Mets up first: Maine tries to salvage the season

Faced with the worst collapse in baseball history, the New York Mets, a game out of first in the National League East, send right-hander John Maine to the mound in hopes of avoiding infamy. First pitch is 1:10 p.m.

The Mets led the NL East by games on Sept. 12, but have lost 11 of 15 and find themselves on the brink of disaster. No major league team has blown such a big lead in such a short time at the end of a season. Today's game features a pitching rematch from Sunday. Rookie Chris Seddon (0-1, 6.89), who pitched a decent game against the Mets his last start, is scheduled for Florida. Maine (14-10, 4.07 ERA) will try to reverse his trend of poor starts. Lineups are set. Let's go, Marlins!

Update: 8-0 Mets in the 4th inning. Maine has a no-hitter through 4 innings. The Mets have never pitched a no-hitter.

Comments

[Mike H.]

what pleases me to no end is the fact that Manny Acta is not laying down. He will throw everything he's got at them today.

[innaword]

I'm a Mets fan from over at Metsblog. And I genuinely, sincerely just wanted to congratulate all the Philly fans who stuck with their team.

The Phils have played great when it counted, pure and simple.

Yeah, the Mets collapsed and it's an utter disgrace. But the Phils kept up the pressure. All the props. J-ROL MVP, definitely.

Now, if the Phils get to the series--wouldn't it be lousy if the Yanks win it and Abreu is WS MVP?

[AWH]

Great link on FoxSports as to the goings on around the ballpark:

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/MLBonFOX

[THe Dude]

i signed up for the MLB tv package to find out that today's mets game is blacked out??? HUH WTF!

[Mike H.]

Bobby Abreu has never been that clutch. Consistent? Yes.

I also want to admit that I quit on the Phils after the 9-8 game. I said it was over and my comments are on this site on that day. I dont walk into a Vegas casino, see a 500-1 bet, and go all in on it. (I will bet a 20-1 just for grins...) But we are here. I like my crow roasted with a nice whiskey based steak sauce.

Go time!!!

[The Other Kevin]

The Dude – FOX has exclusive broadcast rights to all Saturday afternoon games.

[Spitz]

MLB.tv is BS. I live in SF, and the Mets game is not even on TV. But its blacked out on mlb.tv. What crap. They better show the phils game on fox, since mlb.tv will be blacked out for that too.

[king myno]

For everyone in Boston, Phils are on Fox 25.

[MAW]

Spitz: Hear, hear!

Unfortunately, according to this you'll get the Padres game at 12.55 PDT. Down here in LA, we'll get the Cubs game.

Argh!

[naylman]

1st and 3rd, 1 out for Beltran.

[naylman]

And now, 1-0 Muts.

[king myno]

Ouch. 2-0 already. We might have to do this one ourselves.

[MAW]

Does anyone know the preliminary schedule for the NLDS? I'm on the verge of buying tickets for the first Padres home game of the postseason, which, if I'm guessing/projecting correctly, would be a Saturday/Sunday game 3 against the Phils.

Should I risk the $125, or am I completely miscalculating this?

[naylman]

myno: The Mets are not safe until they get the last out anymore. Marlins will make a run.

[clout]

Mike H: Abreu's OPS with runners in scoring position over the past 3 years: 1.010.

You were saying?

[attytood will]

This is a reality check, wake-up call, whatever -- we just have to win out, we can't assume the Mets will fold (as they aren't.)

Don't forget, the '64 Phillies WON their last two games -- the pressure was on the Cardinals to win their final game, which they did (albeit against the Stengel-era Mets).

Well, thanks to some rare advance planning, I'll be at the game today, up in the nosebleed 400 level. I'm incredibly excited and nervous (especially with Eaton) at the same time. I'll post a report from the stands over at my blog (uh, Attytood). Hope it's a "happy recap."

[naylman]

Well, Maine has started out strong.

[Grumpy Gramps]

3 - 0 Mets

[IceMan]

Is this Seddon guy even a prospect? Every time I've seen him he's throwing BP.

[clout]

As I posted on the earlier thread we now know how many wins it takes to make the postseason: 89. The Phillies are at 88. 'Nuff said.

[Rich Shaw]

Mets all over Marlins...3-0 after 2 innings. Playing loosey-goosey again.

Pressure on the Phils...cough it up, Philly fans....!

[IceMan]

Rich Shaw -- are you being serious?

[Grumpy Gramps]

Clout 89 could mean a playoff, 90 makes it sure.

[Grumpy Gramps]

4 - 0 Mets, new pitcher for the Marlins

[Mike H.]

Clout - What innings? What was the score? Fangraphs. This year stats. Clutch rating. Look it up.

[clout]

iceman: Seddon is a mediocre lefty who was a failed prospect for Tampa Bay (5th rounder). He's only in the bigs because the Marlins had 4 starters go down with injury.

[Slocs]

I wouldn't want to be Adam Eaton. Still time for Charlie to bump up Moyer. But if Eaton pitches strong his entire season will be forgiven by every Phil fan

[Grumpy Gramps]

5-0 Mets.

[clout]

Mike H: How about scoring position with 2 outs? 1.051. Not good enough for you? Or are you one of those yokels who thinks clutch only occurs in the 9th inning?

[Verdeforce]

R. Wolf is now pitching for the Marlins - speaking of which I bet both Wolf and Lieberthal wish they had decided to stay in Philly instead bailing for So Cal. Then we wouldn't have Eaton or Barajas, oh well....

[clout]

verdeforce: Wolf won 9 games for the Dodgers and was out for the season after July 3. How would he help us down the stretch?

[clout]

Gramps: Playoff is post-season, no?

[Grumpy Gramps]

1 game playoff with the Mets for the Division is not the playoffs to me it's a 1 game extension of the regular season.

[Ben Rivera]

Mets came to play today.

[IceMan]

Marlins not doing us any favors with the scrubs they're rolling out to the mound today. Looks like it comes down to Eaton...

[mm]

Its not Randy Wolf.

[Grumpy Gramps]

7-0 NY, 2 run homer by Lastings, time for some yard work before the Phils game.

[Grumpy Gramps Too]

i think the mets paid the marlins to pitch seddon and wolf. neither should be in the majors

[Mike H.]

Three things to measure in being clutch, Clout. Your beloved OPS, the game situation, measured by leverage, and the outcome, measured in the probability of winning the game as a result if the batters at-bat. The highest leverage point for the Nats last night happened in the second inning when they had the bases loaded. It can happen at any point in the game. Abreu this year has a negative clutch rating, not because of OPS, but he has done an average job this year of helping his team at his particular moment at bat win the game.

Bur you keep calling me names. If you need to find happiness there, might I recommend printing out a couple of cool posters.

[AFish]

FYI, even though the Mets are thumping, Reyes again failed to run on a chopper that ended up being fielded in fair territory. The guy has lost his mind.

[kkreider13]

come on Marlins, start chipping away

[Reed]

If Adam Eaton pitches to a W, is all forgiven?

[kkreider13]

not all, but it would go a long way

[AFish]

CB Bucknor is behind the plate. Ramirez got hit on the hand, and Bucknor called it a foul ball. Ramirez potentially suffered an injury that will keep him out, since he lost the bat when swinging at the next pitch. This could hurt the Marlins chances tomorrow.

[IceMan]

Bucknor just issued a make-up call for the Mets about a month late by A) Letting Maine get away with a HBP, calling it a foul ball, and B) Effectively ending Hanley's season. Thanks, CB.

[MAW]

Let's jinx this:

Maine has a no-hitter through 4 innings. The Mets have never pitched a no-hitter.

[Ben Keeler]

bucknor is the worst

[Josh M]

No Victorino in the starting lineup this afternoon.

[AFish]

In fairness to Bucknor, he didn't end Ramirez's season. Maine might have.

[Malcolm]

Boys, let's not worry about the Mets if they win.

We must win. Just keep winning. We must win.

[Verdeforce]

Wolf would not have helped us down the stretch, and overall Eaton (so far) has one more win than Wolf did, so all of the Eaton-hating is somewhat misplaced. My point was that those players would have rather been on this team with hindsight than switching to a team they thought had a better chance of making the playoffs - they were around for all of the near misses over the recent years.

[Verdeforce]

As for the Mets being up 8-0 in the 5th, hopefully it is too little, too late. Phils win 2 and it doesn't matter if the Mets win 30-0 each day.... TCB baby!

[Reed]

Josh M, is Helms in? Ruiz/Coste?

[clout]

Mike H: How many at bats meet that obscure criteria? I think runners in scoring position with 2 outs over a 3-year period is a pretty good way to measure clutch. I realize Abreu gets everyone all emotional on here, but still.

[mw217]

John Maine has 10 k's through 5 innings. what a f-ing joke.

[clout]

Well, one thing this easy Mets win will show us is how well Eaton can pitch when the pressure is on.

[Lake Fred]

Had to go to a wedding last night. Watching ESPN Sportscenter in the hotel room at 1:00 AM to catch up on the team was priceless!

Yea, Eaton Crap has to emulate Hamels today and keep the lead. Go Phillies!

[clout]

I wonder why Fox didn't think it was a good idea to show the Mets game in the Philly area and then switch to the Phillies game when it starts.

[D.J.]

Let's not use logic when talking about FOX.

[Lake Fred]

At least Maine's not pitching a perfect game.

[Josh M]

Helms at 3rd (batting 7th) and Ruiz catching.

[kkreider13]

whats taking so long with the mets game, gameday has something about Olivo getting ejected, anyone hae any details?

[Mike H.]

How many at bats? OPS changes every at bat. There's a certain amount of leverage in every at bat, even in a 16-0 laugher. After every at bat, there's some level of change toward the probable outcome of the game. The answer is every at bat. The only one getting emotional is you, Clout.

[D.J.]

Benches cleared. Olivo tried to go after Jose Reyes who was on third base. Olivo ended up hitting Sandy Alomar, Sr. Olivo ejected.

[elliott]

now not only are the mets going to win, but their confidence will be back and they'll win tomorrow.

such a shame.

[D.J.]

It looks like a flip got switched on the Mets. They just realized it's September, not February.

[Chstk of Sffrng]

Reyes: What. A. D&ck.

His team is finally winning big, tryign to right the ship, and he's mouthing off, would've happilly gotten into it with Olivo if Alomar hadn't gotten in front of him.

Then he's laughing about it.

[fletch]

The benches have cleared twice this inning. The first time after two pitches were thrown at the feet of Castillo. (The second behind him.) The second time the benches cleared Olevo left a conference on the mound to charge at Reyes, who was standing on 3rd. Olevo took a swing and hit Sandy Alomar across the side of the head after he got between Olevo and Reyes.

[Joe F]

Maine hit Hanley on the hand with a pitch, and had to leave the game. Garcia then threw a pitch to Castillo that he had to jump over. He started towards the mound, and the benches and bullpens emptied but nothing really happened. Then, during a pitching change, Olivo, from the mound, charged at Reyes on third base after they'd been jawing at each other. Benches and bullpens emptied again. Olivo was ejected. Hope I didn't miss anything.

[J. Weitzel]

D.J. I liked your comment on Metsblog about the "Team to Beat" posters. Let's hope God doesn't shoot the messenger and remembers that J-Roll said it, not me!

[D.J.]

Olivo was egging him on.

[D.J.]

haha, no problem. all in good fun. this is the best time of year, after all.

[kylej]

to you guys who are blacked out from mlb.tv (myself included) I am currently streaming the Mets game on sopcast so hopefully the phils game comes in clearly on there too

http://www.sopcast.com/index.jsp

[Chstk of Sffrng]

Fish no hits through six.

All I can say is we should all be glad I ain't in the Phillies dugout, and not just cause I've sucked all the way back to little league. Butterflies the size of rocks in my stomach thinking of Adam Eaton on the mound for us today. I was hoping the Mutts would make it easy by continuing to lay down and die. Hopefully what we're seeing today is just the dying movements of the corpse, like when the '64 Phils actually won their final two games, too late.

I think I've just been a Philadelphia sports fan too long.

[Ben Rivera]

Whoohoo Tivo tells me that I will be getting the Phillies game in upstate NY. Go Phils!

Keep on Phigtin Baby!

[Ben Rivera]

Man that play was almost Mets like, circa two weeks ago.

[clout]

Mike H. Huh? I asked how many ABs he had in your so-called clutch situations. Five? I can tell you how many ABs he had with runners in scoring position over the past 3 years, how many with RISP and 2 outs etc. I'm a big believer in stats, but some stats are meaningless depending on sample size. So I ask, how many ABs did he have in what meets whetever definition of clutch you are using?

[clout]

Chstk: Good point. The last thing the Mets need to be doing now is goading the Marlins. Tomorrow is MUST-WIN for them and giving the Fish extra incentive behind D-Train is a very bad idea.

[Jon]

Any chance any of these Mut players could be suspended for tomorrow's game? How sweet that would be!

[JD]

12-0? What the $%^&?

[jazzy jeff]

on my way to a wedding, hoping there's some sort of karmic powers to the phils for me not bailing on my wife and attending - the kids have the jroll posters taped all over the house. COME ON EATON!!

[Verdeforce]

Ha ha - the Mets couldn't even get a no-hitter - someone named Paul Hoover singled!

[kkreider13]

ok, not a bad first inning considering its Eaton

[Martin]

What up with Howard today? Im a Mets fan that's glad he doesnt play for the Mets. Lots of over rated players there huh?

[John P 33]

Question for you Phils fans? Willie R sucks as a manager...However concensus is that Charlie Manuel is the only manager in Baseball worse than Willy. Yet today on Fox they have him mentioned as candidate for manager of the year. Yes the phils have played from behind...But from day one weren't they supposed to be good? When I look at the Phils line up player for player, they have a better line up than the Mets... What do you think about Manuel?