What is Going On?

Today, the Mets placed Carlos Beltran on the DL -- joining Maine, Perez, Putz, Pagan, Reyes, Delgado and others. They also demoted Ken Takahashi and Wilson Valdez. Filling those 3 spots, the Mets called up Fernando Martinez, Elmer Dessens (yes, Elmer Dessens... the latest in the "Where Are They Now?" series of Mets), and LHP Pat Misch. (By the way, 3 other candidates for "Where Are They Now?" Mets were recently released from Buffalo: Javier Valentin, Bobby Kielty, and Wily Mo Pena........ none of which make sense to me) (Also, did you happen to hear that Jose Reyes -- already disabled -- was in a car accident today on the Triboro Bridge along with trainer Ray Ramirez [just what we need: even our medical staff isn't safe from injury -- though the terrible team doctors being replaced probably would help this team...] A fire truck rear-ended their car)

It was also announced that Bobby Parnell and Pedro Feliciano were unavailable for tonight's opener against the Cardinals. Tim Redding, still looking for his first win as a Met, was slotted to start, and counted on to go deep into the game.

All of that news combined seemed to spell doom for the Mets. And yet, they won -- leaving all of us in a state of giving up forever on trying to understand this team. Along the way, highlights included:

• Tim Redding pitched into the 8th inning, allowing 4 runs (one of the runs was a homer leading off the 8th, which was his last batter).
• Jon Switzer struck out the first hitter he faced in relief of Redding. His next hitter got on, and Switzer was replaced by Brian Stokes.
• Brian Stokes came into a game!!! And in a pressure spot, which Jerry Manuel has said all along he doesn't trust Stokes in. Why he doesn't trust him, Mets fans don't know. It's the same irrational dislike he has for Ryan Church. And yet, due to all the insanity of the Mets roster for tonight's game, here was Brian Stokes coming into the game in the 8th inning leading by one, with the tying run on first. And who was coming to bat as the potential go-ahead run? None other than the best hitter in the league, Albert Pujols. Jerry Manuel must have been peeing his pants. Stokes fell behind Pujols on a series of sliders, then battled back and finally induced a weak grounder right back to himself, and turned the 1-6-3 double play to end the inning. Jerry Manuel must have immediately entered into a state of shock that may or may not have required Sandy Alomar to manage the rest of the game; we don't know. But who knows, could this actually make Jerry Manuel realize that Mets fans and analysts are right and begin trusting Stokes again like last year when he became the go-to guy at the end of the year until he was burned out? Probably not; nothing Church has done has convinced Manuel about him. But maybe.... After all, desperate times call for desperate measures -- even trusting people you wouldn't at any other time. And could things be more desperate for the Mets right now?...
• Daniel Murphy homered, giving the full Mets lineup for tonight's game a total of 17 home runs on the season. Fourteen players around the league have at least that many as individuals.

RIP: Hope for Aaron Heilman

All hope for Aaron Heilman among Mets fans passed away today after a lengthy struggle. Doubts first surfaced in the minds of Mets fans a few years ago, when Heilman was first transferred from the rotation to the bullpen. Fans watched in agony as Heilman suffered through repeated walks, hard hits, and scoring inherited runners. All of these are common symptoms of Inaffective Reliever Syndrome (IRS), which will from now on be called Aaron Heilman Syndrome. Heilman seemed to be recovering from the illness in the final three weeks before the All-Star Break. However, after the 3 day rest, the disease clearly returned in Cincinatti.

Hope in Aaron Heilman is survived by Hope in Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith, Scott Schoeneweiss, Carlos Muniz, Pedro Feliciano and Billy Wagner. However, Schoeneweiss showed signs of an onset of the disease during his time on the mound following Heilman.

Mets Defeat the Phillies

The Mets just defeated the Phillies 8-2 at Shea Stadium. It was an ugly game. Only two of the Mets 8 runs were earned, and Kyle Kendrick walked 6 Mets in his 2 1/3 innings. On a brighter note, Mike Pelfrey made the start for the Mets and lasted 5 strong innings. Sosa (2 innings), Feliciano, and Muniz finished out the game.

With most of the runs resulting from walks and errors, the only real offensive highlight for the Mets was an RBI double by Angel Pagan.

The most exciting part of tonight's game was probably the names in two matchups in the 8th and 9th innings: Pedro Feliciano vs. Pedro Feliz, and Carlos Muniz vs. Carlos Ruiz.


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Today's Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day was Phillies SS Eric Bruntlett, who filled in for the injured Jimmy Rollins. Bruntlett had 2 of the Phillies 4 errors, and they were costly.