Jonathon Niese wasn’t bad Thursday but on a night when the New York Mets couldn’t muster any offense, he needed to be better. In six innings of work, Niese gave up three earned runs on eight hits and two walks. Most frustratingly, he gave up two runs right after the Mets had come back to tie the game at one in the bottom of the fourth.

The Mets offense was poor to say the least, mustering just seven hits, with only one going for extra bases. Meanwhile, Marlins pitchers walked no one, a stark contrast from Wednesday’s game.

Jeff Francoeur recorded two hits, knocking in the Mets only run with his fourth-inning double. Angel Pagan recorded two hits as well in his first start of the season, but other than that the New York bats were cold, as the rest of the Mets hitters combined to go 3 for 26.

The Mets did have a good game from the bullpen, as four Met relievers combined to throw three shutout innings, including a nice comeback performance from Hisanori Takahashi, who pitched a scoreless eighth.

The Mets look to turn their homestand this weekend, as the Washington Nationals come to town to play three. The Mets will start Mike Pelfrey on Friday against Washington’s Garrett Mock.

In many ways, last night’s loss to the Florida Marlins showed why the New York Mets only won 70 games last season. Despite the Marlins doing all they could to hand this game over to the Mets, and despite a generous balk call from the third-base umpire, the boys from Queens were unable to capitalize, falling 7-6 in extra innings.

The Marlins pitching, particularly the bullpen, was dreadful in the seventh through ninth innings. Four Marlins pitchers combined to walk eight Met hitters and hit another. That was how the Mets were able to rally from five runs down despite notching only three hits. The Mets also benefitted from shaky defense from the Marlins, who were only charged for one error but made many questionable plays. And then, there was nothing more questionable than the walk that allowed the game-tying run to come in.

Yet, even with all that help, the Mets lost, stranding two runners in the bottom of the ninth, and then blowing it in the top of the tenth.

Another bad sign was the continued struggles of John Maine. After a difficult 2009 season, Maine gave up four runs on eight hits, including two home runs. He lasted just five innings for the Mets. Not a very good performance from a #2 starter.

When New York Mets third baseman David Wright lifted a home-run to right field in today’s 7-1 opening day win over the Florida Marlins, Mets fans must have breathed a huge sigh of relief. For one day, at least, the power was back.

After hitting 25-plus home runs in his first four full years in the major leagues, Wright hit just 10 home runs last year, mystifying much of the baseball world. Today, however, he hit a two-run shot in the first inning to give the Mets a lead they would never give up.

The Mets also benefitted from a strong outing by Johan Santana. Santana gave up just one earned run and six baserunners in his six innings of work. Santana’s effort was followed by two shutout innings from Fernando Nieve and a perfect ninth from Francisco Rodriguez.

The Mets received an excellent day’s work from the bottom of their lineup. The five through eight spots went 7-for-13 this afternoon with two walks. All four players recorded extra-base hits, with doubles from Gary Matthews Jr., Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas as well as a triple off the bat of Jason Bay. All four reached base on multiple occasions.

So, all in all, a strong opening-day effort from the New York Mets. The Mets have an off-day Tuesday before resuming play on Wednesday with a night game against the Florida Marlins, in which John Maine will take the hill against Ricky Nolasco.

With a sketchy pitching staff, the Mets will need some home runs to keep them in games. This year, they’re hoping that power will come from their outfield. All three starting outfielders are legitimate home-run threats. Of course, center fielder Carlos Beltran will not be back until sometime in May presumably, but once he does come back, the Mets will have one powerful outfield.

In left field, the Mets will start #44 Jason Bay. Bay hit .267 with 36 home runs and 119 runs batted in for the Boston Red Sox last year. 36 marked a career-high for Bay, and it’s unlikely those numbers will carry over to pitcher-friendly Citi Field. Still, Bay should be counted on for 20 to 30 home runs this year, which would represent a vast improvement for the Mets.

In center field, the Mets will eventually start #15 Carlos Beltran, who is one of the best all-around players in baseball. A great fielder, runner, and hitter, Beltran brings it all to the table. At 32 years old, he should still be able to produce, although it remains to be seen how his injury will affect him when he is back on the field. In limited plate appearances last season, Beltran hit .325 with 48 runs batted in, 10 home runs, and 11 stolen bases. Assuming he comes back in late May, the Mets should be able to count on Beltran for 15-20 home runs, 15-20 stolen bases and 80 runs batted in this season.

Finally, in right field, the Mets start one of the more pleasant surprises of last season, #12 Jeff Francoeur. The Francoeur for Church trade is looking like a good one for the Mets. Francoeur hit .311 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs in just 75 games for the Mets last year. Francoeur, still young at 26 years of age, is a potential 20 home-run and 100-RBI type of guy and is a definite threat at the plate.

On the bench, the Mets have #16 Angel Pagan, who hit .306 and stole 14 bases in 88 games last year. Pagan is a potential .300 hitter, and a great asset to have. He should be a more-than-capable replacement for Beltran early in the season. The Mets also have #19 Gary Matthews, a capable experienced backup, and #25 Fernando Martinez, who is said to be loaded with talent.

All in all, the outfield should be one of the Mets strengths this season. Two very dangerous players in Bay and Beltran. An unpredictable one in Francoeur. And a dark horse in Pagan. They should be a fun group to watch.

Coming up, a preview of the Mets lineup and starting rotation. Here’s hoping for a much improved season at Citi Field.

- Jonah

He was truly masterful last night. And he was backed up by a couple big hits and some solid work from the bullpen.

Offensively, the Mets managed just five hits. But they were efficient with what base runners they had, leaving just three runners on base Friday night. In the first inning, Angel Pagan homered. In the fourth, Luis Castillo led off with a single and JefF Francoeur doubled him in with two outs to give the Mets a 2 – 0 lead. And then in the sixth, Castillo led off with a walk, Wright doubled moving Castillo to third, and then Gary Sheffield’s fly ball brought Castillo home.

And three runs turned out to be plenty enough for the Mets Friday. Parnell needed just 86 pitches to make it through six innings, but was replaced anyway in the top of the seventh by Brandon Stokes. Stokes pitched a nice clean seventh, before giving up a couple base runners in the eighth. Pedro Feliciano came in to relieve Stokes and get the Mets out of trouble in the eighth, before Francisco Rodriguez came in to pitch a perfect ninth for his 26th save of the year.

A good smooth win for the Mets, who are now 31 – 25 at home. The Mets remain 12 back in the NL East but move to just nine and a half back in the Wild Card chase.

In the bottom of the first, Ollie worked around a triple and a walk to get out of the inning. In the second, Ollie walked the leadoff hitter and then gave up a double, but with runners on second and third and no outs, Ollie somehow managed to keep the D-Backs off the board.

Ollie gave up his only run in the third after once again walking the leadoff hitter and then giving up an RBI double to Ryan Roberts, but stranded runners on first and second. In the fourth, Ollie put up a zero despite giving up a single and a walk. Then, in the fifth, Ollie got out of a bases loaded jam, and finally was lifted with one out in the sixth. His overall stats were ugly. He gave up six hits and six walks in just five and one third innings of work. But he gave up just one run, and thus gave the Mets a chance to win.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets put up a three-spot giving Oliver Perez a chance to get his 3rd win of the season. The big hit was Fernando Tatis’s 2-RBI single .

Unfortunately for Ollie, Sean Green got off to a rocky start n the seventh, hitting the first batter of the inning and then giving up a double to the second. He stuck out the next hitter, then was replaced by Pedro Feliciano, who got the second out of the inning before giving up two consecutive RBI singles.  The runs were charged to Green, but Feliciano also deserves some blame for giving up both inherited runners. And no matter whose fault it was, the result is the same, no win for Ollie Perez.

Thankfully, for the Mets,  with a man on second and two outs, Luis Castillo hit an RBI single to put the Mets up 4 – 3.  Then, after Castillo successfully stole second, Cory Sullivan tripled him home.

With a 5 – 3 lead, Brandon Stokes pitched a scoreless eighth. Then, with a 6 – 3 lead, Francisco Rodriguez struggled once again, allowing the tying run up to come up to the plate, but held on to get his 25th save of the season.

Great day for Fernando Tatis, who went 3 for 4. Gary Sheffield went 2 for 3. David Wright went 3 for 5 with two runs scored. Cory Sullivan went 2 for 4. And of course, tons of credit to Luis Castillo, whose pinch-hit RBI single gave the Mets the lead and was probably the most important play of the game.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the Phillies, Rockies, and Giants all won Wednesday, so they were unable to gain ground.

There’s very few reasons why anyone would want to watch the Mets right now. They’re falling out of contention. They’re losing pretty much every game they play. Their offense lacks firepower. Their pitching is deeply flawed. And their fielding is highly lackadaisical at times. In short, it’s tough to be a Mets fan.

All of these aspects applied Wednesday night. Their offense managed 8 hits but only 2 runs. Livan Hernandez was terrible on the hill, giving up five earned in just four innings of work. And they made 2 errors, although the one against Cora may have been a little harsh.

Pretty much the only reason to watch a Mets game these days is to see Jeff Francoeur play. Francouer went 2 for 4 with a home run and a triple last night. The triple was particularly fun to watch. Francoeur may not be very fast, but he’s a hustler. He runs hard on the bases and in the field. And he’s hitting over .300 since joining the Mets. He’s been a real spark. And as the announcers pointed out last night, it seems like he really enjoys the game. That smile, that type of enthusiasm is what I like to see out of a player. In short, Francoeur has been a pleasure to watch.

Oh, and you might also tune in just to see what other teams can do against the Mets. Tonight, Diamondbacks rookie Trent Oeltjen went 4-for-4 with 2 singles, a double, and a triple. He nearly hit for the cycle. Who knows what he’ll do tomorrow against our pitching?

The Mets are now eleven and a half back in the NL East. Tough times indeed.

In the list of things the Mets were counting on to help them bring home the NL East this year was offensive spark provided by Jose Reyes, power from Carlos Delgado, and good setup work by J.J. Putz. Injuries got in the way of those items. But another thing the Mets were counting on was Mike Pelfrey to step up as the team’s #2 starter and form a powerful duo with Johan Santana. Santana has done his part, but Pelfrey has struggled this year.

Pelfrey had another rough start Monday night giving up five earned in six innings. He gave up eight hits and two walks, striking out five, and is now 8 – 8 with a 4.88 ERA on the season. Hardly what the Mets were hoping for out of the #2 spot in the rotation.

On the bright side, Pelfrey was efficent, throwing just 94 pitches in six rough innings. They then brought in Dessens, who had two rough innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits and a walk. So, while neither pitcher was pretty, they both soaked up innings, meaning that the bullpen should be well-rested as the Mets hope to mount a strong finish to what has been a dreadful West Coast trip.

The Mets offense, meanwhile, didn’t fare very well against Doug Davis. Davis had his fourth strong start in a row, giving up just two earned runs in seven innings of work. Yet no matter how good Davis might be (and he didn’t seem all that good to tell the truth), this game was disappointing because of the multiple missed opportunities. Davis began three innings with leadoff walks.  But the Mets were able to do very little with these chances.

Luis Castillo had another strong game, going 2 for 4 with a walk to bring his average above .300. David Wright went 1 for 3 with a walk. Anderson Hernandez had another good game, going 2 for 3 with a run scored and a run batted in. Hernandez also walked once. But other than that, the offense was quiet.

Add in a sloppy play by Daniel Murphy failing to cover first, and a couple sloppy plays by Angel Pagan in center, and you see just how tough a game this was for the Mets.

The Mets are now 10 back in both the NL Wild Card and NL East. Their playoff hopes are slim to none, and hang on the balance each night the Mets step out onto the field.

This time around, Santana pitched a much better game, giving up just one earned run on five hits and two walks in eight strong innings. He also helped himself at the plate, getting two hits, including a 2-RBI double in the top of the sixth that put the Mets up by a score of three to nothing. Santana was absolutely brilliant, and this time left with a  4 – 1 lead. Daniel Murphy’s RBI-single in the top of the ninth made it 5 – 1, and this time Francisco Rodriguez was able to shut the door on the opposition.

Santana is now 13 – 7 on the year with a 3.00 ERA.

The Mets got two-hit games from five players Sunday. Jeff Francoeur had another fine game going 2 for 4 with two runs. He is now hitting .262 on the season. (He is hitting .292 since being traded to the Mets.) Luis Castillo went 2 for 5 and is now hitting .297 on the season. Anderson Hernandez went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a walk. Daniel Murphy was 2 for 5. And then, of course, Santana went 2 for 3.

It was a nice game for the Mets. Great pitching. Good hitting, although they did leave eight men on base. Good fielding, including a slick double play in the second inning. And they got to rest their bullpen.

With the Phillies losing their third straight Sunday, the Mets are now 10 back in the NL East, and with the Giants losing as well, the Mets now find themselves just 9 back in the Wild Card hunt.