It doesn’t matter that Daniel Murphy hit the game-winning homer Sunday afternoon, or that he’s the Mets’ hottest hitter, he should be in the leadoff spot going forward for the Mets. Because of Murphy’s high on-base percentage, batting him leadoff is something I have advocated, and I’m glad Terry Collins was thinking outside the box enough to make the move. “He gets on base, because he can hit,’’ Collins told ESPN.com. “And, when he’s swinging good, he can get [...]

ALDERSON DOING METS A DISSERVICE IN STAYING WITH DAVIS Perhaps Sandy Alderson knew of Andrew Brown’s strained oblique when he said there was nothing imminent about sending Ike Davis to the minor leagues. Assuming he did not, it is puzzling as to why he’s in no hurry to ship out his struggling first baseman. Eventually, Alderson said, “everything comes to a head at some point,’’ but evidently it is not hitting .156 two months into [...]

Terry Collins will go to home plate tomorrow with the line-up card and likely get booed. Surely, he’ll hear it when he makes a pitching change. It won’t be fair, but we know few things in baseball aren’t fair.Collins doesn’t have a contract beyond this season, and his lame duck status rises to the surface when the Mets go into a tailspin, as they did last week when they lost a season-high six straight games, and [...]

Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy homered to pick up Dillon Gee, and the bullpen came up with a superb effort with four perfect innings to give the Mets a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs Sunday at Wrigley Field. The victory gave the Mets their first series victory since they beat Washington, April 19-21, at Citi Field. RECORD: 17-24, 4th NL East ON THE MOUND: Dillon Gee gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings for the no-decision. … Scott Rice was [...]

Matt Harvey settled down after a rocky two-run first inning to produce one of his most impressive starts of the season in a 3-2 victory at Wrigley Field. The victory was the Mets’ second straight after losing six in a row. ON THE MOUND: Flirting with perfection is one thing, but pulling it together when it isn’t going well is more indicative of what he’ll normally face. Harvey gave up three hits in the first inning and [...]

We are getting perilously close to the time in the baseball season where free-falling clubs tend to fire their manager. Should the Mets sack Terry Collins in the wake of his ripping the fans – who by the way, aren’t coming out to Citi Field these days – they can claim justifiability, but would be making a mistake. Like many quick-fixes, it will not work. Despite Collins’ outburst, firing him is not the answer as it screams panic. [...]

Updated by Joe D. at 6:30 PM After making inflammatory remarks against Met fans yesterday that rubbed many people including those in the organization the wrong way, Terry Collins acknowledged that he misspoke and took back some of the things he angrily said about Met fans while a guest on WFAN today. “The New York fans are maybe the most knowledgeable fans that I’ve ever been around,” Collins told Mike Francesa. “When the question was asked, it [...]

An incredible 46 strikeouts in the Mets’ last four games… Hmmm. Let’s see, whom can we blame? I know, lets blame batting coach Dave Hudgens and his approach to work the count, be selective, and get a pitch and drive it. That’s it, his approach is wrong. It is why they are striking out so many times. They are taking, taking, falling behind, and then whiffing. Damn, it’s Hudgens’ fault. That’s the current analysis of the Mets’ [...]

As the Knicks were getting pasted in Indianapolis, the Mets did their part to put New York sports fans in a gloomy mood in tonight’s 10-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the Mets’ fifth straight loss to drop them to eight games under .500. Since Jordany Valdespin’s tenth-inning grand slam, April 24, beat the Dodgers to go to 10-9, the Mets have gone 4-13. ON THE MOUND: The Mets needed innings from Dillon [...]

The newest Met, Rick Ankiel, couldn’t hold onto Ty Wigginton’s sinking line drive for a double. Wigginton then scored from second on an infield hit off pitcher Scott Rice. Matt Holliday followed with a two-run homer, and just like that it was over and the Mets had their fourth straight loss, 6-3, at St. Louis to fall seven games below .500. ON THE MOUND: Jeremy Hefner had his third straight quality start, giving up three runs in six [...]

Including this weekend’s 11-2 flameout loss to Pittsburgh, the Mets have lost Jon Niese’s last five starts, with him giving up 22 runs and not getting out of the fifth inning in three of them. He has not come close to resembling what the Mets think he should be, and that’s the No. 1 starter in their rotation. The first game in that slide, April 18 at Colorado, and the one preceding it, April 12, at [...]