g a r y w o n g . o r g

Welcome to what I hope will be a regular feature on the site - a Sunday Mets game live blog. It’ll be a lot like watching a game with your dad on a nice Sunday afternoon - if your dad was a beer-drinking, snarky, sometimes foul-mouthed spectator. Oh, you say he was? Then, by all means, sit and enjoy.

The Mets (2-2) come into this game after a sub-par start from John Maine and an even more craptastic relief appearance by Jorge Sosa. Tim Hudson pitched well enough to keep the Braves (2-3) in the lead and Kelly Johnson’s pinch-hit grand slam off the aforementioned ineffective Sosa in the seventh put the game away. Johan Santana takes the mound today, making his second start for the Mets, and he’ll face Braves ace John Smoltz.

Mets Starting Lineup

Reyes, SS
Castillo, 2B
Wright, 3B
Beltran, CF
Delgado, 1B
Church, RF
Pagan, LF
Schneider, C
Santana, P

Braves Starting Lineup

Johnson, 2B
Escobar, SS
Jones, C, 3B
Teixeira, 1B
Francoeur, RF
Diaz, LF
McCann, C
Kotsay, CF
Smoltz, P

Start of 1st Inning

1:36pm: First-pitch strike to Reyes and we’re under way!

1:37pm: Wow, Smoltz made Reyes look silly in that at-bat as he goes down swinging on a splitter in the dirt.

1:39pm: Having a kid greet you as you take your position is kinda cool. Kudos to the Braves organization for being really family-friendly.

1:41pm: The Mets have their first base-runner of the game as Wright draws a walk. This brings the hot-hitting Beltran to the plate with two outs and a runner on.

1:43pm: That was a rather perfunctory pick-off attempt - more of a “I’m watching you” kind of throw-over.

1:44pm: Smoltz just misses getting a called third-strike. 3-2 count on Beltran and Wright will be off with the pitch.

1:44pm: Another walk for Smoltz and he’s totally getting squeezed by home plate umpire Gerry Davis.

1:46pm: No way that wasn’t a strike. I hope Santana fares better with Davis than Smoltz is.

1:48pm: Looks like Smoltz is getting a feel for the strike zone as he catches Delgado looking for his second strikeout.

1:51pm: Santana has Johnson tied up for his first strikeout of the game.

1:52pm: Cue shot off Escobar’s bat and Santana’s got two quick outs.

1:53pm: Laraaaarrrrryyyy! Laraaaarrrrryyyy! I respect Chipper Jones but I hate his guts.

1:54pm: Grounder to Reyes and it’s a 1-2-3 inning.

End of 1st Inning - Mets 0, Braves 0

Start of 2nd Inning

1:57pm: Nasty 12-6 curveball and Church goes down swinging.

1:58pm: Pagan sends an easy grounder to Johnson and, quickly, there are two outs in the inning.

2:00pm: Smoltz can still get it up there as Schneider can’t catch up to the 94-mph fastball.

2:00pm: Schneider hits a slow grounder but he’s not exactly fleet of foot and Johnson has plenty of time to throw him out to end the inning.

2:04pm: Foul pop-up to Delgado and Teixeira is out.

2:04pm: Whew! Francoeur gave that ball a ride but the park holds it in and Pagan makes the catch for the second out.

2:05pm: Diaz sends Santana’s first pitch up the middle for the first hit of the game.

2:06pm: Diaz swipes second the first chance he gets and the Mets are fortunate Schneider’s throw didn’t cost them another base.

2:07pm: McCann hits the ball hard to right but Church is there to make the catch to retire the side.

End of 2nd Inning - Mets 0, Braves 0

Start of 3rd Inning

2:10pm: Santana hits a broken-bat floater into no-man’s land in shallow right-center and Kotsay can’t make the catch. Santana hustles to second as the ball trickles away from Kotsay. Official scoring is a double.

2:11pm: Reyes grounds to short and is thrown out but advances Santana to third.

2:12pm: Would Andruw Jones have caught that ball Santana hit? Probably, seeing as how he would have played Santana really shallow.

2:13pm: Castillo lifts a fly ball to shallow center that’s not nearly deep enough for Santana to tag and score on. The Mets’ woes with runners on third and less than two outs continue.

2:16pm: Wright goes down swinging and the Mets squander a great opportunity to score the first run.

2:19pm: Yeah, it would’ve been nice to keep Gotay but with a 25-man roster, what can you do?

2:20pm: Kotsay rips a double down the right field line to lead off the inning.

2:20pm: As good a hitter as he is, I’d expect Smoltz to bunt here.

2:21pm: Successful sacrifice for Smoltz as he gets the runner to third with one out. They might’ve gotten Kotsay at third if Wright hadn’t vacated but it would’ve been close.

2:22pm: A strikeout would be nice here.

2:23pm: The squeeze is on! Too bad Johnson bunted it foul. They totally caught the Mets by surprise there.

2:24pm: Great play by Santana as he dives to snare the grounder. He holds Kotsay at third and throws over to first to get Johnson for the second out.

2:25pm: Escobar drives the ball to left for a double and the Braves lead 1-0.

2:26pm: Pagan made a bad break on the ball and that cost him any chance to catch that ball.

2:27pm: Grounder to Castillo and the inning is over.

End of 3rd Inning - Braves 1, Mets 0

Start of 4th Inning

2:29pm: 7-39 at Turner Field for the Mets when the Braves score first. That’s a very sobering statistic.

2:31pm: Beltran is having his second consecutive good at-bat against Smoltz today.

2:32pm: Alas, Beltran goes down swinging on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.

2:33pm: Line drive to right and Delgado’s got himself a single.

2:36pm: Kotsay makes a great running catch on a Church line drive to ceter and an even better throw to first to double off Delgado. Quickly, the Mets inning comes to an end.

2:39pm: Check-swing grounder to short by Teixeira and a quick out for Santana.

2:40pm: Francoeur hits the second pop-fly double of the game as the ball falls between Pagan, Reyes, and Wright.

2:42pm: The Mets are getting snake-bitten here as Santana kicks the Diaz grounder. Reyes recovers to make the throw to first but Diaz beats it out as Francoeur advances to third with one out.

2:45pm: Pitcher’s best friend - a 4-6-3 double play and Santana escapes the inning.

End of 4th Inning - Braves 1, Mets 0

Start of 5th Inning

2:51pm: Pagan goes down swinging for the first out.

2:51pm: Schneider goes after the first pitch and hits a dribbler down the first-base line. Smoltz fields and tags him out for an easy out.

2:53pm: Santana sends the ball to deep right but Francoeur gets back there and makes the catch to end the inning.

2:56pm: Smoltz isn’t in the on-deck circle - is he done after only five innings?

2:57pm: Kotsay grounds to Reyes for the first out.

2:57pm: Ruben Gotay is at the plate, pinch-hitting for Smoltz and Smoltz’ day is indeed over.

2:59pm: Santana gets him looking for the second out and Gotay proves the Mets’ point that he’s not a good right-handed option off the bench.

3:00pm: Johnson singles to right and he’s aboard with two outs.

3:02pm: Grounder to Reyes and he takes the short route, throwing over to second, for the third out.

End of 5th Inning - Braves 1, Mets 0

Start of 6th Inning

3:05pm: Blaine Boyer is in the game, in relief of Smoltz.

3:06pm: Reyes grounds to second for an easy out.

3:08pm: After taking a strike on 3-1, Castillo goes down looking.

3:10pm: Wright goes down looking and it’s a quick 1-2-3 inning for Boyer. The Mets offense is looking pretty anemic today - two hits in six innings.

3:13pm: You know the SNY broadcasters are bored when the conversation turns to what they’re wearing. It’s amusing but it’s a 1-0 game, not a blowout, guys.

3:13pm: Jones goes down swinging and Santana has his third strikeout of the game.

3:16pm: Teixeira flies out to Pagan and that’s two outs.

3:16pm: Francoeur really will swing at anything, won’t he?

3:18pm: Fly ball to right by Francoeur and Santana has himself an easy inning.

End of 6th Inning - Braves 1, Mets 0

Start of 7th Inning

3:21pm: Will Ohman is in the game to relieve Boyer.

3:21pm: Beltran hits it deep to left but it’s just a fly ball caught on the warning track for the first out.

3:23pm: Delgado scorches a liner to right and the Mets have the potential tying run at first.

3:24pm: Escobar snares the hard hit ground ball by Church and throws to first for the out. Delgado’s on second but now there are two outs.

3:30pm: On the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Pagan hits a pop-up to Kotsay for the third out. Yet another wasted opportunity for the Mets.

3:34pm: Easy grounder to Wright by Diaz. One out.

3:35pm: McCann hits the ball into the gap in right center and he’s got a standup double.

3:37pm: After falling behind 3-0, Santana induces a fly ball to Pagan from Kotsay for the second out. McCann stays on second.

3:39pm: Brian Pena, pinch-hitting for Ohman, hits a hard grounder that Wright makes a beautiful play on to grab it and throw over to first for the third out.

End of 7th Inning - Braves 1, Mets 0

Start of 8th Inning

3:41pm: Peter Moylan is in the game, relieving Ohman.

3:42pm: Schneider greets Moylan with a liner that gets over Johnson’s head for a single.

3:43pm: Marlon Anderson, pinch-hitting for Santana, grounds into a force out. Anderson is on first with one out.

3:44pm: Reyes goes after the first pitch and lifts it to left for the second out.

3:45pm: Anderson steals second to put himself into scoring position.

3:45pm: Castillo wastes the opportunity as he grounds to first for the third out. The Mets offense with runners in scoring position is just pathetic.

3:48pm: Aaron Heilman is in to relieve Santana - this will be a hard loss to take if the Mets can’t score a few runs.

3:49pm: The Mets are giving Santana an extra day of rest - why?

3:50pm: Johnson flies out to Church and there’s one away.

3:52pm: Escobar goes down swinging on a running fastball.

3:54pm: Four-pitch walk for Jones and he’s aboard with two outs.

3:55pm: Mark Teixeira hits a ball that just keeps drifting until it’s gone. Two-run homer and the Braves lead 3-0.

3:56pm: Heilman’s been known to give up the long ball - that’s an understatement, Keith.

3:57pm: Another nifty play by Wright, snaring the Francoeur grounder on an in-between hop and throwing him out. That ends the inning and the Mets will have to rake if they don’t want to get swept.

End of 8th Inning - Braves 3, Mets 0

Start of 9th Inning

3:59pm: Rafael Soriano is in the game to close it out for the Braves.

4:01pm: Wright, not having to swing the bat, draws a walk on five pitches.

4:02pm: I can’t believe that wasn’t a called third strike on Beltran.

4:03pm: Beltran can’t get another break as he’s caught looking, never taking the bat off his shoulder, for the first out.

4:04pm: Delgado goes the other way for a fly ball out to left and the Mets are one out away from completing this lost weekend.

4:05pm: Wright takes second on defensive indifference.

4:06pm: Church lines a single to right and Wright scores. The Braves lead is cut to 3-1 and Pagan will come up as the potential tying run.

4:07pm: Church takes second on defensive indifference.

4:08pm: Soriano’s lost the strike zone, falling behind Pagan 3-0.

4:10pm: Pagan draws a walk and the tying run is on base.

4:11pm: Diving stop by Teixeira to save a possible game-tying hit and the Braves win it to sweep the series.

Game Over - Braves 3, Mets 1

This is a tough loss for Johan Santana - even though he didn’t have his best stuff, he limited the Braves to just one run. Really, the loss lies with the Mets’ anemic bats as they couldn’t get a run across until the ninth inning and, by then, it was too little, too late. The Mets will look some home cooking as they open the final season at Shea Stadium with a nine-game homestand.