Where's The Offense? Applesauce: Mets May've Left Offense In Tampa, Ronny Cedeno Is On The Way Back

Meet the Mets

Maybe the Mets forgot to pack their bats when they left St. Petersburg on Thursday, because the offense has looked listless the past two days. They fell 4-1 to the Reds on Saturday evening and this one really had little going on after the first inning. In that opening frame, Jon Niese allowed a clean single and a not-clean single (Wilson Valdez reached on a bunt) to open things up. With runners at 1st and 2nd and nobody out, Niese managed to strike out Joey Votto and get Brandon Phillips to fly out but he hung an 0-2 breaking ball to Jay Bruce, who deposited it a long way into the Pepsi Porch for a quick 3-run lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Mets got a run back on Daniel Murphy and David Wright doubles. And that was it. The Mets managed just four more hits the rest of the way against Homer Bailey. Two of those hits came leading off the second inning, putting runners at the corners with no outs. And from that, they managed nothing, while the Reds scratched out one more insurance run. The Mets' offense made Bailey look great, as he induced a lot of weak contact and lazy fly balls. Of course, you'd think Homer Bailey was Cy Young reincarnated with the way the Fox announcing crew was talking him up. That's probably because Saturday's Fox announcing crew consisted of Reds' Play By Play guy Thom Brennaman and longtime Reds' first baseman Sean Casey. So in the event that you were lucky and missed this one, the answer to your question is "yes", this one was offensive to two senses: your vision and your hearing. Thanks again, Fox!

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The Mets look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Reds this afternoon, as they'll send Chris Young to the mound to take on Johnny Cueto. First pitch is at 1:10 PM and thankfully, you can catch the action with Gary, Keith and Ron on PIX 11.

As speculated yesterday, Jason Bay was placed on the 7-day concussion disabled list and Justin Turner was activated to take his spot on the roster. Terry Collins is worried about Bay, who suffered his second concussion in under two years.

In some better injury news, Ronny Cedeno continues to rehab in Buffalo and Terry Collins thinks he should be back by midweek. Meanwhile, Ruben Tejada ran in a straight line on Friday and may be able to start a rehab assignment on Monday. Finally, Whitestone's Own Mike Baxter is still rehabbing his shoulder in New York and it looks like the original six-week timetable that was given is about right. That should put his return right at the all-star break.

Ike Davis is closing in on a .200 batting average, everybody! With his recent hot streak, he's pushed it up to .192 and his OPS was touching .600 at one point yesterday. Baby steps.

In the Post, Steve Serby sat down with R.A. Dickey for an interview. Really interesting insights right here from R.A., as always.

The Mets announced the signing of 15 of their draft picks. The only two picks in the top 10 rounds who have yet to sign are 2nd rounders INF Matt Reynolds and RHP Teddy Stankiewicz and 6th round 1B Jayce Boyd.

Around the NL East

Brandon Beachy left after 3.2 innings with elbow pain, as the Braves fell to the Orioles 5-0. In Toronto, the Blue Jays defeated the Phillies 6-5 in 10 innings, yet another walk-off loss in which expensive closer Jonathan Papelbon went unused. In good news for them, it looks like Carlos Ruiz may avoid a DL stint. The Yankees defeated the Nationals 5-3 in 14 innings on a Mark Teixeira double off of Brad Lidge.

Around the Majors

Jason Hammel of the Orioles and Ervin Santana of the Angels both tossed one-hitters on Saturday. Year of the Pitcher, amirite?

The Red Sox hellish season continues, as they placed Josh Beckett on the DL with shoulder soreness.

Josh Hamilton was released from a hospital in Texas yesterday and should be okay to play for the Rangers on Monday. He was hospitalized on Friday with an intestinal virus.

Carlos Marmol is back as the Cubs' closer. Meanwhile, Alfonso Soriano got booed by Chicago fans after not running to first base on a dropped line drive.

At Fangraphs, Alex Remington takes an interesting look into the role of foreign players and former big leaguers in Japanese baseball.