Game Recap

LOS ANGELES—For the fourth time on the 11-game West Coast trip—that the Mets ended 2-9 today—the Mets got shut out. For the third time on the trip, the Mets enter a prolonged scoreless innings streak.

After starting the trip scoreless over 24 innings, the Mets end the trip going 16 innings without scoring a run.

They had R.A. Dickey on the mound, and he did all he could do to keep the Mets in the game. Just like in his previous two starts, and like with any other Mets pitcher, no run support was given.

LOS ANGELES—Once again, the Mets offense disappeared right in the middle of a game, right when it looked like it was about to break out.

The Mets failed to record a hit from the seventh through the 13th innings, being shut down by the Dodgers bullpen after they tied the game in the sixth.

Mike Pelfrey was on the mound, and rebounded from a horrible four-start stretch. He only went five innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in a tight situation. He allowed two runs on six hits, walked a batter intentionally and struck out two.

It was a big night for the Yankees, who sat through about an hour and a half wait through a rain delay to beat the Royals 7-1 last night.

Here are some notes:

It should be noted, as the Reds are seven games into the second half of their season, that division races are rather tense affairs.  Why do I point this out?  Simply put, we Reds fans aren't used to this.

In years past, as we approached this time of year, I'd start thinking about the Bengals. That, or just flat out question why I'm still watching every Reds games when .500 is out of reach, and they are 10-15 games back.

Well, I can’t say much. The Mets played terribly tonight, getting one hit over the last eight innings against the D-Backs bullpen. This is against a bullpen known for being the worst bullpen in the majors.

Aaron Heilman even went two perfect innings. Heilman! Oliver Perez almost lost it in the 13th, putting runners on first and second with no outs and second and third with one out.

The Mets ended up getting swept by the D-Backs (going past 2 a.m. to do so).

The three runs scored by the Houston Astros in the 12th inning extinguished the Chicago Cubs’ hope to take another series at home.  The Astros won the rubber game by beating the home team 4-3 in a marathon match of three hours and 46 minutes.

Andy Pettitte thinks he can be back on the mound in three weeks.

After watching the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim slaughter the New York Yankees, any encouragement that the team could manage without the Southpaw went right out the window.

Phil Hughes went into the game with a 3-0 career record against the Halos. That was short and sweet after Hughes gave up nine hits, six runs and two home runs over five innings.

It was the icing on the cake on this streak of bad luck the Yankees have had since the start of the second half of the season.

At least the Pirates' starter gave up fewer runs than the other guy. That was enough for an 11-9 victory over the Brewers last night.

Brad Lincoln gave up seven runs in 2.1 innings. That ordinarily means "loss," but that wasn't the case here.

That's because Milwaukee's Dave Bush gave up 10 runs in four innings. Nine of those came in the first inning, the first time in 117 years that the Bucs scored that many runs at home in the opening frame.

POST GAME: D-BACKS 3, METS 2

The Mets lost another one in the desert tonight, 3-2, to the Diamondbacks. For the 11th straight game, the Mets failed to score more than four runs, and lost With Dickey starting for the fifth straight time.

Dickey was solid through seven, allowing three runs on seven hits. The Mets couldn't get to D-Backs rookie Barry Enright.

They got a leadoff home run from Angel Pagan in the ninth, cutting the deficit to 3-2, but went down in order after that.

I felt ashamed at the Royals this weekend. Maybe it was because I was out of town and they missed their biggest fan, that's why they sucked.

Maybe it's because Oakland just recently gained permission from the MLB to use steroids, so the Royals had no chance due to unfair advantages.

No, the playing field was level; there was one difference between the two teams.

Oakland came to play and wanted it more.