As the Mets’ season has deteriorated, one of the few bright spots left has been the pitching of Johan Santana. But that may be in jeopardy, too.

Santana finished off the fifth inning Thursday, striking out Omar Infante swinging. And as he headed off the field, he put down his hat and glove and continued from the far end of the dugout to the tunnel and into the clubhouse, his night done after just 65 pitches.

The Mets called the injury a strained pectoral muscle and said that the 31-year-old left-hander is day-to-day, but there were contradictory reports from the pitcher, his manager and pitching coach.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel pointed to his arm when describing the injury, and Santana opted to point to the area where his chest, shoulder and arm meet.

Jerry Manuel gets criticized for many of the Mets‘ issues on and off the field. Fans get on him for his in-game decisions, which at times is deserved. But what I ask here is that the Mets give Jerry Manuel the opportunity he is owed to manage the team in 2011.

Jerry Manuel took over the Mets back in ‘08 in the middle of the night. The Mets were floundering at 34-35. From the beginning, Manuel made his presence felt when he pulled Jose Reyes from the (first) game when he came up lame running out a grounder. Reyes argued with Manuel, but Manuel was stern.

Manuel would lead the Mets back into contention, and even to a division lead late in September. We all know the Mets floundered down the stretch to finish 89-73 and out of the playoffs.

But none of it was Manuel’s fault.

To continue reading Matthew Blaszka’s article, click here

To read more from Matthew Blaszka, Frank Gray, and the rest of the staff of Mets Gazette, click here

Read more New York Mets news on BleacherReport.com

David Wright knew the New York Mets couldn't afford to let Tim Hudson find his rhythm. "You have to get to that guy early if you're going to get to him at all," Wright said. "When he settles down, he gets stronger and stronger." Wright homered, Johan Santana won for the first time in four starts and New York snapped the Atlanta Braves' five-game winning streak with a…

Since its opening in 1997, Turner Field, home to the first place Atlanta Braves, has seemed like hell to the New York Mets, with Bobby Cox playing the role of the devil. Even when the Mets have fielded competitive teams, they still have struggled in Atlanta.

In 116 contests over the course of 14 seasons, the Mets have won only 38 games while dropping 78 in the new “Home of the Braves.”

However, despite losing the first three games of the series in pitiful fashion, the Mets came out swinging in game four, scoring four runs—a feat they have accomplished only twice in their last seven games—to earn a 4-2 victory.

The Mets plated two runs early, thanks in part to Melky Cabrera’s misplay of a Carlos Beltran line drive that rolled all the way to the wall. Beltran turned on the jets and arrived at third base standing.

Omar Infante’s ill-advised relay throw wound up in the Mets’ dugout, allowing Beltran to score. It was great to see Beltran stretch out that injured knee as he rounded second base. Maybe there will be a happy ending after all to the Beltran saga?

Following back-to-back singles and a walk to Chris Carter, David Wright, and Ike Davis respectively, newest Met Joaquin Arias hit a slow grounder to third that Martin Prado had no play on, allowing Carter to score. The Mets have been abysmal with the bases loaded this season so it was nice to finally see someone get a hit in that situation, albeit an infield hit.

Naturally, even in a Mets’ victory, something has to go wrong. Tonight was no different as Johan Santana left after five innings, only having surrendered one run. Reports claim that he is day-to-day with a strained pectoral muscle. Despite leaving, he earned the win and is now 11-9 on the year with a 2.98 ERA.

David Wright cracked his 22nd home run of the year off Tim Hudson in the sixth inning to give the Mets some needed insurance. Though inconsistent most of the time, Wright has put up some solid numbers for the Amazins this season.

Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano, Bobby Parnell, and Hisanori Takahashi combined for one run on four hits over the final four innings to seal the win for Johan. Once again, we saw Takahashi in the closer’s role, where he recorded his third save of the year.

The win marks the last time the Mets will visit Atlanta this season. They will head to Chicago to open a three-game series with the fifth place Cubs. Saturday will be the highly anticipated first major league start by Mets prospect Jenrry Mejia. In his only start at AAA Buffalo, Mejia allowed one run over eight innings of work while striking out nine.

If the Mets can discover what they have in their young players such as Mejia, Josh Thole, Ruben Tejada, and even Lucas Duda, this final month may actually serve a valuable purpose.

Read more New York Mets news on BleacherReport.com

New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana left Thursday night's game with Atlanta after five innings because of a strained pectoral muscle. It was Santana's shortest outing in 23 starts. The Mets, who were leading 2-1 when he left the game, announced his injury in the bottom of the eighth. Santana threw 43 of 65 pitches for strikes and allowed three hits, one run and one walk with three strikeouts…

Jeff Francoeur certainly has his free-swinging ways.

Sure enough, he displays poor plate discipline. Couple that with his low on-base percentage and you have the reasons why he couldn’t stay in the lineup.

Yet, he has talent, and it seemed to me that he was making a concerted effort to change his approach.

On one hand, a guy like Oliver Perez (whom the Mets have tried to part ways with, but still have on the current roster) frustrates Dan Warthen and Jerry Manuel to no end with his refusal to do even the basics, such as repeat his pitching motion. In addition, Perez demonstrated what an awful team player he was in refusing a Minor League assignment.

By contrast, in 2009, with the season in complete tatters and devoid of hope, Jeff Francoeur played out the season with torn ligaments in his thumb. Isn’t that the type of player us Met fans should want to root for?

Especially as opposed to a selfish player such as Perez, who in essence has turned a 25-man roster into 24 this year.

Is this the message the Wilpons want to send the fans as to the type of character they endorse?

to read the rest of this article, click here

to read more from this author, visit Mets Gazette

Read more New York Mets news on BleacherReport.com

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday settled a Mississippi lawsuit over a 2001 accident in which a New York Mets prospect was killed when his SUV crashed in the Florida Panhandle, a lawyer for the player's family said. The settlement came shortly after the jury in Jasper County had awarded $131 million in actual damages to Cole's family and before it was to consider possible punitive damages, Tab…

New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel, whose team has been a disappointment this season, would like to know if the…

To capture the psyche of today’s Met fan, perhaps no one sums it up better than Green Day:

“Wake me up when September ends.”

Though on second thought, an extension on my hibernation through October would be nice. It’s sickening enough to be subjected to a two horse race in the division featuring the two respective teams that have owned the Mets over the years. But worse, the thought of another Phillies/Yankees World Series might induce vomit—take that comment however you want.

But it’s not all bad, right? The leaves turn and we can now focus on which first round fantasy pick we’re going to make (Aaron Rodgers for this here guy).

But, at the end of the day, and I’ll be frank, we (Mets Gazette) want you to come back and visit us again. So it’s nice to come up with something encouraging to talk about every now and then, no?

I’ll give it a shot.

Lucas Duda and Jenrry Mejia have been called up and Jeff Francoeur won’t be able to swing at any more pitches two feet out of the strike zone as a member of the Mets. At least for a while, because surely they’ll trade for him down the line.

Oh cynicism—err…addressing reality? Now that I’m through with optimism, let me revert to my pessimistic self to join the rest of the Mets blogging world in pointing out a fundamental flaw of the Mets.

Today’s special? The Mets business strategy.

In short, Jeff Wilpon is the Paris Hilton of baseball.

For those out of the loop with regards to pop culture phenomenons embarrassments, Paris Hilton and Jeff Wilpon are similar in that they can both be summed up in one dirty word:

No, not that one…”nepotism” is the word I refer to.

Enabled and unqualified, Mr. Wilpon is as ideal a choice to run a baseball franchise as Michael Vick is to star in Lassie.

Sub-sophomoric? Juvenile? Sure thing, but it’s true.

Sadly, you can’t blame him because he got it from his father—everything that is. From the franchise, to words of encouragement to sheer craziness. Fred, after all, is the guy who took weeks and weeks to realize that firing a man in the dead of night after a cross-country road trip was a bad idea.

What an epiphany. Hence, the point is, what did you expect from Jeff?

Well, here are a few choice highlights:

To read the read of this article, click here.

To read more on all things Mets baseball, visit Mets Gazette.

Read more New York Mets news on BleacherReport.com

Please be sure to check out Mets Paradise and our forum for everything Mets!!!

With the rosters expanding on Wednesday, the Mets announced Tuesday night that they will call up RHP Jenrry Mejia and OF Lucas Duda.

While we all know who Mejia is, most of us have may not even heard Duda’s name before. So who exactly is Lucas Duda?

Lucas Duda was born on February 3, 1986 in Los Angeles California.  

Duda went to Arlignton High in Riverside, California.

At Arlington High, Duda hit .493 with nine home runs, and 33 RBI in his junior season.

Following high school, Duda went to USC for College, Duda in 143 games at USC, hit .274 with 11 HR with 81 RBI.

Duda was drafted by the Mets in the seventh round of the 2007 draft.

In the minors, Duda has gradually progressed. He started the 2010 season in Double-AA Binghamton.  

Duda was so successful in Binghamton that he was called up to Buffalo after only 45 games in Binghamton. 

This season he has combined throughout Buffalo and Binghamton in 145 games to hit .304 batting average with 23 HR, and 87 RBIs. If those numbers don’t impress you, Duda had a streak earlier this season where he hit a home run in five straight games.

Okay, so those are his numbers, but what about the guy himself? Is he a future Mets outfielder?

*Read the rest…*

Read more New York Mets news on BleacherReport.com