Good Morning First Place Mets Fans!

I have to keep this short as my real job takes precedence this morning, but I'll catch up with you later.

First place?

Six wins in a row?

David Wright maybe coming out of his funk?

A Jason Bay HR?

More great pitching?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!

National League
EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
NY Mets	12	9	.571	-	10-5	2-4	89	69	+20	Won 6	8-2
Philadelphia	11	9	.550	.5	3-3	8-6	107	84	+23	Lost 3	3-7
Florida	11	10	.524	1	5-4	6-6	102	97	+5	Lost 1	5-5
Washington	11	10	.524	1	7-6	4-4	90	105	-15	Won 1	5-5
Atlanta	8	12	.400	3.5	5-4	3-8	77	85	-8	Lost 7	2-8

Mets and Brewers Tied!

Thanks to a superhuman effort by Johan Santana, a Mets win, and a Cubs win, the Mets and Brewers are tied for the NL Wild Card lead.

It all comes down to tomorrow!

Stay tuned for more highlights about this incredible day for Mets fans!

Ya Gotta Believe!!!!!!!!!

Good Morning Mets Fans! Back in 1st Place!

Daniel Murphy is a hitter--he hits, and hits, then he hits some more.

Leadoff hits, clutch hits, RBI hits, rally extending hits...he hits.

The Mets young ball striker is hitting .374 on the season with a 1.012 OPS and 20 RBIs in 99 at-bats. In September he's hitting .467 (14-for-30) and is .500 on the current trip (5-for-10).

With the Mets and Braves tied 5-5 he hit a 1-out rocket to the wall that plated two. All told it was part of a 4-run inning that led to victory--a victory that put the Mets back in 1st place over a Phillies team that finally lost a game.

Murphy--a solid citizen who is thoroughly enjoying the ride, had this to say: "It's the biggest thing that's ever happened to me," said Murphy, who has been a force from the left side since being called up in early August. "I'm just happy to be able to help this team win, because they've welcomed me with open arms and made me feel comfortable."

Mets manager Jerry Manuel plans to ride Murphy's hot hand for the next week. "He is going to play," said Manuel, "Our next six games are against right-handed pitchers, so he's the left fielder. There's no question he's a guy we could play every day. It's just tough to not use other people when your lineup is so out of whack with lefties like it is right now."

In a wonderful season for Mets fans, Daniel Murphy has been a breath of fresh air, an invigorating presence, and a hope for the future.

Yesterday youth was served. In addition to 23-year old Murphy, 22-year old Nick Evans hit a HR, 25-year old Jose Reyes had 3 hits and 2 RBIs, and 25-year old David Wright had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.

Reyes started the game with a leadoff HR--he now has 69 extra-base hits on the year and is 4 hits away from 200 on the season. This is the Jose Reyes that is a force--the game changer, the leader, the turbocharger of the Mets offense. He is all smiles right now as the gritty Mets make their playoff push.

The Mets bullpen pitched fairly well. Yes Nelson Figueroa came on and was victimized by some poor defense, but all told the bullpen pitched 3 innings and did not allow an earned run.

Brian Stokes was especially impressive, throwing 2 innings and earning the win. Aaron Heilman got a big out, and it was hugs and handshakes after the game.

"For Aaron Heilman to get that out was not only big for us, but for him, too," Manuel said. "You could recognize the change in the flow of the game."

So the Mets have a Magic Number again (9) for the NL East, and another Magic Number (7) for the NL Wild Card.

2008 NL Standings
East	W	L	PCT	GB	RS	RA	EXPW	EXPL	DIV	WC	POFF
New York	86	67	.562	-	762	668	90.6	71.4	54.6	32.7	87.4
Philadelphia	86	68	.558	0.5	759	651	90.8	71.2	44.8	45.5	90.2
Florida	81	72	.529	5	738	734	85.7	76.3	0.6	1.7	2.3
Atlanta	67	87	.435	19.5	711	745	70.5	91.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
Washington	58	96	.377	28.5	615	780	61.1	100.9	0.0	0.0	0.0

This is the Mets division to win--just keep winning--just keep riding the youth--just keep allowing Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado to drive in runs--just piece together enough solid bullpen to close out the games.

Sound easy, right?

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (86-67) «	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	4	0	9	12	3
Atlanta (67-87)	0	2	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	5	8	1

Player of the Game

New York

J. Reyes	AB	4
	R	3
	H	3
	HR	1
	RBI	2

Mets Back in First Place!

The gritty and determined Mets are now back in first place thanks to Jose Reyes, David Wright, Daniel Murphy and yes, the bullpen.

Jerry Manuel once again masterminded a beauty, and he has his team on top.

With a Phillies loss, and another Brewers loss, the Mets are now positioning themselves nicely for a playoff spot.

See you tomorrow for a very "Good Morning Mets Fans" writeup!

John Delcos Has a New Home!

For those of you wondering where John Delcos has landed, let me point you here: NY Mets Report.

For reasons unknown, John was let go from his previous position--to me it's unfathomable as he is one of the top Mets writers in the country.

To read more, please go here and read about his plans.

Good Morning Mets Fans!

They sure do make it exciting at times, don't they?

Yesterday the Mets won another extra-inning thriller on the strength of a Carlos Beltran homerun, some incredible bullpen pitching, just a bit of timely late game hitting, and the best fielding game they've had all season.

It started with, well, the starter. In this case Jon Niese, the Mets prized 21-year old lefty.

Niese didn't pitch well, in fact, he looked downright overmatched and very shaky at the start of the game--you could see the pressure on his face.

“I get nervous for him, no question,” Jerry Manuel said before the game. “He feels some nerves. He has to. I just hope he gets through it, and gets it behind him as quick as possible.”

It was admittedly a crapshoot with Niese. Earlier in the week we heard our first warning sign when Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen said he, "would rather not have Niese make his debut against the Brewers righthanded lineup." Ummmmm, gulp anyone? We have a pennant race here!

Without getting into every dirty detail of his effort, Niese gave up a leadoff homerun, settled down to get out of the first inning jam, had an OK curve in the 2nd and 3rd but was not beating anyone with a very average fastball, and then the Brewers exploded for 4 runs in the 4th.

“That fourth inning kind of got away from me,” Niese said. “I didn’t command my fastball as well as I wanted to, and they were sitting on my off-speed stuff. That’s what they were looking for.”

"It's the first one," Manuel said. "You almost have to kind of throw that one out for him. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was obviously a tremendous experience for him. The fact that we end up winning the game is the most important thing."

Niese entered the 4th with a 5-1 lead thanks to the ultra red hot Carlos Beltran, who shook off the bruised knee he suffered in the previous game and blasted a 3-run bomb off of Brewers starter Manny Parra.

Beltran is 14 for his last 36 with 5 HRs and 13 RBIs. During that stretch he's scored 11 runs...he looks ready to put the team on his back for the stretch run.

In addition to his homerun, Beltran was part of a Mets team that had a spectacular night in the field.

• Carlos threw out a runner at home to save a run
• Endy Chavez threw out a runner at second to kill a rally
• Nick Evans caught two balls in deep leftfield that could have easily gone for extra bases if not for his jump and concentration at the wall
• David Wright made a spectacular play at third and an amazing throw to gun down Corey Hart late
  
• Robinson Cancel did a terrific job blocking the plate on Beltran's throw home
• Damion Easley had a great "quick tag" and sell job to the ump for the out at second

It all adds up to the best and most complete fielding game of the year for the Mets....each one of those plays was a potential run and game saver, none more than the Beltran-Cancel effort and Nick Evan's second catch.

But the real story of the game was the bullpen--the much maligned bullpen.

Five relievers combined for 7 innings of shutout ball. Nelson Figueroa came on in early relief of Niese and limited the damage by only allowing one inherited run, even though he came on with men on base and no outs against the toughest part of their lineup.

Duaner Sanchez pitched a scoreless frame. Brian Stokes followed him with two brilliant innings and flashed a fastball that topped out at 97 mph. Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith "lefty-righty'd" a scoreless 9th, and Luis Ayala notched a save in the 10th.

Jerry Manuel is loving what he's seen of late from his bullpen and the 18-pitcher armada the Mets have with the addition of the callups.

"When you have a number of pitchers like we have, and we have put most of them in somewhat stressful situations, you're not afraid now to call them in those times," manager Jerry Manuel said. "And you figure if you keep them short, keep them having some success, then the next time they go out there, they feel very confident about themselves. That's the plan. Sometimes it goes well. Sometimes it doesn't."

To get the save the Mets needed a run, and Daniel Murphy gave them one with a very focused pinch hit--this kid is something very special and is a very disciplined hitter. He hits like a 30-year old.

On the next play Jose Reyes laid down a sac bunt to move Murphy over, and the Brewers gave the Mets a gift. Jason Kendall's throw moved up the line a bit, and Rickie Weeks couldn't hold the ball. Murphy moved to third on the play.

"It was a really, really tough play," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "Reyes is one of the fastest players in the league, so Kendall had to rush the throw. And it's one of the toughest plays for a second baseman to make covering first. Kendall had to hurry and he just threw it on the foul side of the base."

Endy stepped in and confidently stroked a sac fly to right--a professional at bat.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play and make something happen," Chavez said.

Another great win for a Mets team that has won 16 of their last 21 games and 19 of the last 26. It kept the team two games up on the Phils, and it just keeps getting more and more exciting with each game.

Ya gotta love a pennant race!

Enjoy your coffee!

Good Morning Mets Fans!

It was a tale of two games in one.

In the first game, Brewers starter Ben Sheets quickly mowed down the Mets lineup. The Mets had one real chance to do some damage, and it came early.

In the first inning the red-hot Jose Reyes led off the game with a double.

Jose Reyes continues to lead the NL in hits with 180. He is in the midst of an 11-game hitting streak, going 18 for 50 over that span with 6 games with double-digit hits.

Mistake 1 followed--Daniel Murphy tried to bunt Reyes over--a horrible play. There are no outs in the top of the 1st, Reyes gets to third on anything, Murphy is a lefty going against a righty, etc, etc. Murphy popped out.

Mistake 2 followed--Jose Reyes gets thrown out trying to steal third. Again, Reyes scores on any hit David Wright can come up with there, so stealing third so early in the game doesn't really help the team as much as it can hurt--risk-reward--not worth the risk.

Mistake 3--DW Ks. Not really a mistake, but it shows how a promising inning quickly went south.

It was a pitching duel for 6 innings--Johan Santana allowed a first inning run, and then the two starters traded zeros for a while. The game had a "feel" to it, and for Mets fans it wasn't a good one as the Brewers seemed just a little bit sharper, both pitching and hitting.

Then two quirky things happened--in the 5th inning Ben Sheets left the game with tightness in his "left groin". I didn't realize I had two groins! Woohoo! I got two groins!

Then, in the 6th, Santana allowed his second run of the game on a balk with runners on second and third. I was watching, of course, when the balk occurred, and Brian Schneider was absolutely changing the signs or doing something with his fingers just as Johan went into his set. Santana stepped back, but it was too late--balk called. Strange play and the Mets were down 2-0 after 6 innings.

Overall Santana pitched a heck of a game--2 ER, 10 Ks and only 1 BB against a Brewer team that has the second best home record in the NL.

At this point the "first game" was over--Brewers 2, Mets 0. Fortunately, the first game didn't count.

In the "second game" the Mets took over.

They scored their first run in the 7th, but it was the 8th inning, with a Carlos Delgado blast, that put the Mets on top to stay.

What more can really be said about Carlos Delgado?

• Most home runs and RBIs in baseball since June 27th? Check.
• NL MVP candidate? Check.
• Leader of the team? Check.
• Playing a great first base? Check.
• More vocal and a great cheerleader for his club? Check.
• Still looks like the "Hats for Bats" guy from the movie Major League? Check.

Carlos did it again yesterday--with Eric Gagne on the mound, brutal late afternoon shadows, and his team in need of a hit, Delgado saw a fastball and, with one mighty flick of his wrists, deposited the ball into the rightfield stands and electrified all of Met Nation.

"Carlos has been amazing," New York manager Jerry Manuel said. "If he's swinging it well, he seems to come up at the right time and put a good swing on it. He's been outstanding."

"Probably the worst shadows that I've been involved with since I've been in professional baseball, but it goes the same way for both teams," Delgado said. "It was pretty tough, but whatever. We got it done."

"Good teams do this," Delgado added. "It's important. It shows that you can do it. Ideally, you want to be ahead but if you're not you've got to put together some good at-bats, get some baserunners and come up with a big hit. It says a lot about the character and the will we have with this ballclub."

The Mets added a run on a Carlos Beltran single and a Ryan Church double. The bullpen came on in relief of Santana and shut the door with 5 Ks in 3 scoreless innings.

Nelson Figueroa pitched the 7th for the win, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano looked terrific in striking out the side in the 8th, and Luis Ayala earned his 4th save as a Met with a flamethrowing 9th.

"They stepped up and attacked the hitters," Jerry Manuel said. "Threw strikes. I felt that going in, a lot of our right handers appear to match up well with this team. They're a very aggressive hitting club. We were able to get it done."

It wasn't all good news for the Mets though. David Wright continues to struggle a bit, Reyes was thrown out at third and picked off of first, and Carlos Beltran bruised his knee on a slide at home in which he collided with a woefully out of place Ed Rapuano, who got caught up watching something other than what he was supposed to be watching.

But let's not nitpick--this was a huge win, all in all a great day--the Phillies lost to the Nats, allowing the Mets to stretch their lead to two games, and Billy Wagner had a successful throwing session.

The next 5 games just may tell the real tale of this season. Just as yesterday's game was the tale of two games in one, the 2008 Mets are playing the tale of two seasons.

Only the second tale matters.

Enjoy your coffee!

Good Morning Mets Fans!

There's something happening here,
What it is ain't exactly clear.
There's a man with a bat over there,
Telling the NL East they got to beware.

The latest tune from The Buffalo Beltran is a sure-fire smash hit. In fact, it was a Grand Slam.

There's something happening here:

Yes my friends, there is something happening. It's called team baseball. The Mets are playing exactly that--picking each other up, even on a night when things didn't look like they'd go the Mets way.

Ollie Perez pitched a heck of a ballgame. 6 innings in which he only allowed 1 earned run. He walked 5, but that was in part to the ever changing strike zone of homeplate umpire Jerry Layne.

Still, Ollie continued his mastery of the Marlins, but left after 6 innings on the wrong side of a 2-1 deficit.

Ollie has been terrific in July and August, going deep into games and sporting a 2.55 ERA over his last 11 games. He did his job and gave the Mets a chance to win.

What it is aint exactly clear:

The Mets bullpen continues to have its ups and downs. The ups last night were Brian Stokes and Joe Smith, each of whom tossed a scoreless frame.

Joe Smith hasn't allowed a run in his last 9 appearances and earned the win last night. At the tender age of 24, Smith has already appeared in 121 big league games and has a 5-5 record with a 3.71 ERA.

Brian Stokes has been terrific. He has come along and proven he is a 1 or 2 inning reliever and spot starter who can get righty's and lefty's out. It's my opinion that Stokes should get the start against the Brewers, not John Niese. Dan Warthen also seems leery about starting the Mets young southpaw against the Brew Crew.

"The Milwaukee matchup, for me, is better for a right-handed pitcher," Warthen said before last night's game against the Marlins. "That's something we've certainly looked into. We've looked at the numbers. If we need another spot starter against Philadelphia or possibly against this ballclub, he would be the type of guy we'd use."

And then there's Luis Ayala. Luis decided to give Mets fans heart palpitations by allowing 4 hits and 2 runs in the 9th after the club had just taken the lead. We learned later on that Ayala had a tight hammy, but he gamely pitched on.

In earning his third save as a Met, Ayala allowed a Mike Jacobs pinch-hit RBI single and then had a long battle with Jorge Cantu. Cantu almost hit the game winning homerun, but thankfully, it hooked foul. When he hit it I thought it was gone and so did Daniel Murphy.

"I was screaming at it," leftfielder Daniel Murphy said.

Cantu's double down the leftfield line almost tied the game. As Daniel Murphy chased after the ball, Alfredo Amezega, who had entered the game as a pinch-runner, was screaming around the basepaths. Murphy approached the ball and slipped--somehow he kept enough balance to grab the ball and fire a strong throw back to the infield. In my opinion it was a game saving play.

"I left a pretty nice divot out there," Murphy said.

"That was a very, very big play for us [by Murphy] - a very big play," Manuel said. "That will probably go unnoticed, but that might have been the thing that saved us."

Jerry Manuel stuck with Ayala, and he got Wes Helms to ground out to Reyes to end the game.

There's a man with a bat over there:

A man named Carlos Beltran, but we'll get to him in a moment.

How about Luis Castillo! 2 outs, 9th inning, 2 strikes, and bam, single up the middle to keep hope alive. Then there was David Wright--the same David Wright that is scuffling a bit--single, two men on. Carlos Delgado gets plunked, and suddenly the bases are juiced and the tying and go ahead runs are on base.

Now if I'm the Marlins manager there is no way I leave Kevin Gregg in the game. It wasn't the Castillo and Wright at bats that bothered me--those were not "scary, my closer has nothing" type hits. But when you plunk the next guy on the first pitch to load the bases, you have to think something is wrong.

Thankfully for Mets fans, Gregg was left in for Beltran, and Carlos delivered, oh how he ever delivered.

First pitch, hanging splitter, Beltran's eyes opened as big as saucers, a smooth slightly uppercut swing, pure power, the ball explodes off his bat and we watch as it soars to rightfield...deep, deep, deep and gone! Grand slam--a thunderbolt hit that lit up the Florida sky and sent tremors up and down the National League East all the way to Philadelphia.

"Oh, man," a relieved Jerry Manuel said afterward. "Oh, man."

"I wasn't looking for anything in particular," Beltran said. "I was just thinking I needed to come through right there with a hit and at least tie the ballgame. As soon as I saw it, I hit it and knew it was gone."

"That's baseball," Beltran added. "We've been in that situation before. We didn't score early, but we scored when the team needed it the most."

Telling the NL East they got to beware:

The Phillies lost a heartbreaker, so the Mets now stand 2 games up on their rivals and 7 up on the Marlins.

Don't think for a minute that the Mets aren't scoreboard watching.

"I was happy because of the situation we're in right now," Beltran said. "The Phillies lost today. These are the teams we really need to beat - the Marlins, the Philadelphia Phillies - for us to move on."

The Mets win, the Mets win!!!

Big Pelf on the hill tonight--as you know, he's struggled with the Marlins this year, so a goos start by the Mets young star would provide and incredible boost right now....exciting times in Met Nation!

Enjoy your coffee!

Carlos Beltran: N.L. Player of the Day!

Congrats Carlos! National League Player of the Day! Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (75-60) «	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	5	9	1
Florida (68-67)	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	8	1

Player of the Game

New York Mets

C. Beltran	AB	4
	R	1
	H	2
	HR	1
	RBI	5

Good Morning Mets Fans! Johan Santana!

What is an Ace?

In the military, an Ace is a pilot with 5 confirmed kills. In baseball, it's a dominant #1 starting pitcher--someone capable of shutting down an opponent, no matter how hot they are, and leading his team to victory.

I believe it's an overused term in today's game, and that there are only about a dozen in all of MLB.

Johan Santana is one of them. Johan Santana is an ace.

Though only 20th in MLB in Wins, thanks in part to a leaky bullpen in several of his starts, he is 4th in ERA, 3rd in Innings Pitched, 10th in WHIP, and 11th in Ks.

He is a gamer, a battler, a proud and dedicated craftsman, and yes my friends, he really is a New York Met.

After shutting out the Pirates in a complete game masterpiece in his last outing, Santana hurled another gem last night against a game and gritty Houston Astro club and their own star pitcher Roy Oswalt.

After 6 innings of shutout ball Johan had thrown over 100 pitches and immediately went to Jerry Manuel in the Mets dugout to make his case for a 7th inning.

"Johan had mentioned that the other guy was still out there," Manuel said with a laugh. "I thought that, for what he's done on the mound, I had to give him the benefit of the doubt. I thought that was only fair to him."

“I told Jerry I felt good,” Santana said. “I was there. I was throwing strikes.”

Santana got his way and put up another zero in the 7th. All told he tossed a career high 121 pitches and further endeared himself to the Shea faithful, who rewarded the star with a well-deserved ovation as he walked back to the dugout, spent, but happy.

"Right now, we've got a great momentum going and everything is right there in front of us, so I know I need to do my part to help out," Santana said. "At this point in the season, you want to show you're able to go deep in the game. We need that now even more because we don't have Billy, so what happened tonight was very satisfying."

Santana was helped along by Jose Reyes, who led the game off with a single and scored on a David Wright bloop single, and Brian Schneider, who cracked his 3rd homerun in 5 games. His dinger plated Ryan Church, who got on base with a hustle single dribbled down the third base line.

It sure was good to see Ryan Church back--the fans rose to their collective feet when he came to bat for the first time--it was more evidence that this team, this group of hustling, gritty professionals, have endeared themselves to the fanatics that pack the house day after day. Any lingering affects of last year's collapse have been fully exorcised.

The bullpen threw another strong outing--Aaron Heilman and Luis Ayala combined for two scoreless, hitless, walkless innings that featured 3 strikeouts.

Both pitchers looked dominant, and Ayala was simply awesome.

Brian Schneider, who knows Ayala very well from their time together with the Nats, agrees. “Coming here has given him a little hope,” Schneider said. “Sometimes change is good.”

In other news Luis Castillo joins the club for today's game and has been given back his starting second base job.

It will be very interesting to see if the change in chemistry impacts the club. Bottom line is that even though Castillo's replacements performed admirably, Luis is a high OBP guy with speed, and if he's physically fit, he can be a more consistent offensive player than Argenis Reyes and allow Damion Easley to be part of an increasingly strong bench.

John Maine on the hill tonight--watch him closely and see if gets the zip back on his fastball.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Houston (64-64)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
N.Y. Mets (72-57) «	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	3	4	0

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose Reyes, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.300
Argenis Reyes, 2B	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.264
David Wright, 3B	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	.295
Carlos Delgado, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.260
Carlos Beltran, CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.270
Daniel Murphy, LF	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.380
Aaron Heilman, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Luis Ayala, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ryan Church, RF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	.308
Brian Schneider, C	3	1	1	2	0	1	0	.257
Johan Santana, P	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	.136
Endy Chavez, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.272
Totals	27	3	4	3	0	6
Batting
HR - Brian Schneider (5, Oswalt)
SH - Argenis Reyes (4)
RBI - David Wright (99), Brian Schneider 2 (27)
Team LOB - 1

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Johan Santana (W,12-7)	7	8	0	0	1	5	0	2.64
Aaron Heilman (H,14)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5.40
Luis Ayala (S,1)	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	5.49
Pitches-Strikes - Johan Santana 121-86, Aaron Heilman 17-9, Luis Ayala 11-10
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Johan Santana 6-10, Aaron Heilman 2-0, Luis Ayala 1-0
Batters Faced - Johan Santana 30, Aaron Heilman 3, Luis Ayala 3

Mets Sweep Braves, Extend Lead in the NL East

The Mets won again and swept the Braves. The red-hot team and extended their lead in the NL East to 2.5 games over the Phillies and 6 games over the floundering fish.

We'll have the full game report in the morning.

National League East
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road	East	Cent.	West	L10	Strk
N.Y. Mets	71	57	.551	-	38-23	32-34	28-20	13-16	20-15	8-2	W 3
Philadelphia	68	59	.535	2½	34-28	34-31	27-22	21-14	16-12	4-6	L 1
Florida	65	63	.508	6	35-31	30-32	27-21	15-17	18-15	3-7	L 2
Atlanta	56	72	.441	15	34-31	22-40	20-26	11-24	17-14	1-9	L 4
Washington	45	83	.352	26	23-39	22-44	17-30	14-23	6-20	1-9	W 1

Mets Continue to Drive Ahead

Dominant 3-hit shutout by Johan Santana today. He is worth every penny!

2008 NL East Standings

TEAM	W	L	GB	RS	RA
NY Mets	68	56	-	608	546
Philadelphia	65	58	2.5	593	528
Florida	64	61	4.5	579	610
Atlanta	56	68	12	566	561
Washington	44	81	24.5	462	624
Complete Standings

2008 Team Leaders

WINS LEADER » M. PELFREY
	WINS	11
	ERA	3.91
	SO	83
	IP	145

OTHER LEADERS »
BA	J. Reyes	.305
HR	C. Delgado	26
RBI	D. Wright	95
R	J. Reyes	88
OPS	D. Wright	.898
ERA	J. Santana	2.89
SO	J. Santana	141
Complete Team Stats

2008 National League Ranks

AVG	R	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB
.268	604	.341	.416	.757	107
4th	3rd	4th	9th	6th	2nd
ERA	BAA	OPS	SV	WHIP	QS
4.04	.250	.724	34	1.34	63
6th	2nd	4th	4th	5th	5th

Good Morning Mets Fans!

The Mets have dialed 6-1-1 under "interim" manager Jerry Manuel.

That is, a 33-21 record and a .611 winning percentage. It equates to 99 wins over a full season.

The never say die Mets have won their last 5 games, all on the road, and now stand 2 games up on the Phils and 3.5 up on the Marlins.

In last night's 7-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates the main contributers were a strong start by Pedro Martinez, the athleticism of Jose Reyes, and a balanced offensive attack that featured hits by 8 of the 9 starters and a bomb from Ramon Castro.

The Mets starting pitching staff is really stepping up its game, and Pedro is looking better and better with each start. All 5 starters are healthy and pitching well.

Future Hall of Famer Martinez is 1-1 in August with a fine 2.59 ERA. In his last two starts he has thrown 13 innings while surrendering 2 earned runs.

In last night's outing he didn't have his good fastball, but he always has his brain and experience--he deftly worked all four corners of the strike zone and changed speeds beautifully.

"It's starting to come along," Martinez said. "The last two outings, I've been making adjustments to get where I want to be."

"Pedro was outstanding tonight," said Jerry Manuel, "He kept them off balance, got big outs when he needed to and threw a minimum of pitches. That was impressive. We need that type of effort going forward."

Jose Reyes led off the game with a homerun off Pirate starter Zach Duke, then tripled in his second at-bat to score Pedro from first base.

Reyes is absolutely going to be a part of the MVP discussion. He is hitting .346 on this road trip and has played a major role in the winning streak, both with his bat and his glove.

NL Offense and Where Jose Ranks:
1st in Hits
1st in Triples
2nd in Stolen Bases
7th in Batting Average
10th in Doubles

Ramon Castro continues to prove his worth as the best backup catcher in the Game. He went 2 for 3 yesterday with a long homerun that put the Mets up 6-0.

But it wasn't all a bowl of cherries, primarily with the bullpen. Eddie Kunz struggled after a long layoff. It would be nice to see what he could do in back to back games.

Otherwise the bullpen was fine. Stokes and Feliciano both looked strong, and the single Joe Smith gave up was on a ground ball.

Billy Wagner's elbow is sore. He is throwing and the forearm strain is gone, but he is stiff and in some pain. Sounds like it will be a week of careful rehab and then we'll see. He is getting examined today.

Johan Santana on the hill against former Yankee Jeff Karstens--should be a good one.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (67-56) «	3	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	7	11	0
Pittsburgh (55-68)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	4	13	0

Player of the Game

New York

P. Martinez	IP	7.0
	H	8
	ER	1
	BB	1
	K	4

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose Reyes, SS	5	1	2	2	0	0	4	.305
Nick Evans, LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.243
Endy Chavez, LF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.272
David Wright, 3B	5	1	1	0	0	1	2	.292
Carlos Beltran, CF	5	1	1	1	0	1	1	.270
Carlos Delgado, 1B	5	1	1	0	0	1	2	.260
Fernando Tatis, RF	3	0	1	1	1	0	0	.302
Damion Easley, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	1	3	.267
Ramon Castro, C	3	1	2	2	1	1	0	.270
Pedro Martinez, P	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	.148
a- Daniel Murphy, PH	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	.421
Brian Stokes, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.667
Eddie Kunz, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Joe Smith, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Pedro Feliciano, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	37	7	11	7	3	6
a-walked for P. Martinez in the 8th
Batting
2B - Carlos Beltran (31, Duke)
3B - Jose Reyes (14, Duke)
HR - Jose Reyes (13, Duke), Ramon Castro (7, Duke)
SH - Pedro Martinez (4)
RBI - Jose Reyes 2 (53), Carlos Beltran (81), Fernando Tatis (36), Ramon Castro 2 (23), Daniel Murphy (9)
2-OUT RBI - Fernando Tatis (7), Ramon Castro 2 (17), Daniel Murphy (3)
Team LOB - 7
Fielding
DP - Wright-Easley-Delgado, Easley-Reyes-Delgado

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pedro Martinez (W,4-3)	7	8	1	1	1	4	1	4.96
Brian Stokes	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3.38
Eddie Kunz	0.1	3	3	3	0	0	0	13.50
Joe Smith	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.25
Pedro Feliciano (S,2)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.57
HBP - Pearce (by Eddie Kunz)
WP - Pedro Martinez (1), Eddie Kunz (2)
Pitches-Strikes - Pedro Martinez 95-64, Brian Stokes 12-9, Eddie Kunz 17-7, Joe Smith 5-4, Pedro Feliciano 8-6
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Pedro Martinez 8-7, Brian Stokes 2-1, Eddie Kunz 1-0, Pedro Feliciano 1-1
Batters Faced - Pedro Martinez 28, Brian Stokes 4, Eddie Kunz 5, Joe Smith 1, Pedro Feliciano 2

Mets Movin' Up

2008 NL East Standings

TEAM	W	L	GB	RS	RA
NY Mets	66	56	-	597	542
Philadelphia	64	57	1.5	589	520
Florida	63	60	3.5	575	600
Atlanta	55	67	11	554	553
Washington	44	79	22.5	454	604
Complete Standings

2008 Team Leaders

BA LEADER » J. REYES
	BA	.304
	HR	12
	RBI	51
	R	86

OTHER LEADERS »
HR	C. Delgado	26
RBI	D. Wright	94
R	J. Reyes	86
OPS	D. Wright	.906
W	J. Santana	10
ERA	J. Santana	2.89
SO	J. Santana	141
Complete Team Stats

2008 National League Ranks

AVG	R	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB
.268	595	.341	.416	.757	107
4th	2nd	4th	8th	6th	1st
ERA	BAA	OPS	SV	WHIP	QS
4.07	.249	.722	32	1.34	61
6th	2nd	4th	6th	6th	5th