Game Recap: Reds 8 – Mets 6

You can’t win them all, but you don’t want your pitcher to hand the game over on a silver platter.

On The Mound

Oliver Perez started the game looking like he was deserving of his $36 million contract.  Then the other Perez showed up.  His final line is indicative of the latter half of his start.  In 4 1-3 innings, Perez let up five hits, walked five and struck out seven.  He let in and was charged with eight earned runs.  Perez set down the first seven he faced, including four strikeouts.

Absolutely not what Mets fans want to see out of Perez.  He’s inconsistent and wild.  As soon as he walked his first batter, it was downhill from there.  Not good.

Darren O’Day made his first appearance as a New York Met, and promptly hit the first batter he faced to load the bases.  He let up a two-out single, allowing two inherited runners to score.

Not the outing you want to have if you’re trying to hang on to your roster spot.

Brian Stokes started the sixth inning, and went two strong, allowing two hits and striking out three.  Bobby Parnell and Pedro Feliciano split the 8th inning, with Feliciano striking out both batters he faced.

Nice outing from these members of the “second tier” of the bullpen. Good to see.

At The Plate

With two outs in the third inning, David Wright drew a walk.  Carlos Delgado followed it up with a single, moving Wright to third.  Carlos Beltran singled to left field, plating Wright.  Ryan Church then knocked a double deep into the left field corner, driving in Delgado from second and Beltran all the way from first base.

Nice to see a two-out rally by the Mets.  They strung a walk and a few hits together to make something happen.

The Mets then scored in the next three innings, with Daniel Murphy and Wright singling to lead off the fifth inning.  Delgado grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing Murphy to score.

Delgado is batting .429 with six RBIs so far in this very young season.

In the sixth, Church started the inning with a his second double of the game.  Ramon Castro moved Church over with a fly-ball, and Alex Cora drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Castro and Cora started the game in place of Brian Schneider and Luis Castillo and both went hitless.

For the score in the seventh inning, with Murphy standing on third after reaching on a fielder’s choice, Delgado hit a fly ball to center field, deep enough to score Murphy from third base.

And that was all the Mets could push across.  If you want to take something away from this game, it’s nice that they didn’t give up and tried to scratch out runs late.

In the ninth inning, Gary Sheffield made his first appearance as a Mets and struck out looking.  He never took the bat off his shoulder.  In fact, Francisco Cordero set the Mets down in order in the third inning, striking out three.

Game Ball

Ryan Church: 2-3, 2 RBI, run

On Deck

The Mets will travel to Florida to open a three game series against the Marlins, beginning Friday night at 7:10 p.m.

Tweeting the Mets game

Stuck at work for today’s Mets/Reds finale?  Check out my Twitter feed for updates!

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RIP Nick Adenhart

So sad.

Putz to handle closing duties

If if comes to that point in today’s series finale in Cincinnati, J.J. Putz will handle the closing duties for the New York Mets.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez needed 30 pitches in last nights heart pounding finish as he loaded the bases with two outs, but did not allow a run to score.

Here is the benefit of having two accomplished closers on your team.  Maybe three, if all things work out the right way.

Things I said last night while watching Francisco Rodriguez load the bases with a two run lead...

"Did I go back in time?"

"Really, Mets? Really?"

"I thought this is what we paid him not to do!?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"This can't be serious..."

"WHAT!?!"

"(Loud sigh)"

"Oh, crap."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH"

"Whew."

Game Recap: Mets 9 -- Reds 7

Wooooooosh. That was the sound of every Mets fan exhaling.

On The Mound
Taking the mound for the Mets was Mike Pelfrey, who did not get off to a good start. A four-run first inning, including a three-run home run off the bat of Joey Votto. Pelfrey labored through five innings, allowing five hits and only the four runs from the first inning. He walked four and struck out two through the five innings.

It was a tough five innings for Pelfrey. He didn't have his control tonight, which became a theme for all the pitchers, but he made it through the five innings in line for the win. The bullpen just had to make it interesting.

Bobby Parnell made his first appearance of 2009, pitching a scoreless inning of relief. He issued two walks with two outs, but made if out of the inning unscathed. Pedro Feliciano started the seventh inning and got one out before allowing two hits, putting runners on the corners. A fielders choice allowed one run to score. Feliciano issued another walk before leaving the game in favor of Sean Green. Green let up a single, letting another run score.

Parnell looked good throwing the heat, but also struggled with the control. Feliciano was all over the place and couldn't settle in for his outing. Green had a short outing, and let an inherited runner score.

J.J. Putz entered for the 8th inning and let up a Willy Taveras one-out triple. Taveras then scored on a sacrifice fly, bringing the Reds withing two runs. Francisco Rodriguez entered for the ninth inning and made it quite interesting. Struggling with control, K-Rod issued two walks while on the mound. Another runner reached base on an error by Carlos Delgado who was called for taking his foot off the bag too soon. Rodriguez eventually worked his way out of the inning, as Laynce Nix flew out to the warning track with the bases loaded to end the game.

Honestly, isn't this what bringing K-Rod on board was supposed to stop from happening? The Mets won, I guess that's all that matters, but it was not easy or enjoyable. But hey, it wouldn't be the Mets without the worrying.

At The Plate
A few standout performers at the dish for the Mets tonight.

In the first inning, Delgado crushed a two-run home run to right field off of Edison Volquez. David Wright, who had walked, scored on the round-tripper.

The first two of a nice night for Delgado.

Fast forward to the fifth inning, with Jose Reyes singling to lead off the inning. Daniel Murphy followed up with a single of his own. Wright then grounded a ball to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who botched the play to allow everyone to reach base safely. Delgado put together a long at bat against Volquez before grounding out to first base and driving in Reyes from third. Carlos Beltran followed that up with a single up the middle, plating two more runs.

The boot by Gonzalez turned out to be a huge turning point of the game. Those two runs came in handy for the Mets later in the game.

In the seventh inning, Wright knocked a one-out double to left field before Delgado singled him home for his fourth RBI of the game. After an intentional walk to Beltran and an unintentional walk to Ryan Church, Brian Schneider ripped a line drive to right field. Jay Bruce moved in on the ball, slipped, fell and had the ball skip past him. The bases cleared for all of Schneider's RBIs and he stood on second with a double.

Shotty play by the Reds led to a few Mets runs. It's not the best way to have your offense get runs across the plate but it still works.

Game Ball
Carlos Delgado, even though his "error" could have cost the Mets the game.

On Deck
Mets go for the sweep in Cincy tomorrow afternoon for a 12:10 p.m. game.

The Mets have two closers, now what if they had three?

Billy Wagner to J.J. Putz to Francisco Rodriguez.  Talk about a nasty bullpen.

Wagner, recovering from surgery on his left arm, has been cleared to throw off a mound on Tuesday in Port St. Lucie.

"I'm going to break all the rules by getting back before they expect it," Wagner told Marty Noble of MLB.com.  "I'm going to get back.  I'm not going to get any saves.  That could be some bullpen."

Would it ever.

Let's just imagine Wagner pitching the seventh inning for the Mets, handing that off to Putz for the eighth and then to K-Rod in the ninth.  That's 694 combined saves between the three of them.

Obviously it's not set in stone that Wagner can be back this season, if at all. If he can get back though, he's still under contract with the Mets and they could use him in the bullpen if they think he can help the team.

That would be mighty interesting.

Gary Sheffield can't play in the field, says so himself

Gary Sheffield has been shagging fly balls with some of the Mets in preperation to possibly play in the field this season.  He did not perform very well and he admitted that himself.

Via Adam Rubin:

Sheffield said there's no way he'd be able to play 130 games in the outfield this season, or whatever the equivalent of a regular player gets. "They'll see I can't do that real quick," Sheffield said with a smile.

I agree it wasn't the best signing in the world for the Mets, but he still will help the Mets off the bench.

Sheffield seems to have the right attitude here, as the article notes that he wants to tap the mind of Marlon Anderson, who seems to be the pinch hitting guru of the roster.

I guess this means Ryan Church and Daniel Murphy don't have much to worry about.

What a lead

Newsday just posted their story from the first game of the 1969 season. The New York Mets lost to the Montral Expos by a score of 11-10.

Check out the lead that Ed Hershey wrote for the article:

Now a whole new country can laugh at the Mets, and in two languages no less.

Too funny.

The Verducci Effect on Mike Pelfrey

A theory I've been pointing to all off season comes from SI writer, and fellow New Jerseyite, Tom Verducci. He believes that if a young pitcher, usually under the age of 25, has his inning pitched increase by more then 30, he is at risk for an injury the next season.

Mike Pelfrey fits that category.

Verducci met with Pelfrey down at spring training, and much of his latest article focuses on Pelfrey and a handful of other young pitchers he has "red flagged" for injuries in 2009. Of the 10 pitchers Verducci picked, Pelfrey had the seventh largest jump in innings with 48.

How much should those guys be worried? Over the previous three years I red-flagged a total of 24 young pitchers at the start of those seasons. Of those 24 at-risk pitchers, 16 were hurt in that same season. Only one of the 24 pitchers managed to stay healthy and lower his ERA.Not the greatest news in the world for Mets fans or Pelfrey.

Hopefully the Mets have enough arms in their system that a significant injury to Pelfrey, who pitches tonight in Cincinnati, can be overcome.