Trip to Maine

Today I will be heading up to the great state of Maine for a Society of Professional Journalists conference. I'm bringing my trusty laptop along, but I'm not sure if I'll have internet in the hotel room. We're leaving in a few hours, the car ride is roughly four hours long, and we're heading straight to some sort of event, so if I do have internet, it won't be until later this afternoon.

Brian Schneider went down with the infected thumb yesterday, but did not land on the DL, yet. He may still need a trip there if it does not improve from the IV he received. This may stall Moises Alou's trip back to Shea, as the Mets will be carrying three catchers if Schneider can avoid the DL. Once Schneider is healed and Gustavo Molina is sent back to AAA, expect Alou to return, possibly by the middle of next week.

Enjoy Mike Pelfrey and Jair Jurrjens tonight. See you on the other side.

People hate the mouthpiece

Newsday's David Lennon writes one of the longest articles on mouthpieces published, this one dealing with Mike Pelfrey and his chunk of plastic. Lennon writes that many batters are distracted with the mouthguard, though Pelfrey needs it for a condition called TMJ or Tempromandibular Joint Disorder.

From Lennon:

Pointing to an area alongside the right side of his jaw, he added, "This muscle right here gets real, real tight, It's like a cramp almost. You have to pop it back out."

The condition, Pelfrey believes, is a souvenir of his trip to Taiwan with Team USA in 2004, when he was part of the group that won the gold medal at the World University Baseball Championships.

Pelfrey struck out 20 in 16 2/3 innings. But in his meeting with Japan, one of the few hitters who did make contact came within inches of ending his career before it really even began. Pelfrey took a line drive off his right cheekbone, and when he points to the spot, it's perilously close to his eye.

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"I hated that thing," said catcher Brian Schneider, who faced him last year as a National. "I couldn't stop looking at it. Other guys were always talking about it, too. Everybody hates it."

I nearly gagged like 10 times while writing this.

Hey, whatever works for you Pelfrey. If you have to bend over backwards to distract the hitter in the slightest bit, do it. Pelfrey claims he prefers the store bought versions to the ones that are custom made for ones mouth. He also said he doesn't even boil them for a more custom fit. He just likes them right off the shelf.

Gag.

Aaron Heilman's new book

Game Recap: Nationals 10 -- Mets 5

Every time Oliver Perez pitches, the Mets fear they will get this sort of start out of him. When Perez was removed, the Mets bullpen fared even worse. The Mets dropped game two to the Nationals by a score of 10-5.

Perez lasted 5 2-3 of an inning, allowing five earned runs on six hits and four walks. Perez struck out three, and benefited from a double play in the third inning. The Nats got on the board against Perez in the bottom of the fifth, when after two walks and a single to start the inning, Felipe Lopez singled to center field, driving in two runs. Later in that inning, Ryan Zimmerman brought home Ronnie Belliard on an RBI ground out. Perez went out to start the sixth and allowed two singles and recorded two outs before being removed in favor of Aaron Heilman.

This was one of those Perez-will-be-wild-and-walk-everyone kind of games. It was bound to happen sooner or later. He's got the talent, but he still lacks the concentration a pitcher needs. Still, this wasn't downright bad, but it wasn't good either.

Heilman entered the game with two on and two out in the sixth inning. The first batter he faced, Lastings Milledge, working as a pinch hitter, was quickly walked to load the bases. Lopez came to the plate again, and knocked a grand slam home run to the right field bleachers. Heilman then allowed two singles before getting Austin Kearns to strike out swinging. Heilman's line: .1 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.

I'm actually starting to feel bad for this guy. Nothing he does works out. Eighth inning or sixth inning, he still gets rocked. Rough, but he's a professional baseball player, so he needs to step up and get back on track ASAP.

Jorge Sosa came in for the seventh, getting the first out of the inning before Aaron Boone reached base on a Jose Reyes fielding error. Willie Harris followed this with a walk and Wil Nieves came to the plate and singled to right, bringing Boone home. Johnny Estrada, pinch hitting, again singled to right, scoring Harris. After recording another out, Sosa allowed another RBI single to right off the bat of Christian Guzman.

See: Above.

Pedro Feliciano made an appearance and recorded outs, three of them, allowing a single to Wily Mo Pena and striking out Boone in the eighth inning.

Celebrate! A relief pitcher didn't give up runs!

The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but could not hold on. Two out RBI hits were the specialty tonight, as all but one run came with two outs.

In the third, Raul Casanova singled to right field to start off the inning. After being sacrificed to second by Perez, and moving to third on a ground out to the right side by Reyes, Casanova came home on Luis Castillo's first hit of the game.

First two out RBI: Castillo. He had a very good night, and a very good series overall. Read on...

The next inning, Ryan Church walked to leadoff. After Carlos Delgado struck out swinging, Church stole second with Angel Pagan at bat. Pagan later walked, and Casanova put a charge into one, to the warning track, which allowed Church to move to third. Perez came to the plate and helped his own cause, singling up the middle and driving home Church.

Second two out RBI: Perez. Strange place to get your first two RBI's of a game, that's for sure. I love when Perez hits. He does that little hop swing. It's just beautiful.

Castillo singled to right to start the fifth. With David Wright batting, Castillo took second on a wild pitch. Castillo moved to third when a pickoff attempt hit him in the leg and skipped into the outfield. With two out, Church singled to right, driving home Castillo.

I love me my Ryan Church. How good is this guy? I'm OK with people jumping on the Church bandwagon, because he's just so good.

The rest of the Mets runs came on solo shots. In the seventh, with two out of course, Carlos Beltran hit a home run to the first row of seats in the right field bleachers. In the ninth, Marlon Anderson came in for a pinch hitting opportunity and crushed his first home run of the year to right.

I'll say it again. I love Beltran's swing. So sweet. Too bad he struck out three times tonight. But when he makes contact, I like it. It's only rivaled by Moises Alou's swing, which we should see at Shea very soon. Good for Anderson, who was only 1-15 before this at bat. He needs to get going in case we need him late in a game.

Numbers: Castillo: 3-5, RBI, run tonight, 5-10, RBI, 2 runs last two games...Castillo: 6 SB this season...Church and Casanova: 2 hits apiece...XBH: Church (2B), Beltran (HR), Anderson (HR)...Mets: 11 hits...Team LOB: 7...Perez pitches: 100 (58 for strikes)...Beltran: 3 K's...Delgado and Wright: 0-4...Felipe Lopez: 6 RBI...

Game Ball: Castillo.

FJM takes down Matthews

Wallace Matthews, you have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat Fire Joe Morgan?

Bye-Bye Brady

Brady Clark has been designated for assignment to make room for Gustavo Molina.

Brian Schneider will not need a trip to the disabled list, as he will need some IV and should be better within a few days.

Bye Brady, I always liked you.

Game Preview: Mets @ Nationals -- 4/24

The Mets look to sweep the two game series in Washington tonight, a 7:10 p.m. start.

Lineup:
SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Ryan Church
1B Carlos Delgado
LF Angel Pagan
C Raul Casanova
SP Oliver Perez

Perez vs. Shawn Hill

Same lineup as last night, sans Brian Schneider, who is already back in New York having his infected thumb looked at.

Schneider out with infected thumb

According to Adam Rubin, Brian Schneider is already back in New York, after being sent home to have his infected thumb looked at. Rubin believes this may require some time on the disabled list, so expect Gustavo Molina to be promoted soon.

If Schneider doesn't hit the DL, expect Brady Clark to be the casualty to make room.

Joe Smith does not like Cubs fans

The language is rated R, so be careful blasting this around children.
Joe Smith got heckled in the outfield in Chicago, and did not enjoy it. He yelled back.



I can only imagine what they were yelling to him, but it's not very professional for a major league baseball player to retaliate like that. Smith, you are on probation and your nickname of "The Man" is suspended for the next week.

By the way, the man with the camera gives such insightful play by play. "This is Joe Smith, heckling the fans." Thanks buddy, I couldn't get that from the video.

[Video via Home Run Derby]

David Wright with the Answer Man

First of all, if you don't read Big League Stew, you must begin, immediately. Go back to the beginning and start from there.

One of the features they do is "Answer Man," an interview featuring some unorthodox questions, stuff you wouldn't usually find in a normal interview. The latest edition takes on David Wright.

A few of my favorites:

Q: What about the widely held belief that you are the Austin Powers of the majors, in that men want to be you and women want to be with you?

DW: I don’t know about that [laughs]. It’s fun to be single and living in New York, playing for a good organization. I have no complaints there. As far as the other end of it, if I can take care of business on the field, then there are some nice perks that come along with a winning team.

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Q: Could you tell if the monster in Cloverfield destroyed your apartment building?

DW: I did see a couple of landmarks near my apartment, but I don’t live in a real big high rise, so he might have missed mine. Fortunately, I think it was spared.

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Q: Ever go up to Mr. Met and say, “Hey, buddy, why the big head?”

DW: It’s funny, trying to see him walk through doorways; he’s gotta turn sideways but his head is the same size no matter how it’s turned. He’s … he’s a good mascot.

Wright is probably one of the luckiest guys in the world. Single, young, living in NYC, rich, plays baseball for a living. What else could you want? I envy you, David.

Oh, and yes, Mr. Met is a good mascot, the best in the league, I would say.