. He’s allowing the Wilpons to use his money for three years and if they can’t pay it back at that time, he can take over the team. It’s a nice move by Einhorn and a risky one for the Wilpons. That lawsuit by the Madoff trustee should be settled within the next three years and determine the future ownership of the Mets.