Mets Salvage Finale Against Mariners

The Seattle series was supposed to shoot the Mets back into serious contention in the NL East after finishing a west coast trip with a 4-2 record.

However, after losing the first game 5-2 thanks to a grand slam by the pitcher Felix Hernandez, which was given up by Mets ace Johan Santana, an 11-0 obliteration in the middle game, and a series salvaging 8-2 victory this evening, the Mets still find themselves 3.5 games behind Philadelphia pending the outcome of their game tonight versus Oakland.

In the first game of the series, the Mets got the tying run up in the ninth inning with one out in the person of Carlos Delgado. However, he struck out, as did Damion Easley to end the ballgame. In the second game, the offense took the night off, and Oliver Perez got lit up giving up six runs (5 earned) and seven hits, while striking out three and walking one, en route to the 11-0 loss.

Tonight, after sitting a game, David Wright propelled the Mets to victory with two home runs in two consecutive innings heading into a day night doubleheader Friday against the Yankees.

Going into the final 2008 Subway Series, the Mets face two main questions for the purpose of this post. The first, what to about Oliver Perez, who this season despite showing blips of promise, is 5-5 with a 5.29 E.R.A. After last night's blowout, Jerry Manuel said: "I'm definitely concerned about his struggles right now and we're going to have to address it at some time. We'll have to seriously address it."Perez could skip a turn or be dropped from the rotation altogether, but Manuel declined to elaborate on the team's plans.

The second, what to do to jump start Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo. The Mets made their first attempt at trying to address the Delgado situation by claiming first baseman Andy Phillips off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds. After some time, he may platoon with Delgado.

As for Castillo, the acquisition of Trot Nixon has allowed Damion Easley to return to the infield. After giving the Mets a win in Anaheim, Easley was rewarded by Manuel when he was chosen to start the next day. If Castillo, who is hitting just .254 with 3 homers and 25 RBI's, continues to struggle, he too could find himself in a platoon situation; with Easley.

Friday night's first game is the makeup of a rain out at Yankee Stadium earlier this season. Mike Pelfrey goes for his 5th win of the season against Dan Giese. The second game pits Pedro Martinez against Sidney Ponson.

The Mets took the first two against the Yankees this season in arguably their two best games of the year. We'll see if they continue that success against one of the few teams against which they've had success this season.

Stay tuned