On the Mets beat

Good evening everyone. Marc Jimenez with you as the Mets open a three-game series against the Florida Marlins. Oliver Perez (9-7, 4.00 ERA), who is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four starts against the Marlins this season, will be going for the Mets (74-60). In his last outing, Perez allowed four runs on four hits with eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings during a 6-4, 10-inning loss to Houston on Sunday. Chris Volstad (4-3, 3.42), who is looking for his first win in three starts, will be on the hill for the Marlins (68-66).

Stat of the day: Carlos Delgado is 6-for-13 with four homers and nine RBIs in the last three games.

Top 1st: The Mets scored a run on Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly. Jose Reyes led off with an infield single and later stole second. Luis Castillo reached on a bunt single and also stole second to set up second and third with no one out. After David Wright struck out, Carlos Delgado walked before Beltran lifted his sacrifice fly. Ryan Church followed and flied out to Wes Helms, who made a great catch near the bullpen. Mets 1, Marlins 0.

Bottom 1st: Perez allowed an infield single to Hanley Ramirez, but nothing else. Paul Lo Duca popped out to Delgado, who made a nice catch in foul territory. Jorge Cantu flied out and Wes Helms grounded out.

Top 2nd: Not much for the Mets this inning. After Daniel Murphy flied out, Brian Schneider struck out and Perez, oddly enough, drew a walk. Reyes followed and made good contact, but hit it right to Cantu at first for the final out.

Bottom 2nd: Perez gave up a towering homer to Josh Willingham, his 10th , before striking out Cody Ross, getting Dan Uggla to ground out and fanning Jeremy Hermida. Mets 1, Marlins 1.

Top 3rd: Wright and Beltran each singled in the inning, but the Mets could not take the lead as Church struck out looking to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd: The Marlins went ahead this inning. Starter Chris Volstad reached on an error by Reyes, moved to second on Ramirez’s walk, took third on Lo Duca’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a Cantu’s sacrifice fly. Marlins 2, Mets 1.

Top 4th: The Mets went down in order as Murphy struck out and Schneider and Perez grounded out.

Bottom 4th: Perez allowed two walks in the inning, but he benefited from the pitcher’s best friend: a double play. Ross hit it right to Delgado for an unassisted DP.

Top 5th: Second straight hitless inning for the Mets. Reyes struck out looking. (He argued with the ump, but to no avail.) Castillo grounded out and Wright flied out.

Bottom 5th: Perez got out of the inning without allowing a run, but he looked a little out of it. He issued a one-out walk to Ramirez before getting Lo Duca to fly out and Cantu to ground out.

Top 6th: 10 straight Mets have been retired. This time, Delgado, Beltran and Church grounded out.

Bottom 6th: Perez gave up a stand-up, two-out triple to Ross before getting Hermida to ground out two batters later. Perez is likely done. He has thrown over 110 pitches.

Top 7th: The Mets wasted a golden opportunity to tie the game (or take the lead). With the bases loaded and one out, Castillo grounded into a fielder’s choice and Wright struck out.

Bottom 7th: Brian Stokes came on for Perez and worked a 1-2-3 inning.

Top 8th: Another eventful inning for the Mets, but sadly for them, no runs were scored. Arthur Rhodes started the inning. Delgado fanned and Beltran reached on a E3. (Beltran hit a weak grounded to Cantu, who could not pick up the ball cleanly.) Two batters later, Murphy singled Beltran to third to end Rhodes’ night. Matt Lindstrom came on and got Endy Chavez to ground back to him for an easy out.

Bottom 8th: It wasn’t pretty, but Joe Smith worked a scoreless inning. Top of the order will come up for the Mets. Will they tie the game?

Top 9th: The Mets were down to their final out before they made an incredible come back. After Robinson Cancel popped out and Reyes grounded out, Castillo, Wright and Delgado reached before Beltran belted a grand slam. Mets 5, Marlins 2.

Bottom 9th: Luis Ayala came on and was VERY shaky. Hermida hit a one-out single and moved to second two batters later on a two-out single by Ramirez. Former Met Mike Jacobs followed with an RBI single and Cantu laced a run-scoring double to make it 5-4. But with second and third, Helms grounded out. Final: Mets 5, Marlins 4.

Reyes (ss)
Castillo (2b)
Wright (3b)
Delgado (1b)
Beltran (cf)
Church (rf)
Murphy (lf)
Schneider (c)
Perez (lhp)

Actually, that's not true. I have no idea what you did last summer. But I used the movie title in today's Mets Insider about dealing with the "demons" of the 2007 collapse, so I thought I'd do it again for the blog. Maybe that's being a little lazy, but sometimes thinking up a headline is more difficult that it looks.

Right now the Dolphin Stadium grounds crew is feverishly trying to get the field playable for tonight. Seems that the U. had a football game here last night and the grass is a little chewed up. I can still see the sprayed-on remnants for the 10-yard line clearly between the mound and third base.

The Mets have announced that special "pennant race packs" are on sale now at mets.com through Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Here is the team's official release and ticket info:

Limited Time Offer Guarantees Fans Tickets to Final 15 Regular Season Games at Shea, Opportunity to Purchase Tickets for Potential 2008 Postseason Games, and Priority for Purchase of Season Tickets in Citi Field for 2009.

FLUSHING, N.Y., August 27, 2008 - The New York Mets tonight announced the sale
of Pennant Race Packs, available online at Mets.com through Tuesday, September
2. Pennant Race Packs start at $497 per Upper Box seat, and include:

* Tickets to the Final 15 Regular Season Home Games at Shea Stadium.
* The opportunity to purchase the same seats for all potential 2008 Postseason games at Shea.
* Priority in purchasing Full Season Tickets in Citi Field for the 2009 Season.

The Mets in September will host the Philadelphia Phillies (September 5-7), Washington Nationals (September 9-10), Atlanta Braves (September 12-14), Chicago Cubs (September 22-25) and for the final three regular season games at Shea, the Florida Marlins (September 26-28), including five promotion dates.

Pennant Race Packs and tickets for single games for the remainder of the 2008 Regular Season are on sale at Mets.com, LosMets.com, or by phone at (718) 507-TIXX. There is a limit of eight seats per Pennant Race Pack customer and account.

The Mets previously announced that the club has surpassed four million tickets
sold for the first time in franchise history.

Wow. I can't believe I just typed that.

But with all the MVP debate focused on David Wright or Jose Reyes lately, look who just entered the discussion after smacking home runs No. 29 and 30 in last night's 6-3 comeback win over the Phillies. Take a look at the numbers:

Delgado .. .263 BA ... .504 SLG ... .348 OBP ... 30 HR ... 93 RBI ... 74 R

Wright .... .291 BA ... .517 SLG ... .385 OBP ... 25 HR ... 100 RBI .. 93 R

Reyes .... .306 BA ... .489 SLG ... .365 OBP ... 13 HR ... 55 RBI .... 95 R

Here's another thing to consider -- no one has been more instrumental in the Mets' turnaround than Delgado. Since June 27, when the Mets began the day four games out of first place, Delgado leads the NL with 19 homers and 58 RBI.

Just something to chew on for those who wanted to RELEASE Delgado back in early June and replace him with Mike Carp. You know who you are. For more on Delgado, here's an entertaining look at his resurgence from our own Wallace Matthews. I especially enjoyed the elevator scene.

On another subject, I like Jimmy Rollins. He's a big-game player and a fun guy to interview. But he really has to stop with the whole "Mets celebrate too much" schtick. It's getting old. I'm happy to publish his quotes because they're amusing, but it's really no big deal if the Mets wants to have a little fun. They've definitely toned it down since last season, anyway.

Loved Jerry Manuel's quotes on the "demons" from last September. Hey Omar, extend Jerry now. He's already shown he's the right guy for this job.

Adam Ronis here to take you through tonight's game. Johan Santana (12-7, 2.64 ERA) has won his last three starts and has pitched at least seven innings in four straight. The Mets will need a similar performance tonight after a 13-inning lost last night in which Aaron Heilman threw three innings and is unavailable tonight. Kyle Kendrick (11-7, 4.87 ERA) takes the mound for the Phillies. He actually warmed up in the bullpen last night, so keep an eye on how he fares early in this game.

Bottom 9:Ayala pitching. Feliz grounds out to short. Coste grounds out to shortstop. Taguchi grounds out to short. Mets win, 6-3.

Top 9:Reyes singles to left. Castillo sacrifices Reyes to second. Wright strikes out, Reyes goes to third on ball in the dirt. Delgado gets an intentional walk. Beltran flies out to left. Mets 6, Phillies 3

Bottom 8: Feliciano pitching. Howard flies out to left. Victorino grounds out to Wright, who makes a great throw from foul territory. Smith comes into pitch. Werth grounds out to short. Mets 6, Phillies 3

Top 8: Seanez pitching. Castillo grounds out to first. Wright strikes out. Delgado homers to leftfield. Beltran reaches on an infield single. Lidge now pitching. Beltran steals second. Church gets an intentional walk. Murphy hits an RBI double to rightfield. Schneider hits a two-run single. Easley grounds into a fielder's choice. Mets 6, Phillies 3

Bottom 7: Stokes pitching. Coste singles to left. Dobbs pinch hits and grounds into a 4-6-3 double play. Rollins walks and steals second. Utley gets an intentional walk. Burrell grounds out to third. Phillies 3, Mets 2

Top 7: Schneider strikes out. Nick Evans pinch hits for Santana and strikes out. Reyes fouls out to first. Phillies 3, Mets 2

Bottom 6: Burrell doubles to left. Howard walks. Victorino strikes out. Werth fouls out to first. Feliz strikes out. Phillies 3, Mets 2

Top 6: Delgado homers to right. Beltran reaches on an infield single. Kendrick is taken out. Scott Eyre is in. Chruch strikes out. Murphy grounds into 3-6-3 double play. Phillies 3, Mets 2

Bottom 5:Feliz singles. Coste flies out to left. Kendrick strikes out. Rollins walks. Utley grounds out to second. Phillies 3, Mets 1

Top 5: Santana fouls out to third. Reyes grounded out to second. Castillo singles. Wright pops up to second. Phillies 3, Mets 1

Bottom 4:Howard walks. Victorino grounds into a 4-6-3 double play. Werth flies out to left. Phillies 3, Mets 1

Top 4: Delgado lines out to first. Beltran singles to right-center. Church walks. Murphy lines to center. Schneider grounds out. Phillies 3, Mets 1

Bottom 3: Rollins pops up to short. Utley flies to center. Burrell ground out to third. Phillies 3, Mets 1

Top 3: Reyes singles. Castillo lines to center and with Reyes running on the pitch, gets doubled off first base. Wright pops up to first. Phillies 3, Mets 1

Bottom 2: Werth homers to left. Feliz grounded out to short. Coste grounds out. Kendrick strikes out looking. Phillies 3, Mets 1

Top 2:Chruch singles to left and steals second. Murphy strikes out looking. Schneider grounds out to second, Church to third. Santana grounds out to second. Phillies 2, Mets 1

Bottom 1:Rollins bloops a single to left. Utley flies out to right. Burrell strikes out. Rollins gets picked off, but makes it safely to second. Howard hits a two-run homer down the leftfield line for his 36th of the season. Victorino strikes out. Phillies 2, Mets 1

Top 1: Reyes singles. Castillo flies to shallow left. Wright grounds to third, Reyes to second. Delgado singles to right scoring Reyes. Beltran grounds out. Mets 1, Phillies 0

Few additions to the earlier post:

-- Argenis Reyes was indeed the player sent to Triple-A New Orleans to make room for Nelson Figueroa, who was summoned to help out a weary bullpen after Tuesday's 13-inning loss.

-- The Mets have Ricardo Rincon back after loaning him to the Mexican League. He'll report to Triple-A New Orleans and join the Mets when rosters expand.

-- Jerry Manuel said he is sticking with Luis Ayala as closer despite Tuesday's blown save. As for the man he replaced, Billy Wagner played long toss at Shea today after visiting with the doctor on Tuesday. GM Omar Minaya said the elbow swelling is down, but he has no timetable for a return to the mound. Only then will the Mets know for sure if he will make it back this season.

Tonight's lineup:

Reyes (ss)
Castillo (2b)
Wright (3b)
Delgado (1b)
Beltran (cf)
Church (rf)
Murphy (lf)
Schneider (c)
Santana (lhp)

-- BTW, I'll be talking about the Mets later at 6:40 p.m. during the Baseball Tonight segment on ESPN 1050 AM. Tune in.