...without Johan Santana.

What a great pitching performance again for Johan. Beltran is starting to get in the groove now. I must admit im still getting alittle worried about David Wright at the plate i keep thinking he is trying to do to much with every swing.

Encouraging things we've learned over the past 2 games:

1. No matter what happens with the rest of our rotation, Johan will always still be johan. Through 4 starts and 25.2 innings, he has 37 strikeouts, a 0.70 era, and 0.90 whip. He is the best pitcher in the game right now and singlehandedly turned the momentum around for this team last night.

2. We have 7 guys hitting over .300 on this team, and our collective BA is 3rd in the game. Beltran, Castillo, and Church are red hot. The offense is not the problem, especially if we are able to come through with 2 outs and RISP as we did today.

3. Pelfrey, at least, is back on track. Yes it was a weak lineup but he turned in a solid outing today and forced lots of ground balls, which is his specialty. Lets hope Perez can get back on track tommorow to keep the momentum going.

What a very bad outing again from ollie. Looks like the mets are going to lose this one. 7-1 down in the 5th.

Olly Perez is really really struggling. remember when we were considering signing Derek Lowe or AJ Burnett, but decided to just resig Olly because he'd done well last year and was younger and was cheaper? bad choice. We just gave him a 36 million, 3 year contract and he can't get past the 5th inning to save his life against the Nationals. His fastball topped off at 88 mph, and he was throwing it straight down the pipe. Pelfrey and Maine have gotten their velocity back and seem to be rebounding, but not Perez. At this point we would be better served calling back up Nelson Figueroa and putting him in the rotation while Olly proves to us he can still pitch, either in the minors or in the bullpen. Tim Redding and Freddy Garcia also await opportunities in AAA. We are 8-10 and in 4th place in a 5 team division, nearly through the first month of the season. We don't have time to wait for Olly to turn around. it's a shame we made such a financial investment in him, but if that headcase can't get his mind straightened out, his velocity up, and his control refined then we need to put in somebody who won't let up 8 runs to the Nationals!

With Redding nearly back to full fitness and ready to start Ollie should step up his game, but he's just not producing anything near a good display in any of his starts so far this season. Hell they should give Garcia his next start and moveOllie into the bullpen.

In my opinion, Oliver Perez doesn't deserve another chance. This guy has been throwing away games left and right. I think he's worst than Livan because you never know what you're gonna get out of him and you can't plan accordingly for his starts. For example: You don't know whether you need your bullpen to be well rested or not, depending on whether he gets shelled or throws a gem. Enough is enough, I want to see what Redding has to offer. He did win 10 games last year with the Nationals last year. Maybe we put Perez in the bullpen? I don't know where he would go but he can't stay in the rotation.