Mets vs. Braves- Live Blog

Top 3rd- Johan Santana doubled to center that was almost caught by a sliding Mark Kotsay. Jose Reyes grounded out to SS sacrificing Santana to 3rd. Louis Castillo flied out to CF holding Santana at 3B. David Wright struck out swinging.

0 runs 1 hit 1 LOB

Bottom 3rd- Mark Kotsay ripped a double into right field. John Smoltz bunted to pitcher sacrificing Kotsay to 3B. Johnson grounds out to a diving Johan Santana, keeping Kotsay at 3B. ESCOBAR DOUBLES TO LF SCORING KOTSAY. Jones grounds out to 2B Castillo.

1 run 2 hits 1 LOB BRAVES LEAD 1-0

Mets vs. Braves- Live Blog

Top 2nd- Ryan Church struck out on a low breaking ball. Angel Pagan grounded out to SS Brian Schneider grounded out to 2B.

0 runs 0 hits 0 LOB

Bottom 2nd- Mark Teixteira flied out in foul ground to 1B Carlos Delgado. Jeff Francoeur flied out deep to LF Angel Pagan. Matt Diaz took the first pitch and singled up the middle. Francoeur stole second base on a wide throw by C Brian Schneider. Brian McCann flied out to RF Ryan Church.

0 runs 1 hit 1 LOB

Mets vs. Braves- Live Blog

Top 1st - David Wright and Carlos Beltran walked then Carlos Delgado got caught looking at a third strike from Smoltz.

0 runs 0 hits 2 LOB

Bottom 1st- Santana struck out Kelly Johnson on a fastball inside. Yunel Escobar grounded out to 2B Louis Castillo. Chipper Jones grounded out to SS Jose Reyes.

0 runs 0 hits 0 LOB

Maine Not On His Game

(by Brett Kahn)

Maybe the extra day off gave John Maine too much time to think about things. Whatever it was, Maine didn't look sharp even though the FOX radar gun clocked him throwing 97 mph at one point.

His fastball didn't move as well as it should've and he didn't throw his breaking ball enough. On top of that, the bullpen made things worse. A combined six runs were given up in four innings by Joe Smith, Jorge Sosa, and Nelson Figueroa.

Was it the wet ball or field? Who knows?

On the offensive side for the Mets, Angel Pagan drove in two runs and is now batting .385 to start the season.

Johan Santana will look to the get the Mets back on track tomorrow in the finale.

Rain Rain Good For Maine

(by Brett Kahn)

Friday night's rain out between the Mets and Braves might have been a positive thing for a team still trying to figure out its starting rotation.

John Maine will indeed go today at 3:55 against Tim Hudson as planned, which allows the Mets' pitcher with the best spring training to prove his worth.

Mike Pelfrey, the Mets most consistently-bad pitcher during the spring, will have to wait to get his shot at the division rivals. He will get his shot at the other division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies.

In order to keep Johan Santana on regular rest, the Mets bumped Pelfrey from the Braves series allowing Santana to pitch in the finale. In the upcoming series against the Philies, Oliver Perez will get the opener, Pelfrey the second game, and Maine, the finale. (NY DAILY NEWS)

OTHER NEWS
- P Duaner Sanchez gave up two solo home runs in one inning of work last night for Single-A Saint Lucie. (NY DAILY NEWS)
- P Pedro Martinez is scheduled to arrive in Ports Saint Lucie on Monday to begin rehabbing his left hamstring. (NY DAILY NEWS)
- P Orlando Hernandez is expected to make two additional starts for St. Lucie and then join the Mets after one start by Nelson Figueroa. (NY DAILY NEWS)

Ollie Ollie Oxen Free

(by Brett Kahn)

Just one night after the Mets lost Pedro Martinez to the DL due to a hamstring injury, Oliver Perez showed why he can be a very reliable starting pitcher in this currently depleted Mets rotation.

Perez showed signs of brilliance tonight throwing six scoreless innings, giving up only five hits and striking out eight fish in the Mets' 13-0 shellacking of the Florida Marlins.

David Wright continues on his torrid pace, going 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI's. OF Ryan Church also duplicated those stats. Wright has now extended his hitting streak to 20 games carrying over from last season.

The Mets' offense totaled 17 hits, including six extra-base hits in the victory.

John Maine will make his season debut as the Mets travel to Atlanta Friday to face Tim Hudson and the Braves.

Pedro's Injury Leads to Late Inning Drama

(by Brett Kahn)

It's day two of the 2008 season and already, the Mets are sweating. Not only did the club loose a heart-breaker in the 10th inning to the Florida Marlins, but they may have also lost one of their aces.

Pedro Martinez just never seemed to have his control tonight. Giving up two first inning runs off of a Dan Uggla home run was just the beginning of a rough night for the 209-win veteran. Martinez would go on to allow two more runs off of a Louis Gonzalez home run in the second inning.

Just as things might have been looking up for the right-hander, he pulled his right hamstring during a routine pitch in the fourth inning.

The Mets, minus Pedro, rallied from four down to tie the game in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by LF Angel Pagan after David Wright led off the inning with a single.

The Mets bullpen was stellar for five plus innings until Matt Wise surrendered a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to Renyel Pinto.

Tomorrow at 7:10 EST, the teams will meet in the rubber match as Oliver Perez goes for the Mets.