On the Mets beat

Top 9th - Wagner gets the first two batters easily, gives up a single to pinch hitter Aaron Boone - yes, he was booed - then finished the deal by getting Felipe Lopez to strike out swinging. 6-3 final. A tidy 2 hours, 48 minutes after last night's 3 1/2 hour marathon. Eighth save of the season for Wagner. Let's shut it down, folks.

Bottom 8th - Ryan Church the offensive story tonight with four RBI on the night, just now getting one of the Mets two runs in with a deep sacrifice fly. Catcher Brian Schneider led off the inning with a double - he later scored - which was hit third hit of the game. Breathing room at 6-3 now with Wagner coming in to close it.

Top 8th - After the Mets went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Duaner Sanchez got the crowd nervous by walking leadoff batter Cristian Guzman and, after inducing a fly out from Zimmerman, walked Nick Johnson. But Sanchez struck out Lastings "boooooooooo" Milledge and got a easy grounder from Kearns to end the inning. Mets still ahead 4-3.

Top 7th - Nats get one back against Matt Wise, who replaced John Maine, who allowed one earned run and gave up two hits. Dukes led off against Wise with a double and eventually scored on pinch hitter Rob Mackowiak's ground out. 4-3 Mets in the bottom of the seventh.

Bottom 6th - First and second with one out and Reyes at the plate. You know what that means. K. However, Austin Kearns badly misplayed a rocket shot to right by Ryan Church and two runs come in to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. And here comes Matt Wise in relief.

Top 6th - Easley with his second error of the game as he bobbled an easy grounder hit his way by Milledge. But the miscue came with two outs and Maine came back to get Kearns looking. 109 pitches so far for Maine.

Bottom 5th - Looked like the Mets would get something there but Milledge just tracked down a deep Delgado drive on the track to keep it 2-2.

Top 5th - Most effortless inning thus far for Maine, as the Nationals hardly touched him in going down in order. Maine has set down eight straight since giving up the two-run home run to Zimmerman.

Bottom 4th - Mets squander an inning in which John Maine, after failing in two bunt attempts, slashed a single to left. With men on first and second and one out, Jose Reyes grounds into a 5-4-3 double play to keep it 2-2.

Top 4th - Easley didn't quite make up for his third-inning error that cost the Mets a run, but that over the shoulder job there on Nieves quail was something. Still 2-2 heading to the bottom of the fourth.

Bottom 3rd - Mets come right back after Maine gave up a rocket shot two-run homer to Ryan Zimmerman that gave the Nats a 2-1 lead. Ryan Church, after falling behind 0-2, hammered one to deep center to tie it at 2-2. David Wright followed with a good piece of hitting, going the opposite way in slicing a double down the right field line but he gets stranded. tied at 2-2.

Bottom of 2nd - Carlos Delgado bunts for a hit. Looked like part of a big inning for the Mets but they only get one run out of having the bases loaded with none out. Three hits thus far for the Mets and a 1-0 lead.

Top 2nd - Crowd pumped after Lastings Milledge, who after last night's game gave the old, "I want to see how loudly they can boo me," struck out swinging on a 90-mph fastball to start the inning. Austin Kearns followed with a single and Elijah Dukes, the head cheerleader from last night's silliness, walked. Good play by Jose Reyes to clip Kearns on a grounder by Nieves and starting pitcher John Lannan ended the inning by grounding out to Maine.

Bottom 1st - Two-out single from David Wright but Carlos Beltran can do no better than popping out to first. 0-0 after one.

Top 1st - Maine settled in pretty quickly after beaning Lopez to start the inning. He set down the next three in order, including striking out Ryan Zimmerman with an 85-mph slider. Before the game, Annika Sorenstam, who recently announced her retirement from professional golf, threw out the first pitch. It bounced just in front of the plate, but she tossed it from the full 60, which not every first-pitch honoree does.

Erik Boland here at Shea to moderate and perhaps even illuminate during tonight's Mets game. John Maine (4-2, 3.00 ERA) set to take on lefty John Lannan (3-3, 3.40) of the Nationals. Nelson Figueroa, as Anthony Rieber reported earlier, will not be here to act as judge and jury on the proper dugout decorum for the Nationals, as he was designated for assignment this afternoon. The live blogging begins in minutes....

It's been confirmed by our very own eyes. Well, at least the spot where it's going to go. We saw it today, and wrote about our experience touring Citi Field here.

Mets

Reyes SS
Church RF
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Alou LF
Delgado 1B
Easley 2B
Schneider C
Maine P

Nats starter: John Lannan

Nelson Figueroa won't have to worry about the "softball girl" antics of the Nationals anymore.

Figueroa was designated for assignment by the Mets on Tuesday as part of a flurry of moves.

Figueroa was the losing pitcher in Monday's 10-4 loss to Washington and got frustrated by his own pitching. He took issue with the Nationals' bench chanting and clapping "Let's go, Austin" during Austin Kearns' third-inning at-bat with the bases loaded.

"They were cheerleading in the dugout like softball girls," Figueroa said. "I'm a professional like anybody else, so I take a huge offense to that. If that's what a last-place team needs to do to fire themselves up, so be it. I think they need to show a little more class and professionalism. They won tonight, but in the long run, they're still what they are ... For the manager and coaching staff to let that kind of stuff carry on, it's truly unprofessional. That's why they are who they are."

Figueroa retired Kearns on a fly ball to centerfield. As he returned to the dugout, he clapped in the direction of the Nationals' bench. The game continued without incident.

In other moves, Jorge Sosa was also designated for assignment, and Angel Pagan was placed on the disabled list. Claudio Vargas and Fernando Tatis were called up, and Matt Wise was activated from the disabled list.

Vargas will start Wednesday against the Nationals.

Manager Willie Randolph confirmed Johan Santana will start Friday vs. the Yankees.

You won't find a better guy in the Mets' clubhouse than Nelson Figueroa. A class act all the way and as professional as they come. But he let his frustration get the best of him after last night's 10-4 loss to the Nationals.

There's no question the Nats were out of line with their cheerleading from the dugout. I mean, chanting "Let's Go Austin!" is ridiculous. But Figueroa has to just let it go -- take his beating and move on. Calling the Nats "softball girls" is just another dumb distraction for the Mets in a season that is piling up with them already. If the Mets have a problem with their behavior, then drop Ryan Zimmerman at some point with a fastball under the chin. Problem solved.

As for Figueroa belittling the Nats, and saying, "that's why they are who they are," the Mets should look in the mirror. They're only two games over .500 (19-17) while Washington is 16-23. I'm not seeing much of a gap there. And when you factor in the two payrolls, the Mets at $140 million and the Nats at $55 million, these two clubs should not even be within shouting distance of each other.

Anyway, it's hardly surprising that Lastings Milledge was chirping again last night, but I'm not sure I understand why the Shea fans get on him so much. First, everyone hated the trade, now everyone hates Milledge instead? I don't get it.

The Mets better take two out of the next three against the Nats, or this homestand will be a disappointment, as far as I'm concerned. Then it's time for a drive across the Triborough to face the Yankees, with Johan Santana leading off. That should make for an interesting Subway Series opener.

Speaking of drama, Pedro Martinez is making incremental progress in Port St. Lucie. But with Figueroa flaming out up here, the Mets obviously need Pedro now more than ever.

The Final Score boys weigh in.

Good evening Mets fans, Chris Mascaro here to bring you all the live game action of the Mets' four-game set at Shea against the Nats before the renewal of the Subway Series this weekend.

But first things first, as the Mets (19-16), winners of three of their last four, will send Nelson Figueroa (2-2, 4.81 ERA) to the hill against veteran lefty Odalis Perez (0-3, 3.43) and the Nats (15-23), who are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Marlins at home in which they were outscored 23-7. Ouch.

The Mets are three games behind the red-hot Marlins (23-14), percentage points ahead of the Phils (21-18) for second place, while the Nats are in last, 8.5 out of first.

The weather will be a factor tonight at Shea. It's going to be cold and windy tonight, as it's been in the tri-state area all day. But the rain is supposed to taper off as the evening progresses, so we should get this one in.

Perez has pitched well for the Nats despite his winless record. In his last start against the Astros, he pitched five innings, allowing three runs on five hits but did not figure into the decision.

The Mets are 8-3 against lefties this season, having battered them around quite nicely, especially David Wright.

The Mets also hope Carlos Beltran will stay hot. He was 5-for-11 with a home run, triple and eight RBIs in the Cincinnati series. So far he's batting .323 in May, and has been a real boost to this lineup.

Figueroa has been much better at Shea (2-0, 3.32) than on the road (0-2, 7.50) and the Mets hope that continues tonight.

Okay, we're minutes from baseball on SNY!!

Also, here are today's lineups

Mets
1. Reyes, SS
2. Church, RF
3. Wright, 3B
4. Beltran, CF
5. Alou, LF
6. Delgado, 1B
7. Easley, 2B
8. Schneider, C
9. Figueroa, P

Nats
1. Lopez, 2B
2. Guzman, SS
3. Zimmerman, 3B
4. Johnson, 1B
5. Milledge, CF
6. Kearns, RF
7. Mackowiak, LF
8. Flores, C
9. Perez, P

Top of the 1st: Figueroa has been strong at the beginning of games, and tonight is no different as he sat the Nats down 1-2-3 including two strikeouts. The first was on a nice slider to Felipe Lopez and the second was on a hard fastball past Ryan Zimmerman. The Mets are coming to bat...

Bottom of the 1st: David Wright walked with two outs and Carlos Beltran drove him in to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Alou followed with a single, but Delgado struck out on three pitches to end the inning.

Beltran looks like he's got his stroke back (he's 6 for his last 12), and it's very interesting that he has 18 of his 22 RBIs at Shea, where he's had problems in the past.

Top of the 2nd: After a Delgado error (replays showed Figueroa had his foot on first base when he was covering, but nevertheless an error), Lastings Milledge walked and Austin Kearns moved the runners over on a slow roller to Easley.

Mackowiak drilled a Figueroa pitch deep to center on the warning track, but the wind knocked it down and the ball stayed in the park. The sac fly scored Nick Johnson to tie the score at 1-1. Milledge moved to third, but Jesus Flores went down looking on another nice slider by Figueroa — his third strikeout.

Bottom of the 2nd: Well that was an eventful inning. Easley led off the inning with a long homer to just left of dead center for his first homer of the season to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.

With two outs Reyes dropped a bunt single and then Church singled, but Wright was thrown out on a 5-6-3 groundout, in which his rocket caromed off Zimmerman at third, but Guzman was right there to grab the ball and fire to first in time.

Top of the 3rd: Odalis Perez (of all people) got the first hit off of Figueroa this evening to lead off the third inning, and Felipe Lopez followed with a single.

Manny Acta chose not to bunt with Cristian Guzman, but his 4-1 groundout to the right side served as one anyway. Zimmerman was hit with one out to load the bases (Figueroa's first hit batsman all season), and then Nick Johnson (he of the great eye) walked in a run on a 3-2 pitch to tie the game at 2-2.

Figueroa was in danger of walking in another run, but Milledge whiffed on a 3-2 slider over the middle (Gary Cohen was critical of Milledge trying "to hit a grand slam against his former team, and Keith Hernandez agreed). Kearns flew out to end the inning.

(Also, when Figueroa came off the mound he clapped in the direction of the Nats' bench. He didn't seem to take too kindly of them chanting "let's go millie, let's go!" during the inning. He looked over again once he got in the dugout and Willie saw it. It'll be interesting if Willie talks to him between innings about toning things down a bit.)

Bottom of the 3rd: An eventful inning for Kearns in rightfield. Beltran drove one just shy of the track in right and Kearns nearly overran it, but recovered to make the catch. Then Alou hit a blooper that fell in between Kearns and first baseman Nick Johnson on a ball that looks like it got caught in the Bermuda Triangle, and Alou slid in safe at second.

Delgado whiffed on a 1-2 slider and looked bad doing it for the second out, but Easley dropped one in front of (guess who?) Kearns for a single and Alou slid in head-first again at home to put the Mets up 3-2. For Easley, he has his 6th and 7th RBIs of the season through the first three innings.

Top of the 4th: Figueroa looked verrry shaky this inning (wonder if he got himself a little too riled up after the last inning). Mackowiak walked to lead off the inning and then he hit the catcher Flores. Perez moved the runners over on a bunt.

Then Lopez drove one up the middle, which Figueroa knocked down. He came home with the ball to try and get Mackowiak but threw the ball well wide of Schneider and the run scored easily to (again) tie the game at 3-3. (The game has been tied at every number from 0 through 3 so far. Oy.)

Figueroa fought out of it with a fly out to Beltran (not long enough to score the run) and then a Zimmerman ground out. Figueroa has only given up two hits thus far, but two hit batters, two errors (one by him) and three walks have bedeviled him.

Bottom of the 4th: Reyes singled with one out but was gunned down trying to steal second on a bang-bang play (the fourth time he's been caught this season), and then Church struck out on a high fastball (the 4th K for Perez).

Top of the 5th: Figueroa was holding on as best he could, but the Nats broke things open in the 5th with two outs. Nick Johnson singled to lead off the inning (the 4th straight inning getting the leadoff man on), but Figueroa got the next two batters on fly outs.

Yet he got wild from there, with a walk to Mackowiak followed by a two-run double by Flores to make it 5-3 Nats. An Odalis Perez RBI single (his second hit of the game) made it 6-3 Nats. Figgy walked Felipe Lopez, but got Guzman to pop out to end the inning. He has 108 pitches through five innings, and is most likely done.

Bottom of the 5th: Wright walked to lead off the inning, but Beltran flew out. Alou singled to left, but Delgado made it two outs on a grounder. Easley — the man of the night for the Mets up to now — flew out to right to end the inning.

The final numbers on Figueroa — 5 IP, 6 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits, with 4 K's and 5 walks. 108 pitches. Bottom line: Not good.

Top of the 6th: The first three runners against Jorge Sosa got reached base — Ryan Zimmerman doubled, Nick Johnson walked and the Mets' good ol' buddy Lastings Milledge doubled them both in for his 12th and 13th RBIs of the season to make it 8-3 Nats.

It only got worse from there. Flores was intentionally walked with two outs to get to Odalis Perez, but — adding insult to injury — the pitcher knocked in his second run of the run of the game (his only two RBIs this season) with his third hit of the evening to make it 9-3 Nats. Felipe Lopez followed with an RBI single to make it 10-3.

The boo birds are out!

Bottom of the 6th: The Nats put up a 4-spot in the top of the inning, and the Mets go ... 1-2-3. Schneider struck out, Pagan (pinch-hitting for Sosa) popped out and Reyes struck out.

Duaner Sanchez is on to pitch. Sosa went 1 inning, allowing four earned runs on four hits with two walks and one K. Yuck.

Top of 7th: 1-2-3 go the Nats for the first time since the 1st inning. Duaner Sanchez looks good in the seventh.

Bottom of the 7th: A solo homer (to make it 10-4) and an infield single by Beltran off Zimmerman's glove with one out spell the end of the night for Odalis Perez, who looks like he should get his first win of the season tonight.

Chris Schroder came on and got the first two batters to fly out.

Perez went 6 1/3, allowing four earned runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He gave up a bunch of hits and two homers, but did the job and helped his own cause going 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run.

Joe Smith on for the Mets...

Top of the 8th: Smith does a nice job by striking out the side—Kearns (swinging), Mackowiak (looking) and Flores (swinging).

Bottom of the 8th: A Schneider single with one out and a Reyes walk with two outs prompted Acta to lift Schroder for Saul Rivera. He walked the first batter he faced, Church, but Wright grounded out to third to end the inning.

Top of the 9th: Elijah Dukes sighting! Just an aside, I saw him crush a pitch into the black at Yankee Stadium...if only he could gets his act together, he'd be great. Anyway, he struck out facing Wagner (in because he has pitched just once since May 4) to drop to 0-for-12 for the season.

Wagner got Lopez swinging, Guzman doubled, but Wagner completed striking out the side by getting Zimmerman on a 2-2 slider.

Bottom of the 9th: 1-2-3 go the Mets off Saul Rivera. That's ballgame.

As always, it's been a lot of fun everyone. I enjoyed it. See you next time and thanks for your comments!

Nats 10, Mets 4
Nats: 16-23
Mets: 19-17
Time of Game: 3:15

WP--Perez (1-3)
LP--Figueroa (2-3)
HR: Mets 2 (Easley 1, Wright 7)

Three stars: Perez - 6 1/3 IP, 11 hits, four runs, five strikeouts, two walks, 3-for-3, two RBIs, one run
Lastings Milledge - 1-for-4 with a walk, two RBIs and a run
Nick Johnson - 1-for-3 with two walks an RBI and three runs

-The Mets had 10 hits, including three from Alou and two homers, but could only scratch out four runs.

Continue reading "Gameday Live 36: Mets vs. Nationals" »