Benjamin Grimm

Castro homers. I'm not upset that Lo Duca's not playing.

Anderson is taking on 0-1 and 1-1, then swings and misses at a 1-2 pitch. Zambrano very fired up. Jumping, twirling, pumping his fist, and pointing to the sky.

Delgado walks. That's the seventh walk for Zambrano in 4.2 innings. A big hit by Marlon would be nice here.

After a two-out walk to Newhan in the fifth, Wright breaks up the no-hitter with a hard single to left. Delgado batting.

You get two full weekdays. A Tuesday game will close on Friday. A Friday game will close on Wednesday. Some say the games are open for too long and that the forum gets too filled up with Schaefer threads. Others say that they close too quickly, so there's no pleasing everybody. Sorry you missed out on that game, but these things do move quickly. On the other hand, I'm going to be on vacation the last two weeks of August, so the games played during that time will be open much longer than usual.

Green walks, now it's Gotay's turn. The Cubs have a big plastic pail of "Big League Chew" in their dugout.

Green's up with two out and Delgado on third.

If your name is G-Fafif, bmfc1, Yancy Street Gang, Edgy DC, TransMonk, metirish, Frayed Knot, or Gwreck, then you've already voted for Wednesday night's 8-5 win over the Brewers. If not, please vote soon because the game will close over the weekend.

Newhan, Anderson, Green. Might be the worst defensive outfield the Mets have put out there this year. It wasn't that long ago that they were talking about what a great outfield they had in Chavez, Beltran, Gomez. That alignment didn't last all that long, did it?

If Paulie still isn't in the lineup by Sunday night, when Glavine takes his next crack at 300, I think he'll snap.

It's so strange to see the Mets at Wrigley. I remember so many games that they played there in the past, and now they're in Chicago so rarely. One perk of playing in either of the two Central Divisions: You get to go to Chicago three times a year.

I don't care if Newhan's a left-handed hitter. I'd rather see Milledge starting and batting second. Nice to see Gotay getting a start though.

SCHAEFER METS PLAYER AND PITCHER OF THE MONTH, JULY 2007 http://leaptoad.com/mets/jpeg/DavidWright1971.jpg http://leaptoad.com/mets/jpeg/1977JohnMaine.jpg The Schaefer Mets Player of the Month for July 2007 is DAVID WRIGHT. This is David's second win this season and fourth overall. He is the first Met to be named Player of the Month four times. Wright led the Mets in July with 34 hits, a .333 batting average and 22 runs batted in. Wright's 7 stolen bases were second to Jos� Reyes' 11. He also had 4 home runs, trailing only Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran, who both had 5. Delgado, although he finished third, also had a strong month, hitting .323 and leading the team in Slugging Percentage with .525 and in On Base Percentage with .414. The Schaefer Mets Pitcher of the Month for July 2007 is JOHN MAINE. This is Maine's third win this year and fourth overall. He is only the second Mets pitcher to be named Pitcher of the Month four times. (Pedro Martinez has won the award five times.) John's July was slightly better than that of runnerup Orlando Hernandez. Both pitchers were 3 and 1 (the only Mets pitchers to win 3 games in July) and Maine's ERA was 3.56 to Hernandez's 3.60. Maine led the club in strikeouts in July with 29 and walked only 8 batters in 30.1 innings. Month-to-date totals for July 2007 Through game of July 31, 2007 RankNamePoints1David Wright21.522Jos� Reyes17.153Carlos Delgado15.564Lastings Milledge15.175John Maine13.546Orlando Hernandez12.637Carlos Beltran12.198Ruben Gotay11.219Tom Glavine10.3110Ramon Castro9.5311Oliver Perez9.1612Paul Lo Duca7.7513Aaron Heilman7.5214Billy Wagner6.3415Guillermo Mota5.6916Shawn Green5.3117Jorge Sosa4.6318Pedro Feliciano4.0119Aaron Sele3.8320Scott Schoeneweis3.3121Marlon Anderson3.1722Mike Pelfrey2.6123Damion Easley2.5224Joe Smith2.1925Jos� Valentin1.8226Chip Ambres1.5227Moises Alou1.4528Ricky Ledee1.2329David Newhan0.9330Jon Adkins0.8331Sandy Alomar0.4632Luis Castillo0.1133Julio Franco0.0834Anderson Hernandez0.06 Previous Winners YearAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember2005Cliff Floyd Player of the MonthPedro Martinez Pitcher of the Month Mike Cameron Player of the MonthPedro Martinez Pitcher of the Month Cliff Floyd Player of the MonthPedro Martinez Pitcher of the Month Jos� Reyes Player of the MonthPedro Martinez Pitcher of the Month David Wright Player of the MonthTom Glavine Pitcher of the Month Tom Glavine Player of the Month, Pitcher of the Month 2006Tom Glavine Player of the Month, Pitcher of the Month Carlos Beltran Player of the MonthPedro Martinez Pitcher of the Month David Wright Player of the MonthAlay Soler Pitcher of the Month Carlos Beltran Player of the MonthJohn Maine Pitcher of the Month Jos� Reyes Player of the MonthSteve Trachsel Pitcher of the Month Carlos Delgado Player of the MonthOrlando Hernandez Pitcher of the Month 2007Jos� Reyes Player of the MonthJohn Maine Pitcher of the Month David Wright Player of the MonthOliver Perez Pitcher of the Month John Maine Player of the Month, Pitcher of the Month David Wright Player of the MonthJohn Maine Pitcher of the Month

metirish wrote: That he is a working professor is a shame. I'm starting to get the feeling that anybody can be a professor.

VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for July 31, 2007 (9 votes) Milwaukee Brewers 4, New York Mets 2 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceTom Glavine26.362.936.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO.Jorge Sosa11.541.282.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO.Jos� Reyes10.701.192-5, R, 2B, BB, SB.David Wright10.741.192-4, R, RBI, 2 BB, SB.Lastings Milledge5.800.640-6, SO.Moises Alou5.400.601-3, RBI, 2 BB, SB.Aaron Heilman4.280.481.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Shawn Green1.800.201-4, 2B.Luis Castillo1.000.111-5.David Newhan0.880.101-1.Carlos Delgado0.500.061-5, BB, SO.

Official rules say: ]10.18 Shutouts A shutout is a statistic credited to a pitcher who allows no runs in a game. No pitcher shall be credited with pitching a shutout unless he pitches the complete game, or unless he enters the game with none out before the opposing team has scored in the first inning, puts out the side without a run scoring and pitches the rest of the game without allowing a run. When two or more pitchers combine to pitch a shutout, the league statistician shall make a notation to that effect in the league's official pitching records.

Yeah, but to pitch a complete game you don't have to be the only one to get an out, you have to be the only pitcher. Let's say a starter gets pulled from the game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. The tying run is on base. The relief pitcher comes in and (BOOM!) gives up a walkoff homer. Our starter was the only pitcher who recorded any outs, but I certainly wouldn't call that a complete game. He walked off the mound and somebody else came in. This reminds me of Babe Ruth pitching a perfect game in relief of Ernie Shore way back in the day. I think that was credited at the time as a no-hitter, but not as a shutout or complete game. But I'm not sure of that.

Is Carlos Zambrano a future Met? Right now I'm guessing no, but if he does go into the free agent market, I expect that there will be a Zambrano watch similar to the one we had last winter over Zito.

Last call for Tuesday night's 13-inning game: http://cranepoolforum.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=6995 Eight voters so far. If your name isn't G-Fafif, Yancy Street Gang, bmfc1, Frayed Knot, metirish, Kid Carsey, metsmarathon, or m.e.t.b.o.t. and you want to vote this game, please do it this morning. At some point after 12 noon today the voting will close. Since the game was played on the last day of July, look for the Player and Pitcher of the Month announcement some time this afternoon.

With two of the Dog Days now complete, the month is going well so far. Two Mets wins, and one loss each for the Phillies and Braves, have allowed the Mets to shave three games off their Magic Number for each of there two top division opponents. The number is now at 50 for Atlanta and 51 for Philadelphia. The Magic Number over the Wild Card leader (LA) is at 52.

Lawrence 1 Sosa 2 Wright 3 Easley 2 Milledge 2

Now it's time to start rooting for the Brewers and against the Cubs. Pennant races sure can make us fickle.

The Dog Days are starting out well.

And that's the final score. 13-9 White Sox.

Hold that... Back from commercial, there was some between-innings shoving in the hallway to the clubhouse. Announcers think it was Yost and Graffanino.