Thumb: Not only did Mike Pelfrey deliver a strong outing, allowing just one run and striking out six over seven innings, he also contributed at the plate with an RBI single in the six-run third inning. While Pelfrey will not pitch in Philadelphia this weekend, his bullpen-saving start could have a significant impact on that series.

Pointer Finger: Carlos Beltran, who has been in a bit of a slump over the past week or so (two hits and nine strikeouts in his last 22 plate appearances) got the night off. If Beltran responds to the rest the way that David Wright has, that would make the last few series before the All-Star Break quite fun to watch.

Middle Finger: It’s tough to come up with one of these when everyone in the starting lineup reaches base at least once, so I have to go with something that was referenced on the broadcast. At some point in the middle innings, Keith mentioned that he was craving some nachos. Now, I’ve never been to St. Louis, but at every ballpark I’ve ever gone to, the nachos were horrible, with some nasty neon-yellow glop that passes for cheese. So tonight, with the Mets winning big and putting the game away early, standard-issue ballpark nachos get the middle finger. Now, nachos with fresh cheese and good salsa and just enough peppers for some added flavor, those are another story entirely.

Ring Finger: It’s been over a month since the Mets played against a division rival, the last such matchup coming at the end of May against the Marlins. At the conclusion of that series, the Mets were a game below .500 and four and a half games out of first place - exactly where they are right now after playing .500 ball over the last 34 games. The Marlins have gone 14-19 over that time to fall out of first, the Braves have gone on a 12-21 nosedive, and the Phillies have gone just 16-15 over the same timespan, but that has been enough to hold on to first place.

Pinky Finger: So, what has our old friend Guillermo Mota been up to lately? Apparently, something a lot like what he specialized in last year.

Pitching Matchup: Mike Pelfrey (5-6, 4.47 ERA) vs. Mitchell Boggs (3-0, 4.37 ERA)

Mike Pelfrey is currently riding a career-high 3 game winning streak, and is looking to extend it to 4 in a row. After another sub-par start to the season, Big Pelf is in the best stretch of his career and looks like he might finally be blossoming into the 1st round pick the Mets thought they drafted. His last start was in the Bronx on June 27, and while his numbers weren’t superb (5 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, 5 Ks), he pitched well enough to win a 15-6 game. Thursday night will not have the excitement of a Subway Series game, but it is arguably much more important.

Facing Pelfrey will be Mitchell Boggs, a rookie and former 5th round pick out of Georgia. Boggs has yet to lose a Major League game in 5 appearances and 4 starts, but his numbers aren’t too scary. In 22 2/3 innings he has walked 11 batters and struck out only 10. He has already given up 11 earned runs and 3 homers, and has gotten the benefit of some big run support. The Cardinals have scored 7 or more runs in 3 out of the 4 starts, and in the other one they scored 5. His last outing was his best, however. He got the win in Kansas City, going 6 innings and giving up just 1 run. The 24-year old will be making just his 2nd career home start.

The Lineup:

1- Jose Reyes, SS

2- Endy Chavez, CF

3- David Wright, 3b

4- Ryan Church, RF

5- Carlos Delgado, 1b

6- Damion Easley, 2b

7- Marlon Anderson, LF

8- Ramon Castro, C

9- Mike Pelfrey, P

Rizzi’s Rant:

Since I am not recapping the game tonight I might take it a little easy and not watch the whole thing. We will see, since I tend to get sucked in, but I think I need a little bit of a night or two off from this frustrating freakin’ franchise.

I am certainly interested in seeing Pelfrey pitch though, as he continues to mature into a bonafide big leaguer. This will be a real test for the big guy, as he is going against a patient, well-disciplined team who will wait for a good pitch to hit. Pelf will need to be hitting his spots, and has to have control of his pitches.

Notice no Carlos Beltran in the lineup. Jerry Manuel said he was going to give his stars off days on the road, so here ya go…

Other than that it is up to our offense to get to this Boggs kid early and not let him think he is going to throw a gem tonight. Someone needs to tell him that the last name Boggs is reserved for great hitters only, not pitchers.

A split was not the ideal scenario, but it will keep the callers from going crazy on WFAN tonight. Losing 3 out of 4 might send all of Queens to their phones so they can complain to Steve Somers all night. Let’s Go Mets!!!!

Pedro Martinez started for the Mets and was ineffective for the 3rd consecutive start. He got rocked in the 1st inning for 4 runs, highlighted by the 1st of Glaus’ 2 homeruns, a 3-run bomb to dead center field. After that Pedro settled in, and ended up giving up 5 runs in 5 innings, with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.

Because of Martinez’s dreadful 1st inning the Mets had to claw back to get into the game, and they did a good job. Carlos Beltran had an RBI hit in the 3rd to get the Amazins on the board, and Damion Easley followed with a huge 2-out single that scored 2 runs and cut the St. Louis lead to 4-3. Easley had a big day, going 3-4 with 3 RBI, and is making a case to become the starting 2b over Luis Castillo.

Pedro Martinez left the game down 5-4, but he did not get the loss, which would have put him at 2-3. Had that occurred, it would have been the 1st time since 1994 that Pedro had a losing record in any season at any point. Let that stat soak in for a minute…wow…

St. Louis was up 5-4 in the 7th when the Mets appeared to take control of the game for good. With 1 out and David Wright on 1st, Mark Mulder came in for just his 2nd relief appearance after 202 consecutive starts. Ryan Church singled to start Mulder’s night, and after a wild pitch the runners advanced to 2nd and 3rd. Then Carlos Delgado came through with a big RBI single that was scorched up the middle to tie the game. Delgado is starting to come out of his slump; he is 4 for his last 7 and has been hitting the ball consistently hard the last 2 nights.

The Mets took the lead on an Easley sac fly, and added another run when Fernando Tatis had a pinch hit blooper that was just out of the reach of a diving Ryan Ludwick. By the time the 7th inning stretch came it was 7-5 Mets, and it was all up to the bullpen to get the Amazins back to .500.

But they could not get it done. Aaron Heilman worked a 1-2-3 7th inning in his 3rd consecutive game, getting the heart of the Cardinals order out. He then started the 8th, but hit Ludwick on the 1st pitch of the inning. Heilman’s night was done, and in came Pedro Feliciano to save the day…or at least that was the plan. It did not work out though, as Feliciano’s 1st pitch to pinch hitter Chris Duncan was pulled deep into the right field stands for a game-tying 2-run homer. it seems like every night the Mets hit a batter and it comes back to haunt them, and once again it happened Wednesday night. By the way, the Mets lead all of baseball with 47 hit batters.

In the 9th inning Carlos Muniz was asked to get the heart of the order and force extra innings, and he came about 6 inches from doing so. Muniz got Albert Pujols to foul out leading off, and then Rick Ankiel flied out deep to center field, missing a walk-off homerun by less than 2 feet, as Beltran had his back against the wall when he caught it. But Ankiel’s teammate Troy Glaus picked him up. Glaus hit his 2nd homerun of the game on a 3-2 pitch, a walk off homerun to left that just got over the jumping glove of Endy Chavez. The Cardinals handed the Mets a crushing 8-7 loss, and once again New York failed to get back to .500.

Rizzi’s Rant:

Three weeks ago this loss would have hurt a lot more. It was another heart breaker, but now that my expectations have lowered I have come to expect these losses. I mean, the lead is still only 4.5 games for the Phillies so the season is far from over. If we get on a roll and somehow make the playoffs then great. But despite the standings I just don’t see it from this team, so I am not getting too crushed by these losses.

Still, a very tough one to swallow. David Wright led off the 8th inning with a triple, but no one picked him up and he was stranded on 3rd. At the time it didn’t seem too big of a deal, but boy oh boy would the Mets like to redo that inning.

As soon as Glaus put one in the stands I shut the TV off in dusgust and went to bed, angry that I stayed up through a rain delay until 12:45 to see this debacle. However, when I woke up and watched the highlights I saw for the first time I noticed just how close Endy came to robbing Glaus of a homerun…which made me think of the greatest catch I have ever seen, also against the Cardinals.

So Pedro has now given up 17 earned runs in his last 3 starts. I loved him when he was an Expo, and a Red Sox, and of course now with the Mets. He is the most dominant pitcher in his prime I have ever seen along with Greg Maddux, and he has entertained me for more than 15 years. But maybe, just maybe Pedro is done. My gut tells me he still has something left in his tank and will get into a groove at some point this year. But I can’t ever remember seeing Petey struggle like this, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried he had nothing left.

Another bad loss for the Mets in what has been a bad season. All we can do is keep moving forward and hope. Thank God the Giants won the Super Bowl…

Piniero doesn’t strike many batters out (36 in 70 2/3 innings), but like most Cardinals pitchers he has been very good at avoiding walks (he has issued just 16 free passes this year), and he has reduced his home-run rate to an acceptable level (1.02 HR/9) after having problems in that area over the past couple of years. He has been using his slider a bit more this year and throwing fewer fastballs and curves than he did last year.

Since both Pedro and Mike Pelfrey started as part of Friday’s doubleheader, Jerry Manuel had a choice of who to go with on regular rest today, with the other pitcher getting an extra day of rest and starting tomorrow. The Mets have typically given Pedro an extra day of rest whenever possible, so it’s interesting that Pedro is starting tonight’s game. It’s also worth noting that tonight’s starter will also start in Philadelphia on Monday, while tomorrow’s starter misses that key series. Three months ago, no Mets fan in his or her right mind would have wanted Pelfrey pitching at Citizens Bank Park instead of Pedro, but given the way the two have pitched recently, it’s a topic that is certainly open for debate.

The only lineup change from last night is that Brian Schneider is catching tonight and batting eighth.

Let’s Go Mets!

Links
MLB Gameday
Baseball-Reference Game Preview
Fangraphs Live Scoreboard

The Mets won the game despite having an extremely frustrating start. In the top of the 1st the Amazins failed to score a run, even though 4 of the first 5 hitters reached base. Both Jose Reyes and Endy Chavez were thrown out on the bases, killing a potential 1st inning rally.

In the bottom of the 1st Tony Armas made his debut as a Met, and he would get the win; but it didn’t look like his start was going to go too well early on. Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homerun to give the Cardinals a 1st inning lead. The Mets scored a run in the 2nd, but St. Louis got the run right back on a Skip Schumaker double in the bottom half to make it 3-1. But that’s when the Amazins started pounding starter Todd Wellemeyer, and Tony Armas settled in. Armas ended up going 6 innings, and gave up 4 runs on 8 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 1. It was nothing spectacular, but a decent start and most importantly a win.

Wellemeyer, who came into the game having a surprisingly great year at 7-2 with a 3.46 ERA simply did not have it tonight. With 1 out in the 4th and 2 men on, Castro cracked a double to the wall that scored both runs and tied the game at 3. That swing seemed to single-handedly wake up the lineup.

In the 5th the Mets added 3 more runs to go up 6-3, highlighted by an RBI double from Ryan Church and another RBI hit from Castro. That would be it for Wellemeyer, who got the loss giving up 12 hits and 6 runs in 5 innings.

The Mets were not quite done scoring runs though, and they added one more in the 6th. That was courtesy of David Wright’s solo homer, a bomb into the left field bullpen.

It was 7-4 in the bottom of the 8th when New York got a big scare. Duaner Sanchez finished a 1-2-3 inning, but went down in a heap on the final out when Yadier Molina hit a line drive directly off the back of his knee. The ball rolled to Wright who threw Molina out, but Sanchez remained on the ground for 5 minutes (And I subsequently held my breath for 5 minutes). But once he got up and walked off the field on his own power the entire Met-Nation (including myself) finally exhaled and relaxed. Hopefully we will hear more on Sanchez by early tomorrow, but it seems as though he escaped major injury.

Billy Wagner pitched the 9th for the save, his 19th of the year to cap a shutout performance from the bullpen. Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, Sanchez and Wagner combined to go 3 innings and allowing only 1 hit. The Mets move to 41-42 with the win, and keep pace with the victorious Phillies to remain 3.5 games out of 1st place.

Rizzi’s Rant:

I said yesterday that even though I was totally fed up with this team, all it could take was one big win to suck me back in. Well, this was by no means a flawless and dominant win, but it was certainly enough to get me intrigued again.

The Mets are just so much better offensively and defensively with Ryan Church. I do not know if the Mets will win a lot more games now that Church is back, but it certainly can’t hurt to have a guy as good as him playing every day.

Armas was good, but definitely not great. I can see him being a decent stopgap like Nelson Figueroa and Claudio Vargas were earlier this year, but he certainly cannot compete with guys like Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez when they are on their game. If Ollie and Pedro are not sucessful, this team is not going anywhere, that’s the bottom line. But I am happy for Armas tonight, who went through a lot of crap in Spring Training that cost him a chance at a roster spot.

It was very good to see Carlos Delgado hitting well. Other than his historic day in the Bronx on Friday Delgado was ice cold, so his 3-3 day was a welcomed change.

Two games in St. Louis and the Mets are 1-1. It seems they are pretty much destined to be a .500 team this year, but I have not given up hope yet. Maybe Church will catapult the Mets into a hot streak, and they will be in first place in two weeks. Ya gotta believe…

Thanks to Friday’s doubleheader, the Mets needed to call up a spot starter, and Tony Armas got the nod. Prior to this year, Armas was the type of pitcher who is all too common - a mediocre starter (career ERA of 4.62) who always seemed to do well against the Mets (career ERA of 3.22 against the Mets) - and he was signed to a minor-league deal over the offseason, I was only half-joking when I said that I liked the move because it enabled the Mets to make sure that nobody else could pick him up for Met-killing duties. He has pitched quite well for New Orleans this year, with a 4.40 K/BB ratio and just nine home runs allowed in 102 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Based on his past few seasons in the majors, we can expect Armas to throw his 89 MPH fastball about 60% of the time and an 81-82 MPH slider about 30% of the time. He’ll also mix in a changeup and curveball from time to time.

The lineup has been shaken up a bit from what it was last night. Endy Chavez is playing left field and batting second, Ryan Church moves up to fifth in the order (pushing Carlos Delgado down to sixth), Damion Easley plays second and bats seventh, and Ramon Castro is catching and batting eighth.

If you want your head to spin, go read the latest post at Faith and Fear in Flushing - it’s a great look at the tangled webs woven as players move from one team to another. Let’s Go Mets!

Links
MLB Gameday
Baseball-Reference Game Preview
Fangraphs Live Scoreboard

It was very clear watching this game as to why the Cardinals seem headed to a shocking playoff appearance, and the Mets are floundering in a disappointing failure of a season. Kyle Lohse was going after hitters and painting corners from the get-go, and retired the Mets with relative ease in the first. John Maine took the hill in the bottom of the first and promptly walked the leadoff man Skip Schumaker. He then gave up a single to Aaron Miles, an RBI single to Albert Pujols, and walked Rick Ankiel to load the bases, all in succession. Maine ended up getting out of the first only down 2-0, but it was a microcosm of his day as he just never looked in control.

And while the righty struggled all night with his command, his velocity, and his consistency, the defense behind him did not cut him any breaks. The Mets made three errors in the game, and two of them proved to be quite costly. In the second the Cardinals had Yadier Molina on second base with two outs, and Maine got Schumaker to hit a routine ground ball to Luis Castillo. But the ball took a bad hop, and the three-time Gold Glove winner had it go right through his legs allowing a run to score to make it 3-0.

Then in the fourth it was 4-0 when the Mets defense cost them another run. Again with two outs, Aaron Miles hit one down the third base line, and it had infield single written all over it. David Wright grabbed the slow chopper, and instead of just putting it in his pocket he sailed an off balance throw towards first. It went over Carlos Delgado’s head, and Miles went on to second base. Two pitches later Pujols singled up the middle and another unearned run came home.

Carlos Muniz came in to relieve Maine in the 5th, and got ahead of Troy Glaus 1-2. But like so many Mets pitchers have done before when they get ahead, Muniz inexplicably hit Glaus with his next pitch and gave him a free pass to first. Once again, the Mets would pay for their blunder, as Chris Duncan came up next and belted a two-run shot to right that put the nail in the coffin.

The Mets offense was quiet and lifeless the entire game, managing just one run and seven hits. They only had a few threats, and could not come through with any of them. Delgado got on to lead off the second, but Ryan Church hit into a double play. The Mets had first and third with two outs in the fourth, but Endy Chavez grounded out to end the inning. And even in the fifth, when the Mets got their lone run on a Luis Castillo single, they blew a chance at a big rally when David Wright fouled out to end the threat. It was just a terrible game all around, and now that we are in the second half of the season time is running out for the Mets to turn this ship around. They are still only 3.5 games out of first, but they sure aren’t playing anything like a playoff team right now. This may have been the worst game the New York Mets played all year.

Rizzi’s Rant:

I pretty much said my piece above. I am disgusted by this performance, and am getting fed up with the 2008 Mets in general. Of course I will continue to watch every game like an idiot because I am too invested in this franchise, but I really wish I could just stop watching for a while. The Mets are not giving enough effort for the fans, so why should we the fans give so much time to them?

Sorry if I am coming off as angry and defeated, but I sort of am at this point. However, the great thing about baseball is the Mets could easily go out there Tuesday and win 11-0, which would get me excited again as if Monday night’s debacle never happened. Here’s to the turnaround of the New York Mets… starting now???? 

The Cardinals are the biggest surprise in baseball. They were picked by many to finish as low as last place, but despite numerous injuries to major players they are 47-36, lead the NL Wild Card race, and are only 2.5 games behind the red hot Cubs.

Pitching Matchup: John Maine (8-5, 3.73 ERA) vs. Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.92 ERA)

John Maine gets the nod in St. Louis tonight and is looking for a win in his third straight start. He is also making his final start in June, a month that has been good to him. Maine has gone 3-1 this month with a 3.90 ERA. This is the righty’s second career start at the new Busch Stadium, and if it goes anything like his first the Mets will be just fine. He had an outing in St Louis last year, threw 7 shutout innings and gave up only one hit getting the win.

Opposing Maine will be one of the pleasant surprises of the year, Kyle Lohse. the former Phillies, Reds, and Twins pitcher has a career record of 72-76 and an earned run average near 5. Last year alone he was 9-12. And yet, in 2008 under pitching coach Dave Duncan and Manager Tony LaRussa, Kyle Lohse has revitalized his career. He has won 6 straight decisions, and has allowed 3 runs or less in 7 of his last 8 starts. That one start however, was his last time out on June 25 when he got shelled by the Tigers. In only 4 innings he allowed 11 hits and 5 earned runs, getting a no decision in a game the Cards eventually lost 8-7. lohse has made 4 starts against the Mets in his career, but is still looking for his first win.

The Lineup:

1- Jose Reyes, SS

2- Luis Castillo, 2b

3- David Wright, 3b

4- Carlos Beltran, CF

5- Carlos Delgado, 1b

6- Ryan Church, RF

7- Endy Chavez, LF

8- Brian Schneider, C

9- John Maine, P

Rizzi’s Rant:

The bitter taste has still not left my mouth from the 2006 NLCS, so playing the Cardinals always makes my blood temperature rise a little. I am not a big LaRussa fan, I hate Albert Pujols (Even though I respect him as one of the 10 best hitters I have ever seen), I can’t stand Braden Looper, and I think their fans are overrated. Outside of the NL East and the Yankees, the Cardinals are my least favorite team out there.

All that being said, I am very impressed with the job this Cardinals team has done, and I am man enough to admit that right now they are simply a better team than us. The Mets have a real opportunity to prove something to themselves and to the fans this week by playing some of the best teams in the National League. But they have to show up and play hard every night or they will get embarrassed.

Albert Pujols missed two weeks with a hurt calf muscle, but is back now and although he is still in pain he is already swinging the bat well. He hit a homerun yesterday in just his fourth game back, and I am pretty sure he will go deep at least once in this series. The key is to have no one on base when he comes up, and don’t let the other guys in their lineup beat you.

This should be an interesting series, and I am really looking forward to it. I am excited to see Ryan Church play a full series (after a flight) in the same lineup as a red hot David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran. Winning three out of four is by no means a must, but it sure would be nice. Johnny boy, you have to go out there and get a win in game one. Let’s Go Mets!!!

 Week 12 Met of the Week: Carlos Beltran

Carlos Beltran has had this label as “overrated” and “apathetic” since he signed with the Mets, and quite frankly I am sick of it. Beltran is not a .300 hitter. He is not going to lead the majors in homeruns. But what he will do year after year is drive in 100 runs, steal roughly 20 bases, score 100 runs, and hit somewhere between 25-35 homeruns. Oh yeah, and he is a superb center fielder who makes difficult plays look like routine pop ups. Along with all that he is a very streaky hitter who can catch fire and carry a team on his back, and Carlos was on one of his patented hot streaks in Week 11. Beltran had a dominant week, highlighted by 2 homeruns in Anaheim on Monday, and a clutch 2-run homer in Colorado at the back end of the week. As of today Beltran is on pace for 24 homeruns, 108 RBI, 116 runs, 22 steals, and 42 doubles. With those stats and his defense, I think we can all accept his .270 average.

Week 13 Met of the Week: David Wright

Since David Wright got his first off day of the year Tuesday he has come back on a tear. DW came back the next night and hit homeruns in his first two at-bats. On Friday he had a fantasy baseball player’s dream of a day, getting 6 hits and collecting 3 RBI. He hit a homerun on Saturday against the Yankees, and an RBI on Sunday to raise his season total to 64, just 4 behind the NL leader Ryan Howard. With Ryan Church back and Wright and Beltran sizzling hot, maybe the Mets are finally about to turn the corner.

Player of the Week Standings:

Billy Wagner- 2

Carlos Beltran- 2

David Wright- 2

Angel Pagan- 1

Nelson Figueroa- 1

Ryan Church- 1

Claudio Vargas- 1

Jose Reyes- 1

Johan Santana- 1

Mike Pelfrey- 1

Ollie went 7 innings and gave up just one run on a solo homerun by Wilson Betemit. He baffled the Yankee bats all day, striking out 8, giving up only 3 hits, and most importantly not walking a single hitter. Possibly helping the enigma that is #46 was a new twist in his delivery, an idea from new pitching coach Dan Warthen. The windup is very similar to the one we are used to seeing, but with a small change at the beginning. He leans back, takes a deep breath, and rocks forward to get some momentum in his body. The accuracy was certainly there, and the velocity was as well. Ollie’s fastball was consistently in the mid-90’s, much better than the 88 and 89 mph we have seen in recent starts.

Perez is now 5-1 against the Yankees with a 2.61 ERA in 6 career starts. The Mets’ three runs were highlighted by Carlos Delgado’s third majestic blast of the weekend. With the Amazins up 1-0 in the 3rd, Delgado turned on a Darrell Rasner fastball and launched it an estimated 445 feet off the scoreboard in center field. It was his 14th homerun and 45th RBI of the year. Luis Castillo and David Wright also added RBIs to help ensure the win.

Perez left after 7 with a 3-1 lead, and the bullpen nailed it down for him. Pedro Feliciano pitched a perfect eighth inning, and Billy Wagner threw a shaky but scoreless ninth for his 18th save. After allowing a leadoff single to Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez came up as the tying run and gave the sellout crowd a big scare. He hit one to deep left field that just missed a homerun, and instead fell harmlessly in the glove of Endy Chavez.

With the win the Mets took the season series from the Yankees for just the second time in the 13 year history of interleague play.

Rizzi’s Rant:

I very vividly remember Oliver Perez coming up huge in his shocking Game 7 start in the 2006 NLCS. So when Ollie was faced with a do or die start for him and the Mets this afternoon I just had a feeling he would come up huge again. But even I did not expect THIS. Ollie looked like a Cy Young candidate today against arguably the best lineup in baseball, and it just goes to show how much talent he actually has and what he is capable of.

I wish I could say I think he has finally turned the corner, but the fact is I think we all know what Oliver Perez is at this point. Until I see something different, Perez will continue to be maddeningly inconsistent. He might put together 2 or 3 more spectacular starts after this. But at some point he will throw up some duds and baffle every Mets fan. Oh well, I guess we just have to enjoy the gems when they occur.

It was good to see Ryan Church back for the first time in three and a half weeks. He went 2-4, and did not drive in a run, but his mere presence is enormous for the Mets. He was our best player before he went down, and the lineup just looks so much better when he is in uniform.

There is a little bad news to talk about, and that is about Jose Reyes. After he was charged with a throwing error in the 7th, he was clearly upset, and sulked off the field after the inning walking very slowly. Reyes is still young, but he is also a veteran and has to know that this behavior is not acceptable, especially under the heavy New York scrutiny. It’s nothing huge right now, but it’s something to look at down the line. Reyes needs to nip this kind of attitude in the butt before it becomes a habit.

No need to harp on the negative though. We took 4 of 5 from the Yanks this year, won the last Subway Series game at Shea, and got our lefty back on track. Now comes the two most important series of the year, against St Louis and Philly. These are gonna be big, so everyone get some rest…