Isringhausen Earns 300th Save As Mets End Skid

It took ten innings, but the Mets were able to beat the Padres, 5-4.

• R.A. Dickey went 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, while striking out four and walking one. Dickey left the game after giving up a two-run home run to Will Venable, which cut the Mets lead to 4-3.

• Lucas Duda and Josh Thole (JOSH THOLE?!) hit home runs in the second inning to give the Mets an early 3-0 lead. Thole also drove in the Mets' fourth run of the game as well with a single to right field. Duda has now homered in back-to-back games.

• Bobby Parnell pitched one inning too many. Parnell entered the game in the seventh inning, and was able to get two quick outs to get out of the inning. Manager Terry Collins left him in to pitch the eighth inning though. He walked Orlando Hudson who would eventually score on an RBI single by Jesus Guzman to tie the game.

• Scott Hairston drove in the winning run in the top of the tenth inning on a fielder's choice.

• Congratulations to Jason Isringhausen who earned his 300th save. It would have been nice for Izzy to reach this milestone at home, however, it is a tremendous feat, and he should be proud.

Next Up: The Mets continue their series with San Diego tonight at PETCO Park. Jon Niese will start for New York. Game time is 10:05 p.m.

Mets Hope To Change Their Luck In San Diego

August 15, 2011

10:05 PM ET

PETCO Park, San Diego

TV: SNY

RADIO: WFAN 660

NEW YORK METS

Starting Pitcher: R.A. Dickey (5-11, 3.75 ERA)

Dickey has pitched well as of late, but hasn't been able to get a win thanks to a lack of run support and an unreliable bullpen. Against San Diego, he is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

SAN DIEGO PADRES

Starting Pitcher: Aaron Harang (11-3, 3.95 ERA)

Harang's last start was against the Mets on August 10. He went 5.2 innings and allowed three runs on ten hits, while striking out five. In his career, he is 3-3 with a 5.88 ERA.

METS LINEUP:

Pagan-CF, Turner-2B, Wright-3B, Duda-1B, Bay-LF, Pridie-RF, Thole-C, Tejada-SS, Dickey-RHP

Mets Morning News: Reyes May Not Return, No Help For The Bullpen,Signing Nimmo

Terry Collins doubts Jose Reyes will be back in the lineup once he is eligible to return from the disabled list on August 23. Collins told reporters that the shortstop has not even resumed baseball activity.

"Not to my knowledge, he has not," Collins said. "I know that when we left, they said for the next three days, he’s going to rest."

Don't expect any help for the Mets bullpen anytime soon. Collins told reporters after Sunday's game that the Mets will not add any minor league pitching to the bullpen until the rosters expand on September 1.

"I’m going to let them finish out the year" in the minors, Collins said. "We’ve brought up about everybody there is in Buffalo, I think, at some time this summer. So we know what they’ve got."

The deadline for signing draft choices ends tonight at 11:59 p.m., and the Mets are hoping to sign their first round pick Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo is reportedly asking for $2.5 million, although his father, Ron Nimmo, says the asking price is different. If the two parties cannot work out a deal, Nimmo will enroll in classes at Arkansas next week.

"[The Mets] have some work to do," Ron Nimmo said. "There's some disparity.

"It's not all about the money. You get one shot at this deal and you're going to have to live off this for six years."

Abysmal Pitching By The Mets Leads To A Sweep

The Mets were swept by the Diamondbacks, losing by a score of 5-3. They have now dropped five straight and are now four games under .500.

• Chris Capuano went six innings, giving up four runs on nine hits, while striking out six. He couldn't maintain a lead twice today. The Mets gave him a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a Lucas Duda home run. Capuano promptly went out in the bottom half of the inning and gave up a ground-rule double to tie the game. He then threw a wild pitch to allow the second run of the inning to score. After the Mets gave Capuano another lead in the fifth inning, he went right back out there and gave up a huge home run to Justin Upton.

• By the way, Capuano cleared waivers today, meaning he can now be traded to any team.

• Angel Pagan was 3-5 at the plate with one run scored.

• Duda once again, had a big day, going 2-3 with two RBIs and one run scored.

• Justin Turner drove in a run with an RBI double in the fifth inning.

• Ryota Igarashi is awful. Plain and simple. It was painful to watch him pitch today. He loaded the bases and then walked in a run. I have noticed lately that whenever Igarashi is on the mound he has poor body language. Who knows, maybe he's just a naturally miserable looking person, or maybe it reflects the kind of confidence he has right now when he's called out to pitch.  Either way, it's not fun to watch.

Next Up: The Mets head to San Diego to take on the Padres in a three-game series beginning Monday night. R.A. Dickey will get the start. Game time is 10:05 p.m.

Third Time's The Charm For Capuano?

August 14, 2011

4:10 PM ET

Chase Field, Arizona

TV: WPIX

RADIO: WFAN 660

NEW YORK METS

Starting Pitcher: Chris Capuano (9-10, 4.51 ERA)

Capuano will once again try to get that elusive tenth win of the season. Capuano hasn't been able to get a win in his last two starts. He is 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA against Arizona.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Starting Pitcher: Jason Marquis (0-1, 12.38 ERA)

Marquis hasn't been able to get a win for the Diamondbacks since being acquired by the team at the trade deadline. The Staten Island native is 6-7 with a 4.64 ERA against the Mets.

METS LINEUP:

Pagan-CF Turner-2B Wright-3B Duda-1B Bay-LF Thole-C Pridie-RF Tejada-SS Capuano-LHP

Pelfrey's Good At One Thing This Season, Irritating The Fan Base

I don't know what was worse about Mike Pelfrey yesterday; the quote controversy, getting hit by a line drive, or not knowing the difference between his left and right.

It was just an embarrassing day all around for Pelfrey. But, honestly, do Mets fans expect anything different from the guy?

I wasn't going to write anything about the incident involving Pelfrey's quote in the NY Post because I thought it was, well, stupid.

If you missed it, Pelfrey told the Post, "It's unrealistic for anybody at the end of last year to come in and say, 'The Mets, this is a one-year thing, next year we're going to win it all. It's unrealistic."

It's an honest quote, and I agree with him. If you are a Mets fan and thought this team was going to win it all this year, you're delusional. Compete and make things interesting? Yes. Win the World Series? No.

By the way, I believe another Met made a comment a few months back that was similar.

"We have to find a way to be honest with ourselves about what kind of team we are. We can’t just keep telling ourselves, ‘Oh, we’re a better team than this.’ We may not be. And we’ve got to be honest about that, and identify what we’re doing wrong, and do it better. That’s the only way you have any real growth."

Of course that statement was made by the one and only R.A. Dickey.

The difference between fan reaction to Dickey's statement and Pelfrey's? Dickey is a fan favorite, Pelfrey is not. When you've already irritated a majority of the fan base with your crappy pitching like Pelfrey has, that leaves you very little room to make "mistakes" such as this.

Fans have become so used to reading and/or hearing canned responses that when a player actually does make an honest statement, we don't know how to handle it.

Should Pelfrey have said what he did to a reporter in a city that blows everything out of proportion? No. He's been around long enough to know doing something like that will come back to bite him.

If there was anything in this story which should be slightly controversial, it should be the quote from the "anonymous player" who responded, "He's cutting his own throat. What's his record, six and nine? He's supposed to be the ace of the [bleeping] staff. Why don't you go and win 12 or 13 games?"

Responses like that will make things a little awkward in the clubhouse.

Pelfrey cleared the air, however, before Saturday's game. He spoke with his manager and his teammates about his quote, and how it was taken out of context. His teammates have come out to say that they have his back, and manager Terry Collins seems to understand where Pelfrey was coming from.

If the team can get past this, so should the fans.

Move. On.

Mets Morning News: Bay Reflects, Collins Likes Veterans On Bench,Marquis Interested In Mets

Jason Bay looked back on his season and struggles at the plate with New York Times reporter Andrew Keh.

"There was a lot of thinking going on in the batter’s box," Bay said. "It was just, ‘I’m not comfortable. Where are my hands? Where are my feet?’ It was really detracting from me hitting the baseball."

"I was too result-oriented," he said. "You want to get the hits. You’re so worried about getting the hits rather than just letting them happen."

According to Terry Collins, Scott Hairston's place is on the bench.

"I’ll tell you one thing, this guy has gotten nothing but huge hits off the bench," Collins said. "I know that everybody likes to play, but it’s nice to know I have that piece to the puzzle."

Jason Marquis, who will be a free agent at the end of this season, would like to play for New York.

"I try not to extend my focus past (this year), but obviously I have always had a desire to pitch at home," said the Brooklyn-born Marquis, who still lives in Staten Island, and who faces the Mets Sunday. "I'm a New York guy, and I have always dreamed of playing for the Yankees or Mets, representing my hometown."