Alex Cora SS
Fernando Tatis 2B
David Wright 3B
Gary Sheffield LF
Ryan Church RF
Nick Evans 1B
Fernando Martinez CF
Omir Santos C
Johan Santana (9-5, 3.08 ERA) P

Fernando Nieve couldn’t get it done last night, so let’s hope Santana can return to form and be the stopper the Mets need him to be again.

The Mets offense showed some signs of life last night as they scored six runs, but most of them came in the ninth inning with the game already out of hand. The bullpen that was once lights out has weakened quite a bit, probably as a result of starting pitchers not going deep enough into games.

Santana needs to go deep into this game and give the bullpen, and the Mets fans, a rest. The offense needs to support Santana. Let’s hope Wright broke out of his slump last night and that Evans and Santos can kick the run support up a notch.

One of our sports columnists, Sam Borden, wrote this article about the Mets’ needs vs. the Yankees’ needs, especially in light of the Mets dipping below the .500 win mark for the season.

Here is a wrap-up about last night’s game.

Argenis Reyes SS
Daniel Murphy 1B
David Wright 3B
Gary Sheffield LF
Ryan Church RF
Fernando Martinez CF
Brian Schneider C
Luis Castillo 2B
Fernando Nieve (3-0, 1.31 ERA) P

Well, there’s a Reyes at shortstop. Unfortunately, it’s not the one you’d like to see on the field. The other Reyes, Jose, is still rehabbing from a slightly torn hamstring and is still unsure of when he’s coming back.

Church apparently feels better than yesterday when he was scratched from his start thanks to flu-like symptoms. Maybe a little of what hit the Yankees reached Church.

The Mets face their former closer in Braden Looper, who has done well for himself as a starting pitcher. So far this season, he’s 5-4, with a 5.16 ERA.

The Mets have to be careful here or they might find themselves in third place behind the resurgent Florida Marlins, who face the lowly Washington Nationals tonight. The good news is the Mets are still only 2 1/2 games behind the Phillies for first place, despite their offensive slump. The bad news is the Marlins are only a half-game behind the Mets. They could leapfrog the Amazin’s with a Mets loss and a win for themselves.

It might be odd to hear but Nieve just might be the best option to put an end to a Mets three-game sweep by the Yankees over the weekend. He’s pitched brilliantly and has gotten better with every outing. The same can’t be said for any of the other starters including Johan Santana, who has an ERA over 5 in June.

Just like over the weekend, the Mets need to play flawless baseball to have a chance at winning. They can’t miss pop flies, waste potential double plays and initiate base-running blunders. They need to rise above and beyond.

The last poll question was: How do you characterize yourself as a Mets fan?

The results are in:

Pessimistic: 23 percent
Optimistic: 8 percent
Que sera, sera: 15 percent
Annoyingly loyal: 21 percent
Obsessed yet depressed: 33 percent

This week’s poll question is: What should the Mets do about their lack of offensive power?

The Mets Contest returns for a few more weeks, so don’t forget to play before time runs out.

This week’s question is: How many luxury suites does Citi Field have?

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.

Almost set here for the vaunted Chien-Ming Wang-Livan Hernandez matchup.

Lineup change: Tatis in left, Sheffield in right. Here we go.

Top One: Hernandez is off to a flying start as Jeter lines a leadoff double off the wall in left. Murphy tried to get Jeter at third on Swisher’s grounder, but Jeter was safe. First and third. Both runners scored on Teixeira’s double into the left field corner that Tatis had trouble picking up. 2-0 Yanks. Rodriguez walks on four pitches. Cano’s forceout puts men at the corners. Teixeira scores on Posada’s sacrifice fly. Cano was caught stealing for the third out. Yanks 3-0.

UPDATE: Wang hit Cora with a 3-1 pitch with one out in the first. No, smart-alecks, it wasn’t a message for Cora getting the only hit last night. Sheffield’s single up the middle moves Cora to third. Tatis flies to right to end the inning. Yanks 3-0.

UPDATE: Top second, Martinez makes a beautiful diving catch on Wang’s sinking liner to retire the side.

UPDATE: Hernandez has settled down, retiring the last two sides in order after the three-run first. Question is, is a 3-0 deficit too much for that Mets lineup to handle?

UPDATE: Top four, Rodriguez leads off with a single. Cano hits into a DP. Posada grounds out.

UPDATE: Sheffield walked, went to second on a groundourt, and scored on Martinez’ double off the left field wall that snapped an 0-for-16 slump. Martinez goes to third on a groundout. Castillo’s single scores Martinez. Steals second. Yanks 3-2.

UPDATE: Top fifth: Gardner walks and Wang bunts into a 1-6-4 DP as Hernandez smartly lets it fall.

UPDATE: Top Sixth, Jeter and Swisher walk. Runners move to second and third on Teixeira’s flyout to deep center. Hernandez intentionally walks A-Rod to load the bases for Cano. But Cano hits into a double play to end the inning.

UPDATE: Bottom sixth. Sheffield singled off Wang’s glove. Tatis sacrifices him to second. Wang’s out, Coke’s in. Martinez strikes out on high heat. Santos is pinch-hitting for Schneider. Girardi brings in Hughes and double-switches,Damon in left and Hughes hitting in Swisher’s No. 2 spot. Hughes throws one pitch and gets Santos to fly out to keep the score at 3-2 Yanks.

UPDATE: Bottom seven. Remember that post about bunting for a hit? Castillo just tried it three times while taking a walk. Argenis Reyes pinch-hits for Hernandez and bunts into a 5-6 forceout. Reyes to second on Murphy’s groundout. But Cora strikes out looking to end the inning.

UPDATE: Top eighth. Hernandez is out, Feliciano is in. Jeter walks and goes to second on pinch-hitter Matsui’s groundout. Teixeira intentional walk. Feliciano’s out, Green is in. A-Rod walks to load the bases with two out. Cano grounds out to Castillo to keep the score at 3-2 Yanks.

UPDATE: Bottom eighth. Bruney’s pitching and walks Wright on four pitches to lead off. Sheffield pops to Jeter. Tatis walks. Martinez fans for a second time on high heat. Bruney’s out, Rivera’s in as he tries to get his 500th career save. Wright steals third. Santos strikes out looking at a 3-2 pitch just abover the knees. Mets have left four on in the last three innings, three in scoring position.

UPDATE: Top ninth. Green’s out, Rodriguez is in. Reed is in right. Posada singles as Cora misjudges pop to short center. Looks like he thought Castillo was calling him off. Cabrera reaches on forceout. Steals second. Gardner walks. Damon lines to right. Jeter is intentionally walked to bring up the closer Rivera with the bases loaded. Rivera fouls off a pitch at 2-2 to stay alive, then works out an RBI walk for the first run since the first inning. No way he doesn’t get Save No. 500 now.

UPDATE: Bottom ninth. Castillo grounds out to second. Reed strikes out looking. Murphy bloops a single to left. Cora grounds out and Rivera notches his 500th save. 4-2 Yanks.

Here’s the lineup for today’s game. Take note that Fernando Tatis was a late substitute in right because Ryan Church came up with a case of nausea.

Daniel Murphy  1B

Alex Cora  SS

David Wright 3B

Gary Sheffield  LF

Fernando Tatis  RF

Fernando Martinez CF

Brian Schneider  C

Luis Castillo  2B

Livan Hernandez  P

An astute friend of mine put this thought in my head.

“In the old days,” he said, “when a guy’s throwing like Burnett was and you can’t get anything going, you’d bunt. Just get the pitcher moving around, working harder, get him to come off the mound.”

Seems like a good idea, and I haven’t seen Jerry Manuel’s team try anything remotely like that. Unless he’s expecting Argenis Reyes to plant one 450 feet, perhaps he should give that a whirl, just to get something going.

Any comments?

EP

Just about ready to start here; Tim Redding vs. A.J. Burnett.

Redding will be out before the fifth inning at this rate. He’s already thrown 21 pitches, having walked Swisher and Teixeira. Yanks are being very patient with him, making him work. Wright couldn’t glove a foul pop in the stands that hit him on the mitt. But Cano struck out to end the inning.

UPDATE: Top second. Burnett’s fouled off five pitches before striking out to end the inning.

UPDATE: Swisher banged his 14th homer of the season over the 384-foot sign in opposite left center for a 1-0 lead in the third.

UPDATE: Mets go down in order in the third. This is looking a lot like last night’s game offensively, when the Mets didn’t get a hit until the fifth inning. At least they’re only behind by a run.

UPDATE: Fourth inning. Redding’s pitching well since the homer, retiring the next five batters in a row and striking out the last two.

UPDATE: Burnett just went through four with a no-hitter. Sound familiar?

UPDATE: Bottom five, Cabrera makes a reaching, running grab at the warning track on Murphy’s deep fly, his second great play of the night. Schneider walks with two out, and Redding gets a nice hand as he comes to the plate. He strikes out, and Burnett has a no-hitter through five.

UPDATE: Top Six. Teixeira lines a double to center and scores on A-Rod’s single up the middle. Cano put men on second and third with his double that droped in front of the left field wall. Posada hits Redding’s first pitch over left field for his 10th homer, a three-run job. Redding’s done. Stokes is in. Stokes retires the side. Yanks 5-0.

UPDATE: Cora lines a single to center to break up the no-hitter. Now the Mets only have to make up the five-run stagger. Easier busting up a no-hitter for this team.

UPDATE: Bottom seven. Pena lays out for a backhand grab of Murphy’s grounder and throws him out by a hair.

UPDATE: Top eighth. Stokes is out, Misch is in. He survives the eighth, and Dessens comes in for the ninth after Bruney relieves Burnett and gets the Mets out in order.

UPDATE: Bruney’s out, Robertson’s in to finish up. That’s it. 5-0 Yanks.

Here’s the lineup for Game 2 of Subway Series II. Funny how the names change, but the minor-league nature remains the same.

Alex Cora  SS

Argenis Reyes  2B

David Wright  3B

Ryan Church  RF

Gary Sheffield LF

Daniel Murphy 1B

Jeremy Reed CF

Brian Schneider C

Tim Redding P

Getting ready to head out for Game 2 of Subway Series II. Any comments from last night? I’m thinking that that proverbial “other shoe” is dropping quickly on the Mets’ injury-ravaged lineup. They got a break last night in that all the other NL East teams lost. But how long can they stay afloat playing these guys.

As a friend said, water always finds its own level. Call up enough minor league guys, and you’ll get a minor-league team. Agree? Disagree?

Leave a comment.

EP

We’re playing this thing after all, following a 52-minute rain delay. Mike Pelfrey just gave up a single to Brett Gardner, in for original starter Derek Jeter, who was pulled when the rains came down. No more damage in the first, however.

UPDATE: Cabrera reached second on a single and David Wright’s throwing error on a slow bouncer to third. Pena drove in Cabrera with a double, and Sabathia helped himself with an RBI single up the middle. Gardner moved him to second with a bloop single, bringing the pitching coach to the mound. Sabathia scored when Cora threw away Damon’s grounder, putting men on second and third. Evans’ bobble on a Teixeira’s grounder scored Gardner and put Damon on third. It was the Mets’ third error of the inning and second that scored a run. A-Rod walked to load the bases. 4-0 Yanks.

UPDATE: Top of the third, Pena strokes his second double of the game and moves to third on Sabathia’s groundout. He stays there, however, as Gardner grounds out to end the inning.

UPDATE: Sabathia just got through his third perfect inning, with Pelfrey hitting the first groundout against the pitcher. He’s struck out four so far.

UPDATE: Sabathia’s through four perfectly, with five strikeouts. Wright almost broke through, but A-Rod made a nice backhanded pickup and threw him out.

UPDATE: Sheffield put the Mets on the board with his ninth homer, a shot deep to left, off a 1-1 pitch. Tatis legs out an infield single after a diving stop by A-Rod and was out on Church’s broken-bat groundout. Evans’ single to right put runners on first and second. Santos and Argenis Reyes, pinch-hitting for Pelfrey, struck out.

UPDATE: Pelfrey’s out aftetr an outing that looked a lot worse on paper than it was. The Yanks dinked and dunked him to death when his own infield wasn’t killing him. Misch is in in the sixth. Gardner blooped a two-out single to center and swiped his 17th base of the season. But Misch struck out Damon looking.

UPDATE: Top seven, Rodriguez walked and Cano doubled as Tatis lolligagged a throw to short as Cano kept running. Cabrera walked to load the bases. Misch is out, Dessens is in. Castillo just got a big, sarcastic hand for catching Cervelli’s popup with the sacks loaded for the second out. Remember, his dropped ninth-inning popup cost the Mets the opener of Subway I. Castillo goes even further back for Pena’s pop to end the inning.

UPDATE: Eighth inning. Brett Gardner hit his third homer of the year into the lower stands in right. for a 5-1 lead. Rodriguez hit his 13th homer of the season into the Mets’ bullpen. Cano lined a single to center. Dessens is out, Parnell is in. Parnell balked Cano to second and wild-pitched him to third on his first two pitches. Yanks 7-1.

UPDATE: Sabathia’s finished after seven innings of one-run, three-hit ball. He struck out eight abnd walked none. Except for the fifth, he retired every side in order. Tomko’s in. If the Mets are going to come back, this is the guy to do it against—the human pitching machine. No such luck. Side’s out.

UPDATE: Ninth inning. Green’s in for Parnell after Murphy pinch-hit. Pena infield hit to third. Gardner tripled to right for an 8-1 lead. Damon doubles to right for a 9-1 lead. Teixeira hit by pitch. Ransom runs for Teixeira, and Matsui pinch-hits for A-Rod.

UPDATE: Castillo grounds to short. Cora pops to short. Wright strikes out. That’s it. 9-1 Yanks.

Ernie Palladino in for James, here. It’s raining and lightning like crazy out at Citi Field. Could well have a rainout. But just in case, here’s the Mets lineup for the first game of Subway Series II.

Luis Castillo 2B

Alex Cora SS

David Wright 3B

Gary Sheffield RF

Fernando Tatis LF

Ryan Church CF

Nick Evans 1B

Omir Santos C

Mike Pelfrey P

Eight, apparently, is not enough. Not for the Mets at least.

Carlos Beltran today became the ninth Met on the disabled list. The bone bruise in his right knee that cost him a couple of games in May has gotten worse. A MRI exam today revealed the extent of the injury.

The team will be without his services for at least 15 days and possibly longer. Asked if the Mets might wait until after the All-Star break to activate him, Omar Minaya said that was something the team would have to consider. The All-Star break doesn’t end until July 16, 25 days and 20 games from now.

At least Beltran’s injury won’t hurt the team. He was barely a contributing player. No, wait, my mistake, he was the best player on the team. Beltran led them in homers, RBI, and OPS. He and David Wright have essentially been the only two pillars in an extremely unstable lineup. Now the weight falls entirely on Wright. (Do you think Wright feels like the he’s on the set of Final Destination 4? Some mysterious force is sucking down everyone around him and he knows he’s going to be next. Be afraid David.)

Beltran joins regulars Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, John Maine, Oliver Perez, J.J. Putz, and Billy Wagner on the DL. Ramon Martinez and fellow outfielder Angel Pagan are there too.

Fernando Martinez will take Beltran’s place on the major league roster. He and Jeremy Reed will likely split duties in centerfield. Reed is there for tonight’s game against St. Louis.

I will be on vacation for the next week, but some of my very capable colleagues will be filling in while I’m gone. So keep checking back. I’ll return on June 29. Until then, let’s go Mets!