Kuzul

CLEVELAND: When the season began, everyone’s preseason favorite to win the NL East and even NL were the Philadelphia Phillies. Some people also picked the Cardinals to win the Central and Rockies to win the West.

Right now, on June 16, the Mets have a better record than all three of those teams, and are one-half game out of first place. The Mets also are only one-and-a-half behind the Padres for the NL’s best record.

This surge to nearly the top of the NL has been powered by a 16-5 run since May 22, and just a winning brand of baseball, something the Mets hadn’t had since 2008.

Well, coincidentally, the Mets are eight games above .500 (36-28) for the first time since the final day in 2008. Isn’t it funny how that works?

With all that being said, the Mets must continue their scorching-hot run tonight with Ohio native Jon Niese on the mound.

The Mets showed grit and toughness in last night’s thrilling comeback victory; now they have to parlay it into a series win against a decent Indians pitcher, Mitch Talbot.

Niese though, has been terrific since his return from the disabled list. In his last start, which started the Mets’ five-game winning streak, he came within a Chris Denorfia double of a perfect game.

Not that you expect him to throw a one-hit shutout every time out there, but at least Niese is becoming another Mets reliable starting pitcher.

And if his stuff is working, man is he tough to hit. Niese came up with a propensity of throwing a lot of curveballs, in fact, that was his main “out” pitch. Now, he’s widened his array of pitches, adding to his nasty hook, a cutter in on right-handers, and a changeup to keep hitters honest. It’s a repertoire that can absolutely dominate hitters, thus he almost no-hit the Padres last Thursday night.

For the Indians, they’ll be sending Talbot to the hill. For the most part, in his first full season in the big leagues at age 26, Talbot has been effective.

He threw a complete game against the White Sox on April 16, allowing two runs on six hits.

Talbot was drafted in 2002 by the Houston Astros, and made his Major League debut in 2008, where that season he appeared in three games (one start) for the Tampa Bay Rays.

How the Mets are playing now though, may be good enough to beat anyone. Their confidence level is at a season high, and they are just playing all-out baseball. On every ground ball, they hustle, thus beating out seven infield hits in last night’s win.

The leader in the hustle department has probably been Jason Bay. For all of his offensive struggles, Bay has shown that he runs every ball out, and makes every play in left field.

His hustle actually won the Mets last night’s game, as he beat a play out in the seventh inning, extending the Mets’ lead to 7-4.

If it wasn’t for that extra run, Shelley Duncan’s ninth inning home run off of Francisco Rodriguez would have tied the game at 6-6.

With the way both Jose Reyes and David Wright are performing at the same time, with Wright now leading the NL in RBI with 50, and with Jose Reyes wreaking havoc on the basepaths, scoring from second on an infield hit last night, the Mets offense is clicking, even with some guys struggling.

The Mets are pitching, as their starters are now 15-3 over their last 18 decisions, and they’re playing outstanding defense, having turned 11 double plays in their last six games, all leading to this Amazin’ Mets run, 10-2 in the month on June.

Maybe the Mets will have to win every close game with some drama with Francisco Rodriguez’s act, but they’re still getting wins and making hay in the standings, which is what it’s all about.

The Mets will go for their sixth straight win, and a chance to go for a 6-0 road trip tonight.

Jon Niese this season (10 starts)
3-2, 3.61 ERA, 57.1 IP, 63 hits, 19 BB, 45 SO

Mitch Talbot this season (12 starts)
7-4, 3.59 ERA, 77.2 IP, 74 hits, 31 BB, 34 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Cleveland)

June 15: New York 7, Cleveland 6

Mets lead series 1-0

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BALTIMORE—Maybe a couple of months from now, the Mets will look back to this series as the one that defined their season. It may have only been a sweep in Baltimore, but the lone test the Mets hadn’t passed this season was winning a road series. Now, the Mets have swept a road series, with their 11-4 win over the Orioles today.

It started out as a laugher for the Mets, as they scored five first inning runs off of Kevin Millwood. David Wright hit a two-run home run and the DH Chris Carter hit a three-run home run, his second of the series, putting the Mets up 5-0 before Mike Pelfrey even took the mound.

Once Pelfrey did take the mound, things didn’t go too well. Handed a 5-0 lead, he gave two right back, laboring through most of the afternoon. His pitches were flat, and his back leg lagged for whatever reason.

In the second, the Orioles tacked on another run, making it 5-3. Pelfrey gave up three runs on five hits in the first two innings.

Jerry Manuel shook the lineup around today, playing Jesus Feliciano and Alex Cora. The guy who broke through in a big way was Jason Bay. He went 4-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, and four runs scored. One of his four hits was a home run to straight away center in the fifth, putting the Mets up 7-3.

After struggling mightily in the first two innings, and looking like he may surrender a 5-0 lead, Pelfrey settled down to not allow another run in his final four innings finishing with a quality start. His final line was six innings, three runs, nine hits, three walks, one strikeout, as he improved to 9-1 on the season.

David Wright hit another two-run home run in the sixth, his 12th of the season, as the Mets banged out 11 runs on 18 hits, en route to a convincing win.

Meanwhile for the Orioles, their woeful season continued. Kevin Millwood fell to 0-8, allowing eight runs on 11 hits, and three home runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Orioles fell to 17-46 on the season.

Pelfrey was taken out after six innings, and the three Mets relievers to follow him gave up only one run. All three—Jenrry Mejia, Ryota Igarashi, and Raul Valdes—pitched for the first time in the series.

The Mets have now won eight of the past nine and 15 of the past 20, which is the best record in baseball since May 22, to improve to 35-28 on the season.

They will attempt to continue their winning ways against the Indians starting on Tuesday with Johan Santana on the mound.

NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 37-27
NY Mets 35-28 (1.5)
Philadelphia 32-29 (3.5)

Next series probable pitchers:
June 15
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 4-3, 2.96 ERA) vs. Cleveland: Justin Masterson (2010: 2-5, 4.74 ERA)
June 16
New York: Jon Niese (2010: 3-2, 3.61 ERA) vs. Cleveland: Mitch Talbot (2010: 7-4, 3.59 ERA)
June 17
New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 4-0, 2.78 ERA) vs. Cleveland: Jake Westbrook (2010: 4-3, 4.62 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 15-17 @ Cleveland Indians
June 18-20 @ New York Yankees

Cleveland Indians:
June 15-17 vs. New York Mets
June 18-20 @ Pittsburgh Pirates

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BALTIMORE—The Mets will be looking for their first road series sweep since September, 2008 at Milwaukee. Believe it or not, the Mets have not had one since then. Last season, the injuries were just too much to overcome.

Today, the Mets will have a shot, and they have plenty of reasons to be confident that they will get it.

First of all, they’re facing an Orioles team that’s 17-45. Secondly, the pitching match-up is as lopsided as can be. The Mets will start Mike Pelfrey (8-1), the Orioles will start Kevin Millwood (0-7).

The Orioles scored a grand total of two runs against R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi in two games, so how can they possibly get anything off of Pelfrey? Really, the only way they can will be for Pelfrey to be off his game. The Orioles, unlike solid hitting clubs, can’t get to guys of Pelfrey’s caliber when the pitcher is on his game.

The key for Pelfrey will be to not overlook the Orioles, because on any given day, anything could happen. Pelfrey though, has been absolutely dominant. In his last outing, he pitched nine innings in a Mets 11-inning win, and he could’ve pitched the 10th, the way he was going. He seems to get better every time out, and out of his 12 starts this season, nine have been quality starts (over six innings pitched, and three earned runs or less).

He’ll be going against an Orioles team that has been impatient over the first two games, and they hit a lot of balls on the ground, which is what Pelfrey is all about.

You’d figure Orioles starter Kevin Millwood won’t have any margin for error with Pelfrey going against him. When the Orioles traded for him in the offseason from the Texas Rangers, it was a move to bolster a “revamped” starting rotation. It hasn’t quite worked out, as shockingly, Millwood hasn’t won a single game this season.

It hasn’t all been his fault though. Millwood just hasn’t been getting a whole lot of run support, thus at 0-7, his ERA is only 4.64, which isn’t too bad pitching in the AL East for the worst team in baseball.

Thing is, the Mets may be catching him at the right time. The last two outings for Millwood have been his fault. In two consecutive starts against the Yankees, Millwood put together two carbon copy bad outings.

On June 3 at Yankee Stadium, and his last start on June 8 against the Yankees at Oriole Park, Millwood went 5.2 innings, giving up six runs on 10 hits, and allowing two home runs. That raised his ERA from 3.89 to 4.64.

The Mets though, haven’t been hitting too much in the bandbox at Camden Yards. Out of the eight runs they have scored in two games, only five have come from the regulars, with the other three being the home run from Chris Carter.

David Wright has contributed with three RBI, Jeff Francoeur and Jose Reyes have hit home runs, but everyone else has been cold.

Jason Bay, even with the move down to fifth in the order, hasn’t come through, and the rest of the guys have been non-factors. So even though the Mets have won both games, they can thank their starting pitching for the reason why.

Maybe a good sign for the Mets has been the lesser stressed innings for Francisco Rodriguez in the first two games. He hit a batter in last night’s game, but ended it on a double play.

With Mets starters going deep every game now, the bullpen has been used less recently, as only Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez have been used in this series.

The way the Phillies are playing right now, having lost 16 of 23, and falling two behind the Mets, the Mets have a chance to gain some big time ground. Their pitching is setup well from now through the Yankees series, so it’ll be intriguing to see how many games the Mets can win on this already 2-0 road trip.

They have it coming easily today. Can they get it done? It would be nice for a change.

Mike Pelfrey vs. Baltimore (career- 6/16/09)
Win, 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, 3 BB, 2 SO

Kevin Millwood vs. New York (career)
8-5, 3.36 ERA, 128.2 IP, 110 hits, 43 BB, 93 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Baltimore)
June 11: New York 5, Baltimore 1
June 12: New York 3, Baltimore 1
Mets lead series 2-0

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BALTIMORE: It’s finally happened. The Mets have won a road series for the first time in 2010. Albeit against the Orioles, the Mets have gotten that story out of the way, helped out by a bounce back from Hisanori Takahashi.

The Mets got off to a fast start against lefty Brian Matusz, as Jose Reyes hit a leadoff home run, his third of the season.

The Mets only had five hits in this game, but they had two big blows, the other being a Jeff Francoeur solo home run in the eighth.

The Mets, though, have now won seven of eight, in large part due to great starting pitching and defense.

The Mets got a solid outing from Hisanori Takahashi, who was looking to bounce back after two bad starts. It didn’t look good for him early on, as two of the first three batters doubled off him, to produce a run. That’s the only run the Orioles would get.

Takahashi got better as the game went along, and he was helped out by some stellar defense. The best defensive play came from young Ruben Tejada at second base, who made a stellar off-balance throw from deep in the hole at second base, with his momentum carrying him out to left field, to rob Adam Jones of a leadoff hit in the seventh.

The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a fielder’s choice by David Wright. It was a close play, but on the back end of a double play, Orioles second baseman Julio Lugo threw to first flat-footed, and Ty Wigginton came off the bag, as Wright beat it out, scoring Ruben Tejada from third.

Takahashi went a career-high seven innings, allowing one run on six hits, and earned his second win as a starter.

For the second straight game, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez pitched the final two innings to close out the Mets’ win, 5-1, over the Orioles.

Brian Matusz didn’t pitch a bad game after allowing the leadoff home run to Jose Reyes, as he went eight, giving up three runs on five hits and two home runs.

The Mets get their first road series win of the season, and for the first time in 10 1/2 months, win back-to-back road games.

They improve to a season-high six games over .500 at 34-28, and with the Phillies’ loss, go in front of them by two games. They remain 1.5 games behind the first-place Braves, who beat the Twins.

They’ll have a good chance at a sweep tomorrow afternoon, as they’ll have Mike Pelfrey on the mound, opposing Kevin Millwood (0-7).

NL East standings (top 3 teams)

Atlanta 36-27
NY Mets 34-28 (1 1/2)
Philadelphia 31-29 (3 1/2)

Series probable pitchers:

June 13
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 8-1, 2.23 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Kevin Millwood (2010: 0-7, 4.64 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:

New York Mets:
June 13 @ Baltimore Orioles
June 15-17 @ Cleveland Indians

Baltimore Orioles:
June 13 vs. New York Mets
June 14-16 @ San Francisco Giants

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BALTIMORE: July 25 and 26, 2009. Seems like random dates from last year’s awful season. Those dates are actually of meaning.

It was the last time the Mets won consecutive road games. On those dates, the Mets played in Houston after losing the first game and took the series.

This time, having not won a road series this season and having not won back-to-back road games since those dates, it should come a little easier for the Mets. After all, they are already up 1-0 against a 17-44 Orioles team.

Tonight, the Mets will try and win their 10th road game of the season, with Hisanori Takahashi on the mound. They may only be the lowly Orioles, but Takahashi has not fared well after a great beginning to his starter’s role.

After doing a fantastic job against the Yankees and Phillies, he’s faltered against the Padres and Marlins his last two times out, but the Mets need for him to be solid.

Maybe they’ll be helped by Jerry Manuel’s theory of the knuckleballer throwing a team off for an entire series. If that theory works, the Mets should be fine, since R.A. Dickey passed the test last night.

When Takahashi was going well as a starter, even as a reliever, it was because of his changeup, keeping the righties off balance. He threw strikes, getting his fastball up to 90 mph, and looked like a guy who knew how to pitch.

Not that none of those qualities have been there recently, but Takahashi has not thrown first-pitch strikes at as high a rate as he had. He’s nibbled around the strike zone, and given up some home runs as a result.

The Orioles, though, are ranked 24th in baseball in hitting, and couldn’t hit a knuckleballer in Dickey, so you’d figure the veteran Takahashi can fool around with the young Orioles hitters.

This could possibly be Takahashi’s final start, as John Maine will pitch in a rehab game for Double-A Binghamton on Sunday.

He could return to open the Yankees series on Friday, or maybe since Takahashi was so good against the Yankees at Citi Field, he’ll get one more go-around. You won’t be able to really judge him based on tonight’s start against a bad team.

Facing Takahashi will be young 23-year-old left-hander Brian Matusz. Picked fourth overall in the 2008 amateur draft by the Orioles, Matusz has not enjoyed too much success in the big leagues.

Last season in eight starts, he went 5-2 with a 4.63 ERA, but this year he’s been awful. In 12 starts, he’s 2-6 with an ERA of 5.10, and he’s given up 79 hits in 67 innings.

The Mets are a team that generally feasts off of lefties, especially David Wright and Jeff Francoeur, so going up against a bad left-hander may be exactly what the Mets need to win their first road series of the season.

Last night, manager Jerry Manuel tinkered with the lineup, moving the red-hot David Wright up to third, and moving the slumping Jason Bay down to fifth. The DH was Chris Carter, who hit the three-run home run, and he batted sixth.

Manuel announced that Fernando Tatis, who only has 47 at-bats this season, will play in tonight’s game, with the only question being whether he’ll DH or play third base with Wright DH’ing.

No matter what, in all likelihood, the lineup will remain the same with Tatis batting sixth instead of Carter.

If the Mets can win this game, they’ll have a strong chance of sweeping the series with 8-1 Mike Pelfrey opposing the 0-7 Kevin Millwood on Sunday.

First things first, though, the Mets need to win a road series tonight.

Hisanori Takahashi this season as a starter (4 starts)
1-1, 4.64 ERA, 21.1 IP, 24 hits, 5 BB, 17 SO, 3 HR

Brian Matusz this season (12 starts)
2-6, 5.10 ERA, 67 IP, 79 hits, 27 BB, 57 SO, 7 HR

2010 season series (New York vs. Baltimore)

June 11: New York 5, Baltimore 1

Mets lead series 1-0

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BALTIMORE– At 8-18 on the road this season, the Mets needed to inch towards the .500 mark, and they were at the perfect place to do so.

In Baltimore, the team with the worst record in the American League at 17-44, the Mets took care of business behind knuckleballer R. A. Dickey, who improved to 4-0 on the season.

It started off well for the Mets against right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, the Orioles’ best starter. Jose Reyes, on his 27th birthday, led off the game with a double off the left field wall. After Angel Pagan moved him to third on an advancing groundout, David Wright, moved up to third in the order, singled in the run.

Meanwhile, R. A. Dickey was on the mound, making his fifth start of the season, and his knuckler was flat out nasty. It had such movement that not only could the Orioles not hit it, but catcher Rod Barajas couldn’t catch it.

Dickey got into trouble all night long, but he barely allowed anything.

The most trouble he got into was in the fourth inning. The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs on two singles and a walk. Being they’re so bad, they couldn’t come through. Luke Scott and Adam Jones both struck out, and Matt Wieters popped out to third.

That trouble followed a three-run home run from designated hitter Chris Carter in the top of the inning. Carter launched his first career home run, extending the Mets’ lead to 4-0.

The Orioles had their leadoff hitter reach base in the fourth through eighth innings. The only run they scored was in the seventh against Dickey, with two outs, when Rod Barajas couldn’t handle a knuckleball and it got to the backstop.

The Orioles got one run off Dickey in seven innings, as Dickey has gone six-plus innings in each of his first five starts.

The Mets added a run in the eighth on a David Wright RBI double, his third hit and second RBI of the game. That made it 5-1, and Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez pitched the final two innings to preserve the Mets victory.

With their win and the Phillies and Braves’ losses, the Mets passed the Phillies for second place in the NL East and trail the Braves by 1.5 games for first place.

They will attempt to win their first road series of the season tomorrow night, and will try to win back-to-back road games for the first time since July 2009.

The Mets will send Hisanori Takahashi to the mound, opposing Orioles’ left-hander Brian Matusz.

NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 35-27
NY Mets 33-28 (1 1/2)
Philadelphia 31-28 (2 1/2)

Series probable pitchers:
June 12
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 4-2, 3.80 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Brian Matusz (2010: 2-6, 5.10 ERA)
June 13
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 8-1, 2.23 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Kevin Millwood (2010: 0-7, 4.64 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 12-13 @ Baltimore Orioles
June 15-17 @ Cleveland Indians

Baltimore Orioles:
June 12-13 vs. New York Mets
June 14-16 @ San Francisco Giants

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BALTIMORE—This season, the Mets are 24-10 playing at Citi Field. That’s pretty “amazin’.” The Amazins, though, are only 8-18 on the road.

If there was ever a road trip for the Mets to fatten up on, it’s this one. Starting tonight, the Mets will play six games against two of the three worst teams in the American League.

The Orioles are first on the docket, and if the Mets can’t win a series from a team 26 games below .500, then they just don’t deserve a playoff spot, no matter how good they are at home.

Right now, a playoff spot seems realistic. The Mets are tied with the Phillies for second place in the NL East, each 2.5 games behind the Braves.

Some people don’t consider the Braves a legitimate contender, but a team that got on a little hot streak, so for those people, it’s like the Mets and Phillies are tied for first place.

The bottom line is, while the Phillies have completely lost their offense, getting shutout again last night, and with the Braves hanging around, the Mets have an opportunity against some bad teams to make some hay.

Trying to get the Mets off on the right foot will be knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Dickey has been as good as can be for his standards so far in his first four starts, posting a 3-0 record and 3.20 ERA.

He’ll kick off the series, and was actually intentionally pushed back to start this series because of the theory that a knuckleballer throws teams off for a couple of days. Not that the Orioles aren’t already bad enough.

Going for the lowly birds will be perhaps their best starter, Jeremy Guthrie. Yankees fans are quite familiar with Guthrie in the AL East, and he’s known for plunking Yankees, most recently injuring Jorge Posada.

Although he’s 3-6 this season, Guthrie’s ERA is only 3.71. Last season, Guthrie had a terrible year, going 10-17 with an ERA of 5.04.

He has been extremely consistent this season, and his couple of blemishes came against the Yankees in consecutive starts, where he lost both games, giving up 10 ER on 12 hits. Of course, when do the Orioles ever beat the Yankees? Well, maybe last night, but that’s for a Yankees column.

For the Mets, it’ll be a strange next week and a half, as they will play nine consecutive games at an AL ballpark, meaning the use of the DH in every game. This will give manager Jerry Manuel the chance to give guys a half-day off, so to speak.

Manuel has stated that he’d like to “spread” the DH job around to guys like Jason Bay, David Wright, and Jose Reyes. Other guys that could get some DH time could be Chris Carter, Jesus Feliciano, or the forgotten man off the bench, Fernando Tatis.

The Mets are entering another road bandbox, and that’s what some people have used for an excuse for why the Mets play so poorly on the road. The theory that perhaps the players leave big Citi Field and have their eyes light up to hit home runs, which throws them off their game.

No matter where they are playing the Orioles, Oriole Park or Citi Field, it’s time for the Mets to cut the excuses and play some good baseball.

If the Mets, who are four games over .500, can win some road series’ in Baltimore and Cleveland, then they’ll further increase their winning percentage and keep themselves right in the thick of the NL East race as we head towards the middle of June.

R.A. Dickey vs. Baltimore (career)
0-2, 5.19 ERA, 17.1 IP, 18 hits, 3 BB, 11 SO

Jeremy Guthrie vs. New York (career- 6/16/09)
Loss, 6.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 hits, 2 BB, 4 SO

2009 season series (New York vs. Baltimore)
Orioles won series 2-1

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NEW YORK—The Mets have never had a no-hitter thrown in their 48-year history. Tonight, although the lone baserunner came in the third, it could’ve happened.

Jon Niese allowed a leadoff double to Padres center-fielder Chris Denorfia, and that was the only baserunner he put on all game.

Niese retired 27 of 28 batters, including the last 21 to face him, in one of the greatest pitching performances in Mets’ history. It was the first Mets one-hit shutout since Aaron Heilman on April 15, 2005. 

Niese’s final line was this: CG, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 SO.

There is nothing much more to say about the Padres offense since they were almost no-hit.

The Mets, though, were trying to get to Jon Garland after being two-hit in the day game of the doubleheader.

It looked like it was going to be a long night for the Mets after getting Jose Reyes to third with fewer than two outs and not scoring him in the first, but they came through in the second.

Chris Carter, starting in left field in the nightcap, led off with a double. Rod Barajas moved him to third with a single, and Jeff Francoeur singled Carter in for the game’s first run.

With Francoeur on first and no outs, second baseman Ruben Tejada grounded into a triple play. Unlike the one Jeff Francoeur hit into last season or the one the Mets turned earlier this season, this one was routine. Tejada grounded to third, Chase Headley stepped on third, threw to second, and Lance Zawadzki threw to first to complete the eighth triple play in Padres’ history.

In the third, Chris Denorfia led-off with a double down the right-field line. Who would’ve thought that would have been the lone baserunner of the game against him?

In the third, the Mets added two runs. Jon Niese led-off with a walk. Jose Reyes laid down a bunt, beat it out, and went to second on a throwing error by catcher Yorvit Torrealba. Two batters later, David Wright drove in his 40th run with a groundout to second, and it was followed by an Ike Davis RBI single, making it 3-0 Mets.

There would be no more scoring on either side, as Jon Niese carried the Mets to a 3-0 nightcap victory over the Padres.

Jason Bay got a full game off and Angel Pagan came in to run for Chris Carter in the sixth and stayed in center field.

The Mets split the day-night doubleheader to tie the Phillies for second place in the NL East, both 2.5 games behind the Braves for first place.

They will now head to Baltimore, Cleveland, and the Yankees for nine games at American League ballparks, using a DH.

The Mets finished a 5-1 home stand and are 32-28 on the season. Jon Niese said after the game that once he found out after the game that he could’ve had a perfect game, if it hadn’t been for the Chris Denorfia double, he was “crushed.”

Nothing to be “crushed” about, Jon, it was one of the greatest pitched games in Mets’ history.

Next Series Probable Pitchers

June 11

New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 3-0, 3.20 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Jeremy Guthrie (2010: 3-6, 3.71 ERA)

June 12

New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 4-2, 3.80 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Brian Matusz (2010: 2-6, 5.10 ERA)

June 13

New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 8-1, 2.23 ERA) vs. Baltimore: TBD

Upcoming Schedule

New York Mets

June 11-13 @ Baltimore Orioles

June 15-17 @ Cleveland Indians

Baltimore Orioles

June 11-13 vs. New York Mets

June 14-16 @ San Francisco Giants

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NEW YORK—Nothing seems to work for Johan Santana in a Mets uniform. When he doesn’t allow a run, the Mets don’t score. Today the Mets gave him some early runs, but Santana wasn’t on his game.

The Mets lost the opening game of the doubleheader to the Padres this afternoon, snapping their nine-game home winning streak.

It looked promising early on for the Mets when Henry Blanco provided a two-run home run off Padres’ starter Mat Latos in the second, but the Mets wouldn’t get another baserunner for the rest of the game.

The Padres’ top-ranked pitching staff retired the final 22 batters to face them, from Mat Latos to Luke Gregerson to Mike Adams to former Met Heath Bell.

With a 2-0 lead to protect, Santana just didn’t have any life on his fastball. He topped out at around 89 MPH, and he looked flat for a second straight start against the Padres. The difference is, last Wednesday, Santana battled through his issues to pitch scoreless ball, this time he coughed it up.

After not allowing a run through the first three innings, he loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth. He would only allow one run though on a sacrifice fly to Jerry Hairston Jr.

In the fifth, the Padres took a lead. After issuing a lead off walk to Tony Gwynn Jr., David Eckstein doubled him in to tie the game at 2-2. Two batters later, Adrian Gonzalez would line his third hit to center field, giving the Padres a 3-2 lead.

Santana still in the game with two outs in the seventh, gave up an RBI double to Chase Headley, extending the Padres lead to 4-2.

Santana’s numbers weren’t Santana-like. He allowed four runs on eight hits and he walked four while only striking out one, that being the opposing pitcher Mat Latos.

Speaking of Mat Latos, after allowing the early two-run shot, he was nasty. He retired the last 13 batters to face him, striking out eight in the process, although he was pulled after only six innings, having thrown only 99 pitches.

Padres’ reliever Luke Gregerson struck out the side in the seventh inning, the second time he has done that in this series.

The Mets lost the first game of the doubleheader 4-2, having had a lead at home with their ace on the mound.

Now they’ll try and earn a split tonight with Jon Niese on the mound, trying to duplicate his Saturday performance against the Marlins. Jon Garland, coming off of a bad start at the Phillies, goes for the Padres.

Series probable pitchers:
Tonight
New York: Jon Niese (2010: 2-2, 4.28 ERA) vs. San Diego: Jon Garland (2010: 6-3, 2.68 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
Tonight vs. San Diego Padres
June 11-13 @ Baltimore Orioles

San Diego Padres:
Tonight @ New York Mets
June 11-13 vs. Seattle Mariners

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Game One- 1:10pm
NEW YORK– Winning series at home for the Mets is becoming an automatic. The Mets have won seven of their last eight series’ at Citi Field and will go for their 10th consecutive home victory today with their ace Johan Santana on the mound.

This has been the issue in all of Santana’s seasons with the Mets so far; he doesn’t get any run support. On the previous road trip, Santana threw 15 scoreless innings over two starts in Milwaukee and San Diego and guess what? The Mets lost both games. That just can’t happen. A team shouldn’t lose one start all season that their ace doesn’t allow a run, let alone two consecutively. Yes, the Mets have had an issue in all road games this season, but you just have to find a way to scratch out at least one run in two starts with your ace on the hill.

Maybe things will change being the Mets are at home. Yet again, maybe they won’t. Opposing Santana will be Mat Latos, another solid Padres starter. The Mets didn’t face Latos in San Diego last week, but he’s pretty good. Not only is he a respectable 5-4, 3.26 ERA this season, last season he was pretty good against the Mets in a start on August 8 at PETCO Park. In that game, he went six innings, allowing one run on four hits, and he struck out seven.

The entire Padres pitching staff, from starters to middle relievers to the closer–former Met Heath Bell–are dominant. The Mets had trouble for the second straight time against Clayton Richard on Tuesday, not getting anything until Jose Reyes’ seventh inning game-tying home run, so Santana may be in for another scoreless tie in the eighth or ninth innings.

If so, the Mets will have to try and beat the Padres bullpen for a second straight game. That’s not easy considering the Padres have baseball best bullpen, led by Heath Bell and Luke Gregerson. Neither or those two guys were involved in Tuesday’s loss, as Bell didn’t pitch and Gregerson struck out the side. Ike Davis’ blast came off of Edward Mujica, the second he’s hit off of him this season.

Jose Reyes kind of got his act together Tuesday night recording two hits, including a home run, David Wright had two hits, and Jeff Francoeur extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

One guy who is mired in an unexplainable power drought is one Jason Bay. It’s getting to the point now with Bay, where he still only has three home runs, that he may be a bust. Although it’s only the third month of year one for Bay, isn’t about time he hits five in about a 20 at-bat span? It just isn’t working out right now, and it’s kind of hurting the Mets on offense.

On Tuesday, Bay came up in the 10th with a chance to win it with Angel Pagan at third and he grounded out, part of an 0-for-5, three strikeout performance.

A good sign for the Mets Tuesday, lost in their victory, was Francisco Rodriguez getting through an inning unscathed. Rodriguez came in in the 10th and struck out to, en route to a three up-three down inning.

Most things are looking up for the Mets right now. They’re at home–where they’re 23-9 on the season–with their ace on the mound.

The thing is, can they score for their ace today? Can Jason Bay break out of his funk? Ultimately, can the Mets continue their unbelieveable run at home? It’s becoming an event to watch every time they’re at Citi Field.

Johan Santana vs. San Diego (June 2)
ND, 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 hits, 5 BB, 3 SO

Mat Latos vs. New York (career- 8/8/09)
Win, 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, 3 BB, 7 SO

Game Two- 7:10pm
NEW YORK– Depending on what happens in the first game of the day-night doubleheader, the Mets will either be going for the series sweep, or it’ll be the rubber game for game two.

One thing that is set is the pitching match-up for the nightcap. It will be Jon Niese going for the Mets, making his second start returning from a hamstring injury, facing Padres’ Jon Garland.

Niese was terrific in his return from the Disabled List on Saturday against the Marlins, going seven innings, allowing one run on six hits, he walked one and struck out six.

The last doubleheader the Mets had was on April 27 against the Dodgers. That day, the Mets not only swept the doubleheader, but also had two left-handers going (Johan Santana and Oliver Perez.) On Thursday, the Mets will send two left-handers, Santana and Jon Niese.

For the Padres, Jon Garland was by far the best offseason acquisition for any team when it came to mid-level starting pitchers. Garland has been great this season, leading the young and effective Padres starting rotation.

He’s 6-3 with a 2.68 ERA and his worst start of the season was on Saturday night at the Phillies. In that game, he gave up six runs on 10 hits in seven innings.

He gave up a home run to Jayson Werth in that game at the bandbox that is Citizens Bank Park and called the park “a joke.” There won’t be any “joke” home runs allowed in this game, at a park that’s a total 180 turnaround at Citi Field.

The key to this game will probably be how badly used was the bullpen in the first game, specifically Francisco Rodriguez.

It’ll be a huge game no matter what, but even more if the Mets are in position to sweep the series, win their sixth in a row, and 11th straight at Citi Field.

The Mets are hot at home, can they sweep their second doubleheader of the season? Sit tight for a long day and night of baseball wherever you are.

Jon Niese this season (9 starts)
2-2, 4.28 ERA, 48.1 IP, 62 hits, 19 BB, 39 SO

Jon Garland vs. New York (career)
1-0, 2.57 ERA, 21 IP, 19 hits, 6 BB, 12 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. San Diego)
May 31: San Diego 18, New York 6
June 1: New York 4, San Diego 2
June 2: San Diego 5, New York 1 (11)
June 8: New York 2, San Diego 1 (11)
Series tied 2-2

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