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Another brutal loss for the Mets.  Johan Santana looked awesome early on but faltered a little later on.  Santana still wasn’t bad but the offense was non-existant.

You can’t win when you have 2-3 bats in the lineup and they’re all cold.  David Wright is really struggling right now and without him, they won’t be scoring many runs with the guys hitting around him.

Carlos Beltran either needs to tough it out and play or the Mets are lying about his ailments.  No stomach virus last four days long, so I’m skeptical on what he actually has.  Is his knee bugging him and the team is hiding it or is something else going on?  Is Beltran just not capable of toughing it out?  I don’t know, but if he isn’t in the lineup tomorrow, questions will really start to swirl.

Really tough two games to lose against these lowly Pirates.  They really need a win tomorrow night.  Big Pelf has been the man lately so I hope he keeps his hot streak going.

I’m confused.  Was this game played in 2008?  I mean come on.  How do you blow a 5-0 lead to one of the worst teams in the league!?  And the way they lost it.  Are you kidding me!!!???

This was a typical crap job by the Mets.  They get five early runs and then go on a siesta for the rest of the game.  The only hit they got after the 3rd inning was Fernando Tatis’ leadoff single in the ninth.

But that really didn’t matter.  J.J. Putz was handed a two-run lead with one out in the eighth.  They traded for him to close down situations like this.  And for the second straight day he couldn’t get it done.  It was hit after hit after hit.  Nothing was hit that hard but like my grandpa said, a hit is a hit.  His velocity was way down.  His confidence is completely shot.  He cannot pitch until he’s right again.  I don’t care how long it takes.  Send him down to the minors.  Just get him fixed!

There isn’t much more to say.  The Mets made some terrible plays on defense while the Pirates seemingly made every play.  You would not have guessed who’s the contending team and who’s the last place team just by watching this game.  Another disugsting loss for the Mets…which makes it how many for season!?  Thank god for Johan tomorrow night.

John Maine was his usual dominant self against the fish today, going six scoreless innings before having to leave with a stomach flu.  The Mets’ starting pitching has been pretty awesome lately, except Tim Redding.  Between Santana, Pelfrey, Maine and Hernandez, the last one of them to get a loss was May 19th against the Dodgers.  Don’t know why people aren’t mentioning this, but it’s pretty amazing to go two weeks without one of your top four starters getting a loss.

Fernando Martinez delivered his first clutch hit of his career.  Big run-scoring double in the seventh.  He’s looking more and more comfortable with each game.  I hope he feasts off the Pirates’ pitchers.

Omir Santos and Gary Sheffield again contributed to a Mets win.  Those guys should pretty much be playing every game.  You want to give them a day or two off a week, that’s fine.  But any more than that, and it’s a huge mistake.

David Wright continued to struggle today.  He picked up a single in his final at-bat but looked terrible in his first three.  With so many guys going down, he can’t afford to go in a long slump like he did in April.

I really hope Angel Pagan isn’t out for any significant time.  He’s been so good for the team since being called up.  The Mets can ill-afford to lose another hot bat.

J.J. Putz did not look good at all today.  When is he going to get his act together?  The amazing thing is the bullpen has the lowest ERA in the majors and that’s without Putz and Sean Green doing much of anything.  If those two guys can get their acts together, watch out!

Nice series win for the Mets.  I did want to comment on all the controversy about Jerry resting a lot of his guys.  He got killed in the papers for doing so, but I mean the odds of the Mets winning with their full lineup was slim to begin with.  So why sit a guy here and then sit another one later on in the week and kill your chances in multiple games?

Just take everyone out all at once and hope for some magic from your bench guys.  The worst thing that happens is you lose one game but then you’re in better shape for the next 4-5.  If you don’t sit your guys, then you might have a slightly better chance of winning that game but you hurt yourself for future games.  And if you lose, which was still very likely, you not only lose the game but jeopardize the next 4-5.  The people I do feel for are fans like Drew Toucher who made his first ever trip to Citi Field yesterday.  There were 40,000 people paying top dollar to watch a game the Mets really had no shot of winning.  I’d be furious if I got to the stadium and then saw that terrible lineup, but in all honesty, it’s for the betterment of the team so I’d ultimately understand.  I think Drew is going about it in the right way and asking if they could give him a ticket to another game.  That’s fair considering it doesn’t cost the Mets anything to give tickets to a game that won’t sell out anyway.  I’m curious to see what happens there.  Because once you set a precedent, you might have a war on your hands.

Good start on this 13-game stretch of lousy teams.  I wanted 10 wins and a 5-1 open gives the team a great chance at that.  Now it’s time for the Pirates, who looked terrible at Citi Field a few weeks ago.  Let’s get a sweep and at worst, take 2 of 3.

The Mets never really had a shot today.  Josh Johnson vs. Tim Redding is such a huge disadvantage to begin with and then you sit your fourt hottest hitters.  The Mets were lucky to actually score three runs.  I don’t disagree with Jerry’s move though because even if you have the best possible lineup out there, you’re probably not winning with this pitching matchup.  So you give some guys a needed day off and take the rubber match.

Tim Redding is not good.  Like Tom and I said on the show the other day, you can get by with Redding or Hernandez as your #5 and the other as the backup…which was the plan after re-signing Ollie Perez.  But you can’t get by with both of them in your rotation.  Eventually it’s going to come back to bite you in the ass.

Good to see Fernando Martinez getting his first two hits of his career.  I think he’ll settle down a lot after this and will have a nice little run the next week.  That’s my bold prediction.

Let’s take the rubber matchup tomorrow.  Like I wrote last night, John Maine is great against the Marlins, but Chris Volstad won’t be an easy matchup for the Mets hitters.  They’ll have to step it up and grind it out if they’re going to get their first series win of the year against the Marlins.

For Lance Broadway to succeed on Broadway, he doesn’t need to look very far back for a comparison.  Check out the similarities between Broadway and John Maine.  First of all, their last names are popular street names.  Both were high draft picks that did OK in the minor leagues.  They were at one point highly thought of within their organizations, but couldn’t cut it at the majors.  And then both were dealt to the Mets in minor deals.

Maine got it together at the age of 25 and that’s how old Broadway is now.  And the newest Met was a 1st round pick in the 2005 draft.  Take a look at this draft.  You’ll recognize a bunch of guys in that first round, including both starting pitchers from Friday night.  The White Sox must have thought Broadway had a ton of talent to take him among the likes of those guys.

So that’s why I like this trade.  The Mets needed to get rid of one of their three catchers, and while I think Ramon might have been the best choice, the difference wasn’t much.  Castro can hit, but he’s never healthy, his defense is just OK and clearly Jerry didn’t like him.  Meanwhile Schneider is terrible, but he’s making a ton of money and the Mets would have to cut him to get him off the roster.  And Santos has been awesome so you have to keep him.  Moving Castro was the only logical move.  I’m not saying Broadway will be the next John Maine, but there’s at least a chance he could really help this team down the road just like Maine has.  And that reason alone is why you trade Castro instead of cutting Schneider.

The last time Mike Pelfrey pitched, Omir Santos hit a two-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth for a come-from-behind win.  Well tonight Omir spread out his two RBIs, one in the fifth with a homer to tie it and then a walkoff single in the 11th.  As Gary Cohen said about 100 times, Santos does something to help you win just about everyday.  It was a big game for Santos because with Brian Schneider set to return Saturday, he pretty much assured himself a spot on the team.

Santos’ battery mate, Mike Pelfrey, was even better tonight than he was last week.  He didn’t walk a single Marlin and got two outs in the eighth inning before getting taken out.  Lately, he’s been the 1A that everyone expected him to be.  Pelf hasn’t given up more than three runs in any start since the Citi Field opener.  That is exactly what you want out of your #2 starter.

Gary Sheffield continues to amaze.  He led off the 11th with a rope of a single.  Then he stole second and when the throw went awry, he took third with one out.  You have to give Omar Minaya credit for Sheffield and Santos.

Couple of things of note: Wilson Valdez has a decent glove.  His numbers say he has no bat at all, but does Ramon Martinez?  His .184 OBP tells me no.  Let’s see Valdez start a few games.  He definitely looks better defensively, which is huge at short, and he can’t be any worse offensively.

For David Wright, when it rains it pours.  When he was on fire, you could not get him out.  He hit .700 for a decent stretch of games.  That’s just unreal.  But when he’s cold, he strikes out every single at-bat.  It’s amazing.  There’s been no inbetween for him this season.  He’s either smoking line drives all over the place or he’s slamming his bat in disgust after another K.

Should be a great matchup tomorrow.  John Maine vs. Josh Johnson.  Maine is awesome against the Marlins and is usually solid in day games.  Anyone remember that 14 strikeout game on the second to last day of 2007?  That was against these same fish.  And well…Josh Johnson is just awesome all the time.  Looking forward to it.

CORRECTION: So ESPN.com had some wrong infromation last night.  Whoops.  It said Maine vs. Johnson.  And it is actually Redding vs. Johnson.  Yikes!  The Mets will absolutely have to steal one to get a win.  Huge mismatch.

Exciting game tonight, and I was there again!  I’ve been offered tickets to three games and all were Johan Santana wins.  Johan, you have enough money to hire me to come to all your starts.  And Scott has also been at the same three games so he deserves a ticket too.  We’ll be waiting.  But anyway…Daniel Murphy was the story tonight.

He drove in five runs, two of them thanks to a controversial call from the umps.  For the fourth time in five days, the Mets got a homerun review to go their way.  It’s amazing when you think about the odds of that.  But at least he hit the ball hard three times.  My only beef with that play is why wasn’t Gary Sheffield running the whole time.  Adam Dunn had given up on the ball and had no shot of catching it, so Sheffield should have been busting it the whole time.

Speaking of busting it the whole time, what in the world is Fernando Martinez thinking not running out that dropped pop up?  You’re in the big leagues for two days and you’re not running things out!?  Do the Mets actually teach this kind of stuff in the minor leagues?  What’s going on here?  The problem is everyone on the team pulls this garbage so who’s going to be the leader to get on Martinez for his lack of hustle?  It can’t be Carlos Beltran after his two failed slides.  Ryan Church obviously can’t say anything because he missed third base.  I mean who’s the guy to call him out?  Is it David Wright or Gary Sheffield?  I simply don’t know.

Johan Santana was all over the place tonight.  He hasn’t really looked that great his past few starts, and it’s funny to think about that because he still struck out 11 and got the win and has won three in a row without his best stuff.  The offense is just scoring more runs for him.

Good sweep this week.  The team took advantage of the lousy Nats and beat up on them just like they’re supposed to.  Now all they need is a 7-3 finish to reach my 10-3 goal during this 13-game stretch against second-division teams.

I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails about when the next show will be.  First of all, I apologize that there hasn’t been a show in a few weeks.  Ted and Scott have been unavailable and I’ve been pretty busy with certain things, so the timing just hasn’t worked out.  I also couldn’t stay up for all of those late night games so I don’t like doing shows when I haven’t watched the team play.  That being said, I’m 99% sure there will be a show Thursday night.  I will ask everyone I know if they’re available and if not, I’ll fly solo.  I apologize once again and thank you to the people who have e-mailed telling me to get a new one up.  I’m glad the shows have been missed!

If you told me in mid February that Livan Hernandez and Gary Sheffield were going to carry the Mets to a late May win, I would have said there is no chance that happens.  I mean what is this?  The 1997 Marlins team.  The Mets even have Luis Castillo from that squad.  But the old-timing duo was sensational tonight.

Livan has been a godsend for the Mets.  You can get on Omar for not having depth in the infield, but you have to praise the job he did by bringing in Hernandez and Sheffield.  I liked the Livan pickup more than anyone else I know, but I honestly didn’t think he would be this good.  Besides a couple of poor starts, he’s been awesome all season.  There’s certainly less urgency to rush back Ollie Perez or trade for a starter when Hernandez is pitching like this.

Gary Sheffield continues to amaze.  Another two hits including a three-run bomb for the second straight game.  This shot came off a tough pitch too.  It was one of the only times that the pitch was actually lower than asked for on that pitch differential graphic.  Keep it up Sheff dog.

And welcome to the big leagues, Fernando Martinez.  We’ve been waiting for him for a long time and he finally made his debut tonight.  I really hope he can stay with the ballclub forever, but I think it’s going to be tough for him.  He looked really nervous tonight and swung at some bad pitches, but you have to love his swing.  It reminds you a little bit of Carlos Beltran from the left side.  He’s got better speed than I would have guessed since he hasn’t stole many bases.  Maybe spending some time around Beltran and David Wright will do him wonders.  He’s only 20 years old and the future looks bright.

With Jose Reyes and Ryan Church out, you have to wonder if it will be a blessing in disguise.  We’ll get a look at guys like Martinez , Angel Pagan, perhaps even Wilson Valdez.  Ultimately, those two should be well rested for the rest of the season when they come back.  That’s been a problem for Reyes in years past.  He has seemed to tire out by season’s end.  Maybe this is just what the doctor ordered.  Trying to stay positive and it’s hard not to after tonight’s win.  Johan Santana on the mound tomorrow as the Mets try to complete the sweep.

Where would the Mets be without Gary Sheffield!?  He’s been the man lately and delivered a huge three-run bomb which turned out to be the difference tonight.  I predicted he’d come up big for this team, but I honestly didn’t think he’d be this good.  Keep it up Gar Gar.

I’m excited about Sheffield, if you couldn’t tell.  But I’m also excited about John Maine.  Johnny was very good again tonight.  I was trying to figure out what next year’s team is going to look like and what they’ll need in the offseason.  The Mets are so strong at the front of their rotation with Santana, Pelfrey and Maine.  If Ollie Perez can get back to form and Jon Niese progresses or they add someone during the season, their entire rotation will be set.  Maine is the perfect middle-of-the-rotation guy though.  Over his last six starts, Maine has only given up 11 total runs and has gone at least six innings in all but one of the starts.  That’s what you want from your No. 3.

The bullpen was a complete disaster tonight even though they only gave up one run in three innings.  Bobby Parnell, J.J. Putz and K-Rod walked six guys after inheriting a four-run lead.

Good start to this 13-game stretch against below .500 teams.  I’d like the Mets to win at least 10 of the games.  Only nine more to go.