Game Recaps: Mets 4 – Dodgers 0; Mets 10 – Dodgers 5

A doubleheader sweep!

(For the sake of my sanity, we’re combining these games into one recap)

The Good

Jason Bay hit his first home run as a Met in the first game.  He also tripled, his third of the year, in the second game.

Welcome back, David Wright.  He picked up his 1,000th hit.  He went 4-6 at the plate with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Ike Davis with 3 RBI in the nightcap.

Johan is Johan.  Again, he wasn’t great.  He allowed four hits and walked three, but no runs scored against him.  He struck out six, needing 115 pitches.

The bullpen.  Nieve, Feliciano, Takahashi, Mejia and Valdes.  Super-duper.

The Bad & Ugly

Ollie.  Bad Ollie showed up tonight.  3.2 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 2 K .  He let up three earned runs and threw only 37 of his 75 pitches for strikes.

Bay did K three times in game two.

Mejia is pitching mop-up duty.  Mop-up.  Really?

Game Balls

Wright, Takahashi and Johan.

On Deck

The Mets try to sweep the series tomorrow afternoon, a 1:10 p.m. game.

Game Chat: LAD @ NYM [Game 20 & 21]

Here is the Game Chat for both of today’s games.

Join in and chat with your fellow fans!
Chat removed, as usual.

Lineup for Game 1

The tarp is still on the field, but here is the lineup for Game 1 of the single-admission doubleheader:

1. Angel Pagan – CF
2. Luis Castillo – 2B
3. Jose Reyes – SS
4. Jason Bay – LF
5. David Wright – 3B
6. Ike Davis – 1B
7. Gary Matthews Jr. – RF
8. Rod Barajas – C
9. Johan Santana – LHP

Game Chat for both games will be up at 4 p.m.

The ‘new’ Mets [Stats]

Let’s take a look at how some of the Mets that were not on the team last year are doing so far this season…

Rod Barajas: .196 AVG / .203 OBP / .375 SLG, 3 HR, 8 RBI

Henry Blanco: .133 / .250 / .133, 0 HR, 2 RBI

Ike Davis: .318 / .400 / .500, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Jason Bay: .269 / .388 / .373, 0 HR, 5 RBI

Gary Matthews Jr.: .179 / .281 / .250, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Frank Catalanotto: .125 / .176 / .125, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Raul Valdes: 8.2 IP, 3BB, 9 K, 7 H, 1.04 ERA, 1.154 WHIP

Hisanori Takahashi: 11 IP, 9 BB, 16 K, 9 H, 4.09 ERA, 1.636 WHIP

Jenrry Mejia: 9 IP, 4 BB, 7 K, 8 H, 2.00 ERA, 1.333 WHIP

Manny Acosta: 3IP, 3 BB, 6 K, 2 H, 9.00 ERA, 1.667 WHIP

Ryota Igarashi (DL): 6.2 IP, 4 BB, 3 K, 3 H, 1.35 ERA, 1.050 WHIP

Stats via Baseball-Reference.

Manuel’s Musing

“It's funny I was talking about just that in the coaches' room with the staff today. Sometimes we focus so much on our team that we forget that just about every team has problems.”

-Jerry Manuel on baseball

Tonight’s game is rained out

The Mets and Dodgers will play a straight doubleheader tomorrow starting at 4:10 p.m.

It will be a single admission doubleheader tomorrow.

Johan Santana will pitch Game 1, with Oliver Perez starting the second game.

Too bad I have class all day.

Here’s ticket info from the Mets…

The New York Mets have announced that tonight's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers has been postponed due to rain and has been rescheduled as part of a single-admission doubleheader tomorrow, April 27 starting at 4:10 p.m. Only tickets marked "April 27 - Game 15" for tomorrow's night game will be honored for the 4:10 p.m. game and the second game to follow.

Tickets from tonight's rainout will not be valid for admission tomorrow. Fans can exchange tickets in person tomorrow at Citi Field for tomorrow's games, or at a later date for any future game, subject to availability and according to standard rain-check ticket exchange policy on Mets.com.

Lineup, weather permitting

Highly doubtful this game gets played – look for a doubleheader tomorrow or later in the season – but here’s the lineup…

1. Angel Pagan – CF
2. Luis Castillo – 2B
3. Jose Reyes – SS
4. Jason Bay – LF
5. David Wright – 3B
6. Ike Davis – 1B
7. Gary Matthews Jr. – RF
8. Rod Barajas – C
9. Oliver Perez – LHP

If they play, the Game Chat will be posted at 7 p.m.

Mets runs by inning [Graph]

Lately, it seems the Mets have a hard time scoring runs early in the game.  Only around the sixth or seventh do the bats come out and start hitting and the runs start scoring.

I thought it was just one of those weird quirks that I made up in my head to keep me hopeful (“Don’t worry, they’ll score next inning!”), but I took a look at the data, and this is what I found…The Mets do score more runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth as opposed to the rest of the lineup.  Why they do this is another post entirely.  Is it the fact that the bullpens they’re facing are weaker than the starter or do the bats just take a while to heat up?

That’s for someone else to figure out.

But for now, if the Mets are down early, we know that at least through the first 19 games, there’s hope in the later innings.

Stats via Baseball-Reference.

Manuel’s Musing

“He was able to bob and weave and keep himself out of trouble”

-Jerry Manuel on Mike Pelfrey

Game Recap: Mets 1 – Braves 0

Get out the brooms!  Ugliest shut out I’ve ever seen.

The Good

Rain.  Thanks, Mother Nature.  Saved the bullpen tonight and gave the Mets a rain-shortened sweep over the Atlanta Braves.  We owe you one.

A shut out.  It was ugly, but it will go in the books as a shut out for the Mets.  (Raul Valdes’ one pitch ruined the complete game shut out for Mike Pelfrey.)  Pelfrey was far from sharp, allowing five hits and walking five.  But, he was able to work himself out of trouble inducing two inning-ending double plays to work himself out of jams.

Pelfrey is now 4-0 this year and has a 24-inning scoreless streak.

A Reyes Run.  Angel Pagan and Luis Castillo failed to get on in the first, so Jose Reyes came to the plate like a leadoff man, but with two outs.  Reyes singled and stole second.  Jason Bay followed with a single of his own, as Chipper Jones made a diving stab and his throw was late and bounced away from Troy Glaus.  Reyes, who was running, scampered home for the games only run.

Luis Castillo went 2-3 with two singles.

The Bad & Ugly

Pelfrey’s pitchcount.  It took 106 pitches for Pelfrey to get through five innings of work.  Only 59 of those landed for strikes.  Yikes.

David Wright looks lost at the plate.  Absolutely lost.

Pagan has one hit in his last five games with two walks.

Ike Davis’ two strikeouts.  Tommy Hanson’s curveball completely fooled Davis in both his at bats.

Game Ball

Jose Reyes

On Deck

The Mets welcome the Dodgers to Citi Field tomorrow for a 7:10 p.m. start.