The Mets lost for the second time tonight as the Atlanta Braves shut them out 6-0 tonight at Citi Field after a 7-5 loss in the completion of the suspended game earlier in the evening.

Dillon Gee started for the Mets and was torched for five runs on eight hits in five innings pitched. The big blow was a two-run homer by opposing pitcher Mike Minor. Gee now has a 6.34 ERA for the season, and yet the word is that Jeremy Hefner is the odd man out whenever Zack Wheeler is expected to be promoted in early June. Somebody please explain that one to me.

Robert Carson and Greg Burke pitched four innings of relief with just one run allowed by Carson.

Offensively, there was nothing for the Mets who scattered six harmless hits against the Braves. Three of those hits came off the bat of Ruben Tejada. Minor completely dominated the Mets for 7.1 innings and struck out ten batters. The 3-4-5 of David Wright, Marlon Byrd and Justin Turner went 0-for-12 with eight runners left on base. I can’t believe that was our heart of the order.

Ike Davis came in as a pinch-hitter and struck out giving him five K’s in the first two games of the series.

This team is awful. As a matter of fact if you want to know how awful, when Joe Sheehan of Sports Illustrated was asked which team had the better 2015 outlook between the Mets and the Astros, he replied the Astros. This team is now 12 games under .500 and on a pace to lose 100 games in Sandy Alderson’s third season.

They have now lost eight straight games at home and have not won a series at Citi Field since April 19-21, when they took two of three against the Nationals.

The Mets will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow as they send Shaun Marcum (0-5, 6.79) against Atlanta’s Julio Teheran (3-1, 3.99). First pitch is at 8:05 PM and will be broadcast on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

The Mets played their first suspended game since Aug. 6, 1986 tonight and after Atlanta scored two runs in the top of the tenth inning,  the Mets lost the game 7-5 to drop them 11 games under .500 for the season. Brandon Lyon allowed both Atlanta runs and took the loss.

Right-hander Jeremy Hefner initially started the game for the Mets 18 hours earlier and delivered a gutty performance, allowing just two runs on three hits in six solid innings of work. Hefner walked just two batters and struck out seven in his 94 pitch performance. I had a terrible feeling in my gut when Terry Collins decided to end Hefner’s night with the 3-2 lead and leave the last nine outs for the bullpen. And right on cue, the very first batter, Dan Uggla, launched a solo home run of LaTroy Hawkins to tie the game, leaving Hefner still searching for his first win of the season.

Hefner, the Moore, Oklahoma native, has had a hard time dealing with the tragedy in his hometown. The killer tornado flattened his former elementary school where several children were found dead. He really has pitched better than his 0-5 record would indicate, and it would have been nice to see his teammates gut out this win for him.

Hawkins and Scott Rice are starting to fade after extensive overuse by Terry Collins. Hawkins allowed a run, and Rice allowed a pair of Braves to cross the plate. The bullpen is about ready to completely implode. Why did Collins feel the need to give Hefner the hook while he was in a groove?

The Braves took a 5-3 lead in the eighth on a two-run single by pinch-hitter Evan Gattis. The Mets evened it in the bottom half against Varvaro, who struggled to get a good grip but threw a wild pitch that let the tying run score.

Ike Davis struck out four more times and is now 1-for-41 and batting a season low .143.

Daniel Murphy has three hits including his 15th double of the season to go with two runs scored and an RBI. Nobody in hotter right now.

David Wright has two hits and swiped his eleventh base of the season.

John Buck hit his 11th homer of the season and drove in two to give him a team leading 32 RBIs.

Starting Lineup

1. Daniel Murphy – 2B
2. Rick Ankiel – CF
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Lucas Duda – LF
5. Marlon Byrd – RF
6. John Buck – C
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Jeremy Hefner – RHP

Game Preview

The Mets open up a home series against the Braves tonight at Citi Field where the Mets will look to Wright the ship (I’m writing this at 5:40 AM, I’m allowed a terrible pun, deal with it). Anyway, the Mets find themselves 10 games under .500 after being swept by the Reds this week and its not even June yet. There are two ways to look at that: one with deep depression, the other with optimism that there is plenty of time to turn it around. Anyway Kris Medlen will get the nod for the Braves tonight and square up against Jeremy Hefner.

Hefner is 0-5 over 9 games this year, 8 starts while pitching 45.0 innings with a 5.00 ERA. Hefner struggled in his last start allowing 4 ER over 4 innings of work. In the Month of May he’s pitched 16.o innings while allowing 11 ER. He hasn’t faced the Braves yet this season but last year he allowed 6 ER over 6.1 innings of work. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

Freeman 2-4, HR
McCann 2-4, 2B
Medlen 1-3, 2B
Uggla 2-3
Heyward 1-3

The Mets will get a crack at Medlen tonight who is 1-5 this season over 9 starts with a 3.02 ERA. In his last four starts he’s pitched 26.1 innings with a 2.73 ERA. In 27.2 innings against the Mets last year he posted an amazing 1.3o ERA while striking out 21 batters. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Davis 4-15, HR
Wright 2-16
Murphy 2-14, 2B
Tejada 3-13, 2B
Duda 1-8
Baxter 2-7

Lets Go Mets!

I caught that in Adam Rubin’s Morning Briefing today on ESPN New York.

I guess if you go by their won-loss records you could certainly make that claim, but it’s not that simple.

With all the latest reports now confirming what we’ve all been waiting for since Carlos Beltran was shipped off almost two years ago, the question now is:

If Zack Wheeler is in, then who’s out?

Obviously, Jon Niese is safe so the choice will come down to either Jeremy Hefner (5.00 ERA), Dillon Gee (6.04 ERA) and Shaun Marcum (6.59 ERA). The early consensus has the one with the lowest ERA as the odd man out, Hefner’s 0-5 record I’m sure will weigh heavily in the decision, but he also has a lot less experience than the other two and we all know how Terry loves his veterans… Right, Ike?

Jared Diamond of The Journal calls Hefner “unlucky,” and to a point he’s right. “Jeremy Hefner pitches for the Mets on Friday,” he writes. “Therefore, the Mets probably won’t win.

“Baseball isn’t always fair, especially when you play for the Mets. All eight of Hefner’s starts this season have ended in a Mets loss, putting him in an unfortunate and lonely club: He is the only regular starter in the majors whose team has lost all of his starts.”

Honestly, Hefner hasn’t been nearly as bad as his record would indicate, and as Diamond points out, after a tough first couple of games his ERA has been just a tick above league average which is exactly what one would expect or hope for from their fifth starter. The right-hander has has a 4.06 ERA over his last five starts, while the National League average comes in at 3.77.

The Mets’ offense hasn’t exactly had Hefner’s back whenever he takes the mound, averaging about three runs a game whenever he pitches. He could just as easily be 3-2 instead of 0-5 when you examine a few of his last five starts, especially his April 30 start when he took a shutout into the ninth inning against the Marlins. In his start before that, he tossed seven solid innings against the Dodgers and allowed just one run. Of course the Mets lost both of those superbly pitched games.

I do agree with the majority opinion and that Hefner will indeed be the one that Wheeler ultimately replaces, but it might not be a bad thing either for Hefner or even the Mets. Hefner seems to have trouble once the opposition gets that third look at him as do most pitchers. The problem with Hefner is that he doesn’t have those plus-pitches that could help him navigate through a lineup late in games. He doesn’t possess any electric stuff and eventually the other guys can figure him out. That’s a problem for a starting pitcher, but not so much for a long reliever. Hefner could be what the Mets have lacked ever since Darren Oliver bolted for the Angels after the 2006 season.

Zack Wheeler may not spell the end for Jeremy Hefner, but it might mark the beginning of something new and possibly better.

Jeremy Hefner lasted just four innings and dropped to 0-5 on the season as the Mets took it on the chin in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Hefner allowed four runs on five hits and three walks and quickly put his team in a hole. The right-hander now has a 5.00 ERA and the Mets are 0-8 when he starts a game.

“He just fell behind in counts,” said Terry Collins. “When he got behind, he had some three-ball counts that he didn’t have earlier. And then he had to come around the plate. When he came around the plate, they put it in play.”

The bullpen was no better as Robert Carson and Collin McHugh both pitched two innings each and allowed a pair of runs.

The Mets wouldn’t get on the board until the ninth inning when they were already down 8-0. John Buck singled and then center fielder Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homer, his second as a Met and seventh overall.

David Wright had two critical strikeouts and looks like he’s trying to do too much at the plate. Ike Davis went 0-for-4 and has about two weeks to straighten himself out or face a demotion to the minors. He is 1 for his last 30.

One bright spot came late in the game when shortstop Ruben Tejada made a spectacular diving stop and initiated an incredible 6-4-3 double-play.

The Mets were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. They are now 0-9 the day after Matt Harvey starts.

Another day game for the Mets tomorrow as Dillon Gee (2-5, 6.13 ERA) opposes left-hander Travis Wood (4-2, 2.03) in the 2:20 PM rubber match.

Starting Lineup

1. Mike Baxter – RF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Ike Davis – 1B
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. John Buck – C
7. Rick Ankiel – CF
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Jeremy Hefner – RHP

Game Notes

Jeremy Hefner has posted a 3.33 ERA (10 earned runs/27.0 innings) over his last four starts, including three quality starts. Hefner has issued eight walks and struck out 19 during that span.

Matt Harvey drove in the go-ahead run for in the seventh inning, breaking a 2-2 tie with an RBI single. Harvey is the first Mets starting pitcher to earn a win and drive in a go-ahead run in the seventh inning or later since Sid Fernandez on August 16, 1993 at Cincinnati.

Harvey is 5-0 with a 1.55 ERA in nine starts. Only two other major league pitchers over the last 30 seasons remained undefeated through as many starts with as low an ERA: Kris Medlen last season (7-0, 0.86 ERA) and Pedro Martinez in 2001 (6-0, 1.52). Harvey is fifth in the majors with a 1.55 ERA and
second in the N L with 68 strikeouts. He leads the majors with a 0.72 WHIP, a .149 opponents batting average against and 6.64 baserunners per nine innings.

Bobby Parnell has three wins and three saves this month. Parnell has hurled 7.0 scoreless frames in May. He is tied for the major league lead among all relievers with four wins and is sixth in the NL with a 0.98 ERA (min. 16.0 innings).

John Buck is fifth in the NL with 31 RBI. Buck’s 31 RBI lead all catchers. San Francisco’s Buster Posey is second with 24 RBI. He is also tied for the home run lead among catchers with 10 with Toronto’s J.P. Arencibia. His 10 home runs are tied for fourth in the National League.

Game Preview

The Mets now have won two games in a row and they are looking to do more this afternoon in Chicago as they play game two of this series. Yesterday the Mets got limited, but strong hits from David Wright and Daniel Murphy, good pitching from Matt Harvey and surprising defense from Byrd. Today Jeremy Hefner tries to keep it going against Scott Feldman.

Jeremy Hefner is 0-4 this season over 41.0 innings of work with a 4.61 ERA. His last start was average, contract definition of quality, as he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings of work and in that game he allowed 5 hits, 4 walks and 2 strikeouts. Last year he pitched only 1.1 innings against the Cubs and they were quiet: no hits, no runs, no walks and one strikeout. The Cubs have the following numbers against Hefner:

Schierholtz 1-4, 3B
Edwin Jackson, 0-3 (Yes, I know he’s a pitcher and he went yesterday but whatever)
Castro 0-1
DeJesus 0-1
Rizzo 0-1
Russel 0-1

Scott Feldman is 3-3 this season with a 2.53 ERA over 7 games and 42.2 innings of work. He has been fantastic in the month of May pitching 22.0 innings with a 1.23 ERA while walking 5 and striking out 21 batters. He has made one start in his career against the Mets where he picked up the loss after 5 innings with 8 hits, 7 runs, 6 earned. The Mets have the following numbers against Scott:

Buck 3-13, 2 2B
Wright 0-2
(It’s been a while since Feldman has faced the Mets)

Lets Go Mets!

Mets at Cubs Series Preview

The Mets are playing terribly, and they need a team to beat up on. They have played three out of their last four series against teams above .500 and have suffered badly, losing six of their last seven games. Luckily, they play the Cubs this weekend, who, even though they might be better than the Mets, they are certainly easier to beat than the Pirates and Braves.

The Cubs are rebuilding. That’s very, very clear. Theo Epstein and the rest of Chicago’s front office is trying to build a team from the talented young core they have in place. So far, their plan seems to be working out well. Anthony Rizzo looks like he is a future star and Starlin Castro is shaping up to be a cornerstone piece at shortstop.

The Cubbie pitching staff is getting younger and with Jeff Samardzjia and Jackson to build their rotation around, they have a solid foundation for a playoff team. However, while the Cubs are building, they are still far off from being a playoff contender. They are currently 22nd in runs scored, and don’t have too many offensive threats. They have been carried almost exclusively by Rizzo and David DeJesus this season, rak=nking 24th in On-Base Percentage as a club. If it weren’t for those two, the offense would be one of, if not the worst in baseball. On the pitching side, their starting rotation has been solid, even without Matt Garza, but the bullpen has been awful. Aside from Kevin Gregg, who has been fantastic as Chicago’s closer as of late, they have received almost no consistent production out of the bullpen. Carlos Marmol has been himself (and therefore awful) and Kyuji Fujikawa has been unable to take his place. The Cubs as a team rank 22nd in baseball in bullpen ERA, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to get any better.

Long-term, while the Cubs are on the rise, they are still a very weak offensive team and have a long way to go before they become contenders. While two of the three pitching matchups this series don’t look great for the Mets, the series should be rather close.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Matt Harvey, RHP (56.1 IP, 256 ERA+, 4.43 K/BB) vs. Edwin Jackson, RHP (43.1 IP, 66 ERA+, 2.10 K/BB)

Jackson has failed to live up to expectations after signing a four-year, $52 million deal with the Cubs this winter. His 6.02 ERA is the worst on the Cubs among starters. He has been uncharacteristically wild, walking 4.2 batters per nine innings. Although some of his walk numbers from early on in his career are ugly, he has kept them largely under control the past few seasons. At least until now. He has failed to go more than six innings in a start this season. In his last start on May 11, he gave up two runs on four hits in 5.1 innings against the Nationals, walking two and striking out three.

Game 2:  Jeremy Hefner, RHP (41 IP, 80 ERA+, 1.69 K/BB) vs. Scott Feldman RHP (42.2 IP, 156 ERA+, 1.94 K/BB)

Feldman, 30, is your typical journey man starting pitcher. He pitched with Texas for eight years, in which he had a 4.81 ERA in 204 appearances. He has been much better since coming to the Cubs. He has put together a string of four outstanding starts, including his outing on April 26 against the Padres in which he gave up only two runs on three hits in nine innings, striking out 12 and walking a single batter. In his last start on May 12, he allowed one run on three hits in five innings against the Nationals.

Game 3: Dillon Gee, RHP (39.2 IP, 60 ERA+, 1.69 K/BB) vs. Travis Wood, LHP (53.1 IP, 195 ERA+, 2.12 K/BB)

Despite posting mediocre numbers from 2010 through 2012, Wood has been incredible this season. He leads the team with a 2.03 ERA in eight starts and has given up only 5.4 hits per nine innings. What has been the key to his success? Most likely luck. Wood hasn’t changed anything significant in terms of his approach and none of his pitches have gotten significantly better. However, his .193 BABIP makes it seem like he might come down to Earth soon. Wood shut out the Rockies over seven innings in his last start, allowing just two hits.

Series Notes

The Mets snapped their six-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at St. Louis yesterday…New York is 3-7 in its last 10 games…The Mets are 6-11 on the road this year.

In addition to this three-game series vs. the Cubs, the Mets will return to Chicago later this year to play the White Sox in a two-game series (June 25-26).

The Mets will play four straight day games (yesterday in St. Louis and three in Chicago) for the first time since September 3-6, 2010 (three in Chicago and one in Washington)…New York is 7-10 in day games…David Wright is batting .379 during day games, the fourth-highest average in the National League.

Daniel Murphy went 4-4 with two doubles and a walk on Thursday…The four hits tied his career-high…It was the eighth time he’s collected four hits in a game, last on April 12 at Minnesota…Murphy is 10-for-his-last-16 (.625) over his last four games and currently has a five-game hitting streak (11-20, .550) …Murphy is batting .394 on the road this season, the best mark in the NL and is second in the majors.

The Mets scored five runs yesterday but have scored three or fewer runs in eight of their last 10 games and in 13 of their last 19 games…New York is averaging 4.34 runs per game, the fifth-most in the NL and the 14th-most in the majors.

New York is hitting .238 (15-63) with runners in scoring position over its last 10 games…The Mets are fifth in the NL and 12th in the majors with a .266 (76-286) batting average with RISP…The club has 11 home runs in such situations, tied for the fifth most in the majors…John Buck has four of those home runs, tied for second in the majors…

David Wright is hitting .441 (15-34) with RISP, the fifth-best mark in the National League…As a team the Mets have stranded 256 runners, including eight yesterday, tied for 25th in the majors.

John Buck had one RBI yesterday and is tied for third in the NL with 31 RBI…Buck’s 31 RBI lead all catchers…San Francisco’s Buster Posey is second with 22 RBI.

Marlon Byrd is 4-for-his-last 8 (.500)…He is seven hits shy of 1,100 for his career…Byrd has at least one hit in seven of eight games this month (10-27, .370) with two home runs and six RBI.

Bobby Parnell has three wins and two saves this month…Parnell has hurled 6.0 scoreless frames in May…He leads all relievers with four wins and is eighth in the NL with a 1.04 ERA (min. 17.0 innings).

Where would this team be without Matt Harvey?

Is it safe to say that as of this moment, the only proven and legit core player under the age of 30 this team has is The Dark Knight of Gotham?

I like Jon Niese a lot, but is he a core player? Or just an number three pitcher who plays the role of an ace on a very bad team?

I quickly threw some numbers into a spreadsheet and I can’t believe how appalling the numbers are once you take Harvey out of the equation.

Two of our top three starters have ERA’s of 5.93 for Jon Niese and 6.13 for Dillon Gee. Our number four starter, Jeremy Hefner has got them both beat with a 4.28 ERA. You may recall me saying back in January that he would be a sleeper and best choice for fifth starter? (Hey Alex68, remember this? Underrated????? SMH!!!)

Then you have the pitcher who was supposed to help replace R.A. Dickey‘s innings in Shaun Marcum. The Mets gave marcum a guaranteed $4 million dollars and in return he’s already missed one month and since his debut is averaging 4.1 innings in three starts and has a team worst 8.31 ERA.

Mets pitchers are now officially the worst in the National League and second worst in the Major Leagues. And that’s with Matt Harvey who is in the top five in over a half dozen pitching categories.

That’s kind of embarrassing, wouldn’t you say?

Gee has been the latest starter to deliver an abysmal performance after allowing six runs and nine hits against the Cardinals last night in 4.0 innings.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know what to say, really. I didn’t feel all that bad tonight”, said Gee after the game. “Physically I feel great. There’s nothing going on there. I don’t know. I’m kind of lost.”

You don’t say?

Gee and Co. is partly why the Mets bullpen has been as abysmal as it has. They are burning through arms at an unprecedented rate. Six weeks in and already eight transactions related to the bullpen alone. And it’s not as if it was a great bullpen to begin with. It was put together with sticks and Krazy Glue.

So while everyone is piling on when it comes to the Mets offense, the truth of the matter is that this team is quite atrocious on all fronts. Take a look at the evidence:

METS PITCHING RANKINGS

METS HITTING RANKINGS

That stinks to high heaven. It’s a shock to the system to even look at those awful, awful numbers.

I can tell you right now that Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud alone are not going to fix that. In fact I think it’s a sin that those two are being setup for an unfair amount of undue pressure, as if trying to stick in the majors wasn’t already challenging enough.

On Wednesday, Sandy Alderson seemed concerned that Wheeler is being looked upon as some sort of savior and he admitted to Mike Francesa that he wasn’t. But the fact that both he and d’Arnaud will be walking into this disaster is going to be something to behold and I don’t mean that in a good way. I wonder how they will handle it, and God forbid if they don’t produce immediate results and hit the ground running.

The other day on Twitter I tossed out the suggestion of just letting both of them stay at Triple-A and don’t bring them up unless this team turns it around. Losing is contagious. I know you all know that. If this is what those two kids are going to walk into, I’d rather wait and call them up in September.

At least in September they can come up without the pressure of having to carry a team that was poorly constructed. It’s bad enough that Matt Harvey has had to deal with this. I totally feel sorry for that kid. On any other team, but the Mets, Harvey would probably be 8-0 right now.

I don’t know if this is rock bottom, but heaven help us if it isn’t and it continues to get worse.

That shot of Lucas Duda entering the dugout after a solo homerun in the second inning of the game was tonight’s highlight as the Mets were defeated by the Chicago White Sox by the score of 6-3.

What a difference between the energy in last nights game compared to this one which had all the excitement of a wake.

Jeremy Hefner started and to be honest, he pitched better than what you’ll see in his pitching line. Even terry Collins said after the game that he left him in as long as he did because they weren’t really hitting him hard and he was just very unlucky tonight. Hefner allowed four earned runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out five. One of those runs came on a leadoff home run by Alejandro De Aza.

Meanwhile, Chicago White Sox starter Jake Peavy was unstoppable and the Mets couldn’t touch him aside from the Duda homerun. He pitched into the seventh and held the Mets to just two hits after that.

The Mets almost made a game out of it in the eighth when they got the tying run to the plate, Andrew Brown and Lucas Duda struck out with two men on base. They scored a run in the ninth and again got the tying run to the plate, but this time Juan Lagares struck out to strand two runners to end the game.

The Mets begin a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night at 7:10 PM. Dillon Gee (2-4, 6.16) will be on the mound for the Mets, opposed by lefty Jeff Locke (3-1, 3.21).

Look at that scoreboard and count all of them zeroes!

What an amazing game tonight by the ace of the staff Matt Harvey who tossed nine scoreless innings tonight as the Mets beat the Chicago White Sox by the score of 1-0 on a tenth inning walk-off double by pinch hitter Mike Baxter.

The Mets phenom took a perfect game into the seventh inning until Alex Rios hit a grounder deep in the hole to Ruben Tejada who turned fired to first, but not in time as Rios beat the throw by half a step. Damn it!

Still, it was just another dominating performance in what has been a season full of them for Matt Harvey. The young right-hander struck out a career high twelve batters on the night and was absolutely electric.

The Mets offense was silenced most of the night by White Sox starter and Newark, New Jersey native Hector Santiago who was matching zeroes with Harvey and going toe to toe with him.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the tenth that the Mets broke through after a walk by Ike Davis who was then sacrificed to second on a perfect bunt by the rookie, Juan Lagares.

Terry Collins called on Mike Baxter to pinch hit and he quickly laced the ball into the right field corner as Ike Davis raced home and scored the winning run.

It was one of those games that you were happy to not have missed and hopefully all of you were tuned in and as amped up as I was. This one gave me goosebumps!

The Mets wrap up their short two game series tomorrow evening at 7:10 PM with Jeremy Hefner on the mound.

DAVID WRIGHT, 3B

MMO PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Wright copped his third MMO Player of the Week honor after what may have been his most productive week of the season.

The feisty third baseman had a few run-ins the umps this past week which is something we don’t see too much of from him, but it’s what a player does in the box score that matters most for this weekly staple at MMO.

Wright posted an incredible .333/.368/.889/1.257 batting line to lead the team while also clubbing a team high three home runs – all of them coming in his last three games to close out his week with a BANG!

Additionally, he led the team with 16 total bases and six runs scored, more than double any of the other players for the week.

Wright saw his franchise record of 77 games without an error come to an end, and it was also the longest active streak among all MLB third basemen.

Honorable Mentions

John Buck

John Buck may have had a rough day yesterday behind the plate, but offensively he batted .278/.350/.667/1.017 in 18 at-bats with two more home runs to give him a team-leading ten homers for the season. He also drove in six runs and now leads the NL with 29 RBI.

Matt Harvey

Matt Harvey didn’t get the win, but delivered another solid start in which he allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings pitched. The right-hander allowed seven hits and uncharacteristically walked three batters, while striking out seven. He’ll get the start tomorrow on seven days rest as the White Sox roll into town.

Jeremy Hefner

Hefner was the hard-luck loser after pitching the best game of his young career against the Miami Marlins last week. The righty did a nice job of changing speeds and using his assortment of pitches to keep the Fish off balance all night for eight solid innings of work. He allowed two earned runs on just four hits and struck out three while walking three.

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

1. David Wright – 3

2. John Buck - 1

2. Matt Harvey - 1

Two teams that are undergoing a rebuilding process, the Mets and Marlins, hooked up for a three game series in Miami with Fish winning two and the Mets salvaging the finale. Most Met fans realize (I think) we’re looking at 2015 and beyond. While Marlins fans remain shellshocked by the stripping down of their team in only their second season in a new ballpark, Mets fans may need seven years or more before we can begin to talk about things like championships and pennants. Here are the 3 & 3 from this series, with a unique 3 Down, all occurring in a single inning.

Jordany Juices One: Jordany Valdespin gets the top slot with his pinch-hit three-run homer on Wednesday afternoon. JV1l is an exciting ballplayer who brings both speed and power to the plate. You have to wonder, with the Mets offense struggling the way it is, why Valdy isn’t getting more playing time.

A Gem By Jeremy: On Tuesday night, Jeremy Hefner took a shutout into the ninth inning before being undone by poor umpiring and poor catching (more on that below). Big question here is why did Terry even take Hefner out in the ninth inning?

Harvey Hangs In: Matt Harvey did not look sharp in Monday night’s series opener. Much to Matt’s credit though, he hung in there, bore down, and gave the Mets a quality start. That’s what front of the rotation pitchers do.

Where Was Bobby: Going back to the Hefner start on Tuesday night, if I’m the manager Bobby Parnell pitches in that ninth inning. I don’t care what he did the night before, he’s my closer. He’s a young guy who doesn’t need to be babied and he needed to be out there. End of story.

Time To Retire Tim: In the ninth inning Tuesday night, third base umpire Tim McClelland clearly missed the call. The base runner’s foot was clearly off the bag and Wright tagged him out. The SNY replay even went so far to show that McClelland was out of position to make the call. Let’s also give a thumbs down to Keith & Gary who at first thought McClelland got the call right and quickly reversed themselves. McClelland has been an ump for 30 years, and it may be time to say good bye.

What A Reck: The ninth inning yet again on Tuesday night!! Recker was charged with a passed ball, then was unable to block the game winning wild pitch. Recker hasn’t had too much playing time this season, so it’s somewhat understandable. Here’s what I don’t understand… Why didn’t Terry change the battery in the ninth? According to Josh Lewin on WFAN, John Buck wanted to play, and was doing leg exercises in the clubhouse before the game. Maybe it’s me, but when the team is struggling and taking a lead into the ninth inning, I want my best guys out there.

Well, the fun is just starting as the Mets head to the house of horrors known as Turner Field on Friday, and a smoking hot Atlanta Braves team. Lets hope for the best, but expect the worse, and oh yeah, Let’s Go Mets!!

Despite the incredible effort by Jeremy Hefner on Tuesday night, the Mets were unable to get just three more outs as a ninth inning meltdown capped off by a Brandon Lyon wild pitch handed the Marlins their second straight walk-off victory against the Amazin’s and their first series win of the season.

Surprisingly enough, the Mets have become quite used to the demoralizing oddity known as the walk-off wild pitch. In fact, last night was the third time in four seasons that Flushing’s Finest have allowed the game-winning run to score on a pitch to the backstop.

On May 14 of the 2010 season, Johan Santana was on the mound in a premiere matchup with then-Marlins ace Josh Johnson. Santana went seven innings allowing just one unearned run on six hits and seven strikeouts. He left for a pinch-hitter with the game tied at one. After pitching a scoreless eighth, reliever Fernando Nieve took the hill to pitch a perfect ninth to send the game into extra innings. After getting Jorge Cantu to fly to left for the first out of the tenth, Nieve walked Cody Ross and quickly allowed a Ronny Paulino single to put Ross at third. Then on the first pitch to Dan Uggla, Nieve bounced it to the plate past Rod Barajas as Ross raced home to win it for the Marlins. The walk-off wild pitch would be the first victory for the Fish in what would be a four game sweep of the Mets.

Fast forward two years to July of 2012… Jon Niese is having a heck of a game against the Nationals Ross Detwiler. They both exit after seven, Niese surrendering one run and punching out eight, Detwiler spotless, giving the Nats a 1-0 advantage. They would go up 2-0 after a Steve Lombardozzi RBI double. Comes the top of the ninth, the Mets put up a three spot to go ahead 3-2. However the lead would be short lived as Bobby Parnell would blow the save, allowing the Nats to tie it and send it to extra innings. Josh Thole doubled to drive in Daniel Murphy and give the Amazin’s their second lead in as many innings. Tim Byrdak came on to close out the tenth and after a game tying, RBI triple to the rookie sensation Bryce Harper, he walked the bases loaded and was lifted for Pedro Beato. Beato, on a 1-2 pitch to Tyler Moore, threw a breaking ball that went right past Josh Thole, allowing Ryan Zimmerman to slide home and win it for the Nats by a score of 5-4.

Then we have last night. A suddenly hot Jeremy Hefner came in to finish off a shutout, and came away with a loss as both the tying and go-ahead runs were charged to the 27-year old despite a meltdown by Brandon Lyon capped off by a wild pitch of his own that bounced off the glove of Anthony Recker and ricocheted towards the home dugout.

Before this recent stretch, the last time the Mets lost a ballgame on a walk-off wild pitch dates back all the way to 1981 when Mike Marshall let one fly at Houston. You have to go all the way back to the beginning of the Reagan administration for that one! Meanwhile all three of these most recent “wild” endings have occurred under the same commander in chief. 

Not a theme the Mets would like to continue, however with the quality–or lack there of–of arms they continue to acquire for the ‘pen, what can you expect? Sure Brandon Lyon is supposed to be a solid set-up man, however that hasn’t been the case up to this point. You get what you pay for; you get out of it what you put in. When you don’t go and add significant arms for innings seven through nine and beyond, losses such as those mentioned above are going to happen.

After yesterday’s 2-1 ninth inning loss, David Wright didn’t blame the bad call at third base and instead pointed the finger of blame for the loss on himself and the rest of the offense.

“Sometimes the calls go your way. Sometimes they don’t. What we need to do a better job of is offensively going out there and scoring more runs. We can’t expect to win games 1-0. Offensively we need to do a better job … It seems like the better teams, they go through a rut like this and it only lasts a series or two. We can’t allow it to kind of consume us and take over for a week, two weeks. We’ve got to snap out of it. That starts offensively and going out there and having good at-bats.”

As I wrote in my recap last night, Anthony Recker should have fired the ball to first base to get the easy out and keep the winning run from getting on base. Seems like Recker understands now that he screwed up:

“He dropped it pretty much right in front of the plate for me,” Recker said. “I knew we needed to get an out. I just tried to make a play I probably shouldn’t have tried to make. We talked about it before the bunt — ‘get an out.’ But he laid it in front of the plate. My instincts told me to go to third. Obviously the throw was a little bit high. If it was a good throw we might have had him. I probably don’t need to make that play. I just need to get an out.”

Recker’s passed ball before the play at third base also had a lot to do with how things unravelled as that was what got Chris Coghlan to third base in the first place. Maybe subconsciously the Mets catcher was thinking he could erase that ply by getting him out, but regardless it set up the chain of events that eventually led to the loss.

As for Wright, what he says is true, The team needs to score more runs. By my count they’ve scored 11 runs in their last six games. That’s not going to translate into many wins no matter how good your starting pitching is.

But beside the lack of runs, the Mets bullpen must shoulder much of the blame. They can’t seem to hold a lead of any kind including a recent four-run lead. Reportedly, Bobby Parnell was pissed that he wasn’t called upon for the save opportunity last night. He of course had the blown save the night before and has registered just two saves on the season thus far. He has a good beef. Brandon Lyon was just plain awful and as I wrote yesterday, he has been for the last two weeks. Hope he treated Jeremy Hefner to a great meal after the game as he cashed in his $100K bonus check he picked up before the game.

Wow, that one hurt. What a punch in the gut…

The Miami Marlins came back in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Mets 2-1 in stunning fashion as the winning run scored on a Brandon Lyon wild pitch. The loss is the sixth straight defeat for the Mets, matching their longest losing streak of the 2012 season and it’s only April 30.

I feel more worse about Jeremy Hefner being denied the win, than for the incredible way we lost this game. The kid pitched his heart out.

For eight scoreless innings, Hefner was pitching the game of his life. He held the Marlins to just three hits and no walks while striking out eight and was three outs away from a complete game shutout. But then it all came crashing down in the ninth.

It all started to unravel after a leadoff single by pinch-hitter Chris Coghlan in the ninth. Coghlan advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Anthony Recker. Juan Pierre then lays down a perfect bunt, but rather than taking the easy out at first base, Recker fielded the ball, rolled the dice, and fired to third. Safe!

It was a bad call according to the stop-action video, but the ump wasn’t buying David Wright‘s argument that Coghlan’s foot came off the bag. However, lets not pretend that the runner didn’t beat the throw by a mile. For a split second his foot did come off the bag, but unfortunately it was Wright’s own leg that blocked that view from the umpire. Also, the throw by Recker was way too high. A better throw could have made a bigger difference and produced a more favorable outcome for the Mets.

So now instead of a runner at third and one out, you now have the tying run at third and the winning run on first with nobody out.

A call to the bullpen… Enter reliever Brandon Lyon. The next batter, Donovan Solano, quickly greeted Lyon with an RBI single to tie the game. Following an intentional walk to Placido Polanco to load them up, Lyon uncorks a wild pitch to send Pierre scampering home on with the game-winning run. Game over.

Ouch…

Look… The fact of the matter is that the Mets scored only one run and had only four hits. How are you going to win with offensive numbers like that?

The lone Mets run came on a sac fly by Recker to drive home Daniel Murphy who had gotten on with a double and advanced to third. That was all the fireworks the Mets could conjure up against the equally as brilliant Marlins starter Kevin Slowey.

Wow… The New York Mets – Always discovering new and shocking ways to lose a game. For the second straight night, the Mets were three outs away from victory and blew the game to the last place Marlins.

What a terrible loss and one that now has them five games under .500 and already 6.5 games back and just two games away from last place in the NL East.

What else can we do? Everybody’s struggling right now – the bullpen, the offense, the whole damn team. Nothing will be worse than getting swept by an awful Marlins team who don’t even have their best player Giancarlo Stanton.

Somehow they will have to pick themselves up after another gut-wrenching defeat and try to salvage the final game of the series tomorrow afternoon. Dillon Gee (1-4, 5.96 ERA) opposes left-hander Wade LeBlanc (0-4, 6.20) in an early 12:40 PM start.

Starting Lineups

Game Notes

Last night’s 15-inning game was the longest in Mets-Marlins history. The two teams had played two 12-inning contests, last on September 6, 2011 when the Mets won 7-4 in Miami. Last night’s game was the longest in club history since a 2-1 win over the Cardinals in a 20-inning affair on April 17, 2010 in St. Louis. New York is 1-2 in extra frames this year after going 3-7 last year.

John Buck hit his ninth home run of the year last night, tying a major league record for home runs by a catcher before the end of April. Johnny Bench (1971 Reds) and Charles Johnson (2001 Marlins) also clocked nine home runs before May 1. Buck’s nine home runs tie him for the most by a Met during the month of April with Carlos Delgado (2006) and Dave Kingman (1976).

Met catchers combined to hit five home runs last year after hitting six home runs in 2011. New York catchers combined had 17 home runs in 2010, led by Rod Barajas, who had 12. John Buck had 12 home runs and 41 RBI last year for the Marlins in 106 games.

Collin Cowgill said he misread Rob Brantley’s swing in the ninth inning and initially stepped backward on a ninth-inning fly ball that dropped in front of him. The critical miscue put the tying run on third base and ultimately played a large part in Bobby Parnell suffering a blown save in the ultimate 4-3, 15-inning loss to the the Miami Marlins.

New York has scored three or fewer runs in seven of its last 11 games and is hitting .193 (72-373) over that span. Overall, the Mets are sixth in the majors scoring 4.92 runs per game.

New York went 1-18 with runners in scoring position last night. Over the five-game losing streak, the club is batting .105 (4-38) with RISP. Overall, the Mets are fifth in the NL and 10th in the majors with a .269 (54-201) batting average with runners in scoring position. The club has eight home runs in such situations, tied for the fourth-most in the majors.

The Mets left 14 runners on base last night and over their last five games have stranded 38 runners. New York ranks 16th in the majors with 170 runners left on base.

Game Preview

Last night’s game was terrible. No way around it. The Mets got a good start from Harvey who didn’t have his best stuff, but left the game with the lead. The bullpen only faltered twice from that point, which was amazing because they had to go from the 6th inning until the 15th inning. The Mets bats just went cold, silent and it was just bad. Anyway Hefner gets the start today as he goes against Kevin Slowey.

Jeremy Hefner is coming off of a good start where he pitched 7 innings allowing 1 ER while walking 3 batters and striking out 4. He has now pitched 21.0 innings over 5 starts with a 5.14 ERA. His first start of the season, his second best start, was against the Marlins where he pitched 6.0 innings allowing one earned run while walking 2 and striking out 3. The Marlins have the following numbers against Hefner:

Stanton 1-10
Solano 2-6
Pierre 3-6
Polanco 3-7
Ruggiano 0-5
Dobbs 1-6, HR

The Mets bats will try to find their bats against Kevin Slowey who has been pitching well this season. Over his first five games, he’s 0-2 over 29.2 innings with a 2.43 ERA. He’s coming off of his worst start of the season where he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings of work. He has made one start against the Mets in his career where he allowed 5 ER over 6 innings who have the following numbers against him:

Buck 3-11, 2B
Byrd 1-3
Davis 1-3
Wright 2-3, 2B, HR
Tejada 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The only decent player on Miami’s roster is Giancarlo Stanton, of course, but even he has been on-and-off this season. He didn’t hit his first home run until his 18th game of the season two nights ago against the Cubs. He went on to hit two on Sunday, but his power numbers still have left much to be desired. His walk numbers and BABIP are at normal levels for Stanton, so perhaps it’s the shoulder contusion that Stanton suffered a few weeks ago which has been bringing down his production.

Overall, the Marlins are a team the Mets should handily beat. Although some cynics predicted the Mets to compete with the Marlins for last place, that seems unlikely with the way the Marlins have started the season. Hopefully the Mets will be able to use this series to get back on track.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Matt Harvey, RHP (35 IP, 233 ERA+, 3.90 K/BB) vs. Jose Fernandez, RHP (20 IP, 84 ERA+, 2.38 K/BB)

The Mets saw Fernandez make his big league debut against them on April 7, when he allowed one run on three hits in five innings while striking out eight. He has had one good start and two iffy ones since then. In his last start, which came against Minnesota, he gave up four runs on six hits in five innings. In his start before that, he gave up five earned in four innings against the Reds. One thing to take note of in game one of this series will be Fernandez’s pitch count. The Marlins have coddled him thus far, keeping him around 8- pitches in each of his starts.

Game 2: Jeremy Hefner, RHP (21 IP, 70 ERA+, 1.09 K/BB) vs. Kevin Slowey, RHP (29.2 IP, 155 ERA+, 3.50 K/BB)

After spending an injury-riddled 2012 season with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate, the once top prospect Slowey got another shot with the Marlins. Slowey has been their best pitcher so far, putting up a team-best 2.43 ERA. It’s hard to say long-term whether Slowey can hold up, but he has been very good so far and keeping his walk numbers down, which he has always been known for. In his last start against the Cubs, Slowey gave up three runs in six innings while striking out six and not walking a batter.

Game 3: Dillon Gee, RHP (25.2 IP, 61 ERA+, 2.00 K/BB) vs. Wade LeBlanc, LHP (24.2 IP, 61 ERA+, 2.00 K/BB)

LeBlanc was traded to Miami for John Baker in November 2011 after four years with the Padres. LeBlanc spent last season as a starter and reliever for the Marlins, posting a 3.67 ERA in 25 games, nine of them starts. He hasn’t been as terrible as his numbers might say. His ERA is inflated from his April 15 start in which he let up seven runs in 3.2 innings against the Nationals. He has otherwise been decent. In his last start against Chicago, he gave up four runs on eight hits in six innings.

Series News & Notes

• Adeiny Hechavarria, who you might remember from the last series these two teams played, suffered a bruised elbow on April 16 and was placed on the disabled list the next day. Hechavattia went 4-for-10 in the last series against the Mets in early April.
• New York embarks on its second road trip of the year with three games in Miami and then three contests in Atlanta…The Mets will play 13 of their next 19 away from Citi Field…New York went 3-5 on its first road trip of the season…The Mets were 38-43 on the road in 2012.
• David Wright is tied for second in the majors with 19 walks and Lucas Duda is tied for fourth in the majors with 18…The Mets have drawn 87 walks, tied for the fifth-most in the majors.
• David Wright is day-to-day with a stiff neck. He will miss the first game of the series.
• The Mets have hit at least one home run in 17 of their 23 games and 25 on the year, tied for the sixth-most in the National League…The Mets have hit three grand slams to lead the majors.
• John Buck’s eight home runs tie him for the third-most by a Met during the month of April with Dave Kingman (1982), Jeff Kent (1994), Todd Hundley (1996) and Mike Piazza(2001)…Carlos Delgado (2006) and Dave Kingman (1976) hold the club record with nine home runs in the month of April.

DAVID WRIGHT, 3B

MMO PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Wright is officially rolling, and despite the lack of production and support around him, he continues to produce and be the leader of this team. Wright batted .300/.400/.350, with six hits, a double, a sacrifice fly, five RBI, and a stolen base as he helped lead the Mets offensive attack last week.

Wright reached base in all six games the Mets played this past week, with six hits and four walks. Taking it a step further, the 30-year-old has reached base safely in 21 of the Mets 23 games this season.

Terry Collins shook up the lineup this week and moved Wright into the cleanup spot for a few games, before moving him back into the three-hole. The third baseman has not yet begun to show much in the way of power, having just two long balls on the season. However, he continues to hit and drive in runs seemingly on a nightly basis. To date, the Mets captain is batting .309/.436/.506, with two home runs, four doubles, three triples, and 19 RBI. He has an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of 15:19, and has already swiped six bases.

Right now, Wright is doing the best he can with the pitches he is seeing. There is no real fear of any of the hitters behind him, so pitchers can be careful how they pitch him. They are fine with giving him a free pass, or having him slap a single to left or center. With John Buck cooling off a bit, and Lucas Duda and Ike Davis yet to provide the protection Wright needs, he will continue to see limited pitches that he can drive.

Honorable Mentions

Matt Harvey

Harvey had his worst start of the season, and it wasn’t even that bad. The big righty gave up three earned runs over six innings of work, while striking out seven. Harvey makes two starts this coming week, and if he keeps rolling like this, I will be hard pressed to not hand him his second MMO player of the week honor.

Ruben Tejada

The young shortstop began to pick things up with his bat this week. Tejada had a .300/.417/.450 slash, including three doubles, an RBI, and scored four runs. Tejada returned to the top of the order this week, which is where he spent almost all of last season. The move paid immediate dividends, as Tejada is currently riding a five game hitting streak, and seemed to return to his old self at the plate. Tejada is batting a measly .163 in the eighth spot in the order, while he is hitting a combined .341 when he bats first, second or seventh.

Jeremy Hefner

Hefner may not have many quality starts as the season goes along, but he pitched a gem in his last outing. Hefner went seven innings, gave up just three hits, one earned run, and struck out four batters. The righty did not receive the victory, and remains winless on the year. I hope that the 27-year-old has more starts like that to offer this season.

Jordany Valdespin

Valdespin has a flare for the dramatics, and his walk off grand slam was a great moment early in this season. Spin makes the honorable mention list mainly because the big hit, but aside from that, he did not do much else during the week. The 25-year-old batted just .167, with five RBI, a double, and the game winning grand salami against the Dodgers.

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

1. David Wright – 2

2. John Buck - 1

2. Matt Harvey - 1

Hefner gave the Mets seven solid innings on the mound, allowing just one run on three hits and three walks while striking out three. He didn’t figure into the decision and left with the game knotted at 1-1. The Mets scored their first run on a sac-fly by David Wright in the sixth.

Andre Ethier broke the tie with an RBI single off Scott Rice in the ninth to give the Dodgers the lead and would be charged with another run when Juan Uribe drove in what would prove to be a valuable insurance run on an infield hit off Bobby Parnell.

Ike Davis made things a little interesting when he led off the ninth with a homer to pull the Mets within one, but the team went down quietly after that, losing the game and also suffering their first series loss at home this season.

Like yesterday, the Mets had many opportunities, but went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. In a one-run game, that’s never good.

The Phillies come into town for a weekend series beginning on Friday night at 7:10 PM, when Dillon Gee (1-3, 5.95 ERA) opposes right-hander Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 3.28) for Philadelphia.

Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Lucas Duda – LF
5. Marlon Byrd – RF
6. Ike Davis – 1B
7. Anthony Recker – C
8. Collin Cowgill – CF
9. Jeremy Hefner – RHP

Game Notes

Last night’s grand slam by Jordany Valdespin was the first walk-off grand slam by a Met since Kevin McReynolds against Montreal’s Scott Ruskin on June, 25 1991 and the sixth in franchise history. It also marked the second walk-off hit by a Met this season, joining Marlon Byrd against the Miami Marlins on April 7. Incidentally, Jordany Valdespin said last night after the game, “Biggest play of night was Baxter hustle.” So much for charges of inflated ego.

Jonathon Niese, who was struck with a comebacker in the lower right leg off and forced from Tuesday’s game, had some swelling and tightness a day after receiving the jolt. He may delay his bullpen session by a day to Friday and throw more lightly than customarily between starts. But Niese intends to proceed with his next scheduled start, against the Philadelphia Phillies opposite Cole Hamels on Sunday at Citi Field.

Despite pitching well in the New York Mets’ 7-3, 10-inning win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up just four hits and three runs in six innings, Harvey was unforgiving about his no-decision. “You guys know me. In my mind I sucked,” Harvey said. “I have to be better.”

Game Preview

The Dodgers and Mets finish off their three game series this afternoon as the Mets look to take another series via the rubber game. Last night the Mets rallied in the 9th inning to tie the game 3-3 and then won on a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the tenth via Jordany Valdespin. Hopefully the magic continues today as Jeremy Hefner takes on rookie Hyun-jin Ryu.

Hefner had another off start last time out lasting 4.0 innings allowing 3 ER. He started the season well allowing only one earned run over 6 innings of work. Since that start he’s pitched 8.0 innings and has allowed 10 ER. Last year he made 3 appearances (no starts) against the Dodgers pitching a total of 4.0 innings allowing only 2 ER. The Dodgers have the following numbers against Hefner:

A.J. Ellis 0-2
Cruz 0-1
Ethier 0-1
Kemp 1-1, 3B
Uribe 0-1

The Mets bats will get their first look at Hyun-jin Ryu today who is 2-1 with a 4.01 ERA over four starts this season. In his first two starts he lasted 6.1 innings and since then he has gone an even 6 innings in each start. Each start has also gotten progressively worse for him as he has allowed 1 ER, 2 ER, 3 ER and 5 ER in that order. As you can imagine, he’s never played against the Mets and this is his rookie season, so there are no batting statics against anyone currently on the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!