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Batista pitched 2 scoreless innings before leaving the game

Miguel Batusta started the game but left after two quick innings. Jeremy Hefner camewin and pitched decently, but he did allow two runs.

The real issue with today’s game was the Mets could not get anything going against Jays starter Brandon Morrow. Morrow was excellent today, but the Mets lineup was hurting with David Wright sitting out. The Mets rallied in the 9th to bring the tying run to the plate but Daniel Murphy lined out to end the game.

The positives to take out of today’s game are that Hefner pitched very well despite taking the loss and honestley that’s about it. Hopefully the offense wakes up tomorrow and avoids the sweep.

The Mets finish up in Toronto tomorrow befor heading to Pittsburgh for 3 games. Game time tomorrow is 1:07 pm eastern on PIX11.

Full box scores from today’s loss can be seen here.

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In case you missed it last night, the Brewers versus Mets game last night seemed completely unremarkable until the seventh inning, when D.J. Carrasco, who was supposed to just be mopping up a blowout loss, hit Ryan Braun with a fastball. The incident came right after Ricky Weeks had homered off of Carrasco to make the score 8-0, and although it doesn’t seem like Carrasco intentionally threw at Braun, he was ejected from the game anyway.

With the game out of hand, Terry Collins pinch hit for David Wright in the bottom of the inning. Collins figured Wright would be targeted by Milwaukee starter Zack Greinke in a retaliatory move, so he did what he had to do to protect his star.

“He’s not getting hurt in that game tonight,” Collins said. “Believe me, I’m not accusing them of anything. I just know what might have taken place and I was trying to avoid it.”

Wright was visibly upset at Collins for pulling him from the game. It seems Wright was content to allow the Brewers to have their retribution and end the incident right there. Instead, there was no opportunity for Milwaukee to strike back.

The Mets don’t play Milwaukee again until mid-September, so this will probably just stay on the shelf until then. Right now, the Mets will just try to win more baseball games. That starts tonight against the Cincinnati Reds, who send Mike Leake to the mound to duel against Johan Santana. The game can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN 660.

Mets Lineup

Nieuwenhuis, CF - Baxter, LF - Wright, 3B - Duda, RF - Muprhy, 2B - Davis, 1B - Turner, SS - Nickeas, C - Santana, SP

Andres Torres is getting the night off, with Kirk Nieuwenhuis moving up to the lead-off spot and Mike Baxter taking over left field while batting second. Since coming off the disabled list on a hot streak, Torres has cooled off some, with no hits in the last three games. He’s batting .241/.369/.352 on the season. Meanwhile, Baxter has been ridiculously hot even though he hasn’t gotten consistent playing time at all. In his last four at-bats (dating back to May 11), Baxter is 4 for 4 with three doubles.

Cincinnati Reds Lineup

Cozart, SS - Stubbs, CF - Votto, 1B - Phillips, 2B - Heisey, RF - Ludwick, LF - Frazier, 3B - Mesoraco, C - Leake, SP

The Reds haven’t made much of an impression on offense this season. They rank 12th in the National League in runs scored with 134 and 15th in on-base percentage with a .302 average, but they are also sixth in slugging with a .387 mark. The most dangerous guys are mega stud Joey Votto and fellow lefty Jay Bruce. It’s the Mets lucky day because Bruce is getting the day off, but he’ll almost certainly appear if the Mets bring in a right-handed reliever while the game is close. Votto is his normal amazing self this season with a .311/.465/.571 line, and he’s also the rare left-handed hitter who doesn’t melt against lefty pitching.

Pitching Match-up
NYM — LHP Johan Santana (2.92 ERA, 41 K, 12 BB)
Santana’s return to ace form has been the most pleasant surprise of the Mets season so far. It almost makes up for Ike Davis not hitting. Although Santana has finally started allowing home runs in his last two starts, he’s still be striking guys out at a rate that suggests he may have never had a serious shoulder injury. Last time out, against Miami, Santana allowed three runs in the first inning before pitching splendidly for the next five. Although he didn’t get the win in that one, the Mets have a great shot at one every time Santana takes the hill.

CIN — RHP Mike Leake (7.11 ERA, 16 K, 11 BB)
Two years ago, Mike Leake made news by going straight to the Reds rotation without pitching even one inning in the minor leagues. Last year, he made news because he stole t-shirts. This year, he hasn’t made much news; he’s just been an incredibly lousy pitcher. In 2011, Leake was a pretty good back-end starter with a 3.86 ERA and 4.22 FIP in 167.2 innings, but this season, he’s got a 7.11 ERA and 5.55 FIP in his first 31.2 innings. Leake’s strikeouts are down almost two per nine innings and his walks are up about one per nine. He’s also forcing 8% less ground balls than before. Bascially, everything about Leake as a pitcher is bad right now, and if he doesn’t improve soon, the Reds will probably give his rotation spot to Aroldis Chapman or someone else. Here’s what Red Reporter wrote last week:

I’m not sure what to make of Mike Leake. Leake’s skill has always been ground balls with no walks to make up for his modest strikeout rate. That’s not happening so far this year, and his strikeouts are well below his career average. His swinging strike %, however, is actually up, as is velocity. It almost suggests a difference in approach, but it could also just be a small sample size issue. I’ve always liked Leake, so I hope he can get it going again.

It’s never too much fun to see a young pitcher struggle like this, but hopefully the Mets can take advantage and get Santana some runs tonight.

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Based on the events of the past three days (and some other events before then), it might be time for Terry Collins to make some changes to the Mets bullpen. Frank Francisco has done a terrible job in the ninth inning so far, but that doesn’t mean that moving him to the seventh or eighth will automatically straighten him out?

Just leaving him in the ninth would almost definitely result in Francisco getting better results than he has. His past performance is evidence of this.

While pitching in the hitter’s havens of Arlington and Toronto for the past four seasons, Francisco has not once had a season ERA above 4.00. His ERAs for the past four seasons are 3.13, 3.83, 3.76 and 3.55. Sure, those aren’t figures that will remind anyone of Mariano Rivera or Jonathan Papelbon, but that track record is just as good as anyone else in the Mets bullpen.

Francisco’s FIP and xFIP were below 4.00 for all four years as well. It doesn’t make sense for Francisco’s ERA to suddenly blow up to while pitching in a pitcher’s park in the inferior National League. Even if you believe that pitching in the ninth inning is more difficult than the eighth or that pitching in New York is tougher because of enhanced media pressure (there’s no evidence of either), the jump in ERA is still more likely the result of a small sample size.

If Terry Collins does get impatient and decides that now is the time to change his closer, let’s hope he decides to go with the more talented Bobby Parnell instead of the more experienced Jon Rauch.

Rauch has been pretty good this season, with a 2.93 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched, but there’s a couple of red flags that indicate his ERA could be going up soon. First of all, Rauch doesn’t have very good stuff so far this season. His strikeouts per nine innings is down to 4.11 from a career average of 7.14, which means Rauch is missing less bats and allowing a lot of contact. The low ERA is probably the result of a .235 BABIP (batting average on balls in play). Although Rauch does have a relatively low career BABIP against him of .278, the .235 of this season is very likely unsustainable.

Also, Rauch is a fly ball pitcher who hasn’t allowed a home run yet this season. Over his career, Rauch’s performance has bounced up and down with the amount of homers he’s allowed. Although, this is something a pitcher can sometimes control, it’s a bad combination for someone to have a low strikeout rate and a low ground ball rate. That’s what Rauch is working with this season, and it’s a good reason to leave him out of high-leverage situations.

Parnell, on the other hand, playing the best baseball of his career. He’s striking out about one batter per inning while working on a career low 1.69 walks per nine. A 53.1% ground ball rate and a 2.25 ERA (2.36 FIP) are also great signs for the Mets future closer.

Because Francisco’s ERA is not going to stay at 8.56, Terry Collins will be praised no matter what he does. Leave Francisco in the ninth, and Collins’ faith will be rewarded. Move Francisco to the seventh or eighth, and he’ll pitch better in the new role. The only thing Collins shouldn’t do is move someone who isn’t Bobby Parnell into the closer’s role.

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Good afternoon baseball fans! Tonight the Mets have a rare opportunity to go for a sweep in the city of Philadelphia when they take on the Phillies starting at 7:05 PM. Of course, that’s all assuming that this is the real city of Philadelphia they’re playing in and not just a computer-generated version that only exists in our minds.

Anyway, last night the orange and blue crew survived a Miguel Batista start and we now get to enjoy a potentially more fun Dillon Gee outing. Cliff Lee is on the mound for Philadelphia, and he has been tremendous so far this season, despite not having “won” any of his starts (just like Johan used to be!). Hopefully the Mets can keep that sad trend going and put another tally in the win column tonight. The game will be televised on SNY and you can also listen to the radio broadcast on WFAN 660.

Mets Lineup
1. Andres Torres, CF
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Scott Hairston, RF
5. Vinny Rottino, LF
6. Justin Turner, SS
7. Ike Davis, 1B
8. Rob Johnson, C
9. Dillon Gee, RHP

Davis and Murphy are the only two lefties in the lineup today versus the left-handed Lee. Hairston hit a home run against Lee last month, so he gets to hit cleanup. It’s mostly because there’s no one else in this lineup that’s even qualified to hit cleanup. Vinny Rottino will get his first major league start of the season in left field, while Rob Johnson gets the same honor at catcher. With the day off tomorrow, I’m not sure what the point of resting Nickeas is, but Terry has been spot on so far this season, so we’ll see how it goes.

Philadelphia Phillies Lineup
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Juan Pierre, LF
3. Shane Victorino, CF
4. Hunter Pence, RF
5. Placido Polanco, 3B
6. John Mayberry Jr., 1B
7. Brian Schneider, C
8. Freddy Galvis, 2B
9. Cliff Lee, LHP

This Phillies lineup is probably a little more imposing than the Mets today, although that’s like saying a sheep is more imposing than a lamb. Last night, Charlies Manuel tried to go for offense at second base with Pete Orr, but all he got was a game-changing error (although Orr did go 2 for 4 with an RBI). Now Galvis is back in there. The Mets also get to see old friend Brian Schneider, which is very welcome considering how well Carlos Ruiz has hit this season. There’s a lot of speed at the top of the Phillies order, so hopefully Rob Johnson can throw.

Pitching Match-up
NYM — Dillon Gee (4.50 ERA, 29 K, 8 BB)
Gee has been really good so far this season, but his ERA doesn’t really show it because of one bad game against San Francisco in which he allowed seven runs, including two home runs, in 6.2 innings. Even in that game, Gee maintained a solid strikeout-to-walk ratio with five punch outs and only one free pass. The deal for this season is that when Gee doesn’t give up home runs, he rolls along thanks to his solid control. Gee just turned 26 and his FIP of 3.69 this season is down from last season’s 4.65, so things are looking up for the right-hander. He’s also getting more groundballs this season with a rate of 53.8% (up from 47.4% in 2011).

PHI — Cliff Lee (1.96 ERA, 18 K, 2 BB)
It’s pretty amazing that Lee doesn’t have any “wins” on his record when you look at how well he’s pitched so far this season. Part of the problem has been that Lee missed his last two starts with a strained oblique, and part of the problem has been really poor run support. In his last start before the injury, Lee pitched 10 scoreless innings in San Francisco with seven strikeouts and no walks before finally leaving the game and watching his team lose 1-0. His worst start so far was the one Lee made against the Mets on April 13. Jason Bay hit a two-run homer in the first inning of that game, and the Mets quickly went up 3-0. Lee settled down after that with seven strikeouts and no walks in seven innings, but R.A. Dickey was awesome and the Mets won 5-2. Since this is Lee’s first start off the disabled list, he’ll be limited to around 85 pitches, which is a huge break for the the Mets tonight.

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Miguel Batista did little to solve the problem that is Mike Pelfrey’s absence from the rotation, but the Mets overcame a slow start tonight to defeat the Phillies once again 7-4.

Trailing 4-1 entering the seventh, New York got to work when last night’s hero Jordany Valdespin got on base with a lead-off walk against Phillies starter Joe Blanton. However, Blanton would get catcher Mike Nickeas and pinch hitter Scott Hairston out to put the Mets rally on hold.

This season, however, the Mets have been no stranger to two-out rallies and the seventh inning tonight was where they chose to erupt. The next batter, Andres Torres, hit a single to right field to bring Kirk Nieuwenhuis to the plate as the tying run. The rookie outfielder responded with a line drive single to score Valdespin and make the score 4-2.

Chad Qualls came into the game to pitch to David Wright, but the Mets captain just lobbed a single into right field. Torres scored from second, but Wright gaffed by getting caught in a rundown on his way to second base. In an effort to bail Wright out, Nieuwenhuis jumped off of third to draw a throw from second baseman Pete Orr.

Although Orr’s intentions were good, his throw to third base went awry, and Nieuwenhuis was free to scamper home with the tying run. Wright got to third base on the error and scored when the next batter, Lucas Duda, ripped a single into right field off of lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo.

Suddenly, the Mets had a 5-4 lead in a game that earlier looked like a Phillies blowout.

Batista got off to a bad start when Juan Pierre singled in the first inning and scored on a Hunter Pence home run to center field. Things got worse in the second when John Mayberry reached on a throwing error by Jordany Valdespin. Orr made the score 3-0 on an RBI single up the middle, and later came in to score himself on a Shane Victorino two-out RBI double.

Meanwhile, the Mets went the first three innings without getting a hit, and it looked like Blanton might be on his way to another complete game. Things started to turn in the fourth when Nieuwenhuis led off with a double and came around to score the first Mets run on a Daniel Murphy single.

It also helped that Batista settled down after a disastrous first two innings. From the third through the fifth, the veteran faced just one plus the minimum while getting an abundance of ground outs. In the sixth, Batists was in trouble again when Orr’s double put runners on second and third with one out. However, Manny Acosta came in to save the day and got two outs in a row without surrendering a run.

That set the stage for the seventh, when the Mets took the lead. In the ninth, the Mets added a pair of runs on a Nieuwenhuis sac fly and another Lucas Duda RBI single. That made the score 7-4 and allowed for an easy save by Jon Rauch, who gave Frank Francisco a break tonight.

Mets defense: In the bottom of the seventh, Wright made a splendid play by diving to his left to take a base hit away from Hunter Pence. The next inning, Murphy snagged a John Mayberry line drive to help Ramon Ramirez pitch around a Placido Polanco single and a pair of wild pitches.

Turning Point: Certainly Wright’s RBI single and the subsequent error by Pete Orr was the big play in this game. What looked like an horrible baserunning error by Wright turned out well for New York, and the Phillies appeared to become unhinged.

Game Ball: It’s hard to pick out one offensive player. Torres, Nieuwenhuis, Wright and Duda all had two hits a piece, and all had big hits in the victory. I’m going to give the game ball to the Mets bullpen, which has been much maligned this season. Tonight, Acosta, Ramirez, Tim Byrdak and Rauch combined to pitch 3.2 scoreless innings.

Next game: The Mets get another shot at a sweep in Philly. It won’t be easy, as Cliff Lee will be pitching for Philadelphia. Dillon Gee takes the mound for New York.

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Over the weekend in an article about American League East bullpen woes, Boston Globe writer Nick Cafardo mentioned that the Mets are getting calls about relief pitcher Bobby Parnell. There’s a lot of demand for bullpen arms due to the abundance of relief pitcher injuries and/or ineffectiveness across the league. Does that mean the Mets should trade a part of their future?

So far this season, Parnell has been fantastic. He struck out 16 batters in 12.2 innings while only allowed two walks. His 2.84 ERA would be even lower if not for a relatively high .361 BABIP. Additionally, Parnell’s 55.6% groundball rate this season would be a career high if he can keep it up all season.

It’s not a huge sample size, sure, but right now Parnell is by far the best Mets relief pitcher. Plus, it’s not like he’s been completely awful in recent years. In 2010, he had a 2.83 (2.25 FIP) in 35 innings and last season he had a 3.64 ERA (3.21 FIP) in 59.1 innings. At age 27, it wouldn’t be a huge shock for 2012 to turn into a career year for Parnell, and now more than ever it behooves teams to develop a closer from within the organization.

This off-season, Jonathan Papelbon signed a four-year/$50 million contract to close games for the Phillies while Heath Bell signed with Miami for three years and $27 million. The Mets needed to shell out $12 millon over two years just to get Frank Francisco on the team. I think Francisco is fine, and I’ve got nothing against him, but the point is that closers are overpaid across the board simply because they pitch the ninth inning. Oftentimes, they don’t even pitch in high leverage situations.

With Parnell, the Mets have a pitcher in his prime who doesn’t hit free agency until 2016. If given a reasonable extension, the Mets can have him on the team for the next five or six years. After Francisco’s contract runs out, he’ll likely be named the team’s closer. With Parnell handling the ninth inning, the Mets would have a decent closer as well as some extra money in their pockets that they wouldn’t have to spend on an expensive free agent closer. That’s as long as Parnell doesn’t get traded this summer.

If the Mets trade a relief pitcher this summer, it should probably be Francisco, who won’t return the type of assets that Parnell would, but he’s relatively cheap and has been acceptably effective so far. With Parnell, the Mets have a part of the future that they would be trying to build by trading veterans, so he should be off-limits to all but the most tempting of deals.

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Good morning folks! It seems the Mets have played a lot of Wednesday matinees this season, and here we are with another early hump day start. The Mets will look to avoid the sweep against the Astros today starting at 2:05 PM from Minute Maid Park. The weather in Houston looks beautiful right now and it could get as high as 88 degrees today. I’m not sure if that’s hot enough to get the roof closed there, so that will be a special surprise for everyone.

In the first two games of this series, the Mets fell behind by multiple runs before getting on the scoreboard themselves. Unfortunately, this trend will be tough to reverse today because the Astros have their ace Wandy Rodriguez on the mound while the Mets have Chris Schwinden. That said, Schwinden’s first start of the season came in Denver, so things can only get easier for him this time.

Today’s game can be seen on SNY, and will also be televised on MLB Network, for those of you outside the New York area. As usual, you can also listen to Howie and Josh on WFAN 660.

Mets Lineup
1. Ruben Tejada, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Scott Hairston, LF
5. Lucas Duda, RF
6. Andres Torres, CF
7. Ike Davis, 1B
8. Josh Thole, C
9. Chris Schwinden, RHP

In 13 at-bats versus Rodriguez, Hairston has six hits, including two doubles and two home runs. That’s why he’s batting cleanup today. Duda came off the bench in each of the last two games because of the flu, but he must be feeling better because he gets the start versus the lefty today.

Houston Astros Lineup
1. Jordan Schafer, CF
2. Jose Altuve, 2B
3. J.D. Martinez, LF
4. Carlos Lee, 1B
5. Jed Lowrie, SS
6. Brian Bogusevic, RF
7. Chris Johnson, 3B
8. Jason Castro, C
9. Wandy Rodriguez, LHP

Schafer sat out last night with tightness in his left oblique, but he’s right back in the lineup today. What a trooper. It’s a good thing that Thole got good practice throwing out base stealers yesterday, because if Schafer gets on, he likes to run.

Pitching Match-up
NYM — Chris Schwinden (11.25 ERA, 0 K, 1 BB)
Schwinden’s first major league start of the season didn’t go so well. In the first inning versus Colorado, he allowed a triple and a home run, but then he settled in and let the Rockies hit into some outs. However, in the fifth inning, Schwinden totally unraveled and he was forced to leave the game after Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run homer. After pitching four innings without a single strikeout, it doesn’t seem like Schwinden has the stuff to be a good major league pitcher, but if he can get groundballs with his curveball and cutter and avoid walking batters, he may find some mild success. At least today’s assignment will be much easier than the mile high outing he suffered through last time.

HOU — Wandy Rodriguez (1.72 ERA, 22 K, 8 BB)
Rodriguez isn’t widely considered a number one starter in the majors, but so far this season he’s pitching like one. With a 1.72 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 31.1 innings, Rodriguez is perhaps the best thing Houston has going for it this season. Whether he’s just a piece to trade at the deadline or a long-term asset to hold onto is management’s choice, but right now Mets fans will be more concerned with Rodriguez’s ability to work quickly and throw strikes. He’ll use a 88-90 MPH fastball to get ahead in the count and finish batters with a wicked curveball that sits in the mid-70s.

Stache Keys to the game

• Don’t fall behind again — the Mets are actually 5-8 when they don’t score first this season, which isn’t that terrible. Still, it would be much better if they could get a couple runs on Rodriguez early and give Schwinden some breathing room. He’s going to need it.
• Curveball Kirk — This season, Nieuwenhuis only has one hit off of pitches 90 MPH or faster. On the the post game show last night, Ron Darling said he has been “a breaking ball hitter” so far. Rodriguez’s fastball tops out around 90, and he’ll probably be throwing a lot of it to Nieuwenhuis, if the rookie does manage to get in the game.
• Clutch mania — The Mets are batting .290 with two outs this season and have scored 50 runs with two outs. That’s the most runs any team in the majors has scored with two outs.

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Jon Niese has been very solid so far this season, but tonight he couldn’t avoid hard contact and the Astros hit a couple of big flies early on that provided all the offense they would need to defeat the Mets tonight.

The Astro assault started right away in the bottom of the first. Jose Altuve led off with an infield single and Jed Lowrie ripped a Niese inside fastball right off the left field foul pole to make the score 2-0. In the second inning, Niese threw a very similar pitch to Houston catcher Chris Snyder, who hit a towering blast down the left field line that stayed fair long enough to count. With outfielders Brian Bogusevic and Justin Maxwell already on board with singles, Snyder’s bomb put three more runs on the board to make the score 5-0.

Although Niese would get through the third inning with no further damage, Terry Collins opted to lift him for pinch hitter Lucas Duda in the fourth, which ended the lefty’s evening. Niese finished with five earned runs, six hits and two walks allowed in just three innings. He only struck out one batter.

Niese might have lasted a little longer if not for a Mets rally in the fourth. Andres Torres and Josh Thole hit back-to-back RBI singles with two outs to cut into the Houston lead. With two men on base and two outs, Collins decided to insert Duda for Niese and try to tie the game right there. However, Duda was struck out by Astros starter J.A. Happ, and the Mets would only get one more run for the rest of the game.

Said Collins after the game, “When you’re in a game where you’re down five and you’ve got a chance to tie it, you’ve got to take your chance.”

In the fifth, the Mets drew within two runs when Scott Hairston singled home Justin Turner with two outs. Unfortunately, Houston would get one back in the next inning. Although Miguel Batista had been pitching well since replacing Niese in the fourth, he allowed Happ to single and Altuve to walk with two outs in the sixth. Ramon Ramirez came in to get the final out, but first he walked Lowrie and J.D. Martinez to walk in a run and make the score 6-3.

Wilton Lopez, Wesley Wright and Brett Myers would shut down the Mets the rest of the way to end the game. The Astros pitched much better than the Mets did tonight. Happ lasted 6.1 innings and struck out seven batters while walking three. The Mets recorded three runs and six hits against the former Phillie.

Meanwhile, Mets pitchers combined to walk eight batters. Niese walked two, Batista walked four, Ramirez walked a pair in his 1.1 innings and Jon Rauch mercifully didn’t walked anyone while pitching a scoreless eighth inning.

Turning Point: The huge Snyder home run gave Houston enough runs to win the game and caused Collins to take Niese out of the game early. The Mets would rally, but never really recovered.

Game Ball: Josh Thole got an RBI single in this one, but more importantly he threw out a couple of basestealers to keep the Astros from ever making the game a blowout. Justin Turner also had a nice game with a double, a walk and a couple of runs scored.

Next Game: The Mets try to dodge the brooms tomorrow afternoon at 2:05 PM. Chris Schwinden will be making his second start of the season after getting shelled in Colorado. Houston ace Wandy Rodriguez will be pitching for the opposition.

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After the game versus Miami yesterday, Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters that Mike Pelfrey would likely undergo Tommy John surgery to deal with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. While speaking to reporters, Pelfrey said that there is a 99% chance that he will go through with the season-ending surgery.

This is so upsetting to Pelfrey and to Mets fans because it looked like the homegrown pitcher was on his way to having a great season. In his only three starts this year, Pelfrey struck out 13 batters and walked just four with in 19.2 innings pitched. His ERA was 2.29 and his ground ball rate was up to 53% after last season’s career low 46%.

With this bad news, it’s unclear if Pelfrey will even be with the Mets next season. There’s speculation that the Mets could let him go after the 2012 campaign.

His immediate future is uncertain. His long-term future is murkier still. The team could non-tender Pelfrey in the offseason, rather than offer a contract similar to his $5.68 million deal. If he returns, his contract would likely be laden with incentives, similar to the deal Chris Capuano received last season.

Pelfrey has never had any sort of serious injury in his career. While he hasn’t been spectacular, he has gone out to the mound and given his best effort for every fifth day over the past four seasons. Now the Mets have to figure out a way to fill in Pelfrey’s spot in the rotation. Chris Schwinden has just been recalled from AAA Buffalo and will make the start tonight in Denver. After that, the situation is unclear.

If Schwinden is even mildly successful, he’ll probably earn a handful of additional starts while top prospect Matt Harvey continues to hone his craft in Buffalo. The timing of Harvey’s debut in the majors will depend on his own performance in the minors as well as Schwinden’s effectiveness with the Mets. Hopefully Schwinden can hold down the fort for at least a little while and delay Harvey’s debut until he’s absolutely ready.

Here at the Stache, we wish Pelf the best of luck with his rehab and a speedy recovery.

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The Mets couldn’t be feeling too good about themselves as Johan Santana was leaving the game in the seventh inning. Despite pitching spectacularly, Santana was leaving the game with a 1-0 deficit. Part of the problem was the Mets not being able to score runs against the Miami Marlins ace Josh Johnson. The other part was a shoddy relay throw that allowed Giancarlo Stanton to score on a two-out Gaby Sanchez double.

In 6.2 innings, Santana tore through the Marlins like a hot knife through butter with 11 strikeouts, two walks and only three hits allowed. It looked like only an escalating pitch count would stop him from pitching a complete game, but with two outs in the seventh, the Marlins finally broke through. Stanton ripped a single into left field, and Sanchez followed with a double off the left field wall. Mike Baxter fielded the ball well off the wall and got the it to Ruben Tejada with plenty of time to nail Stanton at the plate, but Tejada bounced the throw and Josh Thole could not gather it in on time. Stanton was safe at home and Santana’s night was done.

It had to have been pretty demoralizing for the Mets to let down Santana yet again with a lack of offense. Josh Johnson held up his end for Miami with nine strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed in 6.2 innings. Everything seemed alright for Miami when Johnson left the game after a two-out walk to Lucas Duda in the bottom of the seventh. Lefty specialist Randy Choate came in to get Ike Davis out, but Terry Collins switched things up by subbing in the right-handed Justin Turner. Choate stayed in the game and walked Turner, then left the game for the righty Steve Cishek when Collins subbed in Scott Hairston for Baxter.

Now Miami had the righty/righty advantage, but Cishek still walked Hairston to load the bases. Miami manager Ozzie Guillen subbed in lefty Mike Dunn to take care of Josh Thole, but amazingly, Thole took the Mets fourth walk in a row to tie the game 1-1. That led to Zach Lutz getting his first major leage at-bat in a pinch hitting appearance, but Dunn struck him out to end the inning.

The Mets were back with more heroics in the eighth. With Edward Mujica now on the mound for Miami, Kirk Nieuwenhuis led off the inning by dragging a single into left field. Ruben Tejada failed on his bunt attempt, but Daniel Murphy followed with his own single to left to put runners on the corners. David Wright struck out, but Lucas Duda hit a line drive right back to Mujica that deflected off the hurler onto the infield where no fielder could reach it in time. The infield single gave the Mets a 2-1 lead and Frank Francisco got the last three outs to preserve the victory.

While tonight’s game turned into a great pitcher’s duel, it started as a story about the return of Jose Reyes to Citi Field. Although he started out receiving half cheers and half boos, by the time that Reyes took his last at-bat in the 8th inning, the tenseness of the game had turned almost all the cheers into boos. The former Mets star shortstop ended up 0 for 4 on the night.

The first Reyes at-bat of the game turned out to be the most noteworthy, but not because of the reception he received from the fans. Reyes lifted a Santana offering deep into left center field and for a moment it looked like he might on his way to a triple, but Nieuwenhuis made a fantastic leaping catch at the wall to get Santana’s night off to a positive start. It also saved Mets fans from having to watch Reyes dash around the base paths in a Miami uniform. For at least one night, that pleasure will have to wait.

Turning Point: Mets fans were down in the dumps after Santana left the game in line with another loss, but the seventh inning walk-a-thon turned things right around. When Josh Thole walked to tie the game, it felt like the Mets had turned the corner.

Game Ball: Johan Santana bounced back from his worst start of the season (and maybe his career) with his best. He was phenomenal and it was great to see the Mets win the game, even if Santana didn’t get the “win.”

Next Game: Tomorrow night at 7:10 PM the Mets play another game versus Miami. R.A. Dickey will tak the hill against Mark Beuhrle in a match-up that should result in a swiftly played ballgame.