New York Mets

The Mets will send two players to the All-Star Game, however neither of them are named Mike Pelfrey or R.A. Dickey.

David Wright and Jose Reyes will represent New York in Anaheim. Wright is hitting .313, with 14 homers and 64 runs batted in. Reyes is dealing with an oblique strain right now, and it is unknown if he will be able to play. Hs return date keeps getting pushed back.

The Mets had an excellent opportunity to guarantee at least a series split, maybe even a series win last night, but Francisco Rodriguez couldn’t hold it for them.

He, along with the Mets, try to rebound. Courtesy of NewYorkMets on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/NewYorkMets/status/17724997077 here is this afternoon’s lineup, with comments and notes from me:

With the Mets starting rotation in a groove right now, all eyes are becoming trained on what could be a more pressing issue. The bullpen has gradually begun to cost the Mets games. The issue has flown under the radar because of the propensity of fans to attack the pitching of Johan Santana and to focus too much on acquiring a big time starter like Cliff Lee; a move that might not even be possible.

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, it is patience that gives a baseball team confidence.

Finally, New York fans get to see Stephen Strasburg. I have been waiting a while to see him face the Mets MAJOR league team. I actually saw his last minor league start against the Buffalo Bisons. He was pitching with the Syracuse Chiefs and went five innings, allowing three hits, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. Three words. He looked awesome.

Remember Brian Bruney? He is well known in New York for his comments about Francisco Rodriguez last year. If you don’t remember, this is basically what happened:

After K-Rod blew his first save last year, when Luis Castillo dropped the pop up against the Yankees, Bruney said, "It couldn't happen to a better guy on the mound, either. He's got a tired act."

Because of this comment, the two almost fought before a game a couple of days later.

Alex Cora and Jon Niese, I tell you. I actually missed tonight’s game, but was watching updates, and when I heard Cora hit a bases-clearing triple, I had to see how legit it was. It was pretty dang legit.

Niese had a heck of a start, allowing one run (a home run by Josh Willingham in the seventh) and striking out a career high of eight batters. He is now 5-0 since returning from the disabled list. Here are a few notes:

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Jon Niese had another fantastic outing, striking out a career-high eight batters against the Nationals, as the Mets beat Washington, 5-3.

The Mets offense seemed to be flat early on for the second straight game, scoring a first-inning run on an Ike Davis RBI groundout.

Niese struck out five of the first nine outs he recorded and allowed one hit in each of the first five innings. 

After the Ike Davis run-scoring groundout, Nationals starter Luis Atilano retired eight straight batters, but it fell apart for him after that.

The All-Star break is approaching and that is usually when trade talks start heating up. Rumors are flying around all over the place: chat rooms, internet blogs , news reports, etc.

One of my favorite places to find the latest rumors is MLBTradeRumors.com .

Here are the following moves and rumors from the Yankees and Mets that have popped up this past week:

Yankees

WASHINGTON, D.C.: You try your hardest not to lose games to teams you're better than when your ace pitches a gem.

Last night, Johan Santana maybe didn't pitch a gem, but pitched well enough for the Mets to win. Once again, they couldn't support him with any runs.

Therefore, the Mets will have to win the next three games against Washington to win the series. Right now, they'd settle for a split, and with Stephen Strasburg looming on Saturday, the Mets need to win tonight.