Rob Johnson Pitched Last Night Applesauce: Niese & Mets Pitchers Rocked, Catcher Was Team's Most Effective Pitcher, Hello Hefner?

Meet the Mets

Just let the title sink in for a second and you'll realize what happened to the Mets on Friday evening. Light-hitting, journeyman catcher Rob Johnson not only threw the 9th inning but ended up being the most effective Mets "pitcher" to take the mound in Toronto. Yup, if you didn't realize it already, they got rocked. Hard. It was a 14-5 drubbing that took place during game one in Toronto, a game that only further serves to stretch the team's run differential in the wrong direction. Jon Niese was somewhere beyond awful, as he allowed four home runs and a total of eight runs over just three innings. Then Manny Acosta came on and did what he's done best the first month and a half of the year--allow runs and lots of them. Ramon Ramirez followed this up, allowing some of Acosta's inherited runners score, along with a run of his own. Luckily, the Mets pen got a reprieve, as rookie lefty Robert Carson made his big league debut with a hitless inning, a fine start for the 23-year old. And then came Rob Johnson, who somehow outpitched the entire Mets pitching staff. I guess you know what they say: that's baseball! Just for good measure, Scott Hairston hit a home run long after the Mets had any realistic shot at a comeback.

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The Mets look to rebound from Friday's implosion by sending Miguel Batista to the mound. Oh no. He'll go up against righty Brandon Morrow for the Jays. Game time is at 1:07 PM from the Rogers Centre and you can catch the action on WPIX11 and WFAN 660.

The word is that Jeremy Hefner will be recalled prior to the start of today's game. Though it's not official at the time of this writing, logic would suggest that with the way he's pitched, Manny Acosta is the likely casualty here.

David Wright is hot. Historically hot, in fact. Well, that is except when he's got a cold. He only went 1-3 with a double yesterday. That counts as a cold streak these days for David, right?

Roy Oswalt threw for big league scouts on Friday but Mets insiders say that the veteran will not be landing in Queens anytime soon. Oswalt would probably be a nice fit for the team, too.

Justin Turner got a chance to face off against his former college roommate Ricky Romero on Friday. It looks like it was Romero who got the upper hand in this one.

Mets farmhand Danny Muno was suspended 50 games for PED use. Muno, the Mets' 8th round pick out of Fresno State in 2011, starred for the Cyclones last season and was off to an excellent start with the St. Lucie Mets before the positive test. What a shame.

MLB Trade Rumors took a look at some of the Mets contract issues for 2013. Lots of arbitration guys, plus possible extensions for David Wright and R.A. Dickey is the basic theme here.

Some guy named Matt Harvey or Harvery or something struck out a career-best 11 batters over 6 innings for the Bisons last night. While Harvey's season ERA hovers above 4, it's a much lower 3.09 over his last 35 innings and his walk rate has also dipped over that time frame. Hooray for arbitrary endpoints!

Around the NL East

Cole Hamels tossed 7 strong innings as the Phillies defeated the Red Sox 6-4 without the presence of suspended manager Charlie Manuel.

The Braves beat the Rays 5-3 on Friday behind Tommy Hanson.

Get this: the Nationals and Orioles are both at or near the top of their respective divisions. How about that? The O's defeated the Nats 2-1 in 11 innings in game one of what is apparently called the "Beltway Series". Booooring.

The Marlins beat the Indians 3-2 behind a wild Carlos Zambrano.

Around the Majors

Justin Verlander is awesome. The righty took a no-hitter into the ninth before it was broken up by the Pirates' Josh Harrison. Verlander was in pursuit of his third career no-no. Way to be selfish there, Justin. We'd like a no-hitter, too!

Andy Pettitte picked up his first victory since 2010 and struck out 9 batters in a 4-0 shutout of the Reds.

Kerry Wood announced his retirement on Friday morning and then threw a final scoreless outing, striking out the last batter he faced in typical Kerry Wood fashion. It's just so sad to think of what the duo of Wood and Mark Prior could've been had they stayed healthy.

Gordon Beckham tackled David DeJesus at second base and got an out for it. I had no idea that tackling baserunners was legal. If it is, maybe the Mets should have former High School football player™ Kirk Nieuwenhuis play second base from now on.

Veteran righty Brad Penny agreed to a minor league deal with the Giants, who'll likely use him out of the bullpen down the road.