Mets 5 Giants 4

Oliver Perez pitched seven solid innings, and gave up three solo homers. Looking at it, it was a very good performance — he gave up only five hits total, walked none, and struck out 8 in throwing 98 pitches over the 7 frames. It’s safe to say that Ollie has regained the form that made him one of the most coveted young lefties in MLB in 2004.

The three Giant dingers were answered by Carlos X two production: a two-run homer by Carlos Delgado and a one-run double by Carlos Beltran. The score remained that way through 12 innings, when San Francisco broke through with a run against Mighty Joe Smith on a groundout to untie the game. However, Giants manager Bruce Bochy thought it appropriate to give the Mets a fair chance in the bottom of the inning, and sent Armando Benitez to the mound.

Predictably, Benitez had a meltdown. It began with a walk to Jose Reyes, who was balked to second base and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Endy Chavez. Benitez balked for the second time in the inning to score Reyes with the tying run. Five pitches later, Carlos Delgado mashed his second homerun of the game to win the contest for the Mets, 5-4.

Notes

Reyes and Delgado scored two runs each, and Beltran scored the other Met run.

Aaron Heilman pitched one and a third innings of perfect relief before allowing Smith to scavenge the victory. Heilman squeaked the Mets out of tough spot in the 10th, getting Rich Aurilia to line out with Barry Bonds standing on third base with the go-ahead run.

The Mets had only six hits on the night, and the suddenly hot Delgado had two of them (plus 3 RBI).

Ruben Gotay had a pinch-hit in the eleventh, his third pinch-hit of the year (he’s 3-for-8, .375 in that role).

Carlos Gomez started in rightfield and was hitless with two strikeouts, and Ben Johnson took over and went 0-for-2. Johnson was added to the roster when Shawn Green was put on the DL for the first time in his 15-year career.

Next Game

Tom Glavine (5-2, 3.39) faces Barry Zito (4-5, 4.70) in an epic battle of soft-tossers. Game time is 7:35 PM.

Mets 6 Marlins 4

What’s that sound? Can you hear it? It’s a swishing … no, SWEEPING sound …

Jorge Sosa rebounded from his poor start in Atlanta to throw one out short of six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk. He didn’t get as many swings and misses as he normally does — striking out only two — but was fairly efficient, throwing 87 pitches (57 for strikes).

Sosa was supported by good defense, in contrast to the Marlins, who were a bit shoddy in the field. A key play came in the fourth, after Carlos Delgado singled in an RBI to tie the game at one. Delgado followed David Wright on a double steal to put runners on second and third, and Damion Easley hit a slow roller to Dan Uggla, who oddly had been playing back. Uggla rushed the throw, it ended up bouncing off Easley’s foot, and both runners scored. Florida pitcher Scott Olsen then uncorked a wild pitch to Ramon Castro, sending Easley to second, and one batter later Endy Chavez singled in Easley to make the game 4-1.

An inning later, David Wright doubled in Beltran to extend the lead to 5-1. The Marlins scratched out a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Mets went up 6-2 in the eighth thanks to a pinch-hit RBI single by Julio Franco.

Aaron Heilman gave up a run on a double by Miguel Cabrera, narrowing the gap to 6-3, and Billy Wagner allowed a solo homer to Miguel Olivo to make it 6-4.

Notes

Back in the first inning, with Jose Reyes on third in a 0-0 game, the infield was drawn in. As it turned out, Uggla cut off a slow grounder by Carlos Beltran to strand Reyes on third. Since it was a 1-1 game in the fourth — essentially the same situation — it seemed strange that Fredi Gonzalez would play the infield back; even the first and third basemen were back.

In the bottom of the third, Scott Olsen’s follow-through on a swing and miss pushed him over home plate with Reggie Abercrombie running, and Ramon Castro was unable to make a throw over him. No obstruction call was made, and should have been — regardless of whether Olsen’s impeding follow-through was intentional or not. The MLB rulebook states:

(a) Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat which interferes with, obstructs, impedes, hinders or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play. If the umpire declares the batter, batter- runner, or a runner out for interference, all other runners shall return to the last base that was in the judgment of the umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference, unless otherwise provided by these rules.

Damion Easley made his first Major League start in leftfield because Shawn Green has a fractured foot and Carlos Gomez strained his hamstring in last night’s game. Despite his inexperience, Easley made two fine catches on challenging line drives in the bottom of the sixth — one a steaming line drive off the bat of Miguel Cabrera, the second a deep fly by Josh Willingham. They might have been routine plays for a full-time outfielder, but for someone who rarely plays out there, they were tougher than they looked. Those simple catches were huge, as they came with runners on first and second, score 5-2, and Sosa struggling. Either of the drives could easily have been misplayed into a double, turning it into a one-run game.

Willie Randolph considered playing Paul LoDuca in leftfield, to keep his hot bat in the lineup, but resisted, feeling it more important to give him a full day of rest.

Joe Smith spun another scoreless seventh, bridging the gap to setup man Aaron Heilman.

Next Game

The Mets have Memorial Day off and will travel back home to Flushing to face the San Francisco Giants in a three-game set. Tuesday’s 7:10 PM start will have rookie phenom Tim Lincecum facing Oliver Perez.

Mets 7 Marlins 2

Great news for Mets fans: Carlos Delgado is back to his old self, and John Maine has his “luck” back as well.

Maine pitched six solid innings, allowing four hits, two runs, striking out 8 and walking four. Yes, he walked too many — again — but otherwise did a fine job of keeping the Marlins bats in check.

Meantime, Carlos Delgado chose his former team to unleash his season’s frustrations, homering twice and driving in five runs. His two-run homer in the third gave the Mets a comfortable 4-1 lead, and his three-run blast in the fifth put the game away for good. With Maine mowin’ ’em down, the Mets up by six, and a hard rain falling, the Marlins were like a fish out of water.

Notes

While Delgado went 3-for-5 with 5 RBI, Endy Chavez also went 3-for-5 with a triple, a run, and a stolen base. Chavez was also thrown out stealing to end the top of the fourth. A curious decision, as John Maine stood on third base with Carlos Beltran batting. It’s good to be aggressive, but you don’t want to take the bat out of your top RBI man’s hands with a runner on third and two out.

Paul LoDuca stole his second base in three games, and went 1-for-3.

Jose Reyes is still cool, though he managed one single and stole his 27th base of the year.

David Wright was hitless, but walked three times and scored two runs.

David Newhan started in leftfield and batted eighth, and went 1-for-4.

Next Game

The Mets will go for a sweep on Sunday afternoon, sending Jorge Sosa to the mound against Scott Olsen. It’s a 1:05 PM start.

Mets 6 Marlins 2

This game was a lot closer than the final score tells. In the end, it was the Mets who were a little less lazy than the Marlins.

For seven innings, there was no score, as Orlando Hernandez and Sergio Mitre traded goose eggs. El Duque, in his first start since April 24th, was magnificent, pitching six shutout innings and allowing only two hits, walking none, and striking out four. After allowing a base hit to Alfredo Amezaga in the first, Hernandez retired the next 17 consecutive batters. Ironically, it was Amezaga again who broke the streak, singling in the sixth. If Reggie Abercrombie started in center, El Duque might have pitched a no-hitter.

Mitre was not nearly as dominating as El Duque, but kept the Mets from scoring. He allowed 8 hits and a walk in 7 2/3 innings, striking out 8. The Mets might have scored at least twice — had they hustled. Maybe it was a combination of getting into Florida at three in the morning and then having to deal with the heat and humidity, but whatever the case, the Mets did not come to the game ready to compete at a high level. They were lackadaisacal, both in the field and at bat. Perhaps the ban on greenies is having a negative effect on the sport?

The most glaring example came in the seventh inning. David Wright led off, and bounced a ball down the first base line. At first, it looked as though it would roll foul, but eventually took a funny hop and found its way into first baseman Aaron Boone’s glove. Wright did not run out of the box, assuming it a foul ball, and was put out easily. The next batter, Carlos Delgado, mashed a ball off the leftfield fence, but because he had not been running hard, was thrown out at second base. Replays showed that Delgado got his hand in, but the fact was, it shouldn’t have been that close; had Delgado run hard out of the box and through first base, he’d have gotten to second standing. Right there the Mets should have been up by one, because even if Wright had not scored on Delgado’s double, the red-hot Paul LoDuca followed with a base hit that might have scored both Wright and Delgado.

As if that weren’t enough, in the bottom of the next inning, Carlos Beltran slipped and fell while tracking down a line drive off the bat of Miguel Olivo. Fine, that happens, but Beltran’s lazy reaction to hunt down the ball allowed Olivo to get to third, and he eventually scored the tying run (at the time) on a sac fly.

Luckily, the Mets woke up in the 9th, scoring five runs, topped off by a Beltran double with the bases loaded that scored two runs. Until then, though, it could have gone either way.

Billy Wagner had a very shaky ninth to finish the game; Aaron Heilman — who allowed the tying run to score in the 8th — stole his fifth win.

Notes

Two remarkably nonsensical moves by Willie Randolph: first, he leaves Damion Easley in the game in the ninth inning while Ruben Gotay’s much better glove rests on the bench. As a result, Easley was too slow in charging a ground ball by Olivo, and allowed Olivo to earn an infield hit. Granted, the hit meant nothing, but that’s not the point; why wasn’t Gotay in the game?

Secondly, the decision to allow Wagner to pitch the ninth. Historically, Wagner does not do well with big leads, for whatever reason. Once the Mets jumped ahead by five, Wagner should have sat down and Amby Burgos or Aaron Sele gotten warm. I understand the timing issue, but there would have been enough time to get Burgos ready — he’s a professional, for goodness sakes. Instead, Wagner went out there in a non-save situation, ended up tossing 32 pitches, and likely won’t be available for Saturday night’s game.

Joe Smith pitched a perfect seventh, striking out one.

Carlos Delgado continues to be tepid, going 2-for-3, with both hits smacked to leftfield.

Paul LoDuca is on fire; he had four hits in five at-bats, and is now batting .329. Time to move him back to the second spot?

Jose Reyes continues to struggle; he’s swinging at everything, swinging early in counts, and looks like he’s regressed by two years.

Shawn Green fouled a ball off his foot, cracking a bone, and may be out for the next few games. That will likely buy Carlos Gomez a few more days on the roster — and perhaps a few more starts.

David Newhan was called upon to bunt in the 8th, got a great pitch to handle, and doinked it right back to the pitcher, who easily threw out Damion Easley at second. If Newhan can’t hit for average, can’t bunt, doesn’t steal bases (despite supposedly good speed), and isn’t being used for defensive purposes … well, what is his role on the team?

Next Game

John Maine faces Wes Obermueller in a 7:05 PM start. Time for Maine to get back on the horse and give the Mets a solid six innings. Also time for the bats to get busy.