ESPN

ESPN senior baseball editor Matt Meyers and ESPNNY.com blogger Mark Simon team up to offer their thoughts on a few issues relevant to the upcoming week for the Mets.

What should the Mets do about the logjam that will come with Jason Bay’s return?

Meyers: Bay has done nothing in his time with the Mets to prove he is deserving of playing time. Therefore, I would mix and match him in left with Kirk Nieuwenhuis, giving Bay the lion's share of playing time against lefties.

Because of Nieuwenhuis' superior defense and speed, I think the Mets are actually a better team with him in the lineup, and simply giving the left field job to Bay would be a mistake.

However, Bay did have a .918 OPS against lefties in 2011, so he could have some value in a limited role.

Furthermore, the Mets actually have incentive not to play Bay since his 2014 option vests if he gets more than 500 plate appearances, and the club actually has good reason to bench him since he is by no means the superior player.

If it were up to me, Lucas Duda would be the everyday left fielder, where his poor range and arm would be less of a liability, and Nieuwenhuis would be in right. However, that doesn't seem to be Terry Collins' inclination, so I'm answering based on what seem to be his preferences.

Simon: I would give Bay a week's worth of games to see if he's the same Bay we saw prior to the DL stint. If so, then there's a mix-and-match plan to be created among what's there, with the one lineup constant being Duda, who would replace a demoted Ike Davis at first base.

I feel like there's an inevitable Nieuwenhuis regression coming so I wouldn't be overeager to play him every day.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how valuable will Mike Baxter be over 162 games?

Meyers: I'll say a 3. To me, Baxter is just a decent 4-A player who can fill in when you need him, but not the kind of guy you plan around. Sure, he's had some big pinch-hits, but I think that's more of a fluke than an indication of some special ability to pinch-hit.

Simon:I'll say a 5.5. When Baxter makes contact, he hits ropes. He's not quite a game-changing piece in the late innings, but he can be a valuable weapon.

If the theme of the season is stealing games, perhaps Baxter swipes two or three with big hits before the year is out.

Make a prediction for the week:

Meyers: I think Ike Davis is going to end up getting sent to Triple-A, and this could end up being the solution to the question above, because the Mets might decide to keep Baxter up when Bay returns, demote Davis and play Duda at first base.

Davis has not only been one of the worst players in the majors, but he has minor league options. He looks lost at the plate, and might be better served working on some things in a low-pressure environment.

Simon: Last week, we said the Mets would be the first team to score against Aroldis Chapman, and turned out to be right.

We'll try to go 2-for-2 with this pick: Jeremy Hefner will beat the Padres at week's end for his first major-league victory. San Diego enters the week with a .220 batting average and is the ideal opponent for a confidence-building start for him.

A look back at the Mets, with help from resources such as Baseball-Reference.com
Stat of the Week

David Wright and Jose Reyes each had four hits in the Mets-Marlins game on Saturday.

They never had four hits in the same game as teammates with the Mets (2004-2011)

Pitcher Plunkings
In Saturday’s win over the Marlins, R.A. Dickey became the second pitcher in Mets history to be the beneficiary of a hit by pitch with the bases loaded. The other was Jae Seo against the Cardinals in 2004.

Dickey also extended his streak of not striking out as a hitter. Through seven starts, he had 16 plate appearances and no strikeouts.

In fact, of his first 32 swings this season, he only missed twice.

The Wright Stuff
In this season of impressive statistical accomplishments, Wright notched a first.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wright’s .411 batting average through the team’s first 38 games makes him the first Met ever to carry a .400 batting average beyond the team’s 30th game of the season.

Cleon Jones was batting .411 after 30 games in 1969, but he slipped below .400 in his next game and never returned. He finished the season hitting .340.

A Grand Disaster
The Mets blew a two-run ninth inning lead in the finale of their road trip last Sunday, losing on Giancarlo Stanton’s walk-off grand slam. In what was a rough week for the Mets, we declare it the Moment of the Week.

It was the fourth walk-off grand slam the Mets have allowed since 2009, the most in the majors in that span. No other team has allowed more than two.

The Mets allowed their first walk-off grand slam in 1970 against Bob Bailey of the Expos. They’ve allowed 10 total since that season, matching the Tigers for the most in the majors.

It was the second time in the series that the Mets lost a game in which they led in the bottom of the ninth inning. Elias notes that the last time the Mets lost a pair of games in the same series in which they led in the bottom of the ninth or later was Sept. 3 and 5, 1992, against the Reds in Cincinnati.

Old Man Miguel
Miguel Batista beat the Brewers on Monday. It was the first time that Batista beat the Brewers since April 14, 1999, when he pitched his first career complete game as a member of the Montreal Expos.

Batista is the third 41-year-old to throw seven innings and allow no runs in a game for the Mets. Orlando Hernandez did it three times in 2007 and Tom Glavine also did it once that season. Both were slightly older than Batista, who is about six months younger than what Hernandez (reportedly) was at the time.

Batista has three wins for the Mets since turning 40. Glavine has the most wins by a Met in his 40s with 28, followed by Hernandez with 14 and Orel Hershiser with 13.

The next pitcher on the Mets' 40-plus win list is a good name though, one Batista can catch with one more victory. Hall of Famer Warren Spahn had four wins as a 40-plus Met.

Zack Attack
Zack Greinke and two relievers combined to shut out the Mets, 8-0 on Monday, combining for 10 strikeouts and no walks in the process.

Only once in their history have the Mets had a worse home shutout loss in a game in which they whiffed at least 10 times and didn't walk. That came on August 14, 2006, a 13-0 loss to Cole Hamels and Phillies.

Oh, Happy Day
The Mets wrapped up their series with the Reds by stealing a game, scoring the last nine runs to win, 9-4. The Mets have more wins in day games (11) than night games (10), despite having played six more night games than day games.

Wright had two hits, giving him 25 in 15 day games this season. His .463 batting average in day games leads the NL, with Daniel Murphy not far behind at .389.

If Wright keeps this up, he'll be chasing the Mets' record for batting average in day games, set by none other than Murphy last season. Murphy hit .385, breaking the mark previously held by Paul Lo Duca, who hit .380 in day games in 2006.

Vintage Metric of the Week
Ike Davis’ 4-for-62 performance at home to start the season brought back some memories of some home struggles of the past.

The most notable home slump by a Met takes us back to 1986, when, of all people, Darryl Strawberry, went 0-for-47 at Shea Stadium from July 29 until it was finally broken on Sept. 7.

The Mets would turn out just fine that season.

But our spin in the time machine actually goes back to 1968, which is the residing spot for the two players who posted the worst single-season home batting average in Mets history (minimum 100 at-bats).

Middle infielders Jerry Buchek and Al Weis hit .132 and .133 respectively that season.

We’re 35 games into the season and there are all sorts of ways by which we could evaluate how the Mets offense and pitching are faring.

But what about their defense?

Let’s take a closer look at the Mets from that perspective, using both some basic statistics, and some advanced work from Baseball Info Solutions (BIS), a company that charts games for major league teams and media.

BIS, a company based just outside Allentown, Pa., tracks every play of every game in multiple ways.

It compiles data for a stat known as Defensive Runs Saved, which measures a fielder’s ability to turn batted balls into outs and succeed at other skills pertinent to his position (such as having a deterrent throwing arm, turning double plays, or successfully defending bunts).

It also has a group of video scouts who tag plays into categories – about 30 categories of Good Fielding Plays (which they call GFPs) and 50 categories of Defensive Misplays & Errors (DM & E).

Thirty five games is not meant to be a predictive sample, but it does allow us enough to make a basic assessment of what has happened.

The Mets Have Some Imperfections
The Mets may have overachieved on the mound and at the plate to get to 20-15, but they’ve underachieved in the field.

The Mets rank second-worst in the majors in Defensive Runs Saved this season with their defense viewed as having cost the team 23 runs.

The primary reason for that is that they rank third-worst in Defensive Efficency, a stat tracked by Baseball Prospectus, that shows how often the defense turns batted balls into outs. The Mets have done so on 69 percent of batted balls against them.

An average team will have a defensive efficiency of 71 to 72 percent. The difference comes out to about one play per game. Over a full season, that adds up.

In 2010 and 2011, 20 of the 27 teams to finish with winning records finished in the Top 15 in defensive efficiency. The teams that finished in the bottom five averaged 70 wins.

The Mets have two issues that are likely going to force their pitchers to get extra outs this season, both on the right side of the diamond.

Lucas Duda is having a very difficult time in right field and the BIS video trackers have not been kind.

Duda has been credited with just one GFP and, after his miscue Monday led to two extra bases on a single that rolled by him, he now has eight DM&E.

A good rightfielder will have about a 1:1 ratio. Duda isn’t close. Duda also rates below average when it comes to deterring runners from taking an extra base on base hits and fly balls.

Those misplays play a part in his ranking fifth-worst in the majors and worst among right fielders with –8 Defensive Runs Saved.

The other problem the Mets have is in converting double plays, though this is something that has looked better to the eye recently.

Second baseman Daniel Murphy has made significant improvements to his pivots and flips in the last week, but still lags behind the best in double play conversions (situations in which he was either a pivot or relay man with a man on first base and less than two outs).

He has converted 13 out of 30. The average second baseman turns them at a rate such that he’d have converted 19. Murphy still has a ways to go.

But there has been improvement and sometimes it takes awhile for the numbers to catch up and recognize that.

Murphy had three misplays related to attempting to convert a double play in his first four games of the season. He hasn’t had any since then.

But They Have Two Gold Glove Candidates…
Two Mets have played very good defense this season. One has been heralded for this quite a bit, David Wright. The other is pitcher R.A. Dickey,

A revision of BIS’s scoring system gave Dickey the lead among pitchers in Defensive Runs Saved last season with 10. He has two already this season, putting him on pace for similar numbers.

Dickey put on as solid a defensive display as a pitcher can in Saturday’s win, with three assists and a putout, including perfect execution of a tag play at third base and the trapping of another runner off second after fielding a comebacker.

That earned him a video montage on that night’s Baseball Tonight and praise from analyst Rick Sutcliffe.

"When you don't throw 90 miles-per-hour, you have to do the little things," Sutcliffe said that night. "R.A. does just that."

Dickey nearly broke the Mets 49-year-old record for assists by a pitcher last season with his MLB-leading 58. He’s already totaled 14 in his seven starts in 2011, tied with Mark Buehrle and Justin Masterson for most in the majors.


Wright has been far better through the first 35 games of 2012 than he has been in recent seasons.

Wright has made six GFPs in the last four games, giving him 16 for the season. Saturday, he earned a Web Gem (and a GFP) on Saturday for his perfect throw from foul territory that retired Marlins leftfielder Austin Kearns.

His latest GFP was the diving stop on Norichi Aoki in the eighth inning of Monday’s win over the Brewers.

Wright’s Good Play/Misplay ratio is 2-to-1 (16 GFP, 8 DM&E), far better than his 31 GFP, 32 DM&E tally last season and among the best in the game. It's on par with the player considered the NL's best defender-- Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

The biggest difference from last season to this season has been in Wright’s throwing arm, which has been repeatedly praised on game telecasts for being sharper.

Wright had 10 throw-related DM&E last season and had two in his first six games in 2012. But he’s had just one in his last 26.

The one blemish for Wright is that he’s average when it comes to Defensive Runs Saved, as he has 0 this season.

The average Mets fan would likely disagree with that and something to watch over the last 127 games will be how that number bounces around with the visible improvements Wright has made.

The Shift is Working
You’re going to hear a lot about shifts this week, because the Mets are playing two teams -– the Brewers and Blue Jays -– who use it a lot.

But the Mets have also employed it a decent amount. BIS tracks defensive shifting with video review and ranks the Mets 12th in shifts used with 31 (about one per game), all against left-handed hitters.

BIS breaks this down further, noting that the Mets have used the “Ted Williams Shift” against a batted ball 17 times this season.

That’s a shift in which the shortstop or third baseman plays behind or to the right of second base, and the second baseman moves into shallow right field.

That defensive alignment worked in that it got outs on three of four line drives hit against it, and 11 of 13 ground balls.

The strategy has been to use it against the most extreme pull hitters, like Braves catcher Brian McCann, who had three ground outs and two line outs into the shift earlier this season.

Defensive Storylines to Watch
A few defensive storylines are still in development mode for the Mets. We’ll check in on those later this season.

1-- How the Mets fare in centerfield. Angel Pagan’s penchant for letting balls bounce off his glove and roll away led to the Mets ranking well below average in just about every metric related to this position last season.

So far, the combo of Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Andres Torres have rated about average, with the most egregious miscue being Nieuwenhuis’s misplay of a potential game-ending blooper against the Giants. He does rank among the leaders in the majors in Web Gems with three.

2-- How the Mets fare against basestealers. The Mets have allowed 30 steals this season, tied for fifth-most in the majors. They’ve nailed 23 percent of attempts, tied for seventh-worst among the 30 teams.

3-- How Ike Davis handles first base. Davis has rated about average so far in Defensive Runs Saved and Good Play/Misplay Ratio (11 GFP, 5 DM&E).

Davis’ trademark, his ability to snatch foul balls on the verge of going into stands, has happened twice this season. He and Travis Ishikawa are the two first baseman credited with a pair of GFP for such a play.

In-Depth runs every Tuesday

WHAT IT MEANS: The Mets rebounded from a disappointing series in Miami to beat the Brewers 3-1 at Citi Field on Monday night.

BACK AT IT: Before the game, Mets manager Terry Collins said he would stick with Frank Francisco as the closer. Francisco was tagged for two losses over the weekend and blew a save against the Marlins, giving up five earned runs over 2/3 innings in two games.

Collins said the team wanted to see if Francisco could make some changes, but it did not appear they worked too well Monday. He entered the game in the ninth to protect a 3-0 lead, coming out to a chorus of boos. Three of the first four Milwaukee batters reached, including a RBI single by Cory Hart, and Milwaukee brought the go-ahead run to the plate twice.

He struck out Brook Conrad looking for the second out and retired George Kottaras on a long fly to right-center to end the game.

BATISTA'S BRILLIANCE: Miguel Batista pitched one of the team's best games of the year as he held the Brewers scoreless over seven. He gave up just four hits, and Milwaukee did not hit many balls hard during the course of those seven innings.

The Mets had been searching for some consistency out of the spot in the rotation vacated by Mike Pelfrey, and Batista has been been able to provide that. In his two starts since joining the rotation, he's tossed 12-1/3 innings and surrendered just two runs against two playoff teams from 2011. He recorded his first win of the year.

THE DANIEL MURPHY SHOW: Daniel Murphy provided almost all of the offense on this night. His RBI single gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the fourth and he scored the team's second run on a suicide squeeze by Ronny Cedeno in the sixth. His grounder to second in the eighth ultimately led to a run, although it was more luck than anything else. Read on ...

WHEN IT'S GOING GOOD, IT'S GOING GOOD: In the eighth, David Wright was caught in a rundown trying to score on Murphy's grounder. As he tried to run to home, Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez simply dropped the ball and Wright scored to make it 3-0. Wright's hitting .398.

QUITE CHILLY: Ryan Braun was booed heavily on Monday night, his first appearance in Flushing since he tested positive for elevated testosterone this offseason. Braun went 1-for-4. Former closer Francisco Rodriguez also received a chorus of boos when he was introduced.

BACK IN ACTION: First baseman Ike Davis and third base coach Tim Teufel both missed Sunday's game with the flu, but they were back at it Monday. Davis went 0-for-4.

UP NEXT: The Mets will go for the sweep of this two-game series when Dillon Gee (2-2, 4.78 ERA) takes on former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke (3-1, 3.35) at 7:10 p.m.

The Mets went an improbable 5-1 in the past week and won series from two teams that made the 2011 postseason. Let's review their accomplishments, with help from Baseball-Reference.com here.

Stat of the Week
Elias reports that the Mets' sweep of the Phillies was the third time in team history that the Mets won a road series of at least three games despite trailing in each of those games. The others were in July 1986 in Cincinnati and in August-September 1987 in San Diego.

Snake Charmers

The Mets won two of three games from the Diamondbacks last weekend, bouncing back from a series-opening loss to take the last two games.

By doing so, the Mets won their third homestand of the season, albeit this one a three-gamer. They won only three homestands over the entire 2011 season.

With his win Saturday, Johan Santana improved to 3-0 for his career against the Diamondbacks. He’s halfway to the most consecutive wins to start a career against the Diamondbacks. Roy Oswalt and Tim Hudson each started 6-0 in their careers against Arizona.

Santana yielded only two ground balls in the game, matching the fewest he’d allowed in any start as a Met. The only other Mets start in which he allowed only two grounders was Opening Day in 2009, when he gave up only two in a 2-1 win over the Reds.

In addition to getting the win Sunday, R.A. Dickey survived another game without striking out as a hitter. Dickey has not struck out in his first six starts in 2012.

Dickey and Dwight Gooden are the only pitchers in Mets history to have their first six appearances of the season, all as a starting pitcher, all be strikeout-free. Gooden did so in both the 1984 and 1987 seasons.

In the series finale, the Mets won in a tidy 2:16. It was the second-shortest game in the history of the Mets-Diamondbacks rivalry, surpassed only by a 5-0 Mets win June 10, 2006 (2:14).

The Mets ended this series not having homered in six straight games, far from the club record of 17 straight games without a homer.

Let’s go for a 'Spin
Elias reports that Jordany Valdespin is the first player whose first career hit was a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later since Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins on June 20, 2003 (versus Tampa Bay).

That earned our Mets Moment of the Week status and gave us a chance to look back at other Mets pinch-hit homer notes.

It marked the 27th time the Mets got a go-ahead pinch-hit homer in the ninth inning or later. The Mets didn’t have any from 2006 to 2010, but now have them in consecutive seasons. Scott Hairston hit one last July 8 against Giants closer Brian Wilson.


It was the first go-ahead pinch-hit home run to drive in at least three runs in the ninth inning or later since Benny Agbayani’s pinch-hit grand slam in the second game of the 2000 season in Japan, the first to drive in exactly three since a walk-off home run by Jim Tatum against the Astros in 1998.

Valdespin hit the home run against a split-fingered fastball. Only two other Mets in the past four seasons have golfed a splitter located knee-high or below for a home run. The other two were Gary Sheffield in 2009 and Daniel Murphy last season.

Lastly, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon has now given up five go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning or later against New York teams. Two have been to Mets (Omir Santos in 2009 and Valdespin). Three were against the other New York team (whose players we won’t mention here).

Ful’Phil’ing Victories
The Mets rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Phillies 7-4 on Tuesday. The 10th comeback win of the season marked the first time in team history that the Mets won 10 of their first 30 games in come-from-behind fashion.

The last time the Mets trailed AND were being shut out by four or more runs in Philadelphia and came back to win was May 15, 1999, when they rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win in Philadelphia 9-7. The Mets won that day despite Mike Piazza hitting into a triple play.

The Mets completed the sweep with a 10-6 win in Philadelphia in the series finale Wednesday. It gave them their first sweep of a series of three or more games in Philadelphia since 2006.

The Mets won all three games by at least three runs, the first time they’ve won three straight games in the same series in Philadelphia, all by three runs or more.

Be like Ike
Ike Davis shook out of a slump with a three-run home run against Jose Contreras. The homer came against a pitch that was middle of the plate, knee-high.

That’s the one spot he’s done well this season. Davis is 7-for-15 this season in at-bats that ended with a pitch located knee-high in the middle of the plate. He has a combined nine hits in all other areas of the strike zone.

The chart on the right shows Davis’ performance by strike-zone location this season.

Joshing Around
On Tuesday, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton became the 16th player to hit four home runs in a game. There was a Mets connection to this one. The last home run came against former Mets reliever Darren O’Day.

Prior to Hamilton, the last three players with a four-homer game all went on to play for the Mets -- Mike Cameron, Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado. Two other “eventual Mets” also had a four-homer game -- Gil Hodges and Willie Mays.

There is a Mets pitching connection to each of the past four four-homer games.

Jon Rauch, then with the White Sox, allowed Cameron’s first home run while pitching for the 2002 White Sox. Green’s first of four home runs came against Glendon Rusch, who was a member of the 2002 Brewers. Future Met Jorge Sosa allowed the first two of Delgado’s home runs while pitching for the 2003 Rays.

The Mets have never had a four-homer game. They’ve had eight three-homer games. Six Mets -- Jim Hickman, Dave Kingman, Claudell Washington, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter and Edgardo Alfonzo -- hit three homers in a game and had at least one other plate appearance with a chance at a fourth, but failed to hit it.

Vintage Metsiemetric of the Week
The Mets won the last two games of the Diamondbacks series without recording an extra-base hit. They hadn’t won back-to-back games without recording an extra-base hit since May 1995.

The Mets have registered back-to-back wins without recording an extra-base hit eight times.

Our weekly time-machine trip takes us to the first instance -- June 10 and 11, 1968, when they beat the Dodgers, 1-0 and 3-0 in Los Angeles. The Mets combined for 16 singles in those two games, winning on the strength of shutouts from Tom Seaver and Dick Selma.

The bullpen blew a two-run lead lead in the eighth as Arizona rallied for a 5-4 win Friday night at Citi Field. The Mets have lost a season-high four games and turn to Johan Santana, who is winless on the year, to stop the bleeding Saturday.

Saturday's news report:

• Read game recaps in the Post, Daily News, Star-Ledger, The Record, and the New York Times.

• After an 0-for-4 night that included an error and rolling his ankle, Ike Davis placed the blame for Friday night's loss on himself. Davis is hitting just .172 and is struggling, and his manager wants to see him grind out of this slump. Read more in the Post and the Star-Ledger.

• Miguel Batista will pitch Tuesday, taking the spot formerly belonging to Mike Pelfrey. The veteran will be available in the bullpen Saturday afternoon. Read more about why Batista was promoted to the rotation in the Post, Star-Ledger, and the New York Times.

• The Mets demoted Chris Schwinden to Triple-A Buffalo and called up utility player Vinny Rottino. Schwinden had been ineffective in the starting rotation before being yanked, and Rottino went 0-for-1 Friday. Read more in the Star-Ledger.

• David Wright was presented with a plaque from Darryl Strawberry for becoming the franchise leader in runs batted in. With Wright's future uncertain, Strawberry said he believes Wright will stay, mentioning how he always regretted that he left Flushing as a free agent. Read more in the Post, Star-Ledger, and The Record.

• Yankees closer Mariano Rivera tore his ACL and his meniscus and Collins said he believes that the injury affects all of baseball. The closer said he plans to return in the 2013 season.

• The Wall Street Journal talked to Mets players about why pitchers shag balls in the outfield.

• The Mets honored the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch, who died Friday of cancer, as all batters used tunes from the groups as their at-bat music. Read more in the Star-Ledger.

• The ball that got by Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series was auctioned for $418, 250, according to an Associated Press story inThe Record.

TRIVIA: Who is the only other player besides Wright to have two double-digit hit streaks this season?

Friday's answer: Five different players have led the Mets in saves since Rivera became the Yankees' closer in 1997 (John Franco, Armando Benitez, Braden Looper, Billy Wagner and Francisco Rodriguez).

WHAT IT MEANS: The Mets have their longest losing streak of the season as dropped their fourth straight in a 5-4 loss to Arizona. The bullpen blew a two-run lead in the eighth.

IT STARTED WITH AN ERROR: An error by Ike Davis opened the door to Arizona's three-run rally in the eighth that put Arizona ahead for good. Manager Terry Collins tried mixing and matching relievers, but it didn't work. Jon Rauch had arguably his worst outing as a Met, although the box scored wouldn't show it, blowing the save while Arizona sharply hit balls all over the field. Rauch let both inherited runners score and then allowed the winning run.The Mets need their bullpen to be able to hold their leads and lately it hasn't done the job.

G IS FOR GOOD: Dillon Gee pitched six effective innings and left in line for the win, but he ended up with a no-decision as the bullpen imploded. He worked himself into a couple of jams, but was able to make the big pitch when he needed. His only blunder came when he served up a two-run homer to Cody Ransom in the second inning. Gee yielded just four hits, tied for his fewest allowed on the year. He's still 2-2 on the season.

FOUR IN THE THIRD: The Mets erupted for four runs in the third, but that was their offense on the night. After going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position the first two innings, Scott Hairston, Ike Davis and Andres Torres each drove in runs to give the team a 4-2 lead after three. The Mets put runners on base consistently throughout the night, but struggled outside that one frame to bring them home. One more big hit here or there would have allowed the Mets some separation from Arizona during the course of the contest.

SETTLED ROTATION: Before the game, Collins announced that Miguel Batista would take Mike Pelfrey's spot in the rotation. That spot has been previously filled by Chris Schwinden, but he was demoted to Triple-A Buffalo after two ineffective starts.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Mets will try and reward Johan Santana (0-2, 2.25 ERA) with his first win of the season when he takes on Patrick Corbin (1-0, 4.76) at 4:05 p.m. The Mets also will be looking to avoid a five-game losing streak.

Ike Davis joined Ruocco & Lundberg Tuesday. He talked about negative media expectations, discussing the team's finances, and -- no surprise here -- he likes the new fences at Citi Field.

 

The Mets have a chance to jump a game over .500 on Wednesday when they take on the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a three-game series. R.A. Dickey will face Kyle McClellan on Wednesday night. But, just like Tuesday, the most important names for the Mets will likely be Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. Both returned to the lineup on Tuesday, lifting the Mets to a 4-2 win over St. Louis.

Here are Wednesday's news reports:

• Reyes played for the first time since July 2 when he exited a game against the Yankees early due to a strained left hamstring. He had two hits on Tuesday, to boost his league-leading multihit game total to 44. He also made two exceptional plays in the field in the eight, the second being a 6-6-3 double play that ended the inning with the bases loaded.

Read more on Reyes in the Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Daily News.

• Beltran came back following a three-day absence due to a viral illness that caused "104 to 105"” degree fevers, according to the All-Star right-fielder. Beltran didn't miss a beat in his return, finishing 3 for 3 with two doubles and two walks to raise his personal average against Cards starter Kyle Lohse to an astounding .564 in 39 at-bats. He's now reached base safely in 25 games, his longest streak since a 30-game stretch spanning the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Read more on Beltran in Newsday, the Post and the Daily News.

• On July 6, 1999, Jason Isringhausen notched his first career save with the Mets. On Tuesday night, he got his second. Isringhausen, one member of the Mets' post K-Rod closer-by-committee, pitched a perfect ninth to record his first big-league save since Aug. 1, 2008. The 12-year gap between Mets saves is the largest in franchise history.

Read more on Isringhausen in the Post, Star-Ledger and Newsday.

• David Wright went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs scored, an RBI and a strikeout in his fifth minor-league rehab game with St. Lucie. He played nine innings at third base for the second straight night. Overall, Wright is hitting .421 (8-for-19) with eight runs scored. He’s been on the disabled list since May 18 with a lower back stress fracture.

• First baseman Ike Davis expressed skepticism he would be able to return to the New York Mets this season. Speaking to children at Coleman Country Day Camp in Merrick, N.Y., on Long Island, on Tuesday, Davis candidly described his left ankle as "not good." "But next year I will be back and healthy," Davis told the campers. "I promise."

Davis injured the ankle in a collision with third Wright by the pitcher's mound at Coors Field in Denver on May 10 and has not returned to the lineup because of lingering discomfort when he attempts to run.

Read more on Davis in the Times, the Post and Newsday.

• Dillon Gee no-hit the Cards for 4 1/3 innings on Tuesday. He finished the night allowing three hits in seven innings to earn his ninth win, the highest total among major-league rookies.

• Josh Thole is expected to return to the Mets on Wednesday after missing Tuesday's game due to paternity leave. Thole and his wife, Kathryn, welcomed their first child (see bottom), a son named Camden, at 8:41 p.m. Tuesday.

BIRTHDAYS: No one who appeared for the Mets was born today but Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg turns 23.

The Mets will open the second half of the season with a three-game set at home against the Phillies this weekend, starting on Friday night. They'll begin a crucial stretch of the season as it relates to the future of the team. If the Mets can stay in the race, there's a possibility that the team will stay largely intact after the break. If not, the front office is more likely to deal away more big contracts. The Mets are currently 11 games out of first place in the National League East and 7 1/2 games out of the NL wild card.

Here are Friday's news reports:

• Ike Davis is still feeling pain in his injured ankle. He received a cortisone shot earlier this week and will rest for the next three weeks with the hope of avoiding season-ending surgery. If he feels pain though, he will likely undergo a season-ending procedure to fix the ailment. David Wright will play a rehab game in St. Lucie on Friday. Jose Reyes has yet to start running due to an injured hamstring.

Read more about Davis and other injury updates in the Star-Ledger and the Post.

• Terry Collins decided against naming one closer to replace Francisco Rodriguez. Instead, he will go with a closer-by-committee of Bobby Parnell, Jason Isringhausen and Pedro Beato. All three said on Thursday that they were excited for the opportunity.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal and Star-Ledger.

• Mets players realize that the beginning of the second half is a crucial time in the season. They hope to show team execs that they have what it takes to compete for a playoff spot and, therefore, should remain intact after the July 31 trade deadline. Also, Post columnist Joel Sherman says the second half of the season is the last chance for Wright and Reyes to show they belong together as a tandem.

Read more about the second half in the Post, the Daily News and the Times.

• Sandy Alderson on Thursday confirmed a New York Times report stating that K-Rod's former agent never filed a no-trade list. K-Rod said in Milwaukee that he was confused by the lack of a list and that he thought the Brewers were on his list. But he is happy to be in Milwaukee.

For more on the agent snafu in the Daily News.

• The attorney for the woman involved in a civil suit and countersuit with Johan Santana is demanding that the pitcher's attorneys turn over documents that allegedly indicate Santana made pre-settlement offers to make the case go away.

Read more in the Daily News.

• The Mets announced Thursday that they signed outfielder Joe Tuschak (Northern York High School, Pa.), their sixth-round pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Also, Justin Turner reports that his injured thumb is feeling better after the break.

BIRTHDAYS: Big day for birthdays for former Mets: Don Bosch (69), Fernando Nieve (28), Wilson Delgado (38), James Baldwin (39).

The Mets will hold a workout at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon in advance of the weekend series against the Phillies to open the second half.

This will be Terry Collins' first opportunity (in person) to convince the Mets players that Tuesday night’s trade of Francisco Rodriguez did not indicate that management has given up on the season.

Collins will also clarify which member of his bullpen (Bobby Parnell, Jason Isringhausen or, less likely, Pedro Beato) will fill in at closer.

Thursday's news reports:

• Sandy Alderson says that the Rodriguez trade does not signify a team-wide fire sale. He essentially explained on a conference call with reporters Wednesday that the deal was a salary dump and was independent of any other deals the team makes. He hesitated to speculate how this would affect the team's pursuit of Jose Reyes and acknowledged that teams have shown interest in Carlos Beltran.

Read more Alderson coverage in the Post, Bergen Record, and Newsday.

• New York Times reporter David Waldstein writes that K-Rod's former agent, Paul Kinzer, never submitted a "no-trade" list for Rodriguez. Waldstein reports that, with the list never filed, Alderson wanted to get a deal done before Scott Boras, Rodriguez's new agent, could complicate the proceedings.

Read more here.

• Injured players such as David Wright, Ike Davis and Johan Santana may return soon but how long will the roster remain intact? Adam Rubin expands on that that issue here. Post columnist Kevin Kernan believes that the K-Rod trade signifies a waving of the white flag.

• Our Mark Simon offers a breakdown of Parnell, who may get the Mets closer job with K-Rod out of town.

Read more about Parnell in the Times and Record.

• Alderson said confirmed that Wright is expected to play his first rehab game on Friday night for Class A St. Lucie at Lakeland, and if everything goes according to plan, Alderson hopes Wright will be back playing for the Mets on July 22. But he said Ike Davis is a ways away.

• Ryota Igarashi will likely replace K-Rod on the roster.

BIRTHDAY: Former Met (and Yankee) Robin Ventura, who hit the famous grand slam single in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, turns 44 Thursday.

After a detour to his native Puerto Rico for a family matter, Angel Pagan returned to the St. Lucie Mets and played in another rehab game Tuesday.

Terry Collins said Pagan would move to Triple-A Buffalo for one game on Thursday and likely be activated from the disabled list for a strained left oblique the following day.

Also, Ike Davis has started baseball activities but is not attempting to cut on his sprained ankle.

Ike Davis, who landed on the disabled list May 12 with a left ankle injury, has not yet started running and has not resumed baseball activities, according to Terry Collins. That appears to make Davis' planned return when he is eligible to be activated in six days a tad optimistic.

"He did all his basic exercises today," Collins said. "He doing all of his rehab stuff in the pools down in St. Lucie. I would imagine it's a few more days before he gets on the field."

The closest Davis has done to baseball activities is swinging a bat without facing any pitching.

"He hasn't run yet at all," Collins said.

New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis will head down to Port St. Luice, Fla., on Monday night to begin working out at the team’s spring training complex.

Davis (sprained left ankle) was placed on the disabled list after colliding with third baseman David Wright while trying to catch a popup last Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies.

“I feel good,” said Davis, who got the boot off his ankle two days ago and is now wearing an air cast. “Obviously I’m walking a lot better right now, and hopefully I’ll go down to Florida, and hopefully get everything good, get some ABs and get back here the 26th, I think is the first day [eligible to come off]."

Davis is confident that he’s not going to have any setbacks and be able to rejoin the team as soon as he's eligible. He said for now he’s just icing his ankle and doing a bit of strengthening.

At this point, he doesn’t know what type of rehab he’d be going through, as far as getting games in. But he will wear a wrap while playing.

Davis said he isn't upset at Wright, and there's no animosity toward him.

"I'm not mad at him," Davis said laughing. "I just wish I would've heard him calling for the ball."

Terry Collins said he spoke with Ike Davis by telephone and the first baseman is still having difficulty with the left ankle sprain that he suffered Tuesday in Colorado, which landed him on the disabled list.

“He still has some discomfort,” Collins said.

Davis should be at Citi Field on Monday when the Mets begin a mini-home stand that includes two games apiece against the Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals. Davis will then head to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to behind working at the Mets’ complex.

One thing is for certain: Davis will not be facing Pedro Feliciano when the Mets play in the Bronx this weekend. In response to Yankees GM Brian Cashman last month saying the Mets were abusive with Feliciano, then Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen’s response, Feliciano had predicted he would strike out Davis as retribution when the teams met.

Now, both players are injured.