First inning:
Michel Abreu has a chance to shine, and get a lot of looks at first base with Carlos Delgado and Marlon Anderson out. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have a glove at all, letting a pick off toss from Mike Pelfrey get away and allow the runner to advance. Abreu can hit a ton, but he needs to back it up with at least a decent glove.
Is it me or are the bats really loud? On that Anderson Hernandez ground out, the bat sound was much louder than I remember. What leads to this: smaller stadium or better mics?
Second inning:
Anyone else catch that? David Wright fielded a grounder and did not double clutch before throwing it to first base.
Nice 1-2-3 inning from Pelf. Three ground outs, that all he needs to do.
Angel Pagan is raking. 8-18 so far in Grapefruit league play.
Ramon Castro bombed that ball. It's not many days you see a Castro triple. Pagan had great base running awareness on the ball off the top of the wall, and scored easily. 1-0 Mets, end of two.
Third inning:
Pelfrey's pitches claim another bat, but it goes for a infield single. He's dealing today, looks great on the mound. Great 3 innings from Pelf, who is probably done for the day. Two hits, one an infield single, and no walks. He's looking really good so far.
I don't know how Robinson Cancel saw where he was going on that double. His visor was pretty much over his eyes.
Jose Reyes delivers on a grounder up the middle, scoring Cancel. 2-0 Mets.
And Reyes' bouncing around on the bases pays off again, while he heads to third on a wild throw on a pickoff attempt.
And Moises Alou grounds into an inning ending double play.
Fourth inning:
Billy Wagner is in, allowing a bloop single to his first batter. Simply dirty pitches from Wags, cutting quickly away from left handed hitters. As I type this, he K's Scott Thorman on a fastball, up and in.
Looks like Wagner is trying out pitches rather than trying to retire batters. Braves score, 2-1.
Fernando Martinez has nailed both balls down the first base line, the first one getting caught on the fly, and the next being turned into a 1-3 double play. He's hitting it pretty well, but both right to Thorman at first.
Fifth inning:
Crowd favorite Nelson Figueroa is in, and if he keeps putting up decent numbers, he's another one to add to the bullpen competition mix. One hit allowed, and Figueroa ends the inning with a beautiful breaking ball.
Mets go quietly and quickly, 1-2-3. Scott Thorman is showing a heckuva glove at first, diving for the throw to beat Reyes while keeping a foot on the bag.
I'll end here for today. I have to head to class soon, with another class right behind that, so a recap won't be up until a bit later than normal.
Enjoy the rest of the game.
