Inter-league play is now in full swing, lets take a look at how the NL East teams fared against the AL Sunday.

New York Mets : 4

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New York Yankees : 5

Mets Take : The Yankees complete their sweep of the Mets. While you can’t really ever say a team ‘Should have’ done something in the game of baseball, the Mets should have won today. They had every opportunity, Jon Niese pitched very well, allowing only 2 unearned runs  trough 7 innings. The two runs occurred after a David Wright error extended the seventh rather then ending it on a ground ball.  After the Yankees took the lead in the 8th (with help from another Mets error) the Mets tied it back up in the 9th off an Ike Davis RBI double, but promptly lost in walk-of fashion when Russell Martin hit his second home run of the afternoon. The Mets will try to right the ship as they head to Tampa to take on the Rays.

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With inter-league play just around the corner the NL East standings are dealing with division match ups. How did it all play out tonight?

New York Mets : 3

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Washington Nationals : 5

Nats’ Take : The Nationals are now on the verge of sweeping the Mets after taking the first two games of the series. When you think about the resiliency of the Nats after the myriad injuries they have faced, it’s hard not to be impressed. Edwin Jackson tossed a nice game going 7 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 ER) and striking out six. He got an early boost when Adam LaRoche hit a 3 run HR in the bottom half of the 1st. The Nats have one more game against the Mets before heading up to Bean Town to face the Red Sawx.

Mets’ Take : The Mets have now lost three straight and they probably would like to snap that losing streak before heading back to New York to take on their cross town rivals; the Yankees in the new House that Ruth Built. The Mets only had three hits tonight, but one belonged to the struggling Ike Davis who also recorded two walks, at least that’s a positive. Other than that there weren’t too many good things to say. If the Mets can win the final game with the Nats at least that would provide some momentum for the weekend series with the Yankees.

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St. Louis Cardinals : 0

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New York Mets : 8

Mets Take: There is only one subject line for this game and that is Johan Santana. In game number 8,020 in Mets history the franchise finally records its first no hitter. Santana threw an incredible 134 pitches, but went all nine with out allowing a hit. He did give up 5 walks, but that won’t prevent him from grasping his place in Mets history. When you consider what he has done as a Met and how he has rebounded from this most recent shoulder injury, he may be one of the best Met signings ever.

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Wednesday the NL East featured big blasts and late inning rallies. Let’s go around the east and see what happened.

Philladelphia Phillies : 10

New York Mets : 6

Mets take: Despite losing two out of three against the rival Phillies the Mets can take solace in their offensive production in this series. The team continues to find ways to produce runs and everyone seems to contribute. Lucas Duda hit a pair of homers for the Mets tonight, the first of which being a 2-run shot off of Cliff Lee, giving the Mets a three run lead in the sixth. The Mets do need to find a solution to their bullpen woes, the Phillies scored 8 of their 10 runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th off Mets bullpen pitchers.

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Before I start, Let me Say, I am a Mets fan.  I bleed blue and orange.  And unless David Wright is asking for north of 180 million, I believe the New York Mets have to sign him to a long term deal.  The fans have gone through the tough loss to the Cardinals, the collapses to the Phillies, the Madoff scandal and just total lost years.  But there has always been one constant for the Met fans.  They always had homegrown STAR David Wright.  I capitalize star because even though I love David and want him long term on the Mets, he is not a superstar by any means.

Yes David is hitting around .375 and that is amazing.  But that doesn’t make him a superstar.  He also has 5 home runs, five less than J.J. Hardy, tied with Chipper Jones and Scott Hairston.. both who have at least 60 less at bats than David.  Now its not about home runs, its also about driving the runs in, well David is at 18th in the league which is average for all stars at the moment.

Wrights career totals are 300 batting average with 20 home runs and 83 rbi a year.  I am sorry, but that is not close to super star numbers.  While yes he has played in a big ballpark his entire career and then Citi Field didn’t help for three years, he should still be better if he is truly a Superstar.

Average is great, but do you know who is in second with batting average right now?  Melky Cabrera.  He is certainly not a superstar just because he has a high average, and neither should Wright.  Wright has only hit above .315 once in his career, so its hard to believe he will finish above .330.

But the Mets need David Wright.  The Mets fans need David Wright.  As fans we hope Wilpon Alderson and Wright come to fair terms.  He is more valuable to the organization and the fans then Jose Reyes ever will be.  Reyes still might be the better overall player, but David Wright is what the Mets want to be.  Classy, positive and never say die attitude.  That is what Wright is all about, that is what Alderson is all about and that is what Collins is all about.  It’s what Wilpon needs to understand and be all about.

Hopefully David will sign a longterm deal near Mark Texiera money, that seems fair on both accounts to me.

Except for very brief moments in New York Baseball history, the New York Met have always been the loveable losers.  And going into this season, surrounded by the ownerships problems, losing Jose Reyes and the possibility of David Wright starting his last season as Met, this season had little hope.  But something has changed with this team.  Their is a personality to the club that all baseball lovers can sense.  They are winning.

Now I know, it is not even June, but if I told you the New York Mets would be 2 games out of first with a 26 and 21 record on May 26th, you would of told me I was homer and out of my mind.  But they are and with a couple of moves, they might not be going anywhere.

Now the NL East is actually is actually the toughest division at the moment.  The Nationals, who are in first, hold only a 4 game lead over the last place Phillies.  That’s right, the Nationals are in first, the Mets and Braves are in second and in both wild card spots, and the two paper favorites, Phillies and Marlins, are in last.

If the New York Mets stay as is, they might win 80-85 games.  The heart they show and the solid pitching they have had, could get them to that mark.  David Wright is on his way to a possible MVP season if he can continue and the Mets can continue to show they can play with the big boys.

Sure, a 85 win season would be awesome, and a great step into the future, but why stop there.  The Mets need a righty bat in the outfield with some pop.  Now I know fans don’t want to hear this, but Jason Bay can be that guy.  Not the Bay from Pittsburgh or Boston, but one who can platoon with Kirk and Torres.  One who can pop some home runs for this team and be a leader for the younger guys on the bench.

Other than just one bat, the Mets need another starting pitcher.  The loss of Pelfrey has hurt this club, but in reality, they need a bonafide number two or three starter.  If the Wilpons can give Alderson any money, and let him make a trade, this Mets team could have one of the top pitching staffs in their league.

And lastly, the Mets need a dominant bullpen arm.  Someone who can take those 7th and 8th innings and just shut them down.  I am okay with Francisco closing, and Rauch and Parnell in the pen.  But need that one arm who is just unhittable.  I am not sure they can find that or its available, but they need to get someone in that pen to help if they want to compete all year.

Even without those moves, the Mets will make this season an exciting one.  They are taking on the personality of their never say die manager.  If they could ever get Ike Davis hitting, and then get Bay back and another starter, they would be a very dangerous team to contend with.

Much like the rest of the MLB this year, the NL East has been rather unpredictable. With the Mets over achieving, the Nationals’ impeccable pitching and the Phillies’ lack luster start, there is a lot to think about after the first 40 plus games. Let’s run down the division and give a look at where the teams stand and where they might end up.

Atlanta Braves: The Braves started the season sluggishly. They began by getting swept by the Mets and finished the first week of the season 2-4. After that, they were able to rebound and work their way to 6 games over .500,  where they currently sit one game in back of the division leading Nationals.

Pleasant Surprise: At age 40 and after announcing his plans to retire at the end of the season, the expectations for  Chipper Jones were probably a little lower than they have been in the past. After 101 at bats Jones is the owner of a solid .307 BA with 5 HR and 24 RBIs. If he can keep this up all year there may not be a need to retire come seasons end.

Solid Starters: Brandon Beachy and Tommy Hanson both have five wins in the season’s early going. While the rest of the rotation has had its ups and downs Beachy and Hanson have been as good as advertised, between the two of them they have pitched 118.2 innings with a 2.42 ERA. Tim Hudson also deserves an honorable mention for his stellar start as well, garnering a 3-1 record with a 3.03 ERA.

Where they finish: As of right now I see the Braves ending the year at 84-78 and competing for the final NL Wildcard spot.

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Sorry everyone for the redundancy and for the lack of content.  I am having a lot of trouble finding new things to write about and do them first to put content up, and obviously more importantly…needing writers.  Again, were still looking for writers, or creators of blogs for all NL East teams.  Please contact me at mrose@nleastchatter.com and we will consider anyone!  One thing I must warn though, unfortunately this is not a paid job.  I am fine with people using this as a springboard, but although we have some advertising $$, I can’t pay. Obviously if we can really turn this around, that can change.

thanks for the support!

MRose

The Nationals and Mets end their 3-game set at Citi Field today, with a great pitching matchup.  Strasburg goes up against Santana in a battle of aces at 1:10PM

Nats today: Desmond, Espinosa, Zim, Werth 8, DeRosa 7, LaRoche, Nady 9, Flores 2, Strasburg. Vs. lefty, Werth plays center, LaRoche drops.

April 11, 2012 9:46 am via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@AdamKilgoreWP

Adam Kilgore

Mets Wed. lineup vs. Nationals: Tejada-SS, Murphy-2B, Duda-RF, Davis-1B, Bay-LF, Thole-C, Nieuwenhuis-CF, Cedeno-3B, Santana-LHP

April 11, 2012 7:26 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Mets

New York Mets

The Phillies continue their series with the Marlins visiting (minus Ozzie Guillen) at 7:05PM EST

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

April 11, 2012 2:26 pm via Social Marketing HubReplyRetweetFavorite

@Phillies

Phillies

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

April 11, 2012 2:26 pm via Social Marketing HubReplyRetweetFavorite

@Phillies

Phillies

The Braves game will be added later today.

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….