The warning lights are flashing

Reason No. 3 for why Omar Minaya needs to acquire another starting pitcher made itself apparent Monday night in Arizona.

Reason No. 1 is that Ollie Perez and John Maine aren't going to help, and Reason No. 2 is that adding a starting pitcher has the additional benefit of strengthening the bullpen by putting Hisanori Takahashi back into the role for which he seems better suited.

Reason No. 3 is that a stronger rotation overall helps cushion the blow if one of the established starters falters. And brother, Mike Pelfrey is faltering.


Sure, all pitchers have clunkers now and then, but Pelfrey has been slipping for a couple of weeks now. Here's a scary stat: According to Elias Sports Bureau, Pelfrey is the first NL pitcher (and third in MLB) since 1900 to allow more than 50 base runners (hits, walks, and HBPs) while recording fewer than 50 outs over a span of four starts.

Since 1900. Ouch.

Everyone says he's healthy, so be thankful for that. After the game, the call was made for Pelfrey to throw the fastball more, but he's had trouble locating the fastball, so he's throwing more breaking balls, and that's what teams are sitting on. Pelfrey needs to solve his fastball problem — whether it's a crisis of confidence or an adjustment in grip, or some combination — in order to find his way out of the woods.

What concerns me more is the roster. It seems like, as well as he's hitting, Josh Thole will be sent down to catch more (since he's still developing behind the plate). There's no need for Turner to still be here with Reyes and Castillo back, so he should be sent down as well.

There are no backups for either Ike Davis or David Wright, although Alex Cora could play third in a pinch (please don't say Henry Blanco). Nick Evans should stay on the roster as an OF/1B, and Mike Hessman, a 32-year-old career minor leaguer with 18 homers in Buffalo, could be called up to back up Wright. That would leave Carter, Cora and Francoeur as lefties off the bench, with Evans and Hessman as the righties.

Or Minaya could go out and get a veteran righthanded corner infielder to replace the injured Fernando Tatis.

As for the bullpen, if Takahashi moves back, that gives them three lefties with Valdes and Feliciano, to go with K-Rod, Parnell and either Nieve or Dessens. Nieve pitched one good inning against Arizona but imploded in the second, allowing a natural cycle over a four-hitter span (triple, double, single, homer). Elmer Dessens is pitching better, so Nieve would be the odd man out.

So Omar needs a starter and a corner infielder, and the offense needs to get on track (and Arizona is a good place to start).

You can sense Mets fans getting ready to panic. But Monday was the first game since April of last year when the Mets had a lineup full of "starters." We'll see how they jell over this road trip, and if they survive the trip without getting buried, and if Minaya can make the moves he needs to make, the Mets will be in good position for the stretch run.

What, me worry?

Cheering a Brave, thanking a Yankee

The All-Star Game is always a trip to the bizarro world of baseball.

You're rooting for players who you normally jeer, because they're on the same team as your team's players, and you want your team's league to win. There are many more players on the roster, and players come in and out of the game with often no rhyme or reason.

And, oh yeah, this exhibition game determines which league gets home field advantage in the World Series, which has been won by the "home" team in 11 of the last 15 years.

This year's game was no different for Mets fans, who watched David Wright continue his All-Star dominance with two hits and a stolen base. He is 11-for-16 as an All-Star in his career.

But perhaps the highlights of the game — won by the National League for the first time since 1996 — were seeing an Atlanta Brave getting the key hit, and watching the Yankees manager sabotage his team's chances with mismanagement.

Braves catcher Brian McCann delivered the winning hit, a bases-loaded double. Here's hoping that's the last clutch hit he gets all year.

But Joe Girardi deserves a fruit basket from Charlie Manuel and the rest of the National League for his bungling of the game.

How on earth is David Ortiz allowed to run the bases? Alex Rodriguez was available to pinch hit or pinch run. That A-Rod was the only player left on the bench is a testament to Girardi's incompetence. With 34 players on the roster, and the World Series home field advnatage on the line, how do you not keep three or four players available at the end?

Tom Verducci breaks it down tremendously in Sports Illustrated, noting that Girardi selected A-Rod to the team, and claimed that A-Rod was healthy (so why not use him?) but a source says A-Rod's thumb was "sore" and that Girardi wanted "four days off for our big guy."

Meanwhile, Adrian Beltre played with a sore hamstring. Nice.

Verducci also doesn't let Manuel off the hook, noting that he pulled Albert Pujols too quickly and sent Chris Young up to pinch hit for Andre Ethier.

In any event, at least the Mets know that if they make it to the Series, they'll have the Citi Field advantage on their side!

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A note about George Steinbrenner. It's amusing how we're reading so much about how he was the greatest owner in sports.

Don't get me wrong: The man was passionate about winning (and not losing) and spent tons of money to win. Fans love that. But remember that this was a guy who paid a lowlife money to dig up dirt on his own player, who hired and fired 17 managers in 17 seasons, who didn't see the consistent success until after he was banned from the game, when his front office started running things the right way without him.

And when they did build a farm system and develop young players, what did George do? He spent more money than anyone else, because he could.

An absolute must-read: New York Times columnist Dave Anderson's 1980 piece on the press conference announcing the "execution" of Dick Howser.

Howser was fired in November, a month after the Yankees won 103 games but were swept in the playoffs by the Royals. He was treated miserably by King George.

Howser went on to win a World Series with the Royals five years later, and two years after that, died of a brain tumor.

I feel like the Winnebago Man

So frustrated.

R.A. Dickey came into the game having allowed just two home runs, then gives up back-to-back homers WITH TWO OUTS in the seventh, to two guys who had a total of five home runs this season.

Dickey also had two of the Mets' eight hits and scored both their runs.

The Mets were able to get Tommy Hanson out of the game in the sixth, but then managed one hit the rest of the way against the Braves' bullpen.

Billy Wagner, of course, got the save.

The offense is flat. Jose Reyes is still hurt and batting only right handed. Jason Bay has 13 RBI in his last 11 games but went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He and Jeff Francoeur had opportunities to do damage but failed.

The Mets, for their final six games before the break, had Pelfrey and Santana pitching twice, with Dickey and Niese going once, and now the best they can do for that stretch — a stretch of six home games, mind you — is 3-3, and the best they can be at the break is two games out.

This is what we were worried about. Despite favorable pitching matchups, the Mets are sliding toward the break, not surging.

Somehow, the Braves — whose road unis tonight were hideous — have won 51 games. They give away multiple outs with horrific defense. Their lineup is less than scary, especially without Heyward and Chipper (who is not very good anymore, anyway). But their starters and bullpen have been outstanding.

Here's hoping the Mets win the next two, salvaging some positivity before the All-Star game, while gaining two big games in the standings.

By the way, the dude in the video is Jack Rebney. He became a YouTube sensation as "The Winnebago Man."

See how he feels? That's me watching the Mets lately.

$#@*(!

Don't mess with the Johan

Jerry Manuel made Joe Benigno a happy man Tuesday night.

Benigno, who often rails about how pitchers aren't allowed to finish games, and who has often wondered why Johan Santana has been removed from games in the latter innings, must have been thrilled when Manuel came out to the mound in the top of the ninth after Jason Bay dropped an easy fly ball to put runners on first and second with one out, only to return to the dugout, leaving Santana in to shut the Reds down.

It took Santana just two pitches to clean up the mess, and he ended up with the complete-game shutout, a three-hit gem that also saw him hit a solo homer on a remarkable 12-pitch at-bat in the third inning with two outs.

That Santana battled Matt Maloney that hard, that early in the game tells you all you need to know about the ultra-competitive Santana, who has pitched brilliantly in his most recent starts and has Mets fans believing he has worked out his issues and is ready to dominate in the second half, which he has done throughout his career.

Maybe he'll hit some more bombs, too. Santana yanked the 12th pitch from Maloney down the right field line and off the foul pole for a 1-0 Mets lead. It stayed that way until the sixth, when resurgent Jason Bay singled in two runs.

You couldn't have blamed Manuel if he went by the book and brought in K-Rod to face the righties coming up in the ninth. But given K-Rod's recent woes (his 12-pitch save on Sunday notwithstanding), and Santana's many no-decisions this season, it was fantastic to see Manuel leave Santana in, to the thunderous applause of the fans.

Of course, Santana delivered.

Jose Reyes returned to the lineup, batting righthanded against the lefty Maloney, and had two hits and a run scored.

Jon Niese looks to win the series on Wednesday, followed by a well-deserved day off before the Braves come to town, led by All-Star OMAR INFANTE!

Does K-Rod suck, and did Pelfrey melt down?

A few things about the Fourth of July weekend:

The holiday schedule was a full one, and while we went to a party Saturday I forgot that the Mets were on in the afternoon. So I was surprised to get the following text message from my brother:

'Krod sucks'

That's never good news.

Soon after, from someone with an iPhone, I got the gory details of how the Mets chased Stephen Strasburg but lost because Frankie Rodriguez blew the game in the bottom of the ninth for yet another walk-off loss.

I'm not ready to call K-Rod a problem, but he fits right in with other Mets closers of old who made you sweat. He got the save Friday night by picking off a runner at second (nice play by Ruben Tejada) and bounced back to get the 12-pitch save Sunday. His overall numbers are good but he falls in love with the changeup and has trouble throwing strikes. His pitch to I-Rod on the game-winning hit wasn't a bad one, low and away, but he had put himself in a huge hole.

I said in my previous post that I would have been happy to see the Mets split in Washington, which they did, thanks to Sunday's effort against Craig Stammen. Eight runs in the first four innings, four RBIs by Jason Bay and three hits by a healthy Angel Pagan helped Hisanori Takahashi pick up his seventh win.

Monday's homecoming against the Reds didn't go well, but while many are picking on Mike Pelfrey's "meltdown," I can't fault him too much. It was less a meltdown than Pelfrey getting into trouble with a single, a blooper and a walk to lead off the fifth. After that it just got weird and while Pelfrey was ultimately undone, it took a terrible call reversal by the umpires and an equally bad non-strike call on Drew Stubbs to get there. Pelfrey battled — it looked as if he might get out of it with only one run across — but Stubbs and Sal Fasano lookalike Corky Miller put the inning away.

Credit the Mets for having plenty of fight in the dog by coming back to cut the 7-1 deficit down to one, with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Alex Cora came up big with a two-run double. Fernando Nieve allowed a one-out, solo homer to Votto but then retired the next eight in a row.

Despite the loss, you have to like how things line up for the remaining five days before the break. As of this morning it's still  "undecided" against Johan Santana, and then Niese goes in game three. The Braves series will see Dickey, Pelfrey and Santana, and if Reyes can (finally) get back on the field, maybe the Mets can win four of the next five and the final two series.

And congrats to David Wright for getting (properly) voted in as an All-Star starter. Oh, ye of little faith — how's Wright doing now? In the top 10 in most every offensive category. Reyes was named to the team as well, and while Charlie Manuel did a good job in leaving off Strasburg, I'm not sure how Votto could be left off in place of Ryan Howard. Mind-boggling.

Yeah, maybe Pelfrey got snubbed, but I'd rather see him relax and recharge for what should be a very interesting second half.

San Juan hangover continues

Let me get this straight: Major League Baseball thinks it's OK to schedule a three-game series in a minor-league ballpark in Puerto Rico where the field is a bandbox with artificial turf laid down on top of concrete, where game three is a night game, and then have both teams play the next night, basically praying that it doesn't rain in a tropical environment?

And that it's also cool to move a series between the Phillies and Blue Jays from Toronto to Philadelphia for security concerns related to the G20 summitt, giving the Phillies three more home games than anyone else in the league, instead of playing that series at a nuetral site or maybe reconfiguring the schedule in some other way that doesn't give one team such an advantage while screwing the other team?

OK, just wanted to clear that up. Is it any surprise the All-Star game determines the World Series home field advantage? This league is run by idiots (or at least one big idiot).

So the Mets got into Washington at 7 a.m. Thursday, played without Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan (mostly) and gave Jason Bay the night off — and we're surprised that they only scored one run against Livan Hernandez?

Of course, Johan Santana pitched, and he did pretty well shutting down the Nats for six innings before the tying run came across in the seventh. Sure, Jerry could have sent him out for another inning, but it didn't matter. The Mets bats were spent.

This is a serious stretch for the Mets, this week-plus before the All-Star game. They stumbled in San Juan and have four games in Washington, then right to Citi Field for three with the Reds before they finally get a day off before hosting the first-place Braves for three games leading to the break.

You could see the danger of this team, probably getting exhausted, going on a slide. You wonder if and when R.A. Dickey falls back to earth. Takahashi looks like he's already started. Pagan and now Reyes are banged up.

I'd be thrilled with a split in Washington, then get home and try and win two of three against the Reds with Pelfrey, Santana and Niese. Then a day off and try and do the same against the Braves with Dickey, Takahashi and Pelfrey. It's doable, but you're getting the sense that there isn't much left in the tank and that the break couldn't come fast enough.

Maybe that's just a perception left over from the awful series in the P.R. Next year, the Marlins can play someone else.

And can the Mets get three extra home games somehow? That would be cool.