Move made official

A move we all saw coming in the first inning was made official after last nights game debacle.

With Oliver Perez throwing batting practice to the Giants, he was pulled after only recording one out. Claudio Vargas, now "firmly" situated in the bullpen, came in and pitch 4 2-3 scoreless innings for the Mets. Mike Pelfrey will stay in the rotation, as Carlos Muniz, who allowed four runs on Monday night, was sent down to AAA.

Muniz was sent down to make room for Pedro Martinez, who is making his return tonight against the Giants.

I hope Martinez can do something worthwhile for two reasons:
1. I want him to do well, obviously.
2. The bullpen was slightly overworked last night.

I can see Pedro pitching into the sixth inning, struggling, and coming out with a line somewhere near 5 2-3 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 6 K's and 2 walks. I would happily take that from Martinez on his first start back.

TSTDIA: Giants 10 -- Mets 2

Oliver Perez stunk it up, big time, as he couldn't pitch himself out of the first inning. The team never recovered.

Morbid thinking

With the bullpen getting the call in the first inning for the opener in San Francisco, who is going to be available if/when Pedro Martinez can't pitch through the fifth inning on Tuesday?

A nightmare inning

Well, another disaster start from Oliver Perez.

It's currently 4-0 in the bottom of the first, only one out.

It's now 6-0. Still one out.

That actually happened as I was writing.

Claudio Vargas is up in the bullpen, making it pretty known what the Mets are going to do when Pedro Martinez is activated tomorrow. Vargas will, or should it be has, moved to the bullpen, while Mike Pelfrey will stay in the rotation.

I like this. Pelfrey is part of the future for the organization, so let him stick around and do his thing. He's been effective between some miserable stretches. He just needs to iron things out.

Perez still has not recorded another out, and his day is done. 1-3 of an inning, 5 hits, 2 walks, 6 runs, and the smallest hop over the first base path I've ever seen him take.

Something needs to be done about Mr. Perez. He just doesn't seem to have "it."

It's still too early to tell

The Mets are heating up. Be it on the mound, in the bullpen, in the field, or at the plate, everything seems to be running on all cylinders.

Still, I think it's too soon to claim this season has turned around. The Mets are nearing the end of a 21 day streak without any games off but they still have seven to play. Now, the Mets will head out to the west coast, to take on some of the worst teams in the league in the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.

The Mets notoriously play down to the level of the teams they play, at least before recently. I fear the Mets will be jet lagged from their late game / quick turnaround to San Fran and slam on the brakes with their offense and pitching.

I can easily see this team splitting the two series on the West coast, and catching a ton of flak for playing so poorly against such bad teams. Hopefully, that won't be the case, and this team is really on the right path. If that's the case, they should steamroll over SF and SD.

Please let the latter be true.

Early Morning Madness -- 6/2

Johan Santana is good. That is all.

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This team missed Ryan Church. He comes back with a bang (3-4, 2 RBI, run) and shows the team what they've been missing.

Thankfully, Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez filled in admirably while the Mets were missing Church, so though they took a step back, they didn't lose much.

Dear Ryan,

Stop getting hit in the head.

Love,
Mets fans everywhere.

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I had a dream last night. I dreamt the Mets quietly promoted Mike Carp to AAA. He played there for a week, as the hype grew, and played well, batting near .300 and smacking in a couple of runs.

This must have been an incredibly vivid dream, because I also remember them eventually cutting Carlos Delgado, and promoting Carp to the majors. They then split time between Nick Evans and Carp at first, occasionally sprinkling in Damion Easley.

Very strange.

Delgado has seen his batting average rise six points since May 22, as he hits three game streaks of hitting. From May 22 - 24, he went 4-15, driving in one run and scoring three times. The next three games watched him go 0-5, walking in one pinch hitting stint, and driving in one run. Then, in the Dodgers series, he went 5-15, going hitless last night, scoring three times and setting up the eventual winning run on Saturday with a single in the 8th, after which he was pinch run for.

I can't see the Mets continuing to keep hit bat in the lineup. More and more will they ween him onto the bench and get Evans or Easley out to first as they contemplate what to do with Delgado.

Santana milestone: Win #100

Congrats, Johan Santana.

Here's to many, many more in a Mets uniform.

TSTDIA: Mets 6 -- Dodgers 1

This is the baseball we all knew the Mets, and Johan Santana, would put together day in and day out.

Carlos BellTRON

I miss Gary, Keith and Ron.

12 games: 3-1

Game 1: Mets 7 -- Marlins 6 (12 innings).
Game 2: Mets 8 -- Dodgers 4.
Game 3: Dodgers 9 -- Mets 5.
Game 4: Mets 3 -- Dodgers 2.

Record in the 12 games: 3-1. 8 left to play.