Mets feeling good after thumping Phils

Pardon the Mets if they arrive at the ballpark unfashionably early Wednesday. Recognize their promptness -- plus their enthusiasm and understand they come by them legitimately, though perhaps a tad naively.
Their glass is decidedly half full at this juncture, five games short of the midpoint of their season. They can't wait to get to work, can't wait to play. Understand that when chants of "Let's go Mets" begin at Shea these days, there's a good chance they have been initiated by the players.

As Davey Johnson used to say before the rest of the world picked up the phrase, "The Mets are feeling good about themselves." They may be contenders come September, they may not. But whatever they are, come Labor Day, is likely to develop from what they are this week and next.

The rallying cry of every team with a losing record and legitimate aspirations is "get to .500 and go from there." When the fifth-place Mets put a first-class whipping on the fourth-place Phillies on Tuesday, 8-3, they reached .500 -- albeit for the 15th time in 76 games.

But this stop at the median of mediocrity differs from the other 14. This time, the Mets appear "ready to go from there."

Indications of their readiness began last week in Philadelphia and carried through the weekend in the Bronx. And there were more Tuesday in the trouncing of the fading Phillies.

The most significant sign came in the fifth inning when Phillies right fielder Bobby Abreu apparently decided avoiding the right-field wall was more important than catching a fly ball struck by Carlos Beltran. The game was in mid-change at the point.

Moments earlier, Victor Zambrano had struck out Chase Utley -- no easy feat -- with the bases loaded to smother a Phillies threat. And now Beltran's fly ball was forcing Abreu to make a choice. When he took his eye off the ball to check the wall, Beltran had a sure two bases and choice of his own to make. Was 90 additional feet worth putting a strain in the right quad that had handicapped him for more than a month?

The baseball bounced off the wall and away from Abreu, and Beltran accelerated -- ran as he seemingly hadn't run in a Mets uniform. When he reached third base, safely and healthy, the Mets saw a chance to put away the Phillies for the night -- and they did, scoring four times to lead, 6-1. They also saw a chance to be the team they thought they were going to be.

"You can see guys getting comfortable," Mike Cameron would say 90 minutes after the game. "Carlos, Jose [Reyes], young David Wright. We're starting to go."

The hope could fade a bit Wednesday night if Cory Lidle is nasty and stingy. Or Thursday afternoon if Jon Lieber's sinker is hitting the bottoms of the Mets' bats. But Beltran's triple and the two-run home run Mike Piazza hit the following inning told the Mets they had reason to hope.

"I think it can start now ... I think it's started already, really," Cliff Floyd said. "If we're going to be in this, make a run, it's going to be now. We have a lot of things working finally."

The regular right side of the infield is assigned to the disabled list. And the bullpen has as many flaws as a piece of distressed furniture. But this is what the Mets see in the mirror:

Beltran is healthy, able to hit for extra bases -- he had a double and that triple Tuesday night -- and to take extra bases and to cover the gaps and break up a double play and score from first on a double.

"We've been waiting for this," manager Willie Randolph said.

Reyes now is providing quality at-bats with some regularity, providing at-bats that were beyond his scope even a month ago. He's becoming a nuisance to opponents not only when he's one base, but when he's in the batter's box as well. "He's still got a lot to learn," Randolph said. "But he seems to be picking up the pace."


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"I think it can start now ... I think it's started already, really. If we're going to be in this, make a run, it's going to be now. We have a lot of things working finally."
-- Cliff Floyd on the Mets' success of late

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Piazza is hitting the ball harder. It may be nothing more than a function of his serving as the DH over the weekend, the rest Randolph affords him or that he usually hurts the Phillies and Interleague opponents. But Piazza has made more solid contact for the last week. Randolph didn't dispute that and added, "He's still capable of halfway carrying us, and guys who are going into the Hall of Fame can have that magic once in a while."

And Cameron is healthy and providing a level of enthusiasm that isn't provided when he doesn't play.

"He is so important to us," bench coach Sandy Alomar said. "And when Jose is batting first and doing what he's doing now, Willie can have [Cameron] second, where he makes so much difference."

And there's all the rest -- Floyd's continued renaissance, Wright's offensive brilliance, the grandeur of Pedro Martinez and the emergence of Kris Benson.

"We're getting better. I think this can be our time," Randolph said. "We don't want to mess around now and wait too long. It's not like we're second or third. We have four we have to catch.

"But it does look like we're getting to come together at the right time -- [while] playing in our division. And we're getting excited. We just have to go about it each day the way we go about it each at-bat. Take small bites. We're not a young team, but we have some young players who think we have to get it all at once. We don't. You try to win each series. If you do it, everything else takes care of itself."

The Mets took their series in Philadelphia last week and the weekend series against the Yankees, two victories to one. Kaz Ishii pitches Wednesday night. And Randolph is so hopeful for him. But a two-one series split can happen without Ishii's game; Martinez goes Thursday.

"It's nice when you've won the first and Pedro's pitching the third one," Floyd said. "And we're home for a while. So a lot of things are falling into place."

The Mets returned home Tuesday night, playing at Shea Stadium for the first time in 16 days, playing the Phillies for the fourth time in eight days and winning for the fifth time in seven games.

And though they ended the night as the last-place team in the National League East, they were merely a half-game behind the Phillies who have lost 10 of 13.

This victory was largely the result of a four-run rally in the fifth inning against reliever Geoff Geary, the first pitcher to follow starter and loser Robinson Tejeda. The Mets bunched five of their 10 hits in the inning.

The beneficiary of the all that offense was Zambrano who pitched only the first five innings, but gained his fourth victory nonetheless. Zambrano (4-6) hadn't won in three starts since June 1 despite improving dramatically over his early-season work. His ERA in five starts this month is 2.48.

Zambrano allowed only four hits but he walked three, and he threw 30 pitches in the fifth inning in the sapping heat and humidity.

"I wasn't worried about his pitch count," Randolph said. "He threw a lot of pitches out of the strike zone. But I'm not going to look at this as a negative. He won, we won. And he's been pitching well, and things are going well for us.

"I think it might be our time right now."

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

Piazza steamed over early ejection

NEW YORK -- Conventional thinking in baseball is that the best umpiring often goes unnoticed and that the converse is true. So what does it mean that several Mets, Mike Piazza among them, learned the name Eric Cooper on Sunday?
"It doesn't mean that he did a good job, I'll tell you that," Mets outfielder Cliff Floyd said.

Piazza went significantly further in the remarks he made after the Mets had ended their 12-game homestand with a deflating, 4-3 loss to the Angels.

Piazza, ejected in the bottom of the first inning by Cooper after being called out on strikes, criticized the umpire in a postgame tirade uncharacteristic for the veteran. The Mets catcher didn't question Cooper's objectivity, but he said Cooper's work behind the plate was poor and his attitude was worse.

"I'm sick of it," Piazza said. "He's trying to show who's boss and using me to do it? This is how he thinks you get respect? Randy Marsh is a good umpire. He may not be the best umpire in the game, but he's treats you with respect. And that what makes him good. He doesn't need to be the show. Or to show you up."

Cooper was unavailable for comments as he had left Shea before Piazza was done venting.

Piazza was irked initially by Cooper's call in his lone at-bat and by Cooper's calls on the first two pitches thrown by Pedro Martinez, and irked more that Cooper didn't ignore the words the catcher barked after he had returned to dugout.

Teammates had seen Piazza angry, but rarely for such an extended period. They were surprised when he expressed himself with liberal use of profanity after the game, at least 3 1/2 hours after the ejection.

"He didn't do a good job today," Piazza said of Cooper. "I let him know what I thought, and he came right over [to the dugout]." Piazza accused Cooper of having a "bad attitude" and said, "It was like he had a bone to pick, like someone had spit in his cornflakes. ... Very confrontational.

"I don't think you get respect in any profession by having a bad attitude and a bone to pick. I believe you get it from being firm, but humble."

Piazza said he's had disagreements with many umpires on many calls over the years. "But there was a level of respect we had for each other and the game. I think you lose credibility if you question calls all the time. You have to pick your spots. And I do. But this was..."

Martinez let Piazza do most of the talking, but said: "I don't like to make excuses but, without a doubt, Mike was upset. I saw some pitches that were close. [Cooper] didn't seem like he was willing to give it to me the whole day. Michael had the best view. If he said I was squeezed, then I was squeezed."

"What did he think he was going to do?" Piazza asked of Cooper. "What did he think? ... He was going to scare me? After a while, that's it. Fourteen years in the game, and he's going to do that? I don't care."

Piazza usually speaks in measured words and measured tones. He measured his words after he spoke Sunday: "I'm glad this isn't the NBA," he said. "Twenty thousand [dollars]."

Piazza wasn't alone in questioning some of Cooper's calls. "When I hear both teams complaining," Floyd said, "it's a pretty good indication. You should realize there's room for improvement."

When Cooper moved toward the Mets' dugout, mask in hand, Mets manager Willie Randolph tried to get close to the umpire before Cooper raised his arm and thumb to eject Piazza. Cooper side-stepped Randolph and ended Piazza's workday.

Later Randolph footnoted the whole episode with a common-sense observation: "I'm puzzled why some umpires aren't focused on the game," he said "He was focused on what was coming out of the dugout and lost his focus."

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

No-hitters elusive, but Mets have flirted

NEW YORK -- Pedro Martinez was unaware he had yet to allow a hit when he retired the first Astros batter in the seventh inning last week. No-hitter? No, no idea. But, perhaps that was understandable. Martinez never has pitched one -- not one that is officially recognized, anyway. So how could he tell?
Ah, but Shea Stadium was quite aware last Tuesday. The ballpark had begun to lean forward with each pitch from Martinez and to react to each Astros out as if it were an achievement unto itself. No-hitter? No way Shea would let this pass unrecognized.

But how could Shea know what was happening? It never had witnessed a Mets no-hitter -- nor had any other big league arena. How did it come to recognize what Martinez, unwitting as he was, was doing?

Alas, history eluded the Mets again. The seventh inning's second batter, relative unknown Chris Burke, put one over on Martinez, over the left field wall. And the most conspicuous void in the Mets' 43-plus-year, pitching-rich history remained intact. The difficult-to-imagine double negative -- no no-no -- still was there Monday as they took a day in San Francisco before beginning their first regular-season engagement with the Athletics.

Isn't it wonderful, though? Isn't it cool that the Mets have reached this stage in their life -- 6,897 games -- without a no-hitter? Remarkable, really. And that's what makes it cool.

Tom Seaver was the first to embrace how cool it is. The man who had come closest to filling the void -- back when it wasn't so conspicuous -- recognized it 10 years ago. "It's better this way. Now, it's better than we don't have one," he said.

"If one of us had thrown one, we'd be -- what? -- one of 27, 28 teams that did? Now we're one of the few that hasn't. It's a greater distinction.

"Even real knowledgeble fans may not know all the teams that haven't thrown one, but I guarantee you they know the New York Mets haven't. We stand out like the one guy without a tie at a formal. We may not look as good as the others. But everyone notices us."

It is the no no-no void that enhances what Seaver accomplished July 9, 1969, at Shea. He denied the Cubs a base runner into the ninth inning -- 26 up, 26 down. The pitcher who sought perfection in his delivery and in every pitch was one out from a perfect game. Then a single by Jim Qualls, almost more anonymous than Chris Burke was last week, interfered.

And they called it the "Imperfect Game," a perfect description -- it connotes a sense of near-perfection. Unique, too. The years have given us only 14 perfect games -- 15 if Don Larsen's World Series perfect game is included.

There is but one "Imperfect Game," though. What Seaver accomplished warrants upper case treatment and quotation marks. Larsen, David Cone, David Wells, Sandy Koufax, Jim Bunning, Catfish Hunter and Cy Young aren't afforded such treatment. Seaver's game is the guy without the tie.

Each time a no-hitter is thrown, or each time a Mets pitcher reaches the seventh inning with a zero under the scoreboard's H, the Mets' lack of a no-no is noticed again. What other franchise is refererenced each time a no-hitter is pitched?

New York's record in this regard prompts wonder. How can it be that a franchise that drafted Nolan Ryan, the patron saint of no-hitters, and has had Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Cone, Jon Matlack, Jerry Koosman, Bret Saberhagen and now Martinez never has pitched one?

How can it be that the Mets, who through Sunday had played almost 6,900 games, could have none, and the Marlins, born in 1993, have three -- one by Al Leiter in 1996, two years before he joined the Mets? The Diamondbacks have one, courtesy of Randy Johnson last season, pitched in their eighth year of existence.

The Mets are one of four teams without one. The Devils Rays, the D-Backs' expansion sibling, and the 12-year-old Rockies have none. But the Rays have't played 2,000 games yet. And the Rockies play their home games where the outfielders must play deep. Routine line drives are hits in Coors Field.

The Padres, born in 1969, are without a no-hitter as well, but understandably so. They labor under the curse of former manager Preston Gomez who removed Clay Kirby for a pinch-hitter after Kirby had pitched eight hitless innings against the Mets July 20, 1970. They turned their backs on no-hitters.

And, of course, the Mets did too when they traded Ryan. "It's Nolan Ryan Curse," Cone said, laughing, after he had flirted with a Mets no-hitter in 1991. "You can't trade him and not expect some ramifications."

He wondered that night how many former Mets had throw no-hitters. The count now is six -- Cone, Ryan, Seaver, Gooden, Hideo Nomo and Mike Scott; eight if Jim Bibby and A.J. Burnett are included. Each was in the Mets' Minor League system.

And if the Mets really want to compare themselves, they need only look at the Astros, born in 1962, the same year as the Mets. The Astros have pitched 10 no-hitters and only one by Ryan. Don Wilson (two), Larry Dierker, Ken Forsch, Ken Johnson, Darryl Kile, Don Nottebart and Mike Scott pitched eight others.

The most recent one came June 11, 2003, against the Yankees. The Astros used six pitchers. "Is that allowed?" Mets pitcher Steve Trachsel, who has pitched three one-hitters, asked with a smile. "Could we do that?"

Then he answered his own rhetorical question. "Probably not. I don't think we are allowed," he said.

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

Pedro-mania taking Shea by storm

NEW YORK -- This whole Pedro-mania thing got a little nutso in the fourth inning Sunday afternoon.
The Shea Stadium crowd of 43,582 burst into an impromptu "Pedro! Pedro!" chant ... while Pedro Martinez was at bat!

And just to bring that crazy scenario to a fitting resolution, Pedro singled sharply up the middle for his first run batted in since August 1996.

Now, anytime someone has picked up three Cy Young Awards since his last RBI, you know he is far better at pitching balls than hitting them. But there is no explaining phenomena, which the Mets are on PT (Pedro Time) every fifth day.

"It felt great," Martinez would later say about the ovation accorded his hitting prowess. "I guess the crowd is so excited about the things I do out there."

Fans were excited enough to snap up about 10,000 tickets since Martinez's last outing. That was on Tuesday against Houston, when he sustained the Mets' 6,748th historical crack at a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings.

Martinez no longer pitches games for the Mets. He pitches foregone conclusions. Having soared way beyond any of the doubts expressed when he signed as a free agent, he is expected to win and to be entertaining while doing it.

He has flipped the switch for the franchise. Even the Mets' marketing department is having a good season. Sunday at Shea was Alarm Clock Day, a promotion that couldn't have been better timed since Saturday night's rain-delayed extra-inning game ended a few ticks after midnight.

Thus, when Martinez's own RBI single gives him a 3-0 lead over the Angels, it's time for them to again change names. Now they're the Lost All Hope Angels of Anaheim.

So when the Angels, at their peskiest and opportunistic best, tied Pedro at 3 in the sixth, the 43,582 sat in stunned silence. As if the sun had risen in the West, or Nicole Kidman had taken a bad photograph.

It just seemed so unnatural.

After the Angels prevailed, 4-3, with a run in the ninth, two innings after Pedro's departure, it just seemed wrong. Losing this game was not a good option for the Mets, caught in a classic glass-is-half-full-or-empty dilemma.

They are still above .500, still only five games behind in the NL East. They are also in the cellar, with three teams between them and the Super-Nationals. Walking such a tightrope, you do not want to lose any games that your ace is leading 3-0 halfway through.

"I ended up giving away the lead," said Martinez, who was upset enough by that to angrily slam down his "game gum" after throwing his last pitch to end the seventh.

"But I did what I was supposed to do," Martinez added, "and that's all I can say about today."

From the outset, and by that we mean when he dragged himself up the dugout steps 20 minutes before the game to pace down to the bullpen and begin his warm-ups, this seemed to be a half-empty Martinez.

There was no zip in his steps. No effervescence, no buzz.

Confirming that impression afterwards, Martinez said, "I didn't feel in command at all. The whole game, I grinded. I tried to battle through it. Game after game in the heat, without a doubt you know you're going to drop a few pounds. I tried to eat right all week.

"After so many games have been up-up-up, you normally expect one to be down. I guess today was the one."

Pedro Martinez / P
Born: 10/25/71
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 180 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R

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He needn't have confessed. His line had the testimony: In seven innings, Martinez produced his season high for walks (four) and season low for strikeouts (three).

So it was not a good day to battle a tandem of other forces: Plate umpire Eric Cooper's strike zone, and the Angels' strike mode. Their creative comeback against a premier pitcher was typical of an Angels team that has coped with a range of injuries well enough to lead the AL West by 2 1/2 games.

The Halos scored the tying run on an infield grounder, and the winner on another grounder that skipped off the lip of the infield grass and off third baseman David Wright.

Mike Scioscia admitted his club did all it could to hang in there until Martinez's exit.

"He's good, and keeps getting better," said Scioscia, who occasionally caught the rookie Pedro with the 1992 Dodgers. "I think he's adapted to having pitched a lot of innings, to where, when he needs good velocity, it's there.

"He turned it up when he wanted to. He's a master out there. He has great command, can make the ball move a lot of different ways. All his pitches are still there."

Except on Sunday, some were playing hard to get. So Martinez came into this game with a three-game winning streak, and went out of it with a three-game hitting streak.

He heard about it from his bench, too. "Now they're telling me we need to watch out for DiMaggio's record."

Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 straight in 1941. Pedro should get there in late April, 2007. Mark your calendars.

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

Cameron racking up injuries

OAKLAND ­-- Mike Cameron has been bothered by a sore right quad muscle, so much so that it's creating other ailments troublesome enough to keep him out of the lineup on Tuesday.
"It's getting better, but it's not good enough for me," Cameron said. "I'm struggling to walk with it right now."

The outfielder wasn't overtly limping around the clubhouse Tuesday, but there were other evident side effects.

For one, fluid caused by the swelling in his quad gravitated down to his knee, which was also somewhat swollen.

Plus, the ring finger on his left hand was larger than usual, the result of a dislocation he sustained Sunday while trying to steal second base in Anaheim.

Cameron blamed the finger injury as a result of the leg injury.

"It was a head-first slide," he said. "I probably shouldn't have done it, but I was trying to protect the quad."

With both the hand and leg problems, Cameron was in no shape for action in the Oakland series opener.

"Cammy's a gamer, and any time he says he's not feeling up to par, I'll believe him," manager Willie Randolph said.

While admitting concern, Randolph wasn't overly worried.

"He's just banged up like everybody in some way shape or form," he said. "The knee could change overnight. As long as it's not anything structural, I'm not worried."

There is no structural damage to the knee; the fluid has collected on top of the joint rather than inside it. And X-rays on the finger showed no structural damage, although Cameron said, "It doesn't do me any good to try to hold a bat."

As for how long the ailments will sideline the outfielder, who signed with the Mets in 2003 after four seasons with the Mariners, Cameron said he expects a quick return. He expects to be back in action by the time New York visits his old team in Seattle this weekend.

"It would mean a lot to me," he said "I'm doing everything I can to get my body ready. I'll be fine."

Explaining the lineup card: With Cameron out, Victor Diaz took over in right field.

Randolph said Diaz likely would have been in the lineup anyway, appearing as the Mets' first designated hitter this year. Instead, Diaz got to wear a glove, and Marlon Anderson got DH honors.

The manager said Anderson's role isn't a given while the Mets make visits to three American League parks during this four-series road trip.

"That DH rule is going to to free me up to do a lot of different things," Randolph said.

One of those things may eventually be penciling Diaz in at first base. The 23-year-old was a Minor League infielder in the Dodgers organization, but has only patrolled the outfield since joining the Mets for 15 games late last season and through 33 more this year.

But Diaz has been taking grounders at first before batting practice of late.

"We're just working him out there a little bit," Randolph said. "It's not saying he'll be playing there in the next week or so."

The idea, Randolph said, is to expand the team's options, keep Diaz in shape and maybe find some more plate time for the rookie, who's batting .277 with five homers in 101 at-bats.

Oops: The lineup card posted in the visitors' clubhouse showed Keith Ginter playing shortstop, 2004 AL Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby, who has never played anywhere but short, manning third, and regular third baseman Eric Chavez as the DH.

That had a lot of people scratching their heads, until the confusion was finally explained away as a partial typo.

Chavez indeed was the DH, as he's protecting a sore shoulder, but Ginter took over third and Crosby was at short where he belongs.

Homecoming: Pitching coach Rick Peterson made his first visit to McAfee Coliseum since leaving the A's to join the Mets after the 2003 season.

Peterson, widely credited for abetting the success of the A's "Big Three" -- Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson -- said Tuesday was an emotional day.

"Leaving here was very difficult," he said. "This was such a great place to be at that time in my career.

"I have so many great memories, fond memories. It was like a family atmosphere. Leaving here, I never really thought I would find another home as comfortable as I had here. But everybody's been great in New York."

Peterson did say it was something of an adjustment going from laid-back California to New York, where the media glare is brightest.

"On the field it's no different at all," he said. "I don't read papers and I stay away from all that, but in New York, every game is a season. The sensationalism is unbelievable."

On deck: Victor Zambrano (3-6, 4.26 ERA) will be getting his eighth crack at the A's. He faced them seven times as a reliever for Tampa Bay, and once as a starter in late 2003.

He got a complete-game, 11-2 win in that start, scattering nine hits while walking none and fanning eight.

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

New Mets ballpark part of Olympics bid

NEW YORK -- The Mets expect to have a new stadium, a 45,000-seat replacement for Shea Stadium erected on a site adjacent to their existing home, in place for the 2009 Major League season. The new structure would serve as the primary stadium for the 2012 Olympics if the International Olympic Committee awards the 2012 Games to New York City next month.
The plans for the new ballpark were announced late Sunday at a news conference at City Hall as part of what was seen as a final effort by the city to host the 2012 Olympics. Construction of a new baseball stadium in Queens became an option after New York State leaders rejected plans for a midtown football stadium that would have served as the center of the Olympic venue and a new home for the Jets.

The new baseball stadium, to be paid for by the Mets, would be similar to the one proposed by the Mets in 1998, though it would not have a retractable roof. Mets owner Fred Wilpon said Sunday, the new stadium -- as yet unnamed -- would look quite similar to Ebbets Field, the long-ago home of the Brooklyn Dodgers where Wilpon's affection for baseball was conceived.

Blueprints for the new structure already have been developed.

Speaking from his Long Island home late Sunday, Wilpon said that the stadium would be expanded to an 80,000-seat capacity for the Olympics, and then be scaled back to the original 45,000-seat facility. A similar construction plan was used in Atlanta for what now is Turner Field and the home of the Braves, the difference being that the stadium was used for the 1996 Olympics before baseball was played there.


During the 2012 Games, the Mets would play in Yankee Stadium or an alternate site. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Yankees had agreed to let the Mets play at Yankee Stadium if necessary, the reversal of the circumstances that existed in 1974 and 1975 when the Yankees played at Shea while Yankee Stadium was rebuilt.

Wilpon estimated the cost of the stadium construction as $600 million.

If the IOC doesn't award the 2012 Games to New York City during its meeting on July 6 in Singapore, the stadium will not be expanded. But the IOC's decision has no other impact on the construction of a new home for the Mets.

"The Mets are thrilled about the prospects of a new stadium and for the chance to bring the Olympics here," Wilpon said. "The announcement tonight helps solidify the city's bid for the 2012 Games."

Wilpon said the plans now in place were devised in the last week after plans for the midtown football stadium were rejected. He and his son Jeff, the Mets COO, spent much of the week in Colorado, finalizing the club's plans. They returned Sunday and attended the Angels-Mets game at Shea. The senior Wilpon participated in the Sunday night news conference with Bloomberg.

Bloomberg noted the new stadium would be built on land owned by the city which now serves as the parking lot for Shea. The city and state will provide $180 million in infrastructure and $100 million to convert the stadium for the Olympics.

The revised plan allows the NYC2012 bid committee to meet a Monday deadline to respond to a report by the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission in which New York's lack of a stadium was specifically noted as a concern.

"This was not our first choice," The New York Times quoted Mayor Bloomberg as having said. "But when you don't get your first choice, you find what you do have and fight harder to win with that one."

Bloomberg said the new stadium proposal would have to go through the normal budget approval process, including approval by the city council and the state, not to mention reaction from the surrounding community.

The mayor said his NYC2012 bid committee worked through the weekend to finalize the revised plan, which could be presented to the International Olympic Committee next week.

"New Yorkers aren't quitters," he said. "We just don't walk away from our future."

New York is competing against Paris, London, Madrid and Moscow to host the Games. Members of the IOC said during a visit to New York earlier this year that a new stadium would be critical to the city's chances. State leaders refused to approve $300 million in funding for a proposed $2.2 billion football stadium on Manhattan's West Side on June 6.

Bloomberg said the Queens stadium plan would be a "tougher sell" than the Manhattan plan. But he said the new plan would demonstrated to the IOC the city's willingness to whatever is necessary to win in the games. The IOC, citing an "exceptional circumstance," had the city revise its plan but that it was essential that the revised plan were presented to its executive board before the July vote.

U.S. Olympic committee chairman Peter Ueberroth, the former baseball Commissioner, and chief executive officer Jim Scherr released a statement after Bloomberg's news conference.

"We applaud Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff and the entire NYC2012 team for the determination and resolve they have shown in developing an alternative plan for the Olympic Stadium," the statement said. "Their can-do attitude typifies the American spirit and is emblematic of what the Olympic movement is all about."

State assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, who opposed the Manhattan stadium, said Sunday night he has backed the Queens stadium during the entire Olympics debate.

"The stadium will be built independent of whether we're awarded the Olympics or not," Silver said. "Hopefully for the '09 season this can be done."

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

Mets stymied at start of road odyssey

OAKLAND -- The Mets managed to scratch together just three hits in seven-plus innings off A's rookie righty Joe Blanton, thus explaining New York's 5-0 loss to Oakland on Tuesday.
Tougher to explain is how much of that New York zero belongs to a struggling Mets offense, and how much belongs to Blanton (2-6) and the A's bullpen.

"He pitched a great game, but as an offense we should take a little more pride than that," said first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, one of seven Mets to go 0-for-Tuesday. "He threw strike one, but we didn't put any pressure on him."

Now it's the Mets feeling the pressure of slipping to an even .500 (32-32) after losing five of the last six.

This latest loss, in the opener of a three-game Interleague series and 12-game road trip, leaves New York looking up at the rest of the NL East, as the Braves won Tuesday to move out of a fourth-place tie with the Mets.

There's also the pressure of an offense scrapping to find runs. The Mets came up with five in an extra-inning win over the Angels on Saturday in Shea Stadium, but other than that, they haven¹t pushed more than three across the plate since June 5.

"It's just the ups-and-downs of a season," manager Willie Randolph said of the scoring drought. "You hit those little spurts where you sometimes struggle for runs, and we'll talk a little more about being more selective in RBI situations."

Trouble is, against Blanton, the Mets didn¹t have too many of those situations.

Blanton kept the Mets without a baserunner until designated hitter Marlon Anderson singled with two out in the fifth. Anderson was stranded there and New York didn't reach base again until Mike Piazza and Anderson both singled to start the eighth.

That was it for the Oakland starter, who handed the game over to the bullpen after giving up just the three hits while walking none and striking out four.

The Mets then loaded the bases with one out, but A's closer Huston Street came on to induce a double-play out of Victor Diaz and escaped the ninth after a two-out double by Carlos Beltran to earn his fourth save.

"It seems like we're waiting for something good to happen, and it doesn't get there until late in the game and that's not good," Mientkiewicz said. "If we don't feel embarrassed for what we did tonight, we shouldn't be here."

Beltran didn't quite see it that way.

"We don't feel embarrassed," he said. "Sometimes things don't go the way you want, but we're trying."

Mientkiewicz repeatedly said Blanton pitched well and gave the rookie plenty of credit, but he still put more of the blame on the Mets.

"I guarantee if you ask [Blanton], he didn't have his best stuff, either," Mientkiewicz said. "I don't remember him throwing too many offspeed pitches for strikes.

"It just goes to show you, if you throw strikes, you get good guys out and he did. I don't want to take anything away from him. He pitched a [heck] of a ballgame, but from our end, we have to do better. No excuses."

There, Beltran agreed.

"It doesn't matter who is pitching, we've got to do our job and get on base," he said, but added, "He was painting the black on the outside corners, and when you're facing a guy who's painting in and out, it's tough."

Mets starter Tom Glavine, meanwhile, was painting just out, and not in.

Oakland first got to Glavine (4-6) in the third inning, when Mark Kotsay doubled with two out and scored on Bobby Kielty's single.

The A's added two more in the fourth on Mark Ellis' bases-loaded double and another in the fifth when center fielder Bobby Crosby singled and moved to second on Beltran's error, then scored on a Keith Ginter single.

Oakland capped the scoring when Eric Byrnes greeted reliever Mike DeJean's first pitch by launching it over the scoreboard in left.

"I felt good," said Glavine, who gave up four runs -- three earned -- on 10 hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in six innings. "I certainly made a couple of mistakes."

Tom Glavine / P
Born: 03/25/66
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 185 lbs
Bats: L / Throws: L

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Glavine said most of the A's hits weren't off pitches near the heart of the plate.

"The one Kotsay hit was up and out of the zone," he said. "Most of the others were down and off the plate. I didn¹t do enough working inside to keep them off those pitches."

The most effective New York pitcher was reliever Danny Graves, who made his Mets debut after signing as a free agent on Saturday.

Graves, pitched a perfect seventh, getting three groundouts.

"It's only one quick inning, but I've got a good feeling about him," Randolph said. "Once we get into a rhythm with him, he can help us."

More immediately, the Mets need help restarting the offense, a task that may be more difficult than ever because second baseman Miguel Cairo, who often bats in the No. 2 spot, reaggravated a left hamstring problem running out a grounder in the seventh inning.

"We'll reevaluate him after tonight," Randolph said. "We might make some adjustments, we'll see."

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

Zambrano strong, but Mets fall short

OAKLAND -- A sure sign things aren't going too well for a team is when the guys in the clubhouse point out two runs scored as a positive sign, but such was the case Wednesday after Oakland beat the Mets, 3-2.
Marco Scutaro's RBI single off Roberto Hernandez with two out in the ninth provided the difference in the Mets' sixth loss in their last seven games, and it leaves the A's a win on Thursday shy of sweeping the Interleague series here.

It's not just that New York has struggled to earn wins for a week, it's the fact the Mets have averaged just over two runs a game during that span.

Still, that they managed to rally for the pair a half-inning after Oakland scored twice to take a 2-0 lead looms large, especially after the A's shut out New York, 5-0, in Tuesday's opener.

"We had a little momentum going," manager Willie Randolph said of the rally in the seventh. "It was good to score some runs because we hadn't lately."

It was also good for the Mets to score some runs because the way A's starter Danny Haren was going, another zero seemed entirely possible.

Until the seventh, Haren had scattered three hits while walking two and striking out eight.

But consecutive doubles by David Wright and Doug Mientkiewicz trimmed the deficit in half. Mientkiewicz moved home 90 feet at a time on back-to-back flyouts to right by Victor Diaz and Jose Reyes to tie the game.

"That guy had good stuff," Mientkiewicz said of Haren. "My first at-bat I walked and was thankful. The ball was moving two feet. His split was working, his slider was working and he had a good sinker.

"Those are the guys you have to battle."

The A's were facing their own battle against Mets starter Victor Zambrano, who for five innings allowed just one hit.

Then Scutaro started the sixth with a walk. One out later, Mark Kotsay hit a hard liner off Zambrano's glove, but the pitcher recovered and threw out Kotsay as Scutaro moved to second.

Bobby Crosby then looped a ball to left that short-hopped into the glove of a diving Cliff Floyd for an RBI single, and Eric Chavez drove the next pitch into the right-field corner for a 2-0 A's lead.

A leadoff walk was the problem again in the ninth. This time it was issued by reliever Royce Ring, who had come on for Zambrano with two on and two out in the eighth to strike out Chavez.

Ring (0-1) gave a free pass to pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty, the only batter he faced in the last inning, and was pulled in favor of Hernandez.

A sac bunt moved Kielty to second, and after an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Scott Hatteberg, Hernandez got Nick Swisher to strike out swinging on a ball in the dirt.

Up came former Met Scutaro, who drove the first pitch he saw into the gap in left-center to end the game.

That made a winner out of A's reliever Justin Duchscherer (3-1), who pitched two perfect innings of relief.

"I just left the ball up in the zone," Hernandez said. "I knew he was a free swinger, and I wanted to make sure I kept the ball down and give my defense a chance."

Hernandez said the fatal pitch wasn't too close to the heart of the plate, "it was more elevation. If it was down, that ball was easy enough to charge.

"I concentrated so much on Swisher to keep the ball down and get a ground ball that I left that one up."

The loss spoiled a very good start by Zambrano, especially on the heels of his sixth loss of the year when he fell to Houston, 4-1, in Shea Stadium on June 8.

But Randolph doesn't consider Wednesday's game a breakout performance for Zambrano.

"For me, he turned the corner two starts ago," Randolph said.

That was an eight-plus-inning effort against Arizona in which he gave up just one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts in a 2-1 win.

The key for the right-hander has been throwing strikes and keeping the walk count down. For the second start in a row, he issued a season-low two free passes.

"I know I have a good defense behind me, so I throw strikes," he said.

The Mets didn't have to show off a lot of that defense Wednesday, as Zambrano got the A's to hit into routine out after routine out. The one glaring exception was a ball that Eric Byrnes drove deep toward the wall before Victor Diaz caught it full stride over the shoulder a step from the scoreboard.

But while the pitching and defense are intact or better, the offense is still struggling.

"It seems likes we're leaning on Carlos [Beltran] and Cliff all the time," Mientkiewicz said, referring to a tandem who combined to go 1-for-8 on Wednesday. "We can't rely on them every single day. It's not fair to them."

So maybe it is a good sign that the Mets managed their two runs without help from the middle of the order.

"It stinks to lose but we have to take a positive out of it," Mientkiewicz said. "It was good to see they scored two and we answered right back, because those are the things you build on as an offense."

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

Mets eye changes at top of order

OAKLAND -- Jose Reyes' days as a leadoff hitter are numbered, at least for now.
As soon as Mike Cameron is healthy enough to play again, Mets manager Willie Randolph will move Cameron up to the top of the order and push Reyes down to the No. 2 slot.

Cameron has been bothered for more than a week by a sore right quad, and it's been troublesome enough to keep him in the dugout for the first two games of the series in Oakland.

Cameron said Wednesday he was improving, and he said he even thought he might play if his pregame workout went well enough.

It didn't, and Reyes was back hitting leadoff as he had for all but two games this year.

But the Mets offense has been stagnant of late, scoring just more than two runs per game in losing five of their last six, and Randolph said adjustments are in order.

"We're a team that obviously likes to get out and do certain things, move with leadoff speed and be aggressive," he said. "We're not getting that kind of momentum going, so we're going to change it a little bit and see how it feels."

Reyes' speed is not an issue as­ his 18 stolen bases are second in the National League, ­ but he hasn¹t been reaching first with the frequency New York would like.

Reyes is hitting .263, and in drawing a walk not quite once every 34 at-bats, he has an on-base percentage of .286.

Cameron, by contrast, is hitting .320, with six steals in seven attempts and an OBP of .426. He missed the first month of the season recovering from offseason wrist surgery.

Randolph repeatedly said the switch is not meant to be a demotion for Reyes, and that for now the idea is to temporarily try a different look.

"It's not that this is all on Jose," Randolph said. "We need to get more men on base.

"Cammy's banged up, or I probably would have made this move a lot earlier."

Reyes, who usually hit No. 2 in 2003 and last year, has no problems with the switch.

"No matter where he puts me, I'm going to hit," Reyes said, adding his approach at the plate will stay constant. "I'm going to go to the plate trying to do the same thing I do hitting leadoff."

Well, maybe not the exact same thing. Reyes will be asked to bunt a bit more, and he knows that having turned just 22 on Saturday, he is still getting an education in the game.

"I know I have to get on base more as a leadoff guy," Reyes said. "I've got a lot of things to learn in the big leagues, and I think it's going to come. The more I play, the better I'm going to get."

Cairo out: The Mets on Wednesday placed second baseman Miguel Cairo on the 15-day disabled list after he tweaked his left hamstring running out a grounder in Tuesday's 5-0 loss to the A's.

New York purchased the contract of first baseman Brian Daubach from Triple-A Norfolk to fill the roster vacancy.

Cairo said he wasn't sure the injury is severe enough to warrant such a long layoff, but he acknowledged there are extenuating circumstances.

"There's a lot of players banged up on the team, and they need some healthy players," he said. "It's good for the team, and it's going to [stink for me]." Cairo strained the same hamstring June 1 and missed nine games.

"I don't think it would be that long," he said. "I just want to be sure it's not going to be tearing. Hopefully, when I come back it's going to be healthy for the rest of the season."

Daubach's role: The 29-year-old veteran's first job was just catching up with the team; Daubach was scheduled to land in San Francisco less than 40 minutes before Wednesday's first pitch.

Then, Randolph said, Daubach could see time starting at first base or DH, or he may come off the bench.

Daubach hit between 20 and 22 home runs four straight years for the Red Sox beginning in 1999, and he provides a left-handed power threat that has been absent on the club, save for Cliff Floyd.

But Randolph said he wasn't thinking so much of right-handers or left-handers as much as looking for a hitter, period.

"I'm just trying to get the best player," Randolph said. "He's having a great year in Triple-A, and he's the best guy to tap into right now."

In 55 games with Norfolk, Daubach was hitting .356 with 11 homers and 42 RBIs to lead the Tides in all three Triple Crown categories.

Back in business: Danny Graves made his Mets debut with a 1-2-3 seventh inning Tuesday night, and the next day he said it was good to get it out of the way.

"It was nerve-racking," said Graves, who signed with New York on Saturday after the Reds designated him for assignment May 23. "It definitely felt like another Major League debut for me. It's been so long since I pitched in an actual game, so it was more of an anxiety thing."

Graves' last appearance for Cincinnati was May 22, when he gave up five runs on four hits and a walk while recording just one out.

Coming up: Kris Benson (4-2, 3.85) will be making his third career start against the A's, and the Mets are hoping this one will go better than the other two.

While with the Pirates, Benson was 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA against Oakland, including a 6-1 loss last June 11 in McAfee Coliseum.

The A's counter with Ryan Glynn (0-2, 5.73).

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/

Mets slam brakes on skid

OAKLAND -- Not even a gloomy, dark afternoon could keep the smiles off the faces of New York Mets sluggers like Carlos Beltran and Mike Piazza. They prefer to view Thursday's 9-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics as another beginning, rather than the end of a frustrating week.
Beltran homered for the first time in two weeks, and for the first time in a game pitched by someone other than Pedro Martinez, and Piazza ended a 98 at-bat homerless streak, the longest of his career, as the Mets ended a three-game slide on a rainy day before 17,308.

Ramon Castro added three RBIs as the entire Mets lineup got into the act. Everybody either scored a run or drove in a run.

"It's good to score some runs," Piazza said. "We needed this game. It's all about the ups and downs of a season. You have to stay with it the best you can until you can get a streak going."

The Mets averaged 2.4 runs over their previous eight games and collected their most hits (nine) since getting 12 against Houston on June 7.

"It's one game," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "It's nice to score runs but in baseball there are no carryovers. Maybe we can feed off this and hopefully it will snowball a little bit. That little blip we went through is history, over and done with, and its time to go back to playing baseball."

Piazza's 385th career home run, a solo shot in the seventh, moved him into a 47th-place tie with Dwight Evans on the all-time list. Johnny Bench is in 46th place with 389.

"The last 10 or so home runs for me have been exciting," Piazza said. "I've been passing a lot of great players and it's good to be in that company. Hopefully, I can get a few more and we can keep winning."

For Beltran, his home run, a three-run blast into the right-field bleachers during a seven-run fifth inning, signified a positive approach at the plate.

"I've felt lost at the plate," Beltran said. "I've been in-between -- late for the fastball and out in front of the breaking ball. That was a good at-bat and now I need to be more consistent. We're playing better and we need to carry this into Seattle."

Beltran, who had one hit in his previous 17 at-bats before the homer, poked his first career home run in Oakland in his 122nd at-bat. That was his most at-bats without a home run in any ballpark. That distinction now belongs to Philadelphia's Citizen's Bank Park (34 at-bats).

"I don't worry about home runs," he said. "I just want to be consistent. Any time you can contribute to a win, it feels good."

Kris Benson (5-2) settled down after some early struggles to record his third straight victory. He allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings. He walked two, and didn't strike anyone out.

"It was obvious I didn't have my 'A' game," Benson said. "I didn't have good fastball command the whole game and had to grind through it. Fortunately, we broke through and more than anything I feel good about the guys scoring some runs. We've been done in the dugout this whole week and we needed a game like this."

The Mets, who scored a combined five runs in their previous three games, erupted for seven runs on seven hits in the fifth to erase a two-run deficit.

The first six batters hit safely in the fifth, highlighted by Beltran's three-run blast.

Kaz Matsui, who was hit on the left knee by Jason Kendall on the game-ending double play, sparked the seven-run rally with a leadoff double. Jose Reyes and David Wright followed with singles ahead of Beltran's homer. Castro added a two-run double in the inning.

Matsui was helped off the field but said he felt much better after the game.

"I've never been hit like that before so it took me by surprise," he said though an interpreter. "There was nothing unusual about it, just something you experience playing second base. If there's a similar situation I might have to think about it before it happens."

Mark Kotsay hit a solo homer in the first and Nick Swisher belted a two-run shot in the second against Benson. The right-hander did not allow another runner past second the rest of the way and retired 12 of 14 at one point.

"After the first couple of innings [pitching coach Rick Peterson] and Castro told me my arm angle was too high," Benson said. "After that little adjustment I put up some zeros and kept us in the game."

Benson has pitched at least six innings in his last eight starts. Braden Looper worked the ninth for his 13th save, including 12 attempts in a row.

Source: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/