Calvins 2011 NyMets Blog

Tough Road Ahead For The Mets

The mets are playing .500 baseball on the 28th of june 2011,but will they survive a tough road ahead is the question,just how good are these mets could be answered just before the all star break,three games in detroit starting tonight against the tigers,then a weekend bragging rights battle of three games against the hated yankees,then its four games series against the dodgers to kick off next week,then three next weekend against the giants and their awesome pitching staff,then to close first half of season three games against the phillies and their great pitching arms,its truly a tough handful of games for a team still with faint hopes of post season play,the mets are 4 1/2 out in the wild card race,finishing first half at .500 baseball or few games over would be more than most expected considering the injuries,

Mets Take Series Over Texas Rangers

Friday night in texas the mets got thumped by the rangers 8-1,Mike Pelfrey being so unpredictable did not have his best stuff,he pitched six innings and was charged with allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out just three,he gave up a homerun and easily will pass last years total before season is through,Manny Acosta faired no better giving up four runs which were result of two home runs,the mets managed eight hits while leaving 14 runners on base,Jason Bay had a 3 for 4 night while Jose Reyes went hitless as did Carlos Beltran

Saturday the mets woke up scoring 15 runs on a 17 hit attack,John Niese enjoyed a rather easy contest pitching into the six inning while only allowing two runs on six hits,he struck out seven and walked two,the bullpen however allowed three runs,Carlos Beltran collected three more runs batted in and has 47 on the season,Jose Reyes had a 2 for 6 night while stealing his 27th base of the season,Lucas Duda went 4 for 5 while collecting four runs batted in,john niese has a 2.86 era in his last eight starts,on a hot muggy night their was no chance for him to pitch a complete game

Sunday the mets closed the series winning 8-5 behind rookie sensation Dillion Gee whom lasted six innings,he allowed three runs on eight hits and is 8-1 on the season,Jose Reyes had a huge 4 for 5 night while collecting his 32 run batted in and stealing his 28th base,Carlos Beltran collected two more runs batted in and now has 49 on the year which leads the club,Daniel Murphy playing first base went 3 for 5 on the day,Jason Bay had a 0 for 5 day at the plate,the mets pounded out 14 hits while leaving 17 runners on base,Francisco Rodriquez in a non save situation allowed two runs

Mets Take Series Over Oakland

Mets lose 7-3 tuesday night in the first of three with oakland and rookie sensation Dillion Gee took his first loss of the season,dillon gee lasted four innings giving up three hits and four runs while walking six,D.J Carrasco lasted two innings after giving up four hits and three runs while walking two,lone bright spot for the Mets was Jason Bay whom collected three hits and one of those was a deep long homerun,Jose Reyes went 0-5 and all told the mets only got five hits,

Wenesday mets win 3-2 in extra innings,Justin Turner took one for the team in the 13th with the bases loaded,mets win on a hits batter,R.A Dickey was sharp going eight solid innings while allowing three hits and one lone run,Ronny Paulino had big night going three for five,Carlos Beltran and Jason Bay went hitless,Lucas Duda playing first base had a two for five night,Jose Reyes two for six and one of those was his 13th triple of the season,Francisco Rodriguez blown save opened the door for extra innings,the mets collected eleven hits on the night after a poor tuesday showing,

Chris Capuano went six good innings allowing five hits and no runs as the mets took the series 4-1 over oakland,he has not allowed a first inning run in 14 starts this season,Jose Reyes sparked the offense with a two for four night while collecting two runs batted in,the game was delayed for over two hours because of rain,Daniel Murphy broke out of slump going three for five,Angel Pagan and Carlos Beltran went hitless leaving seven runners on base between them,Francisco Rodriguez rebounded getting his 20th save of the season,mets pounded out nine hits on the night,

Mets Lose Series To The Angels

Friday the mets lost 4-3 to the angels,Chris Capuano 5-7 went 6 innings while allowing 8 hits and three runs,walking three and striking out five,Jose Reyes went hitless,but did steal a base in the 9th inning on a walk,Bobby Parnell pitched two innings and allowed a run,he can throw the heat but allowing runs has killed him recently,Angel Pagan and Ronnie Paulino had two hits a piece,Jason Bay went one for four,Pagan and Paulino drove in the only runs,

Saturday mets won 6-1 behind complete game winner Mike Pelfrey who was very sharp,Carlos Beltran homered and drove home three runs,Mets starters have a major league-best 2.46 ERA in 23 games since May 26,Jason Bay went two for four and drove home a run,Jose Reyes was one for three with a walk and swiped two bases,Angel Pagan swiped his 11th of the season,pelfrey allowed a homerun and was pounding the strike zone all night long,

Sunday the mets lost 7-3 as starter John Niese had very little on this day,allowing 8 hits and five runs in just four innings before getting yanked,Manny Acosta allowed two runs on three hits over his two inning of work,he hasnt done the job most of the season,joining Bobby Parnell as the two continue to struggle out of the bullpen,Carlos Beltran walked three times but did get his 44th run batted in,Jose Reyes had tough series but drove home his 29th run batted in,Josh Thole and Ruben Tejada had two hits a piece,Jason Bay had an 0-4 night and so did Daniel Murphy,

Mets start three game series at citi field where they have a losing record against oakland,Dillon Gee trying to go 8-0 will get the start,Johan Santana Is throwing once more after recent shutting it down with soreness,the mets are below .500 once more after briefly getting their last week,the mets looked tired against the angels and hopefully having monday to rest will ignite another winning streak,it would be nice to go into the allstar break playing .500 baseball,still games to play before the break,i think any real hopes of post season look very bleak

Mets Take Series Over Atlanta

The mets trailed 7-2 to the braves as starter R.A Dickey gave up six runs over just four innings,the mets actually tied the game on Scott Hairston three run homer and took the lead not long after,but Franciso Rodriguez blew the save in the ninth and D.J Carrasco balked the winning run in the tenth inning,a tough loss best describes this one,Jose Reyes had three hits and Jason Bay two hits,

Wenesday ruined starter Dillion Gee bid to go 8-0,he pitched through the fourth inning and never returned once the tarp was removed and play restarted,Dillion had five strikeouts and two walks while lowering his ERA to 2.86,Angel Pagan hit a two run shot as the mets won 4-0 in atlanta,Mets led 3-0 when heavy rain and lightning forced play to be stopped in the top of the fifth inning

Tuesday John Niese went 6 1/3 innings allowing four hits,two runs,no walks,striking out four,winning his third straight decision,Jose Reyes had his 34th multi hit game of the season,he had three hits and two steals,as the mets won 4-3,Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save,Angel Pagan had two hits and Willie Harris two hits,Carlos Beltran had two hits as well and collected his 40th RBI,Reyes now has 22 stolen bases,Pagan stole his 15th of the season,Josh Thole had his 8th pass ball of the season in the catchers spot,

Jason Isringhausen did not have a good series and it appears he has simply run out of steam,his struggles are a carry over from the past weeks,he allowed two home runs in this series as the eighth inning setup guy,Jason Bay recently benched for couple games to rest has started hitting the ball better,granted nothing indicates he has found his power stroke,Jose Reyes is trying to carry his game into each and every night while he has the hot streak going and he may be changing some minds along the way,rumors now indicate the mets soon will begin talks to try and resign him to a new contract

Mets Split Four Games With The Pirates

The mets lost 3-1 monday to end up with a split of the four games in the series,dont place the the two losses on the starting pitching,mistakes and errors led to both losses in this series and the hopes of reaching the .500 mark once again is a distant memory,which might speak truth on this years team as a whole and just how good they really are,Pittsburgh split a four game series with New York for the second time in two weeks,Mike Pelfrey 3-5 gave up two runs and four hits in seven innings and allowed no walks,the mets managed 4 hits total on monday night

Chris Capuano 5-6 allowed three hits and two walks with five strikeouts over seven innings on sunday helping the mets beat the pirates 7-0,Jose Reyes had three hits for his major leading 33rd multi hit game including a homer,David Murphy and Angel Pagan went 2 for 4,the mets have four shutouts this season,mets has won six of eight games and on monday could take their third straight series,Jose Reyes .346 average leads the majors,Jason Bay back in the line went 1 for 3,Carlos Beltran collected two more runs batted in and leads team with 39,

Saturday the mets lost 3-2 to the pirates,R.A Dickey allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts over eight innings for a solid outing,Jose Reyes turned 28 on saturday and collected two hits,Ruben Tejada and Carlos Beltran each had two hits,on friday mets won 8-1 behind rookie Dillon Gee allowing one run and eight hits in a career high eight innings with no walks and five strikeouts,has allowed one earned run or less in three of his past five starts,Jose Reyes and Josh Thole went 3 for 5 and Angel Pagan had two hits,Jose Reyes homered,

The mets 32-34 are hitting the ball really well lately despite mondays game,with clutch hits to score runs and the starting pitching has been great as well,and are 17-17 on the road this season,its on to atlanta to play the braves whom have won six of seven games,the mets have always struggled at turner field,

The mets not being able to reach the .500 mark isnt exactly a fluke,or an excuse due to injuries,although injuries hasnt helped the cause,its many reasons all rolled up into one,lack of home run power in the lineup,shaky bullpen issues,not a good hitting lineup from top to bottom on regular basis,overpaid players under performing,and errors out of the blue,players playing out of position due to so many injuries and poor pinch hitting off the bench

This good pitching the mets seem to be getting from their starters wont last,its been coming and going all season long,losing Johan Santana and Chris Young hasnt helped i agree,theirs growing tired arms from the starters to the bullpen because of the load they have been asked to carry,name one of the mets starters that is a proven winner if you so dare to,their are none in this rotation,sure some are still a work in progress and could go on to have successful careers,but the pitching isnt good enough to win most of those low scoring games,and as the innings continue to mount up over the summer i predict this team crashing hard at some point,the pitching has the mets where they are now,two games below .500,surely it isnt the hitting of the offense,although the offense seems to come and go at times,reaching the .500 mark still could happen in the coming weeks,but staying their is one big huge question mark,and having said all this my biggest blame for this seasons failure points right straight to Jason Bay whom is stealing money from this team with his less than respectful results,ive said and ive said time and time again i do not want to see Jason Bay on this team in the year 2012,

Mets Win Series Over Milwaukee Brewers

Jonathon Niese pitched into the eighth and the Mets took two of three games against the best home team in the majors with a 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night after blowing a four run lead the night before,the mets has won four of its last five and has consecutive series victories over Atlanta and Milwaukee,Niese 5-5 retired the first 11 Brewers hitters and matched his career high with eight strikeouts,Francisco Rodriguez recorded the final four outs for his 18th save of the season,New York continues this 10-game trip with four in Pittsburgh before finishing in Atlanta,

Jose Reyes’ 12 game hitting streak ended on thursday,Jason Bay sat for the first of at least two games as he tries to shake his career worst 23 at bat hitless streak,he will not play on friday when mets play pirates,Justin Turner singled in the fifth to break a 12 at bat hitless streak,Mets stole three bases thursday and were perfect in six attempts in this most recent series,Angel Pagan went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored and also stole his ninth base of the season,jose reyes has 19 to lead team,

Wenesday mets rallied to take a 6-2 lead in the eighth,Pedro Beato and Jason Isringhausen allowed four runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning,and the mets went on to lose 7-6,Mike Pelfrey threw six innings and surrendered four hits and two runs,can you say another starting pitcher lost a chance to win because of the bullpen,Ronny Paulino went 4-4,including a three-run home run,tuesday Chris Capuano threw 6 innings and allowed 6 hits,and one run to win his fourth game of the season,mets 2-1 as Jose Reyes two-run triple in the seventh inning plated both runs,Pedro Beato, Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez each threw a scoreless inning in relief out of the bullpen

Mets attendance at citi field is down this season to noones surprise,playing below .500 baseball is a huge reason,despite the many up’s and down’s so far this season im very pleased with the overall effort of this team,the lack of power in the lineup has made scoring runs a major challenge,and its either been good pitching and bad bullpen or bad pitching and good bullpen,so truth be told a few breaks here and their could have this team near the top of the division,right now they are only six games out,asking any team to play good on all levels every night is like asking for hope,its tough to do for weeks on end,but the teams that get it done keep on winning,with all the injuries im so proud to see this team fighting win or lose,im liking this team more than last seasons,lets hope the trades to come dont wipe this years team out

Mets Win Series Over Atlanta Braves

New York Mets 28-31 defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-4 sunday to take two of three in the series,R.A. Dickey 3-6 tossed eight innings and season high 114 pitches while allowing four hits,one run and a walk and it seems he has gotten on another good roll,Daniel Murphy had another multi hit game raising his season average to .309 on the season,Jose Reyes went 2-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored,Dillon Gee allowed just four walks and two hits to improve to 6-0 with a 3.33 ERA in saturday nights 5-0 win over the Braves,friday night Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez combined to allow four runs,three earned in two innings of relief of Jon Niese and blew a 3-1 lead in 6-3 loss to the braves,Jon Niese allowed two runs and eight hits in 7 2/3 innings,

Chris Capuano 3-6, 5.19 ERA will open a three game series at Miller Park in Milwaukee on tuesday night and this series will not be a cake walk through the park,the brewers are playing very good baseball and they have hopes of a post season run come august,

Mets set new major league record in friday loss to the braves,becoming the first team ever with sixth straight home losses where they’ve led into the seventh inning,bullpen has not done the job as of late thus wasting some damn good starting pitching performances,mets have now loss now lost eight games this year where they’ve lead after six innings,

David Wright will be out at least three more weeks and Ike Davis has no time table for his return and Johan Santana continues to take small steps towards returning and it does appear he will see game action later in the season,Angel Pagan has shaken off the rust since coming off disabled list and is making good contact with the bat,Jason Bay has been dropped down in the lineup and im all for playing him less at this point,Daniel Murphy has had many games of at least two hits and its good he is playing on daily basis,John Niese has had good command of all his pitches,Francisco Rodriguez needs some rest because hes been hit hard lately,Jason Isringhausen needs rest as well and has asked for time off to gather himself,Bobby Parnell and Pedro Beato need to improve upon their recent failures and should see plenty of action

Mets Split Four Game Series With Pirates

The New York Mets 26-30 rallied from a 7-0 pirates lead in the final game of a four game series and won 9-8,Jose Reyes‘ return to the lineup was a lift for the team,Reyes missed a few games this week because of his grandmothers death,Carlos Beltran delivered a three run homer,his 9th of the season,Tim Byrdak, Bobby Parnell and Jason Isringhausen pitched scoreless innings in relief of Mike Pelfrey whom struggled through five innings,allowing ten hits,seven runs and a walk, while striking out three

Jon Niese 4-5, 3.92 ERA will start a three game series against the Braves friday night in atlanta,verses Derek Lowe 3-4, 4.03 ERA,these are games you need to win to close the gap within your own division,however the mets are below the .500 mark heading into june and many critics at this point in the season have the mets just where they thought they would actually be,

Taylor Buchholz was put on the disabled list with tendinitis in his shoulder,something had to be going on with sudden drop in his velocity,Willie Harris has struggled over the early season and is finding it harder to get some playing time,his average is below .200 with one home run and six runs batted in,over eighty some at bats,The Bullpen has not done the job lately and over the two weeks that combined era is over .13.00,mets bullpen has given up 41 earned runs during that stretch,the phillies and pirates won games in the late innings and good starting pitching ended up wasted,ive also noticed more recently Terry Collins leaving the starters in a bit to long,probably in hopes of saving the bullpen,any mets starter going beyond six innings is a huge risk,gotta know when to pull the starter out of a game,Despite the luck the mets are playing hard and the recent win over the pirates after trailing by seven runs proves my point,Daniel Murphy is showing his ability to get on base and Justin Turner is making a hard case to remain an everyday player,Jason Bay is riding out the storm and noone expects any big numbers from his spot in the lineup,what you get is what you get from him,IKE DAVIS out another two weeks? it appears it will be awhile before his back problems are resolved,Angel Pagan looks a little bit rusty since his return from the disabled list,cause me crazy but i favor Ronny Paulinoover Josh Thole at the catching choirs,but its good having two catchers whom accept their roles on this team,Trade Deadline is coming closer and its my guess over the next two months several players could see their careers with the mets end,dumping payroll is a hot stove topic,however try as they may the mets front office must find partners first and current contracts will be a problem,during the off season the mets im sure will look to shop Jason Bay and changing teams could not hurt,but these high contracts will make things tough,Carlos Beltran is the one met that many teams will consider picking up by the deadline because his contract is about up,Beltran will be gone because the mets are in no position to sign him for several more seasons,again dumping payroll seems to be the likely thing happening to this team,Francisco Rodriguez most likely is in his final year as well and could go by the deadline,losing Francisco Rodriguez brings up a problem with whom becomes the closer for this team,Jason Isringhausen if he makes it through this season will likely retire,and noone in this bullpen is ready to move to the closers role,Bobby Parnell would be given consideration if he could ever out grew his struggles,parnell can throw smoke in mid 90s and be a damn good closer if he became proven at his current role on this team,Dillion Gee most likely makes the roster next season as a starter and if theirs a mets pitcher that could throw the first no hitter in team history,im looking at this guy doing it,Lack Of Home Runs was no secret comparing last season to this year,their are no long ball thumpers on this team with any decent ratio,it is what it is,the mets recently went through a long stretch with out a home run,Winning Streaks is a carry over from last year and why this team is playing below .500 baseball,i do not look for many winning streaks of six games or more the rest of the way,if any at all,

Mets Lose Series With The Phillies

The New York Mets lost the first two games with the phillies in the later innings thus wasting a good pitching performance from Mike Pelfrey,sunday last game of the three games series in new york the mets scored eight runs in the first two innings and avoided the sweep,Jon Niese started for the mets not allowing an earned run over 6 1/3 innings,Jose Reyes went 4 for 5 with two triples,Daniel Murphy and Josh Thole had a three hit day,

The mets start new week 8 1/2 games out of first place and four game series with the Pirates monday night at Citi Field,Dillon Gee will start first game of the series seeking to build on his great season so far,R.A. Dickey could miss his next start coming up this week,but expectations are that he will try to make his next start,his sore foot injury seems to be getting better daily,

As of right this moment the new york mets are seven games out in the wildcard race,but their are many teams ahead of them,playing below .500 baseball as the mets are means their goal as a team should be reaching the even mark and keeping a winning record before anything else has a chance to happen,a sweep of the pirates would have the mets back at .500 baseball,but the pirates are much like the nationals,known for their play until its over attitude,so a sweep is not likely going to happen,

After the pirates the atlanta braves come into newyork for some weekend action,then its back on the road for games with brewers pirates and braves,then the angels,