WFAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts have fun with Yankees radio announcer John Sterling’s home run calls by replaying them virtually every day. He does have some great ones and also some groaners. My new favorite is, “A Tex message to right centerfield!”

A couple of friends and I have come up with our own nicknames for Mets players after they’ve hit a home run. Here they are. Feel free to pick them apart or post your own.

Carlos Beltran - Belt-ed it!
Carlos Delgado – Del-got-it!
David Wright – He’s got the Wright stuff (admittedly, this is not original, but how can you be with a name like Wright?)
Fernando Tatis – Tat-ooed it!
Daniel Murphy – This one is a tough one. All we could come up with is Murph Toe! after turf toe. It was either that or Dropkick Murphy. Neither works, so we’re looking for suggestions. I guess you could use Murphy’s Law but that is so obvious, too. Plus, it makes more sense for when he misjudges a fly ball than when he hits a home run. Better yet, it should be Murphy’s Flaw.
Omir Santos – Let’s raise a Santoast, or San-toasted it!
Ramon Castro - Castrated!
Gary Sheffield - Sheff’s dish! Sheff’s choice!
Jose Reyes - Jose, can you see that ball fly?

It’s an off day for the Mets, so what better time than now to offer up my top five choices in order for Mets players who should make the National League All-star team.

1. Carlos Beltran: Despite his crappy base-running and lack of stolen bases, nobody can deny his league-leading .388 batting average right now. He’s also first in hits, with 31, and walks, 13. He has the second-most RBI (14), home runs (2) and doubles (T-4). He’s been playing his normally great defense in center field.

2. Johan Santana: Once again this season, he’s gotten little run support. However, he leads the National League in ERA (1.10), fewest earned runs allowed (4) and strikeouts (44). The only reason I didn’t put him No. 1 was because he hasn’t been dominant enough for my tastes. But the way he digs in after giving up a run or two is a sight to behold.

3. Francisco Rodriguez: K-Rod has been everything he’s been advertised to be so far. He’s 4-for-4 in save opportunities and was practically unhittable in his first six games. He’s been the most consistent reliever in the bullpen. He had a hiccup when he gave up a two-run homer against the Washington Nationals on April 24 but he battled back to save it for Santana.

4. Luis Castillo: A lot of people didn’t quite buy into the renaissance claim that the Mets and Castillo himself were claiming during Spring Training, but he’s proven his detractors wrong for the time being. He’s second in the league in batting average (.370) and is second to Beltran of the Mets with the highest on base percentage (.433). His defense, for the most part, has been great. Unfortunately, he’s recently been sidelined with back spasms, so hopefully his production will remain the same when he plays again.

5. Ryan Church: When Gary Sheffield was signed, there was a lot of discussion about whether or not he would or could replace Church in right field. Whether it was a ploy by Jerry Manuel or not, Church has proven he should be the everyday starter. There also was a lot of talk on the radio about whether or not Church could be the player the Mets thought he was, especially coming off of a two-concussion season last year. For now, I’d say he’s playing up to the level he was when he first surprised Mets fans. Except for one misjudged fly ball, his defense has been as good as Beltran’s. He’s batting .313 and leads the team in doubles (6).

Who are your top five All-Star candidates? Debate away.

For those of you who did not opt to become a Mets Club member and take advantage of the pre-sale, you will be able to have your chance to buy single-game tickets for the rest of the season starting at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 3.

The will be available for purchase at Mets.com, LosMets.com, and by phone at (718) 507-TIXX. Ticket prices start at $11.

Reyes
Cora, 2B
Murphy
Beltran
Wright
Church
Tatis, 1B
Castro
Santana

Jerry Manuel’s decided to bat Murphy in the three hole and Beltran in cleanup. Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo are still sitting out with tweaks.

Inning by inning

Top 1: Santana just gave up two runs. Jorge Cantu hit his third home run, a solo shot, in two games. This isn’t typical of Santana. Hopefully, that will be the extent of the damage. The Mets really need this game heading into Philadelphia on Friday.

Bottom 1: Reyes just hit a triple. It’s the second triple of the game already. This ballpark should be called Triples Alley. Reyes scores on a bunt by Cora. Murphy safe at first on another bunt. Murphy gets first stolen base. Ugh, Wright strikes out again. 2-1, Florida.

Top 2: Marlins go down in order. That’s better.

Bottom 2: Despite two hits in the inning, Mets don’t score. That’s three base runners stranded in scoring position already.

Top 3: No scoring.

Bottom 3: Wright grounded into inning-ending double play.

Top 4: Wright commits error. It’s just not his day. Sounds like he needs a day off.

Bottom 4: Tatis scores on an RBI single by Castro after Tatis stole second. Game tied at 2. Four total runners in scoring position left on base.

Top 5: No scoring.

Bottom 5: Wright gets a hit. Yay! Of course, there was no one on base.

Top 6: Wow, Santana is so good at getting out of jams. He left two Marlins on base after giving up a leadoff double and an intentional walk.

Bottom 6: Tatis hits long ball. Umpires are trying to determine if it’s a home run or not. They’re going to the replay booth. They’re callling it a home run.

Top 7: Marlins go down, 1 2 3. The Mets really need to give Santana some more run support right about now. That’s probably it for Santana. He’s at 109 pitches.

Bottom 7: Cora hits leadoff single. Murphy sacrifices Cora to second. Wright being intentionally walked. Wright steals second. Cantu robs Church of single.

Top 8: C’mon, Putz. No meltdowns! Um, I said no meltdowns. Two straight walks is not a good start. Cody Ross gets his first clutch hit in forever and knocks in two runs. There goes Santana’s chance for a win. Like yesterday, the Mets are poised for a loss. They have to be able to recover. That’s what championship teams do. Ross caught stealing.

Bottom 8: Reed hits a two-out triple. Gotta get him home, Reyes. Reyes walks. Cora grounds out. The Marlins have played some pretty good defense today, quashing several Mets chances. The Mets are in trouble as Matt Lindstrom surely will try to close. At least he’ll be facing the heart of the order.

Top 9: K-Rod in to prevent any more runs. K-Rod does his job. Now it’s time for the Mets offense. Put on those rally caps.

Bottom 9: Sheffield is pinch-hitting. Sheffield draws a walk. Beltran walks. Wright is up. Time to be clutch. Wright called out on strikes. Beltran grounded out but runners advance. Tatis hit by pitch. Bases are loaded, with two outs. Castro was called back, and Omir Santos will be pinch-hitting. Interesting call by Manuel. Castro has two hits today. Santos pops up. Game over, 4-3.

The Mets left 14 runners on base, nine in scoring position. So, the Mets bullpen failed again in the second straight game. The Mets have an off-day tomorrow. Hopefully, they can regroup and rest a little before taking on the red-hot Phillies.

Starter Livan Hernandez actually pitched pretty well tonight, leaving the game after 5 1/3 innings with a one-run lead, but Sean Green could not maintain the lead in the seventh. Green gave up four runs to allow the Marlins to go ahead 7-4, which was the final score.

This was the second time Green gave up four runs or more to take the loss. What was questionable was leaving Green in after he allowed the tying run and could not locate his pitches after. Why not bring in Brian Stokes, who pitched a scoreless 1 2/3 innings or Pedro Feliciano, who was up and down in the bullpen like a pogo stick? It was especially troubling since Green had a similar meltdown earlier in the season.

Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco looked shaky in the beginning, allowing three runs in the first two innings. He settled down afterward, allowing only one more run, thanks to an RBI single by David Wright. It was his only hit of the night, and he struck out two more times.

This was the fourth time so far this season that the Mets lost after having a lead of three runs or more. They had 14 such situations all of last year. Again, the Mets could not tack on more runs stalling after the fifth inning.

Once again, Gary Sheffield started in left field over Daniel Murphy and did have a two-RBI triple. He was retired three more times after that. Meanwhile, Murphy came into the game in a pinch-hit situation and got a single. Last night, he had a pinch-hit triple. Sure Murphy has had trouble in left field but so has Sheffield.

On the bright side, Alex Cora, filling in for an ailing Luis Castillo, had a great game both on the field and at the plate. He was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.

The Mets need Johan Santana to be his usual self tomorrow afternoon, but the needs also need to provide him run support. He faces Josh Johnson again, who out-pitched him last time but only because of Murphy’s outfield problems.

Hal Steinbrenner release this statement about lowering the cost of some premium seats, while giving those who already purchased them complimentary seats to other games.

Will the Wilpons follow suit? Probably not. The Mets brass already have stated that their tickets sales are robust and think their prices are reasonable. Besides, they aren’t nearly as expensive as the Yankees tickets.

Major League Baseball today announced they will be showing the First-time Player Draft on the new MLB Network starting at 6 p.m. June 9.

The draft will be three days long and will consist of 50 rounds.

Former Mets first-round draft picks include Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey, Scott Kazmir, Phillip Humber, Aaron Heilman and Jay Payton.

Find out more here.

Do you have any interest or would you rather watch paint dry? I might check out the first day, but then not much interest after that.

Newsday is reporting that the Mets today released pitcher Freddy Garcia, who at one time was considered a favorite to win the fifth starter position out of Spring Training. Garcia hasn’t pitched well in Triple-A Buffalo, where he accrued an ERA of more than 8.0 in just two starts.

So, there goes one option to replace a starter if skipper Jerry Manuel needs to dip into the Minors to fix an unreliable rotation, though it doesn’t sound like Garcia was ever an option. Don’t forget to vote in the poll to say whom you think is the next best alternative.

Nagging injuries will probably force Jerry Manuel to sit Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo when the Mets face the Marlins again tonight. That might not be a bad thing considering how well the Mets played without them last night.

Delgado still has some soreness in his hip after he slid into third base during Sunday’s game. Castillo is still dealing with some back spasms.

Fernando Tatis will likely fill in for Delgado again and Alex Cora will step in for Castillo at second. Although Castillo has been playing great, it’s still nice to see some of the backups get some playing time.

If you’ve been wondering when you’ll get the opportunity to buy single-game tickets for the remainder of the season, wonder no longer. If you’re a member of Club Mets, that opportunity will become available at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 30.

To do so, go here. It’ll cost you $19.95 but you’ll also get a complimentary Gameday Audio subscription and discounts at Mets shops, among other benefits.

The Mets took the first game of a three-game series, 7-1, against the Florida Marlins tonight as starter John Maine pitched brilliantly and catcher Omir Santos hit the Mets’ first grand slam at Citi Field.

It was the first home run of the season for Santos, putting him in some rare company as only the third Met ever to hit a grand slam for his first homer with the team. That gave Maine plenty of support to cruise through six innings allowing only one hit and one earned run, which came after Gary Sheffield dropped a ball in left field for a two-base error. Maybe it’s not the greeness of Daniel Murphy but a cursed left field that has caused so many problems. OK, maybe not.

Everything was going right for the Mets tonight. Even David Wright got in on the action, hitting an RBI single and a triple, which led to another run. The greater feat by Wright was that he didn’t strike out all night. Hopefully, this will get him off his schnide.

It was like watching the Mets we all know and love, the team with so much potential.

Mets pitching only allowed two hits all night. Sean Green, JJ Putz and Frankie Rodriguez closed out the game with three shut-out innings. Even though it wasn’t a save situation, Putz and Rodriguez came in, presumably to get some work since they hadn’t pitched since Friday night.

But the big hero was Santos, whose play is giving manager Jerry Manuel a tough decision: keep starting a good hitter who can also throw out runners and be a good signal caller or go the more traditional route by staying with your original starter and backup, Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro. Manuel has said in the past that he’s going to reward good play with playing time, so the right move is to stick with Santos. Luckily, Manuel won’t have to make a decision right away with Schneider still on the disabled list.

In other news from the game, Luis Castillo left the game after the fourth inning with back spasms, and Manuel decided to sit Carlos Delgado in favor of Fernando Tatis, who had a hit and a run. Sheffield, despite his error, finally got a hit and another RBI.

I know this is a little delayed, but I was able to watch Friday’s game against the Nationals from the Caesar’s Club Bronze section. Tickets there run $69 a seat, plus taxes and fees. The benefit of getting those more expensive seats is you also get access to the Caesar’s Club, an enclosed area replete with its own bar, food options, bathrooms, tables and lounge chairs.

You have to have a ticket for that section to get inside, and security is pretty tight with guards at each entrance. It would be a nice place to hang out and have a few drinks if the weather’s really bad. The other nice thing about this club is they keep serving beer past the seventh inning, when the other vendors shut down. You can see for yourself what it looks like here.

Caesar’s Atlantic City was there giving away T-shirts, glasses with the Mets insignia and beach blankets for signing up to get their casino card. I didn’t feel like waiting in line, so I skipped it to go check out the seats. When I came back later, all they had left were T-shirts and nothing in my size, of course.

This was my friend’s first time at Citi Field, so we got to the ballpark early and walked around so he could see everything. We walked past the FanFest and the Shake Shack. We checked out the vantage point from the Pepsi Porch, which is where I might purchase tickets for my next visit.

One of the things I like about Citi Field is the expanded beer options and tiered beer prices. If you’re a fan of microbrews, the best place to go is to the bar next to the FanFest and the Shake Shack. It’s got refrigerators chock full of microbrews from all over the country. They’re the same price as other premium beers. I also like that they offer regular beers for cheaper prices.

After we got to our seats, we noticed there was a slight overhang above our heads, which blocked a little bit of our view, but only for extremely high fly balls. You’d still be able to see them caught. Our seats were the second to last row back, the third level up, but perpendicular to first base. They were particularly good for watching a lefty like Johan Santana pitch.

Some tidbits from that night:

• Even though I didn’t catch a glimpse of it, people said the cat that interrupted play during Opening Day reappeared and scampered through some stands.


• It’s amazing how much less wind there is on the first base side as opposed to the third base side where it whips off the bay behind the ballpark.


• I think people are still checking out the ballpark more than watching the actual game, at least for the first few innings.


• I don’t like how some parts of the ballpark are blocked off by clubs or what-not. Especially on the third level, you can’t walk from the third base side to the first base side without going down a few flights of stairs and then going back up some more.


• It’s amazing how crystal clear the screen on the scoreboard is.


• Some cast and crew from “Ugly Betty” were there filming a scene on the pitching mound and home plate. The announcer described the scene as an actor threw a ball, pretty weakly, from about 60 feet from home plate. He then ran to home plate where he shook hands with the catcher, Omir Santos, I think, and went and hugged his co-star. Then they did it again. And again. And again. The last take was actually a pretty well thrown ball, at least better than Tom Seaver’s bouncer for the last game at Shea Stadium. Of course, he didn’t have a million takes to get it right, either.


• Carlos Beltran had his 1,000th RBI.


• Santana had 10 strikeouts.


• Despite having a ton of food options, I still ended up getting a spicy sausage sandwich and later a hot dog, both of which I later regretted. I was just too lazy to go find something less traditional. Plus, the line at the Shake Shack was monstrous.

Last week’s poll question was: At this point in the season, which area would you focus on to “fix” the team, if you were the manager?

Here are the results:

Starting pitching: 38%
Batting order: 3%
Hitting in big situations: 56%
Morale: 3%

So, the majority of you chose hitting in big situations, but I think you might change your mind after seeing the last outings of both Livan Hernandez and Oliver Perez. It’s clearly the most looming issue right now, especially when the starting pitchers are putting the team five, six or seven runs in the hole and can’t get out of the fifth inning.

So, this week’s question is: If Oliver Perez or Livan Hernandez were sent down, which pitcher would you bring up to replace them?

Congratulations to Bob Schott of New York City, who correctly answered the second Mets Contest question: Which former Mets player announcer is the Mets broadcast booth named after?

The answer is: Ralph Kiner.

Schott was randomly selected among the correct entries and will be receiving a copy of the “The NY Mets 1986 World Series Collector’s Edition DVD Set.”

This week’s question is: What is the name of the entranceway to the ballpark behind the outfield?

Each week, we’ll ask a question related to Citi Field. We’ll then take all the names of people who got the question correct and put them in a random drawing. Each winner will receive either the “The New York Mets: Essential Games of Shea Stadium DVD Set” or “The NY Mets 1986 World Series Collector’s Edition DVD Set.” Only one prize per winner will be given out.

Check back every Monday at http://mets.lohudblogs.com to see that week’s question.

Click here to register and answer the question.

A couple of days ago, this blog talked about how nothing short of a series win against the Washington Nationals would be a failure. Well, the Mets avoided that fate, but just barely. They barely won Friday night’s game with Johan Santana on the mound and they surely lost the Sunday matinee, 8-1, with Oliver Perez toeing the rubber.

It was another pathetic Perez outing as he again didn’t make it out of the fifth inning and gave up seven runs. His ERA has ballooned to 9.31. It’s an obvious cause of concern for a team whose other starters, besides Santana, haven’t exactly been lights out.

It all seemed to start to unravel after Daniel Murphy once again misplayed a ball hit to him, stumbling on the grass and even doing a somersault. Perez then gave up a homer to Jesus Flores. After the Nationals scored a couple of more runs in the third inning, boos could be heard as Perez left the field after the last out. He nodded his head as if to say he agreed with the fans’ assessment.

In the fifth inning, Perez was visibly upset with himself. He almost made you feel sorry for him as he sat on the bench after being taken out but not enough to forget the $36 million contract the Mets gave him to practically be sent down to the minors. Luckily for Perez, the Mets will need him against the Phillies in a weekend series. He’s historically done well against that team.

The Mets could not muster any offense, either, as David Wright struck out a couple more times and Carlos Beltran failed to slide on a stolen base attempt, saying he thought he heard the ball hit the bat. The Mets only had six hits against a rookie pitcher in the form of Jordan Zimmermann and none against a much-maligned bullpen. They continued the trend of not being able to perform well against a pitcher they’ve never seen before.

It only gets harder as the Mets take on the Marlins at Citi Field in a three-game series starting Monday. John Maine is scheduled to pitch.