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Meet the Mets
It's over, folks. We dreamed the impossible dream and fought the unbeatable foe for most of the last six days but the prospect of 162-0 is just that, at least for the 2012 season. The Mets fell to the Nationals 6-2 on a chilly night at Citi Field. I was there and chilly is probably an understatement but I'm not going to search for better descriptive words here. I'm trying to forget this one happened. Dillon Gee gave up a home run to Ian Desmond on the third pitch of the game and then settled in for a nice first start. Unfortunately, the Mets' offense squandered their best run-scoring opportunity in the first inning--runners at the corners with no outs--and it was mostly downhill from there. Down 2-0, Bobby Parnell came on and induced what looked to be a tailor made double play grounder but the ball clanged off of Daniel Murphy's glove, allowing another run to cross the plate and the inning to continue. That was basically the game right there, as Parnell then gave up a booming double that Lucas Duda may have had a shot at catching, making the score 4-0. This was certainly not the Mets' greatest showing, but I guess I'll settle for the 4-1 record.
Choose Your Recap: ESPN NY, MLB.com, NJ.com, Associated Press, NY Times, Daily News
The Mets and Nats face off in the rubber game of their series today at 1:10 PM. Johan Santana takes on Stephen Strasburg in what looks to be an excellent matchup. You can catch all of the action on SNY and WFAN.
The big news on Tuesday was that David Wright was scratched from Tuesday's lineup after jamming his pinky finger on Monday. X-Rays showed that Wright has a small fracture in the pinky, though it will not need surgery. It looks like he may miss a few days and there's the possibility that he even has to head to the DL (of course, it's David Wright--he plays through everything). In any case, this is obviously bad news, as David had been raking through the team's first four games. Hopefully this doesn't have any lasting effects on his game.
Ike Davis was given Tuesday off, though he did pinch hit and strike out later on. Davis' off day was mostly strategic, as he's off to a rough 0-16 start (including last night's pinch hitting appearance). By strategic, they mean that this was less to do with his Valley Fever diagnosis, though he did have a followup checkup for that on Tuesday.
Around the Majors
Chipper Jones is back and he hit a home run in his first game back, as the Braves beat the Astros 6-4. This probably isn't groundbreaking, especially if you've followed the Braves over the last year, but Fredi Gonzalez's decision-making skills aren't helping them out. Was Fredi this bad with the Marlins? I really don't remember.
Speaking of the Fish, suspended Marlins' manager Ozzie Guillen has apologized again for his remarks about Fidel Castro.
Anybody hoping that the Mets could grab a premier second baseman via free agency in the next few years is likely out of luck in that department. Brandon Phillips and Ian Kinsler, two of the top players at that position, have signed long term extensions with their clubs. Kinsler signed first, to a 5 year, $70 million deal with Texas. Phillips and the Reds followed on Tuesday, agreeing to a 6 year, $72.5 million deal. Both are great players in their prime, though I personally happen to be a bigger fan of Kinsler's work in Texas.
The Indians and Carlos Santana have agreed to a multi-year contract extension. Santana is well-known for a number of popular hit songs including Oye Como Va, Evil Ways and Black Magic Woman....oh wait. That's the wrong Carlos Santana? Oh. The young catcher looks like a budding star, so this should be a good deal for Cleveland.