[caption id="attachment_198" align="alignright" width="380" caption="Jose Reyes can barely smile as he realizes his latest DL stint might cost the Mets the wildcard race."]
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Injured All-Star Jose Reyes and his Mets limp into the midseason break, as they lose 4-2 to the Giants, finishing the first half of the year 46-45.
With Reyes on the DL until at least July 22, the Mets have shown that they cannot score against All-Star pitching. They were held scoreless against Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, and Matt Cain. They did manage to score three runs against Ryan Vogelsong in their only victory against the aforementioned All-Star pitchers.
In Sunday’s game against Cain, the Mets offense had opportunities, but only managed to hit 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Their lone situational hit came on Justin Turner’s two out ground-rule double to left center, which scored Willie Harris from second base in the ninth, giving the Mets their second run of the game.
Their only other run came when Nick Evans, who pinch hit for Lucas Duda in the top of the eighth, created his own RBI opportunity by hitting a Jeremy Affeldt fastball into the left center field stands. That round tripper was Evans’ first homerun of the season.
On the mound, Mike Pelfrey did not pitch terribly, as he only gave up two earned runs in his six innings of work. Simply put, Pelfrey has been a hard-luck pitcher this season. The Mets' offense has only given him an average of just over two runs of support per start. Because of the punch-less Mets, Pelfrey gets his eighth loss of the year.
The Mets are now 5-3 since Reyes has been put on the disabled list, but only 2-2 in those games against teams with a winning record. After the break, the Mets will play six out of their first seven against teams with a winning record. They must play well without Reyes against the Phillies and Cardinals if they are to remain in the wildcard race.
Coming up during the All-Star break will be the Mets’ midseason report card and predictions on how the Mets will finish the season.
Mets Notes:
The future is bright for the Mets as they sent two representatives to Sunday's MLB Futures Game. Third baseman Jefry Marte had one plate appearance in which he struck out playing for the World Team. Pitcher Matt Harvey recorded a three-pitch groundout to pick up the save for Team USA.
Francisco Rodriguez has a new agent in Scott Boras. Boras’ reputation will definitely affect the trade market for the record holding closer. This might just be the ultimate deciding factor on where Rodriguez will play later this season if he is traded. Teams tend to hesitate with acquiring Boras’ clients because it is almost impossible to resign those players.
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