New York Mets: Jason Isringhausen
Reyes set for Game 2, Ike on the run ...
August, 29, 2011
8/29/11
1:45
PM ET
By
Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com
With Reyes activated, Ruben Tejada will be sticking around. Collins said Tejada and Justin Turner will share second-base duties, with perhaps Turner occasionally spelling David Wright at third base to get both in the lineup.
"I'm going to make sure Tejada gets at-bats," Collins said. "He deserves it. He earned it."
In order clear roster room for Reyes in Game 2, the Mets could place Ronny Paulino, who has a broken big toe on his right foot, on the disabled list. The alternative, apparently, would be to again put Nick Evans through waivers. Paulino can pinch-hit, but cannot run or play catcher.
• Johan Santana may return to a minor league game next weekend, according to Alderson. Santana had been shut down days after his last rehab appearance for Class A St. Lucie, on July 28. Alderson said it's possible Santana could pitch an inning or two in the majors before the season's completion.
• Miguel Batista may pitch Wednesday, with Chris Capuano getting an extra day of rest and going Thursday, according to Collins. The Mets were weighing the switch because Capuano tossed 122 pitches in his two-hit shutout Friday. The intention is for Batista to start one of the two games.
• While Long Beach, L.I., was being evacuated late Friday afternoon, Turner, Bobby Parnell and Tim Byrdak went to check out the waves generated by the early stages of Hurricane Irene. The trio watched the waves already overrunning sand dunes at 5 p.m. Byrdak made a video as a mock newscaster. They also checked out Jones Beach, and had retreated to Jason Isringhausen's home on the north shore of Long Island before the storm truly hit.
Rapid Reaction: Brewers 6, Mets 2
August, 21, 2011
8/21/11
4:05
PM ET
By
Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com
The Mets dropped six games under .500 for the first time since May 4. They have lost 15 of 20.
Milwaukee, which joined the National League in 1996, completed its first-ever sweep of a series of three or more games in Flushing. It actually was the Brewers’ first three-plus-game series sweep in New York since the 1972 edition won three games at Yankee Stadium.
A half-inning after the Mets evened the score at 2 Sunday afternoon, Manny Acosta entered for the eighth and walked Nyjer Morgan and surrendered a single to Ryan Braun.
With runners on the corners and none out, Terry Collins summoned Tim Byrdak to face Prince Fielder.
The Mets then conceded the go-ahead run. Fielder hit a grounder to Justin Turner, and the second baseman elected to initiate a double play that would allow Morgan to score from third base. It got worse. The Mets ended up failing to record an out on the play as Turner errantly threw to Ruben Tejada manning second base.
A day after failing to record an out in the ninth and suffering the loss, Jason Isringhausen this time entered for Byrdak with two runners aboard and none out. Izzy recorded a pair of outs before surrendering an RBI single to Jerry Hairston Jr. as Milwaukee took a 4-2 lead. The Brewers tacked on two more runs in the ninth, against Isringhausen and Pedro Beato.
K-ROD TRACKER: A day after Francisco Rodriguez allowed three runs in a blown save in his return to Flushing as a visitor, he tossed a perfect eighth inning to preserve a two-run lead.
Jason Bay followed by smoking a double off the top of the 16-foot wall in left field -- a shot that likely will be a homer next season, assuming the Mets lower the line delineating a homer to eight feet, which seems likely. After Josh Thole and Jason Pridie then were retired, the No. 8 hitter Tejada received an intentional walk, prompting Collins to lift Dickey for pinch-hitter Willie Harris.
Harris flied out to right field as the score remained tied, setting up the two-run eighth for Milwaukee.
Dickey’s line: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 1 HR. The knuckleballer is winless since July 25 and is 0-3 in his past five starts despite a 3.62 ERA during that stretch.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Mets hit the road for a three-game series at Philadelphia. Jon Niese (11-10, 4.05 ERA) draws left-hander Cliff Lee (13-7, 2.82) in Monday’s series opener. The Mets also are due to face Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick.
W2W4: Mets at Nationals (Saturday)
July, 30, 2011
7/30/11
11:00
AM ET
By Mark Simon | ESPNNewYork.com
Jason Marquis Stat 2 Watch 4
Three prominent hitters in the Mets lineup have great numbers against Jason Marquis. David Wright (.406), Jason Bay (.372) and Jose Reyes (.355) all sport batting averages of .350 or better.
Most notable among those numbers is the five in the home run column for Bay versus Marquis.
That matches the most home runs Marquis has allowed to any batter. He’s also allowed five to Andruw Jones and Derrek Lee. It also matches the most homers Bay has versus any pitcher. He also has five against Aaron Harang and Carlos Zambrano.
Bay hasn't homered in his past 64 at-bats overall, though he's swinging the bat well -- 5-for-8 in the past two games.
Interestingly, one player Marquis might have been OK with facing is no longer with the team. Carlos Beltran is 3-for-20 in his career against Marquis.
R.A. Dickey Stat 2 Watch 4
R.A. Dickey has allowed nine home runs to left-handed hitters this season, after allowing only four in 2010.
The lefty for him to be wary of is Rick Ankiel, who has put the ball in play in all 14 of his at-bats against Dickey in his career, netting five hits.
They Can Hit Too
Both these pitchers can do notable things with the bat. Dickey is 5-for-10 in his past five games, with only one strikeout in that span.
Marquis' career batting average presently stands at .199, hampered by his current 0-for-16 slump. He has five career homers, the most recent being a grand slam against Jonathon Niese and the Mets on Sept. 22, 2008.
Dickey actually has trouble getting opposing pitchers out. They are hitting .264 against him over the past two seasons, and hit .310 (9-for-29) in 2011.
The Line-Drive Parade
The Mets weren't quite as line-drive happy on Friday as they were in a four-game sweep against Cincinnati earlier in the week. But they added four more to their ledger, based on our video review -- hits by Daniel Murphy, Bay, Angel Pagan and Reyes on Friday.
In the past five games -- all wins -- the Mets have hit 40 balls classified as line drives. Their opponents have only hit 22. Murphy leads the team with nine in that stretch.
Double Your Pleasure
After hitting three doubles on Friday, the Mets enter the day with 65 doubles in July -- matching the team record for most in a calendar month, previously set in June, 1990.
Down With D-Wright
We have technology that allows us to review pitcher and hitter performance based on Pitch F/X tracking (cameras in every ballpark that mark the location of every pitch) and that provided us with an amazin' stat on Wright.
Since coming back from his back injury, Wright is 11-for-14 with two homers on an at-bat that ends with a pitch in the lower-third of his strike zone or below -- essentially a pitch located just below the height of his belt. He is 9-for-11 when putting such a pitch into play, excluding the two homers he's hit, but including his first inning near-homer against Chien-Ming Wang.
Prior to the injury, Wright totaled 12 hits, no homers and 17 strikeouts in the 53 at-bats ending with pitches to that spot, meaning his batting average when he put the ball in play was .333.
Who Closes?
Jason Isringhausen earned the save for the second straight game on Friday, so it would seem likely he will be unavailable Saturday. But you have to wonder whether Terry Collins would use him for one batter, particularly a right-hander.
Right-handed hitters are 10-for-71 against Isringhausen this season, including 1-for-20 in the month of July.
Three prominent hitters in the Mets lineup have great numbers against Jason Marquis. David Wright (.406), Jason Bay (.372) and Jose Reyes (.355) all sport batting averages of .350 or better.
Most notable among those numbers is the five in the home run column for Bay versus Marquis.
That matches the most home runs Marquis has allowed to any batter. He’s also allowed five to Andruw Jones and Derrek Lee. It also matches the most homers Bay has versus any pitcher. He also has five against Aaron Harang and Carlos Zambrano.
Bay hasn't homered in his past 64 at-bats overall, though he's swinging the bat well -- 5-for-8 in the past two games.
Interestingly, one player Marquis might have been OK with facing is no longer with the team. Carlos Beltran is 3-for-20 in his career against Marquis.
R.A. Dickey Stat 2 Watch 4
R.A. Dickey has allowed nine home runs to left-handed hitters this season, after allowing only four in 2010.
The lefty for him to be wary of is Rick Ankiel, who has put the ball in play in all 14 of his at-bats against Dickey in his career, netting five hits.
They Can Hit Too
Both these pitchers can do notable things with the bat. Dickey is 5-for-10 in his past five games, with only one strikeout in that span.
Marquis' career batting average presently stands at .199, hampered by his current 0-for-16 slump. He has five career homers, the most recent being a grand slam against Jonathon Niese and the Mets on Sept. 22, 2008.
Dickey actually has trouble getting opposing pitchers out. They are hitting .264 against him over the past two seasons, and hit .310 (9-for-29) in 2011.
The Line-Drive Parade
The Mets weren't quite as line-drive happy on Friday as they were in a four-game sweep against Cincinnati earlier in the week. But they added four more to their ledger, based on our video review -- hits by Daniel Murphy, Bay, Angel Pagan and Reyes on Friday.
In the past five games -- all wins -- the Mets have hit 40 balls classified as line drives. Their opponents have only hit 22. Murphy leads the team with nine in that stretch.
Double Your Pleasure
After hitting three doubles on Friday, the Mets enter the day with 65 doubles in July -- matching the team record for most in a calendar month, previously set in June, 1990.
Down With D-Wright
We have technology that allows us to review pitcher and hitter performance based on Pitch F/X tracking (cameras in every ballpark that mark the location of every pitch) and that provided us with an amazin' stat on Wright.
Since coming back from his back injury, Wright is 11-for-14 with two homers on an at-bat that ends with a pitch in the lower-third of his strike zone or below -- essentially a pitch located just below the height of his belt. He is 9-for-11 when putting such a pitch into play, excluding the two homers he's hit, but including his first inning near-homer against Chien-Ming Wang.
Prior to the injury, Wright totaled 12 hits, no homers and 17 strikeouts in the 53 at-bats ending with pitches to that spot, meaning his batting average when he put the ball in play was .333.
Who Closes?
Jason Isringhausen earned the save for the second straight game on Friday, so it would seem likely he will be unavailable Saturday. But you have to wonder whether Terry Collins would use him for one batter, particularly a right-hander.
Right-handed hitters are 10-for-71 against Isringhausen this season, including 1-for-20 in the month of July.
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.
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).
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).
Steven Glasser and the ESPN Stats & Information crew come up with this gem regarding Jason Isringhausen's win in Thursday's comeback:
Izzy picked up the win for the Mets -- his first this season, and his first with the Mets franchise since June 8, 1999. On that day, as a starter, he pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing two earned for the win against the Blue Jays.
It marks the longest gap between wins by a pitcher for the Mets in franchise history (courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau):
Isringhausen, 11 yrs, 359 days, 1999-2011
Bob Miller, 11 yrs, 213 days, 1962-1974
David Cone, 10 yrs, 245 days, 1992-2003
Izzy picked up the win for the Mets -- his first this season, and his first with the Mets franchise since June 8, 1999. On that day, as a starter, he pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing two earned for the win against the Blue Jays.
It marks the longest gap between wins by a pitcher for the Mets in franchise history (courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau):
Isringhausen, 11 yrs, 359 days, 1999-2011
Bob Miller, 11 yrs, 213 days, 1962-1974
David Cone, 10 yrs, 245 days, 1992-2003
Fred Wilpon kept the off-day lively. Now, it's back to baseball, with the Mets in the Windy City and Jon Niese opposing Ryan Dempster in the opener.
Tuesday's news reports:
Predictably, the coverage is near-exclusively Wilpon-related ...
• Columnist Joel Sherman writes for the Post:
If you cover the Mets with any regularity, you quickly become familiar with just what a tin ear the entire organization has for media and public relations. It is not just the big stuff, such as firing Willie Randolph at 3 a.m. or fighting publicly with Carlos Beltran over knee surgery. It is the hundreds and thousands of little things that are part of the daily process of running a baseball team. The Mets are consistently imperfect at getting out even the simplest of messages. It has reached the point at which I routinely ask Mets officials how dumb their second-best idea must have been to go public with what they do.
• Record columnist Bob Klapisch says this sends a clear signal to other teams the Mets are open for business in trades. Perhaps that will, if not at the trading deadline, include the not-superstar-but-does-everything-the-organization-asks -without-ever-disgracing-them David Wright next offseason. Writes Klapisch:
Or was Wilpon simply using the forum to prepare Mets fans for the upcoming purge at the trading deadline? According to one major league executive, Wilpon’s observations were akin to a clanging of the Chuck Wagon Triangle bell. All that was missing was Wilpon’s rallying cry: Come and get it! “You don’t talk that way about your players unless you’ve distanced yourself from them,” the executive said. “Most owners don’t do this.”
• Scott Boras, the agent for Carlos Beltran, tells ESPNNewYork.com he would have preferred any critical comments stay in-house. Read more in the Post.
• If you like some on-field baseball, Dan Martin of the Post discusses the success of Jason Isringhausen. J.P. Ricciardi says: "If I had told you on March 1 that he would be our eight-inning setup guy, you would have looked at me like I had six heads. But in this business, you never say no. He wanted to throw for us in spring training and you can't have success if you don't take a chance." Writes Martin:
Jason Isringhausen isn't much for reminiscing about the old days, but he does recall his first game in the majors -- a start for the Mets against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 17, 1995. "I remember the first batter was Brian McRae and I struck him out," said Isringhausen, who gave up two runs in seven innings, but didn't get a decision in that 7-2 Mets win. "It was nerve-wracking and fun. I just tried to come out and throw strikes. Same thing I do now." The 38-year-old right-hander returns to Chicago tonight, a long way from the rookie he was 16 years ago.
• The Post's Mike Puma gets Terry Collins' reaction to his team being called poop-like. “I’m not going to get into that comment. I can't,” Collins responded. As for whether Wilpon's comments will be a distraction, Collins said: "These guys are professionals and I don’t think a lot of that stuff fazes them. The media around here can be very critical at times and I think these guys are aware of it, and you’ve got to go play. They can’t worry about anything else.”
• Times columnist Harvey Araton says Wilpon is passing the buck, writing:
But although Wilpon is no mean-spirited autocrat, he reveals himself to be a why-me whiner and a first-rate revisionist. He may have fingered himself as the dummy who gave Beltran $119 million in 2004 based on one productive postseason, but that is about all the accountability he serves Toobin along with the burgers.
• Post columnist Mike Vaccaro says Wilpon should sell. He doesn't mean a minority share, either. Writes Vaccaro:
Does he love the team? Unquestionably. If he wanted to prove his cred as a fan, he sure did that, sounding like Freddy from Farmingdale in the New Yorker story. Wilpon’s protectors immediately declared this was nothing that Boss Steinbrenner didn’t do back in the day. Only Steinbrenner always backed up his belligerence with his bankbook, sometimes to his detriment. The Yankees were always solvent. Fans who hated Steinbrenner probably hated the vapor-lock grip he held on the team, even in exile, because he could always cover his bets. Remember, Steinbrenner also paid less than $1 million to grab the Yankees, same as Wilpon did with the Mets. Steinbrenner’s break is that he never sent Hank or Hal to Roslyn High School, so they could never run into Mark Madoff in the school cafeteria.
• Star-Ledger columnist Jeff Bradley writes Wilpon's underlying points mostly are correct:
Reyes will only get seven years and $142 million -- what Crawford was given by the Red Sox -- if he gets to free agency and some team with deep pockets has overrated his value, or thinks he’s the final piece in their puzzle (as the Sox did with Crawford, on both counts). The Mets shortstop is exciting, flashy and talented. He’s also missed 150 games to injury the last two seasons. ... Beltran, while a very solid all-around player, got more than he deserved based on his epic 2004 postseason (.435 with eight home runs in 12 playoff games with the Astros). ... Perhaps the only assessment of Wilpon’s that is off the mark is what he had to say about Wright -- and that’s just because the term “superstar” can be defined in different ways.
• Daily News columnist Mike Lupica's take:
Of course this will be treated like the crime of the century around here. It's not, even if Wilpon ought to be on a plane to Chicago today to talk to these players face-to-face and explain to them what he was doing. Or what he thought he was doing. Reyes isn't worth $140 million and Wright, whom I like as much as any ballplayer in town, isn't a superstar. Beltran isn't what he was. All true.
• Read the news story on Wilpon's comments in the Star-Ledger, Times, Newsday, Daily News, Journal and Record.
• Even Derek Jeter was asked to weigh in on Wilpon's comments. "Don't drag me into this one too," Jeter said, according to Newsday. "Everybody got that? I've got nothing to do with that."
• A Wilpon-company-owned office park in Hauppauge on Long Island was turned over to creditors after missing mortgage payments, according to Newsday.
• Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski writes the trustee trying to recover funds for Bernard Madoff's victims believes the Wilpons haven't been totally forthcoming in turning over documents. The Wilpons feel the same way about the trustee, Irving Picard.
• According to the Daily News, Wilpon tells Sports Illustrated the Mets are "bleeding cash" and could lose as much as $70 million this season.
BIRTHDAYS: Former Mets reliever Jerry DiPoto, who served as interim GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks last season after Josh Byrnes' ouster, turns 43. DiPoto went 11-8 in 1995 and '96, pitching 115 times in relief. DiPoto’s primary skill was home-run avoidance. He allowed only seven long balls in 156 innings as a Met. ... Former Mets starter Jae Seo turns 34. The South Korean pitcher's best days came from 2002 to 2005, when he went 22-24 for the Mets. Afterward, for the Rays and Dodgers, he was a combined 6-16. -Mark Simon
Tuesday's news reports:
Predictably, the coverage is near-exclusively Wilpon-related ...
• Columnist Joel Sherman writes for the Post:
If you cover the Mets with any regularity, you quickly become familiar with just what a tin ear the entire organization has for media and public relations. It is not just the big stuff, such as firing Willie Randolph at 3 a.m. or fighting publicly with Carlos Beltran over knee surgery. It is the hundreds and thousands of little things that are part of the daily process of running a baseball team. The Mets are consistently imperfect at getting out even the simplest of messages. It has reached the point at which I routinely ask Mets officials how dumb their second-best idea must have been to go public with what they do.
• Record columnist Bob Klapisch says this sends a clear signal to other teams the Mets are open for business in trades. Perhaps that will, if not at the trading deadline, include the not-superstar-but-does-everything-the-organization-asks -without-ever-disgracing-them David Wright next offseason. Writes Klapisch:
Or was Wilpon simply using the forum to prepare Mets fans for the upcoming purge at the trading deadline? According to one major league executive, Wilpon’s observations were akin to a clanging of the Chuck Wagon Triangle bell. All that was missing was Wilpon’s rallying cry: Come and get it! “You don’t talk that way about your players unless you’ve distanced yourself from them,” the executive said. “Most owners don’t do this.”
• Scott Boras, the agent for Carlos Beltran, tells ESPNNewYork.com he would have preferred any critical comments stay in-house. Read more in the Post.
• If you like some on-field baseball, Dan Martin of the Post discusses the success of Jason Isringhausen. J.P. Ricciardi says: "If I had told you on March 1 that he would be our eight-inning setup guy, you would have looked at me like I had six heads. But in this business, you never say no. He wanted to throw for us in spring training and you can't have success if you don't take a chance." Writes Martin:
Jason Isringhausen isn't much for reminiscing about the old days, but he does recall his first game in the majors -- a start for the Mets against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 17, 1995. "I remember the first batter was Brian McRae and I struck him out," said Isringhausen, who gave up two runs in seven innings, but didn't get a decision in that 7-2 Mets win. "It was nerve-wracking and fun. I just tried to come out and throw strikes. Same thing I do now." The 38-year-old right-hander returns to Chicago tonight, a long way from the rookie he was 16 years ago.
• The Post's Mike Puma gets Terry Collins' reaction to his team being called poop-like. “I’m not going to get into that comment. I can't,” Collins responded. As for whether Wilpon's comments will be a distraction, Collins said: "These guys are professionals and I don’t think a lot of that stuff fazes them. The media around here can be very critical at times and I think these guys are aware of it, and you’ve got to go play. They can’t worry about anything else.”
• Times columnist Harvey Araton says Wilpon is passing the buck, writing:
But although Wilpon is no mean-spirited autocrat, he reveals himself to be a why-me whiner and a first-rate revisionist. He may have fingered himself as the dummy who gave Beltran $119 million in 2004 based on one productive postseason, but that is about all the accountability he serves Toobin along with the burgers.
• Post columnist Mike Vaccaro says Wilpon should sell. He doesn't mean a minority share, either. Writes Vaccaro:
Does he love the team? Unquestionably. If he wanted to prove his cred as a fan, he sure did that, sounding like Freddy from Farmingdale in the New Yorker story. Wilpon’s protectors immediately declared this was nothing that Boss Steinbrenner didn’t do back in the day. Only Steinbrenner always backed up his belligerence with his bankbook, sometimes to his detriment. The Yankees were always solvent. Fans who hated Steinbrenner probably hated the vapor-lock grip he held on the team, even in exile, because he could always cover his bets. Remember, Steinbrenner also paid less than $1 million to grab the Yankees, same as Wilpon did with the Mets. Steinbrenner’s break is that he never sent Hank or Hal to Roslyn High School, so they could never run into Mark Madoff in the school cafeteria.
• Star-Ledger columnist Jeff Bradley writes Wilpon's underlying points mostly are correct:
Reyes will only get seven years and $142 million -- what Crawford was given by the Red Sox -- if he gets to free agency and some team with deep pockets has overrated his value, or thinks he’s the final piece in their puzzle (as the Sox did with Crawford, on both counts). The Mets shortstop is exciting, flashy and talented. He’s also missed 150 games to injury the last two seasons. ... Beltran, while a very solid all-around player, got more than he deserved based on his epic 2004 postseason (.435 with eight home runs in 12 playoff games with the Astros). ... Perhaps the only assessment of Wilpon’s that is off the mark is what he had to say about Wright -- and that’s just because the term “superstar” can be defined in different ways.
• Daily News columnist Mike Lupica's take:
Of course this will be treated like the crime of the century around here. It's not, even if Wilpon ought to be on a plane to Chicago today to talk to these players face-to-face and explain to them what he was doing. Or what he thought he was doing. Reyes isn't worth $140 million and Wright, whom I like as much as any ballplayer in town, isn't a superstar. Beltran isn't what he was. All true.
• Read the news story on Wilpon's comments in the Star-Ledger, Times, Newsday, Daily News, Journal and Record.
• Even Derek Jeter was asked to weigh in on Wilpon's comments. "Don't drag me into this one too," Jeter said, according to Newsday. "Everybody got that? I've got nothing to do with that."
• A Wilpon-company-owned office park in Hauppauge on Long Island was turned over to creditors after missing mortgage payments, according to Newsday.
• Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski writes the trustee trying to recover funds for Bernard Madoff's victims believes the Wilpons haven't been totally forthcoming in turning over documents. The Wilpons feel the same way about the trustee, Irving Picard.
• According to the Daily News, Wilpon tells Sports Illustrated the Mets are "bleeding cash" and could lose as much as $70 million this season.
BIRTHDAYS: Former Mets reliever Jerry DiPoto, who served as interim GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks last season after Josh Byrnes' ouster, turns 43. DiPoto went 11-8 in 1995 and '96, pitching 115 times in relief. DiPoto’s primary skill was home-run avoidance. He allowed only seven long balls in 156 innings as a Met. ... Former Mets starter Jae Seo turns 34. The South Korean pitcher's best days came from 2002 to 2005, when he went 22-24 for the Mets. Afterward, for the Rays and Dodgers, he was a combined 6-16. -Mark Simon
Recap | Box score | Photos
WHAT IT MEANS: With a 2-1 victory, the Mets improved to 22-22 on the season. They reached .500 for the first time since they were 4-4 on April 9, after being as many as eight games under.
HE'S A WINNER: R.A. Dickey picked up his first win since his season debut on April 3 at Florida. He had gone 0-5 with two no-decisions in seven starts. Dickey departed with a 2-1 lead after six innings. His final line: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP. The lone run came on a solo homer to the short porch in right field by Mark Teixeira in the third inning.
KARMA: Jose Reyes was charged with an error in the fifth inning on a play in which the Mets appeared to get the shaft. On Brett Gardner's leadoff grounder, first base ump Jeff Kellogg -- seemingly incorrectly -- ruled Reyes' throw pulled Daniel Murphy off first base. It was the previous night in Flushing when a throw from Turner really did pull Murphy off the base, but Jayson Werth was called out by ump Phil Cuzzi and the Mets moved within one out of a 1-0 win against the Nationals.
Reyes and the Mets escaped Friday's ensuing threat anyway. With two outs and two on, Reyes dove up the middle to field Alex Rodriguez's grounder and threw in time to first to end the inning.
Murphy got retribution, too. He led off the next half-inning and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead with a solo homer to right field. Back in the No. 2 hole for the first time in 10 days, Murphy snapped an 0-for-9 drought with the long ball off Freddy Garcia.
K-ROD TRACKER: Francisco Rodriguez notched his 15th straight save since blowing his first opportunity of the season. K-Rod's longest streak as a Met is 16, which opened his Mets career and ended with Luis Castillo's dropped would-be game-ending pop fly in the Bronx.
Rodriguez has now finished 18 games this season. He needs to finish 37 of the Mets' remaining 118 games for his contract to vest at $17.5 million for 2012. K-Rod is on pace for 66 games finished, 11 over the threshold for that vesting option to kick in.
WHAT’S NEXT: Blister-free Chris Capuano (3-4, 4.78 ERA) opposes Yankees right-hander A.J. Burnett (4-3, 3.99) in Saturday's 7:10 p.m. game.
Jason Isringhausen tossed a scoreless eighth inning Wednesday in the rain to pick up his 10th hold and hand a three-run lead to Francisco Rodriguez for the ninth. Izzy discusses his success at 38 years old, Wednesday's weather conditions and a recent groin injury.
Listen here:
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A comfortable four-run lead got a little dicey in the eighth inning Sunday, when Tim Byrdak allowed a leadoff double to Jason Michaels, then walked Chris Johnson. On came Jason Isringhausen, whom Terry Collins hoped to avoid using because of a minor groin injury.
Izzy struck out Clint Barmes. Matt Downs followed with a double to score Michaels. But Isringhausen rallied with two runners in scoring position by retiring Michael Bourn on a pop-up and J.R. Towles on a fly ball to hand the decisive 7-4 lead to Francisco Rodriguez for the ninth.
"He tweaked his groin in Colorado. It was cold," Collins said about Isringhausen. "He's fine. He told me he could pitch. I just tried to see if I could get him another day [off]. But I wasn't going to use K-Rod for another four-out save. So I said, 'I've got to use him.' It was a warm-enough day, so I felt it was safe. And he said he felt fine."
Izzy struck out Clint Barmes. Matt Downs followed with a double to score Michaels. But Isringhausen rallied with two runners in scoring position by retiring Michael Bourn on a pop-up and J.R. Towles on a fly ball to hand the decisive 7-4 lead to Francisco Rodriguez for the ninth.
"He tweaked his groin in Colorado. It was cold," Collins said about Isringhausen. "He's fine. He told me he could pitch. I just tried to see if I could get him another day [off]. But I wasn't going to use K-Rod for another four-out save. So I said, 'I've got to use him.' It was a warm-enough day, so I felt it was safe. And he said he felt fine."
With the Mets nursing a two-run lead in the eighth inning, Jason Isringhausen allowed the first two batters to reach, then had Dexter Fowler sacrifice bunt both runners into scoring position.
But Isringhausen rallied to strike out Jose Morales. He then got pinch-hitter Jason Giambi, his former teammate with Oakland, to fly out to Jason Pridie in right-center. Isringhausen and Giambi had never faced off, despite a combined 32 seasons in the majors.
"I was just hoping to keep him in the yard more than anything," Isringhausen said. "He's up there for one thing. I know that. He knows that. I just didn't want to let him get his arms too far extended, and keep the ball in on him."
Isringhausen, who has settled into the eighth-inning role, acknowledged he struggled Thursday, particularly with his curveball.
"I just had bad mechanics throwing it and I kept rushing my lower half. Typical pitching stuff," Isringhausen said.
But Isringhausen rallied to strike out Jose Morales. He then got pinch-hitter Jason Giambi, his former teammate with Oakland, to fly out to Jason Pridie in right-center. Isringhausen and Giambi had never faced off, despite a combined 32 seasons in the majors.
"I was just hoping to keep him in the yard more than anything," Isringhausen said. "He's up there for one thing. I know that. He knows that. I just didn't want to let him get his arms too far extended, and keep the ball in on him."
Isringhausen, who has settled into the eighth-inning role, acknowledged he struggled Thursday, particularly with his curveball.
"I just had bad mechanics throwing it and I kept rushing my lower half. Typical pitching stuff," Isringhausen said.
There's been some buzz around the blogosphere regarding the recent performance of the Mets bullpen, so we figured we'd chime in with a few quick-hit nuggets.
Perhaps the most encouraging stat on Mets relievers during the team's five-game winning streak is the bullpen's strikeout-to-walk rate.
In their last 13 1/3 innings, Mets relievers have whiffed 14 and walked two, a significant improvement in their performance. Prior to the streak, the Mets bullpen was averaging four walks per nine innings.
Francisco Rodriguez, who earned another save Tuesday, is off to an encouraging start in one area. Rodriguez has successfully recorded outs against 12 of the 14 lefties against whom he's gotten to a two-strike count. He retired Danny Espinosa and Roger Bernadina in such a manner Tuesday night.
Video review indicates Rodriguez is throwing his changeup in such situations more than half the time (57 percent), which in the early going is about twice as frequently as he had thrown it in two-strike situations against lefties last season.
After some control issues at the start of the season, Taylor Buchholz has had 6 1/3 straight walk-free innings. Buchholz's curveball has come as advertised. He's gotten 16 outs with the pitch this season, yielding one base hit.
Jason Isringhausen, for the most part, has avoided the sort of contact that causes trouble. Rick Ankiel's single Tuesday night is the only line drive he has allowed in his 6 2/3 innings.
Lastly, there figures to soon be a clamoring for Pedro Beato to be used in more meaningful situations. Seven of Beato's eight entrances have come with the Mets trailing, although Terry Collins now appears leaning toward a common progression with a narrow lead of Beato to Isringhausen to K-Rod.
Within a VERY small sample, Beato has shown good swing-and-miss ability with his fastball. In his last three appearances, opponents have swung at 18 fastballs, missing eight. So far, hitters have swung and missed at it 27 percent of the time, a rate that is nearly double the major league average.
Perhaps the most encouraging stat on Mets relievers during the team's five-game winning streak is the bullpen's strikeout-to-walk rate.
In their last 13 1/3 innings, Mets relievers have whiffed 14 and walked two, a significant improvement in their performance. Prior to the streak, the Mets bullpen was averaging four walks per nine innings.
| GM | W | L | BB | K | ERA |
| 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 2.08 |
Video review indicates Rodriguez is throwing his changeup in such situations more than half the time (57 percent), which in the early going is about twice as frequently as he had thrown it in two-strike situations against lefties last season.
After some control issues at the start of the season, Taylor Buchholz has had 6 1/3 straight walk-free innings. Buchholz's curveball has come as advertised. He's gotten 16 outs with the pitch this season, yielding one base hit.
Jason Isringhausen, for the most part, has avoided the sort of contact that causes trouble. Rick Ankiel's single Tuesday night is the only line drive he has allowed in his 6 2/3 innings.
Lastly, there figures to soon be a clamoring for Pedro Beato to be used in more meaningful situations. Seven of Beato's eight entrances have come with the Mets trailing, although Terry Collins now appears leaning toward a common progression with a narrow lead of Beato to Isringhausen to K-Rod.
Within a VERY small sample, Beato has shown good swing-and-miss ability with his fastball. In his last three appearances, opponents have swung at 18 fastballs, missing eight. So far, hitters have swung and missed at it 27 percent of the time, a rate that is nearly double the major league average.
R.A. Dickey tries to extend the Mets' winning streak to six games when he opposes Nats left-hander Tom Gorzelanny in the middle game of the series.
Wednesday's news reports:
• Newsday's Steve Marcus reports Fred Wilpon expects to select a new minority owner in May, with the sale closing in June and raising $200 million to pay off debt, including a $25 million loan from Major League Baseball. Among the four reported finalists, it is "too close to call" who will be selected, a source tells Marcus. The Post previous identified the finalists as one-time commodity trader Ray Bartoszek, hedge fund operator Steve Cohen, BTIG co-founder Steve Starker and hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci.
• The Mets had an uneventful voluntary visit Tuesday morning to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Last year, when Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez did not attend, it caused drama inside the organization that spilled into the media. ("I said I had feelings about [the missing players]. I just didn’t want to talk about it," Dickey tells the Record's Steve Popper about the 2010 situation.) This time, Taylor Buchholz and Francisco Rodriguez did not attend, but both had been permitted to travel to Washington on Tuesday so they could spend the Monday off-day with their families. Read more in the Record, Times, Newsday and Daily News.
• In Newsday's game story, David Lennon asks Jon Niese about a report that the southpaw might have been assigned to the bullpen had he had a poor outing Sunday, with Dillon Gee remaining in the rotation. "With a big-market team, if you don't do your job, they'll find somebody who will," Niese told Lennon. An organization source told ESPNNewYork.com that while the potential move was discussed, it was not overly likely to occur Sunday.
• Brian Costa in The Wall Street Journal identifies two benefits of Beltran's ability to play every day and produce. In the short term, it gives the Mets a bona fide No. 4 hitter. Secondly, if the Mets drift out of contention, it gives the organization a viable trade piece. At the July 31 deadline, Beltran still would be owed $5,964,480.87 -- 32.3 percent of his $18.5 million salary. So the Mets may need to pick up a portion. But Beltran has been producing. Even his outs Tuesday were mostly hard-hit, including a shot deep to right-center that Nats center fielder Rick Ankiel needed an extraordinary effort to corral in the first inning. Beltran also had a rocket to right field in the sixth that was caught.
After sitting matinee games in the first four series of the season, Beltran has now started 11 straight games in right field. Of course, there's always the concern that the cumulative pounding of a season will begin to catch up with Beltran's arthritic right knee. Beltran tells Costa: "I've been feeling good, so there's no reason not to play right now. I don't even ice my right knee. I don't think about it. I put my brace on there, but it's kind of like a habit now. I come to the ballpark and put my brace on, but I don't feel anything."
Costa also notes Beltran received a no-trade clause in his original seven-year, $119 million deal. Beltran tells Costa about a potential trade: "I would listen to my agent, because they're going to approach my agent first and then me. There's a possibility that can happen if we're not in contention. I might not be the only one [traded]. There's a lot of players kind of in the same situation."
• Chris Young said he felt no discomfort in his shoulder in his first outing back from the disabled list (watch video here). He allowed three solo homers and departed after 4 2/3 innings. Read more in the Record, Daily News, Post and Star-Ledger.
• Ryota Igarashi stranded two runners in scoring position inherited from Young by striking out Jayson Werth. David Waldstein in the Times takes you through the Igarashi vs. Werth at-bat.
• Johan Santana is throwing at a distance on flat ground up to 120 feet and should be atop a mound within days. The Star-Ledger identifies the potential date as Sunday, which happens to be the precise May 1 date the Mets had targeted when Sandy Alderson outlined a plan at the start of spring training. Other reports said Santana will be on a mound within two weeks.
• Andy McCullough delves into Josh Thole's slump, which the catcher may have freed himself from by producing a tiebreaking two-run double and career-high three RBIs in the series opener. Writes McCullough:
Before last night, Thole languished behind the rest of the regulars, burrowing deeper into a slump. His frustration mounted with each swing-and-miss. In the past, Thole avoided strikeouts. Hitting coach Dave Hudgens believes Thole possesses the best plate coverage on the team. In 2010, Thole made contact with 97.5 percent of the pitches he swung at inside the strike zone, according to FanGraphs. In the spring, Thole vowed to change. He tired of tapping two-strike pitches for easy outs. He hoped to add power and stop reaching outside the zone. Through 22 games, the results were unseemly. He entered last night striking out 25.8 percent of the time, more than twice his rate from 2010. “I’ve never struck out this much,” Thole said. “Makes it tough.”
• Daily News columnist (and Dickey co-biographer) Wayne Coffey speaks with new set-up man Jason Isringhausen, who did allow an eighth-inning run Tuesday. Writes Coffey:
Go ahead and ask Jason Isringhausen how his body feels. Watch as he points to a right elbow that has had six operations (including three Tommy Johns), to a shoulder that has had three operations and a hip that has had two. "It's as good as it's going to get," he said. "I'm an old man. It's worn out. I'll keep going until it pops."
• The Mets are 5-0 since Jason Bay returned to the lineup. Bay's wife Kristen is soon due with the couple's third child, although the birth is expected during the Mets' home stand next week, which would not disrupt Bay's play, the Post writes. As for being unbeaten since his return, Bay tells Dan Martin: "I'd like to take all the credit, but it's obviously more complicated than me coming back and everyone all of a sudden hitting. We've got a lot of good hitters, and it was only a matter of time before a few of them started clicking."
BIRTHDAY: Co-tallest Met Eric Hillman turns 46. Hillman, a lefty, measures 6-foot-10, the same height as Young. Hillman was 4-14 in his Mets career from 1992 to 1994. Amazingly, there are six pitchers with worse career winning percentages for the Mets than his .222 (minimum 10 decisions). -Mark Simon
Wednesday's news reports:
• Newsday's Steve Marcus reports Fred Wilpon expects to select a new minority owner in May, with the sale closing in June and raising $200 million to pay off debt, including a $25 million loan from Major League Baseball. Among the four reported finalists, it is "too close to call" who will be selected, a source tells Marcus. The Post previous identified the finalists as one-time commodity trader Ray Bartoszek, hedge fund operator Steve Cohen, BTIG co-founder Steve Starker and hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci.
• The Mets had an uneventful voluntary visit Tuesday morning to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Last year, when Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez did not attend, it caused drama inside the organization that spilled into the media. ("I said I had feelings about [the missing players]. I just didn’t want to talk about it," Dickey tells the Record's Steve Popper about the 2010 situation.) This time, Taylor Buchholz and Francisco Rodriguez did not attend, but both had been permitted to travel to Washington on Tuesday so they could spend the Monday off-day with their families. Read more in the Record, Times, Newsday and Daily News.
• In Newsday's game story, David Lennon asks Jon Niese about a report that the southpaw might have been assigned to the bullpen had he had a poor outing Sunday, with Dillon Gee remaining in the rotation. "With a big-market team, if you don't do your job, they'll find somebody who will," Niese told Lennon. An organization source told ESPNNewYork.com that while the potential move was discussed, it was not overly likely to occur Sunday.
• Brian Costa in The Wall Street Journal identifies two benefits of Beltran's ability to play every day and produce. In the short term, it gives the Mets a bona fide No. 4 hitter. Secondly, if the Mets drift out of contention, it gives the organization a viable trade piece. At the July 31 deadline, Beltran still would be owed $5,964,480.87 -- 32.3 percent of his $18.5 million salary. So the Mets may need to pick up a portion. But Beltran has been producing. Even his outs Tuesday were mostly hard-hit, including a shot deep to right-center that Nats center fielder Rick Ankiel needed an extraordinary effort to corral in the first inning. Beltran also had a rocket to right field in the sixth that was caught.
After sitting matinee games in the first four series of the season, Beltran has now started 11 straight games in right field. Of course, there's always the concern that the cumulative pounding of a season will begin to catch up with Beltran's arthritic right knee. Beltran tells Costa: "I've been feeling good, so there's no reason not to play right now. I don't even ice my right knee. I don't think about it. I put my brace on there, but it's kind of like a habit now. I come to the ballpark and put my brace on, but I don't feel anything."
Costa also notes Beltran received a no-trade clause in his original seven-year, $119 million deal. Beltran tells Costa about a potential trade: "I would listen to my agent, because they're going to approach my agent first and then me. There's a possibility that can happen if we're not in contention. I might not be the only one [traded]. There's a lot of players kind of in the same situation."
• Chris Young said he felt no discomfort in his shoulder in his first outing back from the disabled list (watch video here). He allowed three solo homers and departed after 4 2/3 innings. Read more in the Record, Daily News, Post and Star-Ledger.
• Ryota Igarashi stranded two runners in scoring position inherited from Young by striking out Jayson Werth. David Waldstein in the Times takes you through the Igarashi vs. Werth at-bat.
• Johan Santana is throwing at a distance on flat ground up to 120 feet and should be atop a mound within days. The Star-Ledger identifies the potential date as Sunday, which happens to be the precise May 1 date the Mets had targeted when Sandy Alderson outlined a plan at the start of spring training. Other reports said Santana will be on a mound within two weeks.
• Andy McCullough delves into Josh Thole's slump, which the catcher may have freed himself from by producing a tiebreaking two-run double and career-high three RBIs in the series opener. Writes McCullough:
Before last night, Thole languished behind the rest of the regulars, burrowing deeper into a slump. His frustration mounted with each swing-and-miss. In the past, Thole avoided strikeouts. Hitting coach Dave Hudgens believes Thole possesses the best plate coverage on the team. In 2010, Thole made contact with 97.5 percent of the pitches he swung at inside the strike zone, according to FanGraphs. In the spring, Thole vowed to change. He tired of tapping two-strike pitches for easy outs. He hoped to add power and stop reaching outside the zone. Through 22 games, the results were unseemly. He entered last night striking out 25.8 percent of the time, more than twice his rate from 2010. “I’ve never struck out this much,” Thole said. “Makes it tough.”
• Daily News columnist (and Dickey co-biographer) Wayne Coffey speaks with new set-up man Jason Isringhausen, who did allow an eighth-inning run Tuesday. Writes Coffey:
Go ahead and ask Jason Isringhausen how his body feels. Watch as he points to a right elbow that has had six operations (including three Tommy Johns), to a shoulder that has had three operations and a hip that has had two. "It's as good as it's going to get," he said. "I'm an old man. It's worn out. I'll keep going until it pops."
• The Mets are 5-0 since Jason Bay returned to the lineup. Bay's wife Kristen is soon due with the couple's third child, although the birth is expected during the Mets' home stand next week, which would not disrupt Bay's play, the Post writes. As for being unbeaten since his return, Bay tells Dan Martin: "I'd like to take all the credit, but it's obviously more complicated than me coming back and everyone all of a sudden hitting. We've got a lot of good hitters, and it was only a matter of time before a few of them started clicking."
BIRTHDAY: Co-tallest Met Eric Hillman turns 46. Hillman, a lefty, measures 6-foot-10, the same height as Young. Hillman was 4-14 in his Mets career from 1992 to 1994. Amazingly, there are six pitchers with worse career winning percentages for the Mets than his .222 (minimum 10 decisions). -Mark Simon
Rapid Reaction: Mets 6, Nationals 4
April, 26, 2011
4/26/11
9:59
PM ET
By
Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com
WHAT IT MEANS: The Mets extended their winning streak to five games with a 6-4 win against the Nationals.
CATCHING FIRE? Josh Thole, who had been in a 7-for-45 (.156) rut since April 9, produced a career-high three RBIs. He delivered an opposite-field, two-run double past laboring left fielder Michael Morse to give the Mets a 5-3 lead in the sixth. With two runners on base and one out, Nats manager Jim Riggleman had inserted southpaw Doug Slaten to face Thole.
FOUR-MAN: Chris Young’s second-inning safety squeeze scored Ike Davis and gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. But in his return from the disabled list, Young (biceps tendinitis) allowed three solo homers -- two to Wilson Ramos and one to Jayson Werth. Young was pulled with the score tied at 3, his pitch count at 88 and two runners in scoring position with two out in the fifth. Ryota Igarashi entered and struck out Werth to end the threat.
Young’s final line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. The three homers allowed were one shy of matching his career high. He has allowed four homers twice in his career, to the Cubs and Dodgers in 2009.
Mets starting pitchers had completed six innings in each of the previous six games.
STREAKING: Davis extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games with a 3-for-4 performance. He scored twice.
EIGHT BALL: After a pair of scoreless innings from Taylor Buchholz, Jason Isringhausen handled the eighth inning. He allowed a run-scoring single to Ramos as the Nationals pulled within 5-4. Isringhausen had suffered the career-threatening injury that led to his third Tommy John surgery while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Nationals on June 13, 2009.
K-ROD TRACKER: Francisco Rodriguez converted his fifth save and finished his seventh game by protecting a two-run lead in the ninth. K-Rod needs 48 games finished in the Mets’ final 139 games for his contract to vest at $17.5 million for 2012.
WHAT’S NEXT: R.A. Dickey opposes Nats southpaw Tom Gorzelanny at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.
CATCHING FIRE? Josh Thole, who had been in a 7-for-45 (.156) rut since April 9, produced a career-high three RBIs. He delivered an opposite-field, two-run double past laboring left fielder Michael Morse to give the Mets a 5-3 lead in the sixth. With two runners on base and one out, Nats manager Jim Riggleman had inserted southpaw Doug Slaten to face Thole.
FOUR-MAN: Chris Young’s second-inning safety squeeze scored Ike Davis and gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. But in his return from the disabled list, Young (biceps tendinitis) allowed three solo homers -- two to Wilson Ramos and one to Jayson Werth. Young was pulled with the score tied at 3, his pitch count at 88 and two runners in scoring position with two out in the fifth. Ryota Igarashi entered and struck out Werth to end the threat.
Young’s final line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. The three homers allowed were one shy of matching his career high. He has allowed four homers twice in his career, to the Cubs and Dodgers in 2009.
Mets starting pitchers had completed six innings in each of the previous six games.
STREAKING: Davis extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games with a 3-for-4 performance. He scored twice.
EIGHT BALL: After a pair of scoreless innings from Taylor Buchholz, Jason Isringhausen handled the eighth inning. He allowed a run-scoring single to Ramos as the Nationals pulled within 5-4. Isringhausen had suffered the career-threatening injury that led to his third Tommy John surgery while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Nationals on June 13, 2009.
K-ROD TRACKER: Francisco Rodriguez converted his fifth save and finished his seventh game by protecting a two-run lead in the ninth. K-Rod needs 48 games finished in the Mets’ final 139 games for his contract to vest at $17.5 million for 2012.
WHAT’S NEXT: R.A. Dickey opposes Nats southpaw Tom Gorzelanny at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Adam Rubin
Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.
Andrew Marchand
Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork.com. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, 1050 ESPN New York and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years as a sports writer at the New York Post.
Mark Simon
Mark Simon is ESPN Stats & Information's Baseball Research Specialist. He's also one of several Mets historians working at ESPN and a co-host of the Baseball Today podcast. He joined ESPN in 2002 after 6 1/2 years as a sports writer at the Trenton Times.
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UPCOMING GAMES
| W-L | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDG | 17-30 | 12-16 | 5-14 | L1 | |
| NYM | 25-21 | 13-9 | 12-12 | W1 |
| W-L | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDG | 17-30 | 12-16 | 5-14 | L1 | |
| NYM | 25-21 | 13-9 | 12-12 | W1 |
| W-L | HM | AW | STK | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDG | 17-30 | 12-16 | 5-14 | L1 | |
| NYM | 25-21 | 13-9 | 12-12 | W1 |
TEAM LEADERS
| BA LEADER | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
David Wright
|
|||||||||||
| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| HR | D. Wright | 5 | ||||||||||
| RBI | D. Wright | 28 | ||||||||||
| R | D. Wright | 30 | ||||||||||
| OPS | D. Wright | 1.110 | ||||||||||
| W | R. Dickey | 6 | ||||||||||
| ERA | J. Santana | 3.24 | ||||||||||
| SO | J. Santana | 53 | ||||||||||
