No Surprises Here Applesauce: Pelfrey Throws Another Very Mike Pelfrey-like Outing, Bullpen Pitches Like Mets Bullpen, Mets Lose Like Mets Have Lost Previously

Go ahead and indulge me for a second and just imagine the most Mike Pelfrey-ish start that you could imagine. Then add in an incredibly surprising Mike Pelfrey RBI double that managed to land on the warning track. Now, look at Tuesday night's box score. Was that similar to what you imagined? Mike Pelfrey was frustratingly Mike Pelfrey-ish on Tuesday evening, just as the Mets bullpen was frustratingly Mets bullpen-ish and in the end, the Mets fell to the Cardinals 11-6 in St. Louis. The game looked promising at the start with the Mets jumping out to a 4-0 lead but Pelfrey gave it all back by the end of the 5th inning. In the top of the seventh, the Mets tallied a run on an Angel Pagan bases loaded walk to take back the lead but unfortunately, the good vibes didn't last as the dreaded trio of Josh Stinson, Tim Byrdak and D.J. Carrasco allowed a six pack of runs to cross the plate in an ugly Mets bullpen-ish implosion.

Choose Your Recap: ESPN New York, New York Times, MLB.com, Associated Press, Newark Star-Ledger

Game two of this three game set with the Cardinals begins at 8:15 PM and will feature Chris Schwinden on the hill making his third big league start. He will oppose lefty Jaime Garcia for the Cardinals.

During the third inning of Tuesday's game, Sandy Alderson stopped by the booth and spoke about a number of issues including the closer situation and the walls at Citi Field. Sandy elaborated on possible changes to the cavernous stadium's walls with the team's beat reporters after the game. Here's the full transcript of his post-game interview.

R.A. Dickey was the steal of the 2011 offseason. But you probably knew that already.

Johan Santana is scheduled to pitch in a pair of games in the Mets minor league instructional camp in early October. That's progress, at least. Jason Isringhausen is going to miss the Cardinals series due to his injury. Finally, don't freak out but Reese Havens has pulled out of the Arizona Fall League but not due to injury (well, it kind of relates but not really). Havens will instead use the offseason to rest his back and to build up some of the 20 pounds that he lost during the season.

Over at ESPN New York, Mark Simon takes an in-depth look at Bobby Parnell's season and how that correlates to his recent struggles on the mound.

SNY's Patrick Flood pens a really interesting piece on the names of some sabermetric statistics and why he thinks some of the stats are able to catch on with the general public and why others do not catch on.

Wally Backman is back on the bench with the big league team and spoke about some of his players at Binghamton, including some of the big name pitching prospects.

Around the NL East

Randall Delgado threw five shutout innings as the Braves beat the Marlins 5-0, keeping them 2.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. In Marlins news, what is allegedly the new Miami Marlins logo was leaked and let's just say this thing is pretty awful if that really is it. Oh Jeffrey Loria, why do you do the things you do?

The Nationals swept a day-night doubleheader from the Phillies, winning 4-3 in 10 innings in the day game and then 3-0 in the night game.

Around the Majors

The Red Sox fell to the Orioles again, this time by a 7-5 score. They were up 5-4 in the 8th but Jonathan Papelbon allowed a three run double to Robert Andino. Luckily for them, the Rays were shut out by Ivan Nova and the Yankees beat Tampa 5-0, so Boston's wild card lead sits at two games.

Milwaukee's magic number is at three as Shaun Marcum tossed a solid eight innings against the Cubs, beating Chicago 5-1.

The former potential Mets investor who came in second place to David Einhorn a few months back has apparently reached an agreement to buy a piece of the Yankees instead. Snakebitten, baby or just an example of beggars trying to be choosers?

Finally, remember that time in 1999 when Mariano Rivera blew a save on that single to Matt Franco? SNY apparently does!