Mets Start Homestand With 3 – 0 Win Over Giants

Bobby Parnell was mainly a starter in the minor leagues, but had been doing relief work for the Mets ever since he came up last year. But, last Saturday, after 60 major league appearances from the bullpen, the 25 year-old got his first major league start, and failed to make it out of the third inning. This time was a little different. This time, on a Friday evening at Citi Field, Parnell pitched beautifully. He threw six shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants, giving up just three hits and no walks while striking out seven.

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.

No Offense, No Chance – Mets Lose 3rd Straight to Padres

The second batter of the game for the New York Mets, Alex Cora, hit a solo home run to put the Mets up 1 – 0. That was the only run the Mets would score all game Saturday, as they fell 3 – 1 to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

The Mets really struggled on offense. They managed just five hits in the entire game. They failed to get a single  runner in scoring position from the third inning on. In short, it was another embarrassing display from a Mets offense that can’t seem to get it done against the Padres. Aside from Cora’s two hits and a hit from pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed, the only two other Mets to record hits were Daniel Murphy and Jeff Francoeur. Francouer, who went 1 for 3 with a walk Saturday, is now hitting .260 on the season and has gotten a hit in four consecutive games.

It was also a disappointing night for Bobby Parnell in his first start of the season. Parnell was unable to get out of the third, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks in two and a third innings of work. His early departure forced the Mets to dig deep into the bullpen. The bullpen hero of the night was Tim Redding, whose three innings of scoreless relief not only helped save the bullpen arms but also kept the Mets in the game. They were still down just 2 – 1 in the eighth when David Eckstein’s single gave the Padres a seemingly insurmountable 3 – 1 lead.

The Phillies lost their second straight so the Mets remain eleven back in the NL East. With the Giants’ 4 – 2 victory over the Reds Saturday, the Mets are now 10 back in the NL Wild Card.

Mets Break Three-Game Losing Streak, Trounce Cardinals 9 – 0

Jonathan Niese had been competent if not spectacular in his first four starts for the New York Mets. He lasted just one and a third innings Wednesday before becoming the latest Met to succumb to the injury bug.

That was the bad news. On the bright side, the Mets managed to break their three-game losing streak, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 9 – 0 at Citi Field.

They were helped by big performances from the lineup and bullpen.  David Wright and Angel Pagan fueled a potent Mets offense Wednesday. Wright went 3 for 4, knocking an opposite-field, two-run homerun in the bottom of the first. Meanwhile, Pagan went 3 for 4, with an eighth-inning homerun and four RBIs overall. The Mets also got a fine game from Jeff Francoeur, who went 2 for 3 with a walk to help break a recent slump. Francoeur is now hitting .257. When he came to the Mets, he was hitting just .250.

The bullpen, meanwhile, was fantastic, pitching seven and a third shutout innings after Niese’s sudden departure. Nelson Figueroa pitched four and a third scoreless after a rough start Monday, and Bobby Parnell pitched three scoreless, marking his second consecutive nice outing following a blown save this weekend.

The Mets got more good news Wednesday with the return of Gary Sheffield. That being said, this really is a ragtag lineup. With Luis Castillo out as well, the Mets were forced to start Alex Cora at 2nd and Angel Berroa at short. Pagan was in center.

The Mets still have a lot of ground to make up. They are 10 back in the NL East and 8.5 back in the Wild Card.

Redding Plays Ace and the Mets Take it in Extras

I couldn’t post after the Mets final defeat in Pittsburgh. I was simply too frustrated. 11 – 6. The Pirates ruthlessly jumped on Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey couldn’t even make it through the fourth Thursday. In his three and two thirds innings, he was charged with nine runs (eight earned). He gave up nine hits,  four walks, and he hit a batter.

Ken Takahashi, Sean Green, and Pedro Feliciano pitched nicely out of the bullpen, but even the bullpen was marred by another bad performance from J.J. Putz. Putz pitched an inning Thursday, giving up two earned runs on three hits. Now, Putz is in line to get elbow surgey, and will be out for the next couple months.

Just about the only good news for the Mets on Thursday was the reappearance of Carlos Beltran, who got two hits, including a solo home run in the fourth inning, and a two-hit day for David Wright, who had been slumping recently.

But baseball is a strange and unpredictable game. On Friday, the Mets sent Tim Redding out to the mound. Redding has been awful all season. But he pitched like an ace against the Washington Nationals, going six innings and giving up just one run. Yet, the Mets had their own troubles against Nationals pitcher Shairon Martis, and going into the later innings, the Mets found themselves tied 1 – 1 with the worst team in the major leagues.

Thankfully for the Mets, the bullpen was strong Friday, holding the Nationals scoreless until the Mets were finally able to get some runs in the tenth. Brandon Stokes pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, Parnell worked his way out of trouble in the eighth, and Sean Green continued his recent string of successful outings with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

That’s when the Mets finally rallied. Luis Castillo hit a soft single through the infield to lead off the inning. Carlos Beltran followed with a walk. And then David Wright hit them both in with a double into the right-field gap. Those two runs would prove to be more than enough for Francisco Rodriguez who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the 3 – 1 victory. Rodriguez now has 15 saves on the season.

Of the Mets eight hits Friday, four were from David Wright. Friday night’s performance combined with Wright’s two hit performance on Thursday seems to indicate that Wright is finally out of his slump, which is good news for a Mets team that badly needs his bat.

With the Phillies loss to the Dodgers, the Mets are now just three back in the NL East. The Cardinals lost as well, so the Mets are now just one back in the Wild Card chase. The Mets hope for more success Saturday night when they send John Maine to the hill.

For Mets Fans, Putz Lives Up to His Name

Five Run Eighth Inning Dooms Mets in Pittsburgh

The Mets got off to a good start Monday. Jeremy Reed led off with a double in the top of the second. Wilson Valdez followed with a RBI triple. Brian Schneider followed with a single, knocking in Valdez to make it 2 – 0.

The Mets continued the onslaught against Pirates starter Ian Snell in the top of the third. Fernando Martinez walked to lead off the inning, stole second, and then advanced to third on a throwing error by Jason Jamarillo. Daniel Murphy followed with a walk, and then Gary Sheffield grounded into a fielder’s choice making it 3 – 0. Snell got David Wright to fly out for the first out of the inning, but he then gave up another double to Reed. That’s when Valdez struck again, doubling to deep right to make it 5 – 0.

Livan Hernandez, meanwhile, was coming off his best start of the year, a complete game victory against the Washington Nationals. When he put up zeroes in each of the first three innings, it seemed the Mets were well on their way to victory. Then, he ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth. After striking out Nate McLouth to begin the inning, he gave up a double and a walk. Throughout the inning, he kept missing the strike zone by the smallest of margins, and it seemed like that took him off his game. After the walk, he gave up a 2-RBI triple followed by an RBI groundout that made it 5 – 3. This was followed by a deep hard-hit fly ball that was snagged just a small distance from the fence. After that, things calmed down. Ian Snell recovered after giving up five early runs to throw six solid innings. Meanwhile, Hernandez recovered and made it five-plus innings without any further damage.

In the bottom of the sixth, Pittsburgh threatened and forced Hernandez out of the game. Bobby Parnell came in with runners on first and second and two outs. After a single off Parnell’s glove, the bases were loaded, but Parnell struck out Ramon Vazquez to end the inning. The score was still 5 – 3, and after Pedro Feliciano set down the Pirates 1-2-3 in the seventh, it seemed like the Mets superb bullpen once again had things under control.

But in the top of the eighth, Feliciano gave up a double and a groundout before Manuel lifted him in favor of J.J. Putz. Putz has looked shaky on the mound of late, and on Monday night, he was simply horrendous. Putz faced five batters. He gave up four hits and one walk on just 12 pitches. More importantly, he gave up four runs (three earned) and the runner he inheirited from Feliciano without recording an out. By the end of the inning, the Pirates led 8 – 5. The Mets mustered a small rally in the ninth, but nothing came of it, and in the end the Pirates has dealt the Mets one of their most devastating defeats of the season. And with the Phillies victory later in the evening, the Pirates had pushed the Mets one and a half games back in the NL East standings.

The bullpen, other than Putz, was fairly good. Parnell got out of the bases-loaded jam. Feliciano delivered a solid performance, just giving up that one double to get things started in the bottom of the eighth. Brian Stokes replaced Putz fairly successfully. But Putz’s struggles were enough to derail the entire team.

The offense was good early, but was shut out from the fourth inning on. This failure to tack on runs ended up costing the Mets. On an individual level, Jeremy Reed and Wilson Valdez had fine offensive games. Reed doubled twice, and Valdez doubled, tripled, and knocked in three runs. Valdez did make a big error in the field, but it was an understandable one, a simple error on the transfer, trying to get the ball out of his glove.

The loss is a tough one, but the Mets hope to regain their winning ways tomorrow with Johan Santana on the mound. The game begins at 7:05 Eastern time.

Redding Rocked on Saturday, Mets Come Back Sunday for Series Win

Mets End Weekend 1/2 Game Behind Phillies

Saturday’s game was simply a contrast of two pitchers. On one hand, the Marlins sent out their young sterling ace Josh Johnson, who pitched an excellent game. 7 innings. 5 hits. 2 walks. (That’s a baserunner per inning.) And just 2 earned runs. Josh Johnson now has a 4 – 2 record, a 2.66 ERA, and a 1.09 WHIP. Meanwhile, the Mets sent out their aging replacement starter Tim Redding. He pitched horribly for the Mets. 4-plus innings. 8 hits. 2 walks. (That’s 2.5 baserunners per inning.) And 7 earned runs. Redding is now 0 – 2 on the season, with a 9.20 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP. Certainly it’s going to be hard to win and pitch well when you’re giving up that many baserunners.

The Marlins offense clearly had Redding’s number Saturday. Emilio Bonifacio, Hanley Ramirez, and Jorge Cantu each had two hits. Jeremy Hermida, however, was the offensive star for the Marlins, knocking an RBI single in the first and a 3-run home run in the top of the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Hermida’s home run also served to knock Redding out of the game. He was replaced by Sean Green who pitched a scoreless inning. Green was followed by Ken Takahashi, who pitched three scoreless innings for the Mets. Brandon Stokes added a scoreless ninth. It was a truly great day for the Mets bullpen. 5 innings. 3 hits. 1 walk. 0 runs. But the damage had already been done. The Marlins seven runs against Tim Redding was more than enough, and they would end up winning 7 – 3.

Meanwhile, the Phillies defeated the Nationals at home Saturday to move a half game ahead of the Mets for first place in the NL East.

The Mets jumped on the board early against Chris Volstad on Sunday, when Angel Pagan doubled in Wilson Valdez in the bottom of the third to give the Mets a 1 – 0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Mets got an excellent start from John Maine, who went six shutout innings before leaving the game due to illness. He gave up just three hits and two walks and needed just 82 pitches to get through six innings. If not for the illness, who knows how long he could have gone.

Maine was relieved by Pedro Feliciano, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for the Mets. Perhaps most importantly, Feliciano threw 10 of 13 pitches for strikes Sunday. His control really has been most impressive this season. He hasn’t walked a hitter in his last seven appearances and has just 3 walks against 19 strikeouts on the year.

The Mets remained in front by the slimmest of margins until the bottom of the seventh, when Fernando Martinez and Omir Santos each hit RBI doubles to give the Mets a 3 – 0 cushion.

But given a 3 – 0 lead in the eighth, J.J. Putz got into trouble, walking Ross Gload with one out. He then gave up a single to Chris Coghlan, and an RBI single to Emilio Bonifacio. With the Marlins now down by just two runs and with the tying run on first, Manuel replaced Putz with Bobby Parnell. Parnell proceeded to give up an RBI single to Hanley Ramirez before striking out Jorge Cantu and inducing a fly out from Jeremy Hermida. After seven and a half at Citi Field, the Mets were clinging onto a 3 – 2 lead.

The Mets failed to score in the bottom of the eighth, but it didn’t matter. Francisco Rodriguez pitched another scoreless ninth for the Mets, walking one and striking out three to earn his 14th save in 14 chances. Unfortunately for the Mets, the Phillies also won Sunday, so the Mets remain a half game behind Philadelphia for first place in the NL East. On the bright side, St. Louis lost Sunday, so the Mets are now just a half-game back in the NL Wild Card chase.

Fernando Martinez Watch

Fernando Martinez, the highly touted prospect for the New York Mets, got his first two hits Saturday. In his first 16 at-bats in the big leagues, he has a single, two doubles and has struck out just three times. He has yet to earn a walk. In the field, he has yet to make an error.

Santana Stumbles But Mets Win Regardless

Phillies Loss Combined With Mets Win Puts Mets In First 

Everything seemed so perfect. The Mets were leading 3 – 0 with their ace pitcher and possibly the best pitcher in all of baseball, Johan Santana, on the mound. Meanwhile, the Phillies were off to a bad start against the Florida Marlins. It seemed the Mets would end the night in first for sure.

And then, Santana stumbled. Up 3 – 0 in the top of the fourth, Santana walked Ryan Zimmerman and then gave up a two-run home run to Adam Dunn. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the Nationals would load the bases off Santana, on a single and two walks. With two outs and the bases loaded, Santana proceeded to issue his fourth walk of the inning, a walk to Christian Guzman that tied the game at 3. Santana would escape the inning without any further damage, but for a second, it looked as if the Mets night might not turn out so well after all.

Santana thankfully regained his control after that disastorous top of the fourth, getting the Nationals out 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth and the top of the sixth. Then, fortune turned the Mets way in the bottom of the sixth, when with Gary Sheffield on first, Daniel Murphy hit a high fly ball to right field. The ball apparently hit the right-field wall, and when Sheffield tried to score on the play, he was tagged out at home. Murphy ended up on second with a double. But then the umpires examined the video, and decided that the ball had bounced off the Subway sign overhang above the right-field wall and thus was a home run. 5 – 3 Mets. It appears the umpires were wrong. It appears it was just a double, but regardless of whether the call was correct or not, the Mets now had the lead.

And from there on, it was easy. Bobby Parnell and Pedro Feliciano combined to pitch a relatively easy top of the seventh. The Mets then added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh. The big hit in the seventh was Daniel Murphy’s 2-RBI double, which gave him an impressive 5 RBIs on the day.

Manuel brought in J.J. Putz to pitch the top of the eighth, and after a leadoff walk, Putz got Ronnie Belliard to ground into a double play and then got Willie Harris to ground out to end the inning. Still 7 – 3 Mets. Francisco Rodriguez had a little trouble in the ninth, giving up an RBI single to Nick Johnson after Daniel Murphy’s error allowed Christian Guzman to reach base. But it was over. Rodriguez struck out Zimmerman to win the ballgame and clinch the sweep of the Nationals.

It was a strange day for Johan Santana. The fourth inning aside, he was phenomenal. His final numbers were three hits, six walks, 11 strikeouts, and 120 pitches in just six innings of work. The bullpen was strong.

The offense was good too although they left nine runners on base. Angel Pagan got two more hits from the leadoff spot. Luis Castillo was spectacular, getting two hits, scoring two runs, and walking three times from the two spot. Murphy was tremendous too, ending with three hits and of course the five RBIs. The one downer was David Wright, who went 1 for 5 with four strikeouts.

With the Phillies losing 6 – 2 to the Florida Marlins shortly after the Mets game ended, the Mets  are now in first place in the NL East. They are a half game up on the Phillies. Meanwhile, the Braves are currently losing to the Giants, and if they do end up losing, then the Mets will be three games up on the Braves.

The Mets have an off day before they begin a home series with the Florida Marlins on Friday night.

Mets Greet Home Fans With 5 – 2 Victory Over Nationals

Mets Bullpen Bends But Doesn’t Break Against Nationals

Over 41,000 fans greeted the Mets at Citi Field Monday night as they returned home from a 5 – 5 road trip through San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. And the Mets, in turn, treated their fans to a 5 – 2 victory over the last-place Washington Nationals.

The Nationals got on the board first Monday, when Wil Nieves hit an RBI single in the second-inning to give the Nats a 1 – 0 lead, but the Mets responded just one inning later with an RBI single by Carlos Beltran. The game remained tied at 1 until the sixth inning, when Gary Sheffield hit a 3-run homerun to give the Mets a 4 – 1 lead. Ramon Martinez added a sacrafice fly to make it 5 – 1.

The Nationals threatened in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. In the seventh, Bobby Parnell, coming in for John Maine, walked the first batter he faced. He struck out pinch-hitter Justin Maxwell, but then gave up a single to Carlos Guzman and walked Nieves to load the bases with just one out. Next up was Nationals third-basemen Ryan Zimmerman, who Parnell proceeded to walk. With the score 5 – 2 and the bases still loaded, Jerry Manuel brought in Pedro Feliciano to face Adam Dunn. After Dunn flied out to deep center, Manuel replaced Feliciano with J.J. Putz, who was able to record the final out of the seventh.

In the eighth, J.J. Putz walked two, but was able to keep the Nationals from scoring. Then, in the ninth, Nick Johnson singled off Francisco Rodriguez, and Zimmerman walked again, but once again, the Mets bullpen was able to avoid damage, as Rodriguez struck out Austin Kearns and got Willie Harris to pop out to preserve the 5 – 2 victory.

It was a scary but encouraging victory for the Mets. John Maine had a nice comeback outing Monday. After giving up five runs (four earned) against the Dodgers, Maine gave up just one run in six innings of work against the Nationals. It wasn’t his best performance.  Yet, it was a solid performance, one that was good enough to get Maine his fourth win of the season.

Meanwhile, the bullpen was shaky yet ultimately effective. In three innings of work, the bullpen (Parnell, Feliciano, Putz, and Rodriguez) gave up two hits and six walks but only gave up one run. Parnell’s performance was discouraging, but Feliciano recorded a crucial out with the bases loaded, and Putz and Rodriguez showed mental toughness getting out of jams.

On offense, there were lots of good signs. David Wright had more than one walk for the fifth time in eight games. Meanwhile, Gary Sheffield had two hits, including the three-run home run. His average is now up to .277 with 4 home runs and 14 RBI. Angel Pagan walked twice in the leadoff spot. And Beltran got another two hits to raise his average to an astounding .367.

Monday’s victory combined with losses by Philadelphia and Atlanta, put the Mets all alone in second place and just a half game out of first. Tonight, the Mets will send Livan Hernandez against Craig Stammen. The game is scheduled to start at 7:10 EST.

Santana Leads Mets to Big Win at Fenway

Despite 5 – 3 Win, Mets Remain 1.5 Games Behind Phillies.

If there’s one combination that’s worked for the New York Mets this season, it’s Johan Santana, Bobby Parnell, and Francisco Rodriguez. All three pitchers have ERAs below two and are a major part of why the Mets are contending for a playoff berth as June approaches.

The Mets came into Friday night needing a win after four straight losses on the West Coast. With their ace pitcher on the mound against Daisuke Matsuzaka, the struggling Red Sox starter, the Mets needed to win this game. It wasn’t easy, but in the end, they were able to emerge with the win.

The Mets took a 1 – 0 lead in the top of the second on a solo shot by Gary Sheffield. The Red Sox tied it in the bottom of the second with a solo blast by catcher Jason Varitek, but the Mets would take the lead for good in the top of the fourth. Ryan Church started the inning with a fly out to center, but then Carlos Beltran doubled, Sheffield walked, and David Wright hit an RBI single to give the Mets a 2 – 1 lead. After Jeremy Reed grounded into a fielders choice, Omir Santos and Ramon Martinez each hit RBI singles to give the Mets a 4 – 1 lead.

The Red Sox trimmed the Mets lead to one in the bottom of the fourth. With one out and runners on second and third, shortstop Ramon Martinez made his 4th error of the season in just 19 chances, allowing two runs to score. Johan Santana escaped the inning without any further damage, and after four innings at Fenway, the Mets were still holding onto a 4 – 3 lead.

Santana held the Red Sox scoreless for the rest of the night. He threw a season-high 118 pitches on the night, 79 for strikes, and left after seven innings. In those seven innings, he gave up just three runs (two earned) on seven hits. He walked only one batter and struck out eight. Meanwhile, the Mets managed to give Santana a little more security in the top of the 7th, when Angel Pagan singled in Luis Castillo to give the Mets a 5 – 3 lead.

It was a heroic effort from Johan Santana who threw a ton of pitches to help the Mets end their losing streak. It was an efficent night for the Mets offense who scored five runs on just eight hits and left just five runners on base. And it was a good night for the Mets bullpen. Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect eighth, lowering his season ERA to 1.86. Then, Francisco Rodridguez pitched a perfect ninth to record his 12th save of the season.

It was a mixed day for Mets third basemen David Wright, who went 1 for 3 with a walk. He drove in his 29th run of the season, yet he also made his 7th error of the season which ties him for the league lead among third basemen.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the Phillies also won on Friday night, defeating the New York Yankees by a 7 to 3 margin. The Phillies remain one and a half games ahead of the Mets in the NL East. The St. Louis Cardinals also won Friday, shutting the Royals out 5 – 0, so the Mets also remain two and a half games behind the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card standings.

The Mets will send Mike Pelfrey (4 – 1, 4.61 ERA) to the hill Saturday evening to take on Red Sox ace Josh Beckett (4 – 2, 5.85 ERA). The game is at 7:10 EST.

The Mets Lose A Laugher

Part of the magic of baseball, or perhaps of any great sport, is that anything can happen. No two games are the same. The only thing one can expect is the unexpected. And so it was Monday night, as the Mets made mind-boggling error after mind-boggling error in their 11-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mets starter Tim Redding, just called up from triple-AAA Buffalo, got off to a bad start Monday night as he gave up two runs in the bottom of the first.

The Mets, however, would get one of those runs back in the top of the second on a Ramon Martinez RBI groundout, driving in David Wright, who had doubled to lead off the inning. Meanwhile, Redding found a groove, and ended up going six innings, giving up just the two runs on two hits and four walks.

Yet, for the first several innings of the ballgame, Dodgers starter Randy Wolf stymied what had once seemed a potent Mets offense. In fact, the Mets were still down 2 – 1 when Angel Pagan led off the top of the eighth with a double to deep left field. After Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran failed to plate the runner, Gary Sheffield hit a little squibber that somehow managed to find the outfield grass, and even more miracously, allowed Pagan to score the game-tying run.

But this was not the Mets night out in the field. The Mets had already made one error (a Martinez fielding error) as the game headed into the later innings. Then, things really started to go sour. In the eighth, Martinez made a throwing error that nearly cost the Mets a run. In the ninth, Sean Green made a horrible throw to first on a ground ball, that put Jean Pierre on third and nearly let him score.

But it wasn’t until the 11th when the mental errors really began to kill the Mets. In the top of the 11th, it appeared that the Mets had taken the lead when Ryan Church singled to left, and Angel Pagan then hit a ball into deep right field. Church came in to score. But wait, he didn’t score because he had never touched third base. The Dodgers touched third base. Three outs. Inning over. Still a tie game.

Then, in the bottom of the 11th, Brian Stokes made his only real mistake of the ball game, walking Mark Loretta to lead off the inning. Then, the next batter, Xavier Paul, hit a ball to left-center field that should’ve been caught but wasn’t due to poor communication between left-fielder Angel Pagan and center-fielder Carlos Beltran. After an intentional walk, the Mets brought the infield and outfield in, literally bringing Carlos Beltran in to play short center field.

Stokes managed to record the first out of the inning on a short fly ball, and then got Orlando Hudson to hit a sharp grounder to first that should’ve at least led to a force out at home if not an inning-ending double play, except Jeremy Reed in trying to get the out at home, threw the ball past the catcher. Ball game over. The Dodgers win, or more accurately, the Mets lose.

It was almost laughable. Church forgetting to touch third. And then, five fielding errors, each one sillier than the last. Most were rookie mistakes. Ramon Martinez, who made two errors, is just up from the minors. Angel Pagan, in left field, also just got back to the majors, and was probably too nervous to hear Beltran calling him off. And then Jeremy Reed, not used to playing first base, got too caught up in the situation, too caught up in trying to make that spectacular double play, and ended up throwing the entire game away.

On the bright side, the bullpen was brilliant for the Mets. Bobby Parnell pitched a scoreless seventh, J.J. Putz worked around Martinez’s second error and a James Loney single to pitch a scoreless eighth. Sean Green was shaky, but managed to overcome his own error and general wildness to pitch a scoreless ninth.

And then what can you say about Brian Stokes? He was fantastic on Monday night. He pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the tenth, and did his best to work through adversity in the eleventh. He made one mistake. The leadoff walk, but after that was perfect. Forcing a fly ball that should’ve been caught. Then, one batter later, getting Rafael Furcal to hit a short fly to left, too short to score the run, with the bases loaded and none out. Then, getting a grounder to Jeremy Reed, what should’ve been a double play ball. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. The Mets lost by a score of 3 to 2.

Now, the Mets and Phillies are tied for first. The Braves are two and a half back. The Marlins are three back.