Only two game containing NL East teams tonight given the Marlins/Phillies day off:

First the Nationals look to rebound from a walk off loss to the Mets at Citi Field (7:05PM EST)

Davey's G5 Lineup at NYM: Desmond ss, Lombardozzi 2b, Zimmerman 3b, LaRoche 1b, Werth rf, Nady lf, Bernadina cf, Ramos c, Detwiler lhp.

April 10, 2012 1:59 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@NationalsPR

Nationals PR

EDIT: Wright as been scratched, see changes below

There was a problem with the blakbirdpie shortcode

Mets Tuesday lineup vs. the Nationals: Tejada-6, Murphy-4, Wright-5, Bay-7, Duda-9, Turner-3, Hairston-8, Nickeas-2, Gee-1

April 10, 2012 2:39 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Mets

New York Mets

Again, the Braves go for win number 1 against the Astros in Houston at 8:05PM EST

Tonight's lineup at HOU (8:05, FSS/680AM/BRN): Bourn 8 Prado 7 Freeman 3 McCann 2 Uggla 4 Jones 5 Heyward 9 Pastornicky 6 Hanson 1

April 10, 2012 3:02 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Braves

Atlanta Braves

Astros are slow to post their lineup….

We’ll try to post the lineups this year… again, we are short staffed, so I can’t give guarantees.

First off, the Marlins and Phillies both off to slow starts, look to get on pace against eachother.  They begin at 1:05 in Philadelphia(or whenever Phillies home opener festivities complete)

Updated Marlins lineup 12:26PM

#Marlins lineup change 4/9 in Philly: Stanton out; Sanchez batting 4th, Kearns in RF batting 5th, Coghlan batting 6th in LF

April 9, 2012 11:23 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@marlinsbaseball

MarlinsBaseball.com

Lineup vs Marlins: Pierre LF, Polanco 3B, Rollins SS, Pence RF, Victorino CF, Mayberry 1B, Ruiz C, Galvis 2B, Hamels P

April 9, 2012 9:04 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Phillies

Phillies

At 7:05PM , the Mets look to continue a surprising start when the Nationals visit Citi Field for the first time in 2012.

#Nats 4/9 Lineup at #Mets: Desmond SS, Espinosa 2B, Zimmerman 3B, LaRoche 1B, Werth RF, DeRosa LF, Bernadina CF, Flores C, Jackson RHP

April 9, 2012 2:36 pm via Social Marketing HubReplyRetweetFavorite

@Nationals

Washington Nationals

Mets Monday lineup vs. Nationals: Tejada-SS, Murphy-2B, Wright-3B, Davis-1B, Bay-LF, Duda-RF, Thole-C, Nieuwenhuis-CF, Pelfrey-RHP

April 9, 2012 12:54 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Mets

New York Mets

Finally, at 8:05PM, Atlanta will be in Houston going for their first win of the young season.

Tonight's lineup at HOU (8:05, FSS/680AM/BRN): Bourn 8 Prado 7 McCann 2 Uggla 4 Freeman 3 Diaz 9 Francisco 5 Pastornicky 6 Beachy 1

April 9, 2012 3:09 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Braves

Atlanta Braves

Astros lineup vs. Braves 4/9. Roof open. First pitch 7:05 CT. Gates open at 5:35. http://t.co/mvAejp6i

April 9, 2012 2:17 pm via Social Marketing HubReplyRetweetFavorite

@astros

Houston Astros

Today is the first home game for a couple NL East teams.  First, the New York Mets open the third season at Citi Field against the Nationals at 4:05PM.  The lineup is below.

Today's lineup: Desmond, ss; Werth, rf; Zimmerman, 3b; LaRoche, 1b; Morse, lf; Ankiel, cf; Espinosa, 2b; Rodriguez, c; Zimmermann, rhp

April 8, 2011 11:17 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@NationalsPR

Nationals PR

Mets Home Opener Line-Up vs. Washington: Reyes-ss, Pagan-cf, Wright-3b, Beltran-rf, Davis-1b, Harris-lf, Emaus-2b, Thole-c, Dickey-p

April 8, 2011 10:13 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@NewYorkMets

New York Mets

Later, at 7:05pm, The Marlins will travel to Houston to face the Astros at MinuteMaid Park for the ‘Stros home opener

#Marlins 4/8 at Hou: Coghlan 8, Infante 4, Ramirez 6, Sanchez 3, Morrison 7, Murphy 5, Bonifacio 9, Hayes 2, Nolasco 1

April 8, 2011 1:01 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@marlinsbaseball

MarlinsBaseball.com

No twitter with Astros lineup

Finally, the Braves open their season at Turner Field as the NL Favorite Philadelphia Phillies come to town in a 7:35 start

Phillies' Lineup @ Braves: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Rollins SS, Howard 1B, Francisco RF, Ibanez LF, Ruiz C, Valdez 2B, Lee P

April 8, 2011 3:12 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@philliesnetwork

Phillies Network

Tonight's lineup (7:35 Peachtree TV/FS South): Prado LF McLouth CF Chipper 3B McCann C Uggla 2B Heyward RF Gonzalez SS Freeman 1B Hudson P

April 8, 2011 1:24 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@Braves

Atlanta Braves

Check out Real Dirty Mets for Mets news at NLEC, Centerfield Gate for Nats news and Phillies Phandom for Phillies info.  If you’d like to write about any of the NL East teams, especially the Braves and Marlins, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com

Phillies vs. Astros

The Phillies and Astros played a wild game Tuesday night in Philadelphia.  The game featured a pitcher’s duel, ninth inning home run, and a key ejection that forced the Phillies to use a pitcher in the field.  In the end, the Astos defeated the Phillies by a score of 4-2 in a 16 inning marathon.

The Astros got on the board first in the fourth inning when Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer off of Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels.  The Phils got a run back off of Houston starter Bud Norris in the sixth on a Raul Ibanez RBI double, but the Astros held on to a 2-1 lead entering the ninth inning.    With two outs in the ninth, Jimmy Rollins blasted a solo home run off of Houston reliever Wilton Lopez to tie the game and send it to extra innings.  Then things got really interesting.

 Neither team could find a way to score in extra frames.  In the bottom of the 14th, Ryan Howard came up with two runners on and two outs.  Howard had two check swings ruled strikes by third base umpire Scott Barry, the last being strike three.  When Howard tossed his bat and helmet after the strike out, Barry ejected Howard, causing the Phillies first baseman to charge towards the umpire before being restrained.  The ejection left the Phillies short a position player, and forced manager Charlie Manuel to insert pitcher Roy Oswalt in left field. 

The Astros finally broke the tie in the top of the 16th off of reliever David Herndon (1-3), scratching out two runs on an infield single and fielder’s choice.  In the bottom of the inning, Howard’s ejection loomed large again.   Astros’ reliever Jeff Fulchino (1-0) retired the first two batters, but after walking Placido Polanco, Houston intentionally walked Chase Utley to bring up “clean up hitter” Roy Oswalt.   Fulchino got Oswalt to ground out to end the game and give Houston the victory.

 

Marlins vs. Mets

 The Mets’ slumbering offense knocked out Marlins’ ace Josh Johnson after five innings and used single runs in the final two innings to defeat Florida by a score of 6-5 at Citi Field.

The Mets broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fifth off of Johnson, thanks to an RBI single by Carlos Beltran and Jeff Francoeur‘s second sacrifice fly of the game.  Mets’ starter R.A. Dickey kept the Mets in the lead until the seventh.  With two outs and two on in the seventh, Dickey allowed a three-run homer to Gaby Sanchez to give Florida a 5-4 lead.  However, the Mets came back against the Marlins’ bullpen.

With two outs in the eighth, Angel Pagan doubled and Beltran drove in his second run of the game with a run-scoring single off of Clay Hensley to tie the game at 5.   After Hisanori Takahashi (8-6) retired the Marlins in the top of the ninth, Luis Castillo hit a two-out single off of Will Ohman (0-2) to score Ike Davis and give the Mets the walk-off victory.

 

Nationals vs. Cubs

The Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano pitched effectively into the eighth inning, and closer Carlos Marmol survived a shaky ninth as Chicago held on to defeat the Nationals 5-4 in Washington.

Nationals’ starter John Lannan (5-6) allowed a three-run homer to Alfonso Soriano and a two-run shot to Tyler Colvin as the Cubs built a 5-1 lead.  Meanwhile, Zambrano (5-6) allowed just one run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out eight.   Marmol entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, but struck out Ian Desmond to keep the score at 5-1.

In the ninth, Marmol created his own bases loaded mess, and with two outs, Adam Kennedy cleared the bases with a three-run double to cut Chicago’s lead to 5-4.  Luckily for the Cubbies, Marmol rebounded to retire Ryan Zimmerman on a fly ball to preserve the victory.  Despite allowing three runs, Marmol was credited with his 23rd save of the season since he entered the game with the tying run at the plate.

 

Braves vs. Rockies

The first place Atlanta Braves received a solid starting pitching performance from Derek Lowe, but the Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa was better on Tuesday night, and the Braves fell by a score of 5-2 in Colorado.

The Rockies opened the scoring when Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off of Lowe (11-12) in the bottom of the first.  The Braves got a run back in the second off of De La Rosa (5-4) on an Alex Gonzalez solo shot, but Rockies got that run back with a Seth Smith home run in the sixth.  Alex Gonzalez cut the Rockies lead to 3-2 with a seventh inning RBI single, but that was as close as the Braves would get.

The Rockies added some insurance in the eighth inning courtesy of a Dexter Fowler two-run single.  Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth inning to notch his 12th save of the season.

Braves vs Astros

The first place Braves were the lone NL East team in action on Monday.  Atlanta lefty Mike Minor pitched six effective innings in his major league debut, but the Astros used a 6-run seventh inning to defeat the Braves by a score of 10-4 in Houston.

Minor allowed four runs (three earned) in his six innings, allowing five hits and striking out five.   Home runs by Jason Heyward and Brian McCann off of Astros’ starter Bud Norris helped the Braves build a 4-3 lead, but the Astros scored an unearned run off of Minor in the sixth to tie the game.  With the score tied at 4 in the seventh, Kyle Farnsworth came on in relief for the Braves and allowed an RBI single to Jeff Keppinger which gave Houston a 5-4 lead.  Peter Moylan relieved Farnsworth and allowed a run-scoring single to Carlos Lee before things got wild.  With the bases loaded, Chris Johnson singled to left field to drive in two runs.   On the play, Braves catcher Brian McCann fired to third base to try to nail Lee advancing on the play, but McCann’s throw went into left field, and both Lee and Johnson scored to give the Astros a 10-4 lead. 

Tim Byrdak (2-1) retired one batter in relief and earned the victory for Houston, while Farnsworth (0-1) took the loss.

Nationals vs. Astros

The Nationals took on the Astros in Houston on Thursday afternoon looking to salvage a split of the four game series.  The Nats came within an out of doing just that, but poor defense and another blown save cost them as they fell to the Astros by a score of 6-4.

Down 3-2 heading to the ninth inning, the Nationals rallied against Houston closer Matt Lindstrom with two outs and nobody on base.  After a Michael Morse single, Willie Harris tripled to left field to tie the game, and Cristian Guzman followed with a single to give Washington a 4-3 lead.  However, Matt Capps suffered his second blown save of the series.  Guzman, a career infielder, was moved from shortstop to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning, and that move cost the Nats.  With two outs and Michael Bourn on second, Guzman misplayed Lance Berkman’s line drive into a two-base error, allowing Bourn to score the tying run.  Carlos Lee followed with a home run to left field to give the Astros a walk-off victory. 

The Nationals have lost three in a row and ended up with a 3-7 record on their 10 game road trip.  Washington hopes to turn their fortunes around when they return home to face the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

 

Brewers vs. Marlins

Behind another strong pitching performance from ace Josh Johnson, the Marlins defeated the Brewers 3-2 in Miami to take three of four from Milwaukee.

Johnson went seven innings, allowing just one run and striking out eight to improve to 6-2 on the season.  The Marlins built a 3-0 lead off Brewers starter Chris Capuano, who was making his first start since 2007 in his return from Tommy John surgery.  Catcher Ronny Paulino had two RBI, and Dan Uggla drove in one and scored two for Florida.  Leo Nunez came on in the ninth inning to protect a 3-1 lead and made it interesting.  Three straight singles with one out cut the lead to 3-2, but Nunez rebounded to retire Prince Fielder and strike out Corey Hart to earn his 12th save on the season.

The Marlins head to New York to open up a three game series against the Mets on Friday evening.

 

Braves vs. Dodgers

The first place Braves opened up a ten game road trip on Thursday night.   Atlanta extended their winning streak to nine games as they held on to defeat the Dodgers 4-3 in Los Angeles.

Troy Glaus homered and drove two runs to lead the Braves offense.  Starter Kris Medlen also got into the action with an RBI double in the sixth to extend Atlanta’s lead to 4-0.  Medlen pitched into the eighth inning, leaving with one out and the bases loaded.  Peter Moylan came in and allowed all three inherited runners to score to cut the Braves lead to 4-3.  With closer Billy Wagner unavailable after appearing in four straight games, Takashi Saito was called on to try to seal the victory.  Saito retired the first two batters and got ahead of Russell Martin 0 and 2 before departing with a hamstring injury.  Jonny Venters threw one pitch and struck out Martin to earn his first major league save.

The Braves look to make it 10 in a row Friday night in Los Angeles.

 

The Mets and Phillies were off on Thursday, but be sure to check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog and Phillies Phandom for the latest on both teams.

TPI took last weekend off and you have my sincerest apologies. On a rather humorous note, the Red Sox have tried to trade the Lance Armstrong of the Baseball World (Mike Lowell) to the Texas Rangers and would look to replace him with….drumroll….Adrian Beltre. I am not a general manager, though I do manage several fantasy baseball teams, but do you think it would be wise to bring in a guy who underperforms and is overpaid, into a fishbowl like Boston???? Do you really think Boston’s fans will have the patience for .250, 20 HR, and decent range/arm???? Not a wise move IMHO (In My Humble Opinion). Yes, I speak in acronyms sometimes.

The NL East has been busy this off season. First let me address the Granderson trade. Love this move. Absolutely love it. But not for the Yankees. I love it for the Diamondbacks. Dont get me wrong, Granderson will make a fine addition to the already potent/imposing Yankee lineup. But you have to love what the Diamondbacks did. They imported Edwin Jackson, and Ian Kennedy. They have now added two starters to their rotation. Scherzer was good, and Schlereth might end up being a good reliever, but any time you can get a #2 guy to be your #3, it is a good move. Kennedy is definetly a #4 guy and he will thrive in that roll. Great move all around for everyone involved although I think the Tigers got the worst of the deal, which is not a knock on them. It was a fair and balanced trade all around.

Pudge Rodriguez. 2 years from the Nationals. I like what they are doing here. Sure, it is not 2001, but you have to like the fact that the Nationals are trying.   Getting Bruney from the Yankees is a good move.  Strengthens the bullpen.  If they could get another starting pitcher, they might be decent to watch.

Welcome Back, Enrico Palazzo!

Placido “Enrico Palazzo” Polanco has rejoined the Phightin Phils. I like Polanco as a player. I have a soft spot for guys who take pitches, work the count, and make contact. Very valuable. Like a Shane Battier of Major League Baseball. Does the fundamental things right, but isnt a superstar. My question is, where does he hit in that lineup? Are the Phils going to move him down in the order, which kind of negates his value.  Are they looking to move Victorino down?  That is the only downside of this move.  Polanco would not be a good #6 or #7 hitter.  Mark DeRosa/Adam Kennedy I think would have been a better fit. 

Apparently, not thankful enough to be playing professional baseball!

The Mets and Phillies each got a new backup catcher.  The Phillies picked up Brian Schneider while the Mets got Chris Coste.  Calling this move minor would still overplay its signifigance, but what makes it interesting is Chris Coste’s statements about his remaining “a lifelong Phillie”.   Further, Mr. Coste found it “difficult” to sign with the Mets.   Frankly, I am glad players have a little more invested in their employers than simply their loyalty to the all mighty dollar.  However, Mr. Coste, the Phillies just cut you.  They deemed you worthless, so worthless in fact, that they signed Brian Schneider to replace you.  Mr. Schneider  hit .218 last year.  .218!!!!  I think it would be wise for Mr. Coste to close his mouth, cash his paycheck, and thank the heavens above that someone wants to pay him to play baseball.

Moving on, the Braves signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito and traded away Rafael Soriano, who had accepted arbitration.  Really, the Braves moved laterally here, unless you count what was received from the Tampa Bay Rays, right handed reliever Jesse Chavez, as an improvement.  It seems a right of passage for baseball teams to turnover their bullpens.  Usually, guys who one team didnt like move to a team that likes them slightly more.  Is Billy Wagner better than Rafael Soriano?  Not really.  Maybe cheaper, but otherwise, pretty much the same pitcher with similar injury concerns.  Saito is interesting but I think he has fallen from his spot as a stable bullpen presence. 

The Marlins yardsale continues as they have traded away Matt Lindstrom and Jeremy Hermida this offseason.  From Boston, the Marlins received, what else, young talent, in two left handed pitching prospects.  I dont even know what the Marlins got from Houston for Lindstrom.  Let’s just say, for arguments sake, it was a bag of magic beans. 

I cannot comment on rumors because they are just that, rumors.  I am sure there were other moves I missed, such as the Mets setting the world on fire by signing Henry Blanco who should not be confused with Gregor Blanco, because they are not related. 

Wait a second, you are not Cliff Lee....

Oh yeah, another thing, the Phillies just traded for Roy Halladay and three prospects.  If you read NLEastChatter, you knew I said that the Phillies needed pitching.  Well, they got it.  Just not in the way I imagined.  It is a shrewd business move, trading one star for another, especially since it looked unlikely that the Phillies could retain Cliff Lee past 2010.  However, do the Phillies actually get better?  They trade away 2 prospects in Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor and get three players back.  So essentially, for Roy Halladay, several months of Cliff Lee, and three prospects the Phillies traded 5 prospects, which really isnt a bad deal.  However, at the end of the day, entering next season, the Phillies still have one true ace, a solid number two/maybe ace/maybe bust and J.A. Happ.  This is exactly what they had when the season ended.  While Halladay is a great, great pitcher, the rest of the National League East cannot be any more afraid of the Phillies than when they had Cliff Lee. 

The rest of the offseason will be filled with what the hell the Mets will do.  The Mets, surrounded by Boston, the Yankees, and the Phillies, have watched all three teams pull off great moves and great signings.  They will be pressed into action.  The Nationals are essentially waiting for the dust to settle to see who will accept signing with the Nationals as opposed to playing in Japan, the Braves are quietly trying to put together a team in a city that cares slightly more about the Braves than the Hawks, but well below the Falcons and college football.  Lastly the Marlins appear to be determining who will show up for Spring Training to decide who they should sign.  With that said, feel free to show up to Marlins spring training.  If you manage to look official you might just join the 40 man roster.

No more baseball. Thank goodness for football, because I think I’d go out the window if I had only hockey and basketball for sustenance once the world series is over. Defenestration. I think that’s what it’s called. I must not be alone in thinking that either. Going out the window, that is. Imagine it happened quite frequently at some point. Enough to motivate someone to actually come up with a word for it. Think about that. We do lots of things every day that there isn’t a word for but should be. Throwing a pillow at the TV after Jerry Manuel starts Wilson Valdez at short, for example. Gotta be a word for that.

Anyway, the Phillies won yesterday—outlasting the Marlins 7-6 at Citizens Bank Park and avoiding a series sweep to end the season. I guess the secret to beating the Marlins turned out to be sitting all your regulars, because that’s what the Phillies did yesterday as Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez all rode the pine. Josh Johnson must have been licking his chops as he warmed up to start this one, huh? Turns out, not so much.  John Mayberry, Paul Hoover and Miguel Cairo combined to blast the Marlins, who finish the year at 87-75–6 games out of first and 5 back of the wildcard.

Washington fans have to be feeling pretty satisfied with themselves this week, huh? After laying a 3 game sweep on the Mets, they go into Atlanta and sweep the Braves out of town too to finish the season on a 7 game winning streak. Still couldn’t break 60 wins, however, as the Nats finish up the season 59-103. That’s 2 years in a row at 59 wins. Whatever word there is to describe what the Nationals are, “good” is not one of them. Let’s hope Stephen Strasburg gets here quickly, huh? The game ball in this one had to go to J.D. Martin, who matched Derek Lowe down the line and shut down the Braves over 6 innings, scattering 6 hits and allowing a single run in a game that the Nats went on to win in extras 2-1.

Finally, the Mets. I actually can’t write any more about them. It hurts too much. Watching Nelson Figueroa out there yesterday though pitching his complete game shutout only made it harder to endure these next months without baseball. The playoffs and World Series will be fun, don’t get me wrong. And my Giants will make it bearable until January or so, but thinking about what could have been this year in Queens just brings me down. Maybe the Mets would have choked again this year, and you know what, I’d have preferred it to the dead from the neck up baseball I witnessed this year from basically mid-May. Sweeping the Astros to finish out the string here was nice, but watching the Phillies and Dodgers stumble to the finish this year got me thinking about how the Mets likely would have made it close.

For me, last night was all about heading out to CitField with my wife (no, that’s not her on the left) to watch the Mets. As I said in my previous post, I have a soft spot in my heart for games like this. Absolute garbage time at the ballyard where the game is a total afterthought. We actually missed the first half-inning shopping for “female” fan gear at the Alyssa Milano “Touch” shop. What a great place that was, let me tell you. You know the only thing it was missing? Alyssa Milano. Instead we got some rude ugly chick who told us to drop our beers before we came in. She didn’t ask. She told. Pointed to the ground and everything. I think if you’re going to have an Alyssa Milano store in your stadium, the least you could do is hire better looking girls to run it.
I’d have settled for polite, actually.

As for the game itself, gotta hand this one to John Maine. He shut down the Astros for 7 innings as the Metsies won by the score of 7-1. Maine’s season is sort of a microcosm of the entire Mets’ season. It seems almost impossible that the Mets were actually relying on him to be their #3 starter this year (or was that going to be Ollie Perez?). Either way, you get the point. Ineffectiveness gave way to injury for John, but it is sort of comforting to see him come out and spin a nice game. Even if it is October 2 and in a meaningless game against another washout team like the Astros.

Howsabout them Nats, huh? It’s actually pretty galling for me that they’re as close to the Mets as they are, and when they keep playing like this, it makes it that much worse. Especially since my fantasy season is hanging by a thread and I stocked my lineup with Braves to take advantage of their (supposedly) porous pitching. This time it was Livan Hernandez and his robust waistline shutting down the Braves for a 6-3 Nats win. That’s 5 in a row now  for them. Can’t say as I care about the Braves taking it on the chin, though. Not exactly my favorite bunch of guys. Larry, Larry, Larry and all that.

Finally, a word about the Phillies. Last night, they fell to the Marlins by the score of 7-2 and their chances of taking best record in the league got a little dimmer. It’s not that I’m a stranger to having the Marlins come in and pee all over the carpet, because they did that to the Mets the past 2 years and it’s gut wrenching. The Marlins are not a good team, but they’re just good enough at the worst possible moments to have you cursing them for weeks. Last night it was Cameron Maybin doing the bulk of the damage by going 4-5 with an RBI and 3 runs scored. Hamels on the hill today, but will he be enough to cancel the momentum of the spoiling Fish?

There’s really not much drama left in the NL East these days now that the Phils have clinched and the Braves have sort of exploded after teasing us for a couple of weeks there with an improbable late run toward the Rockies and the NL Wild Card. Ironically, there is still some juice flowing from the most unlikely of sources—the Nats.

After sweeping the Mets earlier in the week (not that you need much juice for that), the Nats opened a 4 game set against the recently resurgent Bravos at Turner Field last night and promptly dumped them by the score of 2-1. The story in this one, to me, was Garrett Mock–he of the 5.62ERA and 1.73WHIP–who matched his counterpart, Atlanta’s wunderkind Tommy Hanson, all night long. This is especially sickening to me because, being the astute fantasy baseball man that I am, I had Escobar, Prado and Diaz in my lineup last night to take advantage of the aforementioned Mr. Mock’s anticipated ineffectiveness. No dice. Nice game, Garrett, I’ll have to make hay against Livan tonight instead.

The only other NL East game last night saw the Astros cut down Cliff Lee and the Phillies 5-3 at Citizens Bank Park. I know it’s garbage time for the Phils, but you’d think they’d have found a way to get Mr. Lee a victory at home to cap off a pretty amazing run he’s had in Philadelphia since his trade from the Indians at the deadline. Heading into the postseason, Phillie fans have to feel pretty confident seeing Lee and Hamels out there at the top of the Phillie staff. Bullpen? Not so much. Lee didn’t have it last night, however, as Felipe Paulino pulled a Garrett Mock laid a hurting on the home team. And just who is Felipe Paulino? Good question. Let me know if you find out.

Finally, in one last bit of Mets-related news (because I know everyone’s just dying for a last bit of Mets-related news), last night I sprung for tickets to tonight’s game at CitiField against the Astros (thank God we missed Felipe Paulino!). The Mrs. and I will be there tonight while my parents watch the boy. The masochist in me loves these types of meaningless, end-of-season games, when the stadium is empty the bathroom lines are short. As a Met fan, I’ve had many opportunites to acquire a taste for this type of experience, and the truth is, I’m sort of looking forward to it. I’m especially excited now because I scored some prime Caesar’s Club tickets ($120 face value apiece) off StubHub.com for the measley price of $35 a pop. I’ve never sat down there, so it should be special. Has anyone scanned the offerings on StubHub recently? If your team is out of it like mine is, you’ll find a cornucopia of fantastic seats at fractions of face value. No reason EVER to get your tix through the MLB websites. Their best seats are already sold (to the people reselling now on StubHub!) and they’re charging face value to see (what by now is) a severely overvalued event. Anyway, there’s a nickel’s worth of free advice for y’all.

Enjoy tonight’s games.