Kuzul

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 tonight with their ace Johan Santana on the mound.

The issue has been the same 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 last night, 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’s best bullpen, led by Heath Bell and Luke Gregerson. Neither of those two guys were involved in last night’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 last 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 it 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.

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

A good sign for the Mets last night, lost in their victory, was Francisco Rodriguez getting through an inning unscathed. Rodriguez came in in the 10th and struck out two, 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 tonight? 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

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK– When will the Mets ever lose another home game? It looked like they were on their way to one tonight, but after nine strong innings from Mike Pelfrey, Ike Davis won it in the 11th.

The Padres, entering the Mets’ home with the NL’s best record, took an early lead. Three batters in to the game, the Padres took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double by Adrian Gonzalez.

The Padres wouldn’t score another run for the rest of the game. Just maybe that would be enough for them to win.

The Mets had their chances throughout the game. They stranded two men in the second inning. After Jose Reyes led off the third with a single, Angel Pagan hit into a double play. David Wright had a double in the fourth, but it was wasted. In the fifth, with first and third and two outs, Jason Bay struck out. David Wright singled and stole second in the sixth, but he was left stranded.

Thanks to Mike Pelfrey’s dominance after allowing the run in the first inning, the Mets were in position to come back.

Things got dramatic in the seventh for the Mets. It didn’t start out that way as the first two batters were retired. Then Jose Reyes came up and hit a ball to deep left field, high up the 16′ wall. It initially appeared that the ball cleared the orange line at the top of the fence, but it was reviewed by replay, and the call was a home run, tying the game at 1-1.

Pelfrey would go on to pitch the eighth and ninth, as he received a no-decision. He gave up one run on five hits, walked none and struck out five.

In the Mets’ 10th, with two outs, Angel Pagan hit what was almost the game-winning home run. The ball fell inches short, off the top of the right field fence, and he’d settle for a triple. Jason Bay grounded out to the end the inning. 

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 10th and the Mets had to try and beat the Padres’ No. 1 ranked bullpen in MLB.

After allowing a leadoff hit in the 11th, Pedro Feliciano was relieved by Elmer Dessens, who got the final out, setting it up for the Mets.

Ike Davis led off the 11th with a walk-off home run, an absolute bomb past the Pepsi Porch in right, handing the Mets yet another home victory; they are now 23-9 at Citi Field.

The Mets have won nine consecutive games at home, and move to 31-27 on the season.

They’ve gone 4-0 on this home stand, and will try and win this series against San Diego with Johan Santana on the mound, opposing Mat Latos tomorrow night.

Series probable pitchers:

June 9
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 4-2, 2.76 ERA) vs. San Diego: Mat Latos (2010: 5-4, 3.26 ERA)
June 10
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:
June 9-10 vs. San Diego Padres
June 11-13 @ Baltimore Orioles

San Diego Padres:
June 9-10 @ New York Mets
June 11-13 vs. Seattle Mariners

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK: How must teams feel coming to play the Mets at Citi Field? It’s become a house of horrors for opposing teams, as only nine games have resulted in a Mets loss in their home.

Asking the Mets players, none of them can come up with a legitimate reason why they can’t take their act on the road.

Manager Jerry Manuel, though, thinks the road wins will eventually come.

“If we continue to win in the fashion we’re winning in, eventually we’re going to take this on the road,” he said after Sunday’s sweep over the Marlins.

There’s a reason to believe that if you’re the Mets or their fans. You don’t lose talent or forget how to win on the road. The same players putting on a show at Citi Field every night, are the ones suiting up for the Mets on the road.

Starting on Friday, the Mets will play two road series against the two worst teams in the American League, the Orioles and Indians. You’d think the Mets could at least win four of those six games, if not five or even all six.

Right now, though, there’s a task at hand for three more at the ballpark where the Mets are playing to a .710 winning percentage. The San Diego Padres come to town tonight, coming off of a split of four games with the Phillies.

The Mets will seek some revenge against San Diego, who took two from the Mets last week at PETCO Park, including beating the Mets 18-6 in the first game on Memorial Day.

It was a really strange sight, considering the Mets were playing in a ballpark similar in size to theirs.

The only win they got in that series was last Tuesday with Mike Pelfrey on the mound. Thankfully for the Mets, they’ll have him on the mound tonight.

How else would you want to begin a series against the league’s best team than with your best pitcher on the mound at a park where you’ve dominated?

It’s a pretty good formula for the Mets to make some hay in the NL East, where they now only trail the first-place Braves by 2 1/2 games.

Standing in their way will be Padres starter Clayton Richard. Just like Pelfrey, Richard’s last start came against the Mets on Wednesday in the series finale in San Diego.

He was facing Johan Santana, whom the Mets just can’t score runs for, and the Padres won on Adrian Gonzalez’s 11th inning, walk-off grand slam. Richard pitched a decent six innings, and left after only six due to throwing 109 pitches.

Trying to help Pelfrey out will be a confident Mets offense that stormed back for a seven-run outburst in the final three innings of Sunday’s comeback.

Led by a resurgent Jeff Francoeur, the Mets are not having too much trouble scoring runs at home; well, they aren’t struggling at doing anything this season at home.

David Wright has been somewhat hot on the home stand, having gone 5-for-10 in the Marlins series, with a home run, his 150th career shot.

The biggest problem right now for the Mets is their bullpen. After getting off to a fast start, and being among the league’s best in April and early May, they’ve really been struggling, none more than Ryota Igarashi.

After coming over from Japan in the offseason and taking the Mets eighth-inning role by storm with a fiery attitude, Igarashi hasn’t been the same after his return from a hamstring injury.

It’s, no pun intended, hamstrung the bullpen, leading to Jerry Manuel now using the 39-year-old journeyman reliever Elmer Dessens in the eighth inning.

The Mets, though, have a golden opportunity to win some series, starting with this one. Being at home with their top two starters going, if they can pull this one out, they have the two easy series in Baltimore and Cleveland to follow.

Can the Mets go 6-3 to get to 36-30 by the Yankees series, starting weekend after this?

They should and they could, but will they? That remains to be seen. It all starts tonight.

Mike Pelfrey vs. San Diego (June 1)
Win, 8 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, 2 BB, 8 SO

Clayton Richard vs. New York (June 2)
ND, 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, 4 BB, 5 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)

Padres lead series 2-1

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK—After getting swept by the Marlins in a four-game series in Miami in mid-May, the Mets will have a chance to do the same over three games at Citi Field today.

They will hope that Hisanori Takahashi can rebound from his last start on Monday in San Diego, when he gave up a grand slam in an 18-6 Mets loss.

Before that start, Takahashi had pitched scoreless ball in his first two starts against the Yankees and Phillies.

Pitching for the Marlins will be Ricky Nolasco, whose ERA is at a bloated 4.57. After a decent start to his season, Nolasco got battered for eight earned runs on 10 hits on May 21 at the White Sox.

He’s beaten the Mets once this season and the Marlins have won both games that he’s started against them. If Nolasco’s won-loss pattern were to hold up today, it wouldn’t be a good thing for the Mets.

After having no-decisions in his first two starts of the season, he’s gotten one in all nine starts since then. In fact, they’ve gone like this: Win two, lose two, win two, lose two, win one (5-4). If you notice, he’s on a two-win pattern, so if you believe in that type of mathematical pattern, you’re pretty nervous.

If you want to get serious though, just take a look at what the Mets have been doing at home, that’s pretty serious. The Mets, with their win yesterday, improved to 21-9 at home, and always seem to make up on home stands for lost road trips.

Now, only if the Mets could find a way to muster some road wins. Nobody quite understands what’s wrong with the Mets on the road.

Not every road ballpark is a bandbox, so that shouldn’t be used as an excuse. Especially seeing what they did in a Citi Field-type ballpark last week, losing two of three to the Padres at PETCO Park.

As long as the Mets keep on playing this type of elite baseball at home, they’ll be in the thick of things all summer long.

It was a welcome site to see David Wright hit a home run yesterday at Citi Field. It was his first home run at home since opening day, April 5, against the Marlins.

Wright has had a season of milestones so far. Earlier in the season, he recorded his 1,000th career hit. In yesterday’s game he reached two more, 150 home runs and 600 runs batted in.

Yesterday was also a career day for rookie Ike Davis, who went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three hits coming against a left-hander. Jeff Francoeur drove in yesterday’s first run, extending his hitting streak to nine games.

So, the Mets offense is starting to click a little bit and they’ve put themselves in position to have another pretty good homestand.

The good thing is, closer Francisco Rodriguez didn’t pitch in yesterday’s game, so the Mets will finally have him rested if they need him today.

If the Mets can get the sweep, they’ll have a chance for a prolonged winning streak with Pelfrey and Santana on the mound for the first two games against the Padres.

Hisanori Takahashi this season (18 games, 3 started)
4-2, 3.21 ERA, 42 IP, 40 hits, 17 BB, 45 SO

Ricky Nolasco vs. New York this season (2 starts)
1-0, 3.55 ERA, 12.2 IP, 9 hits, 5 BB, 8 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Florida)

April 5: New York 7, Florida 1
April 7: Florida 7, New York 6 (10)
April 8: Florida 3, New York 1
May 13: Florida 2, New York 1
May 14: Florida 7, New York 2
May 15: Florida 7, New York 5
May 16: Florida 10, New York 8
June 4: New York 4, Florida 3
June 5: New York 6, Florida 1

Marlins lead series 6-3

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK: Don’t worry about the Mets when they play at Citi Field, that’s not their problem. The Mets continued their home dominance on Saturday, beating the Marlins 6-1 to improve to an MLB best 21-9 at home.

The man who had been slumping for a while, Ike Davis, led the charge with his first career four-hit game, including two doubles, an RBI, and three runs scored.

The effort was in support of 23-year-old left-hander Jon Niese, who was coming back from a hamstring injury against these Marlins on May 16.

Niese was spectacular in his return, going seven strong innings, allowing one run on an RBI single by Ronny Paulino in the seventh, on six hits, he struck out six, walked one, and hit a batter.

Niese had his pitches working all day. He had a filthy curveball and a tight cutter bearing in on the right handers, which helped him produce two double play grounders.

After getting into some trouble in the seventh but only allowing one run, Niese was pulled from the game to his dismay.

His pitch count was fairly low, but it was his return from injury, so manager Jerry Manuel played it safe.

While Niese was doing his thing, the Mets offense was scoring runs to help him out. The Mets got to work against lefty Nate Robertson, who had beaten them twice this season.

In the second, Ike Davis led off with a double. With two on, Jeff Francoeur, swinging a hot bat, singled in the game’s first run. That was followed by a Ruben Tejada RBI double, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.

In the third, Angel Pagan led off with a double. Two batters later, Ike Davis singled in a run and David Wright followed up with a two-run home run, just wrapping it around the foul pole in left. That extended the lead to 5-0.

The Mets would add a run in the fifth on an RBI single by David Wright, giving him 39 RBI on the season. His home run was his 150th career shot.

It went on to be an easy 6-1 win for the Mets, who continue to win home series’. They are now 29-27 on the season, and will try and sweep the Marlins tomorrow with Hisanori Takahashi on the mound, before taking Monday off. The Padres come to town after that.

Series probable pitchers:

June 6
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 4-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. Florida: Ricky Nolasco (2010: 5-4, 4.57 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:

New York Mets:
June 6 vs. Florida Marlins
June 8-10 vs. San Diego Padres

Florida Marlins:
June 6 @ New York Mets
June 8-10 @ Philadelphia Phillies

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK—For the first time since May 16 when he injured his hamstring in Florida, Jon Niese will take the mound for the Mets, as they go for the series win against the Marlins.

In that game, Niese hurt himself in the third inning, without retiring a batter, as the Mets lost 10-8.

Series victories have been hard to come by for the Mets on the road, but at home the Mets are now 20-9 and would be in good shape with a win today.

Niese will oppose Marlins left-hander Nate Robertson, who has defeated the Mets twice this season. Out of his four wins on the season, two have come against the Mets and one against the Phillies.

Meanwhile, Niese was having an uneven beginning to his season. In eight starts, five of them he allowed three earned runs or less and in the other three he allowed four, five, and six earned runs. His record so far is 1-2, 4.79 ERA.

Ike Davis has been in a huge slump recently. He’s 3 for his last 29 at the plate and perhaps Jerry Manuel will rest him against the lefty Robertson and give Fernando Tatis a chance to start.

With the lefty going though, the Mets may have a field day. Jason Bay has been on fire lately with the exception of power, and David Wright is prone to hitting soft-tossing lefties very well. Jeff Francoeur, who had last night’s game-tying hit, has also picked up his game and does well against left-handers. In fact, the Mets have the highest team batting average against lefties in the National League.

Although it’s a late afternoon start time, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Omir Santos catches in Rod Barajas’ place, but once again, it’s not a typical day game-after night game.

With the roster moves made yesterday, 20-year-old Ruben Tejada will get the majority of starts at second base, so it appears last night’s lineup will be the one used for a while, at least until Luis Castillo returns or when Carlos Beltran comes back.

Speaking of Carlos Beltran, he played in an extended spring game in Port St. Lucie yesterday and went 2-for-6, but did not run. He could enter rehab games as early as two weeks from now.

Can the Mets win this series with their “other” starters, before throwing Pelfrey and Santana against the Padres? It may be a slugfest with two lefties on the mound, but the Mets are really playing well at home.

Jon Niese vs. Florida this season (2 starts)
0-2, 5.63 ERA, 8 IP, 12 hits, 3 BB, 4 SO

Nate Robertson vs. New York this season (2 starts)
2-0, 2.53 ERA, 10.2 IP, 13 hits, 1 BB, 6 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Florida)
April 5: New York 7, Florida 1
April 7: Florida 7, New York 6 (10)
April 8: Florida 3, New York 1
May 13: Florida 2, New York 1
May 14: Florida 7, New York 2
May 15: Florida 7, New York 5
May 16: Florida 10, New York 8
June 4: New York 4, Florida 3
Marlins lead series 6-2

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK–Coming home, the Mets needed to put together a good home stand, in order to stay afloat with their road woes.

It didn’t get off to a good start, as the Mets trailed the Marlins 3-0 early in this game, but R.A. Dickey settled down nicely to keep the Mets in it.

After retiring the first five batters of the game to face him, Dickey allowed a run in the second on a triple and RBI single by Cameron Maybin.

In the third, the Marlins loaded the bases without an out for Hanley Ramirez, who brought in a run with a fielder’s choice and another run scored on an error by first baseman Ike Davis, extending the lead to 3-0. The next batter Jorge Cantu singled to center where Angel Pagan threw out Ramirez at the plate.

The Mets have had a knack all season long of fighting back in games, especially at home. They got the two runs back in their third with an unexpected rally out of the bottom of the order.

20-year-old second baseman Ruben Tejada, just called up to replace Luis Castillo who went on the DL with sore feet, doubled to leadoff the inning. Pitcher R.A. Dickey singled off the first base bag, scoring Tejada, making it 3-1. Angel Pagan hit a double play after a Reyes hit, but Jason Bay then doubled in Dickey, cutting the lead to 3-2.

For the second straight start, Dickey was shaky to begin the game, but settled in to keep the Mets within a run. In the fifth, with second and third and two outs, Dickey got Cantu to groundout to shortstop to end the inning. A 1-2-3 sixth from Dickey set up the Mets comeback.

In the sixth, after an Ike Davis popout, Wright walked and Rod Barajas doubled him to third. Jeff Francoeur, staying red-hot, singled the tying run home and Ruben Tejada gave the Mets a 4-3 lead with a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop. Dickey would then get his second hit of the game, Reyes followed with a walk, but Pagan grounded out to end the frame.

The Mets still had some work to do, as they needed another three innings of shut down pitching out of the bullpen. Dickey pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, he walked two and struck out four.

After Pedro Feliciano allowed a single and induced a fielder’s choice grounder, temporarily banging up Reyes, Elmer Dessens came in to try and end the seventh with runners on the corners and two outs. He got a huge out of Hanley Ramirez to keep the game 4-3 in the Mets favor.

Dessens came back on in the eighth and hit the leadoff batter Cantu but retired the next three hitters in order, setting it up for Francisco Rodriguez, who had been struggling while throwing a ton of pitches.

In the ninth, Rodriguez retired the first two to face him, and it seemed as if it would finally be a quick save for him.

Chris Coghlan came up and dribbled a slow roller back to K-Rod and there was no play, as it went for an infield hit. K-Rod then walked Gaby Sanchez and with Hanley Ramirez up, threw a wild pitch, allowing the lead run to move into scoring position.

Ramirez hit a ground ball up the third base line, where David Wright fielded the ball in foul territory and made a long throw on one hop to first baseman Ike Davis for the final out of the game.

It may have been a closer call, and perhaps a game-tying infield hit, hadn’t it been for Ramirez pausing to watch whether the ball would go foul. Rodriguez was once again shaky and probably got helped out by Ramirez, but the Mets got the nail-biting victory and snapped their six-game losing streak to the Marlins.

With the win, the Mets improved to 20-9 at home and will only need one more win this weekend for a series victory.

They resume the series tomorrow afternoon with Jon Niese returning from injury, facing Marlins lefty Nate Robertson.

Series probable pitchers:

June 5

New York: Jon Niese (2010: 1-2, 4.79 ERA) vs. Florida: Nate Robertson (2010: 4-4, 4.30 ERA)

June 6

New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 4-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. Florida: Ricky Nolasco (2010: 5-4, 4.57 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:

New York Mets:
June 5-6 vs. Florida Marlins
June 8-10 vs. San Diego Padres

Florida Marlins:
June 5-6 @ New York Mets
June 8-10 @ Philadelphia Phillies

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After a strange geographical road trip to Milwaukee and San Diego, losing four of six, the Mets come home to Citi Field, where they went 19-9 the first two months.

They’ll take on the Florida Marlins who swept four from the Mets in Miami during the last meeting, and have won six straight against New York.

The only time the Marlins have been to Citi Field this season was the opening series. After the Mets won the first game, the Marlins took the next two.

It is now June 4, and the Mets really have to protect their home field the way they’ve been playing on the road. Considering that the Braves have won nine straight and lead the Mets by five games in the NL East, it’s time for the Mets to play serious baseball if they have any intentions of playing into October.

The Marlins, meanwhile, are one-half game in front of the Mets at 28-27 after beating the Brewers last night, and send to the mound solid 26-year-old right-hander Anibal Sanchez.

After an amazing start to his career in 2006—when he went 10-3 with a no-hitter in 17 starts—it looked like Sanchez’s career was on the decline after injuries. This season, Sanchez has picked up his 2006 pitching and is 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA.

The Mets will pitch knuckleballer R.A. Dickey for the fouth time. His first two starts were pretty good and his last one was shaky but efficient, helping the Mets avoid a sweep in Milwaukee. This will be Dickey’s second start at Citi Field, he pitched well against the Phillies in his other home start.

With the announcement that Jon Niese will return to make the start on Saturday, it appears for now, the Mets have their starting five set—Santana, Pelfrey, Takahashi, Dickey, Niese.

After an off-day, the Mets will try and provide Dickey with some run-support, something they couldn’t do twice for Johan Santana on the road trip.

Although Jason Bay had three hits on Wednesday, he still hasn’t shown the consistency of a true star player.

One guy who did come around on the road trip was Jeff Francoeur. So much, that he was moved up from eighth to sixth in the batting order, Angel Pagan was moved up to second.

The reason Pagan was moved into the two spot was because Luis Castillo didn’t start due to his leg and foot problems, and he may head to the disabled list before Friday night’s game.

The Mets may have had plans of bringing Daniel Murphy up to fill in at second base for the short-term, but that won’t happen. Murphy will miss the remainder of the 2010 season with an MCL tear, which won’t require surgery, but will put him out 4-6 months.

Therefore, you’ll be seeing a whole lot more of Alex Cora unless the Mets make a roster move for a middle infielder.

The question becomes: If Castillo isn’t playing, does Angel Pagan bat second all the time?

He didn’t fare too well on Wednesday batting second, going 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. He did have a double batting left-handed against Padres reliever Luke Gregerson—the first hit Gregerson allowed to a left-handed hitter in 34 at-bats.

The Mets will not have Santana or Pelfrey pitching in this series, as it’ll be the “other three.” Dickey, Niese, and Takahashi will be the starters for this weekend’s series.

If the Mets have a three run lead or less heading to the ninth, who will be the closer?

Francisco Rodriguez hasn’t only been shaky lately with his blown save on Wednesday, but went 2 1/3 innings and threw 46 pitches in his stint. Perhaps the off-day got him energized to make an appearance if needed tonight.

So, there are a lot of storylines entering this weekend’s rivalry series. It will be interesting, with both teams in similar situations in the standings.

R.A. Dickey vs. Florida (career)
1-1, 8.22 ERA, 7.2 IP, 11 hits, 7 BB, 6 SO

Anibal Sanchez vs. New York (May 14)
Win, 7 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, 2 BB, 7 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Florida)
April 5: New York 7, Florida 1
April 7: Florida 7, New York 6 (10)
April 8: Florida 3, New York 1
May 13: Florida 2, New York 1
May 14: Florida 7, New York 2
May 15: Florida 7, New York 5
May 16: Florida 10, New York 8
Marlins lead series 6-1

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

SAN DIEGO– The Mets were looking for their first road series victory since July 2009. They had their ace Johan Santana on the mound, and everything was heading in the right direction seemingly.

Trying to follow up a brilliant outing from co-ace Mike Pelfrey, Santana went to the mound and didn’t have his “Type A” stuff. He battled through seven innings of work, throwing over 120 pitches, and gutting out a scoreless effort for the second straight start.

In the first, he walked the leadoff batter Jerry Hairston, the first leadoff walk he had allowed since July 2009. After then giving up a hit to Adrian Gonzalez–remember the name–he got out of further trouble.

In the second, he walked two more batters and escpaed damage. In the third, he put two runners on and got Scott Hairston to hit a ground ball back to him to end the inning.

In the fourth, the Mets came through with a run on a Jeff Francoeur RBI single, scoring Jason Bay who led off with a single of his own. That put the Mets up 1-0, and that’s all they’d score.

If the Mets were going to win this game, they would have to shut the Padres out. That’s something the Mets are quite familiar with, doing it in three straight games to the Phillies last week at Citi Field.

Santana would hop in and out of trouble until the seventh, where he threw his only 1-2-3 inning of the game.

In the eighth, protecting a 1-0 lead, Pedro Feliciano relieved Johan Santana and allowed a leadoff hit to Chase Headley. Manager Jerry Manuel would bring in Elmer Dessens who retired the next two batters, before Manuel brought Francisco Rodriguez in for the four-out save.

Rodriguez struck out pinch-hitter Will Venable to keep the tying-run from scoring. In the ninth, K-Rod allowed a leadoff single to Tony Gwynn Jr., who would steal second base. After striking out pinch-hitter Matt Stairs and Jerry Hairston, David Eckstein tied the game at 1-1 with a single up the middle. The next batter Adrian Gonzalez doubled to left, but the combination of Jason Bay and David Wright teamed to throw Eckstein out at the plate to send the game to extra innings, tied 1-1.

Neither team scored in the 10th, and the Mets went down in order in the 11th. In the Padres 11th, after Rodriguez pitched 2 2/3 innings, Raul Valdes relieved him. Tony Gwynn Jr. led off with a double, but was thrown out at third on a bunt by pinch-hitting pitcher Jon Garland.

Jerry Hairston singled Garland to second and Eckstein was hit to load the bases with one out. Adrian Gonzalez came up and hit a walk-off grand slam to left field, as the Padres walked off with an 11 inning, 5-1 win.

It was an absolute heart-breaking loss for the Mets, who were one strike away from their first road series victory of the season.

It’s the second time in two seasons that the Mets have lost to the Padres on a walk-off grand slam. Last season, Everth Cabrera hit one off of Francisco Rodriguez.

It’s the second consecutive outing that Santana has allowed zero runs and the Mets have lost. During his last two starts, Santana has thrown 15 scoreless innings.

Now the Mets limp home to begin a weekend series with Marlins after a much-needed day off tomorrow, trailing the first-place Braves by 4 1/2 games in the NL East. R.A. Dickey will oppose Anibal Sanchez.

Next series probable pitchers:
June 4
New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 2-0, 2.84 ERA) vs. Florida: Anibal Sanchez (2010: 5-2, 2.89 ERA)
June 5
New York: Jon Niese (2010: 1-2, 4.79 ERA) vs. Florida: Nate Robertson (2010: 4-4, 4.30 ERA)
June 6
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 4-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. Florida: Ricky Nolasco (2010: 5-4, 4.57 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 4-6 vs. Florida Marlins
June 8-10 vs. San Diego Padres

Florida Marlins:
June 3 vs. Milwaukee Brewers
June 4-6 @ New York Mets

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

SAN DIEGO: It may seem hard to believe, but the Mets can actually win a road series tonight against a top NL opponent.

After the trio of Mike Pelfrey, David Wright, and Ike Davis led the Mets to a 4-2 win over the Padres last night, the Mets will send ace Johan Santana to the mound looking for a coveted road series victory.

In his last start, Santana was brilliant, but the Mets lost when they couldn’t score a run off of Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo. In eight innings pitched on May 28 in Milwaukee, Santana allowed three hits and struck out five.

Since the debacle in Philadelphia where Santana had a career-worst effort, he’s been nothing short of ace-like. In the five starts since then, Santana is only 1-0, but with a 1.69 ERA.

He will be opposed by Padres’ starter and former White Sox pitcher Clayton Richard. Also a southpaw, Richard has had very similar numbers to those of Santana.

While Santana is 4-2, 3.03 ERA, Richard is 4-3, 3.00 ERA.

In each of his last four starts, Richard has gone exactly seven innings, and he hasn’t allowed more than four earned runs in a start this season, which came in his last start.

So although the Mets will have their ace left-hander on the mound, the Padres will counter with a lefty who has been just as good as Santana this season.

There are a couple of Mets players who should be thrilled to see a lefty going against them. First off is David Wright.

He has been hot of late, and against the soft-tossing lefty LeBlanc last night, he recorded three hits including a home run.

Jeff Francoeur added a couple of hits yesterday, while Jason Bay, who is slumping again, may want to see a lefty to help him out.

Luis Castillo has been fighting multiple leg and foot problems recently, and it seems that batting from the right side is what gets Castillo going, since that’s his “power and production” side.

When a right-hander pitches, manager Jerry Manuel tends to start Alex Cora at second base, because he’s left-handed. So, it’s become kind of a second base platoon between Castillo and Cora.

Jose Reyes’ eight game hitting streak was snapped in last night’s game, as he went 0-for-5, all leading off innings. Reyes led off the five odd-numbered innings and only reached on an error.

The last game Johan Santana pitched, it was a pitchers’ duel, and those aforementioned Mets’ hitters would love to make sure they score runs for him this time around.

If the Mets can pull out a victory, all they need are a couple of runs to make it happen assuming Johan is on his game, then the Mets would return home in impressive fashion.

After getting smoked 18-6 in the first game of the series, you wouldn’t think the Mets could come back to win a road series against a first-place team.

With their ace, anything is possible, and the Mets know they can come back home with a winning record. The good thing is, even if they lose, they will come home at .500.

Meaning, as good as they’ve been at home, the Mets can be over .500 before they go on their next road trip against awful American League teams.

Even with all the turmoil that has surrounded the Mets this season, and their road woes, they’re still in pretty good shape at the one-third point of the season.

Johan Santana vs. San Diego (career)
2-2, 2.41 ERA, 33.2 IP, 24 hits, 11 BB, 26 SO

Clayton Richard vs. New York (career- 8/6/09)
Win, 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 hits, 4 BB, 5 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

Series tied 1-1

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com