What a punch in the gut… After a rain delay of three hours and 43 minutes, Dillon Gee took the mound and fired eight shutout innings against the Braves as the Mets took a 1-0 lead heading into the ninth. But it was all for naught as first baseman Freddie Freeman crushed a two-run, walk-off homer to give the Braves a dramatic 2-1 win to take the first game of the five game series. Gee dominated [...]

Mets vs. Braves Series Preview The Mets begin what will be a very tough three-game series against the Braves tonight at Citi Field, weather permitting. The Braves are on fire right now and pulling ahead in the division at 28-18, four and a half games in front of the second-place Nationals. They are 7-3 in their last ten and are one of six teams in the NL (and one of 11 in all of baseball) [...]

The Braves made headlines this offseason with their acquisition of B.J. Upton in November, signing him to a five year deal worth about $75 million. However, just when the offseason was winding down and it appeared the Braves were done, they surprised everyone and acquired B.J.’s brother Justin from the Diamondbacks. The tandem added a boost to the Atlanta offense that they so badly needed, and had some experts picking them to challenge the Nationals [...]

Team News and Notes Atlanta Braves (6-1) The Braves currently sit in first place in the NL East, and new addition Justin Upton is a major reason why. The 25-year-old has batted .423/.448/1.192 to start the season, with six bombs and eight RBI. The other half of the Upton brothers, B.J., has struggled to hit himself out of a barn batting just .120 to date. On the mound, the wily veteran Tim Hudson is back [...]

“Keep Your Enemies Closer” The National League East has been known for it’s pitching staffs, going back to the Mets rotations of the 80′s, the Braves of the 90′s and early 2000′s, all the way up to the Phillies and Nationals of the past few seasons. What’s clear is that each team has quality pitching in some way. Teams like the Mets and Marlins have some good rotation options, with high-end quality prospects entering their [...]

NL East At A Glance Miami Marlins: The team that essentially alienated whatever fan base they thought they had looks like an obvious 5th place team in this division. They do however have the best player in the division in Giancarlo Stanton. No matter what the rumors say, I still think Giancarlo is a Marlin for a very long time. If I’m wrong, I hope I’m apologizing on my way to buy a Giancarlo Mets [...]

In an article by Robert Passikoff on Forbes.com, the Mets fan base ranked almost at the bottom when it comes to team loyalty. According to their Sports Fan Loyalty Index, Mets fans ranked 26 out among all 30 MLB teams when it comes to supporting the team. The top five loyal fan bases are: New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies San Francisco Giants St. Louis Cardinals Atlanta Braves The Mets ranked at the bottom with the [...]

The latest on Johan Santana cane from manager Terry Collins who said that Johan Santana’s decision to throw a bullpen for the first time in 10 days, was “unnecessary” and said he “wished his ace handled himself differently.” Mike Kerwick of The Record quotes Collins who suggests that Santana needs to calm down and get his emotions in check, and that he should have gone about this the proper way. “He’s fine,” Collins said, “and [...]

Question: How many free-agent pitchers are 26 years-old, have had two seasons at the major league level with sub 3.00 ERA, and were named to an All-Star game? Answer: Jair Jurrjens There has been little to no talk about Jurrjens hooking on with any teams this offseason. The question is why? Granted, he is coming off an abysmal year that saw him sent down to the farm to work out his issues at one point. But [...]