Mets weekend review

When the Mets started the weekend series vs. the Houston Astros, the Mets where holding on to a 2 and half game lead on the 2nd place Phillies on top of the NL East. But after Sunday the Mets now find themselves holding on to the slimmest of leads of only a half of game, as the weekend which started off well for the Mets, did not end as the Mets would had like.
On Friday the Mets had a good start to the series in where they welcome back outfielder Ryan Church who had missed close to 3 months with his head injuries as the Mets faithful gave Church a standing ovation in the 2nd inning when he came up to the place. The Mets also got a good pitching performance from their ace Johan Santana who on a night where Santana didn't have his best stuff, Santana still manage to give the Mets 7 scoreless inning for a 3 to 0 victory. with the 7 scoreless innings, Santana has now piled up 16 straight scoreless innings up to date.
Luis Ayala was also able to secure the win for Santana in this one, and get himself his 1st Mets save as the Mets maintain there lead on the Phillies.

But In the 2nd game of the series John Maine was hit hard as the Astros won big by the score of 8 to 3. After the game the talks around the Mets club house was that there may be the possibility that John Maine may be done for the season as his arm which has given him problems for over a month now has not healed the way the Maine and the Mets had liked.
Jerry Manuel sounded as if he was looking for excuses after this one where he talked about Maine hurting the team because he is out there trying hard, but not at a 100%. It clearly sounded as if Maine season may be in jeopardy by the managers reactions after the game.
With the lost the Mets found themselves up by only 1 and a half game after the lost.

in game 3 on Sunday, the Mets had an early lead in this one of 3 to 0, in which the Astros tied the game, and then later in the game had a 2nd lead of 1 run in the game but eventually the Mets where not able to take home the victory as the Mets once again had the bullpen let it get away once again, which came in the 10th inning when Pedro Feliciano came in and gave up 2 bombs to Brad Ausmus who at the time had only 1 other HR for the season, and then 2 batters later gave up another bomb this one to Daren Erstad who had only 3 HR at that point. It was another bullpen metldown for the Mets as the Astros won the game by the final score of 6 to 4, spoiling Oliver Perez and the Mets day in which Perez pitched well, and Carlos Beltran hit 2 homeruns in the lost. Clearly the Mets bullpen relivers of Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez have looked more and more like Aaron Heilman lately where they have not been reliable at all once they come into games. Right now who can the Mets trust in the bullpen? This has to be one of the worst bullpens in the league right now, and one just has to wonder can the Mets get buy with this current bullpen?

Later in the evening , the Phillies played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Sunday nights ESPN game of the week, where the Phillies came back in the 9th to tie it and then win it in extra innings, as the Phillies now stand just a half of game back of the Mets.
Now the Mets get ready to close out the series with Houston tonight as the Mets now give the ball to Mike Pelphey in hopes of the series split.
Tonights game is a big one for the Mets cause after this the Mets get ready for a rare 2 game series againts those same Phillies on Tuesday, in Philadelphia, who at the moment find themselves ready to make their move on the Mets. The Phillies will also play tonight and will finish their 4 game series with the Dodgers and will be looking for a 4 game sweep.
From here on in the Mets and Phillies look headed for another dramactic September run to see who will be this year representative in the NL East.

Note: Seems to me like Luis Castillo, who has been missing in action for some time now with his injuries, and who was schedule to make his comeback in the Houston series, is being pushed back by the Mets brass and Omar Minaya. It is clear that the Mets like what they are getting from Argenis Reyes and Damon Easley as a platoon at 2nd base and do not want to mess with the chemistry. On Saturday Castillo had to give an interview and was trying to explain himself on why he has been pushed back for a later return, and was very careful on what he was trying to say when explaining himself, and was also visibly upset. It's seems to me that the Mets want Castillo out and not back anytime soon and have told him to chill out for now.
I wont be surprise if we dont see Castillo back again this year unless an injuries happens to his successors.