Following today’s win, the Mets demoted Victor Diaz to Norfolk to
make room for the return of Miguel cairo from the disabled list…
…bring a first baseman’s mitt when you go to norfolk, vic…

To listen to Willie Randolph’s post-game comments from the Shea Stadium clubhouse, click the play bottom below…

…the audio file runs roughly two minutes…

…pedro is just mesmerizing…but he’s received a ton of ink this year, so here are a few other thoughts…
…when
I think back to the sloppy play of the last few seasons, it makes me
sick…today, however, we witnessed smart baseball…and it was a treat to
simply watch the game the way it should be played…
…give
credit to marlon anderson, [...]

…not sure when or where this image is from, but it has to be posted…

The Game…
The Mets (38–39) close out a three-game set with the Phillies (40–38) this afternoon at Shea Stadium…
The Pitchers…
RHP Pedro Martinez (8–2, 2.72) starts for the Mets … Martinez leads the N.L. in strikeouts with 117 … Opponents are hitting just .174 against him this season … Against the Phillies earlier this season, Martinez allowed [...]

The Phillies have an all-lefty lineup starting, except for Todd Pratt, to face Pedro Martinez today…

My buddy JohnnyG emailed in the following, regarding Texas LHP Kenny Rogers, who is facing charges after shoving a cameramen on Wednesday…
JG writes…
“Hopefully Kenny Rogers anger issues stem from the 1999 NLCS when he ended the Mets season with a walk to Andruw Jones…
I know I’m still angry about it.”…

…who isn’t…
…i can’t have a single baseball discussion [...]

From his most recent Inside Dish column at the Sporting News, Ken Rosenthal writes, “The Reds will trade outfielder Adam Dunn only if they receive a top young pitcher in return.”…
Rosenthal describes the ‘top young pitcher’ as being ‘a potential Josh Beckett or Kerry Wood.’…
…here’s the thing fans…i know you’re gonna throw out aaron heilman, [...]

WFAN reports that there is a proposed deal on the table between the Yankees and Marlins that would swap Gary Sheffield for Juan Encarnacion and A.J. Burnett…
…for what it’s worth, i talked to a few yankees reporters this weekend who mentioned a deal like this could be in the works, as well…
…imagine a lineup card [...]

Mets 2B Miguel Cairo began a rehab assignment with Class A St. Lucie last night and was 1–for-4 as the team’s DH…
He will play with St. Lucie again tonight and could rejoin the team tomorrow, according to several reports…

Scott Lauber offers up a few minor league tidbits in today’s Press & Sun Bulletin…
According to Lauber, B-Mets RHP Kevin Deaton could be headed back to the disabled list with pain in his right-shoulder…
Meanwhile, SS Chase Lambin, who was at Binghamton earlier this season, than promoted to Norfolk a few weeks ago, only to be [...]

“Would we like to have done it today? Yeah.” Omar Minaya told reporters about un-signed first-round draft-pick Mike Pelfrey. “But the history is that some of these guys take a little longer than others.”…
The team’s top-pick last year, Philip Humber, missed all of last season before signing with the Mets just before spring training…
According to Don [...]

Nice job by Pete Abraham in the Journal News who reminds us that the Mets left Royce Ring off their 40–man roster last winter, exposing him to the Rule V Draft…
Ring went unclaimed by all 29 teams, and was returned to the Mets farm system…
“I’m sure teams wish they took him now,” pitching coach Rick Peterson [...]

“I feel that if you have the opportunity to get to the playoffs, you owe it to your players and to the fans to do the best that you can to get in,” Mets GM Omar Minaya told reporters before last night’s game. “The question you have to ask yourself is: Where are you at [...]

“I’m not going to talk to you guys about making changes on a pitcher before I talk to the pitcher,” Willie Randolph told reporters when asked about the status of Kaz Ishii in the Mets rotation. “If you’re looking for his head,” he continued, “I’m not going to give you that…You can write your story [...]