7:31 PM:

There was a second rain delay, but now according to Adam Rubin the tarp on the field has been taken off the field.

6:47 PM:

The tarp is off the field, game time pushed back to 7:15 PM. Rain appears to be over.

The five minute delay should give you time to watch Perez's start. He should be out of the game by 7:15 PM.

6:08 PM:

Kevin Burkhardt reports that the Mets have pulled Reyes from the line-up with a stiff lower back. Ruben Tejada replaces him at short stop and will bat second.

Here is the new line-up for the game:

Feliciano (CF) – Tejada (SS) – Wright (3B) – Davis (1B) – Bay (LF) – Carter (RF) – Barajas (C) – Cora (2B) – Pelfrey (P)

6:07 PM:

Popper reports that it has started to rain now.

It's raining, Reyes is hurt, and Ollie Perez is about to pitch… bad things tend to happen all at once, don't they.

6:04 PM:

Steve Popper reports that Jose Reyes left batting practice holding his side. He was taken into the clubhouse where he is being examined by team doctors. More news will be reported when it become available.

Hopefully it's just a cramp or something… please just be a cramp.

Andy Martino reports that it is thundering and lighting down in San Juan, but no rain just yet.

Apparently the tarp is on the field and there is rain in the forcast. If tonight's game is canceled I wouldn't be surprised.

Wednesday, June 30th, 5:18 PM:

The Mets had scouts in attendence to watch Cliff Lee's complete game against the Yankees last night. The Rangers, Phillies, and Yankees also had scouts watching Lee. Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers and Twins are also interested in Lee, but they didn't have a scout at the game last night.

It has been reported by Joel Sherman that if the Mets want to acquire Lee, they will have to build a deal around prospects Jenrry Mejia or Wilmer Flores. The Mariners are looking for young and extremely talented prospects.

Tuesday, June 29th, 11:42 PM:

Cliff Lee threw another good game tonight, throwing a complete game against the New York Yankees. He threw 115 pitches over nine innings (79 strikes, 36 balls), giving up four runs (three earned), on eight hits, a walk and two strike outs. Lee improves his record to 7-3 and but his ERA went from 2.39 to 2.45 ERA on the year.

Lee now has four complete games on the year, and he has thrown three in a row. It's also his fourth of the month, becoming the first pitcher in seven years to throw four complete games in one month.

Hopefully Lee just stays in New York rather than traveling with his team to Detroit. Or he could travel down to our nations capital to join the Amazin's.

I don't think Lee will be traded soon though. They'll probably wait closer to the deadline so they can get more offers from teams. As the deadline approaches, teams will get a better idea of where they stand and if it worth it to trade for a guy like Lee.

	New York Mets (43-34) @ Florida Marlins (37-40)
Estadio Hiram Bithorn	———

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Weather Forecast

Pitching Match-Up

Mets Lineup

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Marlins Lineup

Team Leaders

Mets Injury Report

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Marlins Injury Report

Tidbits of Interest

• Recent – The Mets have lost four of their last six games dating back to June 24…Overall, the Mets have won 16 of their last 23 games and 17 of their last 25…The Mets are 23-11 (.676) in their last 34 contests, dating back to May 22, the third-best winning percentage in the majors during that span…The Red Sox are first (24-10, .706) and the Angels (24-11, .686) are second…New York went 6-14 from May 1-21…The Mets are tied for the third-most wins in the NL with Cincinnati, behind the Braves and Padres, who each have 45 victories.
• On the Road – The Mets have lost four straight road games after losing the first two games of this series and dropping their final two games at Yankee Stadium, June 19-20…The club has lost four or more consecutive road games for the second time this year and the first time since they lost a season-high five straight road games from May 5-16…Prior to this skid, the Mets had won seven straight road contests…Overall, the Mets are 15-22 away from Citi Field.
• Series Notes – The Mets are 2-1 in games after they have lost the first two games of a series, with the lone loss coming to the Marlins on May 15, a 7-5 setback at Sun Life Stadium…The Mets are now 2-9-2 in series on the road
• June – The Mets are 17-8 in June, after going 12-17 in May and 14-9 in April…New York’s 17 wins this month are the fifth-most in the majors, one behind the Red Sox, White Sox and Angels and three behind the Rangers…David Wright is tied for second in the majors with Milwaukee’s Corey Hart with 27 RBI in June…Texas’ Josh Hamilton is first with 31…Wright is leading the National League and is third in the majors with a .404 (40-99) batting average this month… Hamilton is first (.457) and the Royals’ David DeJesus is second (.410).
• Home Grown Infield – Last night was the 15th game that was started by Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada, Jose Reyes and David Wright as a unit…New York is 12-3 when those four start in the infield…That ties that group with Ed Kranepool, Ken Boswell, Bud Harrelson and Tim Foli for the most starts ever by a homegrown Mets infield…Kranepool, Boswell, Harrelson and Foli made all 15 starts as a unit in 1971.
• RISP – The Mets were 3-6 last night with runners in scoring position…Since May 21, the Mets lead in the majors with a .332 (101-304) batting average with runners in scoring position…Over those 33 games, the club has hit seven home runs and driven in 128 runs with runners in scoring position…From the start of the year through May 20, the Mets hit .239 (88-368) with runners in scoring position, ranking 25th in the majors…The team also had five home runs and 130 RBI over those 42 games…Overall, the Mets are sixth in the majors with a .281 batting average with RISP…Angel Pagan ranks fourth in the National League with a .383 batting average with runners in scoring position…Mets pitchers have held the opposition to a .227 (155-684) batting average with runners in scoring position, the third-lowest mark in the majors, behind the Giants (.217) and Rays (.215).
• Mike Pelfrey – Has dropped six consecutive decisions to the Marlins and owns a 1-6 lifetime record against Florida…The six losses are a personal most against any one team and his 5.63 ERA against the Marlins is his worst against any team that he has at least three starts against….Is third in the National League with 10 wins and ranks ninth in the NL with a 2.71 ERA…Pelfrey’s 1.57 ERA at night is the third-best mark in the NL…Pelfrey is 6-0 and the Mets are 7-0 when he starts after a loss this year…Takes the mound tonight for the eighth time following a Mets loss in the prior game…In those seven starts, the righthander is 6-0 with a 2.06 ERA (11 earned runs/48.0 innings) and the Mets are 7-0…The Mets lost 7-6 to the Marlins last night…Pelfrey is 8-0 with a 1.57 (12 earned runs/69.0 innings) ERA in 10 night starts this season…In comparison, Pelfrey is 2-2 with a 5.28 ERA (18 earned runs/30.2 innings) in six appearances, five starts during day games this season…For his career, his day record is 10-12 with a 5.26 ERA (98 earned runs/167.2 innings) while at night, the righthander is 28-22 with a 3.85 ERA (176 earned runs/411 innings).
• Pen Notes – The Mets pen is 10th in the majors with a 3.51 ERA…Also is 13th in the majors with a .247 batting average against…Is tied for eighth in the majors with 13 wins and is tied for fourth in the majors with 15 losses…The pen is sixth in the major leagues with 243.1 innings pitched…New York relievers have fanned 228 batters, fifth most in the majors…They have also walked 119 batters, third most in the majors.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets tie a club record by scoring 10 runs in the eighth inning, rallying to beat Atlanta, 11-8, on June 30, 2000…Edgardo Alfonzo ties the contest with a two-run single and Mike Piazza puts the Mets ahead to stay with a three run home run.

It's Ron Swoboda birthday born in 1944, also Tony Fernandez in 1962.

On this date Jerry May passed in 1996 and also Jay Kleven in 2009.

New York Mets traded Ed Lynch to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Liddell and Dave Lenderman on June 30, 1986.

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Discuss the Game Live at Mets Paradise Forum!

Like always,

Lately the trade rumors surrounding LHP Cliff Lee of the Seattle Mariners have been heating up, and the Mets are right in the middle of it all. 

The Mets certainly have the depth of talent in the minor leagues to acquire Lee without having to part ways with players like Jon Niese and Ike Davis. However I think the big question among most of our minds is: what are you willing to part with?

I've heard a lot of names tossed around, stretching from Jenrry Mejia to Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and I've found myself saying "Ok with him, want him, keep him, screw him." So I'm curious to see what other Mets fans think of some of our prospects, who they'd be willing to trade, and what kind of package they envision the Mets will make. 

Here are some of the names that have been mentioned:

• OF Angel Pagan *
• P Jenrry Mejia *
• SP Jeurys Familia
• SP Brad Holt
• RP Bobby Parnell
• SS Reese Havens
• SS Wilmer Flores *
• C Josh Thole
• OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
• OF Sean Ratliff
• CF Fernando Martinez *

Players with a * next to their name are players who have been the center of discussion regarding a trade for Cliff Lee. I did not include Josh Thole because he has quickly gone from being an intricate part of a deal to being thought-of as a nobody. Let's be reasonable here, Thole doesn't show the potential as a star, and probably is much worse than Twins C prospect Wilson Ramos. 

Personally, I am siding this way:

• OF Angel Pagan * — Trade
• P Jenrry Mejia * — Keep
• SP Jeurys Familia — Keep
• SP Brad Holt — Keep
• RP Bobby Parnell — Trade
• SS Reese Havens — Trade
• SS Wilmer Flores * — Keep
• C Josh Thole — Trade
• OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis — Trade
• OF Sean Ratliff — Keep
• CF Fernando Martinez * — Undecided

Simply put, I would keep the pitching prospects although I'm certain the Mets will be forced to give up either Mejia or Holt — if I had to side with one I would keep Holt. of Flores and Havens I'd like to keep one of them, and I think the younger the better. Flores is a guy I envision being a 2B for the Mets maybe as soon as 2012, and if they decide to transition him elsewhere, RF is a great spot and a position the Mets will need to address down the road anyhow. 

I'm undecided on Martinez because while I think he is a tremendous talent and a future replacement for mid-30s Carlos Beltran, his injury issues worry me. 

What's your stance on these players?

In yesterday's game Jerry Manuel made an interesting move bringing Francisco Rodriguez in for the eighth inning. At the time it was a 6-4 and the Mets had their lower end of their order due up for the ninth inning.

Rodriguez pitched very well, going through the Marlins one-two-three, striking out two batters.

The Mets came back to tie the game in the ninth inning, scoring two runs off of Marlins' closer Leo Nunez. The problem was that Rodriguez was pinch hit for by Chris Carter, so he was out of the game.

The Mets are only carrying six pitchers in the bullpen and three catcher because of the slight injuries to Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco. They already used Elmer Dessens to get one batter out and Bobby Parnell threw a full inning of work, so they only had Pedro Feliciano, Fernando Nieve (who threw two innings the day before) and Ryota Igarashi (who has been terrible).

The Mets weren't really in a good position to win this game, and their weak bullpen was really exploited in last night's game. Feliciano came in to face all right handed batters, and he just couldn't get them all out. He struck the first two out, including a great battle to get Hanley Ramirez, but gave up a double and a singled and just like that the game was over.

After the game Manuel said that they needed to get Rodriguez's work in. He needs to pitch every four to five days or else he gets rusty and he is not as effective. Well he was certainly effective last night.

The problem was Manuel didn't have faith in the Mets coming back in the ninth inning. He figured that they wouldn't be able to tie or take the lead in the ninth, and there wouldn't be a bottom of the ninth inning to pitch, so he brought in Rodriguez to pitch the eighth inning.

Seeing the outcome of the game it's easy to second guess. But Manuel needed to get Rodriguez's work in and the ninth inning wasn't going to happen at that point in the game.

I think it's clear that the Mets do need to add a set-up man to this bullpen. At the trade deadline they should be focused on acquiring a starting pitcher as well as another pitcher for the bullpen.