On the Mets beat

Hey everyone! Katie here blogging for what will surely be a LONG day of baseball. Last night's rain-out was the Mets' third this season; today's day-night double-header is only the third in Mets history.

Before the game, Willie Randolph said he'd rather play the double-header in the more traditional format, but for business/ticket gate reasons, that's not going to be the case today. Randolph said since many of the players aren't used to the set-up, some may sneak in a quick nap or trip to the batting cage to kill time in between games. I promise to report back if they do anything more exciting than that.....

Randolph also said they probably would not activate Matt Wise today, because of the roster complications that would create, although he did leave open the possibility of activating him in between games. Angel Pagan said he's feeling a lot better today, but still thinks he'll need a day or two.

Santana will pitch the first game (the decision was made by Randolph to put his best guys first), and Pelfrey the second, with Castro catching.

Top 1st
Patterson reaches first on a bunt, but gets caught trying to steal second after getting caught on a rundown 1-3-6. 20-season vet Ken Griffey Jr. then hits a two-out single past Delgado, followed by lefty-killer Phillips, who rips one to left. Two on and two out and Votto flies out to right. Nice job escaping there, but Santana's up at 24 pitches.
0-0

Bottom 1st
Belisle, who began the season on the DL, gives up two straight walks to Wright and Beltran, but with two outs, Church strikes out to end the inning. Mets headed into today's game batting .179 with two outs and runners in scoring position....not a good omen there.
0-0

Top 2nd
Heading into today, he walked only eight batters in four games, but Santana gives one up to Keppinger early in the second. He comes back with a strikeout to retire the side, though. Still scoreless.
0-0

Bottom 2nd
Alou leads off the second with a single to center. Batting seventh, Delgado follows up with a shot to the right gap. With runners at the corners and one out, Santana initially shows bunt, but then takes it off and then strikes out swinging on a wild pitch that brings Alou home.
1-0 Mets

Top 3rd
With one out, Freel doubles to left, but Santana pitches out of it again. That's four, solid hits through three innings and no runs on the board.
1-0 Mets

Bottom 3rd
Castillo takes base on balls for Belisle's third walk of the day. Wright then singles to right, and with runners on first and third, Beltran smacks one to center for an RBI. Alou steps up and gets his second hit of the day, a two-run RBI to shallow center.
Solid inning for the Mets that should give Santana a nice cushion.
4-0 Mets

Top 4th
Encarnacion crushes a 2-2 change-up to left for his 8th home run of the season to get the Reds on the board.
4-1 Mets

Bottom 4th
Mets go down in order.
4-1 Mets

Top 5th
Belisle singles to center to lead off the fifth. With two outs Freel grounds to third, and Wright throws a bullet to first to get the third out. Freel and Dusty Baker are not happy about that call, and rightfully so; the replay shows Freel beating the throw.
4-1 Mets

Bottom 5th
Castillo reaches second on a gift from Belisle, who errors on the throw to first. Wright follows up with a base hit to put runners at the corners with 0 outs. He's 2-2 today. Beltran's sac fly scores Castillo and Wright tags up and hustles to second. Church's shot to the right gap adds another one, and the Mets are up 5 runs now.
6-1 Mets

Top 6th
Phillips rips a single down the right line, forcing Church to field it off the wall. Double and a triple for him today. Encarnacion rips one past a diving Wright to left for his second RBI of the game. Keppinger then glances one off Reyes' glove... two runners on with one out. Santana gets the second out by fanning Ross on the tenth pitch, and that battle probably robbed him of whatever energy/command he has left. Next batter and Hatteberg singles to score Encarnacion, but Randolph, after a visit to the mound, leaves Santana in the game. After laboring for the third out, Santana fans Patterson on his 116th pitch of the day. In his last start, Santana also threw 116 pitches.
6-3 Mets

Bottom 6th
Delgado leads off the inning with a double down the left line. Schneider gets in on the action, although his single still leaves him looking for his first extra-base hit of the season. With bases loaded, Luis Castill goes down looking, but with two-outs, Wright walks and Delgado scores for a four-run pad. Next batter and Beltran slices one down the right line for a three-run RBI triple. Mets broke that inning open and did some damage.
10-3 Mets

Top 7th
Heilman in for Santana, and with one runner on base, Beltran makes a great, sliding catch to rob KGJ of a single. WIth RISP (Freel), Votto doubles to left, scoring Freel and emboldening the boo birds at Shea. Heilman bounces back to strike out Encarnacion and strands two runners to end the game.
10-4

Bottom 7th
Second to bat in the seventh, and Delgado homers to right, his fifth of the season. And Schneider finds his extra-base hit in a home run directly following Delgado's. That's the first time the Mets have had back-to-back home runs this season.
12-4 Mets

Top 8th
Feliciano in for Heilman. With Ross and Freel on base, KGJ hits a two-run RBI double to cut the lead in half.
12-6 Mets

Bottom 8th
1-2-3 for Affeldt
12-6

Top 9th
Sosa seals it up
12-6 final