Kuzul

NEW YORK– Once again the Mets had an opportunity to gain ground in the playoff race, and once again they lost a winnable game at home to the Marlins.

The Mets had one of the best rookie pitchers in baseball on the mound tonight, and the Mets were cruising both offensively and on the mound through the first three innings. 

After the first three innings of the game, the Mets had four runs and seven hits, and the Marlins had no hits.

For the second straight night, David Wright provided some offense. He hit a two-run home run in the first inning, his 21st of the season, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Not only had Jon Niese not given up a hit through the first three innings, he struck out six to boot. He was looking like the phenomenal rookie he has been all season, overmatching hitters with his cutter.

The Mets though, although they were winning, lost the engine to their offense in the second. Jose Reyes singled, reaching out over the plate from the left side, and was pulled after a talk with manager Jerry Manuel and trainer Ray Ramirez.

He reaggravated his right obligue which kept him out in early July. He has been listed as day-to-day for the time being; Ruben Tejada ran for him and stayed in to play shortstop.

Angel Pagan followed with a double, scoring Luis Castillo who lead off with a walk, making it 3-0.

The Mets added another run in the third, but should’ve had much more. After two walks to start the inning, Jeff Francoeur singled in a run, extending the lead to 4-0.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Tejada seemed to have beat out an infield hit, but first base umpire Bill Miller called him out, costing the Mets a run. Tejada would go 0-for-2 with a walk, as he’s now one for his last 43.

After the four-run outburst against Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez, they never scored again.

In the fourth, Niese allowed a leadoff double, the Marlins first hit. The next batter, Hanley Ramirez, hit a scorching line drive of a home run over the left field fence, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

The Mets had chances in literally every inning of the game. They had at least one baserunner in each inning, and drew seven leadoff walks. In the fourth, Carlos Beltran hit into a double play to erase one of those walks, as the Mets failed to score their last five leadoff walks.

Although Niese walked a batter to start the fifth, he kept the game 4-2. In the Mets fifth, baserunning was what killed a potential rally. Francoeur lead off with a walk, but was thrown out at third base on a Josh Thole single to left.

The entire game came crashing down in the sixth. The Marlins sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven runs. Niese hit the leadoff batter Logan Morrison, who reached base all five times in the game.

A Wes Helms sacrifice fly to deep right-center field tied the game at 4-4, although if it wasn’t for a Francoeur hustle catch, it could’ve been much worse. On the next play, Francoeur let a ball down the right field line bounce in fair territory for a ground-rule double off the bat of Brett Hayes, giving the Marlins a 5-4 lead.

Niese was pulled after that, giving up seven runs on five hits. He walked three, hit a batter, and tied a career-high in strikeouts with eight. The Marlins would add four more runs in the inning, to take a 9-4 lead.

Although the Mets kept drawing leadoff walks, they never drove one home, going on to lose the game, 11-4.

A night after falling one short of completing a four-run comeback, the Mets lose a game they once led by four runs. For the second straight day, the Mets fail to gain on the Phillies.

Now, the Mets will have to move forward to begin a weekend series with the Astros, not knowing when they’ll have their shortstop back.

They fall a game below .500 at 63-64 and will open up their series tomorrow night. Mike Pelfrey will be opposed by Nelson Figueroa.

NL East standings
Atlanta 73-54
Philadelphia 70-57 (3)
Florida 64-62 (8 1/2)
NY Mets 63-64 (10)

NL Wild Card (Leader and Mets)
San Francisco 71-57
—————————
NY Mets 63-64 (7 1/2)

Next series probable pitchers:
August 27
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 12-7, 3.80 ERA) vs. Houston: Nelson Figueroa (2010: 1-0, 2.42 ERA)
August 28
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 10-8, 2.94 ERA) vs. Houston: Brett Myers (2010: 9-7, 3.08 ERA)
August 29
New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 8-5, 2.64 ERA) vs. Houston: Bud Norris (2010: 6-7, 5.03 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
August 27-29 vs. Houston Astros
August 30-Sept. 2 @ Atlanta Braves

Houston Astros:
August 27-29 @ New York Mets
August 30-Sept. 1 vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Deja vu can be defined as the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously.

I had an extreme sense of deja vu during tonight’s Mets game against the Florida Marlins. Jose Reyes singled to right field in the second inning during the Mets’ rally. Soon after, time was called, and I saw trainer Ray Ramirez approach Reyes at first base.

Reyes took an awkward swing on his base hit, and it appeared Ramirez was just checking in on him.

Then Jerry Manuel came out of the dugout to attend to the situation. Here is where my deja vu struck.

As my fellow Mets fans will never forget, Jerry Manuel, in his first ever game as Mets’ manager in June 2008, pulled Jose Reyes in the first inning in Anaheim. Reyes was visibly perturbed by Manuel’s decision and protested for several minutes before finally storming off the field and into the clubhouse.

Tonight I was expecting a similar situation. However, after a brief discussion, Reyes calmly walked off the field and sat in the dugout, where he and Manuel talked about what had transpired.

It appears Reyes has aggravated the oblique injury he suffered in June. At a time when the Mets desperately need his services, Reyes will be held out of baseball activities until he is pain free. That could be tomorrow or weeks from now when the Mets are fully eliminated from playoff contention.

If the Mets are going to make a late-season run, they need Reyes as the spark plug at the top of the batting order. Though he has struggled offensively lately, the team phrase remains: “As Reyes goes, so goes the Mets.”

The Mets will hope for the speedy recovery of Jose. Time is running out this season, and if the team were to get hot, it would need to be sooner rather than later. But without Reyes, all hope appears lost for the 2010 Mets’ season.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In Wednesday’s series finale with the San Francisco Giants, the Reds looked like they were going to beat them as if they stole something.

Joey Votto, Jonny Gomes, and Ryan Hanigan all homered to stake Homer Bailey to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. It looked like payback time for the boys from the Queen City.

Votto hit another homer in the third inning, his 31st of the season, to cap a four-run inning and the Reds were on top 8-1.

Adding one run in the fourth and another in the fifth gave the Reds what looked like a victory, with a 10-1 lead.

The Giants put up two in the fifth and chased Bailey in the sixth. He left the game leading 10-3 and handed the keys to Bill Bray with two on and one out. Bray allowed both to score, and suddenly it was a 10-5 game at the end of the sixth.

San Francisco jumped all over Logan Ondrusek in the bottom of the eighth. After he pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, he gave up singles to Jose Guillen and Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval. Juan Uribe continued his hot hitting against the Reds with a three-run shot to left, making it a 10-8 game with nobody out.

Dusty Baker then made a triple switch. He brought in Arthur Rhodes to replace Ondrusek and brought in Jay Bruce to play right, moving Chris Heisey to left and sending Gomes to the bench.

In a performance that was probably due, Rhodes gave up what looked like the winning run, allowing three runs in one inning of work.

The Reds then scored a run in the top of the ninth to keep the game alive. Nick Masset shut the Giants down in the ninth to force the game into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th the Reds squelched a tremendous opportunity to score a run. With two outs, Scott Rolen doubled high off the left field wall and headed to second base. Cody Ross (why did we ever trade him?) played it off the wall like he worked there all year, and threw a strike to second.

Rolen attempted the worst slide I’ve seen in probably five years, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. He was out by several feet, so kudos to Ross on a beautiful defensive play.

Laynce Nix pinch-hit for Masset in the top of the 11th. He hit a slow roller to second base and pulled up lame after about three steps toward first. Don’t look for him for at least two weeks, as he could barely walk after the re-injury.

My boy (Okay, I have mellowed on him a little) Coco Cordero pitched the last two innings to notch the well-deserved win, since Votto had singled Miguel Cairo in with the game winner in the 12th.

Votto had four hits, Paul Janish had three, and Gomes and Rolen both had two, as the Reds pounded out 16 of them. Sadly, they were out-hit by the Giants 18-16.

In the three-game set, the Giants scored 39 runs and collected 55 hits against the worn-out Reds pitching staff.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Wednesday’s game got off to a lousy start, as Bumgarner served up three home runs. His final line was: 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 3 HR.

The Giants were at one point facing a 10-1 deficit against the Cincinnati Reds; but they rallied back. They rallied and rallied and rallied, scoring 10 runs in their third consecutive game.

With an 11-10 lead, the Giants couldn’t hold on, and would end up losing 12-11 in 12 innings, thanks in part to a throwing error by Pablo Sandoval, who really should be moved to first base ASAP.

In what’s become sort of a tradition, here are the multi-hitters from Wednesday:

• Pablo Sandoval, 4 for 6
• Mike Fontenot, 2 for 4, 2 R
• Andres Torres, 2 for 7, 2 RBI
• Jose Guillen, 2 for 5, 2 R
• Juan Uribe, 3 for 6, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Top Five Stories Yesterday

1. Sidney Rice reveals he had hip surgery on Monday and he may miss the first half of the 2010 season.

2. Texas evens its series with Minnesota coming from behind twice to beat the Twins 4-3.

3. Bobby Bowden revealed he was essentially fired at the end of last season by the administration at Florida State in promoting his new book.

4. The Giants slug their way to a big win over Cincinnati and tie Philadelphia for the NL Wild Card after the Phillies lose for the second straight night to Houston.

5. Johnny Damon refuses to return to Boston, preferring to stay in Detroit despite being claimed off waivers by the Red Sox.

Top Five Games Yesterday

1. MLB: Rangers 4, Twins 3: Texas evens the three game series with Minnesota on a game-winning RBI single from Michael Young in the bottom of the seventh inning

2. MLB: Astros 4, Phillies 2: Houston scores two in the top of the 16th inning to beat the Phillies for the second straight night

3. MLB: Pirates 4, Cardinals 3: Neil Walker has all four RBIs for the Bucs as they withstand a ninth inning rally from the Cards who left the bases loaded to end the game

4. MLB: Cubs 5, Nationals 4: Chicago hangs on as Washington scored three in the ninth off of Carlos Marmol and the tying run on second base.

5. MLB: Mets 6, Marlins 5:  New York wins on a walk-off single by Luis Castillo to climb back over .500.

Top Five Performances Yesterday

1. Freddy Sanchez, Giants 2B: 4-for-4 with a HR and an RBI in SF’s 16-5 win over CIN.

2. Rick Porcello, Tigers SP: No runs on two hits with four Ks over seven IP in DET’s 9-1 win over KC.

3. Brandon Phillips, Reds 2B: 3-for-5 with two HRs and two RBIs in CIN’s 16-5 loss to SF.

4. Pablo Sandoval, Giants 3B: 3-for-5 with a HR and four RBIs in SF’s 16-5 win over CIN.

5. Mark Teixeira, Yankees 1B: 4-for-5 with a HR and two RBIs in NYY’s 11-5 win over TOR.

Five Performances That Weren’t So Good Yesterday

1. Ryan Howard, Phillies 1B: 0-for-7 with 5 Ks and got ejected in PHI’s 4-2 loss to HOU.

2. Kyle Davies, Royals 2B: Seven runs on 12 hits in 4.2 IP in KC’s 9-1 loss to DET.

3. Marc Rzepczynski, Blue Jays SP: Six runs on eight hits in three innings in TOR’s 11-5 loss to NYY.

4. Ivan Rodriguez, Nationals C: 0-for-4 with three Ks in WAS’s 5-4 loss to CHC.

5. Brian Tallet, Blue Jays SP: 5 runs on 6 hits in 3 IP in TOR’s 11-5 loss to NYY.

Top Five Events to Follow Today

1. MLB: Braves (73-53) at Rockies (65-60), 3:00 PM: Colorado looks for the sweep of NL East leading Atlanta (Jurrjens (ATL) vs. Rogers (COL))

2. MLB: Rays (78-48) at Angels (62-65), 3:30 PM: Tampa Bay looking for the sweep (Niemann (TB) vs. Haren (LAA))

3. MLB: Reds (72-54) at Giants (71-56), 3:30 PM: San Francisco looking for an important sweep (Bailey (CIN) vs. Bumgarner (SF))

4. MLB: Yankees (78-48) at Blue Jays (65-60), 7:00 PM: Rubber match of the series; (Hughes (NYY) vs. Cecil (TOR))

5. MLB: Twins (72-54) at Rangers (71-54), 8:00 PM, ESPN2: (Good matchup: Duensing (MIN) vs. Wilson (TEX))

Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @TheSportsMac and go to www.thesportsmac.com for all of my previous posts.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco. I hope the Cincinnati Reds have not left their confidence there.

Regardless of today’s outcome, the San Francisco Giants have shown some serious flaws in the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff.

In two games they have been outscored by the Giants 27-7 and have given up 35 hits in the 16 innings the Giants have batted.

In the first game of the series, Edinson Volquez did not get out of the first inning. He was pasted for five hits, five runs, and issued three free passes in only 2/3 of an inning.

Last night, one of the best pitchers on the staff was given a similar inhospitable greeting, as he allowed the Giants to put up a three spot in the first frame. Rookie southpaw Travis Wood managed to stay around for four innings after giving up seven runs and seven hits.

Two of the Reds’ starters who have been relegated to the bullpen didn’t do any better.

Mike Leake pitched one inning and gave up six runs, six hits and and two home runs, looking nothing like the ROY candidate he had been earlier in the season. It was his second terrible outing from the bullpen, making me wonder if he is going to work out in that role.

Fellow rookie Sam LeCure—who was just brought up from Louisville to fill the spot vacated by Jordan Smith’s departure—pitched the final three innings giving up five hits, three runs, including a homer.

Of the seven hurlers trotted out by the Reds in two games, only left-hander Bill Bray pitched scoreless ball.

If anyone wondered about the Giants being dead after losing a series to the St. Louis Cardinals, rest assured they are alive and well.

Brandon Phillips was 3-5 with two dingers as one of the few silver linings to the black cloud over their collective heads. Drew Stubbs added two hits and Scott Rolen hit his 19^th HR in the losing cause.

Rookie infielder Chris Valaika singled in his first MLB at bat after being called up from Louisville the same day.

The health of the Reds also took a hit as outfielder Laynce Nix twisted an ankle while running the bases, and Jim Edmonds had to go on the DL due to a strained oblique.

The Cardinals and ace Adam Wainwright were beaten by the forlorn Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3, leaving a 2.5 game gap between them and the division leading Reds.

Homer Bailey (3-2), impressive in his two starts since returning from the DL, will pitch in the final game of the series Wednesday afternoon. He will be facing southpaw Madison Bumgarner (5-4).

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

(Sports Irreverence from The Other Tip of the Goldberg)

All of us Phillies fans should have been happily dusting off our Whitey Ashburn impressions and laughing at the madcap turn of events of last night’s 16-inning bizarro thriller versus the Astros at Citizens Bank Park. Only, the game did not end happily—a 4-2 loss to a mediocre team at home is not my idea of a happy ending.

Now, there are only 37 games left to either catch the Braves or to hang on to our precarious wild card lead (now at .001 percentage points) over the Giants. So, now…

Many Phils fans might be channeling their disgust and dejection in Harry the K’s voice,after (the now-retired) Craig Biggio took Billy Wagner deep here in an ill-fated pennant race a few years back. They say you can watch a million baseball games and still see something new on the million-and-first, and who am I to disagree with that proverb? 

And, one day we’ll even laugh about this one. Is this the day?  In the meantime…

Let’s hope that Uncle Cholly can get us a better 16th inning cleanup hitter than Roy Oswalt.  Chase is struggling, and needs more protection than a career .158 hitter with (ready for this baseball geeks?) a .176 OBP, a .370 OPS, and an unheard of OPS-plus of minus-2. 

I got cut from my high school baseball team (still pissed about that, but) and my OPS-plus is two points higher than Oswalt’s.  On the plus side, Oswalt can flat out play left field, and I’m now struggling to make the long throw from third in a Jewish men’s softball league.

Looking at the remaining 37 games, I would keep Ibanez as the all-important fourth-string first baseman.  He made a great play in the 15th, beating Bourne to the bag—and the umps even called Bourne out this time. 

Yes, keep him behind Howard, Gload, and Sweeney on the depth chart, but don’t let any of those September call-ups drop him to fifth on the depth chart.  Can’t afford to entrust that key role to a rookie.

Polanco looked great starting that 5-4-3 double play.  The only problem  was that both runners were safe, and the winning run scored.  Seems like every 16-inning loss at home to the stinking Astros features one of those.  Just as every 16-inning loss at home to the stinking Astros  features:

• Ryan Howard going 0-7 with five K’s, five LOBs, and an ejection for thinking about murdering a replacement ump.  Howard’s awfully lucky that he has a rookie-of-the-year, an MVP, multiple All-Star appearances, and gazillion power stats under his belt, or I’d call for his release today.  Every 16-inning loss at home to the stinking Astros  is attributable to his choking—and his vicious temper.
• Can Hollywood Hamels please win a game for us?  Yes, his ERA is low, but we scored him a run this time.   No excuses; what does he expect? Can’t stand prosperity.

I repeat that, in time, we’ll all laugh about that crazy game that ended in the wee hours of August 25, 2010—if we make the playoffs, that is.  You know, if Oswalt were any good—and worth the millions that Houston left for us to pay him—he would have taken that Jeff Fulchino (What the Fulch?!) deep with a three-run jack to win this thing.

Should we have traded Happ for Fulchino instead?  Although he’s listed at a more-than-svelte 286 pounds, I’ve heard that’s deceiving. I’ve also heard that he plays a mean 18th-inning center field.

And can’t you just hear Harry the K—with those majestic, mellifluous pipes—saying, “And, a great shoestring catch by that Jeff Ful-chi-no.”  After chuckling, he’ll hand it off to his co-icon, Whitey, for the all-time Phillies rejoinder:

“Hard to believe, Harry.”

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

I truly thought it was gonna be hard for the Giants to best Monday’s performance. I was wrong….they are now tied for first in the NL Wild Card.

Players who had a multi-hit game on Tuesday:

Pablo Sandoval: 3 for 5, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Cody Ross: 2 for 5, 2 R
Andres Torres: 3 for 5, 4 RBI
Freddy Sanchez: 4 for 4, 1 HR, 4 R
Juan Uribe: 2 for 4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Aubrey Huff: 2 for 4, 1 RBI
Honorable Mention – Buster Posey: 1 for 5, HR, 3 RBI

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

PHILADELPHIA — For huge baseball fans, watching the Phils vs. Astros was a treat. This was the longest game in Citizens Bank Park since 2004; five hours and twenty minutes worth of baseball showcasing a bullpen battle, which took us through 16 innings. This landed Roy Oswalt in left field, and Raul Ibanez at first base.

A day after the controversial call by Umpire Greg Gibson, the Phillies and Astro’s serve up an epic 16 inning thriller.

This game served a lot of excitement starting in the ninth inning when Jimmy Rollins tied the game at two a piece in the ninth, with a dramatic, towering, home-run to send the game into extra innings.

With an out of character Ryan Howard ejection in the 14th, and the bullpen performing magnificently for eight scoreless innings, the Phils were forced to go to the all-pro starter Roy Oswalt to man left-field for them, clear into Wednesday morning.

With one out in the top of the 16th, Phillies Pitcher, David Herndon, approaching 50 pitches, showed fagitue, hitting a batter and loading the bases for Houston’s, Chris Johnson.

Despite a trip to the mound by Dubee, and a tremendous subsequent diving stop by Polanco on a ball drilled to third base, the Phils weren’t able to get anyone out. Eventually, the scrambling of the roster finally takes its toll on the Phillies.

A ground ball hit to Jimmy Rollins was thrown to Utley for one out, but the throw to Ibanez, playing a position he doesn’t normally play, first base, was bobbled allowing another to score making it 4-2 with two outs in the top of the 16th.

After the Astro’s loaded the bases again, Herndon strikes out the sides, leaving the resilient Phillies with two options—score, or lose.

At 12:16am the Phils took bat, looking to do what they do best—make magic.

With one man on base, the Phils could have won the game with a walk off home-run. The Houston Astros, wisely decided to pass on Utley and take a chance pitching to their old ace, Roy Oswalt, putting the game on the line.

In the end, after a battle at the plate between Oswalt and his former team, it just wasn’t meant to be. Leaving the fate of another pennant race game in the hands of another sensitive, arrogant, tight-pantied umpire with an ultra contentious disposition, ultimately, costing them the game.

The Phils lose two home games back to back for the first time in a half and a month, but, this isn’t all gloom and doom.

What we’ve seen from the Phillies, nonetheless, is the very resilient quality of fighting until there’s no more roster spots left.

Also on the bright side, the Braves have lost too.

Something has got to be done about the Phillies offense and these diva’s who are umping the games.

Aside from all of that, the Phillies have two very important series coming up against the division leading Padres, and the wily Los Angeles Dodgers.

It’s looking more and more like the Phillies season is going to come down to the last series against those much talked about Atlanta Braves.

Happy September baseball!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Irony: the all-time hits leader in Florida Marlins history burns his old team for the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth in Flushing.

Mets second baseman Luis Castillo flared a bloop single into right field to score Ike Davis from second, giving the Mets a 6-5 series opening victory. The win signifies only the second time this season that the Mets have won a game after trailing going into the seventh inning. Castillo, who has been relegated to bench role the last few weeks, was mobbed by his teammates after the winning run scored.

In the top of the seventh, R.A. Dickey gave up a three-run homer to the newest in a long line of Met killers, Gaby Sanchez. The shot put the Mets behind 5-4. For the second straight start, Dickey was plagued by a late-inning long ball to hand over the lead.

To be honest, I didn’t think the Mets would mount any comeback, simply based on their lack of offensive production over the last few weeks. However, tonight was different. With one out in bottom of the eighth, Angel Pagan, arguably the Mets’ MVP, hit a seeing-eye ground ball up the middle.

Marlins’ center fielder Cameron Maybin was playing deep in a “no-doubles” alignment. Pagan raced around first and dove into second to complete the hustle double, his fourth hit of the night. That play wound up being a huge factor in the Mets’ comeback victory. Carlos Beltran followed with an RBI single to right to score Pagan and tie the game. Slowly but surely, Beltran has been coming around with the bat.

After newly proclaimed closer Hisanori Takahashi retired the Marlins in the top of the ninth, Ike Davis reached base with a grounder that Dan Uggla made a fantastic play on, but his throw handcuffed Gaby Sanchez at first base. Two batters later, Josh Thole hit a broken bat single over short. After Mike Hessman struck out, Luis Castillo stepped to the plate. Castillo did not start tonight and was part of the double switch that lifted Dickey from the game.

Castillo came up big with his opposite field single. Though this has been a tough year for Luis and he most likely will not be back next season, this was a great moment for him. It shows that despite their lack of success this year, this team refuses to give up.

Who knows? That could be the attitude and this could be the win that allows the team to make a run as we enter September. With the victory, the Mets move ahead of the Marlins in both the NL East divisional and Wild Card races.

As a side note, former Mets catcher Rob Barajas had a stellar debut for the Dodgers with two doubles and a three-run homer to give L.A. the lead in the sixth inning over the Brewers in Milwaukee. That being said, Josh Thole was 2-5 on the night with a double and a clutch single in the ninth to set up Castillo for the game-winning hit.

Nice job Luis and good win for the Mets! Now please keep them coming so we as fans can experience exciting September baseball once again.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com