Walking Wounded

We all knew the injury bug was flying around New York all month, but it seemed to be enjoying its stay in the Bronx. Unfortunately it now seems it’s made its way out to Flushing.

THe Mets sent two to the disabled list today as Orlando Hernandez was diagnosed with shoulder bursitis and Jose Valentin is out with a partial tear of his right ACL. We knew Duque was going to be taking some time off; he always does. But there was hope that Valentin could avoid the DL. Instead, it appears he too will miss the month of May.

In his place, expect to see a lot of Damion Easley at second and Ruben Gotay got the call from the minors. And as anticipated — or was that feared — Chan Ho Park will get the ball tonight against Florida’s Scott Olsen at Shea. I’m breathless with anticipation.

UPDATE (8:00 p.m.) — It didn’t take long to see the Chan Ho Park effect. 5-0 Marlins in the third. We all knew it would be a wild ride. It hasn’t disappointed. Unfortunately.

UPDATE (8:14 p.m.) — Gary Cohen made a big deal about Damion Easley not being charged with an error, meaning Park is on the hook for all five third-inning runs. Just for the record, the two fourth-inning solo home runs were clearly earned.

UPDATE (10:13 p.m.) — Well it’s over and it was about as pretty as we all expected it to be. 9-6 Marlins. There were a few times where a timely hit would have made you think the Mets were going to pull out a pretty decent comeback. But ultiimately, with David Wright and Carlos Delgado slumping and Jose Valentin out of the lineup, 10 runs is an awful lot to ask. Hell, even if everyone was clicking, 10 runs is a lot to ask. The bottom line is the Mets — or any team for that matter — are going to need better pitching (and fielding) than they got tonight.

It will be interesting to see what the youngster Mike Pelfrey has tomorrow night. There’s actually a little more pressure on him with Duque down, but that’s the peril of relying on a young arm. He needs to channel a little of that spring training gumption.

Back With The Amazin’s

I lead a dual life. You know me as the tireless fan of the Amazin’s. But there’s this other guy who shares my name, my looks, my characteristics. And he digs the National Football League.

Well, in my other life as NFL blogger, I’ve posted almost 40 entries over the past two days. But not a one of those was about the Mets. So I’m sorry to all my loyal CitiBlog readers. I’ll try to make it up now by covering some of the thoughts on the Mets happenings of the past several days.

– As always, you’ll meet few bigger John Maine fans than myself. He just brings so much to the Mets rotation. Youth, length and just enough fortitude to get out of jams. Today was another masterful performance by the young Mets hurler. He’s 4-0 and off to a heck of a start. Unfortunately, I never was able to get him on my fantasy team.

– Orlando Hernandez returned to New York earlier than anticipated after experiencing stiffness in his shoulder. We knew the 40-something wasn’t going to pitch the entire season. Might as well get his month off out of the way in May. Unless, he’s penciled in two breaks this year…

– If Duque can’t go tomorrow (and it’s likely that he won’t), it will probably be Chan Ho Park in his spot. That’s Chan Ho Park with his 7.29 minor-league ERA. Should make for a fun night.

– NBA blogger Jim Green made this point today and it’s really true. Willie Randolph’s unwillingness to say his guys are slumping is rather silly. Carlos Delgado, clearly slumping, sat today. Willie’s response: “This is a good opportunity to give (Julio) Franco a chance to play.” If Delgado was going good, it probably wouln’t have been such a good opportunity. Randolph’s “slump” ban is akin to Eric Mangini’s ban on “the p-word” — playoffs. And you thought there were just seven words you couldn’t say on TV.

– The Mets have won a couple games now that they probably shouldn’t, the most recent being the 12-inning barnburner in Washington on Saturday night. That’s the difference between the ‘06 Mets and the ‘05 Mets. Hopefully, this group keeps acting more like the ‘06 version.

– And I’ll leave you with this interesting anecdote. I was coding up today’s game story for the Home News Tribune and found there was already a story with the same publication date and the word “METS” in the file name. I popped it open and much to my surprise the headline matched today’s game. “METS PITCHERS NEED JUST ONE RUN.” But it wasn’t a story about today’s game. It was a story about last year’s April 29th Mets game against the Braves. The result a year ago? A 1-0 win. Strange, right?

Be back tomorrow for the mystery pitcher showcase.

Nagging Nationals

Not exactly the way I envisioned christening the new blog. A one-run loss to the Nationals. Ugh.

A common flaw with the Mets this season has been their performance with runners in scoring position. Tonight was a prime example. According to our beat guy John Delcos, the Mets were 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position tonight. That’s not going to get it done.

On the plus side, the unpredictable Oliver Perez continued to baffle opposing hitters and Mets fans alike, throwing poorly initially before settling down to keep the Mets in the game. As for whether he should have stayed in the game when the Mets loaded the bases for him, Willie Randolph has to trust this lineup to pick up that run after the pitcher’s at-bat. This isn’t October baseball. No need to blow out your bullpen in April.

If you don’t believe me, just look across town.

Same Blog, New Address

Welcome to the new home of Steve Feitl’s CitiBlog — your official Home News Tribune Mets blog. Nevermind the fact it looks more like an Oakland A’s fan site. That’s a lot of green.

Oh well, we’ll be bringing back the archives from the old site in the next couple days. But for now, update your bookmarks and alert the media. Wait, I am part of the media. Alright, I’ll handle that part, just update your damn bookmarks.

Overslept

So I overslept today. Anyone catch a Mets score?

Seriously, I did oversleep today and when I came to, I flipped on the game and rubbed my eyes because I swore it looked like the score read “Rockies 6, Mets 0.” That will teach me to sleep with my contacts in. So I looked away and blinked away the morning (afternoon) grogginess. I looked back and, wouldn’t you know it, still looked like 6-0. Now it was just getting silly. So I got out of bed and moved closer to the TV and much to my surprise, yes the score actually read 6-0. Can you believe SNY put the wrong score on the screen…

OK, I actually believed it at this point. But you can understand my skepticism considering the Rockies had been struggling scoring runs and the Mets had been competitive in most games this season. Oh well, you’ll have games like this in a 162-game season. Bring on the Nats.

Endy Chavez

Top Five Things Even Less Likely Than Endy Chavez Using A Drag Bunt To Win The Game:

Ahh, nevermind. What a win! The Mets needed one of these extra-inning thrillers. They proved to be incredibly adept at winning them a year ago. If this team is going to replicate the 2006 success, it’s going to have to win these games. Great win. Great sign.

UPDATE (11:34 p.m.) — In my euphopria following tonight’s fantastic win and my rush to actually get out a paper to you lucky readers of the Home News Tribune, I was actually kind of lax in my praise of Chavez’s heads-up play.

He read the fielders, took the chance and made the play to perfection. Endy has a heck of a flare for the dramatic. He’s made more of his few moments to shine than any Met reserve player since Todd Pratt and his playoff walk-off. He was already at the level after “The Catch.” Tonight was simply another chapter in the occasionally glorious history of Mets role players.

Damion Easley

Top Five Things Even Less Likely Than Damion Easley Tying The Game With A Pinch-Hit Home Run With Two Outs And Two Strikes In The Bottom Of The Tenth:

5. Mr. Met leading the Shea crowd in a Happy Birthday song for Jimmy Rollins.
4. Kaz Matsui re-signing with the Mets.
3. MLB and WWE joining forces to eradicate steroids.
2. The New York media ignoring David Wright’s power outage.

And the No. 1 thing even less likely than Damion Easley tying the game with a pinch-hit home run with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the tenth.

1. Alex Rodriguez not homering in a game.

That’s it. Those are the only things I could possibly expect any less than that Easley shot. Fantastic introduction to Shea for Mr. Easley.

Maine’s Monday

John Maine remains unsigned in our Home News Tribune fantasy baseball league. I can’t help but wonder how much longer that will last.

Maine — also known as “This Blog’s Most-Hyped Player” — was damn near brilliant again tonight. Seven hits and one run over seven and two-thirds. As noted on the SNY broadcast, it was the longest a Mets starter has gone this year. With a couple of dinosaurs at the top of the rotation, the Mets could do a lot worse than to see one of their young guns stretch out his arm every fifth day. Maine is showing signs that he’s capable of just that.

Other random thoughts on the game:

– Jose Valentin appears to be rounding into shape. Carlos Delgado finally went deep. That leaves “The Kid” as the one Mets regular yet to get going.

– In some ways, I think it’s a good thing that David Wright’s fake hit streak came to an end because it was camouflaging his early-season struggles. Here’s a damning stat: In his last 15 at-bats, Wright has struck out 8 times. Eight. Unfortunately, this may be the story of the Mets’ first half.

– I hear Six Flags’ new roller coaster will be called “Ambiorix.” That was one tough ninth inning to watch.

– Duque tomorrow with a mostly rested pen. This is what splitting up the old-timer’s brings the Mets.

– Do you realize if Mother Nature hadn’t intervened, tonight’s game would have been the Mets’ 13th straight? They would have rung up 15 in a row before Thursday’s off-day. Only two stretches on the schedule are longer. I’m sure the players are happy that it’s warmer, but in retrospect, those unexpected days off might not have been such a bad thing.

That’s it. I’m off to go sign Maine to the Uninsured Cavemen.

People Get Ready

People get ready. It’s going to be a long summer with the boys from the Dirty South.

The Braves took two-of-three from the Mets for the second time this season with a crushing 9-6 victory this afternoon at Shea. Was there a Mets fan alive that didn’t think the Mets were sitting pretty when Jose Reyes was a human bobblehead doll at third base in the sixth? But the team in the other dugout was the Braves. And not the Braves from ‘06 — that sympathetic bunch that was simply uncapable of defend Atlanta’s decade-and-a-half-long throne atop the division. No, this team was the Braves from ‘05, ‘01, ‘98, hell pick any year you want — this was that team.

Those Braves always found a way. Today was no different. Today it was Kelly Johnson, going deep twice, driving in four and scoring three times. But it could have been anyone in a Braves uni. The Atlanta division champs always got contributions from unexpected places.

So yes, the Braves are back. Chances are they plan on sticking around longer than they did last year.

But there’s good news. First of all, I think this Mets team is far better equipped to stare down the Braves than any of those late-90s/early-2000s teams.

And secondly, it’s April 22. Take a deep breath and get ready for the Rockies.

Mets Go Long

OK, so perhaps that sweep was a tad optimistic.

But the Mets bounced back nicely with a strong performance today to even the series with the Braves. And no one deserves more praise for that rebound than Oliver Perez who was a completely different pitcher than the one that walked the ballpark four bullpen sessions ago. Of course, that’s the knock on Perez: You never know what you’re going to get.

Today, the Mets got an impressive six and two-thirds where he struck out nine and walked none. Rick Peterson takes a lot of flak in this town for making the regrettable “fix him in 15 minutes” declaration about Victor Zambrano. C’mon, that’s like promising a bunch of Freehold residents backstage passes to a Bruce concert. It wasn’t going to happen. Still, Peterson deserves some positive pub for this latest Perez turnaround. Let’s hope this one sticks.

And while Perez was going long into the game, the Mets batters were going long into the stands. Ramon Castro, Damion Easley and Jose Reyes all went yard in a span of two outs between the fifth and sixth innings. How about Castro rewarding Willie Randolph’s faith in him to put him in the No. 6 spot with a homer? I know it had more to do with no wanting to move Shawn Green up with the lefty/lefty matchup, but I still didn’t expect to see Castro batting that high in a Mets batting order… at least not in a season that hadn’t gone horribly awry.

Rubber match tomorrow. Leave your high-powered flashlights at home.