Friday Morning Applesauce: Mets swept, Hanley has surgery, Pelfrey sets his sights high

In what's becoming a very familiar way to start the Applesauce, the Mets played a baseball game last night which they lost in embarrassing fashion. The loss completes the Nats' first ever four game sweep at Citifield, and Terry Collins was not at all pleased with the way the team played. It's certainly worth noting that Chris Schwinden was much better this time around than he was against the Braves. Also on the positive side of things, struggling down the home stretch this season may really benefit the club come June's draft, as they would pick 12th if the season ended today with their first round pick being protected (likely unnecessarily).  

The Mets do have some personal goals as the season winds down. Mike Pelfrey has set the bar high for himself, wanting to raise his batting average over .100 by seasons end. I realized we didn't have much in the way of hitting pitchers, but I had no idea it was this bad.

In a year where we almost managed to avoid a PR nightmare, hat-gate just won't seem to go away. FanGraphs did a nice job summing it all up in case you missed it. In positive Mets news, their other endevour this week seems to have turned out very well.

Over at Tedquarters, Ted took a break from Taco Bell related posts to interview Davey Johnson.

After the Nats swept us in our own house, Patrick Flood wonders whether or not we can finish ahead of them next season. I have to agree with him that next season isn't likely to be a huge improvement over this one, but it will sure be nice to have some legitimate pitching prospects knocking on the door of the majors by season's end.

Around the NL East:

The Phillies played two against the Marlins due to Irene yesterday. They managed to win the first by a 3-1 scoreline before taking the second in extras. The day only got worse for the Fish, as Hanley Ramirez underwent a surgical procedure that could see him miss the start of next season.

Around MLB:

The Giants managed to ride the high of Carlos Beltran's 300th HR by winning again. The notable event in this game was certainly Pablo Sandoval hitting for the cycle.

The only real race for a playoff spot got a little tighter last night. The surging Rays beat the struggling Red Sox again to close the gap in the wild card to only three games. I really hope this stays a close race, as the end of the season is shaping up to be very uneventful otherwise.