It was as if someone took the old Ramon Martinez and replaced him with a newer, faster version. A night after committing two errors, Martinez was brilliant in the field making tough play after tough play. He more than made up for the previous night.

Martinez made a diving stop in the bottom of the ninth inning on a hard-hit ground ball by Mike Lowell, threw to Daniel Murphy at first base and ended the game. He was 1-for-4 on the night at the plate, but this glove was golden on defense.

The game turned into a pitchers’ duel after Mike Pelfrey gave up two runs off of a Kevin Youkilis single in the first. These runs came after Gary Sheffield hit an RBI single at the top of the inning. After that, both Pelfrey and opponent Josh Beckett were lights out. Pelfrey pitched seven, without a single “yip,” while Beckett pitched eight innings, both throwing more than 100 pitches.

The game headed into the ninth inning like it started, with the Mets trailing 2-1. Then all the magic started. The Mets were facing Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who had not blown a save all season and had been dominant with a 0.94 ERA.

Papelbon walked Sheffield, then struck out David Wright and Jeremy Reed. Omir Santos came up to the plate. He proceeded to smash the first-pitch fastball way into left field. It appeared to hit the Green Monster and bounce off, holding Santos to a double. However, the expression on Santos’ face as soon as he hit it indicated otherwis4e.

The umpires ruled it a double but then quickly confabbed about it. Upon TV replay, it appeared the ball actually had hit above the line on the wall, indicating a homer. The umpires went to replay and shortly after called it a home run. Santos and Sheffield trotted home, taking a 3-2 lead over the Sox.

But it wasn’t over yet as the Mets still had to close the game out. Curiously, JJ Putz had been warming up in the eighth inning, indicating that Francisco Rodriguez was not going to pitch. It turns out K-Rod was unavailable due to back spasms. This, of course, raised concern all throughout Mets land and for the Amazin’ fans in attendance at Fenway Park.

Putz proceeded to give up a lead-off walk. If not for the amazing plays of Wright, who laid out for a bullet down the first base line and a nice stretch catch from Luis Castillo at second, and Martinez, the outcome could’ve been much different. Yet, the Mets held on to win their second in a row against the Red Sox and climb to within a half game of the Phillies, who blew a ninth inning save opportunity against the Yankees.

New York City fans were united tonight as both teams beat their counterparts and gained a game on them in the standings. It was probably the most exciting win for the Mets yet this season. It was also an amazing win when you think about all of the injuries this team has suffered lately. Just think how good they can be when they’re full strength.

The Mets try to sweep the series, a first, Sunday afternoon with Tim Redding going against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

Daniel Murphy 1B
Angel Pagan RF
Carlos Beltran DH
Gary Sheffield LF
David Wright 3B
Jeremy Reed CF
Omir Santos C
Ramon Martinez SS
Luis Castillo 2B

Today’s lineup is much like last night’s, with the exception of Angel Pagan starting in right field for Ryan Church who left the game yesterday with a tight hamstring.

The Mets could face a much tougher test tonight as Josh Beckett takes the mound for the Red Sox. Beckett, 4-2, is starting to rebound after a slow start and has dominated Beltran, Wright and Reyes, who have only combined for four hits in 40 at-bats.

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey has the upper hand in ERA by more than one run. Pelfrey met with a sports psychologist and says he’s over his case of the “yips.”

With the Phillies just losing their game against the Yankees in the bottom of the ninth inning today, the Mets can inch to within half a game with a win tonight.

Three Mets errors didn’t prevent the team from beating the Red Sox, 5-3, in the first game of their interleague series against the Boston Red Sox tonight, as Johan Santana pitched out of jam after jam to get the win. Santana gave up three runs, two earned, but struck out eight in seven innings.

With so many players injured, it didn’t stop the Mets’ offense. The Mets started off with a solo home run by Gary Sheffield in the second inning off of a pitcher he has done very well against in the form of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka didn’t have his best stuff tonight and the Mets took advantage off it, scoring four runs in five innings against him.

Everyone contributed, except Daniel Murphy and Ryan Church, who left the game after the fourth inning after experiencing a tight hamstring. Angel Pagan came in the game for him and had a hit and an RBI. Murphy and Church were the only Mets who didn’t get hits tonight.

Even Ramon Martinez, who was playing in place of Jose Reyes, drove in a run. But the rest of his night wasn’t as good as he committed two errors and almost a third. His errors overshadowed even Murphy’s bad base running as he was thrown out at third with one out trying to stretch a fielder’s choice to first into two bases.

Despite the win, the news for the Mets got worse. In addition to Church’s tight hamstring, Carlos Beltran was moved from center field to designated hitter after he complained of soreness in his right knee. Jeremy Reed filled in, making a nice catch in center field running for a fly ball. He jumped up and caught it, slamming into the center field wall as he came down.

Bobby Parnell was excellent in the eighth, and Francisco Rodriguez closed the door in the ninth to seal the deal.

On Saturday afternoon, Mike Pelfrey goes up against Josh Beckett. It’ll be interesting to see how these recent injuries will affect the already depleted Mets’ lineup. It’s probable that Beltran will be the DH again and that Pagan will fill in for Church again. How many more injuries can the Mets sustain? If not for the guile of Santana, this game might have been lost. It’s a wonder how they’ll get through the rest of the series. Nothing short of stellar performances by Pelfrey and Tim Redding will be needed.

Daniel Murphy 1B
Ryan Church RF
Carlos Beltran CF
Gary Sheffield DH
David Wright 3B
Jeremy Reed LF
Omir Santos C
Ramon Martinez SS
Luis Castillo 2B

How different a lineup looks when you’re playing in an American League stadium during Interleague Play. Church is batting second! Hopefully, that’ll give him some fat pitches to swing at with Beltran, Sheffield and Wright backing him up. Batting Murphy at leadoff is a risk, especially since he’s been struggling at the plate. The Mets need the patient Murphy tonight, not the inexperienced one.

Sheffield is the designated hitter, which seems to be a no-brainer. He gets to face an old nemesis in the Red Sox. It’s kind of weird now, remembering back when Sheffield was in a Yankees jersey facing this team. Now he’s coming from the same city but in a different uniform.

It’s interesting that Castillo is batting last, with the weak-hitting Martinez in front of him. I guess when it comes to that far down in the order, it doesn’t matter who’s last.

Are you excited? This weekend, it’s New York that’s the city of brotherly love as both Yankees and Mets fans join forces to root for each other’s team to beat their rivals. The Mets and Yankees are both in similar situations. The Mets are 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies for first place. The Yankees are a game behind the Red Sox for second place. If the two teams sweep and with a little help from some Blue Jays losses, both teams could be sitting in first place by the end of the weekend. Will it happen? Probably not, but it’ll be fun watching.

Go New York and enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!

It turns out former Mets manager Bobby Valentine is so beloved in Japan that thousands of fans are going to bat for him to keep his job as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines. He’s been their manager for seven years and he’s become a fan favorite both on and off the field.

Fans have been holding vigils for him to keep his job. A petition sent around by fans has accumulated 50,000 signatures. However, the team has said they will not bring him back for the 2010 season even though Valentine offered to take a pay cut.

The rest of the story is beyond the break. Who would like to see Valentine back as the Mets manager?

The depleted Mets head into Fenway Park tonight and have an uphill road to climb. They’re on a four-game losing streak and will battle a team who have owned them the few times they’ve played. The Mets are 8-10 against the Red Sox and 3-6 in the shadow of the Green Monster. On top of that, they are facing Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Only two members of the current team have faced him before. Jeremy Reed is 0-for-3 against him. Gary Sheffield has had great success against him, going 6-for-11 with a home run and two doubles. Sheffield was the last Mets player to hit a home run, and that was more than a week ago. Additionally, we all know how the Mets tend to do against pitchers they’ve never faced before. Hopefully, Matsuzaka will be rusty coming off some rehab assignments and the disabled list.

Sheffield had been ill during the Dodgers sweep but with his familiarity with Fenway, he should be getting some playing time at either left field or as a designated hitter. Jerry Manuel has said that Carlos Beltran and David Wright could also DH. It’s a far cry from when Willy Randolph sent up Chris Woodward as the designated hitter.

It looks like Daniel Murphy will be the everyday first baseman until Carlos Delgado comes back. Although he’s in an offensive slump, it’s good to see Manuel finally come around and stick him in the infield. Murphy was on fire Wednesday against the Dodgers, making several excellent defensive plays. Let’s hope they weren’t a fluke.

The Mets are going to need every ounce of luck, solid defense, lights-out pitching and situational hitting that they can get. They’re a surging team with David Ortiz back to a semblance of his former self and having won six of their last 10 games, including three in a row.

So, what are your predictions for the series?

Jose Reyes was back in New York today, getting an MRI, which revealed that the Mets shortstop has tendinitis behind his right calf and is officially listed as day to day. He will avoid the disabled list for now, but I don’t see Reyes playing at all this weekend when the Mets face Boston.

Three days or 15 days, the bottom line is Reyes won’t be available, and it leaves one more hole in an already depleted lineup. He is the catalyst for the team and statistics show that when he doesn’t score a run, the Mets don’t win. This was evident in the past four games that the Mets have lost.

This doesn’t bode well for the Mets and their fans. He’s not being placed on the disabled list, so the team will have the same situation when Carlos Delgado was injured but not yet placed on the DL. They will be playing shorthanded.

So, who will Jerry Manuel tap to replace him on the field? Ramon Martinez will probably get the nod, maybe with some Fernando Tatis thrown in for good measure. However, both of them are in a hitting slump and not excellent options at this point.

Part of me thinks the Mets should just place Reyes on the 15-day disabled list and get it over with, instead of playing wait-and-see. We all know how that turned out for Delgado. Let Reyes get his calf fully recovered before getting back on the field. It’s better than losing him for 30 or 60 days.

With any luck, it’s a small injury and after a few days of rest, it’ll be OK again. What do you all think should be done with him?

The wife of former Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis was found dead in their Arizona home yesterday. Police are not calling the death of Gabrielle Dawn Schoeneweis, 39, a homicide at this time, and they will, of course, be investigating the cause of death.

Schoeneweis was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the off-season.

Here is a quote from Jerry Manuel, as told to MLB.com: “I mentioned that to our people, that we’ve got to reach out and do all we can to help support him at this time,” Manuel said. “And whatever he needs from us, we’ll be here for him.”

And from Francisco Rodriguez, who played with him on the Angels, said: “I’m sad for him. I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now, all the pain he’s going through.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Our thoughts and our prayers go out to him and his family.

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The Mets lost their fourth game in a row in another low-scoring effort where they couldn’t get the big hit. They lost to the Dodgers again after JJ Putz gave up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game.

The worst news of the night was that Jose Reyes left the game in the third inning after aggravating his leg injury after running out a ground ball. Ramon Martinez relieved him. It’s very possible that Reyes will be headed to the disabled list. It’s another blow to an already depleted team.

Daniel Murphy started first base for the first time as a Met and, lo and behold, had a brilliant defensive game, except for one play, which turned an out into a hit. However, he was 0-for-4 at the plate and left seven men on base all by himself. But he played like a natural first baseman might play. He even had an unassisted double play in the fifth inning. It makes you wonder why he hasn’t played first base earlier.

Mets starter Livan Hernandez was the best he’s been all season, pitching seven innings and only giving up one earned run. It turned out to be a pitching duel between him and the Dodgers’ Jeff Weaver.

The Mets’ lack of offense really hurt the Mets once again as Carlos Beltran had a two-hit night and the only Mets RBI of the game. David Wright also kept it going with one hit in two at-bats and two walks. The Mets left nine men on base and were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They once again had no home runs and now have gone 69 innings without a long ball.

The Mets now have an off day, the first in 20 games or so, and will face the Boston Red Sox in the first interleague game of the season. They will face a surging Boston team whose David Ortiz hit his first home run and may finally be getting out of his slump.

The Sporting News today revealed its list of the 50 best players in the Major Leagues right now. The top Met was Johan Santana, who came in third behind Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez, respectively. The list was selected by a panel of 100 former baseball players and personalities.

Five other Mets made the Top 50:

13. David Wright
22. Jose Reyes
23. Carlos Beltran
34. Francisco Rodriguez
47. Carlos Delgado

Go here to see the rest of the Top 50.

What are your thoughts about this list? It’s interesting that Reyes and Beltran are right next to each other, and that Wright is so far ahead of either of them. Should K-Rod be higher on that list?

The first inning looked like it was going to be more of the same as last night when Daniel Murphy got picked off of first base and then committed an error on a routine fly ball in the bottom of the inning. That error led to an unearned run to put the Dodgers up 1-0.

John Maine struggled in the first a little, then settled down before giving up a three-run homer in the sixth inning to put the Dodgers up 5-3 for good. He helped his own cause in the second inning when he hit a two-run, bases-loaded double to put the Mets up 2-1. Those were Maine’s first RBI of the season.

David Wright kept up his hot streak and hit an RBI single in the third to put the Mets up 3-1. He extended his hitting streak to 11 games and also had two walks on the night.

The rest of the offense was once again stagnant as the Mets had only six hits all night. They failed to capitalize any more on a struggling Chad Billingsley, who couldn’t find his command in the first four innings. He really settled down in the fifth and sixth innings.

Ramon Martinez, who was playing second base for a resting Luis Castillo, was batting in the six hole, and it wasn’t a great spot for him to be in. He struck out three times and grounded into a double play to halt an eighth-inning rally.

Jose Reyes returned to the lineup and went 1-for-4.

The big question right now is what happend to the Mets offense. They’ve scored only five runs in the past three games. Is the loss of Carlos Delgado really that significant to the offense? The Mets have hit 0 home runs on the road trip.

Jose Reyes SS
Daniel Murphy LF
Carlos Beltran CF
David Wright 3B
Ryan Church RF
Ramon Martinez 2B
Jeremy Reed 1B
Omir Santos C
John Maine P

Reyes returns to the lineup and Gary Sheffield, Ramon Castro, Fernando Tatis and Angel Pagan sit as the team faces right-hander the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley. It’s good to see Reyes back at the top of the order after missing five games.

Murphy gets a chance to get some at-bats to hopefully get off his slump, but he is not playing first base. Rather, Reed, who’s inexperience at first showed in last night’s game, gets another shot to redeem himself.

I’m not sure what the reluctance is to put Murphy at first and stick Reed in left field. You would think that since Murphy is a natural first baseman and Jeremy Reed is a very solid outfielder, they would actually play in those positions but skipper Jerry Manuel has made a lot of questionable decisions over the past few weeks.

STATEMENT FROM THE NEW YORK METS REGARDING CARLOS DELGADO

“This morning Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado underwent successful right hip arthroscopic surgery at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery. Mets team physician Dr. Struan Coleman performed the surgery. Delgado was diagnosed with an impingement of the hip, a bone spur, and a torn labrum. The Mets anticipate his return in approximately 10 weeks.”

In what had to be the worst game of the season, and that’s saying something, the Mets lost to the LA Dodgers, 3-2, in 11 innings. They committed five errors, two in the 11th inning, and could have gone ahead except Ryan Church didn’t step on third base and was called out on appeal. He caught a break earlier when an umpire didn’t see that he was picked off first.

Let’s focus on the positive for now. Angel Pagan, who started for the Mets for the first time this year and played left field, had a double to allow Church to run home. He had his first four-hit night of his career. David Wright kept up his red-hot batting streaking with two more hits, both doubles, and two walks.

Mets starter Tim Redding joined the rotation tonight, coming off the disabled list and had a shaky first inning, giving up two runs. It looked like it could be a big offensive night for the Dodgers. But he settled down and pitched four more scoreless innings, keeping the Mets in the game. Nelson Figueroa was designated for assignment – again. Jonathon Niese also was sent down.

The Mets were able to tie the game at two in the eighth inning when Gary Sheffield drove in Pagan. The bullpen pitched very well.

Now for the bad news. The Mets could’ve had an even bigger inning in the eighth after Pagan led off with a double. With no outs and Pagan on second, Castillo took it upon himself to try to bunt and popped up for an out. It didn’t appear that Jerry Manuel had called for a bunt attempt.

Alex Cora was placed on the disabled list earlier today due to a pulled muscle in his finger. The Mets called up Fernando Ramon Martinez from Triple-A Buffalo and promptly was tapped to replace Cora at shortstop. Jose Reyes was held out of yet another game with that aching shin. His inexperience showed as he committed an error and threw more than one high ball to first base. He also was 0-for-5 at the plate but did have an RBI.

The Mets offense was once again stagnant. Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran, Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro were a combined 0-for-19 at the plate.

The Mets lost the game after Pagan and Beltran almost collided in the 11th inning on an outfield fly ball in the gap by Xavier Paul. That came after Brian Stokes walked Mark Loretta. With runners on second and third, Stokes intentionally walked Juan Pierre to load the bases.

After Rafael Furcal flied out to Pagan, Orlando Hudson grounded a ball to Jeremy Reed who had come in for Tatis. Reed, who was playing first base for only the third time as a Met, threw the ball away as he tried to throw Loretta out at home.

It was an excruciating game to watch. It was a game they deserved to lose and frankly, did everything they could to lose. Thank God it’s over.