Subway Series: Mets Can't Fight the Power

The world didn't end last night, so the Yankees moving into first place by beating the Mets will have to do. The Yankees got only seven hits, but four of them were homers, leading some to suggest that the Yankees are an all or nothing team.

But I wish the Mets had such problems. Brett Gardner has more homers than last night's cleanup hitter, Jason Bay. And while Bay clearly doesn't belong in that spot, nobody else on the active roster does either.

So the current Mets lineup goes only as far as their pitching takes them, and last night Chris Capuano didn't take them very far. Capuano had been pitching well as of late, allowing only two earned runs in each of his last three starts, but that only got his ERA down to 4.78, and it's now 5.36 after last night's homer barrage. And it's not as if he's that much better at home - his Citi Field ERA is 5.04.

Today's rubber game will be a good test for the Mets' pitching staff. Mike Pelfrey has a 5.11 ERA and 1.54 WHIP for the season, but after a disastrous start, his May ERA is 2.11 and his WHIP is 0.98.

But when Pelfrey pitched against the Yankees at the Stadium last June, he allowed homers to Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson. Not a good omen when Granderson is doing so well and Teixeira already has a homer in each game of this series (and a homer in the Baltimore game before that).

So Squawker Lisa, I hope I'm wrong about my prediction that the Mets would take just one of three, but it looks to be an uphill battle for the erratic Pelfrey and the Mets' makeshift lineup.

Lisa and I want to send our best wishes to Gary Carter and his family, and we are hoping and praying for a good outcome.

Mets Opening Day: It Could Have Been Worse

I was skeptical of Terry Collins batting Willie Harris second on Opening Day, but it turned out to be the right move. Too bad the main thing it achieved was breaking up a no-hitter in the seventh inning.

There's no shame in being shut down by Josh Johnson, one of the best pitchers in baseball and a longtime Met killer, but a no-hitter on Opening Day would have been a disastrous way to start the year. Even before the game, when Collins wrote in Friday's letter to Met fans, "I stack our lineup against anyone else's in the league," I had to wonder what league he was talking about.

As for Mike Pelfrey, I'm a fan - I even got a Pelfrey T-shirt last year, (which coincided with him going into his midseason slump). At the time, Pelfrey, the ninth overall pick in the 2005 amateur draft, looked headed for the All-Star game. Pelfrey has the potential to be an ace.

But I'm tired of hearing all the talk of how he's now an ace and what an honor and responsibility it is to start on Opening Day. And how he has to face all the other aces going forward, as if there's no such thing as off days and rainouts. Pelfrey did not earn this position, but was given it because of Johan Santana's injury.

We haven't heard much about Brad Emaus being the starting second baseman because he didn't earn that role in spring training, but won it by being the least bad alternative. Or, more likely, being a Rule 5 who would have to be returned to Toronto if he didn't stay on the roster. And the fact that J.P. Ricciardi drafted him in Toronto didn't hurt, either.

Expectations are low with Emaus, so anything he does will be a plus. And he has the opposite situation as the player who follows a superstar - as I wrote yesterday, Emaus has the advantage of following Luis Castillo.

Even if the Mets concede Pelfrey is not an ace, Friday's game was still disappointing - Pelfrey couldn't get out of the fifth inning. But it's still just one game. And it's still good to have baseball back.

Forget A-Rod's 600 - Mets achieve their own milestone: .500

Last night, the New York Mets became proud members of the .500 club. The Mets Hall of Fame asked for a game ball, but when Jose Reyes tried to toss one into the dugout, it ended up in the stands. David Wright then sidearmed a game ball toward the dugout, but it went down the line.

The Mets are currently negotiating with a Braves' security guard who ended up with the ball used to make the final out. They have offered him the bat held by Jeff Francoeur when he took a four-pitch walk Tuesday night, an autographed picture of Carlos Beltran's knee brace and lunch with Oliver Perez.

The Mets actually got to .500 on Monday night, but before they could properly commemorate the occasion, Francoeur went and spoiled everything with a dramatic game-winning homer off of ex-Met Billy Wagner that gave the team false hope that they could get back in the race.

But they say that momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher, and Mike Pelfrey was able to set things right with another disastrous outing.

Well aware of what was at stake, the Mets did their best to make it a historic night. When was the last time that every member of the Mets' usually sure-handed infield made an error EXCEPT for Luis Castillo?

Pelfrey brought his "A" game, the one where A stands for "atrocious." For the fifth time in his last seven starts, Pelfrey failed to make it past the fifth inning.

But it was Jerry Manuel who most rose to the occasion. The Braves had runners on first and third and two out in the fifth inning with Brian McCann coming up. It was still a tight game - the Mets only trailed by 3-2.

The conventional move would have been to walk McCann, who already had two extra-base hits in the game, including a homer his last time up. For the season, McCann was now 5-for-9 against Pelfrey, a .555 batting average. For his career, McCann was 17-for-36 against Pelfrey, a batting average of .472.

Behind McCann was Eric Hinske, who had not had a hit in August and, after last night's game, is hitting .220 since the All-Star break.

Oh, and Hinske, unlike McCann, is not an All-Star.

At Sunday's Mets Hall of Fame ceremony, Davey Johnson was praised for being one of the first managers to pay attention to the numbers. But what chance do numbers have against Jerry Manuel's gut? And Manuel's gut said to pitch to McCann, who promptly delivered his third extra-base hit of the night - a run-scoring double. The game was out of reach soon after that.

McCann's double raised his career BA against Pelfrey to .486 and his 2010 BA against Pelfrey to .600. Take that, A-Rod - you weren't the only one to reach 600 yesterday.

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Exactly one year ago today, a Met team decimated by injuries trailed the wild-card leading Giants by 8 1/2 games.

Today, the much-healthier Mets trail the wild-card leading Giants by 8 games.

The Pelfrey Shirt

When I bought my Mike Pelfrey shirt to wear to the Subway Series game at Yankee Stadium, Big Pelf was 9-1 with an ERA of 2.39.

Since I got my shirt, Pelfrey is 1-4 with a 9.11 ERA.

Maybe I need to bury the shirt underneath the new Yankee Stadium, where it all began.

Or maybe I can bury it with the Mets' playoff chances, which are rapidly diminishing.

I love it how people who have been demanding that the Mets add a pitcher when the rotation was doing well only increase the demand when things start to fall apart. As if trading for a Jake Westbrook is going to make up for Pelfrey's collapse.

The Mets' primary pitching need is to figure out what is wrong with Pelfrey.

Other organizations have pitching gurus at the major league level as well as in the minors. The Tigers sent down Max Scherzer, Armando Galarraga and Rick Porcello. All have returned with improved results.

Dan Warthen must be doing something right, considering how good the starting pitching has been much of the year, but he doesn't seem to have the answers when things go wrong.

Unless Pelfrey has an injury, which we'll never knew for sure the way Jerry Manuel continues to be in denial on injuries.

Last night, Pelfrey gave up six runs in just 1 2/3 innings. Here's how bad he was - that was a worse start than any of Oliver Perez' this year.

On Sunday, I wrote that Ruben Tejada had done the impossible - make Luis Castillo look like an upgrade, at least at the plate.

I hope Pelfrey never makes Ollie look like an upgrade, but he has done something almost as impossible - make a potential Ollie start less scary. Ollie can't do any worse than last night's debacle. At least I hope not.

Defense dooms Mike Pelfrey and Mets

Mike Pelfrey's 27-inning scoreless streak and the Mets' eight-game winning streak both came to an end with the help of two popups that were in, then out of the gloves of Jose Reyes and Alex Cora.

No, Squawker Lisa, these weren't reminiscent of Luis Castillo last year in the Subway Series. They were tough plays that would have been great catches had they been made. But they were catchable, particularly the Reyes one. Had the catches been made the Mets might well have gotten out of the fourth inning without any damage. Instead, the Phillies scored six runs and ended up winning, 10-0.

So for the second day in a row, a lopsided game might well have been decided by two early defensive plays. On Friday, Jeff Francoeur and Jason Bay made the plays, Jon Niese got out of the second with only one run scored, and the Mets went on to win, 9-1. Saturday, Reyes and Cora didn't make the plays.

The Mets probably weren't going to win this game the way Halladay is pitching, but it does show how a couple of defensive plays can determine the direction of the whole game. At least this year, the Mets have generally made these plays, so they still have a split in the series with a good chance of winning the series and staying in first Sunday night with Johan Santana on the mound.

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Squawker Lisa, I see your cat-themed Derby picks went up in smoke. But look out for my pick, Ice Box, in the Preakness.

Speaking of which, looks like Curtis Granderson may be on ice for awhile. Meanwhile, Johnny Damon, who wasn't enough of a "Super Saver" for Brian Cashman to re-sign, gets a walkoff homer the day after Austin Jackson goes 5-for-5.

And as for Javier Vazquez pitching well in a Yankee uniform, that's truly "Mission Impazible."

Mike and Ike: A new Mets' promotional opportunity?

How big is Ike Davis these days? He's the talk of the town. Even a notorious Met-hater took in a game to see the phenom in person!

Squawker reader Uncle Mike, showed up at Citi Field Tuesday to check out the Mets' new first baseman. Can you believe that? There's something I would have loved to have witnessed in person!

Uncle Mike even claims he's Big Pelf's good luck charm:

I actually went. I actually got on the 7, rode out to Willets Point, and paid money to sit among Met fans to watch the Mets. An entertaining game, and for some reason I'm like steroids (or greenies) for Pelfrey. He's got a 0.64 ERA with me in the ballpark. Without me, he must be over 5.

Maybe it's the name Mike!

Speaking of which, Ed Leyro, Studious Metsimus blogger, and friend of the Squawkers, has an idea for a promotional giveway the next time Pelfrey pitches, and Ike Davis plays. Ed writes:

Everyone likes giveaways. Many people like candy. No one remembers Mike and Ike candy. Whenever Mike Pelfrey pitches and Ike Davis plays first, the Mets should give away Mike and Ike candy to the first 25,000 fans.

It wouldn't be a very expensive giveaway, so the team could still afford to buy excuses instead of free agents this coming offseason.....

Mike Pelfrey and Ike Davis. Mike and Ike candy. The Mets should jump all over this one like fans are jumping all over Gary Matthews Jr.

Even this Yankee fan thinks it's a great idea. Get to it, Mets management!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Mike Pelfrey has the spirit of 0.86

If Jerry Manuel loses his job, the first person I had wanted to go with him was Dan Warthen. None of the starters appeared to be improving under Warthen. But now it looks like Warthen's methods are starting to pay off. Every starter except John Maine has looked good the last time out. And after tonight's win over the Cubs, Mike Pelfrey has an ERA of 0.86.

If not for Pelfrey's heroics, this might have turned into a typical Met loss. The 3 through 6 hitters were 0-for-13 with seven strikeouts. And that includes no. 6 hitter Ike Davis, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, a walk and run scored. David Wright is hitting .229 and heard loud boos. Jason Bay is hitting .235. Jeff Francoeur is 0 for his last 18. At least Jose Reyes finally broke out with four hits. But there never seems to be more than one or two Met hitters hot at the same time.

Ryota Igarashi strained a hamstring and needs an MRI. Carlos Beltran visited his surgeons in Colorado and was told he cannot begin running. Daniel Murphy's recovery is going slower than expected. Same old same old.

But when you have pitching, suddenly there is hope. It's not just the starters - as Metsblog noted earlier in the day, the Mets have the best bullpen ERA in the National League.

The Big Met Machine

The Mets hit four home runs tonight at Citi Field for the first time. Squawker Lisa, I know what you're wondering: Did they win? As a matter of fact they did!

As great as it was to see all the power (and it could have been five homers with David Wright hitting a ball high off the wall that looked so much like a homer that Wright went into his home run trot) the best thing about tonight's game was that the Mets won with pitching and defense.

Mike Pelfrey allowed two runs and four hits in six innings, though he also issued six walks. After John Maine's disappointing outing, the Mets now have quality starts from both Jon Niese (6 IP, 3 ER) and Pelfrey. So far, the rotation may not be spectacular, but it is also not the disaster that was feared.

For the second night in a row, the Mets' bullpen turned in three scoreless innings. Ace closer Francisco Rodriguez did not pitch either night, and Pedro Feliciano only pitched a total of 1/3 inning. Instead, it was Fernando Nieve and Hisanori Takahashi coming through on both nights, and phenom Jenrry Mejia having his first successful outing tonight.

There were several nice plays in the field, with Wright racing across the infield (he was near second base in a shift against Adam Dunn) to track down a popup near third. Alex Cora made a diving stop while playing second. The Mets only have one error so far this season.

So what if the game was against the Nationals - the Mets played well enough tonight to be competitive against anyone.

There was also good news off the field, with Jerry Manuel abandoning his ridiculous plan to bat Mike Jacobs cleanup against righties. With Jason Bay now hitting behind him, Wright had two hits and a walk. The way things are going for Jacobs, it may not be his only downward lineup move.

But the best news of all was also off the field - Jose Reyes is finally coming back tomorrow.

It figures, though, that Reyes' return would come in the same game that Oliver Perez makes his season debut. My first game at Citi Field was the second exhibition against the Red Sox. By the time Lisa and I got to our seats in the bottom of the first, Ollie had already allowed six runs.

I just hope the fans are still in a good mood by the time Reyes comes to bat for the first time.

Then again, Ollie can't do any worse than Javier Vazquez did in his season debut tonight, can he, Lisa?

Can't spell 'meeting' without M-E-T

John Franco offered his two cents on the Mets:

It seems like, to me, they're not having fun, even when they were winning. Playing in New York, the pressure cooker here, I'm sure there's a lot of pressure on them, but they need to relax a little bit and look like they're having fun.

The Mets did look like they were having fun when they were winning in 2006 and throughout most of 2007. But it's hard to relax and have fun when you're coming off two late-season collapses, numerous bullpen collapses in 2008 and numerous late-inning collapses of a disturbing variety this year.

Remember early in the season when the game seemed won when the Mets got to the eighth inning? And in the ninth, K-Rod was automatic.

I don't know if Jerry Manuel's meeting resulted in the Mets having fun today, but it was no fun to watch. Even when K-Rod came in, he immediately gave up a hit and then a line drive that Alex Cora fortunately snared. No relaxing until this one was in the books.

What the Mets need more than meetings and players with "C" on their uniforms are winning performances like Mike Pelfrey's today and no more blooper reel specials.

Pelfrey, the man most responsible for the win, wasn't even at the meeting.

But thanks to him, sandwiched around a five-game losing streak, the Mets have now beaten two of the best pitchers in the National League - Chris Carpenter and Yovani Gallardo.

Gallardo had a similar outing to Pelfrey's last opponent, CC Sabathia, last Friday. Both Gallardo and Sabathia pitched seven innings and allowed one run. Gallardo allowed five hits and struck out twelve, while Sabathia allowed three hits and struck out eight.

Pelfrey pitched better tonight than last Friday, but the big difference between the two games was the Mets' three-error meltdown in the second inning, which resulted in four runs (two earned).

Pelfrey often lets such things get to him, but today, Pelfrey kept his cool, losing it momentarily after the balk, but quickly settling down.

By contrast, Johan Santana last night gave up a walk, bases-clearing double and committed an error after Fernando Martinez' drop, then capped it off by losing his temper in the dugout.

Jerry Manuel mentioned after the game that it was supposed to be raining in Pittsburgh, so Thursday's game could be in jeopardy. For the first time in a week, I hope it doesn't rain.

What are your favorite - and least favorite - 2008 baseball moments?

Happy New Year. Hope everybody is enjoying 2009. Since the baseball hot stove is not exactly simmering right now, I thought now would be a good time to ask readers about their favorite and least favorite baseball moments of 2008.

Wondering what Squawker Jon will pick for his favorite Met moments. I know what mine is - them blowing the last game of the year, for the second year in a row, and missing the playoffs, for the second game in a row. And then having their farewell to Shea ceremonies after that game. Nice!

And how about this - the Mets' Mike Pelfrey, who played Santa Claus for the team this year, showed he was woefully unqualified for the position. In an interview with MLB.com, Pelfrey could only name three of Santa's reindeer. Three! It's not like there was a song or anything about them - oh, wait.

Forget about Anna Benson as Mrs. Claus - Pelfrey's stunning lack of knowledge of the holiday classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," when he was set to play Kris Kringle for the kids, is the real Santa sacrilege.

I don't really have any on-the field fave Yankee picks from last year - that's what happens when the Yanks have a third-place finish - but my favorite Yankee moments of 2008 are Derek Jeter's speech at the final Stadium game, and the Yanks snatching Mark Teixeira from the Red Sox. (Update: I'm smacking myself upside the head for not writing about Mike Mussina getting 20 wins. Not exactly a good start to the year!)

My two least favorite Yankee moments for last year are the Yanks missing the playoffs, of course, and them re-signing Brian Cashman However, I do have to give him tons of credit for the Mark Teixeira deal, and for wooing CC Cabathia. And if Cash can re-sign Andy Pettitte, I will be even more pleased.

As for the Red Sox, my least favorite 2008 moment was Dustin Pedroia winning the AL MVP. My favorite moment would be any part of the delicious Manny Ramirez drama.

And on a football-related but Squawker-centric note, I did have to say that I am really enjoying seeing Brett Favre finally get his comeuppance a little this week. Guess he's not "Broadway Brett" any more. Jon, I told you this summer he was bad news for your Jets, and I was right. Favre shows up when he wants, thinks he's bigger than the team, and he makes his retirement decision into a drawn-out drama. He's your very own Roger Clemens!

Tell us your 2008 favorite and least favorite MLB moments! Leave us a comment.