Wheeler lasted merely four innings in his second start back from the DL against Salt Lake – after he looked a little rusty in his last go-around. He allowed four hits, two of which were home runs, and three walks which led to five runs. Only three were earned, however, as Matt Long took Wheeler deep after a fielding error by Brandon Hicks extended the inning in the second. He served up the first home run, which was also a two-run home run, to Kobe Calhoun in the first inning with two outs.

Three walks in four innings is undesirable, but what further compounded the issue is the timing of said walks. He walked Brad Hawpe with two out in the first right before Calhoun took him deep – and walked back to back batters in the third to set up a runner in scoring position with only one out in the third. Salt Lake took advantage of this with an RBI single. Wheeler’s only easy inning during this start was the fourth – where he retired the batters in order. He departed after 80 pitches, but only 41 strikes.

This is purely speculation, but I wonder what happened between the time he was injured and his next start and if it hurt his mechanics somehow after he worked so hard to correct them. He has looked like a different guy between his last two starts – a stark difference from earlier in the year when I actually thought he could be ready for promotion. With the Super 2 date very close to passing, that no longer becomes a concern – instead, we need to make sure he fulfills the original criteria for promotion: stringing together 2-3 solid starts in a row with a low walk rate.

Once again it falls upon all Americans to take a pause from the daily grind in remembrance of all the brave men and women that have made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for our country. We at Mets Merized Online honor their memories on this Memorial Day.

We also honor all the men and women of our Armed Forces who continue to serve our country and defend the American way of life. Real heroes don’t wear capes, they wear dog tags. God Bless all of you for your unwavering courage, integrity and patriotism.

Mets are 12-8 at home, Nationals are 6-14 away.

Maine went 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA in three starts versus Washington last season.
Lannan is 1-2 with a 5.20 ERA in five career starts against the Mets.

Today’s Quote

“It’s pretty good to have someone talk to you who had as much success as he did,” Murphy said (talking about his conversation with Keith Hernandez). “Now I’m playing the same position he did; I’m a left-handed hitter. He said he struggled a little bit when he came up, too, and I’m going through some growing pains right now.”

Pitching

First run: 2nd inning, Nieves singled to right, Harris scored.
Second run: 7th inning, Zimmerman walked, Nieves scored, Guzman to third, Johnson to second.

Hitting

First run: 3rd inning, Beltran singled to left, Pagan scored, Castillo to second.
Second, third, fourth run: 6th inning, Sheffield homered to left, Castillo and Beltran scored.
Fifth run: 6th inning, Martinez hit sacrifice fly to left, Wright scored.

1. Pagan: 0-2   .261
2. Castillo: 2-3   .282
3. Beltran: 2-2   .367
4. Sheffield: 2-3   .277
    Rodriguez: 0-0   .000
5. Wright: 0-1   .348
6. Tatis: 1-4   .276
7. Santos: 1-4   .269
8. Martinez: 0-3   .077
9. Maine: 1-2   .222
   a- Murphy: 0-1   .246
   Parnell: 0-0   .000
   Feliciano: 0-0   .000
   Putz: 0-0   .000
   b- Reed: 0-1   .304

a- Murphy pinch hit for Maine in 6th inning.
b- Reed pinch hit for Putz in 8th inning. Double switch, Reed plays left, Sheffield comes out for Rodriguez. 

HR: Sheffield (4)
RBI: Beltran (31), Sheffield 3 (12,13,14), Martinez (2)
R: Pagan (3), Beltran (31), Castillo (23), Sheffield (21), Wright (29)
2B: Beltran (15), Castillo (3)
Sac: Martinez, Castillo
K: Tatis (6), Martinez (6), Reed (11)
BB: Wright 3 (30,31,32), Pagan 2 (3,4), Beltran (28), Sheffield (19)

Additional Info

The Mets honored the U.S. Military during a pregame ceremony prior to today’s Memorial Day game. Families with relatives in the 53rd Army Liaison team stationed in Camp Victory in Baghdad will be able to talk live via satellite on CitiVision.

Third straight Mets game umps needed instant replay, Sheffield’s homerun. IT’S GOOD! Number 503!

Happy birthday to Lindsey Nelson (broadcaster for Mets in 1962 – 1978).

Mets wore red caps to commemorate Memorial day.

This day in Mets history: Due to fog, 11 inning game between Mets and Pirates at Shea tied at 3-3. May 25, 1975.

Aflac trivia question: Who won two batting titles in his first two full seasons?
Aflac trivia answer: Tony Olivo (1964-1965)

Oliver Perez will have his first rehab start with AAA-Buffalo tomorrow.
Alex Cora will go to the doctors tomorrow, if he can throw a baseball tomorrow he will not need surgery and can come back sooner.

Sheffield‘s first multi-RBI game as a Met.

Game Ball

Gary Sheffield (HR)

Game ends: 10:30 P.M.

Up Next

Livan Hernandez (3-1, 4.93) will go up against Craig Stammen (0-0, 5.68) for game two of this series.

Once again it falls upon all Americans to take a pause from the daily grind in remembrance of all the brave men and women that have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and gave their lives.

We at Mets Merized Online honor their memories on this Memorial Day.

We also take great pride in all the servicemen and women who continue to serve their country and defend the American way of life all over the world.

God Bless all of you for your unwavering loyalty, patriotism, integrity and courage.

Please share and pass along this special Memorial Day graphic we made to honor all our veterans both living and deceased.

Happy Memorial Day!