Mets to stick with WFAN

There goes my hope for the jump to FM radio.

According to Neil Best, the Mets are "likely to remain on WFAN" past this season.

From Best:

If the Mets had left, WFAN simply would have inherited the Yankees from its CBS Radio sister station, WCBS-AM. It is not clear where the Mets would have landed if they had left the FAN.

Maybe someone with the Mets is reading my blog. Maybe they were exploring their FM options. Maybe I'm crazy.

I love WFAN, so I can't complain too much. But this does mean I have to listen to more Wayne Hagin. Great.

If the All-Star Game was played at the end of the year, there would be a lot more Mets on the roster

The second half has been generous to the Mets.

Nick Friedell over at Big League Stew, takes a look at the NL All-Star team, and adds or subtracts players, based on their entire season, instead of just first few months of play.

Mets that were added to the team:

Jose Reyes, SS: Reyes has a .300 average 16 HR, 67 RBI and 52 stolen bases. The Mets' shortstop is still one of the best all-around players in baseball and if you think it seems like no All-Star team should ever be complete without him, you're right.

Carlos Delgado, 1B: If Delgado had hit in the first half like he is hitting now, Willie Randolph would still be the Mets' manager and Delgado would have been on the actual All-Star team. Since struggling through the first few months of the season, Delgado has hit .310 with 20 HR and 58 RBI since the break.

Johan Santana, SP: Santana has given the Mets the top of the line starter they needed so badly. Oh yeah — he also has 15 wins and a league leading 2.64 ERA.

Mets who were cut:

Billy Wagner, RP: Wagner had 27 saves for the Mets but his season is over due to an elbow injury.

Mets who were kept:

David Wright, 3B: The Mets' star was the best third baseman in New York City this season (Yeah, A-Rod we're talking to you) hitting .300 with 33 HR and 122 RBI.

Works for me.

Wishful thinking

I know the Mets are far from clinching a playoff spot, but the current playoff scenario has got me thinking and scheming.

My dream scenario:
Mets win the four of the next six, win NL East.
Phillies collapse, and go 1-5.
Brewers keep winning, and take the Wild Card.

Mets win the East, Brewers take the Wild Card, and the Phillies hit the golf course.

So many things would have to go right for this to happen, but it would be amazing to see this happen.

Plus, the Mets have played the Brewers very well this season, to the tune of a 4-2 record, including a three game sweep in Milwaukee at the beginning of August.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this scenario to play out, but I'd just be happy with seeing the Mets make the playoffs.

Edit: I completely goofed on this article. Commenter, and friend, Buzz lays it out perfectly:

Actually the Mets and Brewers have 5 more games, the Phillies have four. This would get you your dream:
Mets: 3-2
Phillies: 1-3
Brewers: 4-1
(Or Mets 4-1, Phils 2-2 and Brewers 5-0).

Under that scenario, the three teams finished tied at 90-72 (or 91-71). The Mets win the East because they have the tiebreaker over the Phils (season series). So, the Phils have to play the Brewers for the Wild Card. Brewers win the extra game, Phils are gone

Thanks, Buzz!

Edit #2: Buzz has his sleuthing shoes on today. We were both wrong, but he clarifies with this second comment:

Looks like I'm not 100% correct either here -- according to the news articles on Mets.com, if this scenario occurs there would be a two game playoff -- the Mets would travel to Philly to play for the division and then the Brewers would then travel to the loser to play for the WC. I know this used to be different, but they must have changed it.

Here's the link: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=...

And the quote from the end of the article:
"Should three clubs finish the season with the same winning percentage, one as a division winner and the other as a Wild Card, playoff games would be played as follows:

• The two teams tied for the division lead play the one-game tiebreaker, with the winner being declared the division champion.

• The losing team in that game then plays the club from the other division for the Wild Card."

I guess this whole thing playing out the way I want would take a lot more than just winning a few games. But hey, you never know.

Again, thanks Buzz!

Thank you, Johan's broken bat

That broken bat may have changed the season.

One out, in the bottom of the fifth inning, Nick Evans on first and Johan Santana at the plate.

Santana swings at a pitch from Sean Marshall, breaks his bat, and knocks the ball past the pitcher and toward second base. Ronny Cedeno moves over to cover, but the bat and ball are traveling together towards second base.

Just as Cedeno seems ready to field the ball, and attempt to avoid the bat, the two object connect again, changing the direction of the ball, and making is nearly impossible for Cedeno to field it cleanly. Everybody is safe, Evans at second and Santana at first.

Jose Reyes then struck out for the second out of the inning. Luis Castillo worked a walk to load the bases, bringing David Wright to the plate with the bases loaded. He then punched a single into left field, driving in two runs and tying up the game.

Lucky? Yes. It's about time a little luck went the Mets way. It's not a black cat, but it may do.

Thank you, physics. Thank you, black bat. Thank you, baseball. Let's go Mets.

Game Recap: Mets 6 -- Cubs 2

Almost everything went right tonight.

Pitching Performance

Johan Santana: the stopper, the savior, and worth every penny. Eight innings, scattering seven hits, and surrendering two runs. He walked only two, and stuck out 10. 125 pitches later, this was one of Santana's best outings as a Met.

He allowed a RBI double to Kosuke Fukudome in the second inning, and an RBI single to Reed Johnson in the third. That was it.

Goodness gracious, I love that man. What more can I say? His numbers speak for themselves. Well done, Santana. Well done, indeed.

Also, Santana was getting squeezed beyond belief tonight. Both pitchers were, but it seemed to affect Johan the most. There were at least two times that Santana thought he had just thrown strike three, but the umpire saw it differently.

Of course, it wasn't easy, as Pedro Feliciano and Luis Ayala had to combine to finish out the game for the Mets. Feliciano allowed two hits in 1-3 of an inning, and Ayala had to come in and clean up the mess, and earning a save in the process.

Never easy.

Offensive Output

Big hits when it counts.

Sean Marshall held the Mets off the board until the fifth inning, when David Wright punched a bases loaded single to left field, driving in both Nick Evans and Johan Santana.

I didn't think he was going to get a hit, but Wright proved me wrong. Keep proving me wrong.

The Mets had a huge sixth inning. Carlos Delgado placed a bloop double just inside the third base line to start the inning. After moving to third on a Ryan Church single, Castro scored on an error by Chad Gaudin. Daniel Murphy followed that up with a pinch hit single, loading the bases for Jose Reyes.

Reyes came to the plate with 199 hits on the season, after singling in his first at bat of the game. His 200th hit was a big one, a triple down the first base line, clearing the bases and putting the Mets up by four, and for good.

Congrats, Jose.

Huge inning. Could possibly change the season.

The Rest of the Story

Santana went 1-3, scoring two runs to help his own cause.

Reyes: 2-3, 3 RBI.

Wright: 2-4, 2 RBI.

Look who is getting hot!

At time of publishing: Phillies lost, Brewers are losing. Mets are 1.5 back in NL East, TBD (Up at lease 1 game) in WC.

Game Ball: Johan Santana.

Omar Minaya gets four-year extension

This is straight out of the "Bad Timing" playbook.

Omar Minaya will receive a four-year extension.

I will withhold commenting on this until after the regular season is over.

Poll: Once again, I ask

Will the Mets make the playoffs?

Six games in six days. A one game lead in the Wild Card.

Can they pull it off?

Cast your vote on the right.

If the Mets make the playoffs, will you be happy?

For me, yes. But it will be so bittersweet.

It looks as if the NL East is slipping away quickly. That leaves the Mets to contend for the Wild Card. A two team tango begins tonight, with the Mets and Brewers each having six games to play to finish out the regular season.

The Mets have a one game lead heading into tonight, with three more against the Cubs, and another three against the recently eliminated Marlins. The Brewers play three against the Pirates, starting tonight, and another three against the Cubs.

I still think the Mets can back into the playoffs. The Brewers have dominated the Pirates this year, and will look to win their 10th game in a row over the lowly Bucs. CC Sabathia was a blown call away from a no-hitter last time he faced Pittsburgh.

The Mets need the Pirates to play spoiler, and this would be the perfect team to do it. They've been held down long, so the Brewers might get a little complacent playing them. If they can come out strong and put up a fight, it might be enough to break the young Brewer team, especially with a new manager at the helm.

Even with a one game lead, the Mets shouldn't even worry about the Brewers, they have enough problems of their own. The Mets can't seem to get enough pitching together to get through nine innings of baseball, and can't seem to buy a win.

What the Mets need to do, for maybe the one millionth time I've written it on this blog, is win. Just win.

If they win, it won't matter what the Brewers do.

A strange case, something I am half-wishing for, is a one game playoff at Shea Stadium. That would only happen if the Mets and Brewers are tied at the of the regular season. Since the Mets won a coin-flip last week, the game would be hosted at Shea.

Could you even begin to imagine how crazy Shea would be that day?

If the Mets get to that point, and I half hope they do, and if they can pull off a win, it might be just the sort of momentum they need to roll into the playoffs.

Wishful thinking, I guess. The Mets still have to get to that point.

Photo of the Day: Carlos Beltran

If this photo isn't a metaphor
for the Mets season
as they approach the finish line,
I don't know what is.AP photo

Game Recap: Cubs 9 -- Mets 5

The Mets are teases.

Pitching Performance

Jon Niese turned in three decent innings, and one terrible one. He surrendered seven hits and six runs, five of which came in the fourth inning. The opposing pitcher, Jason Marquis, hit a grand slam over the right field wall.

First three were nice, the fourth inning was a disaster. Maybe instead of starting pitching, we just patch together a bunch of players who can throw a few innings at a time. Throw bullpen by committee out the window, how about entire game pitching by committee?

Nelson Figueroa allowed a solo home run to finish off the big inning for the Cubs. Robert Parnell allowed his first hit and first run in the his major league career, in two innings of work.

Bound to happen sometime.

Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman each turned in scoreless performances, an inning of baseball each.

Shocked.

Luis Ayala allowed a run on a butcher boy hit to second, scoring a man from third. Ricardo Rincon came on and got a pop-up to end the ninth inning threat.

Offensive Output

...if you can call it that.

The Mets were held scoreless in the first inning, but were able to scratch one out in the second. Carlos Delgado was able to score on a wild pitch from Marquis. In the third, Daniel Murphy doubled into the left field corner, scoring Jose Reyes.

Looked like a good night for the bats, but they then killed three rallies, with two double plays and leaving nine on base. Awful.

David Wright drove in a pair with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, just tipping off the glove of Alfonso Soriano's glove over the AIG sign.

That puts him at the 120 RBI plateau, with 33 home runs. Pretty good season, if you ask me.

The Mets threatened in the ninth inning, scoring one run in the ninth, but were unable to push any more across to close the gap.

The Rest of the Story

Phillies win, Brewers had off. Mets are 2.5 back in the East, and one up in the Wild Card.

Carlos Beltran had to leave the game in the seventh after crashing into the wall in the sixth inning after making a running catch at the warning track.

Game Ball: David Wright. (2-4, BB, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI)