To make room for Wagner, the Mets have released Livan Hernandez.

Hernandez was 7-8 with a 5.47 ERA for the Mets in 2009, but posted a 7.33 ERA in July and an 11.30 ERA in August.

“I still believe he can get it done,” Manuel said. “I don’t want to make it a do-or-die situation for him. I don’t want him to have that type of pressure, so he gets a shot.”

In his last ten starts, Hernandez is 2-6 with a 6.47 ERA, and is averaging just over 5 2/3 innings in those starts.

…Livan has been horrid lately but I think we all expected that he would start strong and fade towards the end, which is exactly what happened…the issue is that there really aren’t any other options right now except Figueroa…

…I think if Niese would have stayed healthy, Hernandez’s spot would be in serious jeopardy, but that could be said about a lot of the current players…

For a full recap and boxscore, click here.

The Least You Should Know:

Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run home run during a four-run fourth inning against Livan Hernandez, giving San Diego a six-run lead they’d never relinquish.

The Mets finally scored three runs against Padres starter Clayton Richard in the sixth, but that was it for the night.

Misc., Etc., and other Observations:

Richard is an impressive-looking young left-handed starter, which must make Padres fans feel good, since he was acquired in the deal for Jake Peavy.  This group of Mets have a very tough time against lefties.  I can’t recall the last time they beat one.

Livan Hernandez was throwing batting practice tonight.  He had no command, and couldn’t find the corners of the plate, leaving most every pitch out over the plate.  He usually struggles early, like tonight, but he typically adjusts and settles in to a groove – not tonight. 

How many games this season have the Mets played short, using a three-man bench?  I’m guessing 30 percent.

The Mets have lost six of their last eight games.

Daniel Murphy had two hits.  He is batting .320 in his last six games.

The Mets continue their four-game series with the Padres tonight at 10 pm, with Oliver Perez taking on Kevin Correia.

…the buzz from Citi Field yesterday suggested he would be back in the starting lineup either today or tomorrow…

…in addition, the Mets may activate Gary Sheffield from the disabled list this weekend, as well…

…it could not come at a better time, because the bench is super weak…

Last night, Angel Berroa pinch hit for Livan Hernandez and grounded out with the bases loaded in the sixth.

Following the game, Hernandez said, ‘I think we made a bad decision,’ regarding Manuel’s choice to pinch hit Berroa.

…ouch… but, he might be right… i mean, manuel’s bench has been so weak of late, livan has been taking batting practice every day because he, a starting pitcher batting .135, is consider a legit option for offense from the bench…

…earlier this week, i watched livan take batting practice, like one of the regular hitters, cycling through with Gary Sheffield and others… he is in to it… it’s pretty clear he likes to hit… he has a pretty good swing, too, hitting several one-hoppers to the wall in left field… but, let’s be honest, if jerry has to call upon livan, something is going wrong…

Hernandez is batting .143 in 35 at bats this season.

…frankly, the Astros were clubbing the ball against livan in the first inning… it looked like a pinball machine out there… then, houston’s third base coach sent Geoff Blum home from second on a single to center and he was thrown out by a mile by Angel Pagan… Brian Schneider then ended the rally by throwing a runner out at second… and, from there, livan dominated… he made whatever adjustment he needed to, and had the Astros waving at the ball all afternoon, be it his fastball up in the zone or off-speed pitches down low… it was, literally, the tale of two starts…

In a post-game review from Mets Today, Joe Janish writes, “Why are people so surprised to see Livan pitch well or pitch poorly? There isn’t much mystery involved — basically, Hernandez eats up overly aggressive hitters such as those on the Astros, and generally gets into trouble with more patient teams such as the Yankees.  So if Livan has a few bad starts in a row, it’s probably because he’s facing lineups that have what’s called a “team approach”.  This isn’t rocket science.”

In 19 starts this season, Hernandez has thrown 11 quality starts, i.e., at least six innings and three or less runs allowed, during which the Mets are 7–4.

Oliver Perez will start Thursday night against the Braves in Atlanta, followed by Mike Pelfrey on Friday, Johan Santana on Saturday, Fernando Nieve on Sunday, and Livan Hernandez on Monday against the Nationals in Washington.

Jerry Manuel told reporters that Jonathan Niese would take the place of a starter who has “three bad outings in a row”, which seemingly would apply to Hernandez who in his last two starts is 0-2 with a 19.29 ERA, allowing 21 hits, eight walks, and 15 earned runs in his last seven innings and has lost his last four starts.

For now, the rotation will remain in tact, with Manuel saying:

“We’ve had some success with the rotation we have, and you gotta kind of give guys the benefit of the doubt.”

…as much as I think Hernandez has been beneficial and durable, his last two games in particular have been really alarming and with Niese pitching as well as he has been in the minors, it might be wise to consider this change as the team has lost eight of his last nine starts overall…

…if the team is going to make any sort of run in the second half, then I think Manuel  simply must make changes from within as he cannot rely on ownership making a deal…in reality, things couldn’t be much worse…

Hernandez allowed seven runs and 10 hits in his previous start, and three runs in the first inning against the Yankees in the start before that.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, courtesy of ESPN.com, Hernandez is the first pitcher in Mets history to allow three or more first-inning runs in three successive starts, which no major-league pitcher had done since Mike O’Connor for the Nationals in July 2006.

…exactly… he gets totally roughed up early, of late, and though he finds a groove and gets back on track, with this Mets offense, it’s too little too late…

In his last three starts, he has a 30.00 ERA.

Jerry Manuel, on the state of the rotation, said last night:

“I’ll say this, over the break, we’ll decide what the rotation is going to be… We’ll just have to take a good look at it and see which direction we’re going to go.  I’m not saying somebody is in or somebody is out.  I’m just saying that we’re going to take a look at it.”

…manuel keeps saying, as long as the team gets good pitching, they have a chance to win every night… livan is not even giving them that of late… the reality is, for whatever reason, the Mets are 2–8 in his last 10 starts… and so, again, given the lack of offense, the Mets need to do something to give themselves a better chance…

…i bet the Mets go with Johan Santana, Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese and Nelson Figueroa following the All-Star break, since it seems like the Fernando Nieve Show is coming to a close as well…

Niese has a 1.04 ERA in his last six starts for Triple-A Buffalo, where Figueroa has seven consecutive quality starts and a 2.50 ERA.

…he’s really only had one bad start since the middle of May… otherwise, he’s been pretty even-keel, just going out and doing his thing like a total professional… most important, on a night when Joel Pineiro was shutting down the Mets, livan did a good job keeping the team within striking distance…

Hernandez is 5–2 with a 4.05 ERA in 14 starts, during which the Mets are 7–7.

…the big mistake came in the seventh inning, when, with two outs, and two on, and Albert Pujols on deck, livan walked Chris Duncan… i was actually surprised Jerry Manuel left livan in to pitch to pujols with the bases loaded - seeing as Brian Stokes had been successful the night before in a similar situation… naturally, pujols singled to center field, and knocked in the Cardinals third run… on one hand, stokes had success the night before… on the other hand, pujols is a smart hitter, and what are the chances stokes was going to get him again… also, livan did get pujols to strike out in his previous at bat, plus got him to fly out earlier in the game…

In case you missed last night’s game…

Click here, to watch SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra from last night’s loss to the Cardinals, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel, and analysis from Ron, Keith and Gary.

Hernandez had a cramp in his right arm, which he attributed to the humidity, that brought the team’s trainers out to the mound in the seventh inning.

He remained in the game, and was removed before the start of the eighth, having thrown 100 pitches.

…he set down eight of the last nine hitters he faced, so i realize the temptation to keep him in the game… i realize he downplayed the cramp, but, given the injuries on this team, i would have pulled him from the game as well… Sean Green had been good of late, i still trust Pedro Feliciano against lefties, and so to make the decision to risk livan’s arm, assuming green and feliciano would fail, is not fair… manuel pulled him, pedro and green combined to let up a run, and it didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right call at the time…

The Mets are 6–3 in games started by Hernandez against team’s below .500, and 1–3 in games against team’s above .500.