BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

I dont know about any of you Mets fans out there, but Tim Hudson is a big time pitcher and he gets 2 quick outs in the first inning and it looks like things are gonna be the same as they have been ever since the All-Star Break.

Carlos Beltran has not being doing a whole lot from the left side of the plate this season, and yet he was able to get the Mets not only off the schnied and eventually on the board with what you would call a little league home run.

A Ball into the gap that Melky Cabrera took a horrific route too, eventually the ball was played backed in and as the ball went into the dugout, Beltran who was in with a stand up triple got to go the extra 90 ft and put the Mets in front.

They Mets didnt stop there, 3 Hits and a walk, all with 2 outs in the first after the Beltran LL HR led to another run and the Mets got to an Ace early, always key when trying to beat an Ace the talent of Hudson.

The Game was falling into pitchers duel mode with Johan and Hudson in a 2-1 game after 5 innings. But little did we know that the Duel ended right then and there. Johan was pulled from the game after 5 innings and 65 pitches and nobody knew why at first. It turned out to be a Pectoral Muscle issue and he is now Day-to-Day. Just like all Mets are it seems when they get hurt.

The Mets bullpen was brilliant coming in to back up Johan and the Offense tacked on some Runs and the Braves just couldnt finish off the Mets and get the Sweep in a 4 game series.

Will this game mean anything in the long run? Probably Not but you never know, but the Mets got a win tonight and if only for a little while before they take on the Cubs on Friday Afternoon, they feel good and so do we.

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BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

The Mets and Johan Santana will look to avoid the sweep against The Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of a 4 Game Series from Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia. The game will be broadcast live on SNY and on WFAN at 7:00 pm.

New York Mets Lineup
1. Luis Castillo- 2B
2. Lucas Duda- LF
3. Carlos Beltran- CF
4. Chris Carter- RF
5. David Wright- 3B
6. Ike Davis- 1B
7. Joaquin Arias- SS
8. Henry Blanco- C
9. Johan Santana, SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: The Mets have hit .204 and averaged 2.3 runs while going 2-6 at Atlanta this season. Wright is 2 for 22 in his last six games, and 4 for 50 against Atlanta in 2010, he is a lifetime .204 hitter against Hudson.

Atlanta Braves Lineup
1. Omar Infante, 2B
2. Jason Heyward, RF
3. Martin Prado, 3B
4. Derek Lee, 1B
5. Brian McCann, C
6. Matt Diaz, LF
7. Alex Gonzalez, SS
8. Melky Cabrera, CF
9. Tim Hudson, SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: Jason Heyward is 24 for 45 with 12 RBIs in his last 11 games while Omar Infante is batting .400 in his last 20. Infante has hit .442 against the Mets this season but is 1 for 6 lifetime versus Santana.

On The Bump:

Johan Santana (10-9, 3.02) is back on the mound for the Mets. In his last start versus Atlanta, he allowed four runs and struck out 11 in seven innings of that contest but fell to 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in three starts against the Braves in 2010. He is 2-6 with a 2.31 ERA in 11 starts lifetime versus Atlanta.

Though the left-hander pitched 16 1-3-scoreless innings to win his next two starts, he has a 3.91 ERA while losing his last three. His teammates have given him an average of 1.57 runs of support in those games. Santana, who last lost four consecutive starts in 2004, allowed four runs in seven innings of a 4-1 loss to Houston on Saturday.

Tim Hudson (15-5, 2.24 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Braves Tonight. In his last start allowed one run and struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings of a 12-3 rout of Florida on Saturday to improve to 6-0 with a 1.43 ERA in eight starts since losing to Milwaukee on July 17.

He is 12-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 18 starts versus New York, and has allowed five runs over 27 innings while winning his last four starts against the division rival. Hudson, 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA against the Mets this season. In his last start against the Mets, he gave up one run in six innings and outpitched Santana during a 4-1 home win on Aug 2.

Daily Stache’s Keys to the Game:

1. Try to work the Count against Hudson. Tim Hudson is canadate for the NL Cy Young for the reason, he is a very good pitcher and if the Mets want to come out of this game with a win, they need to force him to work hard, get his pitch count up and keep him in trouble all game long.

2. Make Hudson get the ball up, Hudson is a sinker ball pitcher and the Mets always seem to have major trouble against guys who are sinker ball type pitchers. The Mets need to be patient and try to force Hudson to work up in the zone, where they could be able to get some hits where if he is down in the zone, he will be a ground ball machine.

3. Johan needs to get over his issues in the first inning and get the Mets off to a solid start by putting up a zero right off the bat. Pelfrey last night put the team behind the 8 ball by allowing 2 runs within 3 batters and the Mets are a very bad team when they fall behind. Also the Mets are 9-53 all time in Turner Field when the Braves score first, which is not exactly gonna do us good if the Mets fall behind again.

LETS GO METS

BY SCOTT ILOWITE
STACHE WRITER

Tonight, the Mets lost the the Braves 4-1.  At this point, what else can we expect?  The white flag is up, and it seems like we’re just going through the motions.  What else am I supposed to think when this was tonight’s starting lineup : Castillo, Thole, Wright, Carter, Beltran, Davis, Duda, Tejada, Pelf. 

I just want Jerry to come out in his post-game interview and instead of saying, “Oh Jason Heyward was great, we played good defense behind Pelf, they just got to Pelf a litte early in the game…”, just say ,

“What the hell am I supposed to do with a 35yr old cripple leading off, a centerfielder with 1 leg, and 5 rookies?”  Just say it Jerry.  Just tell everyone you are completley done with this team and this organization.

Tonight the Mets got 2 hits and had 4 total baserunners.  Tommy Hanson absolutely dominated the Mets lineup.  The one bright spot for the Mets was that David Wright broke though with his 1st hit in 29 at bats in Atlanta this year with a 4th inning double. 

Mets pitchers just couldn’t get Omar Infante and Jason Heyward out if their lives depended on it.  They combined for 7 hits in 8 at bats, with 3 runs and 2 RBI’s. 

Mike Pelfrey left fastballs up all night.  He only lasted 5 innings and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs.  Every ball that was hit was basically scorched.  Jason Heyward hit 2 balls off him that had a vapor trails on them. 

TURNING POINT:  The Heyward double in the 2nd inning was essentially the final blow.  There is no way that the make-up of this Mets lineup can afford to fall behind by 4 runs.  Big Pelf was getting hammered, and the Mets lineup was feeble.

GAME BALL:  If I can give one to a Met, I’m giving it to the bullpen.  Feliciano, Parnell and Takahashi each pitched a scoreless inning  in relief.  I can’t believe that I have to give a game ball to the bullpen in a 4-1 loss.  This is becoming a sad situation rather quickly. 

NEXT GAME:  Johan Santana (10-9 3.02 ERA)  takes the mound tomorrow night against Tim Hudson (15-5 2.24 ERA).  Game time is 7:10pm, lets hope the Met’s bats realize that’s when the game starts.

BY ANTHONY LAFAMAN
STACHE WRITER

Mets are in Atlanta tonight for Game 3 of the current 4 game set.  First two games have not gone well.  You can see the action live on SNY starting at 7:10 and hear it live on WFAN 660.

New York Mets Lineup
1. Luis Castillo, 2B
2. Josh Thole, C
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Chris Carter, RF
5. Carlos Beltran, CF
6. Ike Davis, 1B
7. Lucas Duda, LF
8. Ruben Tejada, SS
9. Mike Pelfrey, SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: Lucas Duda in the lineup tonight fresh from Triple AAA where he was absolutely murdering the baseball hitting .314 with 17 bombs and 53 RBI’s. With Francoeur gone Duda and Carter will split time while Pagan gets healthy.

Atlanta Braves Lineup
1. Omar Infante SS
2. Jason Heyward RF
3. Martin Prado 3B
4. Brian McCann C
5. Eric Hinske LF
6. Freddie Freeman 1B
7. Brooks Conrad 2B
8. Rick Ankiel CF
9. Tommy Hanson SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: Heyward is 18 for 27 with 11 RBI’s over the past 9 games. Kid is flashing is talents. Reminds me of Junior Griffey a bit. Braves did not miss on that pick.

On The Bump: Mets send Mike Pelfrey (13-7, 3.61ERA) to the mound tonight to face the Braves Tommy Hanson (8-10, 3.76ERA). Mike is coming off a win with 8 strong against Houston and Hanson is coming off a stinging loss to the Marlins where he let up 6 runs over 5 innings.

Tommy Hanson hasn’t win in just about two months. Whereas Pelfrey has been as sharp as ever with a scorching August and though he has struggled against Atlanta (career #’s vs Atl. 4-7, 5.45 ERA) over his career he seems to have found what he was looking for. Consistency.

Daily Stache’s Keys to the Game: Pelfrey has bad career numbers against Brian McCann who hits cleanup for the Bravos. One key of the game will be to not let him hurt you. McCann is batting .486 with 10 extra base hits against Mike.

Cool Heyward, the youngster, off. Mike has so far as Jason is 0-8 against Pelfrey.

Mets offense needs to relax and stop pretending they are in a playoff race. Because they are not. Math says otherwise I know but realistically the Mets are dead. Just relax, see the ball, hit the ball and have fun. I guarantee if they do that, they will be competitive.

LETS GO METS!

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

Stats in His Mets Career

1235 Games, .256 BA, 35 HR, 357 RBI, 143 Doubles, 314 Runs, 994 Hits

His Mets Moment

I think this was another one of the toughest calls I have had to make in my project that I have been doing for almost two weeks now. Carlos Beltran or Jerry Grote, Jerry Grote or Carlos Beltran. Two of the best Mets in franchise history to wear the Number 15.

The thing that gave Grote the edge is simple, where the Beltran moment is one of the worst in my life when he took that called strike three in the NLCS, Grote was catching those called strike 3′s while working with a fantastic staff and going to two World Series.

The Mets have had many catchers over the years that have had more impact with the bat then with the glove. Guys like Mike Piazza, Gary Carter were pieces that led staffs and went to the World Series and in Carters Case, winning it in ’86.

Jerry Grote’s moment is not a singular one but its the idea that when he came to the Team in 1966, he helped to make the pitching staff maybe one of the best in Baseball history.

He caught Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Gary Gentry, John Matlack, Tug McGraw, Jerry Koosman and was behind the plate for every single inning of the 1969 and 1973 playoffs as he was the only catcher to catch in two World Series as a Met.

The best moment for Grote was leaping into the arms of Jerry Koosman as the final out was recorded in the glove of Cleon Jones in Left Field and the Mets won it all.

I think that even though his moment was more about how he handled taking a staff from young to dominant, the best quote that was said about him by fellow NL Catcher and Hall of Famer Johnny Bench.

“If Grote and I were on the same team, I would be playing third base.”

Fast Facts

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BY BRYAN ROTHENSTEIN
STACHE WRITER

Hitting grand slams,
Usually hard to do,
Unless you’re playing the 2010 Mets,
They make it easy for you.

10 allowed on the year,
Which lead to 40 runs,
I wish I was kidding,
But that’d not be much fun.

The reality is,
When the bases are packed,
Just swing the bat hard,
4 runs in just like that.

Doesn’t matter who’s pitching,
Whether Niese or Big Pelf,
Even Santana and Ollie,
Felt like sharing the wealth.

It really is crazy,
How easy it seems,
Unless the Mets are batting,
They like to play both extremes.

So next time the Mets are in town,
Gather up the fam,
Bring em all down,
Tell em you’re going deep,
Bringing em all home,
Cuz your facing the Mets,
Guaranteeing a crushing blow.

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

First things first. Jeff Francoeur has indeed been traded to Texas. Good ol’ Frenchy has been a model clubhouse citizen since joining the Mets midway through the 2009 campaign. He even hit for a nice average for his first few months in orange and blue. This year, however, Francoeur has done nothing offensively on a team that can hardly afford the right fielder to do nothing offensively.

Tonight Francoeur said farewell to New York by throwing out Martin Prado at the plate on a 5th inning Alex Gonzalez single. It’s a shame the great defensive play only delayed the Mets demise. Earlier in the inning, Luis Castillo let the ball go straight through his legs on what would have been an easy fielder’s choice. Had that been converted, the Francoeur play would have made the third out. Instead, the inning continued and backup backstop David Ross hit a grand slam off of Jon Niese. That made the score 8-2 and ended the competitive portion of the ball game.

The Mets got all their run scoring done in the top of the 5th when Braves rookie starter Mike Minor briefly lost control and walked 3 batters to go with a Castillo lead-off single. Henry Blanco and Jeff Francoeur hit sac flies to drive in a pair of runs. A nice base hit would have yielded a couple more runs, but it turned out being a moot point as the Mets collapsed in the bottom of the inning.
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BY KEVIN KEARNS
STACHE WRITER

Peter Gammons reported on WFAN today, that he believes Bobby Valentine will be the next manager of the New York Mets.

There is absolutely nothing that would please me more than too see Bobby V putting back on the orange and blue.

Everything about Bobby V embodied what Mets fans pride themselves upon. Whether it was coming back with a fake mustache or managing the bullpen, Bobby V got the job done.

If it was not for Steve Phillip’s incompetent abilities (evidenced by offering Toronto, David Wright for Jose Cruz Jr.), who knows, Bobby V might still be here.

Anyways, I’m not prone to thinking simply bringing Bobby V back will turn everything around. However, I do think it would be the perfect start to building the right culture.

Along with Bobby V I would like to see a few coaches brought in that would emphasis a winning culture even more. What I’m really hoping to see next season along with Bobby V at the helm, includes Wally Backman, Dan Warthen, and Mike Piazza.

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BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY 
EDITOR

The Mets and Braves go back to battle tonight as the Mets look to even the 4 game series up at 1 game a piece. The Game can be seen on SNY and heard on 660 WFAN-AM starting at 7:00 pm

New York Mets Lineup
1. Luis Castillo, 2B
2. David Wright, 3B
3. Carlos Beltran, CF
4. Jeff Francoeur, RF
5. Ike Davis, 1B
6. Henry Blanco, C
7. Chris Carter, LF
8. Ruben Tejada, SS
9. Jonathan Niese, SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: David Wright went 0 for 5 on Monday to drop his average to .070 (3 for 43) in 12 games versus Atlanta this season. He also does not have a hit at Turner Field this season. The Mets have been held to three runs or fewer in each of the series’ last 11 contests, going 5-6.

Atlanta Braves Lineup
1. Omar Infante 2B
2. Jason Heyward RF
3. Martin Prado 3B
4. Derek Lee 1B
5. Matt Diaz LF
6. Alex Gonzalez SS
7. Melky Cabrera CF
8. David Ross C
9. Mike Minor SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: Jason Heyward is hitting .528 (19 for 36) over his last nine games which includes his four hit game from last night and has 4 Homers and 9 Rbi in that time as well.

On The Bump:
The Mets will give the ball to a lefty of their own in Jonathon Niese(notes) (8-6, 3.63), to bounce back as he surrendered seven runs – five in the sixth – and was removed after 5 2-3 innings of an 11-4 loss to Florida on Thursday.

Niese is making his Turner Field debut – he’s 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in three home starts against the Braves. He has been excellent away from home recently, going 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in six road outings since July 1.

After matching a franchise record with 12 strikeouts in his latest start, Mike Minor (2-0, 4.00 ERA) will take the mound and look to improve to 3-0 in the Majors. Minor, the 7th overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, led the Double-A Southern League in strikeouts before making just five starts in Triple-A, and didn’t waste much time making an impact once Atlanta called on him to start Aug. 9.

The left-hander beat Washington on Aug. 17 for his first major league win, then struck out 12 Cubs in a 16-5 rout Aug. 22 to spoil manager Lou Piniella’s final game in Chicago. He has never faced the Mets in his career.

Daily Stache’s Keys to the Game:
Hey David, wanna get a hit at Turner Field this season? The guy doesnt have a hit in this ballpark all season and when he isnt hitting, the offense which is so bad to begin with gets alot worse when Wright is not tearing it up in the middle of the order. He is supposted to be the big guy in the middle of the lineup and to be this bad against a team we are chasing, or WERE chasing is just horrific

This is a tweet from Adam Rubin…Mets batting splits … runner in scoring position: .251; scoring position, two out: .201; bases loaded: .194…My suggestion is to improve on this and there is no better time then the present.

Make the young kid work. Minor is just another member of a great young Braves staff and to me, the Mets need to work the count, not fall behind and try to make him throw alot of pitches and work with alot of runners on base and not feel comfortable at all.

LETS GO METS!

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

Stats in His Mets Career

4 Seasons as Manager, 339-309 W-L .523 Winning Percentage, Manager of the 1969 World Champion New York Mets

His Mets Moment

In this great game that we call baseball, it sometimes is the little things that can happen that can make or break a career for a player or even a Manager.

With the Mets one win away from winning their first World Series, but trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the comeback began with a moment that would go down in World Series history.

Left Fielder Cleon Jones, the Mets leading hitter during the regular season, was leading off for the Mets and on a pitch inside from Dave McNally claimed to be hit on the foot and thought he would be awarded first base, but the home plate umpire refused to award Jones first base.

It was then that, Mets manager Gil Hodges retrieved the ball and began to talk to the umpire. He was pointing to the ball and it was found out that he was showing the umpire a spot of shoe-polish on the ball from Jones’ cleat as proof.

The umpire then decided that Jones must have been hit and Jones was awarded the base. The Mets rally had begun and it seemed that McNally, rattled by the controversy, yielded a two-run homer to Clendenon, the next batter, as the Mets pulled within a run.

The controversey always went on when it came to whether or not the ball that Hodges showed the umpire was the actual ball that had hit Jones, but it was never proven otherwise and it has always been part of the legend that came with the 1969 Mets.

The game continued and The Mets tied it in the seventh on a solo homer by Al Weis, an especially unlikely hero who had only .215 in the regular season but hit .455 during the series.

With McNally out of the game, eighth-inning doubles by Jones and Ron Swoboda off reliever Eddie Watt gave the Mets their first lead of the game, and errors by Watt and first baseman Boog Powell allowed an insurance run to score.

Koosman finished up from there, holding the Orioles to five hits and walking only one while striking out five, as the Miracle Mets completed their improbable championship.

The Miracle Mets had given their fans the thrill of a lifetime and it took one more bit of Magic from the Mananger who at the beginning of the season would have been considered a magician to win a World Series with the loveable losers, the New York Mets.

Fast Facts

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