» Cardinals

METS 5, CARDINALS 4

Luis Castillio, Jose Valentin, Murphy, and Marlon Anderson all had an excellent game. Valentin had three base hits and scored on two occasions. Murphy slammed a triple which drove in two in the fifth inning, and Marlon Anderson capped it off in the 9′th with a game winning single. Overall I am very, very pleased to see Valentin and Anderson hitting. These two will play crucial backup and supporting roles throughout the long season in 2009.

As for pitching, Niese had a strong first, but stumbled in the second. Antonini pitched two strong, only allowing 1 hit and no runs. Finally Duaner did walk 2 batters but no runs came as a result.

Up next: The Mets return home on Saturday for a game against the Nationals. Scott Olsen pitches for Washington against Dillon Gee at 1:10 p.m. ET. It’s the first of a home-and-home between the National League East rivals.

Ok, so the Mets’ bid for a perfect ST has gone down the toilet, but hey, their bats certainly werent the problem!

On offense, we got to see Bobby Kietly’s first home run of the spring, a three run blast. Church, Rivera, Beltran, and Delgado also contributed to the hit parade.

On the mound: Livan Hernandez made his exhibition-game debut with two scoreless innings and appeared to be quite effective. His primary competition for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, Freddy Garcia, was not at all effective. He walked three, allowed two hits and four runs — two earned — in two-thirds of an inning. \

Overall, in the first three games, we have seen more than 20 runs total out of the Mets, and we are seeing some other promising things as well. Livon is certainly making his bid for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, and I would love to see him eat some innings for the Mets all season long.

Coming next, the Mets take on the Tigers, where Niese and Parnell will show us what they’ve got. Let’s Go Mets!

Albert Pujols still said on Sunday that it is confirmed that he will not be playing for the World Baseball Classics.

Underwriters of the World Baseball Classics are reluctant of insuring Pujols’ participation, due to the latter’s nerve transposition surgery in his right elbow last October. Pujols admitted that if he is not insured, then he will not be suiting up for the Dominican Republic, although there was a slight chance that he might be able to play in the Classic. 

“My main priority is here, to make sure that I’m ready for my season,” Pujols said. “Obviously it’s always good to represent the Dominican Republic. I’ve already done it once. I need to make sure everything goes the right way. I’m not going to go out there and play without insurance. I don’t think that’s a smart thing, myself coming from an injury. … I need to make sure right here in the next couple weeks how my elbow reacts to training here every day. I train during the offseason and it’s not the same as here in Spring Training.”

Manager Tony La Russa expressed his concern about Pujols playing in the Classics. Pujols may be currently feeling fine, but the manager feels that it is too risky for Pujols to play high pressure games instantly. Instead, it would be better for him to gradually play and taking things slow for a moment than to jeopardize the elbow again.

He admitted to that same instinct, saying that it was reason enough to be warned and cautious before going to any random decisions.
“I know that I can control myself, but I’m concerned about that the same way too,” he said. “Obviously when the games start, as you know, I don’t take it easy in the game.”

All other decisions will not rely on Pujols alone, which, in one part is a good thing. Without any expectations whatsoever to the insurance policy, he is positive that playing in the Classics is now out of his way.

“If they can’t get insurance, I’m definitely not going to play,” Pujols said.