8/19 - What Wright Said...

Posted on 20 Aug 2008 by Danielle

(On defeating division rivals)

"We learned last year the hard way that if you don't win games in your division, you don't win the division," David Wright said, concerned with the beating the Braves have put on his team this season.

Credit: The Journal News

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Mets get a win... and so does Heilman?

Posted on 19 Aug 2008 by Danielle

Oddly enough, the streaky-at-best relief pitcher earned a win tonight after the Mets rallied in the eighth.

As has been the trend lately, the Mets jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, after a sacrifice fly by David Wright and a double by Fernando Tatis.

But in the third inning, Larry Jones singled, McCann grounded out, and Francoeur hit a sac fly to tack three runs on the board for the Braves and allow them to take the lead.



After the lapse in control, Ollie quickly returned to form, blanking the Braves for another 3.1 innings after that.

Oliver pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and five walks, striking out three. Ollie's ERA lowered to 3.93 from 3.99 on the day.

Time was quickly running out for the New York Mets and after Jose Reyes grounded out in the eighth, they had only five outs to work with.

Then Nick Evans walked (and was later run for by Endy Chavez), Wright walked, and Beltran singled to load the bases.

Carlos Delgado stepped to the plate, 0 for his last 12. But tonight, Carlos earned back the "Esta en fuego," smacking a double off the center field wall to score Chavez and Wright.

Easley singled to bring in Beltran and Delgado. Castro doubled to bring in Tatis.

And by the time all was said and done, eleven batters stepped to the plate and five runs were in the eight spot.

New Mets pitcher Luis Ayala, Aaron Heilman, and Scott Schoeneweis combined for 2.2 scoreless innings of work, with two hits and a walk.

Schoeneweis closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and the Mets moved to 11 games over .500.

The notable performer of the night was left fielder, Nick Evans, who was 2-3 with a run scored and a walk. He also had a few excellent plays in the field.

David Wright went 1-2 tonight with a single, a walk, and a sac fly that earned him an RBI and a run scored.

His average dropped to .291.

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Mets' streak halts at 6, drop final game to Pirates, 5-2.

Posted on 18 Aug 2008 by Danielle

John Maine struggled slightly against the Pirates, but managed to keep them quiet over five innings.

On the other hand, Jerry Manuel didn't keep quiet nearly as long.

After Argenis Reyes beat a wild throw to first, the umpire claimed that he had made the turn for second and he was tagged out. Jerry didn't like the call... and the umpires didn't like him arguing. And he was tossed out of the game in the third inning.

The Mets' bats didn't exactly boom in the first part of the game, but after a sac fly by Beltran in the first and a productive ground out by Delgado in the fourth, the Mets lead 2-0.

John Maine didn't pitch badly today. While he didn't throw over 90 mph, he managed to keep the Pirates at bay (That would have been a nice pun if Jason Bay was still on the team. Oh well.), holding them scoreless. He gave up two hits and four walks, while striking out three.

However, the Mets bullpen wasn't nearly as... well, good.

In four innings of work, they gave up five runs.

Brian Stokes gave up two runs on a home run by Adam LaRoche. Feliciano gave up one run and Duaner Sanchez gave up two.

Joe Smith got two outs in a row to stop the damage, but unfortunately, the damage was already done.

David Wright, in his return to the team after a day off, went 1-3 with a run scored, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

Wright's average remained at .292.

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Gallery Update (Part 2)

Posted on 18 Aug 2008 by Danielle

As a present before leaving for college, my friend, Andrew, bought me a fantastic present that I thought I'd share with you all.

Plus, he wanted to know what the #5 card looked like.

Check out my brand new David Wright Uno Cards!

The entire red set is in the gallery. Here's a preview:

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*MAJOR Gallery Update*

Posted on 17 Aug 2008 by Danielle

After working a morning shift to avoid having to join my family at a Yankees game, I decided to do something a little more productive, and enjoyable, for me and update the gallery.

The following categories have been updated:

Game Photos (2008)
Game Photos (2007)
Game Photos (2006)

Magazine Photoshoots (GQ-Dec 06, Newsday, NY Daily News, NY Magazine)

Miscellaneous (Out and About, Vitamin Water Commercials)

Promotional Appearances (GQ Man of the Year, Madame Tussauds)

Scans (ESPN, People Magazine, Player Magazine, Sports Illustrated)

There are A LOT more images coming soon, especially from the last month of games. Unfortunately, the Yankees and Olympics have been overtaking the newspapers, so there haven't been a lot of back pages to add.

Coming soon: Game Photos (2004 and 2005), *Special* Section just for Fan Photos.

Check out some of the pictures added:

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8/17 - What Wright Said...

Posted on 17 Aug 2008 by Danielle

(On Luis Ayala)

"(Ayala was) always tough on me personally. Good sinker. He's got a four-seamer and a slider. To righties, he has three-plus pitches and good control. He's had good success against us."

Credit: New York Times

(On why he rested)

"A day game and a right-handed pitcher [Jeff Karstens]," Wright said.

Credit: Mets.com

"Jerry told me when he took over that he wanted to get the regulars rest every now and then," Wright said. "He said it would be an ideal time: a righthander, day game. I don't like taking days, but they're necessary, especially coming into August when you're playing 23, 24 straight games. Jerry knows what he's doing. He's got a plan and I'm sure that rest will help me have the kind of stretch run that I want to have to finish strong."

Credit: Newsday

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Johan shuts 'em down, shuts 'em out over all nine, Mets 4-0.

Posted on 17 Aug 2008 by Danielle

Johan Santana pitched a three-hitter for his fifth career shutout and the streaking New York Mets got home runs from Brian Schneider and Carlos Beltran in a 4-0 victory Sunday over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Argenis Reyes added three hits for the Mets, who have won six straight and 10 of 13. New York began the day leading the NL East by two games over Philadelphia.

Santana retired his first 10 hitters before Jack Wilson singled and Freddy Sanchez reached on an error in the fourth. Wilson had two hits for the Pirates, who have dropped four straight and seven of nine.

Santana threw 85 of 113 pitches for strikes en route to his eighth career complete game and second this season. His previous shutout was June 19, 2007, when he blanked the Mets for Minnesota.

The left-hander's third career three-hitter gave the Mets six consecutive road wins for the first time since 2001. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner struck out seven, including Adam LaRoche three times, and didn't walk a hitter.

The Mets, who acquired reliever Luis Ayala from Washington before the game for a player to be named, didn't need to rely on their struggling bullpen, which had trouble closing out wins in the first two games of the series.

New York went ahead early against Pittsburgh for the third game in a row.

Daniel Murphy drew a four-pitch walk to lead off the second against Jeff Karstens (2-2). After Fernando Tatis struck out, Schneider hit his fourth home run into the right-field seats.

Schneider's two-out RBI single down the right-field line in the fourth scored Beltran from first after he was running on the pitch. The three RBIs were the catcher's first in 44 career at-bats at PNC Park.

Beltran homered leading off the sixth.

Karstens went six innings, allowing four runs and nine hits.

David Wright rested in today's game, so his average remains at .292.

Wright, who missed his second game this season (117 - 119), is hitting .367 (18-for-49) during his current 11-game hitting streak..

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Pedro strong in Mets' 7-4 victory over Pirates

Posted on 16 Aug 2008 by Danielle

On a day when he got bad news about his closer and watched his bullpen struggle again, New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel preferred to talk about something positive... and that something was Pedro Martinez.

Pedro Martinez pitched seven innings for the first time this season, and Jose Reyes and Ramon Castro homered to lead the surging Mets past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 Saturday night.

Reyes and Castro each finished with two hits and two RBIs for the Mets, who have won five straight and nine of 12. New York, which is a season-best 11 games over .500, entered the day leading the NL East by one game over Philadelphia.

Martinez ( allowed one run, eight hits and struck out four in his 13th start of the season. Previously, his longest outing was 6 1-3 innings in a loss to San Diego on Aug. 6.

The oft-injured right-hander, who won for the first time since beating the Phillies on July 7, has gone seven innings just twice in his past 22 starts dating to 2006.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw 95 pitches, 64 for strikes.

Martinez's excellent outing was jeopardized by the shaky bullpen. The Pirates scored three times in the ninth against rusty rookie Eddie Kunz, who hadn't pitched since Sunday. Pedro Feliciano entered with runners on first and second with one out. He earned his second save after getting Ryan Doumit to fly out and Adam LaRoche to ground out.

Before the game, New York got disappointing news when injured closer Billy Wagner felt discomfort in his pitching elbow following a simulated game.

The All-Star reliever, sidelined with a strained left forearm, won't come off the disabled list as expected Monday and instead will return to New York on Sunday for further evaluation.

One night after the Mets held on for a 2-1 victory, they provided plenty of offense for Martinez, who shut down Pittsburgh for six innings on Monday only to have his bullpen blow a 5-1 lead in a 7-5 New York loss.

Reyes led off the game with a home run to left field against Zach Duke and added an RBI triple in the second.

Carlos Beltran and Fernando Tatis had RBIs as part of a three-run first, and Castro's two-run homer in the sixth made it 6-0. Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth.

Duke, who retired 13 of 14 batters during one stretch, allowed six runs and nine hits in six innings. The left-hander, winless in 12 starts, dropped to 0-5 with a 7.97 ERA in the second half.

David Wright went 1-5 with a run scored in today's game, dropping his average a little to .292.

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Mets continue to roll, beat Pirates 2-1.

Posted on 15 Aug 2008 by Danielle

If you had asked Jerry Manuel in Spring Training who he thought would be the New York Mets starting pitcher with the most wins.

His answer would have probably been Johan Santana, followed by John Maine, and then a conditional Oliver Perez if the "good Ollie" stayed present.

Mike Pelfrey, who wasn't even their sure fifth starter until the last week of Spring Training, would have been last on the list.

Oh, what a difference five months makes.

With his eleventh win of the season, it is the 6'7" Mike Pelfrey who is the Mets' winningest starting pitcher of the 2008 season thus far.

Mike gave up zero runs on seven hits and no walks, with one strikeout, in seven innings of shutout work tonight.

The New York Mets got out to a fast start in the top of the first inning when Reyes 1.0 singled to left, Reyes 2.0 singled to right, and Wright singled to... well, right, scoring Jose. It was 1-0 Mets.

Then Davis hurled a wild pitch and Argenis scored from third. 2-0.

And then the Pirates kept New York quiet for the rest of the game.

Yet, even though Duaner Sanchez gave up a solo home run to Wilson in the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Heilman was able to close it out with some assistance from Argenis Reyes's fantastic defense.

David Wright went 1-4 with an RBI single in the top of the first.

His average remains at .293 after tonight.

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The Mets are the sole owners of 1st place!!!!

Posted on 14 Aug 2008 by Danielle

With a 9-3 victory over the Washington Nationals and a Philly loss to the LA Dodgers, 3-1...

THE METS ARE BACK IN FIRST PLACE!

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