Daily Archives: August 15, 2007
The Mets (67–52) defeated the Pirates (49–69) by the score of 10 to 8 in Pittsburgh tonight.
For a recap and boxscore, go to Yahoo! Sports.
…phew…
…the Mets hit the ball, and should be given credit, but, wow, the Pirates have one of the worse defensive teams i have ever seen…it’s sad, actually…
…for instance, up one run, the Mets got a lucky insurance run thanks to a wild throw to third by Shawn Chacon…after that, the flood-gates opened, as the Pirates made bad play after odd play allowing four more insurance runs to cross the plate and letting the game get totally out of hand…
…in some ways, this game was over before the Pirates ever came to the plate, as the Mets put up five runs in the first, two of which came on a home run by Moises Alou…
…decent job by John Maine…but hats off to him for getting out of a jam in the second, when it looked like he was starting to implode…he kept it together and sailed from there, sort of, throwing 117 pitches in just five inning…
…Guillermo Mota was wild, yet allowed only one run…Aaron Heilman and Jorge Sosa continue to look strong…Aaron Sele did not hold up his end of the bullpen, allowing the Pirates to make it interesting, and so Billy Wagner came in to push the door shut, and i mean really struggle to push the door shut…yikes…
…how bad did Xavier Nady want to tie the game with one swing in the ninth…oh well…
…willie already said Lastings Milledge would get the bulk of starts over Shawn Green, and i think tonight showed why…
…nice diving catch by Carlos Beltran to end the seventh inning…outstanding effort…later, in the ninth, with the Mets in desperate need of an out, to keep the game in order, beltran ran down another deep, deep fly-ball to left center, making another big catch…
…okay, now i know four other batters had been hit prior to the ninth, but Damaso Marte plunked Shawn Green on purpose…no doubt…the Mets bench certainly thought so, as you could see several players looking quite annoyed, while Willie Randolph had a pretty serious stare going, as well…sele hit a batter during pitt’s next at-bat, but it was on a curve ball, so clearly it was an accident…i wish it weren’t, though…i feel like teams have been dusting the Mets all season, and they never push back…
…nevertheless, good win…keep taking care of business, guys…especially against the Pirates…
Today, on The MetsBlog Podcast, Anthony and I talked about Pedro Martinez’s rehab start with Eric Phaler, 
who does an outstanding job covering the St. Lucie Mets for the The Port St. Lucie News and TCPalm.com.
Phaler gives us a first-hand report on Martinez’s recent start, while discussing his overall rehab and his impact on the club’s younger player. Phaler also provides a bit of insight in to St. Lucie Mets LHP Jonathan Neise, RHP Deolis Guerra, and RHP Joe Hietpas.
To listen, click the play button in the audio player located in this site’s left-hand column.
To subscribe to The MetsBlog Podcast, and receive new and old editions directly to your iPod, use this url, or simply search MetsBlog on iTunes and click subscribe.
Tonight at roughly 8:10 or so, I will be appearing as a guest on Blog Talk Radio’s one-year anniversary show.
To listen live, click the button below…
Phillies RHP Adam Eaton has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.
According to MLB.com, the Phillies will start J.D. Durbin in Eaton’s place on Friday in Pittsburgh.
While appearing in his weekly radio interview with WFAN, Willie Randolph said he intends to give 
Lastings Milledge the ‘bulk of the playing time’ in right-field over Shawn Green, ‘who’s having a down year.’
According to Randolph, he likes Milledge, likes his ‘fire,’ he likes that he is a bit ‘brash,’ and he especially likes the level of energy that the young outfielder brings to his team, adding, ‘he could be an important player for us in September.’
Also, though he still has confidence in them, Randolph said Scott Schoenweiss and Guillermo Mota ‘need to get going,’ noting that Mota’s problem this season has been making bad mistakes at the wrong times. Pedro Feliciano feels fine, he says, adding that he is trying to not over-use him since Feliciano had thrown so many innings earlier in the season.
Regarding John Maine and Oliver Perez, Randolph believes both pitchers need to ‘lay off themselves a bit,’ they need to focus more, command their innings better, minimize the damage in each inning, and just push through these next few starts, at which point he can possibly give them some rest when rosters expand in September.
Lastly, he agreed that his team has under-achieved this season, adding that they also have not been given credit for remaining in first place. He said he would still like the team to make a big run, and go on more than a four-game winning streak, which has been their longest of the season.
To listen to Randolph’s entire interview, go to WFAN.com.
The Game:
The
first-place Mets (66-52) continue their series with the Pirates (49-68) tonight at PNC Park, starting at 7:05 pm EDT.
The Lineup:
SS Jose Reyes leads off, followed in order by 2B Luis Castillo, 3B David Wright, CF Carlos Beltran, 1B Carlos Delgado, LF Moises Alou, RF Shawn Green, C Mike DiFelice and starting pitcher John Maine.
The Pitchers:
RHP
John Maine (12-7, 3.53 ERA) takes the hill for the Mets. Maine struggled again in his last start vs. the Braves, allowing six runs on seven hits (including two home runs) over 5.1 IP while walking three. Maine has allowed 12 ER in his last two starts. He has a 6.46 ERA in 30.2 IP since the All-Star break. Maine won his last start vs. the Pirates on July 24th, allowing two runs on five hits (including one home run) over 7 IP while striking out seven and walking just one.
RHP Matt Morris (7-7, 4.53 ERA) pitches for the Pirates. In his second start as a Pirate, Morris allowed five runs on seven hits over 6 IP. He has allowed nine runs in 12.1 IP since being acquired by the Pirates on July 31st. He has allowed at least four earned runs in nine out of his last 10 starts. He hasn’t won a start since June 11th. He had a 2.56 ERA on June 11th — since then, he has a 7.65 ERA. Morris recieved a no-decision vs. the Mets back on May 9th as a member of the Giants, allowing two runs over 7 IP.
The Notes:
LF Moises Alou has the largest body of work vs. Morris, with 23 hits in 74 at-bats, including two homers, seven doubles and 12 RBI.
The Mets are 16-8 in one run games this season.
The Mets are 22-9 vs. the NL Central this season.
SS Jose Reyes is two runs away from tying Wayne Garrett for 12th (389) on the Mets all-time list.
This month, the Pirates rank third in the majors with 84 runs scored, behind only the Yankees and Rockies.
For more insight on the Pirates, check out Blogger Beat.
The Bleachers:
To chat during the game, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers. If you are IRC savvy, log on to irc.echo34.com and enter channel #metsblog.
…enjoy…and as always, let’s go mets…
The Mets are eighth in the National League with 861 runners left on base.
Meanwhile the Phillies lead the National League with 941 runners left on base, while the Braves are fourth with 889.
…thanks to MetsFan4life4515 for the information…
Billy Wagner, as quoted on Monday, by Bill Madden in the Daily News…
“We go 2-4 overall (on the recent home stand), but as good as we’ve been all year and play like crap – we should’ve won two of three in each of these series…Bad as this home stand was, we’re still in first place.”
…we’re still in first place…we’re still in first place…it’s said a lot these days, isn’t it…i can’t put my finger 
on it, maybe it’s because the team was so dominant for so much of last year, all while playing so focused, so tight and with so much energy, that i got spoiled, but i just feel like this current bunch is playing a bit flat, maybe even a bit timid, like they’re waiting for the shoe to drop and fall in to second place, and until that happens they’ll just keep coasting while taking solice that no team has caught them…which is a dangerous way to play if you ask me…
…did you watch the Phillies and Braves on ESPN this past sunday…both teams were playing super hard, super focused, there was a ton of fist pumping, lots of emotion, lots of intensity…and now i am lots of worried…because i fear the hunger that was displayed by atlanta and philadelphia, and because i do not see that same hunger with the Mets…
…but, we’re still in first place, right…
The Mets have signed 18–year-old international free-agent 3B Marinus Vernooij from Holland.
According to the team…
“The 6-2, 200-pounder played third base for the Dutch 1st division Door Tridents last year. Marinus led the team in RBI as they won their league championship. In addition, he played for the Dutch Junior National Team this year, winning the bronze medal at the European Championships.”
Jose Reyes’s batting average has dropped below .300 on only three days this season: April 1, 3 and July 28.
Today, he has a .374 on base percentage, 
which is his lowest rate of the season.
…actually, last night, Mets Weekly did an interview with me, and i think i said i was disappointed in reyes’s season…which is strange to say…as of now, he’s on pace to hit .300, which is about what i expected, plus he’s going to walk and steal far more bases than last season, no doubt…but his home runs, RBI and runs scored will be down, and so maybe i’m just focusing on that…or, i just don’t feel like he’s been in the mix as much this season, like he was last year at this point, though that may have more to do with the people batting behind him…
…don’t get me wrong, i love jose, and think he’s having a good year, it’s just, for some reason, i guess i was expecting more, which may have been totally unrealistic from the get go…
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