From the daily archives:
Tonight, Carlos Delgado was removed from the game after grabbing his hip and wincing during an at-bat.
Following the game, Willie Randolph told reporters that Delgado felt a ‘twinge’ in his hip, was removed from the game, got some treatment and will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
…being a day game, i suspect we’ll see Shawn Green at first, with either Endy Chavez or Lastings Milledge in the outfield…
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…as was my policy at MetsBlog last season, i will not post a Magic Number in the sidebar until either the lead is above seven games in September, or the Magic Number drops below 20…
…be patient…we’ll get there…but i refuse to be the jinx…
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The Mets (78–60) beat up the Reds (62–77) by the score of 11 to 7 in Cincinnati tonight.
For a recap and boxscore, go to Yahoo! Sports.
…there is always that one inning for Oliver Perez, when the wheels begin to come off of him game…usually, he gets through it…tonight, he didn’t…unfortunately, he had that inning twice tonight as he got rattled, allowed a soft hit or two, was victimized by his defense, such as a dropped third strike, he fell behind in counts, looked dejected, starting walking people, and runs scored…
…fortunately, after the Reds took a short-lived, two-run lead, the Mets rallied to tie the game with a two-run home run by Carlos Beltran, which was a pop-up that would have been 
caught in any other park on earth…but, oh well…the Mets then took the lead on back-to-back hits by Shawn Green and Paul Lo Duca, each knocking in one run…after that, they never looked back…
…lo duca hit a three-run, line-drive, first-pitch home run early in the game, which was caught by a Mets fan…perfect…oddly, he hit another home run later in the game…it’s the first time in his career he had driven in seven runs in a game…
…Guillermo Mota looked strong again…pitching one inning…yes, one inning…one…i think that’s the key…
…Pedro Feliciano, however, looked shaky…he allowed a few weak hits, mostly due to the team’s defense playing the shift, and, as such, runs scored…his control was off again…he just hasn’t been right for weeks now…
…hi, my name is Ruben Gotay, and i hit baseballs…
…good for Jeff Keppinger…i always wrote that he could be a new version of Craig Counsell, and i’m glad to see him still hanging around…
…the Reds starting pitcher was Matt Belisle, and every time they said his name i would chuckle, thinking of Bell Isle from Fletch Lives…i miss you Chevy Chase…what happened, man…
…David Wright has been playing some serious defense of late…like tonight, in the seventh, when he single handedly ended a potential rally…
…Jose Reyes, who was thrown out stealing second, again, is useless at the plate right now…it’s ugly…he has to tomorrow off…it will essentially give him two full days of rest, and my lord does he seem to need it…
…speaking of tired, i love when Keith Hernandez gets bored during this sort of blowouts, and literally sighs in to the mic…cracks me up every time, though one e-mailed noted to me how it can be a bit insulting to fans who are thankful to be watching baseball…
…so, the Mets have finally won five games in a row…it’s the first time they have won more than four in a row all season…i don’t know for certain, but, this, i believe, is known as a ‘nice little rhythm.’…and i like it…
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The
first-place Mets (77-60) continue their series against the Reds (62-76) this evening at Great American Ballpark, starting at 7:10 pm EDT.
The Lineup:
SS Jose Reyes leads off, followed in order by 2B Ruben Gotay, 3B David Wright, CF Carlos Beltran, 1B Carlos Delgado, LF Moises Alou, RF Shawn Green, C Paul Lo Duca and starting pitcher Oliver Perez.
The Pitchers:
LHP Oliver Perez (12-9, 3.39 ERA) starts for the Mets. Perez struck out 10 in his last start vs. the Phillies, but took the loss, allowing three runs (including two first inning home runs) over six innings while walking five. Perez has walked five in consecutive starts. He had a 5.19 ERA in six August starts. Perez earned a victory vs. the Reds on July 15th, yielding two runs on six hits over six innings while striking out six.
RHP Matt Belisle (7-8, 5.33 ERA) takes the hill for the Reds. He took a no-decision in his last start vs. the Pirates, allowing two runs over five innings. Opponents have a .308 batting average against Belisle this season. He is 2-7 with a 6.26 ERA at home this season. Belisle was very solid vs. the Mets on July 14th, allowing a single run on nine hits over seven innings as part of a no-decision.
The Notes:
The Mets have won four consecutive games. They have not won more than four consecutive games all season.
Adam Dunn has two doubles and three homers in 19 career at-bats vs. Perez. He also has nine strikeouts.
The Reds have lost four consecutive games.
Jose Reyes is batting .274 with six homers and just 14 RBI since the All-Star break. He has only one RBI since August 16th — it came on a solo home run on Friday vs. the Braves.
Jorge Sosa has a 2.57 ERA in 21 IP since moving to the bullpen.
The Bleachers:
To chat during the game, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers. If you are IRC savvy, log on to
irc.echo34.com and enter channel #metsblog.
…enjoy…and as always, let’s go mets…
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Tomorrow’s series finale vs. the Reds will start at 12:30 pm EDT.
…as such, look for Jose Reyes to get the day off…thursday is an off-day for the mets, so this would give reyes a full two-days rest before the Mets take on the Astros friday night at Shea Stadium…
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ESPN has a new poll asking readers who they think should win the NL MVP award.
Players on the ballot include; Prince Fielder, Matt Holliday, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, David Wright, and Jose Reyes.
…great to see two mets included in the conversation, but i definitely think that based on his overall performance this year, wright belongs there more than reyes does…not to take anything away from reyes, but when discussing mvp honors, he doesn’t quite fit in…
…thanks to gbaked for the link…
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RHP Pedro Martinez has been a regular subject of Will Carroll’s Under The Knife column for Baseball Prospectus this season. Today, Carroll praises the Mets and an evolving Martinez for a job well done.
Carroll writes:
…say what…did i just hear some praise for the Mets and their handling of an injury…that’s gotta be a first…in any case, kudos all around…but the job isn’t done yet…
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Willie Randolph, talking to
reporters after yesterday’s win, when told the Phillies lost, and that
his team picked up another game in the
standings…
“Huge.
We’re thinking that Atlanta might be a little irritated (chuckle), so
they came out today and helped us out a bit. That’s what’s
gonna happen…“I knew this year would be like this,
us bumping each other around a little bit and bumping heads and tit for
tat. So, I’m not really surprised…“All
these teams are real competitive. We just really need to
finish up this trip strong, and get those guys at
home so we can really, really finish up strong – and this is a perfect
opportunity for us to get hot…“So, I’m hoping this
is the run we need – and the way the guys have been playing you can
tell their really hungry and they want to finish in good
fashion.”
…hungry…now
that’s a word we haven’t heard all season, and have been
missing…welcome back…
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Jayson Stark of ESPN.com takes a look at the candidates for MVP in each league.
Among his candidates in the National League is Mets 3B David Wright. Stark writes…
Including yesterday’s game, Wright is batting .373 with a .480 OBP and .610
slugging pct. since the All-Star break.
…wright has been tremendous and although he does not have those sexy power numbers like most former mvps, his will and determination to carry his team to the playoffs is deserving of mvp consideration and it’s great to see national baseball writers like stark taking notice…
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For a good time, read these comments, in a post made by 
Terrence Moore at the blog for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in which argues that the Braves still have a chance to make the playoffs.
…as i wrote on sunday, in a key spot, late in the final game of the series, with the Braves losing, Turner Field began playing the Tomahawk Chop and only a few people in the crowd joined in…which made me laugh…that song is so 1990’s…just like the Braves…
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During his interview this week with WFAN, Mets C Paul Lo Duca said he feels John Maine or Orlando Hernandez would be best suited to pitch from the bullpen, when considering all options from the team’s starting rotation.
According to Lo Duca, Oliver Perez is effectively wild, and would be a risky option when coming in with runners on base, while Pedro Martinez should not be an option given his recent shoulder surgery.
…the best part about this is that, five days ago so many of us were in total panic mode…now, we’re speculating on playoff rotations…i love being a fan in new york…
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At Baseball Prospectus, Nate Silver uses some super-confusing, fancy statistic to determine that the Mets 
currently have sixth best starting rotation among teams contending for the playoffs in the National League.
According to Silver…
“There’s a little bit more upside here than on the staffs that we’ve covered so far, but there’s not guarantee that the Mets are going to pick the right three or four guys to be pitching in October.”
…because there are so many off days during the post-season this year, only three starting pitchers should be needed, and so i still assume it will be the old three, of Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez and Pedro Martinez, come playoff time, with John Maine and Oliver Perez pitching frequently out of long relief…a case can certainly be made for more or less every combination of starters and relievers out of this group, so it should fun to watch it all play out…
…to make a projection now, or offer an opinion, to me, would be foolish, since it’s tough to gauge pedro on just one start…
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