Calling Carlos Beltran.....

It was obvious right from the start that one of these teams was going to play in the postseason and one of them would not be.

The New York Mets looked ready and primed for the postseason during their win over the dilapidated Pittsburgh Pirates. They received a strong start from John Maine, who has been dominant all year, they received quality defensive play from their outfielders and an especially nice snag by 1st baseman Carlos Delgado and last but not least, they received some significant offense from some unsuspected sources.

With both Carlos’s, Beltran and Delgado, struggling to produce the way they have, the offense has been reliant upon secondary contributions and on Tuesday night, it was young, brash outfielder Lastings Milledge and starter John Maine who brought the pop.

Milledge hit an RBI single to precede his 2 run home run that sealed the game for the Mets while John Maine hit his first career home run, a 2 run job of his own. Infielder Ruben Gotay also had an RBI as did declining outfielder Shawn Green, while the middle of the lineup, the superstars failed to hold their own, especially Beltran who struck out three times and is really falling apart at the seams.

The next week of games favors the Mets in their playoff run as well as they still have two games hosting the lowly Pirates and then play host to the unsightly Washington Nationals for 4 games. If the Mets can hit a nice hot streak here and put some distance between them and their nearest competitors without having to give up the farm for some last-minute help, that would certainly be the ideal.

Their opponent tonight was the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates don’t have much to look forward to come postseason time, other than an extended vacation.

With tonight’s loss Pittsburgh is now 41-57 and is a seller to be sure over the next week. Unlike previous years though, the Pirates have been trying to add some quality help now but were quickly turned down by the Blue Jays when they requested Troy Glaus for Jack Wilson and a packaged deal. Shocking.

The Pirates will likely move some relievers and perhaps some offensive power all to make room for players even younger than those currently starring for the disappointing club. Pittsburgh did have one bright spot on Tuesday though, and it wasn’t the poor pitching of highly acclaimed starter Ian Snell, it was the reappearance of struggling slugger Jason Bay who had a huge night with 2 home runs and 3 RBI.

Perhaps Bay enjoyed the 6th slot in the batting lineup where Manager Jim Tracy put him to hide him a little bit from the glare of the clean-up role. If these are going to be standard results, I say keep him 6th. If only Bay could get some help to come and help revitalize this team for this winner-starved town.

Four Team Race

The division race in the National League West is one of the most interesting and entertaining at this point in the season and promises to be through the remainder. At 48-46 and only 5 ½ games back of division leader Los Angeles, the Colorado Rockies are intent on playing a major role.

After dropping 8 games at the end of June, the Rockies have gone 10-4 since, thrusting themselves back into the NL West picture. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 on Wednesday on the back of Jeff Francis who threw down another strong outing.

Francis went 7, allowing only two runs on six hits with 6 k’s for good measure. Francis also helped out on offense, knocking in Troy Tulowitzki in the 3rd to tie the game up at one. He had hit a bit of a rough patch before the All-Star break and in his first start after so maybe this effort will help get him back on track.

The Rockies real strength though is their offense and their big-time hitters came through again for manager Clint Hurdle. Against the offensively poor Pirates, the Rockies needed only 5 runs today. After the RBI single from Francis, a 2 run homer by Brad Hawpe and a 2 run homer by Todd Helton was all Francis, Jorge Julio and Manual Corpas needed to shut the door and send the Pirates home with their sixth loss in a row, the longest current streak after the A’s snapped their dreadful 8 game slide.

Pittsburgh is just scuffling right now and they can’t seem to produce anything beyond 3 runs, but then the few times that they do? Well, their pitching staff lets them down.

Despite having a very good season, Wednesday was not starter Ian Snell’s day. He gave up two home runs, pushing his season’s total to 15, and got little help from his teammates. After the game, Snell was very adamant about the Rockies stealing signs and even threatened retaliation the next time the two teams meet, which will take place in Colorado in late August.

While not an advocate of sign stealing, I do believe it is a part of the game and pitchers just need to deal with it and compensate in other ways. Getting angry, rather than adjusting your stuff or talking to the catcher about it is stupid and foolhardy. This should make the showdown in the Rockies quite interesting though if Snell is indeed involved in the four game set.

What's Wrong With Jason?

What is wrong with Jason Bay? The Pittsburgh Pirates slugger is in a lengthy and abhorrent slump that has killed whatever slim chances the Pirates had at making the playoffs this season. With the starters pitching well and the relievers holding their own, the Pirates just needed an offensive star to keep them relevant but for whatever reason Bay has been unable to pull his weight lately.

Bay has decent numbers on the year thus far, but he as tailed off dramatically since June 4th. On June 4th, Bay’s batting average was a respectable .312. Since that day, up to and including last night, Bay is now hitting .249. The problem being that to drop his average to a meager .249, Bay has hit .142 since early June and he has seen his power numbers disappear as well.

Before June 4th Bay had 10 home runs and 42 RBI, and since? Well, the Pirates star has knocked out an insufficient 3 homers and a brutal 15 RBI. With such sluggers as Xavier Nady and Adam LaRoche (who for much of the season was locked in a slump far worse than Bay’s) as the secondary power sources behind Bay, is it any wonder the team is struggling?

Hopefully for Pirates fans and management Jason Bay can turn it around because he is talented and is the future of the Pittsburgh franchise. With Bay back on track and the young and talented infield of the future soon to arrive in Pittsburgh, the future is looking bright. Until then, Jason Bay is still in one of the worst slumps for a player of his quality that I’ve seen in a long time.

Heating Up

With the deadline now just over a month away, we'll be focusing a lot of attention on the trade market and the names rumored to be on the move. The Braves Jared Saltalamacchia is one of the more intriguing ones.

The young catcher is stuck behind Brian McCann on the Braves depth chart and won't be passing him anytime soon as McCann continues to produce and inked a long-term deal this past offseason. So, needless to say, his name has been tossed around. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Saltalamacchia is drawing a large amount of interest from the Pirates.

Personally, I'm of the belief that the Braves need to keep this kid, who is only 22 and hitting .319 in limited action this year. They could move him to first as the Braves don't have any permanent fixtures there.

If they do decide to deal him though, they'd better ask for the king's ransom as "Salty", is one of the most promising prospects around. If Pirates GM Dave Littlefield is truly desperate for a player of this caliber, than John Schuerholz needs to ask for either Tom Gorzelanny or Ian Snell, as well as Ryan Doumit and either Matt Capps or Damaso Marte.

Anything short of that would be a mistake for Schuerholz and a huge loss for the Braves as Saltalamacchia is going to be special.