Daily Archives: September 1, 2007
The Mets (75–60) beat the Braves (69–67) by the score of 5 to 1 in Turner Field this afternoon.
For a recap and boxscore, go to Yahoo! Sports.
…yes, Carlos Beltran was 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple and a single…yes, Carlos Delgado had a home run for the second straight day…yes, Guillermo Mota and Pedro Feliciano looked great in relief…
…however, the name of the day was Mike Pelfrey, who allowed one run and one hit over six innings while getting his first win of the year…
…the key to the game was the fifth inning, when, after plunking a pissed-off Jeff Francoeur, and allowing the bases to be loaded, pelfrey looked to be coming unglued…this is the exact spot he has struggled with in previous starts…however, following a stern, yet motivational visit from Willie Randolph, pelfrey re-grouped, ‘managed the inning,’ allowed just one run and threw a gutsy slider to strike out Kelly Johnson to end the inning…huge, huge moment…not just in the game, but in pelfrey’s career…
…nice win…promising win, frankly…and while i am happy the Mets won the game, i just can’t stop thinking of how well pelfrey pitched and how he battled…
…by the way, sorry for the short post…i wrote a longer one, and for whatever reason it never went live…it must have gotten lost in the Internet wasteland…so frustrating…
The Game:
The
first-place Mets (74-60) continue their weekend series with the Braves (69-66) this afternoon at Turner Field, starting at 3:55 pm EDT.
The Lineup:
SS Jose
Reyes leads off, followed in order by 2B Luis Castillo, 3B David
Wright, CF Carlos Beltran, LF Moises Alou, 1B Carlos Delgado, C Paul Lo
Duca, RF Lastings Milledge and starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey.
The Pitchers:
RHP Mike Pelfrey (0-7, 5.92 ERA) gets the nod for the Mets. Pelfrey’s last start with the big club was on July 28th vs. the Nationals. He allowed three runs on eight hits over six innings as part of a no-decision. Pelfrey is on a personal eight game losing streak in the bigs dating back to last season. He faced the Braves back on April 20th, surrendering four runs on six hits over five innings for his first loss.
LHP Chuck James (9-9, 4.22 ERA) takes the hill for the Braves. James has been on the disabled list since August 21st because of tightness in the back of his pitching shoulder. His most recent start was against the Giants on August 16th where he allowed six runs on five hits (including a career-high four home runs) over 3.2 IP. He has given up at least one home run in six consecutive starts. James is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA in two starts vs. the Mets this season.
The Notes:
SS Jose Reyes is 5-for-9 with a homer vs. James lifetime.
1B Carlos Delgado is 8-for-19 (.421) with two homers and seven RBI on the road trip.
IF/OF Marlon Anderson has seven hits in his last 10 pinch-hit at-bats.
The Braves have lost seven of their last 10 games. They were 13-15 in August.
Before today’s game the Braves recalled 1B Julio Franco and LHP Royce Ring from Triple-A Richmond.
For more insight on the Braves, check out Blogger Beat with Martin Gandy of Talking Chop.
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…
On the FOX pre-game show this afternoon, Ken Rosenthal reported that the Mets alleged the Phillies of stealing signs via two cameras in center field during the four-game series.
The Mets changed signs during the series and an investigation on the matter cleared the Phillies of any tomfoolery.
…sketchy, but how would that explain the mets scoring only six runs in the first three games of the series…you gotta score to win, especially in that place…
The Mets have officially announced that Pedro Martinez will make his season debut on Monday in Cincinnati, according to John Delcos at his blog for the Journal News.
Delcos also gives a quote from Willie Randolph, who made the announcement before today’s game.
…all eyes on you, petey…who’s excited…
Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue breaks out the charts and graphs to let us know that not only is SS Jose Reyes important, he is super-important to the team’s success.
…yep, ‘as reyes goes, so do the mets’…you know, i’ve noticed him popping the ball up at a pretty disturbing rate this season…still, the fact that he has reached base at least twice in a game 71 times this year is pretty impressive…
…nice job, eric…
The Mets finished August with a 15-13 mark. It was their first winning month since May, when they went 19-9.
Monthly totals:
April 15-9
May 19-9
June 12-15
July 13-14
August 15-13
This past week on The MetsBlog Podcast, I talked with Mets Triple-A GM Mike Schline, as well as Brian 
Moritz, who covers the Mets Double-A team for the Press & Sun Bulletin.
During the interview with Schline, who discussed the development of Mike Pelfrey, Phil Humber and Willie Collazo, all of whom will join the Mets in Atlanta today.
Regarding Collazo, Schline said…
“He’s an interesting guy. He’s a smaller guy, but he goes out there and he’s got a lot in his arsenal…He’s got one of those fastballs that creep up on you a bit, I think…
“He’s a weapon. They talk about all these other guys, but he’s a guy people should pay attention to.”
Meanwhile, Moritz and I discussed players from Binghamton Mets, including Kevin Mulvey, Mike Carp, Brett Harper, Carlos Muniz and others.
Regarding Mulvey, Moritz said…
“I’ve been very, very impressed with Mulvey…He’s really throwing the ball well. He told me that his big thing this year is that he’s got command of all four of his pitches, he’s learned how to throw them all and learned when to throw them all…He’s just evolved incredibly this year, leaps and bounds since he came here a year ago.”
Again, to listen to these interviews, use the audio player in the left-hand column.
Or, 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.
Orlando Hernandez had his right foot examined in New York yesterday and will most likely return to the team today.
Prior to yesterday’s game, Willie Randolph told reporters that he does not expect El Duque to miss his next start.
…as noted all day yesterday, it appears Pedro Martinez will start on Monday against the Reds…actually, it all depends on how he feels today after throwing a bullpen session yesterday…
To read more about Martinez’s big day in Atlanta, check out Mark Hale in the New York Post, Steve Popper in the Bergen Record, as well as Bob Klapisch in the Bergen Record, who writes…
“The only way this makes sense is if you think the Mets are suffering a confidence crisis (they are), and if they’re looking for a leader (they definitely are). Given that backdrop, the Pedro experiment could be seen as logical.
“It just had better work.”
…you know, this is actually a pretty huge moment in the season…think, we and the team have been waiting and waiting and hoping and needing pedro to return, be it for talent or an emotional lift, and if he goes out and gets rocked and i do not think any of us will react well…however, if he wins, and looks good, i believe we may all exhale, feel better, like everything is right in the world, and september will not feel like such a scary place…
According to a team press release, the Mets will officially promote Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Willie Collazo before tomorrow’s game.
