Stories from Amazin' Avenue

In his Mets debut on this date in 1998, Mike Piazza caught a four-hit shutout by Al Leiter. At the plate, Piazza was a modest 1-for-4, a two-out, his hit an insurance-run-scoring double in the fifth inning. According to The New York Times, almost 13,000 of the nearly 33,000 in attendance had purchased their tickets after the trade for Piazza was announced the day before...

While most of the day's Mets player movement talk has centered around a certain slumping first baseman, some more pressing news has arrived from the minor league ranks. Namely, the club has made a pair of corresponding transactions revolving around two of their better low level pitching prospects...

Meet the MetsHarvey day was the worst, you guys. In lieu of further thoughts, I will just point you to FAFIF's all-encompassing 2013 Mets game template, or alternatively, Daily Stache's twitter recap.The Mets mercifully have a day off today, but if for some reason you want to read more about the Reds series, Mark Simon has your rather depressing 'met'rics...

*All results from games played on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013*AAA - Las Vegas 51s (21-23)__________________________________LAS VEGAS 9, IOWA 4 (Box)In his first game back since dealing with shoulder issues, Zack Wheeler got the win, his third this year, but seemed a bit rusty. Over five innings, the Mets' number one prospect walked two batters, struck out two batters, and allowed two home runs (including one to newly anointed "51s killer" Brian Bogusevic who has gone yard in every game of this series)...

Rafael Montero officially returned to AA Binghamton #Mets after spot start with Las Vegas.- Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) May 22, 2013Montero pitched six scoreless innings for the Las Vegas 51s in their game against the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday night. Things unraveled for him in the seventh, and Las Vegas ended up losing the game, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that Montero acquitted himself well in his Triple-A debut...

Rafael Montero officially returned to AA Binghamton #Mets after spot start with Las Vegas.- Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) May 22, 2013Montero pitched six scoreless innings for the Las Vegas 51s in their game against the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday night. Things unraveled for him in the seventh, and Las Vegas ended up losing the game, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that Montero acquitted himself well in his Triple-A debut...

When I realized that Matt Harvey Day was falling on Mike Piazza Day, I thought the Mets couldn't lose. But it appears that not even good karma can save this team.Days when Matt Harvey is on the mound are supposed to be when Mets fans can enjoy the 2013 season and look forward to what lies ahead...

This is the inaugural piece in what will be a monthly series where we'll evaluate Mets top prospects who are likely to appear at the major league level in the near future. In addition to analyzing the players themselves, we'll also take a look at the implications for the Mets as these players 'Go the Distance', so to speak...

This is the inaugural piece in what will be a monthly series where we'll evaluate Mets top prospects who are likely to appear at the major league level in the near future. In addition to analyzing the players themselves, we'll also take a look at the implications for the Mets as these players 'Go the Distance', so to speak...

Matt Harvey Day was spoiled this afternoon at Citi Field as the Mets dropped their third straight to the Cincinnati Reds, and fourth of their last five games, 7-4. Harvey had decent stuff but was far from his best. He gave up a home run to Joey Votto, four hits to Zack Cozart, and a total of four runs on nine hits in six and a third innings...

Matt Harvey Day was spoiled this afternoon at Citi Field as the Mets dropped their third straight to the Cincinnati Reds, and fourth of their last five games, 7-4. Harvey had decent stuff but was far from his best. He gave up a home run to Joey Votto, four hits to Zack Cozart, and a total of four runs on nine hits in six and a third innings...

Whether or not the announcement of the acquisition of Mike Piazza on this date in 1998 inspired the Mets to victory is a moot point. The fact is, the team did everything right and then some in their 3-2 win over the Brewers at Shea. In front of an enthusiastic, larger-than-average Friday night crowd (a bump from the Piazza news?), Butch Huskey and John Olerud combined for three two-out RBIs in support of a sterling effort by starter Rick Reed (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) and a perfect four-out save by John Franco...

Meet the MetsThe Reds beat the Mets 4-0 last night. David Wright made a crucial error in the first inning leading to a couple of Reds' runs and the Mets' offense was el stinko for another evening. But hey, at least Jon Niese pitched well for his second consecutive outing.Choose Your Recap: Amazin' Avenue Short, Long, MLB...

*All results from games played on Tuesday, May 21st, 2013*AAA - Las Vegas 51s (20-23)__________________________________GAME ONELAS VEGAS 1, IOWA 2 (Box)Against the dynamic duo of Brooks Raley and Esmailin Caridad, the Las Vegas offense could muster absolutely nothing. Francisco Pena was one of three 51s to actually get a hit, but unlike Zach Lutz and Rafael Montero, his hit flew over the stands for a home run...

The Mets lost their second game in a row to the Cincinnati Reds after once again falling behind 3-0 in the first inning. Unlike Monday night, the Mets' lineup was unable to come back and tie the game, and the final result was 4-0. As boring and depressing as this game was, there was one positive to take away: Jon Niese's strong performance after a shaky first inning...

Tonight's game had the potential to be an ugly blowout but turned out to be just a boring yawner. Jon Niese needed 48 pitches to make it through the first inning, during which he walked three, gave up two hits, and watched David Wright make a crucial error with the bases loaded which led to three unearned runs scoring...

I got my first look at Rafael Montero at the end of the 2011 season. I was in Brooklyn hoping to sneak a peak at Phillip Evans, who had been called up from Kingsport to get a few extra days of at-bats following the end of the Appalachian League's season. Carlos Vazquez started for Brooklyn...

Staked to a 2-0 lead three batters into the game, Tom Seaver pitched a masterful three-hit shutout in Atlanta on this date in 1969. Only twice did Tom Terrific allow a Brave to get as far as second base. Bud Harrelson gave his roommate some breathing room with a three-run triple in the top of the eighth en route to the eventual 5-0 win that raised Seaver's record to 6-2 and dropped his ERA under 2...

'Sometimes' for Mets fans equals since the bottom of the 9th of the 2006 NLCS."The game is very cruel sometimes, and right now we're experiencing kind of the cruelness of it." -David Wright [ESPN]Agreed with Jose, This Week in Mets Quotes also does not want to touch that."I talk to Valdespin almost every day...

The Mets continued their recent run of not-quite-good-enough play yesterday, coming up on the short end of a 4-3 game with the Reds. Shaun Marcum pitched okay, but some bad luck and poor defensive positioning in the first inning left him with a record of 0-5 on the season. The full box score can be found here...