Elster88

We really are short these days on backups for outfield defense. Milledge has looked like ass a couple of times last year. Haven't seen much personally this year due mostly to the west coast trip.

Not starting today. Milledge to center. No word on severity. Eddie C with the report on the FAN.

Changed: Reyes ss Milledge cf Wright 3b Delgado 1b Lo Duca c Anderson lf Easley 2b Green rf Glavine p Beltran pulled an abdominal muscle in the cages. Milledge to center. No word on severity of the injury. Scoop by Ed Coleman.

Further specifics: Alou hurt his shoulder in his 3rd at-bat in the last rehab game. So basically at the last possible moment. I figured he'd get at least 3 games with the big club before hurting another body part. I sorely underestimated his pussification.

Where be cooby? Arrrrr.

WAGNER requested the IBB to Kent. Willie acquiesced, nervously. LOS ANGELES -- While the Mets were trying to deny the Dodgers and enhance their standing Sunday afternoon, they also were reinforcing the trust essential to a team with championship aspirations. At no point was that more evident than during the final stages of the sweaty, 10-inning victory that made a week-long excursion to Southern California worthwhile and worth remembering. Two moments of truth -- truth that morphed into trust -- happened as the final three outs of the Mets' riveting 5-4 victory were unfolding. 1. Billy Wagner peered into the dugout until he caught the attention of Willie Randolph and then, he wiggled the four fingers on his left hand, telling the manager his preference was to walk Jeff Kent and thereby put the winning run on base. The Mets reliever was asking his manager to trust him. Randolph's face said he was incredulous. Extra innings? On the road. But this manager has only a minor aversion to the unorthodox. Randolph sent his pitching coach to the mound to consult with the closer. "If he's emphatic about it," Randolph told Rick Peterson, "OK, we'll do it." Trust shown. 2. After Wagner had walked Kent and struck out Matt Kemp and the Dodgers had two runners in scoring position, Wagner struck Nomar Garciaparra to end the game. Trust reciprocated. The Mets team that later flew from LAX to LaGuardia probably was a stronger team than the one that made the cross-country jaunt a week earlier, made so by surviving seven games in seven days against the best two teams in the National League West and winning four of them. Before their charter home, the Mets had set off National League mettle detectors in a game as a tight as Lee Mazzilli's pants and, they thought, given other teams in the National League East something to ponder. "This trip said something about us," Wagner said. "We showed a little brass out here. We won four, but we were in two others. I think we feel it a little more now." They scored once in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings and then endured the nervous bottom of the 10th and left for home with three victories in four games in Dodger Stadium, the site of a three losses in three games last month. They asserted themselves or, as Tom Glavine said, "We won the way we won a lot last year and not so much this year." The last two innings were delicious, filled with tension. They provided a most unlikely hero in Chip Ambres, who joined the team Tuesday in San Diego and probably will be a Triple-A player when the Mets play the Pirates at Shea Stadium on Tuesday night. Ambres delivered a two-out single against losing pitcher J.D. Houlton in his third at-bat since 2005. "Being able to come through in the clutch like that and help out the team, it's one that I'll always remember," Ambres said. "It's unbelievable. I'm on Cloud 9. I just wanted to put the ball in play and get that man in from third base. I'd faced Houlton in Triple-A, and Marlon Anderson reminded me of the pitches that he had." But Ambres' opportunity never would have developed had David Wright, the preceding batter, not out run a relay to first base and denied the Dodgers an inning-ending double play. "That's the way it should be," said Randolph, who has no aversion effort either. "That's that way you're supposed to play." "I definitely felt faster, like I was scooting," Wright said, as proud of his effort as he was of his run-scoring hit four innings earlier and also a tad giddy. "Did anyone have a watch on me? What was my time?" The bottom of the inning, though, is what the gripped the players and ultimately nurtured their confidence and reciprocal trust. "I loved that last [half] inning. That was tight," said Lastings Milledge, who had scored the go-ahead run. "I loved the whole game." Fleet Juan Pierre led off the 10th against Wagner with a walk. Not known for his move to first, Wagner caught Pierre breaking for second and seemingly had him nailed when he threw behind him. But Shawn Green, who had moved to first base two innings earlier, dropped the ball before he could throw to second. "No big deal," Wagner said. "He probably would have stolen it any other time." Before Wagner got Russell Martin for the first out, he wore out Pierre, forcing him to return to second base three times without making a throw. Pierre ran twice, but Martin fouled off both pitches. And then the Mets closer wiggled his fingers. "I know what JK [Kent] can do," he said later. "I played with him [with the Astros] I've seen him. Why do I need to face him there? I don't need to be a hero. We need to win." At first, Randolph squirmed in his seat. "But," he said later, "if I don't let him do that. I'm not showing confidence in him. That's a bad message to send. And why not let him face the kid [Kemp] and a free swinger like Nomar. I know it's not 'the book,' but you take chances sometimes." Kent agreed. "My history with Billy makes it the right move." Kent had two singles and four walks in 11 plate appearances against his former teammate. And he had watched Wagner from his second-base perspective when both were Astros. Moreover, Wagner wanted Kent on first base -- winning run or not -- to put the ground-ball double play in order. "I wanted as many options as I could have," he said. The double play remained in order while Wagner overwhelmed and struck out Kemp. But as he was trying to do the same with Garciaparra, he threw as wild a wild pitch as he could recall. Pierre finally reached third, Kent moved to scoring position and the Mets who weren't on the top step of the dugout moved there. Wagner needed six pitches to set up Garciaparra for the outside-corner slider that produced his 22nd save and the Mets' seventh victory in 11 games since the All-Star break. The Mets had tied the score in the ninth with assistance from the Dodgers' shoddy defense and two wild pitches by Jonathan Broxton. Carlos Delgado led off the inning with a hard ground-ball base hit that first baseman James Loney couldn't handle. A wild pitch allowed pinch-runner Anderson Hernandez to reach second, and Paul Lo Duca's near base hit -- a ground ball that almost reached center field -- moved Hernandez to third. Right fielder Kemp dropped Green's fly ball in the bright sun in short right, and Anderson scored. A poor relay by center fielder Pierre allowed Green to reach second and a another wild pitch moved Green to third. But Broxton struck out Ruben Gotay and pinch-hitter Ramon Castro. Beltran's sacrifice fly against Roberto Hernandez had produced the Mets' third run, in the eighth inning after a leadoff double by Jose Reyes and an infield out. The Mets had scored twice to tie the score at 2 in the sixth inning with a triple by Reyes and a double by Milledge against left-handed starter Eric Stults and a single by Wright against Rudy Seanez doing the damage. But Garciaparra's second home run of the series, against starter Orlando Hernandez with a runner on base, turned the game back in the Dodgers' favor in the bottom of the sixth. But Mets' resilience had more left than the Dodgers' strapped bullpen. The Mets seemingly are back to their '06 M.O. They again seem to be better late than ever.

Great stuff, thanks YSG. How about a popularity ranking from 1 to 815?

]General manager Omar Minaya said last week that Martinez had thrown 60 pitches in the Dominican Republic on Thursday. But it seemed the club was not aware of that episode until well after it happened. The club had said in July, following a simulated game, that Mart�nez would suspend his rehab program for a week to 10 days, a break prescribed by the club's medical staff. http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070723&content_id=2104230&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

Ahhh, beat me to it. Way to be Irish. You WERE drinking coffee that day, and not Irish coffee either.

They're pretty much the same thing because the odds of them happening are about zero for both.

="Edgy DC"]No. But I thnk it's foolish for us to come up with scenarios to hate the manager for. Do you think Hernandez is about to be instituted as the primary secondbaseman? No I don't. But I don't see how that really matters. Nymr said he'll call for Willie's release if he starts AHer. I tend to agree. ----- Eh, I guess I see your point. I think Willie should be fired if he starts Castro in center. Kinda stupid.

Edgy DC wrote: ="Nymr83"]if Anderson Hernandez starts over Gotay, willie should be fired. Do you think that's what'll happen? Do you disagree with Nymr's statement?

OlerudOwned wrote: Tim McCarver just started a sentence with "I have never been as wrong about...". Instantly, hundreds of like-minded inviduals opened their mouths and raised a single finger. I don't get it.

bmfc1 wrote: FK: Buck seems to be allowed to pick his own schedule. Given that this is a "Game of the Week", and he's the lead announcer, you'd think he'd show up every once in awhile. Perhaps the Bonds chase and a meeting between NY and LA isn't big enough for him and he's waiting for the next Yankees game.. Buck is a Cardinals fan?

Thing, do you have any interest in posting the all-time list from 1 to 815? I have an interest in reading it. The above poll piqued my curiosity. And other cool stuff like who has the most daily wins. I wish I ran your website.

Marlon Anderson was yesterday's.

I wish we had Keppinger back too.

metirish wrote: We can take three games here,I have a gut feeling,know what I'm saying? ="iramets"]Yes, but what I'd really like to know is: What are you drinking? *cough*

Edgy DC wrote: They got through Glavine's debacle without using their top three relievers. Smith still counted as third? His overall year is better than Heilman's.

iramets wrote: The answer is "Gotay," and it's amazing to me that this is even a subject for discussion. You've got three retreads whose best days are literally a decade or more ago, and one young guy with a world of potential, and a club that needs offense like Paris Hilton's bush needs aeration, and "you guys" (tm) are debating who to give the job to? Well he did get 82% of the vote. I posted the poll to see if the rest of the forum agreed. This gives you more ammo against Willie, not so much the forum that is 82% in agreement with you.

Edgy DC wrote: Yes, Willie hates black people too. Castro is black?

martin wrote: Yeah, fuck learning. i mean in a preachy sense. So a movie where two dudes wrestle and run through a hotel naked and where someone attempts to stuff Pamela Anderson in a sack and carry her away is preachy?

Edgy DC wrote: It's getting harder to keep Smashtro on the bench. Not for Willie.

I woulda thought x and y

Rockin' Doc wrote: Sele did a great job tonight. Three good innings of relief. Dare I say Oliveresque?