metirish

Maine 2.5 Takahashi 0.5 Reyes 2.5 Wright 2 Santos 1 Sheffield 0.5 Tatis 0.5 Reed 0.5

Hernandez 3 Feliciano .5 Putz .5 Wright 1.5 Santos 1.25 Castillo 1.25 Reyes 1 Beltran 1

Ben Shpigel lays into the Mets here . ] Braves Snap Mets� Seven-Game Winning Streak Imagine how perfect it could have been for the Mets: Derek Lowe pitching behind Johan Santana every fifth day, forming one of the best starting tandems in the league. It almost happened, too, at least until Lowe opted for more money, greater job security and, as he saw Monday night, a less penetrable infield. Johan Santana arguing after hitting the Braves� Casey Kotchman with a pitch in the sixth inning. Santana extended his streak without allowing an earned run to 19 1/3 innings. There is little chance Lowe regrets his decision, not after seeing how shabbily the Mets treat their ace. Santana pitched superbly, again. The Mets could not score behind him, again. Their defense played poorly behind him, again. The only different aspect was the result, an 8-3 trouncing by the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field that ended the Mets� winning streak at seven. Santana has a 0.78 earned run average � the lowest in franchise history by a pitcher through his first seven starts � yet the Mets are 4-3 when he pitches. Wondering how? The Mets have scored 11 runs while he is pitching (15 total) and have made 7 of their 22 errors during his starts. Two of those errors came Monday night, leading to five unearned runs. Four of the runs scored in the seventh inning, and all came after Santana left with one out. Pedro Feliciano allowed a pair of two-out two-run singles to let a once-alluring pitching duel deteriorate into a rout. �When you put a team behind Santana we always first think defense,� Manager Jerry Manuel said. �We don�t think, Let�s match offense. We think, Give him the best chance defensively and we can scratch out a run. Obviously that hasn�t happened so far.� Why the Mets (17-14) save their worst baseball for Santana, their best pitcher, is a question that, so far, they cannot answer. It is not as if he snubbed anyone in his pregame handshake routine or changed the music on the clubhouse stereo or anything. It is coincidence, nothing more. He said he was not frustrated, remarking that the Mets are still in first place in the division. But it still stings. Each of his losses has come after giving up two unearned runs. �As far as I know, I think it�s the first time in my career that I�m losing a couple games without even getting an earned run,� said Santana, who has not allowed more than two runs since Aug. 27, 2008, a string of 13 starts. �I don�t think that ever happened before. It�s part of the game. With baseball, you never know.� Perhaps not. But Santana, after watching an error from the inexperienced left fielder Daniel Murphy cause his first loss, April 12 at Florida, no doubt expects more from David Wright and Jose Reyes. In a 31-pitch first inning in which all three hits touched a Mets infielder, Wright waited too long on the third one, a slow roller by Matt Diaz, and bounced his throw to first baseman Fernando Tatis. The ball hit off his glove, and Yunel Escobar scored the first unearned run. �It�s not because of lack of effort or lack of focus,� Wright said. �We want it badly. I can�t express how disappointed I am with me.� Pitching without what he called good stuff, Santana still lasted into the seventh, when Kelly Johnson poked his 108th and final pitch into center field for a one-out single. Manuel called on Bobby Parnell, who allowed a single to Escobar, then retired Martin Prado. Feliciano came in to face Brian McCann, whose slow grounder up the middle caromed off the heel of Reyes�s glove, loading the bases and extending the inning. Diaz and Casey Kotchman followed with two-run singles, and the Braves led, 5-1, which was more than enough for Lowe (5-1), who allowed two runs in six and two-thirds innings. Around Queens, Lowe is known as the guy the Mets did not sign instead of Oliver Perez. Without the financial flexibility last off-season to pursue starters like C. C. Sabathia or A. J. Burnett, the Mets focused on the next tier, which included Lowe and Perez. Lowe appealed to the Mets because of his durability, his consistency and, with the team unsure how Citi Field would play, his standing as one of baseball�s premier ground-ball specialists. As much as the Mets wanted Lowe, their top target, they were adamant not to overpay for him or bid against themselves. They offered him a three-year, $36 million contract, which Lowe rejected. Smarting from signing Billy Wagner and Pedro Martinez to four-year deals, the Mets refused to add another season. The Braves, emboldened after John Smoltz bolted for the Red Sox, trumped the Mets� bid by giving Lowe four years and $60 million, pushing the Mets� interest toward Perez. Perez had a dismal spring training and an even worse April, and was pulled from the rotation. He is now on the disabled list, rehabilitating his right knee in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Lowe, meanwhile, has 5 of the Braves� 16 victories and is presumably happier than if he had to deal with the shoddy defense and minimal support that Santana receives. Santana had the lowest E.R.A. in the majors last season, but a horrific bullpen cost him seven victories and, most likely, a Cy Young Award. More damaging, though, could be the effect on the team. The Mets have missed out on a playoff berth by one victory in each of the last two seasons, and they can only hope they will not regret winning a greater share of Santana�s starts so far. �There will probably come a point,� Manuel said, �where you�ll think, Wow, we missed a lot of opportunities with Johan.�

Carlin - " Bob could Santana have stayed in?" Bob - " Well it's one of those debatable things , I don't know , um it's the managers call , I know as a pitcher I would want to stay in"..... Not at all liking Carlin and Ojeda.

WTF would you throw home like that Carlos?

Cohen set this up all wrong , the way he was talking when they came on air was always going to be hard to live up to. Calling it event viewing and generally talking like it was a play off game......still Santana clearly not with his best stuff was better than most.

Great work OO...

I liked Rick White.....was it Kiner or Healy that would always mess his name up? I remember Rick being big for us in 2000 , always seemed to be in trouble though.

Going on Memorial Day , it's a night game though which I found a bit odd . It's a value game against the Nats , four tixs at $11 each.

Santos doing all the right things to stay up. ] Mets catcher Omir Santos catches praise from Jerry Manuel The chemistry couldn't be any better in the Mets' clubhouse following seven straight wins and a bump from third to first in the NL East. And Omir Santos has been a big part of it. The 28-year-old rookie catcher went 2-for-4 in Sunday's 8-4 win over the Pirates with a pair of crucial RBI, earning a vote of confidence from Jerry Manuel. Asked how he could possibly send the red-hot Santos back to the minors when Brian Schneider returns from the disabled list, Manuel replied: "I didn't say he was going back down. As long as he's doing what he's doing, he's going to stay here." It's unlikely the Mets will keep three catchers - Schneider, Ramon Castro and Santos. Schneider, the Opening Day starter who has been on the DL since April 16 with back issues and an injured right calf, is scheduled to resume playing extended spring training games today in Port St. Lucie. When Schneider, hitting .143, is able to rejoin the team, the Mets will be faced with the tough decision of designating a starting catcher and naming a backup. Santos isn't looking like the odd man out. He came through with a clutch hit in the fourth inning Sunday, lining a fastball from Ian Snell to right field and driving in a pair of runs to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Since being called up from Triple-A Buffalo when Schneider got hurt, he's hitting .300 (12-for-40) in 16 games with five extra-base hits, eight RBI and eight runs scored. "As long as I'm up here, I'm going to feel happy. I'm going to enjoy every opportunity that they give me and do my best," Santos said. "If they keep me, I'm going to feel good about it. I've done a pretty good job. ... I think I deserve the opportunity and I think I can play on this level." Castro, who was available to play Sunday but sat out after getting cramps in his right thigh on Saturday, is hitting .292 (14-for-48) in 16 appearances, with five extra-base hits, eight RBI and three runs scored. The Mets could opt to keep all three catchers and drop a relief pitcher, though they'll likely have to make another move there with righthander Tim Redding close to returning from a strained rotator cuff. "I don't know what we're going to do when that situation presents itself," Manuel said of having three able-bodied catchers. "But right now (Santos is) playing great." BY MATT GAGNE DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Sunday, May 10th 2009, 9:15 PM

Hi Lou Rather convenient that Merloni can't remember the Doctor I think.

What a difference a week and a seven game winning streak makes.

I always learn something form listening to Ralph Pitcher With Most Career Home runs

Edgy DC wrote: Every time I hear Gary say "Maholm," I think "Is Terry Mulholland really stilll in the league?" Yeah it's very strange. I would have pronounced the name with a silent L

Great KTE and great thread.

Just to be clear , I mentioned it because a wrong spelling or a nickname for that matter can cause your voting to be chucked into the Ben Grims virtual rubbish can.

Pelfrey 3 Wright 2 Beltran 1 Reyes 1 Feliciano .5 Rodriguez 1.5 Castro 1

It may have been Manuel that called it , he could well have been in the tunnel shouting " Jesus Christ Sandy Church needs to put down a sac bunt".

] I believe that it's usually meant to express disappointment or consternation, no? Yes , but it also can be used to express excitement , missus also told me it means " jacking off" too

Rodriguez says he wanted the ball , do i believe that? I'm going to take him at his word. Manuel swears that Rodriguez will not pitch tonight. My wife was watching the game with me and after Rodriguez got the last out and did his emotional thing she said he screamed Pu�eta at the sky. She explained to me it's equivalent to screaming " hell yeah" in that situation as Rodriguez was excited about the out. Pu�eta though has many meanings .

How good was Dom DiMaggio? , did he play in his brothers shadow? EDIT - I guess he was pretty darn good.... Dom DiMaggio of the Boston Red Sox, left, and his brother Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees are shown, in this July 12, 1949 file photo. Dom DiMaggio, a seven-time All Star who still holds the record for the longest consecutive game hitting streak in Boston Red Sox history died at the age of 92.

Yankee loving douchebag sneaks down to $2,250 seats and then boos The Great Rivera