MetsMerized – Stephen Hanks doesn’t trust Jerry Manuel in a pennant race.

MetsToday – Who should be the #1 starter for the Mets, if they make the playoffs? 62% of MetsToday readers say it should be Cliff Lee… Take the poll!

TedQuarters – Ted Berg isn’t sold on Cliff Lee Mania.

NY Post – In an update to last week’s WWWBD post, Stephen Brown explains why Wally Backman got himself ejected on a home run call while his team had a double digit lead…. Wally was upset that an ump’s bad call was going to tack two bogus earned runs onto his pitcher’s ERA. AWESOME!

TheRoPolitans – Andrew Vazzano tells an idiot to stop being an idiot. Good luck with THAT.

Faith and Fear – A post titled “The Awesomeness of Ralph Kiner.” Do you need anything more than that to check it out? (via The Mets Police)

MetsBlog – The Mets have signed their third-round pick, catcher Blake Forsythe.

TONIGHT’S GAME

The Mets (43-34) try to avoid a sweep tonight as they take on the Marlins (37-40) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mike Pelfrey (10-2, 2.71) will be opposed by Florida’s Chris Volstad (4-7, 4.40). Be sure to check out the scouting report on Chris Volstad over at Long Live Shea Stadium.

The Mets are positioned for a serious playoff run – they are 1.5 games behind the division leading Braves and a half game ahead of the Reds in the wildcard standings. Rumors continue to swirl about the team’s interest in Cliff Lee (among others), but doubts persist about Johan Santana’s health and effectiveness.

Meanwhile, Mike Pelfrey is establishing himself as one of the top young pitchers in the National League.

So… assuming you could have Santana, Pelfrey, or any of the rumored trade targets to start the first game of a playoff series, who would it be?

For the purposes of this poll, don’t worry about the prospects or money required to obtain an outside pitcher. Just tell us who you are most confident in as a Game 1 starter.

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The Daily Stache – Kevin Kearns thinks last night’s game might increase the chances we will see Cliff Lee in a Mets uniform this season.

NY Post – Joel Sherman reports that a deal for Cliff Lee will have to include Jenrry Mejia and Wilmer Flores.

MetsToday – According to our poll, 26% of MetsToday readers think Mejia should not be traded under any circumstances. Only 16% say that Flores should be untouchable. Take the poll and let your voice be heard!

MetsBlog – Ollie Perez begins his rehab assignment today! Woohoo! Wait, that means Ollie comes back in 30 days or less? Uh oh.

Baseball Digest – A look at Jason Bay’s first half non-performance.

And here is Kerel Cooper’s take on Jerry Manuel’s late-inning strategy during last night’s game:

Marlins 7 Mets 6

Ugh … as in, “Ugh-la”.

Dan Uggla bounced a grounder through the middle of the artificial infield to bring home Jorge Cantu from second base to give the Fish a 7-6 victory in the bottom of the ninth in San Juan.

I guess you call that a “walkoff single”? Hmm … the ring of it is underwhelming, but the result is the same.

Game Notes

Hisanori Takahashi was pitching a perfect game until opposing pitcher Nate Robertson dribbled a grounder through the infield in the bottom of the third. Then, it was like a dam broke, as seven consecutive Marlins reached base in the inning. One of them reached home on one swing — Hanley Ramirez, who blasted a no-doubter grand slam to apply the damage of the inning.

By the time Takahashi left the game, he had hurled 5 2/3 innings, and allowed 6 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks.

The bullpen more or less held the fort until Feliciano gave up a double to Jorge Cantu and then the fateful single by Ugh-la.

Jerry Manuel made the mysterious move of bringing in Francisco Rodriguez in the 8th inning, down two runs, to face the bottom of the Marlins lineup. I can understand wanting to get K-Rod into the game to get work. But why not wait until the 9th?

Manuel also chose to pitch to Dan Uggla in the 9th with first base open. I understood the decision — the idea was that Pedro Feliciano would nibble outside the strike zone in the hopes that Uggla would chase something and either strike out or not get good wood on the ball — and if he didn’t take the bait, the worst that would happen would be a free pass. However, Feliciano got too much plate, Uggla had choked up on the bat looking to poke something through the infield, and the rest was history. Some may criticize Manuel for pitching to Uggla, but I don’t know that it was such a bad idea. However, the K-Rod decision was a bit puzzling.

David Wright hit 3 unproductive singles and was thrown out stealing in the first frame. The only other Met with more than one hit was Ruben Tejada, who stroked two singles, drove in a run, and scored one.

Chris Carter hit a key pinch-hit double to set up Josh Thole’s pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the ninth. Maybe one or both of them should’ve been in the game from the get-go … but, there was a lefty starter on the mound, and we all know that lefthanded hitters can’t hit lefthanded pitchers.

Next Mets Game

The Mets will try to salvage at least one game in San Juan on Wednesday night at 7:10 PM. Ace starter Mike Pelfrey takes the mound against Chris Volstad.

SNY – How badly do the Mets need another starting pitcher? Dan Graziano thinks Carlos Zambrano should be on the list of possible trade targets.

NY Daily News – Denis Hamill has a nice article about why he loves watching Cyclones games.

Bleacher Report – Metszilla (probably not his/her real name) wants the Mets to pursue Dan Haren instead of Cliff Lee.

Philadelphia Daily News – Fresh off this morning’s news that Lenny Dykstra may have illegally hyped stocks in exchange for money, Paul Hagen reports that Lenny Dykstra may have confessed to taking steroids during his playing career.

ESPN NY – It looks like the Mets’ “Go Gaga For Wright Night” has failed to put Wright ahead of Placido Polanco in the All-Star balloting. And does anyone really care?

TONIGHT’S GAME

The Mets (43-33) look to bounce back from last night’s loss to the Marlins (36-40). Hisanori Takahashi (6-3, 3.78) will face Florida’s Nate Robertson (5-6, 4.89). First pitch at 7:10pm EST.

Yesterday’s poll asked if the Mets should go after Ted Lilly instead of Cliff Lee.

Today, I ask you this: Assuming the Mets will go after a quality veteran starting pitcher, which young players/prospects should be excluded from all trade discussions?

Granted, a specific pitcher will dictate a specific combination of prospects that will be offered. And when you factor in contract lengths, money owed and additional veterans that can be sent either way in a deal, the possibilities grow even more complex.

But which prospects should not even be considered as trade bait by Omar Minaya? In other words, who should be untouchable?

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Despite rumblings that Carlos Beltran could be back sometime this week, it seems like Beltran is still at least one week away from returning:

“Somewhere, in about a week’s time, we are going to evaluate him again,” GM Omar Minaya said Monday. Until that time, Beltran will not advance beyond the Single-A St. Lucie Mets.  (NY Daily News)

Meanwhile, Angel Pagan will likely return to the starting lineup tonight.

Note: this is a post written by MetsToday sabermetric guru Matt Himelfarb

In seven starts, here are Hisanori Takahashi’s numbers to date:

38.1 IP
15.85% K rate
7.32% BB rate
1.31 HR/9
8.62% HR/FB
5.16 FIP

Those numbers are unworthy of a spot in the rotation, even for a fifth starter. The long-ball has been Takahashi’s undoing, but that is what happens when you have a 38% GB rate. At the very least, I would prefer to see a back-end starter with mediocre peripherals eat some innings, but Takahashi is a five-six inning pitcher at this point.

I used to be wholeheartedly against dealing for the Kevin Millwoods and Fausto Carmonas of the world. Given Takahashi’s initial success, I thought it would be a linear move at the best.

It has now become imperative, however, that the Mets replace Takahashi.