Daily Archives: August 23, 2007
The Mets (71–55) lost to the Padres (68–58) by the score of 9 to 8 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap and boxscore, go to Yahoo! Sports.
…hello, drama, and entertainment…well, the Mets showed fight, you have to say that, which i am thrilled to see…that’s the good news…they kept coming back, back, back, but then lost it…
…what’s up with Billy Wagner…i don’t want to freak out, because he’s had a great season so far…but the last few outings he has been quite off…
…down one in the ninth, Jose Reyes singles, advanced to second, steals third and ties up the game on a sacrifice fly by David Wright…phew…this team has been amazingly persistent this last week or so, and i like it…
…however, if it’s not one reliever, it’s another, and tonight it was Aaron Heilman, who allowed a solo home run to Adrian Gonzalez in the top of the 10th to put the Padres ahead for good…i had flashbacks from last october, actually…to his credit, he’s looked good of late, but i still worry about him in big spots…
…damn you, Heath Bell…
…best part of the ninth-inning rally, though, was reyes, who was so hype on the bench after scoring, he to pretended to box Ruben Gotay with a rally towel wrapped around his head…too funny…
…Tom Glavine struggled with his control tonight, he was also getting squeezed by the ump, which is a bad combo…he then began leaving balls over the plate, and the Padres started hitting…despite all that, glavine still managed to successful walk a tight rope most of the night…in the fourth, though, he slipped, and allowed a two-run single to Milton Bradley with the bases loaded…i’m glad to see Willie Randolph jabbing the home-plate ump from the dugout, while swearing under his breath, like he should do when his pitcher is rolling his eyes all night and getting screwed over and over again…
…glavine gave up two more runs in the fifth, and the crowd actually had the audacity to boo…glavine…who has been more or less flawless in seven of nine starts since the all-star break…he should have been perfect in all nine, i guess…i mean, are the boos as loud as i think, or is it just coming across extra loud on my television…
…hey, hat’s off to Scott Schoeneweis, who pitched well tonight, and is looking better and better…
…outstanding block at home plate by Sandy Alomar Jr., who i still can’t believe is wearing a Mets uniform…with bradley charging home, sandy slipped his foot in front of the plate, bradley slide right in to him, was stopped and tagged out…slick, man…
…by the way, i’d like to take this time to thank the Dodgers for releasing Marlon Anderson, who has been nothing short of great since signing with the Mets…tonight, he hit a huge three-run, pinch-hit home run to temporarily give the Mets a one-run lead…
…also, thank god delgado walked in the ninth, because had he struck out, the place would have booed him out of the building, i fear…
…David Wright was wise to play the line during the top of the ninth inning with Khalil Green at bat, who then ripped a ball down the line, past wright…the thing is, green got ended up with a double anyways…is it me, or does Moises Alou take a super long time to pick up the ball from the ground in the outfield…anyway, green eventually scored the lead run on a soft, bloop single just over wright’s head…
…tough, tough loss…
Tonight, on The MetsBlog Podcast, Anthony and I will be answered listener questions about Guillermo 
Mota, available pitchers on the waiver wire, Endy Chavez and Carlos Delgado, among others.
To listen, use the audio player 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.
According to SNY’s pre-game coverage, Pedro Martinez will make his next rehab start in Port St. Lucie on Monday.
…i was considering taking the train to trenton to see him, its a
shame he’s staying in st. lucie…i’m not sure how to read into it, it
might just be logistically the best choice right now…
The Game:
The
first-place Mets (71-54) look for the win in the rubber match vs. the Padres (67-58) tonight, starting at 7:10 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 Sandy Alomar and starting pitcher Tom Glavine.
The Pitchers:
LHP Tom Glavine (11-6, 4.12 ERA) takes the hill for the Mets. He was solid in his last start vs. the Nationals, yielding just one run on eight hits over seven innings for win #301. He has allowed just six runs over his last four starts (spanning 25.2 innings). He has won four consecutive decisions. In 11 starts at home this season, Glavine is 6-1 with a 3.11 ERA. He is 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA in six starts at Shea since May 30th. He hasn’t faced the Padres since the 2005 season.
RHP Justin Germano (6-7, 4.18 ERA) pitches for the Padres. Germano took the loss in his last start vs. Astros, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings. He has allowed six runs over his last three starts (3.18 ERA in 17 IP). He has lost four consecutive decisions. He has recieved two runs or less of support in each of his last six starts. Oddly, he has a 3.04 ERA on the road compared to a 5.40 ERA at home. Germano has never faced the Mets.
The Notes:
The Mets established a franchise record last night by scoring five runs or more in ten consecutive games.
With five stolen bases last night, the Mets tied a franchise record for stolen bases in a season — It was set by the 1987 club, who swiped 159 bags.
3B David Wright drew four walks last night, to tie a team record. He has drawn 20 walks in his last 20 games and leads the team with a .402 OBP.
CF Carlos Beltran is 7-for-10 with 12 RBI over his last three games and has 21 RBI in his last 10 games.
CF Mike Cameron has a home run in four at-bats vs. Glavine.
For more insight on the Padres, 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 MLB Post-Season schedule is available at MLB.com.
…not that it makes any sense at this point, considering no team is any place near clinching a spot yet…but, if you’re curious, there you go…
According to the Star-Ledger, citing ‘a person close to the situation,’ free-agent LHP David Wells is close to signing with the Dodgers.
The 44-year-old Wells was 5-8 with a 5.54 ERA in 22 games for the Padres this year.
…it stands to reason that if he’s signed soon, he’d be pitching against the Mets at some point this weekend…and, uhh, good luck with that, la…
Go to ArmChairGM and vote on which was the worst MLB trade in recent history: Scott Kazmir from the Mets to the Devil Rays, or Chris Young from Texas to the Padres?
To leave a voice mail message with a comment or question to be aired on an up-coming MetsBlog Podcast, go here, or dial (641) 715-0101 and enter *4490751.
…good luck, and thanks for calling…
At his blog for Yahoo! Sports, Jeff Passan writes…
“Unless a team pulls a White Sox circa ’05 and starts spinning complete games through the playoffs, bullpens will win and lose series. And though they tend to be judged solely on ERA, perhaps the more important number for relievers is how many inherited runners they allow to score.”
As Passan points out, while the Mets have the third-best ERA of any bullpen in baseball, they have also allowed just 27.7 percent of inherited runners to score, which is second best to the Cubs in the NL.
Justin sent in an e-mail asking…
“With regard to Guillermo Mota, his performance with the Mets is exactly what kills me about Willie Randolph – he is loyal to a fault so long as you are a veteran and have ever done anything positive for him…
“We saw it earlier this season with him continually going to Julio Franco in critical situations, even though Franco probably couldn’t hit off a tee this year. The same thing was true last year when he kept giving Steve Traschel the ball, even though every single Mets fan knew that was a bad idea…
“Mota has been flat out terrible, giving up a run or more in each of his last five outings, yet he keeps going to him. I don’t mean this as a Willie bashing, because its hard to argue with the results he has produced, 
but i truly feel that his biggest weakness can be his own ego, confidence, trust, whatever you want to call it…
“Just wondering what your thoughts are on this.”
…i agree, though it’s not that simple…i mean, given recent comments, it’s pretty clear that willie wasn’t a fan of franco’s…i just think it’s a strategy…first, from what i can gather, he likes veterans because he believes in their steady, battle-tested approach, and b) he is of the mindset that you work these guys until they get it right…truthfully, i don’t even think willie enjoys doing it this way, but i think he sees it as the best way to eventually get the best from his overall team in the long run…seriously…
…if you notice, mota is actually throwing harder this season than he did last season…he just can’t command his off-speed pitches and essentially has no out pitch…willie, and Omar Minaya to a lesser extent, believe that it’s only a matter of time before a good player begins to execute and battles through a slump…personally, i disagree with this…obviously, you do too…i mean, it’s one thing when Carlos Beltran goes in to a slump, or Tom Glavine has a few bad starts in a row, but outside of a few weeks last season, mota has been a mess for years now…it’s in these cases that this stick-with-him mentality confuses me, especially when there may be qualified young players who can do no worse…i mean, there is actually a bottom to talent…
…the thing is, there is a point of resistance…just ask franco, who is batting in Low-A for the Braves right now…in other words, i honestly believe you will not see much of mota going forward…or, at least i hope that’s the case…
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