Gary Sheffield hits his 500th career HR (photo from NJ.com)

Final score: Mets 5, Brewers 4

Again, the Mets got out to a 3-0 lead.

Again, the Mets offense was barely visible in the middle innings, especially with runners in scoring position.

But today, the outcome was different, thanks to newcomer Gary Sheffield. Sheffield’s 500th career home run tied the game at 4-4 tie in 7th inning. NJ.com’s Brendan Prunty has a fact-packed paragraph that sums up the home run nicely:

He is the first player in major league history to have his 500th home run be his first home run with a new team. Plus, in a strange twist, Sheffield’s 500th came against the very team that he hit his first for — the Brewers. His first home run came against the Seattle Mariners Mark Langston on Sept. 9, 1988.

Tonight’s game was downright scary. I don’t have the numbers on the Mets’ performance with runners on base, but it was horrible. Jerry Manuel continues to outmanage himself and the Mets continue to look listless. I can’t find many positives except for the fact that the Mets were able to push across the winning run against future Hall of Famer Seth McClung on a Luis Castillo infield single.

But hey, it’s only April, right?

Abbreviated game notes:

• When the Mets opened the bottom of the 1st with three consecutive hits, WFAN’s Wayne Hagin was quick to mention that Jerry Manuel oversaw a special team BP session today, complete with words of encouragement and special tips to get the team’s bats going. The BP talking point wasn’t mentioned after that, as the Mets offense was virtually invisible until Sheffield pinch hit in the seventh. Beware of announcers getting notes from the PR department…
• Danny Murphy can’t bunt to save his life, but at least he continues to fail in the most hilarious ways imaginable
• If Jerry Manuel wanted to advance Reyes, why not let a pitcher hit for Murphy and then put Tatis in LF?
• Livan Hernandez has nothing but brains and craftiness – kind of like Pedro over the last few seasons, but with more stamina. That just might be enough for him to win 12 games this season. Either way, his starts are already more fun to watch than anyone, except for Santana.
• Carlos Beltran hit with the bases loaded twice. Result: Strike out and pop up to shortstop
• David Wright made a great defensive play on a Bill Hall ground ball in the second inning. Looking back, that play may have made the difference in the game
• The Mets used JJ Putz instead of Francisco Rodriguez in the top of the ninth, despite being tied at home. Not sure what that was all about, especially since K-Rod was warming up during the 8th inning.
• If I’m not mistaken, Jerry Manuel managed to use his entire bench during a 9-inning game
• The Mets are back to .500 (5-5)

UPDATE: The Mets left 13 runners on base, but they did go 3 for 10 with runners in scoring position. For a full boxscore, visit MLB.com.

Thanks to wohjr in the comments section for pointing out that Sheffield’s HR tied the game at 4-4. The original post has been corrected.

The Onion is reporting that Mr. Met is having trouble falling asleep in his new house:

“According to Mets GM Omar Minaya, Mr. Met entered his office and used a series of pantomimes to indicate that his sleep disorder is caused by brighter stadium lights, uncomfortable temperatures, and Darryl Strawberry’s snoring. Minaya, who spent two hours meeting with the 47-year-old mascot, said Mr. Met conveyed the degree of his fatigue by holding his hands several feet apart.”

John Fennelly has an post over at Bleacher Report that criticizes Citi Field for several flaws, including:

“First, the Mets have been around for 48 years.  This is THEIR ballpark.  The city did not agree to let Wilpon build a Brooklyn Dodger museum, they agreed to build a new ballpark for the Mets.  Yet, I see nothing that says ‘Mets’ anywhere, except on the face of that stupid Home Run Apple in center field.”

Read the rest of it here.

John Maine didn't have it (Photo from NJ.com)

Hey gang – I’ll be filling in for Joe while he spends the weekend studying abroad.

The Mets dropped the first series at their new ballpark with a painful 6-5 loss to the Padres. At times, it seemed like starting pitchers Jake Peavy and John Maine were trying to see who could get fewer outs on more pitches. Each starter had an inning where they threw over 40 pitches and each went five innings before handing it over to the bullpen. It was, at times, excruciating to watch.

Turning Point: The Mets were leading 3-2 in the 3rd inning, with two on and two out and Adrian Gonzalez coming to the plate. Although Gonzalez had struck out in his only prior at-bat, Mets manager Jerry Manuel elected to walk him to face Headley. It should be noted that Headley was the only Padre in the first two innings who had a hit and he looked like he had Maine figured out from the get-go. Predictably, Headly got the hit and the Mets trailed 4-3.

Although Duaner Sanchez did his best to hand the game to the Mets in the eighth inning, it was not to be. Heath Bell closed it out for his second save of the series… The Mets have now dropped 5 of their last 7.

To get the conversation started, here are my game notes (after the jump):