John Delcos’ New York Mets Report Featuring Mets’ commentary, analysis and news.

OK … the Mets won yesterday at Milwaukee. So what? I’m not going to get excited about one win after a month of playing terribly.

Tim Redding (1-3, 6.35 ERA) has given up five homers in the last 17 2/3 innings pitched.

Luis Castillo, 2B
Alex Cora, SS
Dave Wright, 3B
Gary Sheffield, RF
Fernando Tatis, LF
Ryan Church, CF
Nick Evans, 1B
Omir Santos, C
Tim Redding, RP

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Going into Philly - with a layover in Pittsburgh - on the heels of consecutive sweeps

is a very real possibility after being thumped by the Yankees and losing the first two games at Milwaukee.

Enter Mike Pelfrey, stopper.

Pelfrey (5–3, 4.67 ERA) will start for the Mets. For the most part, Pelfrey has kept the ball in the park, giving up 25 in 60 starts since 2006, the fewest in the major leagues in the span.

When Pelfrey is on his game, he’s getting ahead in the count. Opponents are batting .201 against him when he gets ahead 0-and-1. When he doesn’t get that strike, hitters are batting .361.

Yesterday, manager Jerry Manuel said he’d rest David Wright and Gary Sheffield, but today changed his mind.

Here’s today’s line-up against Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers:

Alex Cora, SS
Luis Castillo, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Ryan Church, RF
Nick Evans, LF
Daniel Murphy, 1B
Fernando Martinez, CF
Brian Schneider, C
Mike Pelfrey, RP

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Johan Santana (9–5, 3.08 ERA) starts for the Mets. Santana, who threw seven shutout innings against Milwaukee in April, has a 4.79 ERA on the road this season. Santana, however, hasn’t pitched consistently well since the San Francisco game.

Mike Burns (0–1, 3.72 ERA) goes for the Brewers.

Another twist in tonight’s line-up has Fernando Tatis at second base.

The line-up:

Alex Cora, SS
Fernando Tatis, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Gary Sheffield, LF
Ryan Church, RF
Nick Evans, 1B
Fernando Martinez, CF
Omir Santos, C
Johan Santana, LP

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After being swept by the Yankees the Mets are in Milwaukee tonight to begin a series against the Brewers. It won’t get any easier.

And, it is going to stay rough for a long time because Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado aren’t back any time soon, and Carlos Beltran could be out a little longer. They simply don’t have any chips to deal.

It’s up to the people here now, and they aren’t getting it done.

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Sorry about last night. Computer access was down. Trying it again.

Well, so much for the good feelings generated the beating the Cardinals. The Yankees have had their way this weekend with the Mets, who only have four hits in the two games. With the way Chien Ming Wang has been pitching for the Yankees, one would hope they would get at least that many tonight. Then again, four hits tonight won’t cut it either.

Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05 ERA) starts tonight for the Mets, but despite his good pitching they’ve lost four of his past five starts, In his last ten start, he is 4-1 with a 3.17 ERA, averaging over 6 innings in each game.

If he can’t do it tonight, the Mets will drop to .500, not the way they want to start their next trip.

Ryan Church isn’t feeling well and won’t play tonight. Here’s the patchwork line-up:

Daniel Murphy, 1B
Alex Cora, SS
David Wright, 3B
Gary Sheffield, LF
Fernando Tatis, RF
Fernando Martinez, CF
Brian Schneider, C
Luis Castillo, 2B
Livan Hernandez, RP

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The Mets follow up their first series win in weeks with a three-game series against the Yankees at Citi Field, with Mike Pelfrey going against CC Sabathia.

Pelfrey (5–2, 4.74 ERA) pitched five innings against the Yankees last season and allowed eight hits and four runs. The key with Pelfrey is to get ahead in the count. With a first-pitch strike opponents are batting just .193 against him; they are .387 when he falls behind.

Another thing with Pelfrey is to avoid the big inning. He has a tendency to give up runs in bunches and unravel. He has been unable to minimize the damage.

Sabathia (6–4, 3.71 ERA) left his last start in the second inning with a sore left bicep. He has gone 5-1 over his last nine starts.

An interesting line-up change has Ryan Church in center and Fernando Tatis in right. Gary Sheffield is back and in left.

Here’s the batting order:

Luis Castillo, 2B
Alex Cora, SS
David Wright, 3B
Gary Sheffield, LF
Fernando Tatis, RF
Ryan Church, CF
Nick Evans, 1B
Omir Santos, C
Mike Pelfrey, RP

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See how easy this game is when you score double-digit runs and don’t give up any? They can’t all be like last night. Johan Santana attempts to get back on track this afternoon against St. Louis.

Here’s today’s line-up:

Alex Cora, SS
Luis Castillo, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Ryan Church, RF
Fernando Tatis, LF
Fernando Martinez, CF
Nick Evans, 1B
Omir Santos, C
Johan Santana, LP

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Here’s how bad things are for the Mets’ offense: Ryan Church is the clean-up hitter. Yup, you read correctly. Gary Sheffield is out again after taking a cortisone injection in his knee. He believes he’ll be available this weekend against the Yankees. We shall see.

Fernando Nieve (2–0, 1.84) starts for the Mets after back-to-back quality starts. Can he keep riding the wave?

Here’s tonight’s line-up:

Alex Cora, SS
Luis Castillo, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Ryan Church, RF
Fernando Tatis, LF
Fernando Martinez, CF
Nick Evans, 1B
Brian Schneider, C
Fernando Nieve, RP

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Of all the players on the Mets’ disabled list, who do you believe they miss the most? Tell me who and why: Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Oliver Perez, John Maine, JJ Putz.

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All those good feelings harnessed with Monday’s victory have been washed away by the rain. Getting two hits against Joel Pineiro will do that to a team. For a team not getting consistently good pitching, the Mets can’t afford to waste a strong performance such as the one Livan Hernandez gave them last night.

Three-fourths of the core is gone, and the last one standing - David Wright - is hitting, but without power. Consistent run production is lacking and there’s little help on the horizon. Gary Sheffield hasn’t played in three days, and that they are relying on his aching 40-year-old legs doesn’t do much on the optimism meter.

It was Pineiro last night. He was stifling and the Mets did little to work the count. Not that it would have mattered anyway because he was usually ahead.

The Mets must now play for one run whenever they get the chance, and they don’t get many. Bunt, hit-and-run, steal, hit behind the runner, take the extra base, work the count. Now, more than ever, the must play fundamental offense because they don’t have the eraser that can wipe it all clean with one swing.

As well as they played Monday, they still could have lost. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them lose tonight and even tomorrow with Johan Santana, who hasn’t been a sure thing since the San Francisco game a half-dozen or so starts ago.

The Mets have been extremely fortunate to be only 2.5 games behind the Phillies with how they have played this month. They could easily be seven or eight behind if the Phillies could win at home.

I get this gnawing feeling about the Mets, the same one I got the last two years, that they have this warped belief they can turn it on at will once they get all their parts back. It doesn’t work that way.

These are the Mets’ cards and they have to play them. They have to play as if there’s no help coming, because, after all, we don’t know if there is.

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