Bartolo recognized for home run.

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Bartolo Colon was recognized by the Guinness World Records before tonight’s game, for becoming the oldest player in major league history to hit his first major league home run at the tender age of 42 years and 349 days. Colon had accomplished the feat back on May 7th at San Diego off of Padres pitcher James Shields. Colon is having an exceptional year thus far as he went 2-0 to earn co-NL Player of the Week honors for the week of May 2-7. He also passed Pedro Martinez for the second-most wins by a Dominican-born pitcher on May 3rd. Congratulations to Big Sexy!

Matz start pushed back and Wheeler on target for return.

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General Manager Sandy Alderson revealed some good news regarding two of the Mets young aces prior to tonight’s game.

Left-hander Steven Matz’s left elbow/forearm was deemed structurally sound, as tests revealed no ligament damage after visiting doctors at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York yesterday. Matz received a cortisone injection by doctors and is expected to throw a bullpen session tomorrow, with his next start coming on Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. Matz originally felt discomfort in his left arm last week and had his start skipped on Saturday as a precaution. Matz was originally scheduled to start this Thursday as well, but his start will be pushed back a day to give him extra time to heal. All in all it’s great news for Matz, as any injury revolving around the elbow or forearm of the pitching arm is usually never good news. Matz and the Mets have avoided any serious injury that may have been in the back of everyone person’s mind leading up to today. Hopefully the long layoff does not throw Matz off his recent groove, as he had ten days between his last spring training start and his first start of the regular season in April and we saw how that ended.

Zack Wheeler also is still scheduled to make his season debut on July 1st for the Mets, despite having a procedure in April to remove a stitch that never dissolved in his surgically repaired elbow. Alderson believes that Wheeler can’t afford to have any other setbacks in his schedule to make the July 1st date, but the way things are looking right now he’s on the right track.

 

David Wright and Lucas Duda sitting with injuries tonight

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Third baseman David Wright was scratched from tonight’s lineup due to his back flaring up on him prior to tonight’s game. The Mets and Wright both hope this isn’t anything serious and something that will keep him out of the lineup multiple days. Recent call-up Matt Reynolds is starting at third base and hitting ninth for the Mets tonight.

Lucas Duda is also not in tonight’s lineup due to having a stiff back, that originally became an issue over the weekend in Colorado. Duda received an anti-inflamatory injection during yesterday’s day off and his condition seems to be day-to-day according to manager Terry Collins. Speaking to reporters prior to tonight’s game Collins had the following to say regarding Duda’s back…

“Lucas complained of a pretty stiff back at the end of the weekend,” Collins stated prior to Tuesday night’s game. “He was examined yesterday, was given some medication and a shot. He’s pretty sore today. So he and I talked a while ago. It’s just not worth the risk with the weather the way it’s going to be tonight. It looks like it’s going to be kind of damp and cool. … I just said with Gio pitching tomorrow, he’d probably have that day off anyway, so let’s just use yesterday, today and tomorrow and see if we can clean that back up so he’s healthier.”

Eric Campbell is starting at first base tonight, and hitting sixth. The Mets will be shorthanded once again on their bench tonight with the recent injuries. We will keep our fingers crossed that the game does not come down to the shortened bench the Mets are playing with, and it comes down to the players that are eligible to play tonight. It’s tough to play your biggest division rival shorthanded but we must remember it’s still the middle of May and health trumps everything at this point.

Lineups & Game Notes: Nationals vs. Mets

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Washington Nationals (23-15):

1. Ben Revere (L) CF
2. Jayson Werth (R) LF
3. Bryce Harper (L) RF
4. Daniel Murphy (L) 2B
5. Ryan Zimmerman (R) 1B
6. Anthony Rendon (R) 3B
7. Wilson Ramos (R) C
8. Danny Espinosa (S) SS
9. Max Scherzer (R) P

SP: Max Scherzer RHP (4-2, 4.15 ERA)

New York Mets (21-16):

1. Curtis Granderson (L) RF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS
3. Michael Conforto (L) LF
4. Yoenis Cespedes (R) CF
5. Neil Walker (S) 2B
6. Eric Campbell (R) 1B
7. Kevin Plawecki (R) C
8. Noah Syndergaard (L) P
9. Matt Reynolds (R) 3B

SP: Noah Syndergaard RHP (3-2, 2.53 ERA)

Tonight’s game can be seen on SNY & MLB Network.

Game Notes:

NATIONALS-METS NOTES: The Mets are 6-14 vs. Washington at Citi Field since 2014… Tonight is the first of 19 match-ups between the Nationals and Mets (10 at Citi Field, nine at Nationals Park)… New York went 11-8 vs. Washington last year, including going 8-3 over the final 11 games between the two clubs…The Mets went 5-5 vs. the Nats at Citi Field in 2015.

BACK IN THE BIG APPLE: The Mets begin a six-game homestand tonight… New York will play 12 of its next 15 games at home…The Mets are 9-6 at home this year…New York was 49-32 at home in 2015.

HOMER HAPPY: The Mets have 53 home runs through their first 37 games, which is the most in team history after 37 games…New York did not reach 53 home runs until its 62nd game last year (June 12)…Overall, the Mets are fourth in the major leagues in home runs….The Mets are 17-6 when they hit a homer.

ONE YEAR AGO: Syndergaard made his Citi Field debut one year ago today (May 17, 2015 vs. Milwaukee)…He earned his first major league win, allowing one run over 6.0 innings… Syndergaard is 7-3 with a 2.70 ERA (31 earned runs/103.1 innings) with 113 strikeouts in 15 career starts at Citi Field.

SCORE MORE WIN MORE: The Mets are 18-3 when scoring four or more runs and 3-13 when scoring three runs or less.

FLAMETHROWER: According to FanGraphs, Syndergaard averages the fastest fastball (97.9), slider (91.6) and change-up (89.9) this year.

THOR VS. WASHINGTON: Has made three starts against the Nationals…Is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA (four earned runs/20.0 innings pitched) against Washington…Struck out 23 and walked six…His 1.80 ERA versus the Nationals is his second best versus any opponent in which he has faced more than once, trailing the Phillies (1.40 ERA)…Has two career starts at home versus the Nationals in which he is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA (three earned runs/15.0 innings pitched) he struck out 19 and walked one.

BE THE MENACE TO MR. WILSON: Nationals Catcher Wilson Ramos has a .308/.325/.544  line with 10 HR’S and 42 RBI’s in 51 games played against the Mets..Ramos has more HR’s and RBI’s against the Mets which is his most  against any opponent in baseball…Has  13 doubles against Mets, his most against any other club in baseball…Ramos has scored more runs against the Mets with 22, than against any other MLB team…99 total bases against Mets, his most against any opponent.

FRENEMY: The Mets will welcome Daniel Murphy back to Citi Field for the first time since signing a 3-year $37.5 million contract with the Washington Nationals in the offseason…The Mets selected Murphy out of Jacksonville in the 13th round (394th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft…Made his Major League debut with the Mets back on August 1, 2008…Murphy holds a career .288/.331/.424 line in seven seasons as a member of the New York Mets…The 31-year old second baseman collected his 1,000th career hit on May 2nd 2016 against the Kansas City Royals.

METS VS. SCHERZER: Max Scherzer went 1-2 with a 1.82 ERA (six earned runs/29.2 innings) in four starts vs. New York last year… The former Cy Young Award winner is 3-2 with a 2.23 ERA (12 earned runs/48.1 innings) in eight games, seven starts during his career vs. the Mets…Notable Mets numbers against Scherzer are provided below…

  • Neil Walker: .333 (3-9, 2 HR, 3 RBI)
  • Curtis Granderson: .304 (7-23, 3 2B, 1 HR)
  • Yoenis Cespedes: .333 (3-9, 1 2B, 1 HR)
  • Michael Conforto: .167 (1-6, 1 HR, 1 RBI)
  • Asdrubal Cabrera: .223 (12-45, 4 2B, 1 HR)

Mets Tidbits

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  • Steven Matz has received “good news” meeting with doctors today about his left elbow/forearm in New York. While the Mets won’t officially announce Matz’s diagnosis until tomorrow, it is certainly welcoming news to everyone as Matz has no ligament issues with the left arm. It’s still unlikely that Matz will make his next scheduled start against the Nationals on Thursday night, as I believe the Mets will not push him until he is ready. Matz could possibly have his start pushed back to this weekend and face the Milwaukee Brewers at home. We will know more tomorrow when the team makes his condition public.
  • It is being reported by ESPN’S Adam Rubin that the Mets are likely to call up infielder Mark Reynolds from AAA Las Vegas, for tomorrow night’s ball game against the Washington Nationals. It is unknown who is likely to be sent down, but if Steven Matz is able to make a start this week, in all likelihood Sean Gilmartin would be sent back down. Reynolds has spent time at second base, shortstop, and third base at AAA Las Vegas and was hitting .238 with two homers and 10 RBIs.
  • Yoenis Cespedes revealed in an interesting story on ESPN.com, that he wasn’t as close to signing with the Washington Nationals this past offseason as many made it seem.“I was never close to signing with the Nationals,” Cespedes stated to ESPN.com. “From the start I was pushing my agent because I wanted to come back to the Mets.”It’s another storyline to add on the eve of the first meeting between the division rivals who are scheduled to meet tomorrow night. Cespedes ultimately signed a three-year $75 million contract with the Mets despite rumblings that the Nationals were interested in his services. Cespedes does have a opt-out clause after this season however which is something we can discuss later in November.

Final Recap: Rockies 4 – Mets 3

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The Colorado Rockies (19-18) defeated the New York Mets (21-16) this afternoon to complete the sweep by the final score of 4-3. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2016_05_15_nynmlb_colmlb_1#game=2016_05_15_nynmlb_colmlb_1,game_tab=box,game_state=Wrapup

Game Notes:

  • Jacob deGrom pitched a solid game this afternoon pitching 6.1 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits. DeGrom walked 3 and struck out 3. DeGrom also had an RBI single.
  • Jim Henderson was charged with the loss after allowing a 2-run home run to pinch hitter Ryan Raburn in the bottom of the 7th.
  • Yoenis Cespedes was 1-3 with a solo HR.
  • Eric Campbell was 2-3 with a double and a run scored.
  • Michael Conforto was 1-3 with an RBI single.
  • The Mets suffered their first sweep of the season, and their first sweep in Colorado since April 16-18 2013.

This was a bitter loss to end a tough road trip for the New York Mets. It’s hard not to argue that the umpires played a pivotal role once again in today’s loss, as second base umpire Rob Drake made an absolutely awful call in the top of the eighth inning on the basepaths. As Juan Lagares was advancing from second base to third on a Lucas Duda groundball, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado missed a tag on Lagares and threw to first base for the out. Shortly after the play second base umpire Rob Drake immediately called Juan Lagares out for running outside the baseline. On many replays, Lagares appeared to be completely inside of the baseline, and third base umpire Carlos Torres had also immediately called Lagares safe after Arenado’s missed tag, as he was in front of the play. It was another bad missed call by the umpires as it robbed the Mets of an opportunity to have runners on third and second base with two outs, and Neil Walker coming to the plate to potentially tie or take the lead. Manager Terry Collins simply came out of the dugout to understand the situation but did not argue any further. 

The Mets bullpen, which has been very reliable, coughed up today’s lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Jacob deGrom had put Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu on base with a walk, he struck out catcher Dustin Garneau but also threw a wild pitch that advanced LeMahieu to second base. Terry Collins decided to pull deGrom after that at-bat with 102 pitches and allow Jim Henderson who was pitching on back-to-back days to get out of the jam. After throwing two balls, Raburn ripped the next Henderson pitch over the right center field wall and that was all she wrote. Henderson has struggled on back-to-back outings this season, and you wonder if that will play into Henderson’s usage down the line. The Mets also drop to 21-1 this season when leading after seven innings, which displays how dominant the bullpen has been this season. 

The Mets completed their season-high eleven game road trip with a 4-7 record. It was a tough go of it, especially in Colorado, but the Mets will have a day off tomorrow to recharge before the Washington Nationals come to town, in what is sure to be the first of many intense games between both clubs this season. I am looking forward to this series and it will be very interesting to see if the Mets continue the recent trend of walking Bryce Harper and not giving him much to hit around the strike zone. The Nationals have struggled since this strategy has been implemented over the last ten days, so it will be one of many things to watch this upcoming series. 

  • The Mets have a off-day tomorrow before squaring up with the Washington Nationals for three games beginning on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm et and can be seen on SNY and MLB Network.
  • Noah Syndergaard (1-2, 3.66 ERA) will take the hill after his two home run performance last Wednesday night, and face Nationals ace Max Scherzer (4-2, 4.15 ERA) who is coming off his historic twenty strikeout performance.

Lineups & Game Notes: Mets vs. Rockies 4:10 pm et.

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New York Mets (21-15):

1. Alejandro De Aza (L) RF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS
3. Michael Conforto (L) LF
4. Yoenis Cespedes (R) CF
5. Lucas Duda (L) 1B
6. Neil Walker (S) 2B
7. Kevin Plawecki (R) C
8. Eric Campbell (R) 3B
9. Jacob deGrom (L) P

SP: Jacob deGrom RHP (3-1, 2.12 ERA)

Colorado Rockies (18-18):

1. Charlie Blackmon (L) CF
2. Trevor Story (R) SS
3. Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
4. Gerardo Parra (L) LF
5. Carlos Gonzalez (L) RF
6. Mark Reynolds (R) 1B
7. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B
8. Dustin Garneau (R) C
9. Tyler Chatwood (R) P

SP: Tyler Chatwood RHP (4-3, 3.09 ERA)

Today’s game can be seen on SNY.

Game Notes:

METS-ROCKIES NOTES: The Mets are 9-17 at Coors Field since 2009.

 

17 STRAIGHT: The Mets are 4-6 on their season-high 11- game road trip (2-2 in San Diego, 2-2 in Los Angeles and 0-2 in Colorado)…Overall, the Mets are 12-9 on the road…Today ends a stretch of 17 consecutive games…The Mets are 8-8 during that span so far…The Mets have lost three in a row.

ROAD TRIPPIN’: New York has hit .211 (70-331) with 12 homers and scored 29 runs over the first 10 games of this road trip (2.9 runs per game)…The pitching staff has posted a 3.93 ERA (37 earned runs/84.2 innings) during the trip.

AVOIDING THE BROOMS: After dropping the first two games of this series, the Mets will look to avoid being swept in Colorado for the first time since April 16-18, 2013…The Mets have not been swept this year.

STREAK SNAPPED: This series also snapped a streak of eight straight undefeated series for the Mets…Prior to this series, the last series the club lost was April 11-13 vs. Miami, going 6-0-2…The Mets are now 3-1-3 in road series.

deGROM VS. COLORADO: DeGrom is 2-0 in two career starts against Colorado…He has not allowed a run in 15.0 innings with 19 strikeouts…DeGrom will be making his first career start at Coors Field.

deGROM in deDAY: Jacob deGrom is 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA (19 earned runs/136.1 innings) in 21 career daytime starts…That is the best daytime ERA among qualified major league pitchers over the last three years…It is also the best daytime ERA for any pitcher in his first three seasons in the last 100 years (min. 100 daytime IP).

LOVE THE SUNSHINE: The Mets are 8-3 in day games, including 4-1 on the road this year.

SCORING SUCCESS: The Mets are 18-3 when scoring four or more runs and 3-12 when scoring three runs or less.

TOP FLIGHT PEN: New York’s bullpen tossed 5.1 scoreless innings last night…The Mets lead the NL and rank second in the majors with a 2.39 ERA (28 earned runs/105.1 innings)…The pen’s strikeout-to-walk rate is 3.69 ranking third in the majors.

METS VS. CHATWOOD: Tyler Chatwood has made three starts in his career against the Mets and holds a 1-0 record with a 0.56 ERA (1 ER/16 innings pitched)…Chatwood has struck out nine and walked ten…Notable numbers for Mets hitters against Chatwood are provided below…

  • Asdrubal Cabrera: .250 (1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI)
  • Curtis Granderson: .333 (1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI)
  • Juan Lagares: .333 (1-3, 1 K)
  • David Wright: .500 (1-2)
  • Lucas Duda: .000 (0-1)

What has happened the past two days?

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It has been a tough two games in Colorado for the Mets and Mets fans alike. The Mets are now sitting in third place behind the Nationals and the Phillies in the blink of an eye. A few things have not gone right for the Mets to get us to this point.  Continue reading →

Lineups & Game Notes: Rockies vs. Mets 8:40 pm et.

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New York Mets (21-13):

1. Curtis Granderson (L) RF
2. David Wright (R) 3B
3. Michael Conforto (L) LF
4. Yoenis Cespedes (R) CF
5. Lucas Duda (L) 1B
6. Neil Walker (S) 2B
7. Asdrubal Cabrera (S) SS
8. Kevin Plawecki (R) C
9. Matt Harvey (R) P

SP: Matt Harvey RHP (3-2, 4.50 ERA)

Colorado Rockies (16-18):

1. Charlie Blackmon (L) CF
2. Trevor Story (R) SS
3. Carlos Gonzalez (L) RF
4. Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
5. Gerardo Parra (L) LF
6. Mark Reynolds (R) 1B
7. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B
8. Tony Wolters (L) C
9. Jon Gray (R) P

SP: Jon Gray RHP (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

Tonight’s game can be seen on SNY.

Game Notes:

METS AT COORS: Despite winning four straight, the Mets are 9-15 at Coors Field since 2009.

METS VS. ROCKIES: The Mets have won 11 straight games vs. Colorado dating to May 4, 2014…This streak is tied for the second-longest vs. any one team in franchise history… The Mets have won four straight in Colorado…The Mets have won 15 of their last 18 meetings vs. the Rockies.

LAST YEAR VS. COLORADO: The Mets went 7-0 vs. the Rockies in 2015, outscoring them 56-24…New York collected 25 doubles and hit 11 home runs in the seven games.

 

ON THE ROAD: The Mets are 4-4 on their season-high 11-game road trip (2-2 in San Diego and 2-2 in Los Angeles)… Overall, the Mets are 12-7 on the road…The .632 road winning percentage is the fifth-best in the majors.

YO BEER MAN: Yoenis Cespedes hit .313 (10-32) with two doubles, four home runs and 10 RBI in seven games vs. Colorado last season, including a three-homer game on August 21 at Coors Field.

HITTERS BEWARE: The Mets rank second in the majors with a 2.86 team ERA…New York has allowed 22 homers, tied for the fewest in the majors…The staff is fifth in the majors with 303 strikeouts.

PEN PALS: New York’s bullpen leads the NL and ranks third in the majors with a 2.58 ERA (28 earned runs/97.2 innings)…The pen has 29 holds, the most in the majors.

JEURYS LOOKING FAMILIA: Jeurys Familia is second in the majors with 12 saves…He is 12-for-12 in save opportunities…Five of his last eight outings have been 1-2-3 innings.

PITCHERS WHO RAKE: According to Elias, the Mets became the first team since the 1963 Washington Senators to have five extra-base hits by pitchers over a five-game span (May 7-11)…This is the first time that two different pitchers (Bartolo Colon and Noah Syndergaard) have hit home runs in the same calendar month in team history.

HAPPY HARVEY DAY: Matt Harvey is 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA (one earned run/23.0 innings pitched) in three careers starts vs. Colorado…Harvey has struck out 19 and walked two…His 0.39 ERA against Colorado is the lowest against any opponent (minimum three starts)…He enters tonight’s game with a 19 inning scoreless streak against the Rockies dating to his first start against them on August 22, 2012…He will be making his first career start at Coors Field…Harvey is 3-1 with a 3.57 ERA (nine earned runs/22.2 innings) over his last four starts.

DO THE MATH: The Mets have hit 51 homers and allowed 22 for a +29 home run differential, the best in the majors…Baltimore is second at +27 (49-22) and St. Louis is third at +19 (51-32).

METS VS. GRAY: Jon Gray has made two career starts against the Mets and is 0-0 with a 9.39 ERA (8 ER IN 7.2 innings)…The 24 year old right-hander has struck out five and walked three…Gray’s inflated ERA against the Mets is due to the Mets scoring seven runs on eight hits in 1.2 innings back on August 21 2015 at Coors Field against Gray…Gray was selected in the first round with the third overall pick by the Colorado Rockies back in the 2013 MLB Draft out of the University of Oklahoma…Notable Mets numbers against Gray are provided below…

  • Yoenis Cespedes: .400 (2-5, 1 HR, 4 RBI)
  • David Wright: .250 (1-4, 1 BB, 2 K)
  • Lucas Duda: .200 (1-5, 1 RBI, 1 K)
  • Curtis Granderson: .200 (1-5, 1 RBI, 1 K)
  • Michael Conforto: .000 (0-2, 1 BB, 1 K)

Mets news & notes from last night’s ballgame.

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New York Mets starting pitcher Bartolo Colon wipes his face as he walks off the field after giving up four runs to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Thursday, May 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Last night the New York Mets fell victim to the Clayton Kershaw Express as he blanked the Mets in a complete game shutout while only allowing three hits and striking out 13. Continue reading →