On the Mets beat

Hey everyone! Katie here for blogging duty tonight.

Tonight's game:

After getting skipped in the rotation because of last week's rain-out, Nelson Figueroa (2-1, 4.08) will be on the mound for the Mets tonight. Although he may be a little out of sync, Figueroa did pitch in relief during Perez' atrocious less-than-2 inning appearance last week. One thing to note, however, is that Brian Schneider will be catching him tonight. Usually Raul Casanova is the man for Figueroa, so we'll see if that has any effect on him tonight. Dodgers' RHP Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 3.82) will get the start for LA tonight.

Put on a pot of coffee and prepare yourself for what will inevitably be a Wednesday full of sleep-deprived mistakes at work......

Top 1st
Batting second, Ryan Church homers to center. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spminsider025670850may02,0,4151897.story
(Dave you better be patting yourself on the back right now!) Alou is batting clean-up now. No word yet on what happened to Beltran.
1-0 Mets

Bottom 1st
Two walks for Figueroa. What a dive by Wright to snag Loney's line drive, helping to get Figgy out of trouble.
1-0 Mets

Top 2nd
Pagan and Schneider with base hits. Update on Beltran: Flu-like symptoms. Castillo with a grounder that scores Pagan. With the bases loaded, Reyes gets an RBI to make it 3-0 with 0 outs. A 1-2-3 double play and a David Wright-strikeout sends it to the bottom of the 2nd. The Mets have been struggling recently against righties. Not tonight.
3-0 Mets

Bottom 2nd
Dodgers get on the board after DeWitt scores on a Juan Pierre-grounder to Church. Castillo, after getting pulled off the bag on the throw to second tags out Pierre, who slides past the base. Nice second effort there
3-1 Mets

Top 3rd
Alou manages to sneak one past DeWitt who muffs one for an error. Next play and Alou hustles to 3rd on Delgado's single. Aggressive base-running, not to mention impressive speed from a 41 year-old. And then he steals home. Hernia surgery what? Reyes can't convert with bases loaded and two on, but Kuroda is laboring.
4-1 Mets

Bottom 3rd
David Wright makes another great play on Kent's bullet to third to save a run. Loney grounds one past Castillo and Pagan's bobble allows Kent to take third. Figgy gives up his fourth walk to load the bases. DeWitt with a 2-run RBI that slips past Delgado to pull the Dodgers within 1.
4-3 Mets

Top 4th
Hong-Chih Kuo in to relieve Kuroda after both Wright and Alou get on base. Kuo then comes through with two K's.
4-3 Mets

Bottom 4th
Two outs and Andruw Jones, batting only .157, gets on base with a ground ball to center. Next batter and Kemp's line drive finds Wright's glove for the third out.
4-3 Mets

Top 5th
Kuo's really bringing the heat. 9 pitches, 9 strikes. Then he beans Castillo in the left knee. That one's gonna leave a mark. Remember Castillo doesn't have good knees to begin with....
Two on and one out and Kuo strikes out Reyes in a 9-pitch battle; Kuo then nabs his 5th K on Church.
4-3 Mets

Bottom 5th
DeWitt rips a two-run inside-the park homer to put LA up one run. Church almost makes the play at the wall, but can't get a handle on it. Wright with a throwing error allows Hu to first. "Yikes" inning for the Mets.
5-4 Dodgers

Top 6
2 K's and an Alou foul-out. Kuo is NOT messing around. He's struck out seven already in relief.
5-4 Dodgers

Bottom 6
Two away and Kemp singles, then steals second. Heilman induces a grounder to short to escape the inning.
5-4 Dodgers

Top 7th
Kuo is hitless through 3 2/3 innings. Eight strikeouts. Really making things difficult for the Mets.
5-4 Dodgers

Bottom 7th
Besides that error, Wright is playing some inspired baseball. Three great plays at third for him tonight. 1-2-3 inning for Heilman
5-4 Dodgers

Top 8th
Two outs and Church hits one to the right corner for a double. Wright strikes out for the third time tonight. He's 0-for-4, and things aren't looking good for the Mets with runners in scoring position, as per usual.
5-4 Dodgers

Bottom 8th
Joe Smith, in for Feliciano, holds off the Dodgers, but now the Mets bats have to do their part.
5-4 Dodgers

Top 9th
2 outs and both Pagan and Schneider with base hits. Castillo up to the plate, but Saito seals it up with a K to end the game.
Final score:
5-4 Dodgers