New York Mets

The New York Mets won today behind the strong pitching performance of Johan Santana. Though Santana pitched well enough for a win, he didn't get it, as closer Francisco Rodriguez blew another save. Santana went eight strong, surrendering only one run on eight hits and one walk, while striking out five.

Personally, I had prayed that manager Jerry Manuel would let Santana come out for the ninth inning and finish the game out, but having thrown 115 pitches (81 for strikes, by the way), Santana got the handshake after retiring the last nine batters he faced.

SAN FRANCISCO: Since the All-Star break, or maybe even before that, the Mets have suffered from a team-wide slump.

Every team goes through them. Just ask the Phillies, who went through something similar from late May through early June.

The Mets even swept the Phillies at Citi Field in May, shutting them out in all three games.

The Mets came within three innings of being shut out three straight games to the same opponent for the first time in their history.

The Mets lost their third straight game to the Giants tonight, 8-4 in a game that wasn’t as much as a pitcher's duel compared to the last two games.

Starting off, Hisanori Takahashi was just awful; he gave up six runs over a mere two and two thirds, five of those runs in the second inning.

SAN FRANCISCO-- The New York Mets lineup tonight against the San Francisco Giants is out, and it includes Carlos Beltran for a third straight game, but Jose Reyes has been pushed back until Monday.

Tonight's Mets lineup against San Francisco:

CF Angel Pagan

2B Alex Cora

3B David Wright

CF Carlos Beltran

1B Ike Davis

LF Jason Bay

C Rod Barajas

SS Ruben Tejada

P Hisanori Takahashi

Following these 18 scoreless innings to open the second half of the 2010 season, the New York Mets might be concerned about the balance of the starting lineup. Things on offense should return back to form soon, but at catcher, the Mets could benefit from a more permanent makeover.

With three catchers on the active roster, Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, and Josh Thole have all been splitting time. Barajas as played most of the time, and may actually be a liability at this point.

SAN FRANCISCO: The Mets offense during the first two games in San Francisco has been M.I.A. After getting shut out Thursday night, manager Jerry Manuel attempted something drastically different last night, batting Jason Bay second, and well, the Mets got shut out again.

Once again, after being told he'd play, Jose Reyes was out of the lineup. He did take batting practice around 6:15pm local time, and batted from both sides of the plate.

Sports are all about adjustments. In football, the quarterback must adjust the play based on what the opposing team is doing. It is the same in other sports as well. In-game adjustments at halftime and between periods are a necessity for success. Baseball is no different.

For the second straight game, the Mets got shut out by the Giants—this time 1-0 at AT&T Park.

Barry Zito pitched an absolute gem, one which may have even been better then Tim Lincecum’s start yesterday.

The Mets lineup seemed lost without Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan . It was a Mets lineup that featured Jeff Francoeur as the five hitter, Ruben Tejada as the leadoff man, and Jason Bay hitting second.

It goes without saying that Jeff Francoeur has pretty much worn out his welcome in New York. He is hitting a paltry .253, can't run all that well, or play other positions. Also, with the return of Carlos Beltran to the Mets lineup, New York is rather deep in outfield talent.

The second half of the Major League Baseball season began Thursday night, and many in Puerto Rico are with a lot of good expectations.

Just as a start, everybody is happy that Carlos Beltran returned with the New York Mets, and Joel Piñeiro won his seventh straight decision as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Seattle Mariners.

However, not every baseball fan is cheery and festive these days.