Game Chat: NYM @ WAS [Game 3]

Mets look to salvage the series in Washington by taking the rubber game. 
Livan Hernandez is on the mound for the Mets.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Lineup for finale; Church returns, starts

Ryan Church has been activated and will start today in right field.  Luis Castillo gets a day off with Alex Cora shifting over and Wilson Valdez filling in at SS.

1. Alex Cora – 2B
2. Fernando Martinez – LF
3. Carlos Beltran – CF
4. David Wright – 3B
5. Daniel Murphy – 1B
6. Ryan Church – RF
7. Brian Schneider – C
8. Wilson Valdez – SS
9. Livan Hernandez – RHP

Shoulder tightness for Maine

Though David Lennon chalks it up to possible post-operation issues, I’d say John Maine’s poor start had more to do with him battling a stomach virus.

After the game, Maine told reporters his shoulder “is still tight back there.”

Maine was coming off a good May, where he went 4-1 with an ERA below three.  Shoulder tightness then was never an issue.

Maine did leave his last start after cruising through six innings as the latest casualty to a stomach virus that had been sweeping the team. 

I’d say that has more to do with Saturday’s poor start then a surgery that he got months ago, especially  after winning five of his last seven starts, pitching into the sixth inning in all of them.

Manuel’s Musing for June 6

“We were a little confused on the bases on that, and obviously ended up with two outs there,”

-Jerry Manuel on the Emil Brown / Luis Castillo double play in the 4th inning.

If you haven’t seen the play, click here.

F-Mart sticks around

With Ryan Church ready to come off the disabled list tomorrow, the Mets needed to make room.  Emil Brown has been designated for assignment.

Fernando Martinez, the young 20-year-old, will stay on the team.  That means he will continue to get consistent playing time.

And there’s your bright spot of Mets news today after the 7-1 drubbing.

Game Recap: Nationals 7 – Mets 1

Sloppy.

The Washington Nationals (15-39) beat the New York Mets (29-25) by a score of 7-1.

John Maine allowed three in the first, one in the fourth and three in the fifth.  Seven  earned runs were charged to Maine.  He allowed six hits in four innings, three of which left the park.  All of them were no-doubters.  Maine walked two and struck out one.

Ken Takahashi and Fernando Nieve each pitched two innings in relief.  Neither allowed a run to score.

The Mets were shut down by John Lannan.  Lannan threw a complete game, four-hitter.  He walked three and struck out two.  The only run came in the 8th inning on an Elijah Dukes fielding error.

Just awful.

Game Chat: NYM @ WAS [Game 2]

Saturday night baseball. John Maine, free of the stomach virus,
takes the mound for the Mets.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

F-Mart did it again

I was on sabbatical when Fernando Martinez failed to run out the pop-fly in front of home plate two weeks ago.  I wasn’t going to blast him over it, but it would be something to bring up and hopefully Jerry Manuel talked to the kid about it.

Promising it would never happen again, F-Mart got a pass.

Well guess what?  It happened again.  I’ll leave it to Joe Janish of Mets Today to lay it out:

While we’re on the subject of running and not running, in the top of the seventh, Fernando Martinez attempted a sacrifice that rolled foul. Ironically, Ron Villone — the pitcher last week when F-Mart chose not to run on an infield popup — was again the pitcher. Catcher Josh Bard alertly allowed the ball to roll, in case it spun into fair territory (it was only about a foot, maybe less, from the baseline), because Martinez never left the batter’s box. I’m not picking on F-Mart here — I can’t, not when the “leader” is making assumptions on long fly balls, and not when his manager doesn’t make hustling a priority. Rather, I’m pointing out that this team continues to run hard only when they feel like it, rather than all the time. And also pointing out that, despite all the “he’ll never do THAT again!” rants, Martinez DID do it again, only this time the ball remained foul and wasn’t nearly as glaring a gaffe as last week’s popup. And why did he do it again? Because he wasn’t disciplined the first time. Again — it’s not F-Mart’s fault, but rather the fault of Mets management and the lazy, loser approach to the game that they’ve cultivated.

Another rookie mistake?  Hmmm…

I think the Mets will retain F-Mart when Ryan Church returns and give the young player a majority of time in the outfield.  Gary Sheffield and Church will split time in the opposite outfield corner.

Again, I really hope someone spoke to Martinez about this.  It’s one of the most basic fundamentals to any sport, not just baseball.

“Run first, ask questions later.”

Manuel’s Musing for June 5

“That's a huge hit for him. But when he went to third, I could have strangled him.”

-Jerry Manuel on David Wright getting thrown out trying to steal third in the 10th.

Game Recap: Mets 3 – Nationals 1

It took 10 innings against the worst team in baseball, but it ended in a win.

The New York Mets (29-24) beat the Washington Nationals (14-39) by a score of 3-1.

Tim Redding made his best start as a Met, coming against his former team.  Six innings on the mound, Redding allowed only one earned run.  He allowed six hits, walked two (one intentional) and struck out two. 

The turning point for Redding came in the fifth inning.  He issued a one-out intentional walk to Nick Johnson to load the bases to pitch to Ryan Zimmerman.  He then induced a double play ball to shortstop to get out of the inning.

Brian Stokes, Sean Green and Bobby Parnell each turned in a scoreless inning in relief.  Green has put down the last 14 batters to face him and hasn’t allowed a run in his last eight appearances.

Francisco Rodriguez entered in the 10th inning and pitched a 1-2-3 frame for his 15th save in 15 chances.

The Mets picked up the first run in the game in the second inning when Fernando Tatis grounded out to short, allowing David Wright to score from third base.

Wright picked up two bloop singles, but also hit two doubles, going 4-5 on the night.  His second double came in the 10th inning with runners on first and second, as he drove the ball all the way to the wall between center and right field.

The hit chased home Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo and worked as the winning runs when all was said and done.