Meet the Mets
The Metsies once again climbed back to .500, using buckets of hits and some friendly umpiring to take the series from the Rangers. Dillon Gee wasn't at his best, but the potent combination of timely defense and a bit of batted ball luck helped him improve to 8-1.
Jon Niese showed no ill effects from his irregular heartbeat in Saturday's game and is expected to make his next start. But Adam Rubin thinks they are taking things too lightly. I tend to agree, especially if this isn't the first time it has happened.
Chris Capuano threw his bullpen session a day late, but felt fine afterwards. He should make his scheduled start Wednesday.
Mike Pelfrey is learning a cutter. I thought people only wrote these stories in Spring Training. So Pelfrey has six pitches he can't get lefties out with now.
You might ask yourself, "Hey self, how often does a team score fourteen runs without a home run?" Patrick Flood has your answers.
And while it may seem like the Mets have been bouncing up and down a lot, they have been roughly average in terms of streakiness.
Around the NL East
Johnny Venters finally blew a game for Atlanta, who dropped the series to the Padres. Must be the camo uniforms. Which are only slightly better looking than these
Not much left to say about Roy Halladay. He's good.
The Washington Nationals sent interim manager John McLaren out a winner. Mets Hall of Famer Davey Johnson takes over this week. It's too bad Dmitri Young retired, so Davey can't play him at shortstop when there is a flyball pitcher on the mound. Drew Storen might want to take some outfield before the next couple games, though. Former Mets prospect Phil Humber pitched 6 2/3 solid frames, but took the hard luck loss. He has pitched to a 3.51 FIP so far this year, and his curveball has been one of the best in baseball. It's nice to see him make it after all the arm trouble.
The Marlins decided to one-up the Mets in extra inning futility, losing on a wild pitch during an intentional walk. Just to add insult to injury, pitcher Steve Cishek promptly struck the batter out after Jack Mckeon took the IBB sign off. Somewhere in the Carolinas, Joe Posnanski sighs and starts another essay on why intentional walks are a terrible idea.
Around MLB
The Mets head to Detroit next, who put a seven spot up in the eighth to beat Arizona on Sparky Anderson day.
The Rays won a wild one against the Astros, as the teams combined for 24 runs on 33 hits. Evan Longoria hit two home runs, and finished 4-6 on the day with 5 RBIs. Former Mets farmhand Jeff Keppinger went 3-3 and scored 3 runs for Houston. He's carved out a nice little career for himself as a utility guy.
Madison Bumgarner bounced back from one of the worst starts of the year, to strike out 11 as the Giants beat the Indians. Let the rumors of Bumgarner for Reyes commence. (again)
The Red Sox snapped their four game skid with some help from four Pirate errors. Andrew Miller got his first win for Boston after they picked him up off the scrap heap. J.D. Drew had to leave the game because of an eye injury he gained while attempting a bunt in batting practice. Drew is unfairly maligned, but here the jokes just write themselves.
Finally, your injury round-up: White Sox pitcher John Danks is DL bound. Shin Soo Choo will miss six weeks with a broken thumb. And Delmon Young's awkward wall crash will cost him at least 15 days. And yes, all three are on my AL-only fantasy team.