TSTDIA: Marlins 8 -- Mets 2

Josh Johnson continued his dominance over the Mets, as the Marlins continued their dominance over Mike Pelfrey to spoil the Mets chance at a sweep.

Mets Song by Song: Weezer (Red Album) by Weezer

Here is another in a series of Song by Song. I will take one album and try to use all of the song titles to explain the Mets current predicament. The songs will be bolded and italicized.

This time around it's Weezer's latest album, nicknamed the "Red Album." Enjoy...

Daniel Murphy is proving to be a Troublemaker for opposing pitching. Mets fans can only hope he will be The Greatest Man That Ever Lived. Seems his parents raised him well on a steady diet of Pork and Beans.

Poor Johan Santana. He won't be writing the bullpen any Heart Songs this year. They've already blown six wins for the ace pitcher, but it's only early August.

I'm thinking Jerry Manuel gives some amazing pre-game speeches. Something along the lines of "Everybody Get Dangerous!" The offense always seems to jump out to a quick start in games, probably when the starting pitchers are still Dreamin'.

I Thought I Knew this team was going to get out of their funk, and they seem to be doing so against the NL East rivals in the Florida Marlins. They might be sinking the Fish into a Cold Dark World of a year without playoffs.

It's not going to be Automatic down the stretch for the Phillies or the Mets, as it seems like it's going to be a dogfight through September.

Today, it's The Angel and The One with Mike Pelfrey on the mound and (hopefully) Murphy in the field. These are only two of the young guns the Mets have been trotting out on the field lately, all of whom are performing very well and contributing to Mets wins.

Photo of the Day: Daniel Murphy

Daniel Murphy: 10-20, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 BB, 5 RBI

Not a bad start to a career.
(AP Photo/Ed Betz)

TSTDIA: Mets 8 -- Marlins 6

Again, despite the pitching's best effort, the Mets squeaked out with a win thanks to home runs from Carlos Delgado and Daniel Murphy, his first career home run.

The new Procede

This commercial is infuriating.

Now I'll wait for Matt Cerrone to get an interview with the old guy at the beginning.

Met-o-sphere roundup

A few links from around the Mets blogosphere...

The Youth Movement - Hot Foot

Throwing Out the First Pitch at Shea - Mets Merized Online

Again, Why Not Niese - Mets Today

NL East Breakdown Part 2 - Ramble7321

Ryan Church is cleared ready to play

Via Adam Rubin:

News out of the clubhouse: Ryan Church has been cleared to go to Florida to begin playing in minor-league games. He’ll initially DH in Port St. Lucie after working out at Shea on Saturday.

Amen!!

Don't rush him through the system, but he'd be very nice to have as Fernando Tatis seems to have cooled off very quickly.

Oh, this is wonderful news.

TSTDIA: Mets 3 -- Marlins 0

The story of tonight was Oliver Perez, who threw seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits and walking three, while striking out eight.

Aaron Heilman took the rest of the game into his own hands, throwing two perfect innings and striking out three to earn the save. David Wright and Carlos Delgado homered to tally for the Mets runs.

Luis Castillo, stay away

Does anyone miss this guy?

Big series against the Fish

Tonight the Mets start a three game series against the Florida Marlins.

This is a huge series, as the Mets could leapfrog the Fish into second place in the division with a few wins this weekend. Coupled with a Phillies slide, the Mets could be back in first place by Monday.

This is my optimism getting the best of me, but it's possible. The Mets are playing great baseball at home, as they've won 13 of their last 16 at Shea. A fine sendoff this would be if they could keep up the stellar play in their old park.

Oliver Perez, the team needs the good, no, great you tonight. If you could keep the hands out of the bullpen, that would make every Mets fan in the world breathe much easier.