Kuzul

New York Mets (14-10)  at Philadelphia Phillies (13-10), 8:05 pm

Johan Santana (3-1 2.08) vs. Jamie Moyer (2-2 5.25)

TV : ESPN   Radio : WFAN

What to watch : The Mets can take the series in Philly with a win tonight behind Santana. He’s been outstanding recently, giving up only one earned run in his last three starts over 19.1 IP. He’s opposed by Moyer who’s gone six innings in all four starts this year. The Phillies have lost two of the four games he started.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Facebook page during the game to chat with other Mets fans! Connect with The Mets Report on Twitter too.

Related posts:

1. Preview: Mets at Phillies April 30, 2010
2. Game Preview: Mets at Phillies [Game 80] July 4, 2009
3. Game Preview: Phillies at Mets [Game 58] June 11, 2009

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The past week has been the best that I’ve felt about the Mets since September 2008. They went into Philly on a great run, even without their best player Carlos Beltran . The month of April was really on the backs of Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana , for the most part. But the offense did start to come alive towards the end of the month. Here are some month-end links for you for this Sunday.

• NY Sports Dog – This post has an interesting scatter plot of Pelfrey’s called strikes comparing April 2009 to April 2010
• Amazin’ Avenue – Sam Page created a stat to measure which Mets player would be the best fighter in a brawl and Henry Blanco came out on top
• On The Black – A poll to determine the fan pick for Mets player of the month in April
• ESPN – Adam Rubin writes that Beltran doesn’t appear to be anywhere near returning to the team from his knee surgery
• Daily News – This is a funny piece on reporter Kevin Deutsch in Philly taunting fans with “Let’s Go Mets!” chants while wearing a Mets jersey and hat
• Daily News – Catching up with Hubie Brooks

Related posts:

1. Mets Links: Carlos Beltran and Bobby Bonilla
2. Mets Links: Bobby Valentine, Jeff Francoeur, Mike Pelfrey
3. Carlos Beltran Surgery Highlights Mets Medical Problems

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The impact of the new Arizona immigration law on baseball is far-reaching and potentially could cause a problem between labor and management. Of course, this is only a mirror of the effect it will have on society, in general, in Arizona.

I’ve spent some time in Arizona on business trips in the past. It doesn’t take long to figure out that this is a serious and overt problem for the legal residents of the state.

I understand, and agree, with the notion that the people that are here in the U.S. should be here legally. If they’re not, they should be deported. That’s not a groundbreaking idea. But the implementation of the law in Arizona is absurd.

The police are required to check the legal residency of anyone they think is here illegally? And do so without profiling? It’s beyond comprehension that this can be implemented without racial profiling. “Show me your papers” will be the new mantra in Arizona.

Mets catcher Rod Barajas , an Arizona resident and son of Mexican immigrants, talked to the NY Times about his opposition to the law.

“It’s disappointing,” Barajas said. “I have a lot of family born in Mexico. You would like to hope there is no stereotyping going on, but it’s hard to see that there would not be. If they happen to pull someone over who looks like they are of Latin descent, even if they are a U.S. citizen, that is the first question that is going to be asked. But if a blond-haired, blue-eyed Canadian gets pulled over, do you think they are going to ask for their papers? No.”

Mike Lupica of the Daily News thinks that MLB and the players union will stand together on this one in opposition of the law. I’m not so sure about that, but he does make a good point in the column. The 2011 All-Star game is scheduled to be in Phoenix. MLB could threaten to move to another venue if the law is still standing. The NFL did the same with the Super Bowl when the state of Arizona wouldn’t recognize Martin Luther King Day as a holiday.

You can read the statement from the MLBPA .

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The Mets beat writers all had posts about Daniel Murphy recovering from his strained knee ligament in Florida, then going to Triple-A Buffalo when he comes off the disabled list. The plan is for Muphy to play first base immediately just to get some at-bats. Then they’re going to work with him on becoming a utility player.

The odd thing is that you don’t see many 25-year-old utility players out there. It’s usually older players that have been around for a while doing that job.

I wouldn’t be happy about it if I was Murphy. That really cuts into his earning potential. Utility players are typically the lowest paid players on a team. His long-term earning potential in the Major Leagues is cut significantly by being pigeon-holed as a utility player. I’m sure he seems himself differently than the Mets organization does.

If Murphy comes back to the bigs after transforming himself into a utility player, who’s roster spot is he going to take? Frank Catalanotto and Fernando Tatis would be the obvious players to go. They’ve both been rotting on the Mets bench in April. Catalanotto has 20 at-bats this season and Tatis has 29.

Does anyone really think he can play anywhere in the field other than first base? We’ve all seen what he can do in the field. He was an utter disaster in left field in 2009. And that’s putting it mildly. Expecting him to become a utility infielder that can hold his own in the field anywhere other than first is ridiculous.

This is the plan for a 25-year-old? Leave him rotting on the Mets bench. I really question this strategy. Frankly, I just don’t see a role for Murphy on this team. I think the Mets are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It’s not going to work.

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The Phillies took this one in a laugher as the Mets became one of the many victims of Roy Halladay’s greatness. Halladay was the star of the game throwing a complete game, the 52nd of his career. He only gave up 3 hits and 1 walk against 6 strikeouts. This game was the 17th shutout of Halladay’s 13-year career.

Mike Pelfrey got bombed today. It was the first poor start of his 2010 season. He was looking pretty good through the first three innings and completely lost it in the fourth giving up 6 runs on 7 hits including one by Halladay and a three run shot by Victorino.

The Mets eight game winning streak ends today but they’re in a good position to take the series tomorrow night on ESPN. The Mets will have Johan Santana going against Jamie Moyer.

Box score

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