Tonight's lineup vs. the Marlins at Shea
Reyes SS
Murphy LF
Wright 3B
Delgado 1B
Beltran CF
Tatis RF
Easley 2B
Schneider C
Perez P
NOTES: John Maine just finished a 61-pitch simulated game. He appears on track to pitch for real Wednesday.
A hearty good afternoon to everyone out there in the blogosphere today. Roderick Boone here live from a sun-splashed Shea Stadium. I interrupt the wall-to-wall Brett Favre with this special news bulletin. Flash: The Mets are playing a noon game today and we are about set for the first pitch of the series finale with the Padres.
We'll see if the Mets finally find a way to beat the Padres, who've had their number this season.
For starters: Johan Santana (9-7, 2.86 ERA) opposes Josh Banks (3-4, 3.65). Santana is 4-3 with a 2.74 ERA in day games and is coming off that great start in Houston in which he allowed one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Top of 1st: Santana is off to a good start. Scott Hairston flew out to center, Tadahito Iguchi struck out and so did Adrian Gonzalez.
Bottom of 1st: Jose Reyes and his protege Argenis Reyes both grounded out to the pitcher. David Wright, who lobbied manager Jerry Manuel not to give him a day off last night, singled to center. Carlos Beltran, in the cleanup hole today, singled to right and Wright went first to third. Fernando Tatis struck out swinging to end the threat.
Top of 2nd: Two innings in and the Padres are on the board. Kevin Kouzmanoff popped out to J. Reyes in shallow left and Chase Headley followed with a 395-foot homer into the bleachers in left. Jody Gerut flew out to the warning track in right and A. Reyes made a nice play on a Nick Hundley's pop fly to shallow right. Padres 1, Mets 0.
Bottom of 2nd: Banks makes quick work of the Mets in their half. Daniel Murphy and Ramon Castro struck out, and Nick Evans flies out.
Top of 3rd: Luis Rodriguez flew out to right before Santana did the one thing pitchers never want to do: walk the opposing pitcher. He made up for it by fanning Hairston and Iguchi for the inning's last two outs.
Bottom of 3rd: Santana grounds out to Banks and J. Reyes tripled down the rightfield line to get himself into scoring position with less than two outs. A. Reyes popped out to short. Wright hit the first pitch he saw hard to right and Gerut tracked it down. That's two runners in scoring position left on in the first three innings.
Top of 4th: Gonzalez struck out. Kouzmanoff squibbed one to Santana and he took it to first all by his lonesome. Headley walked and should have been picked off first, but Evans' throw to second was way off target and Headley was credited with the first steal of his career. Gerut struck out swinging for the third out.
Bottom of 4th: Beltran ripped a leadoff double to left centerfield and Tatis walked. Murphy came through with a sharp single to center to score Beltran and tie the game. Castro struck out and Evans singled up the middle to plate Tatis with the go-ahead run. Santana tried to sacrifice the runners to second and third, but Murphy was thrown out at third. J. Reyes grounds to second. Mets 2, Padres 1.
Top of 5th: Really fast inning there for Santana. He got Hundley to pop out to second, Rodriguez to fly to right and Banks to ground out to shortstop.
Bottom of 5th: A. Reyes grounds to short, Wright doubled and Beltran moved him over to third with a grounder to second. But Tatis lined out hard to Kouzmanoff at third.
Top of 6th: Hairston led off with a double to left and went to third on Iguchi's slow roller to Evans at first. Gonzalez walked and Kouzmanoff grounded to second. A. Reyes made a heady play and tagged Gonzalez and threw to first for an inning-ending 4-4-3 double play.
Bottom of 6th: Mets tack on another on a Evans' sacrifice fly. He drove in Murphy, who led off the inning with a single to left. Mets 3, Padres 1.
Top of 7th: Santana is still in and strikes out Headley for the first out. Gerut grounded out to short and Hundley popped up to short.
Bottom of 7th: Beltran's two-out single and steal of second is wasted as Tatis strikes out swinging while Beltran was attempting to swipe third.
Top of 8th: Rodriguez and pinch hitter Edgar Gonzalez singled back-to-back to start the inning. Manager Jerry Manuel lifted Santana after 104 pitches and Duaner Sanchez came in and promptly hit Hairston with the only pitch he threw to load the bases. Once Brian Giles was announced as a pinch hitter for Iguchi, Manuel summoned lefty Pedro Feliciano. He got Giles to ground weakly to second and A. Reyes threw home for the force out. Gonzalez lined one past J. Reyes at short to score Rodriguez but E. Gonzalez inexplicably slid into third instead of trying to score from second. Joe Smith relieved Feliciano and got Kouzmanoff to chop to second. A. Reyes dove and got it, tossed to J. Reyes, who threw to first for the third out. Evans made a great scoop on Reyes' throw, which sailed a bit to the right of the bag, and managed to stay on the base. The Padres argued the throw took him off the bag to no avail. Mets 3, Padres 2.
Bottom of 8th: Mets go 1-2-3 and we head to the ninth. Wonder who will close it out?
Top of 9th: Ouch. Scott Schoeneweis serves it up. With one out, Gerut blasts a 1-0 pitch deep into the Mets' bullpen to tie the game and Santana's bid for his 10th win is spoiled. Mets 3, Padres 3.
Bottom of 9th: Endy Chavez pinch hit and singled to center. J. Reyes tried to bunt, but popped it up to Heath Bell. A. Reyes lined out to left and Wright drilled a two-run walk-off homer 350-feet to win it. FINAL: Mets 5, Padres 3.
JReyes (ss)
AReyes (2b)
Wright (3b)
Beltran (cf)
Tatis (rf)
Murphy (lf)
Castro (c)
Evans (1b)
Santana (lhp)
Fernando Tatis.
Rolls off your tongue, no? You thought about him when you woke up this morning and smiled, didn’t ya, Mets fans? Sure you did. His two homers – moonshots, really – and four runs in yesterday’s 6-5 win over the Padres were enough to help the Mets end its four-game losing streak. Just barely.
It's safe to say that Tatis -- who has a hit in 11 straight games and is batting .395 with four home runs and 11 RBIs since July 24 -- has helped you forget about the outfielders with the initials M.A. and R.C., but you're not content. That’s because the bullpen woes continue. And with Billy Wagner on the DL starting Tuesday, there are more questions than answers as Pedro Martinez takes the hill: How many innings are you going to get from Pedro? If it’s close, can you depend on Aaron Heilman? Some interesting poll questions ahead. So join in. First pitch at 7:10.
Top 1st -- Two mango-sized pitches to Jody Gerut and Brian Giles left the park. If you've got to give a pair of home runs in the first inning, I guess that's the way to do it. Padres 2, Mets 0
Bottom 1st -- Mets prospect David Murphy is certainly making an impact. After Jose Reyes grounded out, he legged out a one-out triple and scored on an error by Edgar Gonzalez and the RBI went to David Wright. Padres 2, Mets 1
Top 2nd -- Pedro settled down nicely. This is beginning to resemble his last start against Houston in which he left the game in the fifth inning with the score tied 3-3 -- on three solo homers.
Bottom 2nd -- Damian Easley got plunked by a pitch on the arm, but couldn't pass second when Pedro made the last out on a fly ball.
Top 3rd -- Another 1-2-3 inning for Pedro. With the top of the order up, it's time to put some runs up early. No need to be in a close ballgame with your closer hurt, right Jerry Manuel?
Bottom 3rd -- David Wright's two-out single ended an 0-for-15 slumperroo. Delgado couldn't drive him in to tie the game, ending the inning on a ground. Back to Pedro, which, if you consider the last two innings, ain't such a bad thing.
Top 4th -- After giving up a four-pitch, leadoff walk, Pedro retired three straight batters, including Chase Headley on a nasty change up to end the inning.
Bottom 4th -- Fernando Tatis reached on a single. Baek intentionally walked Brian Schneider to face Pedro and retired him to end the inning.
Top 5th -- Pedro walked Egdar Gonzalez with two on and two out to load the bases. Brian Giles popped up to Carlos Beltran to end the inning.
Bottom 5th -- Reyes and Murphy both singled to start the inning, and Murphy's hit drove in Reyes to tie the score at 2. David Wright thought there were two outs, failed to tag at first, and was doubled up at first on a Carlos Beltran fly ball. The play ended a potentially big inning scoring wise. The rookie Murphy knew how many outs there were.
Top 6th -- Another easy inning for Pedro. We said at the beginning should Pedro get through six innings, it would be a gift for the Mets. Now he's there, and could potentially go a seventh. Who knew? Not to state the obvious, but now the Mets need runs.
Bottom 6th -- Schneider lined a two-out base hit, and Manuel didn't pinch hit for Pedro, meaning he'll be in out there pitching in the seventh.
Top 7th -- Luis Rodriguez lined a double down the right field line, and Baek moved him over to second on a bunt. That was the end of Pedro's night: 102 pitches. Pedro Feliciano came on and struck out Gerut, but walked Edgar Gonzalez, who seems to have done everything his power to lose the game for the Padres. Giles then fisted off a ground ball to third. IIt ate up Wright, and scored Rodriguez to take the lead. Padres 3, Mets 2
Bottom 7th -- Murphy got his third base hit of the game, followed up by David Wright's second single of the game. Delgado gave a 1-0 fastball a ride to left center at the warning track. Beltran grounded out to first to end the inning. No runs. Six more outs.
Top 8th -- Eddie Kunz, welcome to the big leagues. Chase Headley took him deep on a 1-1 fastball to take a 4-2 lead. Padres 4, Mets 2
Bottom 8th -- No late-inning heroics for Tatis this time. He popped a weak pop up to second. Easley hit a fly ball to center for second. Heath bell then retired Argenis Reyes to end the inning.
Top 9th -- Scott Schowenweis helped the Mets get out of the inning unscathed. With three outs left, they'll try to score on one of the greatest closers of all-time: Trevor Hoffman.
Bottom 9th -- Here's how it went: Reyes popped up to center, Murphy struck out, and Wright grounded out. Pedro gets the loss. Mets fall three games back of the first-place Phillies. Santana tomorrow. FINAL: Padres 4, Mets 2
Good night!
The Mets vs. RHP Cha Seung Baek
Reyes SS
Murphy LF
Wright 3B
Delgado 1B
Beltran CF
Tatis RF
Easley 2B
Schneider C
Pedro P
Notes: Jerry Manuel said he "is not optimistic" about Ryan Church. That's the first time we've heard that from a Mets official . . . Manuel made it sound like Eddie Kunz would get strong consideration as the closer tonight . . . Looks like Saturday's starter is going to be Brian Stokes. He was scratched from his start tonight.
After the live chat, there's the debate. Check out The Final Score for two guys' opinions on the crucial closer question...and look for a surprise third debater!
David Lennon answers your Mets questions in a live chat today at 10 a.m.
