I’m going to be live blogging the first two hours or so of the game, so be sure to tune in if you can’t watch/listen to the game yourself.

Starting Lineup

(Mets)                                                (Marlins)

Luis Castillo, 2B                                   Emilio Bonifacio, 3B
Oliver Perez, SP                                   Cameron Maybin, CF
Jose Reyes, SS                                   Hanley Ramirez, SS
Carlos Delgado, 1B                               Wes Helms, 1B 
David Wright, 3B                                   Jeremy Hermida, LF
Carlos Beltran, CF                                Mike Stanton, RF
Ryan Church, RF                                  Robert Andino, 2B
Daniel Murphy, LF                                 Mike Rabelo, C        
Brian Schneider, C                                Chris Volstad, P

I love seeing Ollie bat second.  Jerry probably did this so that Ollie can get an atbat, but I like to think he was doing this also just for fun!  This looks like what we can expect the April 9th (when Ollie will first start) roster, barring any injuries or players failing in Spring Training.  Again, it’s so great to watch live baseball!

First inning

Ollie looked good–struck out both Bonifacio and Maybin to open the game and then got Ramirez to pop up to Reyes.  Not too much of a chance to see the defense.

Castillo leads off with a single to LF.  It looked like a nice strong hit.  Castillo stole 2nd easily…another good sign.  Perez lays down a great bunt to third and advances Castillo.  Reyes comes up for his first ever time batting third, the crowd is yelling “Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose…” boy did I ever miss hearing that!  He grounds out to 1st and gets Castillo home.  Gary Cohen just called Castillo’s run a “Reyes run.”  Delgado hits a long single to left, and the announcers noted how the Mets went to the opposite field 10 times yesterday…Jerry’s drill is working!  Wright hit a fielder’s choice 4-3, end of the first.

NYM:1 FLA:0

Second Inning

Ollie gets K number 3 by striking out Helms.  He walks Hermida (getting the double play in order)…or not!  Looong fly out to CF for Stanton, 2 out. Slow grounder hit by Andino to 3rd….it was probably a fantastic play by Wright, but we’ve become so accustomed to seeing him make plays like that, it’s a pretty normal play.

Beltran hits a fly ball to LF for out number 1.  I’m just realizing that I’ve forgotten what it’s like watch a Mets game and not spend every second holding my breath and feeling like the season is on the line.  I kind of enjoy watching the game and being very relaxed.  Church singles off of Helms’ glove at first.  Daniel Murphy strikes out.  Schneider hits a hard single past the shortstop…runners on 1st and 2nd for Castillo.  After going through the order once, Mets went 4-9.  Castillo walks…bases loaded for what would be Ollie’s spot, but Jeremy Reed is pitch-hitting, he flies out to CF.

After 2: NYM: 1 FLA: 0

3rd Inning

Gee pitching for Mets now.  SNY just did a hilarious bit where John Maine interviewed Kevin Burkhart on what he’s done over the off-season to improve his interviewing, etc.  When Burkhart finally starting interviewing Maine, of course the talk was all about the golf game down in Port St. Lucie.  Gee strikes out Skipworth who was pitch hitting for Volstad.  He then strikes out Bonifacio to end the inning. 

New pitcher for the Marlins: VandenHurk  Nice play by the Marlins second baseman to get Reyes.  VandenHurk walks Delgado.  Wild pitch allows Delgado to advance to second…good base running, especially since the ball stayed only a few feet away from the catcher.  Gary, Keith and Ron are talking about how great it is to see Delgado be able to do that: both anticipate the ball in the dirt and aggressively run.  Wright lines a single to shallow center field, runners at first and third.  Beltran rockets one start to Ramirez but he bobbles so they miss the double play, only getting Wright out and allowing Delgado to score.  Beltran at first.  Again, Gary, Keith and Ron talking about how Delgado’s baserunning makes that run possible.  It’s nice to hear so many positive remarks about the Mets. Beltran steals second, and the ball goes off Ramirez’s glove, sending the ball into center field and Beltran takes third.  Should be an error to Ramirez as Beltran would have easily been out had he gotten the ball.  Church flies out to the opposite field to end the third.

NYM: 2 FLA: 0 

4th Inning

Maybin hits a little roller into the middle of the infield.  Reyes does a nice job charging it but is unable to get the runner.  First hit of the game for Florida.  Obviously the Mets weren’t having this whole “runner on and no outs” thing, so Maybin was just picked off!  Ramirez popped it up to Wright, two outs.  Helms grounds it to Wright, who bobbles, but it able to recover and gets him out.  Three outs.  As I looked at Helms at bat, I saw he didn’t have great numbers last season, but then I thought: was he one of those guys who just killed the Mets one game?  If anyone remembers, let me know.

Daniel Murphy leads off and draws a walk.  The camera is showing a ton of kids sitting on a grassy area behind the outfield and all I can help but think it what Florida schools aren’t in session right now?  And if they’re vacationers, why didn’t my parents ever pull me out of

Schneider grounds to Bonifacio at 3rd but a bad throw leaves everyone safe.  Runners on first and second.  Daniel Murphy just starting running while the Marlins were completely out of position.  Gosh, I wish regular season games went like this, it’s so entertaining.  VandenHurk walks Castillo, who is now 3-4 in Spring Training games, with 2 walks.  That would mean his OBP would be, what, .833?  I’ll take it.  Marlon Anderson pitch hitting in the second slot.  He pops up to shallow left, no advance from the runners.  Well, if you didn’t already know, Jose Reyes is my favorite player, so I’m going to say this in all caps: GRAND SLAM!!!  Oh, and it was into the wind.  Looks like hitting 3rd fits him well.  Delgado grounds out.  Wright singles to, where else, but the opposite field.  Beltran grounds out to first to end the inning.

After 4: NYM: 6 FLA: 0

5th Inning

Andy Green is in for Castillo at second (I guess Castillo’s done enough for today, and I agree).  Jon Switzer is on the mount.  Hermida flies out to Murphy for the first out. Mike Stanton strikes out.  They just showed a little girl who was maybe 14 months old…the announcers were joking on whether or not she was a righty or lefty.  Murphy makes a great play to end the inning.

Church had a small pop-up to second.  Base hit for Murphy straight up the middle.  Schneider advances Murphy on a slow roller up the first base line.  Green is getting hit first at-bat now that he’s in for Castillo.  They’re now talking about how the Mets switched Triple-A teams to Buffalo, NY, which is about an hour away from my house (I live in Rochester).  It just gets me excited to think that the Triple-A team is so close and there is a chance when Buffalo plays Rochester (we have a Triple-A team too), I might be cheering for Buffalo….oh well!  Nice to hear that the announcers are happy to have a Triple-A team from Upstate.  Green strikes out to end the inning.

NYM: 6 FLA: 0 

6th Inning

Figueroa in for the Mets on the mound.  He gets the first batter quickly ground out to second.  Gibbons strikes out.  Bonifacio grounds out to Reyes for the third out.  Nice job from Figueroa to get a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Gibbons stays in the game in the outfield for Florida.  Bobby Kelty hits in the pitcher’s spot, and he strikes out swinging.  Reyes goes up for his fourth at-bat: Gary Cohen notes that a fourth at-bat this early in Spring Training is rare, but because of the World Baseball Classic, Jerry wants to get his regulars who are leaving a lot of playing time.  Reyes homers….again.  Yep, Jose is definitely lovin’ hitting 3rd.  This gives Reyes 6 RBI, let’s see if he can beat the combined RBI total of Church and Castillo from yesterday.  Delgado gets an opposite field double (with every opposite field hit, I am more impressed with Jerry’s 80-pitch batting practice drill).  Collaza gets Wright looking (he acted like it was inside) for the second out.  Two-run homer for Carlos Beltran…gotta love the run support in Spring Training game (of course, I think Marlins pitching would argue that).  Cancel pitch-hits for Church and grounds out to end the inning.

After 6, NYM: 9 FLA: 0 

 I’ll be leaving in a few minutes as I have to go to the location I volunteer at, but there’s a couple other blogs that are posting updates, including Adam Rubin’s Blog.  Let’s hope the Mets can hold onto this lead (not that we really need to be worried about winning Spring Training games, but it certainly wouldn’t be good news to see the Mets give up 9+ runs in only three innings).

Updated at 4:55

Well, I’m back from volunteering (and let me tell you, my 20 minute walk through rain and the vicious wind of the midwest really made me wish I was at spring training) and glad to see the Mets held strong.  MLB.com has one of its head stories about how the Mets played well, citing Reyes’ two homeruns and Beltran’s one, and also noting that Luis Castillo continues to impress, so I hope other ball clubs are paying attention and getting nervous, because if these two games are any kind of view into the 2009 season, we’re going to be a force to reckon with.

As this was my first live blog (did not realize how tiring it would be!) let me know how I can improve.  I don’t think I’ll be able to live blog all games, but I’ll do my best to blog when I can.  Also, I might try to not get so detailed with every batter (unless you’d prefer, again, let me know), instead just highlight key moments of each inning.  If you’re interested, the full box score can be found here.