The Mets turned the tables today, and it all worked out.
Pitching Performance
Pedro Martinez was the pitcher to give up first inning runs today, allowing a one run double and a sacrifice fly. After that, he settled down nicely. Pedro ended up throwing six innings, scattering seven hits. He walked only one and struck out four.
Great outing by Pedro today. Can't ask for much more than that! Well done.
Five bullpen pitchers made appearances, and combined to throw three innings, allowing three hits and walking only one. Scott Schoeneweis, Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith and Brian Stokes all pitched, with only Stokes logging a full inning of work in the ninth. Feliciano, Smith, and Stokes each tallied one K.
Hey, look at that! Scoreless innings from the bullpen, and they hold the lead! I'm loving Stokes, even though he gave up two hits in the ninth. His fastball is hittable, but so far so good.
Offensive Output
For the first time in a while, the Mets did not score a run in the first inning. Instead, they scored multiple times in multiple innings. A novel idea.
The Mets were homer happy early, as Carlos Beltran got the Mets on the board in the second with a solo home run to left field. In the third, Nick Evans connected for his first career home run, a solo shot to left. David Wright wanted to join the fun, as he smacked his own dinger right after Evans, also of the solo variety, to left.
I like the power explosion. Congrats to Evans on his first career homer!
The Mets added on in the seventh, getting RBI singles from Jose Reyes and Ryan Church, followed by a sac-fly by Beltran to account for all six runs.
Tacking on! Another novel concept. Don't be happy with the lead, this team needs to keep adding on with the state of this bullpen.
The Rest of the Story
Wright: 3-5, R, RBI
Reyes has an active 11 game hitting streak.
Game Ball: Pedro Martinez.
8/31/08
September call-ups
Joe Janish beat me to it. Check out Mets Today for a complete rundown of the call-ups and who can and can't be added.
I'm not going to put a lot of stock into Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell. There seems to be too much hype behind them, and I don't think they're going to come up and have a huge impact on the team.
Guys like Al Reyes and Ricardo Rincon should help, simply because another arm in the bullpen cannot hurt at this time. It's a crap shoot in the pen right now, and Luis Ayala worked for a few games. Lightning in a bottle could be found anywhere. Hopefully one of these guys can be a lightning rod.
Marlon Anderson will be nice to have back, as long as he can recapture his pinch hitting prowess.
Don't look for a huge help from the September call-ups, but Niese will get the start on Tuesday against the Brewers. Maybe he could do something special against the streaking Brew-crew. Wouldn't that be nice?
I'm not going to put a lot of stock into Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell. There seems to be too much hype behind them, and I don't think they're going to come up and have a huge impact on the team.
Guys like Al Reyes and Ricardo Rincon should help, simply because another arm in the bullpen cannot hurt at this time. It's a crap shoot in the pen right now, and Luis Ayala worked for a few games. Lightning in a bottle could be found anywhere. Hopefully one of these guys can be a lightning rod.
Marlon Anderson will be nice to have back, as long as he can recapture his pinch hitting prowess.
Don't look for a huge help from the September call-ups, but Niese will get the start on Tuesday against the Brewers. Maybe he could do something special against the streaking Brew-crew. Wouldn't that be nice?
Ex-Mets: Kris Benson cut
Oh, sweet karma.
Via The Good Phight:
Via The Good Phight:
The Phillies have released triple-A Lehigh Valley righthander Kris Benson. The Phillies signed Benson to a minor-league contract in Februrary with the idea that he could plug into the rotation sometime before June 1. But because of injuries, Benson progressed much more slowly than they had hoped. So the Phillies moved forward and acquired Joe Blanton before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, which eliminated the possibility that Benson would pitch in the Phillies rotation this season.
8/30/08
Game Recap: Marlins 4 -- Mets 3
The worst way to walk off, ever.
Pitching Performance
Mike Pelfrey pitched much better against the Fish this time around, but he, like the Mets, was unable to pull out a victory.
Pelfrey pitched six 2-3 innings, allowing six hits. He allowed two earned runs, walked two, and struck out five. He needed 116 pitches to get through the six plus innings. Pelfrey got into trouble in the sixth and allowed a bases loaded single to center field, allowing both runs to score against Pelfrey.
A good outing, much improved over his last few games against the team from Florida. Nothing special, but a decent outing from the big man.
Pedro Feliciano relieved Pelfrey, and allowed one hit and was promptly removed from the game. With two on and two out, Duaner Sanchez entered the game and struck out Jorge Cantu to end the threat. Sanchez came back out to start the eighth, and let up a solo home run to Mike Jacobs to tie up the game.
When will Jerry Manuel figure out that Sanchez has nothing left in the tank?
Brian Stokes pitched 2-3 of an inning, allowing a hit while striking out two. Aaron Heilman came in to work the ninth, and it did not go very well. He started it off with a leadoff walk to Hanley Ramirez, who was 0-12 against him previously. Heilman was then commanded to intentionally walk the next two batters, to load the bases with one out. He then walked Josh Willingham, forcing in the winning run.
Rough. I'm starting to feel bad for this guy. Nothing he does seems to work.
Offensive Output
As usual, the Mets scored in the first, and then sparingly from there on out.
David Wright got the Mets on the board in the top of the first inning, absolutely mutiliating a ball to deep left field, scoring Luis Castillo.
That ball was dee-stroyed.
In the third inning, Castillo drove in Jose Reyes with a single to right center.
And that was it. That's all the Mets could do tonight. Seven hits and three walks, and they managed three runs.
The Rest of the Story
Castillo went 2-4, scoring once and driving in one.
Ryan Church took another ofer, going 0-3 with a walk and three strikeouts.
I've never seen a baseball game played in such wind. The box score states it was a 17 mph wind, but it looked a lot stronger than that.
Oh, and in the second inning, the benches cleared after Pelfrey plunked Cody Ross. Ross was not pleased, and as he walked towards first he was screaming and cursing at Pelfrey. Brian Schneider started pushing, as did Mike Jacobs. No one was ejected, and no punches were thrown. Seems like there is bad blood between these two teams.
Game Ball: David Wright.
Pitching Performance
Mike Pelfrey pitched much better against the Fish this time around, but he, like the Mets, was unable to pull out a victory.
Pelfrey pitched six 2-3 innings, allowing six hits. He allowed two earned runs, walked two, and struck out five. He needed 116 pitches to get through the six plus innings. Pelfrey got into trouble in the sixth and allowed a bases loaded single to center field, allowing both runs to score against Pelfrey.
A good outing, much improved over his last few games against the team from Florida. Nothing special, but a decent outing from the big man.
Pedro Feliciano relieved Pelfrey, and allowed one hit and was promptly removed from the game. With two on and two out, Duaner Sanchez entered the game and struck out Jorge Cantu to end the threat. Sanchez came back out to start the eighth, and let up a solo home run to Mike Jacobs to tie up the game.
When will Jerry Manuel figure out that Sanchez has nothing left in the tank?
Brian Stokes pitched 2-3 of an inning, allowing a hit while striking out two. Aaron Heilman came in to work the ninth, and it did not go very well. He started it off with a leadoff walk to Hanley Ramirez, who was 0-12 against him previously. Heilman was then commanded to intentionally walk the next two batters, to load the bases with one out. He then walked Josh Willingham, forcing in the winning run.
Rough. I'm starting to feel bad for this guy. Nothing he does seems to work.
Offensive Output
As usual, the Mets scored in the first, and then sparingly from there on out.
David Wright got the Mets on the board in the top of the first inning, absolutely mutiliating a ball to deep left field, scoring Luis Castillo.
That ball was dee-stroyed.
In the third inning, Castillo drove in Jose Reyes with a single to right center.
And that was it. That's all the Mets could do tonight. Seven hits and three walks, and they managed three runs.
The Rest of the Story
Castillo went 2-4, scoring once and driving in one.
Ryan Church took another ofer, going 0-3 with a walk and three strikeouts.
I've never seen a baseball game played in such wind. The box score states it was a 17 mph wind, but it looked a lot stronger than that.
Oh, and in the second inning, the benches cleared after Pelfrey plunked Cody Ross. Ross was not pleased, and as he walked towards first he was screaming and cursing at Pelfrey. Brian Schneider started pushing, as did Mike Jacobs. No one was ejected, and no punches were thrown. Seems like there is bad blood between these two teams.
Game Ball: David Wright.
Carlos Beltran quieted the "He isn't clutch" crowd, at least for one night
I like Carlos Beltran. I like him a lot.He's a good hitter, with one of the sweetest swings in the game. He's unbelieveable in the field, making tough plays look like cans of corn. I've had to defend him time and time again, and the main argument against him is that he isn't "clutch" enough.
Last night was something different.
Two outs, top of the ninth, his team down by one. Oh, and the bases are loaded. This is the kind of stuff you dream of in your backyard as a kid.
Beltran, who was in a similar situation in the 2006 NLCS, wrote a different ending last night. First pitch swinging, Beltran crushed a pitch from Kevin Gregg deep to right field. I was shocked.
I was anticipating a ground ball through the hole, if anything. Maybe even a bloop to center. Beltran proved even one of his biggest fans wrong, as that ball was smashed. Bat, meet ball. Goodbye ball!
He may not be the most "clutch" in the league, but he came through huge last night for the Mets. He accounted for all five RBI, and without him, the Mets would have gone quietly into that good night.
Stellar on the basepath, even better on the field. He may not hit for average, but last night shut up a lot of people, at least until tonight.
8/29/08
Game Recap: Mets 5 -- Marlins 4
So when does Billy Wagner come back?
Pitching Performance
Oliver Perez was almost on tonight. He ended his night throwing six innings, giving up only three hits. Unfortunately, he also walked five, as he was just a tad wild. He managed to strike out four. Perez allowed only two runs while on the bump, including a solo home run from Josh Willingham, which was one of the longest home runs I've ever seen hit at a Marlins home game.
Wildly effective, at it's finest. Not great, not bad. He kept his team in the game and that's all that matters.
Brian Stokes came in for the seventh, and threw a perfect inning.
I really like the way Stokes pitches. Can we pencil him in for the bullpen next season, or is it wayyyyy too soon?
Joe Smith got into a tad of trouble, as he walked one and allowed a hit, but was able to work out of the inning without an issue.
Whew!
And here came the issues. Luis Ayala came in to close out the game with a three run lead. He ended up allowing four hits and two runs to score. He struck out one and was able to induce a ground ball with two outs and the tying runner on third base to end the game.
Seriously, when does Billy Wagner come back? This is getting scary. Very scary.
Offensive Output
The Mets played the "book end" game tonight. They scored one in the first and were quiet again until the ninth inning.
In the first (of course) the Mets got on the board early with a Carlos Beltran sacrifice fly to deep center field, plating Jose Reyes.
Skip to the ninth, with Luis Castillo at the plate and two outs. Castillo singled, followed by a David Wright single. Carlos Delgado got plunked to load the bases down by run with two outs. Beltran came to the plate again, and cashed in with a grand slam deep to right field on the first pitch.
I almost hurt myself jumping up and down and screaming when he hit that. If you didn't see, get to a TV and watch what he did to that ball. He crushed it. Wow.
Thank goodness for Beltran. Without him, they would have been sunk.
The Rest of the Story
Beltran drove in all five runs for the Mets tonight.
The Cubs beat the Phillies again, and the Mets opened up a two game lead.
Reyes has an eight game hitting streak.
Game Ball: Carlos Beltran, easy.
Pitching Performance
Oliver Perez was almost on tonight. He ended his night throwing six innings, giving up only three hits. Unfortunately, he also walked five, as he was just a tad wild. He managed to strike out four. Perez allowed only two runs while on the bump, including a solo home run from Josh Willingham, which was one of the longest home runs I've ever seen hit at a Marlins home game.
Wildly effective, at it's finest. Not great, not bad. He kept his team in the game and that's all that matters.
Brian Stokes came in for the seventh, and threw a perfect inning.
I really like the way Stokes pitches. Can we pencil him in for the bullpen next season, or is it wayyyyy too soon?
Joe Smith got into a tad of trouble, as he walked one and allowed a hit, but was able to work out of the inning without an issue.
Whew!
And here came the issues. Luis Ayala came in to close out the game with a three run lead. He ended up allowing four hits and two runs to score. He struck out one and was able to induce a ground ball with two outs and the tying runner on third base to end the game.
Seriously, when does Billy Wagner come back? This is getting scary. Very scary.
Offensive Output
The Mets played the "book end" game tonight. They scored one in the first and were quiet again until the ninth inning.
In the first (of course) the Mets got on the board early with a Carlos Beltran sacrifice fly to deep center field, plating Jose Reyes.
Skip to the ninth, with Luis Castillo at the plate and two outs. Castillo singled, followed by a David Wright single. Carlos Delgado got plunked to load the bases down by run with two outs. Beltran came to the plate again, and cashed in with a grand slam deep to right field on the first pitch.
I almost hurt myself jumping up and down and screaming when he hit that. If you didn't see, get to a TV and watch what he did to that ball. He crushed it. Wow.
Thank goodness for Beltran. Without him, they would have been sunk.
The Rest of the Story
Beltran drove in all five runs for the Mets tonight.
The Cubs beat the Phillies again, and the Mets opened up a two game lead.
Reyes has an eight game hitting streak.
Game Ball: Carlos Beltran, easy.
I hate combined stadiums
Jeremy Cothran alerts us to the fact that the University of Miami players a football game at Dolphin Stadium last night, and the field is...sort of a mess.
Looks like the Mets errorless streak is going to come to an end tonight.
The University of Miami (or 'Da U,' in local parlance) played a game here last night, and the field is absolutely ripped to shreds. Should make for an interesting night for the infielder's.I remember when I played soccer, I would hate to play on fields that overlapped. If the fields overlapped, the baseball field almost always took over the corner of the soccer field. It was very annoying, as the ball would just skip away as soon as you hit the sand of the infield.
Looks like the Mets errorless streak is going to come to an end tonight.
Trap games
The Mets will begin a three game series with the Florida Marlins tonight. The Marlins were in contention for a long time, much longer than anyone expected, but have faltered lately and are now six games back of the Mets.
They've lost six of their last ten, but are still very much alive. The Mets have a critical stretch of games upcoming, with the next nine against the Marlins, Brewers and Phillies. As of now, I can see the Mets focusing more on Milwaukee and Philadelphia, over Florida.
The Mets could take two of three against the Marlins, or sweep them, but Mike Pelfrey will take the mound for one of the games and he is yet to beat the fish this season.
The Mets have only 28 games left, so each game is extremely crucial, especially with only a one game lead over the Phillies. Hopefully they focus on each game separately, and not look ahead to stronger teams like the Brew-crew and the hated Phillies.
They've lost six of their last ten, but are still very much alive. The Mets have a critical stretch of games upcoming, with the next nine against the Marlins, Brewers and Phillies. As of now, I can see the Mets focusing more on Milwaukee and Philadelphia, over Florida.
The Mets could take two of three against the Marlins, or sweep them, but Mike Pelfrey will take the mound for one of the games and he is yet to beat the fish this season.
The Mets have only 28 games left, so each game is extremely crucial, especially with only a one game lead over the Phillies. Hopefully they focus on each game separately, and not look ahead to stronger teams like the Brew-crew and the hated Phillies.
Double duty
As most Friday's will entail, I'm pulling double duty today. I'm also blogging over at Union.
Come check it out!
Come check it out!
8/28/08
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