Several members of the media question the emasculation of Ramon Castro, including Ed Coleman.

Similarly, Adam Rubin believes Jerry Manuel is burning his bridges with Castro, and doesn’t understand why he was tweaking Ryan Church earlier this spring, either. Oh, he also thinks Manuel is burning out the bullpen. Funny how those things are more noticeable when you’re losing.

Mike Vaccaro also wakes up and smells the coffee, pointing out that Jerry Manuel had a “personality conflict” with Frank Thomas in Chicago, and wonders if the banishment of Ramon Castro is a prelude to challenging Carlos Delgado or David Wright.

Enough negativity … how about something positive? The Yankees are slashing their ticket prices. Oh, wait, those reductions are only for the highest-priced, premium seats — the ones that, ironically, are in the direct focus of the centerfield TV camera.

Maybe today’s video will make you smile. It is Wally Backman speaking from his RV, about everything from the ’86 Mets to his theories on the DH.

Use the left/right arrows to jump from clip to clip:

Anthony Rieber of Newsday alerts Carlos Beltran to the fact that his dad’s senior softball league does not allow sliding, but the National League does.

Andrew Vazzano of TheRopolitans regurgitates a quick Q&A on Ken Takahashi he did with BaseballDigest.com‘s Japanese specialist Patrick Newman. Guess what? Takahashi was NOT particularly strong against LH hitters. Swell.

Wallace Matthews tells the tale of the two players known as Ryan Church.

Former Mets batboy Matt Tracy indicts Omar Minaya for the Mets’ struggles this year. He also exposes Jerry Manuel’s ignorance of opposing players, and still doesn’t see the logic of firing Willie Randolph (join the club).

Mets 8 Nationals 2

The red-hot Mets blew out the Nationals to win their second consecutive game.

New York’s struggles with runners in scoring position are a distant memory, as the offense came through with four base hits out of eleven tries (.363) with RISP in this contest. Ryan Church led the way with two hits and three RBI, and Carlos Beltran extended his commanding lead over all other NL hitters by going 3-for-5. The Mets hitters exploded for five runs in the first three innings off starter and loser Daniel Cabrera.

Mike Pelfrey stepped up and came through with a strong performance, pitching into the 6th inning for the first time this season. He needed a little help finishing the inning (Sean Green came on for the final out of the sixth), but nonetheless Big Pelf allowed just two runs on six hits and three walks in 5 2/3, lowering his ERA to 6.32.

Bobby Parnell pitched a scoreless seventh, and Brian Stokes finished up the game with two scoreless frames of his own.

Game Notes

Danny Murphy whirls and throws to 1B after a sliding catch in the first inning

Just prior to exiting the game, Pelfrey got 14 consecutive outs on ground balls. With that kind of effectiveness with his sinker, he should eventually learn to be more efficient (95 pitches in this game). For example, Anderson Hernandez saw eight pitches leading off the game before singling, and later, AHern worked a walk off Big Pelf. That is exactly the kind of hitter Pelfrey should be retiring instantly (which he did, in the fifth, getting a groundout on his second pitch to Hernandez).

Beltran is now hitting .415. He is simply unconscious.

Carlos Delgado is 3 for his last 26 (.115), and his average has dropped to .250. I wonder if he needs to have a good game tomorrow to keep his spot on the roster?

Next Mets Game

The Mets go for a sweep of the Nationals on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 PM. Oliver Perez (or is it Hyde?) goes against rookie phenom Jordan Zimmerman (no relation to Ryan, or Roy, for that matter).

The New York Mets visit St. Louis for the first time in 2009 to play the Cardinals in a three-game series.

Pitching Matchups:

Game 1: Oliver Perez vs. Todd Wellemeyer

Which Ollie will show — Dr. Perez or Mr. Hyde? Nobody knows. Wellemeyer is a prime example of why Dave Duncan cannot be paid enough to be an MLB pitching coach.

Game 2: John Maine vs. Joel Pineiro

Will John Maine ever get past the fifth inning? Pineiro, another scrap heap success story for Duncan’s resume, has a perfect 2-0 record but a 5.40 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP thus far. Last year, the Mets battered him for 21 hits, 2 homers, and 9 runs in 9 innings, so perhaps this can be the game in which they finally send some runners home.

Game 3: Livan Hernandez vs. Kyle Lohse

This is a day game, 1:40 PM start. Before the season, I predicted Livan would be the Mets’ third-best starter before it was all said and done. He’s currently #2, which is as much a credit to Hernandez as it is due to the erratic performances of the other Mets starters. Lohse is off to a hot start, with two wins and a 2.57 ERA. Lohse was 1-1 vs. the Mets last season.

Offensive Concerns

The Mets are hitting .236 with RISP, with David Wright going 2-for-13 by himself. Wright, however, is 5-for-7 lifetime against Wellemeyer, and could shake his slump in the opener. Luis Castillo is currently leading the Mets with a .389 AVG while Ryan Church leads the team with 6 doubles, a .477 OBP, and a 1.018 OPS.

The Cardinals still have Albert Pujols, and surround him with a fairly balanced attack of LH and RH hitters. Ryan Ludwick is so far showing that 2008 was not a fluke, leading the Cardinals in the three major offensive categories. He’s batting .405 with 5 HR and 15 RBI through 10 games. However, another player to watch is 3B fill-in Brian Barden, who has slugged 3 dingers and 19 total bases in 22 ABs and is hitting .409.

Conclusion

Hard to say which way this series will go. Much depends on the efforts of Perez and Maine, who have become the poster children for inconsistency.

Padres 6 Mets 5

This one should have been a slam-dunk.

The Mets were facing a Padres team of no-names, including a journeyman 32-year-old rookie pitcher last seen in the lowly Mexican League. It seemed to be a setup, a gift-wrapped easy win to top off their first ever regular season game in Citi Field. But it was not to be.

That journeyman Mexican, Walter Silva, stifled the Mets hitters for four and two-thirds, and the San Diego bullpen held the Flushing Nine scoreless over the remainder of the game to spoil the celebration.

Mike Pelfrey struggled with his footing, his control, and his ability to keep the ball inside the vast confines of Citi Field, and as a result gave the Padres an early four-run lead that they never relinquished.

Pelfrey’s third pitch of the game was drilled over the short right field porch by Jody Gerut, and San Diego scored another three in the second inning immediately after Pelfrey tumbled to the ground in the midst of his delivery (was that foreshadowing?). Adrian Gonzalez blasted the second homerun in Citi Field history to make the score 5-1, but the Mets fought back with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, capped off by a David Wright 3-run homer.

However, the Padres scratched out a run in the sixth, when Pedro Feliciano balked home Luis Rodriguez with two outs. Rodriguez had reached third on a fly ball to right field that was misjudged by Ryan Church and called an error. (Personally, I thought that the official scorer was being tough on Church with that error, but whatever.) Not that it matters, but the hitter at the time of the balk, David Eckstein, eventually ripped a clean single to left field, so the run might have scored anyway.

In an evil twist of irony, former Met Duaner Sanchez pitched a perfect eighth to set up the save for another former Met, Heath Bell.

Game Notes

Bell received a loud, negative response to his pregame introduction. Sanchez received a mixed, but mostly negative response. Uncle Cliffy Floyd was honored with cheers.

When Brian Stokes came in to relieve for Mike Pelfrey in the sixth, I thought, ah, he must be the long man — he should be able to handle two innings here. Two batters, nine pitches, and one run later, he was out of the game.

Frankie Rodriguez (aka “K-Rod”) pitched the top of the ninth. I guess because the Mets have tomorrow off, and his last appearance came on Saturday.

The Mets used six pitchers in the game.

It looked like David Wright might have missed first base on his three-run homer. Can you imagine if he did, and if the first base ump caught it and called him out? That would have been a mighty ugly “first” in Citi Field — and the ump likely would not have made it out of the stadium alive.

Jody Gerut was the MVP of the game, with a homerun, a double, a walk, two runs scored, and a brilliant catch in center field to rob Carlos Beltran of an extra-base hit.

While Pelfrey’s bizarre fall during his delivery was strange enough, but even stranger was the appearance of a cat that came out of nowhere and sprinted down the third base line in the middle of the game. How the heck can a feline afford a field-level seat at Citi Field?

Next Mets Game

The Mets take a day off tomorrow to think about this loss and collect their thoughts, then return to Flushing on Wednesday against the Padres again. Oliver Perez faces his original team at 7:10 PM, while former Giant Kevin Correia takes the hill for San Diego.

Get your taxes in, folks.

Marlins 2 Mets 1

Johan Santana and Josh Johnson hooked up in a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel, and at the end, Johnson was the one left standing.

In a remarkably quick, 2 hour, 4-minute game, Johnson emerged as the victor and owner of MLB’s first complete game, dispatching of the Mets hitters through the use of a 96-MPH fastball and a filthy slider.

Santana, meanwhile, was no slouch, striking out 13 hitters and allowing only three hits and one walk. Unfortunately, he also allowed two runs — both unearned — and that was the difference in the ballgame.

The Marlins’ two runs came with two outs in the bottom of the second, when Danny Murphy dropped a Cody Ross fly ball, allowing Jeremy Hermida to score. Ronny Paulino followed with another single to score Ross.

The Mets’ lone run came in the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, when Carlos Beltran singled up the middle to drive in Carlos Delgado, who had doubled. Delgado’s double came after what looked like a called third strike — which would’ve ended the game — but home plate umpire Bob Davidson called it a ball.

Game Notes

Marlins starter Josh Johnson did not allow a hit until Luis Castillo managed a broken-bat blooper in the sixth, and he threw a first-pitch strike to 19 consecutive hitters. His 101st pitch of the ballgame was clocked at 98 MPH. He was downright nasty all day.

It almost looked as if Johan made the decision to take it upon himself to retire the Fish on his own after Murphy’s error. After the error, Santana struck out 8 of the next 13 hitters he faced.

David Wright has collected a base hit in every game this year.

Ryan Church also has a hit in every game, as he hit yet another double. He now has 6 and is batting .478.

Kevin Burkhardt spoke about Ramon Castro’s offseason running program, which was a daily, intensive routine. Castro ran every single day and dropped a grand total of 15 pounds … I hope that means he gained some muscle weight, because he looks like the kind of guy who could shed more weight than that over four months of training. Burkhardt said he wasn’t sure why Castro decided to partake in such a regimen in this past particular offseason — apparently he’s never worked out hard in the winter months before. Here’s a hint, Kevin: contract year.

Cameron Maybin might strike out 200 times this year. He does look to have a world of talent, though. The Fish might strike out 1500 times as a team before it’s all said and done.

Not much to say about this game, other than the Mets ran into a very hot pitcher. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap, as they say.

Next Mets Game

The Mets play their first-ever regular season game at Citi Field against the San Diego Padres on Monday night at 7:10 PM. Mike Pelfrey takes the ball against 32-year-old Mexican League journeyman Walter Silva. Tom Seaver throws out the ceremonial first pitch to Mike Piazza. Apparently Sandy Koufax and Joe Pignatano were unavailable.

Reds 8 Mets 6

You can’t win ’em all …

Not a good day for Oliver Perez, who was charged with 8 runs in less than five innings of work — though he wasn’t helped by Darren O’Day, who allowed two inherited runners to score.

Ollie cruised through the first two innings, then allowed four runs in the third and fell apart in the fifth. Other than O’Day, the bullpen did its job in holding the Reds scoreless, and the offense tried to chip away, but fell short.

If nothing else, it was interesting to see that the Mets would in fact play all nine innings when behind. There was some speculation that they would concede the contest after the seventh, since JJ Putz and K-Rod were acquired with the intention of shortening the game by two innings.

Sure, you don’t like to see the Mets lose, but look at it this way — they took two out of three, and won their first series.

Mets Game Notes

Prior to Opening Day, the Reds were my sleeper pick for the Cinderella team of 2009. If these first three games are any indication, I’m WAY off. Their pitching is thinner than it appears on paper, and their young hitters may still be a year away. Mostly, though, they look sloppy in the field, reminiscent of the Marlins of the past few seasons. If they don’t find another quality starting pitcher and tighten up the defense, they’re headed for another dismal season.

Before the game, Jerry Manuel told reporters that “if you can get six good innings out of Ollie, that’ll be great”. No kidding. That’s pretty much the hope for every starting pitcher, isn’t it? For example, wouldn’t it have been “great” if Johan Santana could have given the Mets six good innings on Opening Day? I can’t believe they cut away from the game action to show us that pearl of wisdom.

Ryan Church is starting out similarly to last April, mashing line drives to all fields.

I seem to remember the Mets having a hard time winning the final game of a series when it was a weekday, day game. I can’t find the numbers anywhere to support that assumption, but it sure felt that way.

Keith Hernandez likes the new SNY graphics. I don’t, since they remove about one-fifth of my TV screen real estate. Andrew Vazzano of TheRopolitans agrees.

Keith and I do agree on one thing though — Joey Votto is the real deal. I’m sticking by my outrageous MVP prediction.

A number of missed hit-and-runs from both sides in this series, yet nearly all of them resulted in a stolen base.

Gary Sheffield made his Mets debut in this game, appearing as a pinch-hitter to lead off the ninth (he struck out looking). Strange move, since high-OBP man Luis Castillo was available on the bench. Maybe Jerry Manuel promised Castillo a full day off — I’m sure he was absolutely exhausted after playing two full games over the previous three days.

Ramon Castro remains a sloppy catcher, who drives me crazy with his annoying habit of jerking (I’m sure he calls it “framing”) every pitch. I spotted at least five occasions where Castro lost a legit strike because he jerked his glove toward the middle of the plate instead of catching the ball when it was a strike (a.k.a., “beating the ball to the spot”). One of those pitches came in the fifth and would’ve been strike three to Votto, and on the next pitch Votto hit an RBI single. Think about that. Votto’s single would’ve been an out, which means there would not have been a man on third so Brandon Phillips’ fly ball would not have been a sac fly driving in a run, and Ryan Hanigan’s fly ball would’ve been out number three, and Paul Janish would not have come to bat and singled in two. Do the math, and you tell me whether I’m nitpicking.

No, Paul Janish is not related to me. People in my family can hit, and have much larger feet. And my name is not pronounced “Yahn-ish” — it’s “Jan-ish”.

Next Mets Game

The Mets travel to Miami to play the first-place Marlins in a three-game set, beginning with a Friday night game at 7:10 PM. John Maine is scheduled to face Anibal Sanchez.

The National League predictions have been posted, so now it’s time for New York Mets – specific prophecies. You may like some of them, you’ll likely hate a few of them, and nearly all of them are unlikely to occur. But what the heck, let’s go …

The key to the Mets’ success this year will be tied to health and the production of Carlos Delgado.

Jose Reyes will hit 25 triples, 17 of which will come at home in Citi Field.

Johan Santana will win 21 games, and take the Cy Young.

John Maine will struggle so mightily in the first half that he will be sent to the minors to work out issues with his mechanics and command.

Livan Hernandez will be the tortoise and Oliver Perez the hare, and Livan will quietly emerge as the Mets #3 starter by year’s end, posting 13 victories.

Maine and Perez will combine for less than 20 wins.

Darren O’Day and Sean Green will combine for 20 decisions in middle relief.

Mike Pelfrey will take a no-hitter into the 9th inning, but settle for a one-hit shutout.

Tim Redding will throw less than 50 innings all season.

Luis Castillo will receive consideration for the All-Star Game, and finish the year with a .295 AVG., .375 OBP, and 28 SB.

Danny Murphy will have trouble keeping his average above .250 in the first six weeks of the season, and Gary Sheffield will take over as the starting leftfielder.

Sheffield will be a key run producer for the Mets, and finish fourth on the team in RBI.

Very few “Putz” jerseys will be sold by the Mets, for obvious reasons.

Not one “Shawn Green” jersey will be sold to a patron thinking it’s a “Sean Green” jersey.

Jeremy Reed will substitute for a disabled starter at some point in the season and go on a tear, making fans almost forget Endy Chavez.

Reese Havens will rocket through the Mets’ minor league system, and be considered for a September call-up.

Ryan Church will be traded to the Rockies.

Aaron Heilman will struggle against the Mets, but will otherwise succeed in Chicago. He’ll get a few starts when Rich Harden goes down and prompt the Cubs to move Sean Marshall back to the bullpen.

The Mets’ lack of a second LOOGY will be a major point of concern, and trade rumors will swirl around the names Eddie Guardado, Matt Thornton, and Alan Embree. The Mets will wind up with Bobby Seay, against whom lefties hit .303 lifetime.

The Mets will have a strong record aoutside the division, but will be only a few games above .500 against NL East teams.

Jose Valentin will make it back to the 25-man roster before the end of the season.

Bobby Ojeda will start doing commercials for the Hair Club for Men.