New York Mets

NEW YORK—For the first time since May 16 when he injured his hamstring in Florida, Jon Niese will take the mound for the Mets, as they go for the series win against the Marlins.

In that game, Niese hurt himself in the third inning, without retiring a batter, as the Mets lost 10-8.

Series victories have been hard to come by for the Mets on the road, but at home the Mets are now 20-9 and would be in good shape with a win today.

NEW YORK--Coming home, the Mets needed to put together a good home stand, in order to stay afloat with their road woes.

It didn't get off to a good start, as the Mets trailed the Marlins 3-0 early in this game, but R.A. Dickey settled down nicely to keep the Mets in it.

After retiring the first five batters of the game to face him, Dickey allowed a run in the second on a triple and RBI single by Cameron Maybin.

Mets center fielder and DL frequenter Carlos Beltran actually played in a game today .

It was an extended spring training game, but still a game nonetheless. He went 2-for-6 with a pair of singles.

Beltran ran the bases, although he took it easy with the running.

The Mets made a few roster changes today, starting with putting second baseman Luis Castillo on the DL due to a couple of foot injuries. In his place, they called up infielder Ruben Tejada. They also designated struggling outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. for assignment and called up catcher Omir Santos in his place.

The biggest news is probably that they finally released Gary Matthews Jr. He came over from Los Angeles in a trade for Brian Stokes, and talk about disappointing, Matthews has been beyond bad while in Flushing.

The New York Mets have DFA'ed Gary Mathews Jr. This is a move that many Mets fans will be excited about. In a related move, the Mets called up Omir Santos.

That decision does not make sense.

There is no need for a third catcher on the roster. Rod Barajas has been playing great this year. I do not see much playing time in Santos's future. My thoughts are that the Mets may be trying to showcase him for a trade.

The Mets should have brought up Jesus Feliciano, who is currently tearing up Triple-A with a .388 batting average through 170 at bats.

The New York Mets received bad news today on Daniel Murphy, finding that he will be lost for the season.

Daniel Murphy, who the Mets were prepping as a utility infielder in Triple-A Buffalo, suffered a "high-grade" tear of the cruciate ligament in his right knee, the team announced today.

Murphy was hurt while attempting to turn a double play.

The Mets say no surgery is required, but he is expected to be out four to six weeks.

The New York Mets have reported that Daniel Murphy has a high grade MCL tear. Murphy is expected to miss the next four to six months. Murphy however will not need surgery.

This eliminates any chance that Murphy will be traded at the deadline for pitching help this year.

Having gone through a severe knee injury myself, I know that Murphy has a long road to recovery ahead of him. He will need to work hard in physical therapy to return to where he was.

Hopefully Murphy will be able to surprise us and recover quickly. He may be able to make it back in late September.

Painful.  That is the perfect word to use when describing the Mets loss to the Padres in the series finale.

The Mets had a chance to accomplish something they haven’t since July 25 and 26 of 2009: Win back to back games on the road.

Unfortunately, they lost a game that they were one strike away from winning.

Johan Santana’s Aceness

I have always said that the true mark of an ace, is a pitcher that can hold offenses at bay when he doesn’t have his best stuff.

Do you know how many times Johan Santana has posted a zero for the Mets? There have been 14 times when he has not allowed a run. Not an earned run, but any run.

Four times he has earned a no decision in those 14 splendid games, including a ridiculous three times this season. There have been three further times where he has allowed two or fewer unearned runs in his two-and-a-half years in New York. He is 0-2 with a no decision in those contests.

SAN DIEGO-- The Mets were looking for their first road series victory since July 2009. They had their ace Johan Santana on the mound, and everything was heading in the right direction seemingly.

Trying to follow up a brilliant outing from co-ace Mike Pelfrey, Santana went to the mound and didn't have his "Type A" stuff. He battled through seven innings of work, throwing over 120 pitches, and gutting out a scoreless effort for the second straight start.