• Yankees 8, Twins 0: On a night where the Yankees shut out the Twins, perhaps the best news on the evening was that Alex Rodriguez played. A day after straining his hamstring against the Twins, A-Rod returned to the lineup and went 0-4, but also started a double play in the 4th inning to help keep the Twins off the scoreboard. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his best stuff, but he was still good enough to shutout the Twins over the 7 innings he pitched. Wang only allowed 4 hits in his first win in three starts.
• Rockies 11, Mets 3: What is it with New York baseball teams playing in Denver? The Yankees couldn't win there and so far this series, neither can the Mets. Mets pitchers set out to give the fans at the game a good show on fireworks night at Coors Field. After chasing triple A call-up Jason Vargas out of the game in the fourth inning, Ryan Spilborghs hit a grand slam off of Joe Smith. Colorado had two other home runs in the game as well. All told, Colorado managed 18 hits in the game. After staring their road trip with three straight wins, the Mets have now lost three in a row. Adding insult to injury, former Met shortstop/second baseman Kaz Matsui had a big night, going 5-5 at the plate. Some good news for the Mets though - Pedro Martinez looked good in a simulated start and could be back in August.
• Cyclones 2, Ironbirds 1: The Cyclones scored a run in the 8th inning to break a 1-1 tie and come away with the win.

Lima Time didn't go so well, but that's okay for Mets fans because for the 2nd weekend series in a row, they took 2 of 3 from the Braves. Lima wasn't good in his 5 inning appearance, allowing 5 funs over 5 innings, but Bartolome Fortunato was just plain bad. Fortunato allowed a stunning 8 runs (all earned) in 1 1/3 innings. The end result was a 13-3 whooping by the Braves. more ›

Nobody, including Gothamist, thought the Mets wouldn't come back to Earth a little after their hot start. Yet the Mets probably hope they could have gotten off to a better start on this West Coast trip. They've lost three of five including last night's 6-2 loss at San Francisco. Tom Glavine pitched well in the middle innings but gave up a three-run homer to Moises Alou in the first inning and three more in the seventh. The Mets' offense didn't have a baserunner until Kaz Matsui singled in the sixth. more ›

After stumbling through the last two games of the series against the rival Braves, the Mets must have had a long flight to San Diego Wednesday afternoon. For a while, it looked like Thursday night's 7-2 win over the Padres would feel long also. The Mets could only manage a Kaz Matsui inside-the-park home run (which could have been caught by Padre rightfielder Brian Giles) off Jake Peavy. Once Peavy left in the 8th, the Mets woke up. Julio Franco became the oldest player to hit a home run. His two run shot put the Mets up 3-2, and they cruised. more ›

So far in this young baseball season, Tom Glavine has his stuff working. Unfortunately for him and the Mets, he faced Tim Hudson in yesterday's 2-1 loss to the Braves. Hudson was magnificent yesterday, throwing a perfect game into the 6th inning until Ramon Castro broke it with a single. Castro later threatened to score on a fly ball to left, but lead footed as he is, he was thrown out at home with a perfect throw from Braves left fielder Matt Diaz. more ›

After much discussion, the Mets finally shipped Jae Seo and minor league pitcher Tim Hamulack to the Dodgers for relief pitchers Duuaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll. The trade will allow Seo to potentially start for Los Angeles while Sanchez, who finished the season as the Dodgers' closer, can move into the setup role for Billy Wagner. more ›

Another game in Atlanta equaled another loss for the Mets. Monday it was at the hands of a familiar nemesis, Chipper Jones. Jones hit a two-run homer over the centerfield wall in the eighth inning to give the Braves a 4-2 victory. Since Turner Field opened, the Mets have gone 20-49 there and are 1-5 this year. more ›

The Mets' disappointing losses have suddenly become much more. After a sloppy series against the Yankees, the Mets played even worse in a three-game sweep against Atlanta, capped by 3-0 loss against the Braves Wednesday. They didn’t even score a run in the last two games, though they faced two starters who were working on only three days’ rest. They even lost to Kyle Davies, who was making his second major league start. Woe is the Mets’ lineup, and woe will be their summer if they can’t at least compete with their National League East foes. more ›

Offensively, it seems like Mike Piazza and Kaz Matsui are finally coming around. Then again, they couldn't really get much worse, could they? Piazza was 4-4 in yesterday's game including a double that was close to being a home run. Matsui was 2-5 with 4 runners left on base, but won the game for the Mets on Tuesday. more ›

The offense for the Mets was supplied by Cliff Floyd and his bat. After starting the season with a 23-game hitting streak, Floyd was in a 2-22 slump entering the game. One might say that changed with his two home runs last night off of Staten Island's Jason Marquis, who only allowed three hits in seven innings. more ›

Doug Mientkiewicz’s sixth home run broke a 4-4 tie in the 8th. Mike DeJean, just one day removed from allowing the winning run in Sunday's 5-4 loss in Milwaukee, won in relief of Aaron Heilman. Mike Piazza had a three-run home run and Kaz Matsui a solo shot for the Mets, who have won four of five on this road trip and six of seven overall. Heilman survived two rain delays totaling an hour and 35 minutes to last five and a third innings. Dae-Sung Koo relieved him and promptly blew the 4-0 lead, allowing two inherited runners to score along with two of his own. more ›

Matsui, who was out three games because of a scratch on his eye, botched four plays that extended innings and eventually allowed runs to score. In the 3rd inning, the sellout crowd voiced their displeasure at Matsui, including some calls for Miguel Cairo, who played well while Matsui was out. None of Matsui's mistakes were scored errors. Despite the fan reaction, both Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya support the 2nd baseman. more ›

In yesterday afternoon's 6-1 loss, Kaz Ishii issued four walks and allowed five earned runs in 6.2 innings. The first two walks were to the first batters he faced in the game. Those, combined with Kaz Matsui's error, helped put the Mets in an early two run hole. With some offense, they might have been able to come close, but there was none to be had. The Mets didn't score or get their 2nd hit until the 8th inning. Given a chance to rally in the 9th, Mike Piazza pinch hit to end the game on a pop-up. more ›

During the offseason, the Mets made many changes, as they should have. Three losing seasons in a row and a new general manager will do that. With Omar Minyana aboard, the Mets have been busy, adding players, payroll, and a manager. All the changes led Carlos Beltran to dub the team "The New Mets" when he joined. The question is, can these "new Mets" do any better than the old Mets? more ›

The NY Times has several interesting facts about the history of the Mets and the Expos/Nationals. Besides the franchise playing their last game as the Expos against the Mets, they also played their first game against the Mets in 1969. The Nationals play their first game in the regular season against the Mets as well. Man, schedule makers really have a sense of history, don't they. Oh yeah, and in '69, the Mets went on to win the World Series. more ›

Mientkiewicz has a career .272 batting average, hit .238 in 2004, and a Mendoza-threatening .215 in with the Red Sox. Clearly, his bat isn't the reason the Mets signed him. His defense, however, will certainly help the Mets, who committed 137 errors in 2004, enough for the 3rd most in baseball. Mientkiewicz has 21 career errors and a .996 career fielding percentage (the Mets had a .978 team percentage last year). This is even more useful, considering the infield of Kaz Matsui (2nd base, .956), Jose Reyes (SS, .980), and David Wright (3rd base, .942) isn't exactly error free. We'll see how the position swap between Matsui and Reyes works out and we're totally ignoring the fact that Delgado had a better fielding percentage last year. more ›

We haven't found anything that talks about whether the Republican National Convention had an effect; we assume that the net tourism effect was good, while the net city effect (tons of people fled, business around MSG were desolate) was eh. The Daily News emphasizes the Hideki Matsui effect on tourism. The Yankees' star "is credit with helping create a 20% boost in tourism from Japan," thanks to how much the Japanese love him. The Mayor even said, "You can't underestimate the value of Hideki Matsui and baseball in Japan." Oh, Gothamist feels sorry for Kaz Matsui. The DN also notes some numbers of tourists from countries: The most were from the U.K. - 970,000! more ›

162 games after they began, the Mets have finally finished the season with a record of 71-91, good for 4th in the National League East. For what it's worth, the Mets improved from last year when they finished last in the NL East and with 5 less wins. The season ended with a win against the Montreal Expos, a team that moving to Washington D.C. and the retirement of Todd Zeile and possibly the end of John Franco's career. more ›

On Sunday, Al Leiter faced Cubs ace Kerry Wood with Leiter getting some help from the offense early. The Mets picked up three runs in the first inning off Wood, who was less than steady. Leiter pitched six strong innings of two hit ball, giving up two runs in the fourth inning, which could have been worse. With bases loaded, Leiter got a called third strike against Moises Alou that ended the inning, allowing the Mets to go on and win, 3-2 (box score). more ›

The win was no cakewalk though. Mike Piazza won the game for the Mets in the 8th inning when he hit a two-out single that scored Gerald Williams. Braden Looper worked a perfect 9th for his second save since August 14th and his 26th overall. Steve Trachsel, the starter for the Mets, pitched 6 innings and gave up two runs in the no decision. more ›

Okay, we admit that we hate it as much as anyone when the Mets bust out the "On the right Trach" stuff at Shea, but when they're right, they're right. The Mets won their first series since August against the Rockies. Steve Trachsel pitched six strong, giving up only two earned runs as well as two unearned in the 9-4 loss (box score). more ›

The only bright spot for the Mets was Wilson Degado, who had an impressive game offensively. Batting 8th and playing shortstop, Delgado went 3 for 4, knocking in four runs and hitting a home run in the 4th. Without Delgado, the Mets wouldn't have scored. Delgado was one of the players that the Mets acquired in the Roger Cedeno trade. Is anyone missing Kaz Matsui now? more ›

Doing their best to remain less than average, the Mets went on to lose, 6-4 (box score). After the 3rd inning, the Mets remained hitless and scoreless until the 9th when they scored an unearned run. more ›

The win gave Arizona a 36-83 record, good for the worst record in baseball. It was also their first win since August 4th. Arizona had been winless in their road trip until Sunday's game. more ›

The Mets played without Mike Piazza, Kaz Matsui, Cliff Floyd, and Jose Reyes. The list of injured Mets is getting longer and longer.The Astros played without Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. It was recent call-up Danny Garcia who scored the go ahead run in the 7th inning. He scored on a single by utility-man, Joe McEwing, who was starting at shortstop. more ›

The Mets are 8 games out of first and 8.5 games out of last. They are slightly closer to the wild card than they are to first place. With the trades the Mets made last week, there is still some hope for improvement, but we're wondering if there are any Met fans out there that aren't thinking of next year already. more ›

Last night, Reyes injured his ankle in the 3rd when he attempted to turn a single into a double. He turned his ankle near second and then made an awkward slide into the bag. He got up and played on. Things would only get worse. The next inning, he played in the field and came to bat again in the 5th. During his at-bat in the 5th, he fouled a ball off his injured right ankle and then hit a shot off the wall but could only make it to first. Reyes was finally taken out of the game two innings after sustaining the initial injury. more ›

Luckily for Glavine, the Mets had some offense last night. Mike Cameron hit his second home run of the two game series in the 6th inning. The three run shot off Zach Day proved to be the game-winning hit. Glavine's record is now back to .500 at 8-8, but the Mets are still three games below that mark. more ›

Yesterday's 4-3 loss finished off a 10 game home stand for the Mets where they went 3-7, not exactly the way a team wants to start the second half of the season. During their last 10 games, the Braves and Phillies went 7-3 and 6-4 respectively. Jose Reyes had a career-high four hits, but struck out against John Smoltz in the 9th with the tying run in scoring position. Smoltz is 18 for 18 in career save opportunities against the Mets. more ›

Two of the three errors were made by players out of their natural environment. Mike Piazza, playing 1st, had a fielding error when a ball bounced off his chest followed by a wild throw. Ty Wiggington, playing 2nd base, threw off target to home on a relay. Hopefully, Jose Reyes can make a quick trip up from his rehab assignments to step in at 2nd base. The third error was committed by Matt Ginter when he threw a ball high, pulling Piazza off the base. As for Piazza, Gothamist wonders at what point his deficiencies at 1st make him a lesser liability when he's behind the plate. Piazza has played more at 1st this season than as a catcher. more ›