The New York Mets begin their Spring Training schedule on the road in Fort Myers against the Boston Red Sox.

Right-hander Seth Lugo makes the start for the Mets and is opposed by left-hander Henry Owens for the Red Sox. The game begins at 1:05 PM at JetBlue Park and it’s not televised but can be heard on WOR.

New York Mets 

1. Juan Lagares, CF
2. T.J. Rivera, 3B
3. Michael Conforto, RF
4. Wilmer Flores, 1B
5. Travis d’Arnaud, C
6. Brandon Nimmo, LF
7. Kevin Plawecki, DH
8. Gavin Cecchini, 2B
9. Matt Reynolds, SS

Boston Red Sox

1. Brock Holt, SS
2. Andrew Benintendi, LF
3. Hanley Ramirez, DH
4. Jackie Bradley, CF
5. Bryce Brentz, RF
6. Marco Hernandez, 2B
7. Sandy Leon, C
8. Allen Craig, 1B
9. Josh Rutledge, 3B

Marcos Molina, Rafael Montero, Logan Taylor, Corey Taylor, Josh Edgin and Hansel Robles are also scheduled to pitch for the Mets today.

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Red Sox, 1:05 PM appeared first on Metsmerized.

Yoenis Cespedes at the 2013 Home Run Derby at Citi Field (Photo by Jim Mancari)

So another July 31 trade deadline has passed, and while the Mets maybe weren’t so active right now, some of the deals that occurred could actually affect the Amazin’s this offseason.

The Boston Red Sox completely overhauled their pitching staff by trading Jon Lester and John Lackey, as well as Felix Doubront and Andrew Miller.

In exchange, the Sox received two prominent outfielders: Yoenis Cespedes and Allen Craig. In looking at the team’s pitching however, it leaves must to be desired.

That’s where the Mets come into play.

It’s no secret that the Mets need a bat, and now the Red Sox could use a few arms, which the Mets have. So I wonder if these teams will be talking this offseason.

Starting with the Red Sox, let’s take a look at how their outfield would shape up next season. Shane Victorino is still under contract. Jackie Bradley Jr. – though he’s struggled with the bat at times – provides excellent defense in center field. Brock Holt has hit well in a limited sample, and Daniel Nava could be a solid option as a fourth or fifth outfielder. And don’t forget that the team has a big-time outfield prospect in Mookie Betts.

Naturally, one of the corner spots would be filled by either Cespedes or Craig. So let’s hypothetically say that next year’s outfield in Boston will consist of Cespedes or Craig in left, Bradley Jr./Holt in center and Victorino in right.

Since David Ortiz and Mike Napoli will still be around, that limits Craig to solely an outfield role, rather than playing first base or DH – though he could fill in at times in those spots but likely not regularly to warrant keeping him, given the team’s pitching holes.

If I were the Mets, I would inquire this offseason to see if Cespedes or Craig will be available via trade. Certainly, Cespedes would be the huge bat the Mets need for the middle of the order, but a guy like Craig coming off a tough year could be a smart gamble, especially given his versatility.

Cespedes has one year at $10.5 million remaining on his contract after this season. That’s a bargain considering his offensive production, not mention his ability to gun down runners at any base.

Craig meanwhile has three years left on his contract with a $13 million club option for 2018.

I’m not crazy about the idea of giving up a Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom type prospect for A) a guy like Cespedes who only has one year left on his deal or B) a lesser player like Craig who has too many years left.

But if the Mets could negotiate an extension with Cespedes as part of a trade, now we’re talking.

And as far as Craig, a package of lesser prospects along with maybe Dillon Gee or Jon Niese could get a deal done. Even a straight-up deal for one of the veteran pitchers may work.

Cespedes to me is the impact bat the Mets are seeking. Craig I feel is more of a stopgap player, and the team already has too many of those.

So let’s see if Sandy Alderson gives the Red Sox a call this offseason.

Let me post this to the audience: Would you rather see the team try to acquire Cespedes knowing it would take Syndergaard or deGrom (and other prospects potentially too), or would you settle for Craig for a package centered around Gee or Niese, rather than the young electric arms?

Certainly a tough call.

The post From Left Field: Mets Should Look To Red Sox As Trade Partners In Offseason appeared first on Metsmerized.

An MMO Fan Shot by Steven Pacchiano

Call me old fashioned, call me a dinosaur, I’m 39 years old BUT I still have 20/20 vision. I understand the concept of WAR and all the stats that go into it, but I really prefer to look at the classic numbers and watch the player play in order to decide if one player is better than another.

WAR supposedly is a stat that determines the value of a player’s total contributions to their team. It is claimed to show the number of additional wins a player would contribute to a team compared to a replacement level player at that position, usually a minor league player or bench player. It is an attempt by the sabermetric baseball community to summarize a player’s total contributions to their team in one statistic. An example would be, saying that Player A is worth 3 wins and player B is worth 6 wins.

I think it’s a very interesting idea for a stat and would love to be able to put a “number” on a guy like this. But I think there is something flawed somewhere in the calculations. Maybe there is too much weight for one stat over another or maybe they are missing a value or two, because to me something just doesn’t add up.

So lets relate this to Stephen Drew since he’s still in the headlines. Drew had a WAR of 3.1 in 2013 for the World Champions Red Sox. He had a batting average of .253, 13 HR and a .333 on base percentage. He played in 124 games in 2013. Let’s pretend and say the Mets do sign him, with the current roster where would he on opening day? Sixth or seventh?

Lets take a look at some players with a lower WAR than Drew and consider where they would hit in our lineup for comparison:

Norichika Aoki, who had a lower WAR 3.03 (not by much), who hit .286 with a .356 OBP, 20 SB and 80 Runs scored in 155 games on a Bad MIL team. (Would be a great leadoff hitter if the Mets had him)

Matt Holliday had a WAR of 2.66, Matt hit .300 with 22 HR, & 94 RBI with a .389 OBP, in 141 Games. (Would hit clean up in our lineup)

Justin Upton had a bad year (for him) and had a WAR of 2.64 BUT he still hit, .263 with 27 HR, 70 RBI, 94 Runs and a .354 OBP. (Would hit clean up in our lineup)

Domonic Brown, Had a WAR of 2.51, He hit .272 with 27 HR, and 83 RBI in 139 Games. (Would hit clean up in our lineup)

Allen Craig, Had a 2.25 WAR, Allen hit .315 with 97 RBI and a .373 OBP (Allen would hit 3 or 4 in our lineup)

Now WAR or no WAR, I would much prefer any of these guys on my team than Drew. ,Their numbers BLOW his away. Most of these players are big difference makers. Please look over their numbers again for yourselves. Yes, yes I know WAR also takes into consideration what position a player fields, so lets look at a few shortstops…

Alexei Ramirez, had a 2.58 WAR, but he hit .284, 39 doubles and 30 SB. In 158 Games (He would leadoff if he was on the Mets)

Jose Reyes (A name we all know) Had a WAR of 2.55. Yes, he did only play 93 Games (31 less than Drew), but Jose hit .296 with 10 HR, with a .353 OBP (Jose would take back his leadoff spot in our lineup)

Jed Lowrie Had a WAR of 2.27, And he hit .290 with 15 HR, 45 Doubles, 80 Runs scored, 75 RBI and a .344 OBP. (He would hit second in the Mets lineup)

I do know that Drew is a better defender than these other shortstops, Lowrie and Alexei committed a lot more errors BUT Reyes only had one more error than Drew. But the way I see it, committing an error doesn’t always lose you a game. Sometimes it doesn’t even cost you a run. Maybe there is a bit too much weight on defense?

Hey, if GM’s thought WAR really determined the value of a player’s total contributions to their team in games won, than we should sign Drew and trade him for one of those other guys I mentioned. Maybe they would think they were getting a good deal?

* * * * * * * *

This Fan Shot was contributed by Steven Pacchiano. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 25,000 Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.

The post MMO Fan Shot: Going To WAR For Stephen Drew? appeared first on Metsmerized.

But what if it didn’t happen?

Imagine if after the 0-2 pitch that stunned Beltran, the umpires would have stood around to discuss things. Imagine if they gathered at home and measured the strike zone and determined where exactly the ball crossed the plate. Sound crazy? Not really. Isn’t that exactly what happens when a football player leaps at fourth down and inches?

I grew up in Queens and rooted for the Dallas Cowboys because my dad knew Roger Staubach (and yes, I had that Cowboys cheerleader poster in my bedroom) My dad rooted for the Rangers, me the Islanders. He was a Knicks fan. I never got into basketball. However, these sports were ancillary. Ours was a baseball home.

Even baseball fans complain about the length of a ballgame. Pitching changes, visits to the mound, throws to first. It slows down the game they claim. Football has more action. Football is faster. Baseball is boring. My question is this: If Football truly is faster then why does it take so long? The game is rigidly designed into 4 15-minute quarters. One hour. Yet, a typical game runs triple that. In other words for 2 hours of a 3 hour game there is nothing happening. Two of every three minutes are pointless.

Here’s an example of a possession: The offense has the ball on their own 20. They huddle and discuss what they should do. They walk up to the line of scrimmage. The quarterback counts, he steps back, he hands off to the running back. The RB gets 3 yards. Now, we watch players untangle from each other and what happens next? They retreat in the opposite direction to discuss the next play. Another huddle, another meeting, another plan. The offense returns to the line of scrimmage again. The QB counts, steps back, turns right this time, hands the ball to the RB. Now he gets 4 yards. 3^rd and three.

Once again, players unravel and walk off to yet again have another meeting. What should we do now? After their conference concludes, the QB does some more counting and throws downfield. Ohhh, incomplete pass. The clock now stops and we watch some players walk off the field as other players walk onto the field. The ball is kicked sixty yards and the receiver drops to his knees to signal fair catch. The clock stops again so players can exit the field again, only to be replaced by a brand new squad. And now, with this new group on the gridiron, what’s the first order of business? Let’s have a discussion so we can decide what to do.

And this is more exciting than baseball? Imagine a catcher talking to the pitcher after every pitch or the infielders meeting on the mound following every foul ball?

If these huddles/meetings are so important, let me put forth another scenario. Offense has the ball on their own 30, they’re losing by 5 points with 2 minutes left, no time-outs. Exciting stuff. Now–with the game on the line and time ticking away–in the most crucial 120 seconds of all–they line up quickly and repeatedly throw the ball downfield—WITHOUT a meeting. What? NOW is the one time they SHOULD have a discussion. At the most critical juncture of the game they DON’T discuss what to do? If huddles are not needed with the game on the line then what was the point of all the huddles for the first 2 hours and 50 minutes?

I haven’t seen so many pointless meetings since I turned on C-Span and watched our government in action.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of meetings. The only thing worse than sitting through one is watching other people engage in meetings. But that’s the essence of Football: An endless series of meetings about what to do next.

Yes, I’m no longer a football fan—as you probably gathered. I know I’m in the minority, both in the real world and even here on a Mets website. To me, watching a pitcher throw to first to keep a runner close or a batter stepping out to break a pitcher’s rhythm is far more electrifying than watching people outfitted like gladiators trotting on and off the sidelines.

One of the many things I love about the beauty of Baseball is the history, the memories. But mostly the endless possibilities. I’ve watched thousands and thousands of games over 41 seasons. However, I still witness events I’ve never observed before. After four decades I saw a game end on an obstruction call at third base. The following day the game ended with a runner being picked-off. When was the last time anyone saw that, much less in the World Series?

There’s also the uniqueness of baseball, uniqueness without specifics. You can describe a moment in baseball to the casual fan without supplying names and he or she will know exactly what you’re talking about:

Remember when that one guy hit the slow roller down the 1B line and the guy missed it? Remember when they said there was too much pine tar on that one dude’s bat and he went ballistic after negating his HR? Remember when what’s his name threw a Perfect Game in the World Series? Whatever happened to the chubby guy who “called his shot?” Every one of you knows exactly who and what I’m referring to.

Now, on the football side of the ledger: Remember when that guy threw into the end zone and the guy leaped and caught the ball? Remember when that one fella broke free and ran for the first down?

Baseball you watch. Football you look at.

Baseball is something where you ponder endless possibilities. Do you hit and run in this situation? Do you play the infield back and give up a run? Do you pinch hit for the pitcher even though it’s only the sixth inning? Do you send the runner home even though the right fielder has a strong arm? It’s the anticipation of action.

What is there to consider in football? Should the wide receiver go deep? Should the RB have ran right instead of left? Not the same.

In Baseball we know immediately what happened. In Football we have to wait to see if what we just saw really did happen.

I like when a QB dives over guys to try and get that one yard for a first down. Did he make it? Did the defense hold him? Will the other team get the ball right here? Who knows? Let’s watch the officials come out with a chain and two sticks and try and determine a distance of ten yards. Thrilling stuff!

Tight end avoids two defenders in the end zone. Touchdown!!! But wait, maybe not. There’s a flag on the play. Now we sit back and watch the zebras discuss things. (Good, more discussions) Pass interference. Touchdown doesn’t count.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Just like when I played stickball with my friends at age nine, it’s a DO-OVER!

When Shane Victorino doubled in three and hammered the first nail into the Cardinals coffin last week, it REALLY happened. Michael Wacha would’ve loved to have the pitch back but Cards skipper Mike Matheny couldn’t ask for a DO OVER. Not only is there no crying in baseball, but there’s also no DO-OVERS.

I also get a laugh when ESPN is touting the great performance of some quarterback. He completed 18 of 31 passes. Really? To me, that’s 13 errors. Imagine if David Wright only completed 18 of 31 throws across the diamond?

Remember when Chuck Knoblauch was pretty much run out of town for an erratic arm? If he played football, an arm like that would get him enshrined in Canton.

People also grumble about baseball salaries, yet no one vents about Football salaries. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, it’s ludicrous how much athletes get paid. However, why is the argument only focused on baseball? Ballplayers play 3 hours a night for six months. Football players play 3 hours a week—unless, of course, they have a by-week. (I wish I could get 2 weeks off after working 3 hours).

The World Series is now over and the next big thing is the Super Bowl. Ahh, yes, the Super Bowl. A “sporting” event watched by one hundred million Americans. And what does everyone talk about for days after? The game? No. Commercials. Somewhere between a little kid dressed as Darth Vader and Britney Spears dancing, there was apparently a game played.

What’s the most talked about Super Bowl moment of the last twenty years?

Granted, I’m not objective when it comes to Football. I wouldn’t even consider myself a casual fan. I can’t recall who won last year’s Commercial Bowl. Over the last twenty five years I’ve watched a couple: the two the Giants played in and the second half of whichever one Bruce Springsteen performed at halftime. As a football outsider I don’t know anything about recent Super Bowl history. Yet, I’m familiar with the periphery events: commercials, lights going out, wardrobe malfunctions. It’s interesting how even to football fans themselves the most memorable events of the Holy Grail of their sport is what goes on off the field.

I know Allen Craig scored a run on an obstruction call. I know Kolten Wong was picked off to end game four. I don’t, however, recall who sung God Bless America in the 7^th inning stretch.

I know Whitney Houston once sung a rousing rendition of the National Anthem during a Super Bowl but I have no idea who won that afternoon.

In a few months one of every three Americans will have a party, consume plenty of chicken fingers and pizza and watch a game, eagerly as excited about the commercials and half-time show as they are with the goings-on on the field. Me? I look forward to the Super Bowl as well. Once that’s out of the way I know it’s only a couple weeks until pitchers and catchers report and we can get back to what’s important.

The post It’s Slow. It’s Boring. The Games Are Too Long. But Enough About Football… appeared first on Metsmerized.

The obstruction call that ended in in a 5-4 victory for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 3 of the World Series on Saturday night

Maury Brown of Forbes.com said the broadcast drew 12.5 million viewers on FOX, up 19 percent over Game 3 in 2012 and ranking as the most-watched World Series Game 3 since 2009 based on Nielsen Media Research data.

FOX averaged a 7.4 fast national rating for the game, up 21 percent over Game 3 in 2012, and leading to a dominant win in primetime, where FOX topped the second place network by 173 percent and beat the other three broadcast networks combined based on metered market ratings.

Overall, the 2013 World Series is averaging 13.4 million viewers through three games, up 15 percent over last year and the highest average through three games since 2010.

However, when compared to ratings as far back as 1971, the World Series has suffered an incredible decline that no longer ranks the Fall Classic among the top sporting events in the country.

Keith Olbermann did a great video segment on the subject and he toasted Major League Baseball (rightfully so) for how they took the most celebrated and watched sporting event in the country into the complete mess it is today.

He contends that 1971 was baseball’s high water mark when 37 million people tuned into that World Series – more than half of all the television sets in America at that time.

He also says that MLB tried desperately to not have the Yankees or any other team be looked at as a National Team and in doing so MLB destroyed their biggest marketing chip. The NFL on the other hand, employed the exact opposite strategy and that’s why they are now the National Pastime.

“In 1968, Super Bowl viewership began to rise and it never stopped, because the NFL spent the ’50s and ’60s trying to obtain something that baseball was desperate to get rid of: national teams. In the ’50s there was a nationally televised baseball game of the week and then there was a nationally televised New York Yankees game of the week. And rather than appreciating what that meant — that there could be Yankees fans in Manhattan and in Manhattan, Kan., and Manhattan, Nev. — baseball did everything it could to level the playing field.”

“Meanwhile over at the NFL, Pete Rozell was trying to figure out how to make New York Yankees. He wanted national franchises. And he got them. The Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Raiders. Eventually all of them. All NFL teams have national fan bases or at least enough national support so it really doesn’t matter anymore which cities are represented in the Super Bowl.”

Here is the complete video (hat tip to Chris):

[iframe]<iframe width=”480″ height=”360″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/U4QLwKNndfQ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>[/iframe]

The post Why Is Nobody Watching The World Series? appeared first on Metsmerized.

The great thing about baseball is how it shifts your opinions on players from Point A to Point B and then back to Point A again. Always evolving, always transforming and always wonderfully unpredictable. It’s sort of like real life that way.

I remember all the jokes, all the griping and all the complaining when Omar Minaya first signed journeyman pitcher R.A. Dickey and yet six months later he was one of our favorite players (no doubt he used his Jedi mind tricks on us). Same thing occurred with other players like Scott Hairston and more recently Marlon Byrd. That’s why I always find it so silly when people fight so vehemently with each other about these signings. I mean, go ahead and complain about the signings, but why actually fight about it knowing how unpredictable baseball can be?

I bet if you asked 100 Mets fans in July if the Mets should go with Lucas Duda at first base in 2014, about 90 of them would have jumped up and screamed, “No freaking way!”

I bet if you asked those same people today, it would be more like 50/50.

Suddenly, after only a week’s worth of games at first base to replace the injured Ike Davis, the lumbering former left fielder is starting to change some minds about him.

Hey, even Sandy Alderson called him out in an interview on WFAN back in June, and then three days ago he was back on WFAN singing his praises…

In Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Braves, Duda went 3-for-5 with a home run and fell a triple short of the cycle. He is now hitting .371 (13-for-35) with one homer and four RBIs in 11 games as a first baseman this season.

As a matter of fact, if you took Duda’s .817 OPS this season and put it up against all first base qualifiers in the National League, he would rank sixth in between Allen Craig and Adrian Gonzalez.

Duda credits the switch to first base for his transformation at the plate of late. “I’m much more comfortable at first,” Duda said. “That takes the pressure off.”

I’ve never actually been on the Lucas Duda bandwagon per se, but I certainly find myself wondering more and more about the possibility of bringing him back as our first baseman next season. And that’s coming from one who has been advocating we trade Duda for most of this year.

Again, baseball is so beautiful that way…

The post Duda Is Rewriting The Mets Plan At First Base appeared first on Metsmerized.

D-backs (42-39) at Mets (33-45)

LHP Wade Miley (4-7, 4.55) vs Shaun Marcum (1-9, 5.40)

Starting Lineup

1. Eric Young, Jr. – LF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Marlon Byrd – RF
5. Josh Satin – 1B
6. John Buck – C
7. Juan Lagares – CF
8. Omar Quintanilla – SS
9. Shaun Marcum – RHP

Game Notes

Ruben Tejada is on his way to continue his rehab at Triple-A Las Vegas according to Adam Rubin. Tejada, who has been on the DL since May 30 with a strained right quadriceps, played nine innings today for the GCL Mets, Terry Collins has said that the everyday job belongs to Omar Quintanilla when Tejada is activated.

Zack Wheeler suffered his first major-league loss on Sunday, allowing five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Wheeler had a dominant first inning, with a fastball averaging 96.1 mph, but averaged below 95 mph in each of the next four innings, with a low of 92.9 in the fifth inning. Wheeler had allowed four hits on the 145 fastballs he threw in his first two starts. He allowed five, including two homers, on the 59 he threw on Sunday afternoon.

Josh Satin has reached base safely in 11 straight games and hit safely in six in a row. The first baseman went 2-for-4 on Sunday and smacked a double in the ninth inning, his fourth of the year, before scoring on a home run by catcher John Buck. Satin is batting .375 this season in 14 games since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas. Satin has New York’s longest active hitting streak. Outfielder Eric Young Jr. had an eight-game streak snapped with an 0-for-4 on Sunday.

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt leads the NL with 67 RBIs, four ahead of runner-up Allen Craig of St. Louis. Goldschmidt’s 4.2 WAR rating ranks third in the NL, trailing only Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez(5.0) and David Wright (4.5).

2011 first-round pick Brandon Nimmo has been voted in by fans to the July 14 Futures Game at Citi Field. Nimmo, 20, will join Mets farmhands Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero in the All-Star showcase for top prospects. Nimmo is hitting .277 with one homer, 22 RBIs and four steals in 202 at-bats with low-A Savannah. He missed a month of the season with hand and back injuries.

Game Preview

The Mets start a series with the Diamondbacks tonight fresh off dropping a series with the Nationals. Yesterday the wheels (really no pun intended, I say this a lot) fell off for the Mets as they just couldn’t get anything positive going. The game ended with Recker pitching, which is, well a white flag. Anyway, Shaun Marcum pitches for the Mets tonight as he faces Wade Miley.

Marcum is 1-9 on the season pitching 67.1 innings with a 5.08 ERA. He had two bad outings in a row before his last one where shut out his opponents for 8.0 innings. The last time he faced the Diamondbacks was back in 2011 where he allowed 7 hits and 4 ER over 6.0 innings of work. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against him:

Kubel 4-14, 2B
Bloomquist 3-10
Prado 2-9, 2B
Montero 3-5, 2B, HR
Chavez 2-5, 2B
Parra 1-5

The Mets bats will try to figure out Wade Miley. Miley is 4-7 over 16 starts with a 4.55 ERA while pitching 95.0 innings and striking out 69 batters. In the month of June he made five starts 30.1 innings with a 3.56 ERA. Last year he was 0-1 over 2 games and 11.1 innings allowing 16 hits and 7 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Miley:

Brown 0-5
Murphy 2-6, 2B
Wright 1-4
Young 0-3
Buck 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The post D-Backs vs Mets: Satin’s Hot Bat Keeps Him In Lineup, Marcum On The Hill appeared first on Metsmerized.

Matt Harvey, predictably so, was incredible again. He tossed seven innings of one-run ball while striking out seven batters. His only real show of weakness was in the third, when he allowed a two-out triple to Matt Carpenter, who lined one just out of the reach of a diving Marlon Byrd. LaTroy Hawkins did Harvey no favors either, as he allowed an RBI single to Allen Craig in the eighth to widen the margin to 2-0. The run was charged to Scott Rice, who left a runner on base when he was removed in favor of Hawkins.

That became a huge issue for the Mets, as Byrd tried to make up for earlier by slamming a solo home run in the ninth, but it was a case of too little, too late. John Buck was left stranded on second by Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Josh Satin.

Thus. Matt Harvey was saddled with the loss and his record fell to 5 – 1 with eight no-decisions. …Eight.

The post Mets Waste A Gem By Harvey In 2-1 Loss To Cards appeared first on Metsmerized.

Jeremy Hefner started the game and while he was charged with six runs, only one of them were earned. He let up eight hits and walked two in 7.0 innings pitched  while striking out two. One of the hits was a three-run blast by Allen Craig in the fifth.

Greg Burke allowed two unearned runs in the sixth inning and David Aardsma allowed a solo home run to Shane Robinson in the eighth inning to complete the Cardinals nine-run output.

Sloppy game defensively for the Mets who had two critical errors; one by Daniel Murphy who was making his first start of the season at first base, and another by Kirk Nieuwenhuis who misjudged a flyball in right field. In baseball, the ball always finds you.

All of the Mets scoring came in the first inning on a solo homer by Omar Quintanilla, his second, and a sac fly by Marlon Byrd to score David Wright. Jordany Valdespin played second, batted leadoff and had two of the Mets five hits in the game.

The Mets are now 13 games under .500 with a 23-36 record. They allowed seven unearned runs for the first time since 2008. Just another awful game from the Mets who look lifeless right now.

Quick note: Matt Harvey (back tightness) threw his routine between-starts bullpen session on Tuesday without issue. Harvey remains on track to start Thursday against the Cardinals.

Dillon Gee (4-6, 5.20 ERA) opposes Cardinals phenom Shelby Miller (7-2, 1.91 ERA) in the second game of the series which begins at 7:10 p.m. tomorrow.

The post Pair Of Errors Lead To Seven Unearned Runs In Mets 9-2 Loss To Cards appeared first on Metsmerized.

Lately, it seems the only thing the Mets excel at is finding ways to lose.

Shaun Marcum had his first quality start as a Met, going 6.2 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits while walking one and punching out three. He threw 96 pitches, 65 of which for strikes, however fell to 0-4 on the year in easily his best effort for the Amazin’s this season.

After matching goose eggs with the Cardinal’s young phenom Shelby MIller, things got rocky in the bottom of the fourth. With Matt Holliday on first and two out, Jon Jay roped a double to Mike Baxter in right that went to the wall. Seeing that he didn’t have a play on Holliday, who came around to score, Daniel Murphy threw to third and pinned Jay in a run down. Apparently giving up, Jay stood almost still in front of Wright for a routine play to tag him. Wright went to lay the tag on, but dropped the ball. As it skidded into the infield, Jay was able to safely make it to third base, costing Wright just his third error on the year. Tony Cruz would follow up with a knock to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Looking overmatched at the plate, the offense was completely anemic against Miller who did not have his best stuff today. He held the Mets off the board through 5.2 frames before being relieved by Randy Choate for the last out of the sixth. In the seventh against Seth Maness, John Buck got himself on base with a one out single, setting the table Rick Ankiel. On the seventh pitch of the at bat with a full count, Ankiel took a 90mph sinker deep to center to tie up the ballgame at two. Maybe the Mets luck is finally starting to turn around right?

Wrong. In the bottom half of the frame, Marcum got the first two outs but got himself into trouble with runners on first and third. After which he was lifted for this year’s go-to lefty, Scott Rice. Rice came on to face the former-Met Ty Wigginton, and on the first-pitch of the at-bat, threw a breaking ball that careened off John Buck and to the backstop, scoring the lead run in Daniel Descalso.

After the end of the seventh, the life was sucked out of the Mets. Carlos Beltran walked to lead off the eighth. Matt Holliday grounded into what would be a routine double-play, but the throw from Murphy sailed into the home dugout, allowing him to go to second. Allen Craig would also be walked to create a nice opportunity for Yadier Molina, who came through with a base hit to drive in the insurance run and make it 4-2.

After the wild pitch from Rice, the offense showed little fight as they went down 1-2-3 in both the eighth and ninth to end the game.

John Buck had a nice day at the plate, but a horrible one on the basepaths as he was doubled off on a Ruben Tejada liner that was caught, then made a boneheaded steal attempt, resulting in the slow-footed backstop being picked off at second. That plus the key wild pitch, and it was overall a night to forget for Buck.

The offense continues to be ice cold. Ike Davis and Lucas Duda both had 0-fers in this game.

The Mets just aren’t playing good baseball, it is as simple as that. They are giving opposing teams extra outs with sloppy D and giving away at-bats with an inept lineup.

Two positives to take away from this one however was the encouraging start from Marcum, and the solid offensive effort by Rick Ankiel.

The Mets have now lost six-games in a row for the second time this season and are 8-18 in their last 26 games. They now have the third worst record in baseball at 14-23, nine games under .500. Only Houston and Miami are worse.

Jonathon Niese (2-4, 5.93 ERA) opposes right-hander Adam Wainwright (5-2, 2.30) in the series finale on Thursday at 1:45 PM. The Mets look to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals which last happened in 1982 when Keith Hernandez played for St. Louis.

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