Mets 9 Marlins 6

Pedro did not have great command in this game, but the offense put on a Phillies-like performance to support him.

Martinez gave up three wins in the first two innings, but the Mets evened it up in the bottom of the third with help from a passed ball, a Miguel Cabrera error and an RBI single by Moises Alou. It looked like Pedro might squander the outburst in the bottom of the frame when the Marlins loaded the bases with one out. However, he turned it up a notch and struck out Cody Ross and Miguel Olivo to end the inning without allowing a Fish to land on the plate.

In the top of the fourth, Cabrera booted another ball, putting Lastings Milledge on first with one out. Pedro sacrificed him to second, and Jose Reyes walked on four pitches. Luis Castillo then blooped a cheap single into center to score Milledge and chase Reyes to third. David Wright followed with a walk to load the bases for Carlos Beltran, who ripped a two-run single into left to make the score 6-3. But the Mets were not done.

The fifth inning began with a Carlos Delgado foulout, but Paul LoDuca followed with a ground-rule double. Milledge again was the beneficiary of an error, but this time from the other corner when first baseman Mike Jacobs allowed Milledge’s grounder to skip past him. After another sacrifice by Martinez, Reyes rapped a line drive into left to drive in both runs, putting the Mets ahead 8-3 — with all eight runs unearned.

Pedro allowed a run in the bottom of the fifth, but exited the inning without any more damage.

A downpour halted the game in the top of the sixth.

When play resumed, the Mets finally scored an earned run, courtesy of a blast over the centerfield wall by Carlos Delgado. Perhaps it won’t take him two weeks to get back into the swing of things after all.

The Fish gave the Mets a scare in the eighth, as once again the bullpen could not be counted on to hold a lengthy lead. Suddenly, five runs is not enough of a cushion for the battered and tattered relievers. First Pedro Feliciano was throwing strikes, then not throwing strikes, then giving up bombs. By the time he was removed, the Marlins scored two runs to pull within three, and was replaced by Joe Smith. Smith walked the only batter he faced, putting runners on first and second for Scott Schoeneweis. Luckily, The Show figured out how to hit the strike zone (but not until throwing two balls himself) and ended the inning with a backward K.

The Show resumed by striking out the first two batters of the ninth before getting Mike Jacobs to ground out to Delgado to save his first game as a New York Met.

Notes

Carlos Beltran bruised his left patellar tendon when he banged into the centerfield wall while chasing a Jeremy Hermida ground-rule double in the fifth. He’ll be day-to-day.

About time Reyes did something — his performance is directly tied to the Mets’ win-loss record.

Alou’s third-inning single established a New York Mets record — hitting safely in 25 consecutive games.

How about Guillermo Mota spinning two scoreless innings, with two strikeouts? As bad as he’s perceived, fact is, he’s been charged with runs in only two of his last eleven appearances.

Paul LoDuca went a quiet 4-for-5, scoring one run. Endy Chavez was a perfect 2-for-2 after replacing Beltran in center.

Carlos Gomez stole second with two outs in the ninth (good), then was thrown out attempting to steal third as Reyes took ball four. Apparently, he does not understand English, or Willie Randolph was too quiet in his correction of Reyes’ identical blunder a few games ago. Personally, if I’m Willie, I pull Gomez from the game right there — I don’t care if it means putting Sandy Alomar in leftfield. Actions obviously speak louder than words, particularly with the knuckleheaded youngsters.

At least seventeen people were in the stands at the end of the contest — fifteen of them Mets fans.

Next Game

Oliver Perez is scheduled to face Byung-Hyun Kim in a FOX (ugh!) broadcast at 3:55 PM. Kim somehow has a 9-7 record despite a 6.06 ERA and 1.72 WHIP. If the Mets don’t knock him out of the game by the fourth I’m going to scream.

Marlins 8 Mets 7

The assumption was that if the Mets could jump out to an early lead, the Marlins would go to the fish tank and roll over. And the Mets did hit the scoreboard first, thanks to a two-run double by Moises Alou in the initial inning and a David Wright double that drove in Jose Reyes in the second.

However, Tom Glavine did not have his best stuff. In fact, he was borderline terrible. But somehow, he worked out of trouble in each of the first four innings without damage. Finally, he ran out of gas in the fifth, allowing four runs — three of them via a homerun by Miguel Cabrera. Through five, Glavine allowed 4 runs on 11 hits and a walk.

After the second, the Mets couldn’t reach home against Dontrelle Willis, who struggled nearly as mightily as Glavine, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk through six.

The Marlins bullpen took over in the seventh, but the Mets couldn’t do anything against them. The New York offense put together an awful set of at-bats in the seventh — with Jose Reyes and Lastings Milledge swinging at bad pitches — and repeated with more atrocious at-bats in the eighth. Only David Wright and Moises Alou looked like they had a clue — everyone else went up to the plate like it was their first MLB at-bat and Sandy Koufax was on the mound.

In the ninth, Paul LoDuca led off with a double through the right-center gap, and was replaced on second base by Carlos Gomez. Ruben Gotay screwed up two sacrifice attempts, then bounced a grounder to shortstop. The speedy Gomez took off for third — in my mind a TERRIBLE baserunning blunder — but somehow beat the throw from Hanley Ramirez to third. With runners on the corners, hot-hitting Shawn Green (who looked so full of confidence he might burst) walked on four pitches, loading the bases for Jose Reyes. Naturally, Reyes took a terrible cut on the first pitch — a curveball in the dirt — for strike one. Keeping with his current M.O., he waved wildly at the second pitch, a slider in the dirt. Predictably, he swung through a third slider in the dirt for strike three. Marlon Anderson was paying attention, however, and took the first two pitches — making it a dozen consecutive pitches thrown out of the strike zone by closer Kevin Gregg. The next two pitches were over the middle, however, and Anderson swung through them. Anderson then took ball three, filling the count with the bases filled as well. Gregg’s next pitch was blasted off the right-center fence, clearing the bases and landing SuperMarlon on third (he missed the Mets’ first grand slam of the year by about five feet). David Wright was retired for the first time all night for out number two, but Carlos Beltran FINALLY came through with a two-out RBI, putting the Mets up by three.

But where was Billy Wagner to close it out? Pedro Feliciano started the bottom of the ninth, gave up a single to leadoff hitter Jeremy Hermida, and was replaced by Jorge Sosa. Sosa promptly allowed a double to “All World” Cabrera, putting runners on second and third. And where was Wagner? Both runners scored on grounders as the Mets were trading runs for outs, but the second out was not to be as David Wright — who made a fine diving stop — threw the ball away (this proved to be a crucial error). It was then one out, man on first, and a one-run game — and where was Wagner? The next batter, Cody Ross, worked the count full before dropping a Texas Leaguer two inches inside the leftfield foul line for a double. This put runners on second and third with one out, and down by one run (where was … oh, never mind!). Matt Treanor bounced a grounder to Jose Reyes for the second out, but the tying run scored in the process. Jason Wood popped up for the third out, but the damage was done. Meantime, the scoreboard flashed the final score in D.C. — Phillies 7 Nats 6.

The Mets couldn’t do anything with a leadoff walk by Jeff Conine in the 10th, but the Fish had no problems in the bottom of the frame. Hanley Ramirez led off with a broken-bat, infield single that bounced about fifty times before reaching Reyes at short. At that point, it was only a matter of time, with Cabrera due up eventually. However, the game didn’t have to go that long, as Dan Uggla — instead of bunting Ramirez to second — blasted a ball off the leftfield wall, scoring Ramirez from first.

Phillies are back within one and a half games.

Notes

What a waste of another ENORMOUS, dramatic, hugely clutch hit by Marlon Anderson.

Milledge was started off with a sharp curve on the outside corner of the plate in his seventh inning at-bat, and barked at home plate ump Jim Joyce when it was (correctly) called a strike. Milledge clearly lost his focus, and popped up the next pitch — a fastball around his eyes. The flyout ended the inning, but Milledge kept running his mouth at Joyce (not quoting Ulysses, I’m sure) and was tossed from the game. Unbelievably, Milledge exited the dugout to run back on the field and argue two more times in the next five minutes — which no doubt will earn him a suspension. His loss of control was aggravating on several levels. First of all, the pitch in question was definitely a strike. Second, a youngster such as Milledge should keep quiet the first few years in the league — otherwise be labeled quickly around the circuit as a troublemaker (and invite unfavorable calls from all umps). Third, his tirade was inappropriate for someone who has been with the team for less than three months. Rather than inspire his teammates, Milledge embarrassed them, and as a result he likely has lost a bit of the respect he had started to gain from his peers. A shame, really, because LMillz was starting to shed that “bad boy” image.

Florida pounded out 20 hits, while the Mets managed only nine — three of them by David Wright (two of them doubles).

Alou’s two-run double extended his hitting streak to 24 games.

After Cabrera’s blast, the SNY cameras showed him getting congratulated in the dugout by a little kid who I thought might be someone’s 13-year-old brother or the ball boy. It turned out to be Alfredo Amezaga — who with his new mop-top doo looks too young for PONY League.

When is someone going to tell Ruben Gotay to hit lefty all the time — even against lefties?

Both Gotay and Gomez failed miserably — and looked terrible — in their sacrifice bunt attempts. A ballplayer who cannot drop a bunt has only himself to blame — it doesn’t take any special skill, only the desire to be good at it and the willingness to put in the repetitions in practice. Shame on both non-sluggers for not being better sacrifice bunters.

Next Game

The Mets and Marlins do it again at 7:05 PM. Pedro Martinez takes the mound against Scott Olsen. Pedro is right at home in the Miami heat and humidity, a point that may fuel his continued hot pitching.

Mets 8 Nationals 4

Now, now, that’s more like it.

With the Mets desperate for a win, Mike Pelfrey stepped up and met the challenge, holding the Nats to three runs in five innings and earning his third win of the season. OK, it wasn’t exactly a dominating performance, but in comparison to the way Mets starters were knocked around the last few days, he looked like Cy Young.

Just as encouraging, the bullpen held up the win for him, headed by two strong innings by Jorge Sosa. Aaron Heilman threw a perfect eighth and Billy Wagner had a shaky but harmless ninth to close out the Mets’ first victory in the past six days.

Also encouraging was the offense, which not only scored eight runs but showed the relentlessness of a starving pit bull, hungry for runs every inning. They seem to have learned something from the two most recent games — you remember, the games where they jumped out to a big lead and then put on the cruise control? This time, they scored, then scored again, then looked to score some more — and would have kept grinding out runs if the ninth inning didn’t stop them.

Leading the way, finally, was Jose Reyes, who had two hits and scored two runs, including a double that by all rights should have been an inside-the-park homerun (the umpires decided to change the ground rules on the fly … kind of like a friend of mine who used to change the rules while playing whiffle ball in his backyard). David Wright also earned a few more MVP votes, driving in three runs and scoring another with his two hits. Paul LoDuca also added to the damage, driving in two runs without a hit (two sac flies).

Notes

How hot is Shawn Green? All of the doubters who called for his head at various points this season, please come forward. If we’re going to buy into the Willie Randolph theory that September is the most important time of the year, then Green has answered the bell. He went 2-for-2 with a run scored after being brought in as part of the double switch that included Sosa. He has 7 hits in his last 9 at-bats, with 2 HRs and 4 runs. He’s also 10 for his last 17, with 5 walks … and batting .418 in the month of September. And some people thought he should have been released to make room for Endy Chavez at the end of August.

Speaking of hot, how about Moises Alou? He makes Shawn Green’s September average look paltry with his scorching .459 for the month — not to mention his 23-game hitting streak. Alou went 3-for-4 with an RBI and 2 runs. So much for the sore quad.

Jose Reyes has made four errors in the last four games. He had only made eight errors all season, and went 43 consecutive games without one until the first of his recent “slump”.

Pelfrey pitched pretty well, pounding the bottom of the zone and owning the inside part of the plate with his fastball. His secondary pitches are still, well, secondary, but his command of the fastball was a nice thing to see. I hope he pitches a bit in winter ball to hone his changeup and/or breaking pitch.

Regarding the Reyes fly that got stuck in left field, Gary Cohen’s quick comment that a ball lodged in the padding of the outfield wall is an automatic ground rule double is completely wrong. There is nothing in the rules that stipulates such a thing, and the Washington Nationals’ ground rules do not cover such an occurrence (that’s why it’s called a “ground rule” double). In fact, it varies from park to park — for example, in some parks, the outfielder is supposed to attempt to pull the ball out of the padding, and if it comes loose, the play continues. If it remains stuck, the ball is dead and the ground rules apply. In the case of Jose’s drive, Wily Mo Pena did not see the ball until Reyes was rounding third. Granted, it’s a quirky occurrence that should have been covered somewhere in RFK’s ground rules — but to be technical, it wasn’t, and therefore the umpires could have made any call in their judgment. That’s why Willie was out there arguing — he wanted to know why the umps gave Jose only second base when there was no such “ground rule”.

Next Game

The Mets fly south to Miami to play the Marlins for a four-game set in Dolphin Stadium. It all starts at 7:05 PM on Thursday night, with Tom Glavine taking the mound against Dontrelle Willis.