Sunny Sunday. Surprise!

So, since I wrote yesterday afternoon, the NY Mets have suffered a no hitter (Max Scherzer's second of the season in which he tied Nolan Ryan's 17 strikeout record for a no-no) and went 7 + innings without scoring a run on the final regular season game of the year. Lucky for them, the Mets' pitchers were almost as good as Scherzer today. They held Washington hitless into the 7th inning and tossed a shutout punctuated by Granderson's solo home run in the bottom of the 8th.

The last day victory gave the Mets 90 wins for the season, put them 7 games ahead of second place Washington, and sent them into the post season with a wee bit of momentum.

The Mets begin their post season play at Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Friday, October 9th. Jacob deGrom, who started today's game and threw 4 hitless innings while striking out 7, will be on the mound. Noah Syndergaard will start game two. Mat Harvey will start game 3 back in New York.

******

Oh yeah, the Jets (3-1) and Giants (2-2) won today.

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I spent a couple of hours this morning over at the range. It was the Sportsmen's Club's annual work day. Guys were there to repair shooting tables and rails, weedwack around the target pits and do general repair and maintenance. I have been a member for a couple of years but have never taken advantage of the range. It's got rifle targets out to 200 yards as well as a pistol area and a rim fire area. They have sponsored pistol competitions and various types of rifle competitions. (A running deer competition will start on November 1.)

In the past, I would take my rifles up the Bolt Hole and shoot on the 50-yard  lane that I created. Now that we've sold that place, I need to find some other place to shoot. Besides. I couldn't take my pistols up north into New York.

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Today's weather was surprisingly nice. The last couple of days were cold, rainy and dreary. We had 0.45 inches of rain in the gauge this morning. Today, contrary to the forecast earlier this week, we had clear, sunny skies with a high going up to 65 degrees. All with Joaquin heading further and further out to sea. I bet there are lots of folks in the journalism community who are very disappointed. Except for the exceptional monsoon-like rainfall in South Carolina, they have no "disaster" to write about.

Sunday's 8 PM prediction fr Joaquin

That Was The Week That Was

I finished busting my butt and staining the deck on Sunday (September 27) and then retired with my bourbon and pro football. The stain calls for 24-48 hours of curing before walking on the surface. It also says to not apply if there's rain expected within 24 hours. I got through the entire week with no rain and pretty low humidity. In fact, it didn't rain until late Monday night...more than 36 hours after I finished staining. I must say that the deck looks good.

The only part I didn't stain was the top surface of the top rail. I had hit that with a different stain about a month ago and it really would need sanding before it gets stained. That will have to wait until spring. Why? Well, it has rained every day since Monday. (We had 1.95 inches of rain in the gauge on Wednesday morning, October 1.) In addition, the temperature hasn't climbed above 45 degrees these last three days and it may not get much higher for a good long time.

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I began to wonder what was up when Adam didn't show up on Monday or Tuesday. (He was supposed to return from Peru late Sunday.) Terry had a meeting with her church ladies on Tuesday and hear the sad news. Adam's dad, Don, died on Friday. He had been battling lung disease that had been destroying his ability to function. While Adam had told us he was showing some improvement, Don passed quietly at home. Don was 66 years old.

Don was the contractor whom we hired to build the Aerie back in 2006. He, Adam and I were the only three on the job from start to finish. He and his wife, Deb, allowed me to stay with them during the building process from April through November. I got to know them and their family quite well.

******

Terry and I sat down on Sunday afternoon to activate our new iPhones. We had no difficulty setting hers up but when I tried to set mine up, the phone said there was no sim card inside. There was, however, so I had to wait until Monday to head for the Verizon store to find out if the problem was the phone or the card. The very helpful young lady at the store took the sim card out of my old phone and installed it into my new phone. At that point the new phone saw the sim card and I was in business. She then started the set up process and sent me home where my wifi is faster than theirs to finish retrieving stuff from the Cloud. I left the old phone with them as part of their rebate/recycle program. Didn't get as much for it as I was originally promised, but, hey, it had a faulty sim card.

To sum it up, both our phones are iPhone 6ses and both are now activated. Life is good.

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I've been watching the progress of Hurricane Joaquin this week. Initially predicted to impact the Atlantic coast somewhere between the Chesapeake and Long Island, it has slowly been shifted further and further off shore. This is due to the presence of a stationary front just off the coast that is steering the storm.

Friday, Oct 2: Stationary front runs from Florida to Nova Scotia

As of 5 PM this evening, the storm will stay well out to sea.

 

Predicted storm track at 5 PM Saturday.

Even so, the storm is throwing lots and lots of moisture on shore and it has been raining hard from Georgia to Boston for several days. And that will continue for a couple of more days before the storm moves far enough north. I saw a prediction that Columbia, South Carolina may end up with as much as 18 inches of rain before it's all over.

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The Mets...*sigh*...gotta love 'em. After clinching the NL East title and a place in the playoffs, they have been...well, horrible. They've dropped three to the Phillies on the road and one to the Nationals at home. (A second game will be played tonight and the final will be on Sunday afternoon, weather permitting.) A few players have been dinged up, some of the young pitchers are being sat down and "saved" for the playoffs and, frankly, they have been playing like they've got hangovers from the celebration or something. Snap out of it guys!

Good News!

Got the word today that the closing on the Bolt Hole went without a hitch and that the checks are in the mail. Along with no longer paying town and county taxes (spring), school and library taxes (fall), phone bill, electric bill, and insurance bill, I'll no longer have to worry about mowing the grass, maintenance, rebuilding the garage, repainting the barn and finishing the painting of the roof, or any of the myriad number of things a neglected piece of real estate really, really needs. Which is mainly some TLC.

Yeah, I'll miss it a little. But the extra $$$ and the time will free me up to make some additional trips in the travel trailer to places near and far.

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Did some further declutering today making a quick run to the dump with a few bags of assorted trash and half a dozen half empty paint cans. Still sorting through some of the stuff from Terry's Mom and the Bolt Hole. If I ever get around to doing inventory, I might have more stuff in my shop than Mr. Burns had in his hardware store when I worked there 50 years ago. (Some of it might be as old, too.)

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I was notified that the ATV--a Yamaha ProHauler--was repaired and ready for pickup. All, that is, except for the tail light cover which is backordered. Okay. I can't pick it up until Monday anyway, how 'bout if I call you Monday morning to see about that light cover? (I've no immediate need to use the Hauler, anyway. AND I've still got to clean out a spot for it in a cluttered garage!)

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Mets swept the Nationals in a three game series. They had to come from behind in all three games bit opened a 7 game lead in the NL East. Then they went and beat the Braves to make it a 7 1/2 game lead. Things are looking pretty good for some post-season play!

Oh! And the Jets and Giants open their NFL play on Sunday.

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My Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-0) will be playing the Washington State Cougars (0-1...they lost to he Portland State Vikings for crying out loud!) on Saturday at 3:30 PM EDT.

It will be interesting to see how the Scarlet fair in the running game (last week they had something like 280 yards on the ground) and who the quarterback will be. Both did well last week against Norfolk State, but the second half combo of Chris Laviano and receiver Leonte Carroo (three complete passes for 129 yards and three TDs) have earned Laviano this week's starting assignment.

Go R U!

******

[Added]
Almost forgot we harvest more acorn squash today. That brings the total to nine. Pretty good considering I didn't plant any. These are volunteers that grew in the compost heap from seeds dumped there last year. Guess I need to distribute the compost to the growing beds of the garden!

Tuesday Evening Ramble

Yesterday morning I wrote about how we were enjoying lovely weather at the Aerie with virtually no rain. Of course, it rained later in the afternoon and into the night. We ended up with 0.45 inches int he rain gauge, but since most of it was well after I had any desire to go outside...no worries!

***

Hydrotherapy today was a blast. The pool water wasn't as warm as I feared it might be so things were pretty comfortable on that side of the coin. The chest deep water provided buoyancy and resistance at the same time allowing me to do different exercises. I was disappointed that the session only lasted one hour. Oh well, I've another scheduled for next Tuesday. Thursday it will be back to the land based exercises.

***

I went into the garden again today. I harvested half a dozen Rutgers tomatoes and another gallon of cherry tomatoes. I tell ya, I can't eat my way out of this one. I'll probably go harvest some more tomorrow and turn them into tomato sauce. Never did this with cherry tomatoes but I've run out of suckers to give them to (Joe says he won't come up form Jersey Shore--140 mile round trip--just to save me from my killer tomatoes.) and I sure can't eat them all before they go bad. Tomorrow afternoon will be canning time.

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I read today that the Mets traded Marlon Byrd and John Buck to the Pirates the two of them have a total of 35 or 36 home runs for the Mets and have been bright spots in the Mets line-up. (Although Buck's production has fallen off considerably since his red hot start.) Both players are in their mid to late 30s and both are scheduled to become free agents after this season. The Mets were unlikely going to resign either of them since they have some prospects in both the catching and outfield positions so it was a good move for the team. As for the two players...they suddenly find themselves in the midst of a pennant race with the pirates only a half game out of first int he Central Division so they have got to be happy. The Pirates needed some punch from the outfield (Byrd) and a back-up catcher (Buck) so they're happy too. Here's hoping everybody prospers from this.

Another Lost Season in Flushing

That big "WHOOSH" heard earlier today was the sound of the Mets dreams going down the drain. Hopefully just for the remainder of 2013.

Jeez, nothing seems to be going right for the Mets this year. Injuries are part of the game but the New Yorkers have suffered what seems to be more than their fair share.

The latest is a partially torn UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in the pitching arm of 24-year old Matt Harvey. This is an injury that could require surgery (Tommy John surgery) but the Mets and Harvey will see if rest leads to repair. He is, however, through for the season.

The Mets had said they were going to shut him down once he reached 200 innings this year and Harvey has pitched 178 1/3 so were talking just about 22 innings lost—call it three starts. Obviously, that’s not a big deal. But the injury is. If rest doesn’t suffice and surgery is called for, the NL All-Start starter will probably miss all of the 2014 season. And there’s no guarantee that when he comes back he will be anything like he was earlier this year: 2.27 ERA (159 ERA+), 0.931 WHIP and 6.16 K/BB ratio. Just this last Saturday he went 6 2/3 innings, 0 walks, 4 Ks and gave up 2 ER while absorbing the loss in a 3-0 game against Detroit in which he faced AL All-Start starter Max Scherzer (19-1) who went 6 innings, 4 walks, 11 Ks and, of course, 0 ER.

The Mets will limp through September without David Wright (hamstring strain), without Matt Harvey, without closer Bobby Parnell (herniated disc in his neck) and, despite being professionals, probably without much enthusiasm.

History! In baseball.

The Mets had a no-hitter this evening. Johan Santana tossed it against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets won 8-0.

This is the first no-hitter the Mets have ever had. All those great pitchers they have had--Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Koosman, etc.--threw no-hitters after then left the Mets.

Talking Baseball...Are these the NY Mets?

If you had told me at the beginning of the season that the Mets would be 21-17 in the middle of May, I would have said you were crazy. Yet, after today's 9-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, that's is their record-- 21 wins and 17 loses. Still doesn't get them higher than third in the NL East--toughest division in baseball right now. (Washington and Atlanta are currently ahead of the Mets. Miami and Philly are right behind. Even the 5th place Phils are at .500!)

The Mets should be better than 21-17, though. The Mets' bullpen, to put it mildly, really sucks. They have blown more saves and frustrated more fans than you could imaging. Probably have caused a few TVs to get broken, too.

Why, just in the last five games, they have managed to seize defeat from the jaws of victory twice. Sunday in Miami the Mets led 4-2 going to the bottom of the 9th. First they yielded the tying runs, then loaded the bases only to see a rarity: a walk-off grand slam home run, ruin the day. Last night they lead 3-2 going into the top of the 8th at home against the Reds the bullpen needed to get six outs. The Mets lost 6-3 as the Reds scored 4 runs in the 8th.

The Mets are using that cardiac kid Frank Francisco as their closer. While he has 9 saves, he can probably be credited with giving Terry Collins as many heart attacks. Francisco coming into a one or two run game int he ninth inning is like tossing gasoline on an open fire and hooping it doesn't go BOOM! Even today, leading 9-4 he could NOT get three consecutive outs in the ninth. He got the first two men up on a blooper and a ground out, but then walked the third. All he has to do is throw strikes in that situation. Let the man put the ball in play. But, no, he has to give him a free pass. Luckily, the next batter proved over eager and grounded out to second on the first pitch.

So why are the Mets doing as well as they are? Second baseman Daniel Murphy is hitting .331; Mike Baxter, part time outfielder and pinch hitter extraordinaire, is hitting .364; Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who came up from Buffalo to play left field when Jason Bay broke a rib, is hitting .291; and David Wright, who struggled all of last season, is leading the major leagues with a .411 batting average. (In today's game Wright was 2-for-2 with three walks, three runs scored--including the tying run in the seventh--and the go ahead RBI in the eight. Oh, and he stole third, too.)

Will they continue to hit this well? I'd be surprised if the continue to have the third best BA in the National League (second in the NL East), but I'd be willing to see their hitting go down if their bullpen would start doing its freakin' job and hold/save the games when the team is ahead in the 8th and 9th innings. Until that happens, the late innings will be finger-nail biting time.

1-0 and 161 to play.

The Mets scored just one measly run today...but it was one more than the Braves! Santana pitched five good innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five. R. Ramierez got the win when the Mets scored in the bottom of the sixth. Frank Francisco got the save. Byrdak and Rausch had holds as the Mets pitchers limited the Braves to a total of four hits and three walks.

David Wright went 2-for-3 with a walk for the Mets and had the RBI.

The Mets have always had a remarkably good record on Opening Day--ever since 1962. It's the next 161 games they have trouble with.

[UPDATE: From CBSSPORTS.COM "Despite losing their first eight openers, the Mets improved to 33-18 on opening day -- the best in baseball." The Mets lost eight consecutive openers and since then they are 33-10. That's a 0.767 success ratio since 1970 and 0.647 over all. If they could maintain that 0.647 over the course of a 162 game season they would win 104-105 games. IF is a mighty big word for two letters.]

Wasted Opportunity

The Mets wasted an opportunity last night. They could have picked up a road win in Milwaukee as the Brewers just let the darn thing lay there for 8 innings as Johan Santana had his way with the hapless homies allowing just three hits in 8 innings of work. Unfortunately the road team (the Mets) acted like they didn't want the game either getting eight hits--six of them singles--off Yovanni Gallardo in nine innings.

Santana ran the Mets shutout innings to 35 (team record is 42 back in 1969) before reliever Ryota Igarashi, fresh off the DL, gave up a two-run, walk-off home run to Corey Hart in the bottom of the ninth. Final score: Brewers 2, Mets 0 (Details here.

The Mets still have the worst road record in the National League at 6-15 (the Orioles 6-20 is the worst in the majors) and the Brewers still have the worst home record (7-15) in baseball. They play again tonight.

Who are these guys?

So. The Phillies went into the big Citi to face the Mets in a three game set scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Mets were five (5) games back in last place in the NL East while the Phillies were in first place. (Since there are five teams in the NL East, it was kinda crowded!)

The Mets had 35 year-old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, a "new" Japanese immigrant (legal) in Hisanori Takahashi and big Mike Pelfrey going to the mound. They were backed up by a bullpen that has seen a huge number of innings of work in this young season.

Going into Tuesday’s games, the Mets bullpen had made 151 relief appearances, the most in the major leagues. And Manuel has used two setup men — the left-hander Pedro Feliciano and the right-hander Fernando Nieve — in 27 and 26 games, which placed them first and second in the National League in that category.

The Phillies lost all three games. Not just "lost" but they got shut out In. All. Three. Games. Each of the starting Mets pitchers went deep into the game (Dickey and Takahashi pitched through 6 innings while Pelfrey tossed 7 innings.) The "over worked" bullpen slammed the door in all three games as the Mets won 8-0, 5-0 and 3-0.

The current standings show the Mets in third place just 2 games back of the Phillies and 1/2 game behind the Braves. The Phillies are on the road against the Marlins while the Mets are playing at Milwaukee. The Mets have five (5) game win streak on the line but they have been terrible on the road. (They are 6-14 on the road vs 19-9 at Citi Field.) The Phillies are 13-10 at home and 13-10 on the road.

If the Mets really want to be contenders, they are going to have to pick up their game on the road. Tonight would be a good time to start. The Brewers are 19-28 and 8 1/2 games back in the NL Central. Better: They are just 6-15 at home. Even better: The Mets have Johan Santana pitching tonight.

LET'S GO METS!

Aerie Report, May 24, 2010

Not much to report on today. The weather was superb. Mostly sunny with a light breeze out of the south and temperatures ranging from 58 to 74 degrees. (The forecast had been for closer to 80 but the cloud cover which moved in between noon and 4 PM kept it down.) The humidity was high, however, and that meant plenty of early morning fog in the valleys and even an unpredicted spritz around 3 PM. Well, it was "unpredicted" but my taking the Tundra to the car wash probably made it inevitable.

Speaking of the Tundra, I spent an hour cleaning out the back seat and straightening things up. Discovered that somewhere along the way one of the bolts anchoring the rear seat belts had gone AWOL. Since I wanted to go do some shopping for auto fluids (transmission, brake, oil, etc.) anyway, I stopped at the hardware store to get a replacement. I was unable to get the matching bolt out so as to make my job of getting a replacement that much easier--and making the missing bolt that much more a mystery--so I had to sorta guess as to the size. First choice, a 7/16 by 3/4, was nearly the right diameter but the threads were too coarse. The second had almost the right threads but it still wouldn't fit. That's when I realized I needed a metric bolt. Luckily they had a few in stock and after trying a 12mm with a 20 thread, got the match I needed in a 10mm-20.

Off to Wally World for the fluids (cheaper there), a window squeegee, an extension cord (50' of 12 gauge), and some other odds and ends. Wally carries just about everything and it's not even a Super Store. Two items they did not have were road emergency reflectors (the triangle kind) and flares. I'm pretty sure I can get those from Auto Zone which is just down the block. If not, then NAPA should carry them. Gives me an second excuse to go down the hill tomorrow.

The first excuse? I stopped by the Allstate office because I realized our auto insurance bill will be due on July 31 and we will be somewhere in either the Yukon or British Columbia. While talking with our agent about how to make the payment, he suggested I go paperless and also have my payment made directly from the bank online--at a savings of almost 15% annually. Now I may be slow, but with three cars and a trailer on the insurance.... So tomorrow I go down with the checking account number in hand and we set up the account online.

While I was running around, Terry was making arrangements with the campground in Fairbanks (actually in North Pole) to have some prescription medications sent there for her. She's got enough on hand to get her to July 20th or so but will need her meds refilled to complete the trip.

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Before going out this afternoon, I built a little wattle fence along the back edge of the onion patch so as to discourage any wandering raccoon or bruin from walking through the plants. Yeah, it's a reaction rather than prevention at this point, but only a few look to have been bent over.

While working on the fence, I saw my first snake of the season. An 18" garter snake, it was sunning itself on one of the rocks that form the planting bed's wall. I felt sorry for the poor thing. Its was so dull and gray that its yellow stripes could barely be discerned and even the scales over its eyes were nearly opaque. Clearly, this was a snake in need of a sharp-edged stone so it could begin shedding its skin.

Speaking of critters, the robins nesting on the corner logs of the garage have hatched at least two chicks. I climbed up to do a check when I did a walk about this afternoon. Momma robin sat tight when I walked past but flew off when I stopped to look back. Since she had left the nest--to squawk at me from the trees--I felt it was okay to climb up and reach in to determine if there were eggs. I didn't feel any eggs but there were a couple of squirming little bodies down in the nest cup. Not wanting to disturb Momma too much, I climbed down and left without attempting to get an accurate count. There's most definitely two, possibly three, babies in the nest. I should be able to get a better count in less than a week when their big mouths will be up above the edge of the nest looking for the next worm.

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I would be derelict in my fan duties if I did not mention that the Mets took two out of three games over the weekend from the *ptui* Yankees. In the two games they won, Jason Bay--formerly of the Red Sox--went 4-for-4 (scoring 3 runs) and then 2-for-2 (both home runs). Is it any wonder he got plunked later in the second game? Sure, it was a 78 mph curve ball, but that only provided deniability to the Yankees. Face it. It was intentional. Hell, if it wasn't, it should have been! Bay's batting average is now up to .307 for the season.

Yeah, yeah. I know the Yanks are 26-18 and in second place in the AL East while the Mets are under .500 at 22-23 in fifth (last) place in the NL East. I would like to point out, however, that the Yanks are SIX (6) games out of first behind the Tampa Bay Rays, while the Mets are just FIVE (5) games behind the Phillies. (The Mets start a three game series against the Phillies Tuesday night in CITI Field.)

The Mets announced today that right-handed pitcher John Maine has tendinitis in his throwing shoulder and will be sidelined indefinitely. Maine threw just five pitches--walking the only batter he faced--in his last start on Thursday against the Nationals before he came out of the game when the pitching coach Dan Warthen and manager Jerry Manual saw something in his delivery they didn't like.

With Oliver Perez in the pull pen for the time being, two-fifths of the Mets' starting rotation has been shelved. Hisanori Takahashi and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will try to pick up the slack.

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Oh yeah: 15 days to go!

Mets lose. Weather still cold.

The Mets lost to the Giants today, 6-5. They fell behind 4-0 when starting pitcher Oliver Perez walked 7 and hit one while throwing 98 pitches in 3 1/3 innings. Way to go Ollie! (Actually, he only gave up two hits. The Giants were smart enough to not swing at the crap he was tossing up there. They got four more walks--and another hit batsman off the Mets relievers.)

The Mets actually came back to lead 5-4 in the seventh. They also got 10 hits on the day...which isn't that bad. Problem is that once they had men on base, they struck out--14 times including the last five outs of the game. That's way too many Ks.

The Mets' loss was the first in Citi Field since April 21. They had won ten straight at home. They get a chance to start a new streak tomorrow night when the square off against the Washington Nationals.

******

The 30-35 mph wind gusts whipped papers around the field and helped the winning home run )a two-run shot by Aaron Rowand) get over the fence in New York. The wind also blew a steady 20-25 mph here at the Aerie. And the sun never showed up until the stratus clouds started to show breaks around 4 PM. Those breaks weren't large or numerous until much later--around 7 PM they became cumulonimbus--but those gaps allowed enough sunlight through for the temperature to "jump" all the way up to 42 degrees.

Now that the sun is setting and the clouds have pretty much disappeared, I'm bracing for a very cold night. The record low according to weather.com is 25 degrees. They are forecasting 27 as tonight's low. Of course, they also said it might reach 50 degrees once the clouds cleared around noon....

More Mets than you care to watch.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal posted an article about the differences between Yankee fans and Mets fans. (Yankees Fans Are From Mars... by Sophia Hollander)

Among other things discussed was this:

Male Mets fans were 43% more likely than Yankees fans to drink beer. They also drink more in general: the percentage of male Yankees fans who said they don't drink was almost double that of their Mets counterparts (30% to 16%).

For a simple explanation as to why Mets fans drink more than Yankee fans one has only to look at the last five Mets games.

I mentioned (The Mets...*sigh*) the three game series in Cincinnati in which two of the three games went into extra innings and all three were decided in the final at bat of the winning team. (That is they went right down to the wire.)

Last night, the Giants came to Citi Field and took the Mets to bottom of the ninth tied 4-4 when catcher Rod Barajas hit a 2-run, walk-off home run to win the game. It was his second home run of the night. (He also hit a solo home run in the ninth inning of the middle game in Cincinnati--the only game the Mets won there. Barajas now has 9 home runs and 17 RBI for the season in just 82 at bats.)

Today, Barajas got the day off, in part because he got dinged on the hand in last night's game and performed his heroics with a hand he had trouble getting the batting glove on and off. His back-up is Henry Blanco. All Blanco did was go 3 for 5 including a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to win the game.

So that's five (5) consecutive games in which the score was tied in the ninth inning and three of the five went into extra innings. Is it any wonder that the Mets fans drink a little more?

It's also five consecutive games in which the starting pitcher did not figure in the decision--even though they may have left the game with the Mets ahead. They probably are drinking a bit more now as well.

The Mets...*sigh*

After getting the tar knocked out of them in Philly, I was hopeful that the Mets could right the boat in Cincinnati. Right!

In three games, not one starting pitcher for either side figured in a decision. Each game of the three was decided in the winning team's final at bat. Two of the three games went into extra innings. The deciding hit in all three games was a solo home run. The two teams hit 11 home runs--all solo shots--in the three games. Unfortunately for the Mets, those two extra inning games ended in walk-off home runs by Nix and Cabrera for the Reds. The Mets did win the middle game 5-4 when Barajas hit a ninth inning home run.

The result is a 15-13 record and a drop in the standings to third, 1 game back of the Phillies who are in St. Louis tonight.

The Mets limp home to a three game series against the Giants (Friday thru Sunday) and another against the Nationals (Monday thru Wednesday).

Talkin' Baseball

I've been trying to get to my inner happy place after the debacle of this weekend and after a pleasant meal at the Wellsboro House with my one and only, I think I've gotten sufficiently mellowed so as to write a few words about IT.

I am speaking of course about the utter destruction of the Mets by the Phillies on Saturday and Sunday. After cruising to a 9-1 victory behind Jon Niese's pitching Friday night, things looked pretty good for the Mets. They had Mike Pelfrey on the mound on Saturday and he had a fantastic month of April with a 4-0 record and a save while racking up a 0.69 ERA. Sure, Pelfrey was going against the Phillies' ace, Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, but the Mets were on a roll, having won nine consecutive games.

So Saturday, May 1, sees Pelf get rocked for six earned runs in just four innings while Halladay gives up just three hits on his way to a 10-0 shutout victory. Okay, the Mets are still in first place and they have Johan Santana, Mets' ace, going on Sunday against 42 year-old Jamie Moyer.

The Mets' David Wright hits a three-run shot in the top of the first to get things rolling on Sunday night. But then Santana gives two of them back on solo shots in the bottom of the first. The Mets get those two back in the top of the fourth inning on a home run by Barajas. Santana get s the first two men in the bottom of the fourth and then his world implodes. Nine runs later his night is through and he's sitting on the bench watching Takahashi finish the Phillies in the fourth. Final score: Mets 5, Phillies 11.

And now the Mets are 1/2 game back going into tonight's games.

*sigh*

Well, it's still just May 3rd and there's lots of baseball to be played.

First Place MetsSounds good!

First Place Mets

Yeah, sounds very, very good. And I don't really care how early in the season it is. People were writing them off after the first week and a half. But now.... Now they have won 9 out of 10 games on the just completed home stand. The swept the Braves and the Dodgers (7-3 today--sorry Gene) and lost only one to the Cubs in a four game series.


Mets rolling along while causing confusion

After a 3-7 start that had people talking about everything from firing the manager to imploding Citi Field--and the team with it, the Mets are now 13 and 9 with a 1/2 game lead over the Second Place Phillies (12-9).

Can they keep it going? We'll soon see as they hit the road for six games. First they go off to Philly to face the Second Place Phillies (I love saying that: "Second Place Philies") for a three game weekend series and then on to Cincinnati for three against the Reds. If they can win four of the six--they are currently 2-4 on the road--things will definitely be looking bright in Flushing.

Aerie Report, April 27, 2010

Not much to say today. The weather at the Aerie has been changing more swiftly than a hummingbird darting about the flower patch. At 7 AM we had strong winds out of the north northwest and mostly clear skies. Sure, the temperature was only 39 and falling (got down to 37 at 9 AM) but the day held promise...for about half an hour. Then the clouds rolled in--the reason the temperatures continued to fall through 9 AM. Then the clouds started spitting snow and sleet. At least it wasn't hail.

The snow/sleet didn't amount to anything but it sure made things raw and chilly. That's why I built a fire. Only had to reload the fireplace once before the clouds got the message and disappeared. The sun shone all afternoon with nary a cloud to block it and the outside temperature did rise--to 46 degrees. Luckily, the heat from the fireplace and the sun shining through the windows late in the day made the house nice and toasty as well as dry.

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Terry went swimming again today after Curves. The coach says she's doing really well now that she's got herself a pair of goggles and doesn't worry about getting her face wet. Now she wants some ear plugs because of her childhood fear of earaches. She keeps it up she's going to look like an Olympic swimmer.

Today she was practicing the freestyle and trying to get the breathing down while going the length of the pool. She says she can notice a difference in her stamina as she can pretty much go the entire distance nonstop. She still has to learn how to float. I've tried to convince her that it's not about keeping your toes above the water and that a "dead man's float" wherein you keep your back arched, toes down and head back so just your face is above the water is the way to save energy. We had to do 15 minutes of that every time we got into the pool at Rutgers for gym class. Add a life vest and you can float all day like that.

I'm glad she's getting swimming lessons and seems to be improving as much as she says she is. Whenever we go a motel/campground with a pool, she's always held back and remained in the shallow end. Mow, perhaps, she'll be able to enjoy the water a bit more.

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The Mets-Dodgers game got rained out last night so they are playing a true double header today. The Mets took the first game 4-0 which gives them five in a row and eight (8) wins in their last ten games.

In the nightcap, the Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first but have given it all back in the fourth as the Dodgers batted around and scored three of their own off Oliver Perez who is now out of the game.

The Mets offense has not been their strong suit in the current streak. They've been picking and scratching fro most of their runs. The guys who are supposed to be the big RBI guys haven't been. They need to ramp things up a bit at the plate. Walks may set the table but it's hits that will drive them in.

UPDATE: Mets 10, Dodgers 5 in the nightcap. David Wright went 3-for-3 with a pair of singles and a triple. He drove in 4 runs. Ike Davis, whose call-up to the big club seems to have spurred the Mets' resurgence, was 1-for-2 in the game with 3 RBI.

Break up the Mets!

The Amazin's have won two straight against the Cubbies.

Last night's victory came on and Angel Pagan 2-run homer in the 8th that put the Mets ahead 3-1. (They would win 4-1 after Ike Davis--appearing in his first major league game at first base--got his second hit and drove in a run--also in the 8th.) Jon Niese pitched well but didn't get the win when Nieve allowed an inherited runner to score.

Tonight they won 4-0 behind outstanding pitching by Mike Pelfrey and the resurrection of Jose Reyes (a two-RBI triple in the second inning and 4-for-5 for the night). The gravy came on a pinch-hit home run by Fernando Tatis with Ike Davis on first--again in the 8th inning.

Now, if David Wright and Jason Bay would only join the party....

Mets 2-1 in Seven, long hours and 20 innings.

It took nearly 7 hours, 20 innings and almost every player on both sides but the Mets finally succeeded in winning a game that went more than 20 innings. They outlasted the Cardinals last night in a 2-1 contest. As to be expected in such a game weird things happened as players played where they never had before in a major league game.

Alex Cora of the Mets, usually a shortstop, filled in at first base for an inning or two and made a fantastic catch of a foul ball as he fell into the stands. John Maine, Sunday night's starting pitcher for the Mets, came in as a pinch runner. Another member of the pitching rotation, Oliver Perez came out on deck to pinch hit at one point but never got into the game. Starter Jonathon Niese did come in to pinch hit. And starter Mike Pelfrey came entered the bottom of the 20th in relief and got the save.

For the Cards, Kyle Lohse, usually a starting pitcher, played left field for three innings. Filipe Lopez, who hit a grand slam for all the Cardinal runs in Friday night's 4-3 win, started at short, moved to third, pitched one inning (the 18th) and then went back to third base. Joe Mather pinch hit in the 10th inning and then stayed around to play center, third base, and then pitch the final two innings absorbing the loss.

There were many players on both sides that played all 20 innings, but the one that stands out in my mind is Yadier Molina who caught all 20 innings for the Cardinals. He and home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor deserve a day off.

Take a gander at this box score.

The hitters' batting averages certainly did not improve much in this one, but the pitchers' ERAs plummeted as well--and that's a good thing.

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The Mets have played in some of the longest games in baseball history--and usually ended up holding the short end of the stick. They have lost games that went 23, 24 and 25 innings.

They lost to the Giants 8-6 in 23 innings at Shea on May 31, 1964--the second game of a double header!!

Then the Astros beat them 1-0 in a 24-innings on April 15, 1968, at the Houston Astrodome.

They dropped a 4-3 contest to the St. Louis Cardinals on September 11, 1974, at Shea Stadium after seven hours four minutes, and 25 innings. A game that also tied for the longest game played to a decision in major league history. That game ended at 3:13 AM ET.

Finally!

It's finally final! Mets 2, Cards 1 in 20 innings! It's now 11:10 PM. I'll write more tomorrow. Good night.