Earlier today, former Met Rusty Staub participated in a conference call with Mets bloggers and had the following to say about:

The current Mets, the criticism they’ve received, and his experience watching the Mets ‘grow up’ through the 1980s:

“Everyone knows there have been some problems over the last few years with the ball club. They have not performed as well as they would have liked. But to be truthful, comparisons of teams is very difficult. I do think the current Mets do not get enough credit. The belittlement they took in Spring Training and prior to it was beyond belief. Everybody said they were going to stink, they were going to get the hell beat out of them all year long, it was going to be an embarrassment, etc.. I think the fans should be very proud of how they got off to this very nice start. Hopefully, it will continue. It’s a game that’s done in between the white lines. There are a lot of people who flap their lips and claim to be geniuses. But, it all ends up being those teams playing each other between those white lines, and that’s who determines who wins a game. And so far, the Mets have done a hell of a job winning a lot of games.”

Ike Davis, his struggles, and what the hitting coach has done to help through a tough time at the plate:

“The most important thing you have to understand is yourself. I don’t know what’s happening. I’m not privy to anything that’s being said in that dugout. I don’t have an idea what the hitting instructor is talking to Ike Davis about. Ike Davis came up as a very good prospect as a hitter. He has very good talent. But right now, he’s so messed up in his head, it’s beyond comprehension. I’ve watched the Mets on TV quite a bit, and he’s had the bat in different positions, he’s pumping that thing up and down; he’s not giving himself much of a chance. I think he’s gotta slow it down, and be quieter. If your hands start moving down when that ball is coming, you’re not getting there. He does that a lot. He’s going to get out of this thing, whether he’s got to go to the minors and get himself together. I had to do that once in myself in my career. What Ike has to start doing is study himself and know why he’s doing well when he’s doing well, and have an idea. Every pitcher has a strength and a weakness. Some don’t have as many weaknesses as others. You can’t go up there hoping. You have to go up there with an idea what you want to do against that pitcher, and you have to try and execute that. Right now, I think he’s so confused, I’m not too sure giving him a little time to get his act together wouldn’t be the best thing in the world for the young man, as terrible as that sounds. But, Ike will be back. It’s not easy to have the type of long-term injury the previous year and automatically come back and swing the bat great.”

For other quotes from Rusty Staub, click here.

Here is the second episode of Riding Shotgun with Jon Niese, presented by Pepsi MAX, during which I drive to Citi Field with Jon Niese and talk about his new truck, the personal politics of the clubhouse, and who is first arrive to the park each day, after which we answer fan questions from Twitter:

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On Saturday, the Mets will give away a Rusty Staub bobblehead doll to the first 25,000 fans in attendance at the Mets/Padres game at Citi Field as part of their year long celebration of the team’s 50th anniversary:

For more information and for tickets to Saturday’s game, check out Mets.com.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, R.A. Dickey became the second Mets pitcher in two years to strikeout at least ten batters without issuing a walk in yesterday’s 3-2 win over the Pirates.

The last Mets pitcher to accomplish this feat was Chris Capuano on August 26, 2011 when he pitched a complete game, two-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 6-0 win. Prior to that, the last time a Mets pitcher accomplished such a feat was Rick Reed in 1999.

Other Mets to accomplish this feat include Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Sid Fernandez, and David Cone.

The Mets (24-20) defeated the Pirates (20-24) by the score of 3-1 today at PNC Park.

For a full recap and box score, check out SNY.TV.

The Least You Should Know:

Michael Baron: The story of this game, by far, is Jon Niese. He was outstanding. He did a great job locating his cutter in on the hands and down to the right-handed hitter – that resulted in a lot of missed bats and when they did make contact, nothing was hit particularly hard and was on the ground, a place he hasn’t been in his most recent starts. He tired a bit in the eighth inning but most definitely took a turn in the right direction with his effort today. I still would like him to incorporate his curveball more, but I’ll take success wherever he can find it.

Well, David Wright isn’t perfect after all. The Pirates did a good job of backing him off the plate and getting him to chase the outside pitch this week. He’s been so good, but he was bound to run into some trouble at some point. As he’s said, .400 is a bit unrealistic, but a productive season certainly is not, which is the most important thing.

Hats off to Bobby Parnell in the eighth inning, making a big pitch on Andrew McCutchen to strand the tying runs in scoring position. He was almost killed by an error by Ike Davis who could not handle Rob Johnson‘s pick off attempt, although I question why Johnson is even trying to pick the runner off with two outs and a two run lead in the eighth inning. All’s well that ends well, I guess…

I was growing concerned with Nieuwenhuis. He had hit a snag and really wasn’t hitting as his strikeout totals mounted. But he did a great job in this series getting back on track and firming his stake in the outfield.

The Mets just finished a stretch of 18 of 25 on the road, and they won 13 of those games. That’s pretty good, although they gave a lot away thanks to poor performances by the bullpen over that stretch. But they start an 11-game homestand against two struggling teams in the Padres and the Phillies before things heat up against the Cardinals next weekend. It would be wise to take advantage of these teams while they’re down as they head into one of their tougher stretches of the season.

W.B. Mason Post Game Extra

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The Mets head home to open a four-game series with the Padres tomorrow night at Citi Field, with Jeremy Hefner facing Eric Stults at 7:10 pm.

Today in Pittsburgh, the Mets (23-20) will look to take the rubber game of their three-game series with the Pirates (20-23) at 12:35 pm.

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Delta is proud to be the official airline of the New York Mets – and Pittsburgh is now one of 26 new destinations that Delta flies to from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

To learn more about Delta’s newest routes from LGA, click here.

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Jon Niese (2-2, 4.85 ERA) will start for the Mets. Niese got shelled in his last start against the Blue Jays, allowing eight runs before being knocked out after three innings which highlighted a brutal month of May in which he’s 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA in 17 innings over four starts. Niese has pitched well in his career against the Pirates, going 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings over two starts this season.

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Charlie Morton (2-4, 4.35 ERA) will start for the Pirates. Morton has dropped three of his four decisions in the month of May, pitching to a 5.64 ERA in 22 1/3 innings this month. He allowed four runs in six innings in a loss to the Tigers in his last start. In four appearances and three starts against the Mets in his career, Morton is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA in 17 innings.

In last night’s 3-2 win over the Pirates, Tim Byrdak entered the game with two outs in the eighth inning and struck out Pedro Alvarez with the tying run on base.

In 26 relief appearances this season, Tim Byrdak is 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA with 11 holds, having allowed four earned runs on six hits in 12 1/3 innings.

He has stranded a league-leading 21 runners on base in his 26 relief appearances, and has held lefties to a .115 average so far this season (3-for-26) with 14 strikeouts.

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Michael Baron: Outside of really one pitch, Byrdak has been a phenomenon in an otherwise shaky bullpen for the Mets this season. He simply goes out there and gets the job done. His slider is a perfect recipe to either miss bats or induce weak opposite field contact against left-handed hitting because he can routinely spot that pitch low and outside but start it on the opposite side of the strikezone. Obviously, that’s not an ideal pitch to throw to right-handed hitters but, for the most part, Byrdak hasn’t faced righties this season – he is being used predominantly against lefties which maximizes his strengths.

The only concern I have right now is Byrdak is on pace to appear in 97 games. He’s no spring chicken – he’s 38 years old. The good news is Robert Carson was added to the roster last week, and Terry Collins said yesterday he intends to get Carson into the mix and use him in higher leverage situations. I would hope Terry limits Carson’s exposure against righties as he’s done with Byrdak, as he could combine with Byrdak to be a formidable late-inning combination against the tough lefties in the league.

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To follow Byrdak on Twitter, click here.

In a report for the New York Post, Mike Puma says the Mets have concluded that “Jon Niese needs to pay a little more attention to his homework before facing an unfamiliar opponent.”

“He’s had a couple of poor games against teams he doesn’t know very well,” Dan Warthen said, according to Puma. “A couple of us talked to him the other day and told him he could do a little bit better with the studying of hitters. … Teams in our division he’s very familiar with and pitches well. We encourage him to be a little more proactive in watching more video and preparing himself that way.”

Niese faces the Pirates today. It’s the fourth time this season he will have faced a team outside the National League East, and he’s gone 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA in his three prior starts against non-divisional opponents. He is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA against opponents inside the National League East.

Overall, Niese is 2-2 with a 4.85 ERA with 18 walks and 39 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings this season. He has thrown 747 pitches in eight starts this season, 555 of which (74 percent) have been fastballs and cutters. He has thrown his curveball only 171 times (nearly 23 percent of the time).

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Michael Baron: In his starts against Houston and Toronto in particular, he fell in love with his cutter. Those are two dead-fastball hitting teams and there isn’t enough differential between those pitches to fool those hitters – his fastball has averaged just under 91 mph and his cutter has averaged just below 88 mph so far this season. He has failed to incorporate his outstanding curveball consistently against those clubs which would have helped to off-set his fastball much better. What’s worse, his location has been ridiculously poor with both the fastball and cutter, which only compounded his problems. His cutter in particular plays into the strength of the right-handed hitter no matter what, since it follows an inside path towards the hitters happy zone – if he can’t come down and in with it, as has been the case recently, he’s dead meat.

Whatever the explanation of his struggles are, it’s all a part of the growing and maturation process he needs to get through in order to become the pitcher he is capable of becoming. Sandy Alderson said last September growth needs to take place among the starting pitchers, and Niese is no exception, even after he has signed his long-term contract extension.

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