The Mets (82–62) lost to the Braves (74–71) by the score of 13–5 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap and boxscore, go to Yahoo! Sports.
…Orlando Hernandez just didn’t have it tonight…and, despite what he said after the game, he looked to be favoring his foot, which forced him to miss a start last week…he was throwing all arm, as Ron Darling pointed out, leaving tons of weak fastballs out of over the plate…he was wild…very wild…so when he did throw a strike, batters were just sitting dead red…
…at 3–0 Braves, and the bases loaded, el duque let up back-to-back hits through the hole between second and first, and that was more or less the game…
…at the time, the crowd, and even i, was thinking that el duque should have been pulled in favor of Aaron Sele, mostly because it was quite clear that he was not himself…however, i can understand sticking with him, as well…the two hits were just shy of Luis Castillo’s glove…so, i mean, it’s not like he let up some huge meatball home run…nevertheless, as i keep saying, he just didn’t look right, so willie was pressing his luck at that point, making the decision a bit curious at best…
…speaking of castillo, he looks like he is in so much pain, when he isn’t actually running…i watched him while he stood out on second base, and he appeared to be in tons of pain, limping, pulling up, wincing, etc, then he bolts for third on a ground ball like everything is fine…it’s strange to watch…
…nice throw from Carlos Beltran to peg Brian McCann tagging and sliding in home…
…speaking of nice throws, wow, Jeff Francoeur has a cannon…
…on the replay, Mark Teixeira’s home run didn’t look that impressive, but at the game i was stunned with how fast it left the park…it was literally a line-drive bullet, as he turned on high fastball out over the plate…it was laser…
…speaking of turning on the ball, Paul Lo Duca looks great at the plate…he is pulling the inside fastball with such authority since coming off the disabled list…
…lastly, again, Jose Reyes jogged out of the box on what he assumed would be a home run, but what turned out to be a double off the base of the wall…i don’t know that he would have been able to reach third has he been running hard from the box, but that’s not the point…again, i understand he must pace himself, as we all have learned, but i just don’t like to see this sort of play…lollygag on a ground ball to second…not on a rope to the wall in right…he was being cocky…plain and simple…
…nevertheless, at this point, the name of the game is magic number…the Phillies lost, so, despite the Mets losing, the division is one game closer…
{ 26 comments }
OK, write this one off. In the war of attrition, the Mets actually won. One less game on the schedule, and the Magic number is reduced.
The Mets don’t really have to win another game, as long as the Phils (and Braves) don’t win too many more!
Just look to shake it out of their systems, and come back tomorrow and pound on Smoltz.
Pretty much.
They just need to get through this and the Philies series with a couple of wins. All of our remaining games are against the Nats and Marlins (save for that makeup against the Cards). We were bitching about the schedule earlier in the year, but I can’t say I’m angry about who we get to play the last 2 weeks.
Yup. Anything greater than a 5 game lead after the Phils series and you can pretty much put it in the books.
I was a little disturbed by Reyes’ lack of hustle on his 2nd double of the night, the one that bounced off the right field wall. He trotted down the line, like it was a homer. Sitting left field, I had a perfect view of him going down the line. It was a little reminiscent of Rickey’s “HR” single trot in his last game as a Met.
did any1 else here the fans there tonite? it was the loudest i’ve ever seen them and half the stadium was empty!
That was because Keith was emptying the Tootsie Roll boxes into the crowd. Looked like a bunch of trained seals.
News Flash: Chipper finally earns his Nickname!
With the Braves on their way to avoiding the post season for the 2nd consecutive season, golf courses in Atlanta will be getting more visits from Larry Jones and friends. No more playoff failures in October, now he can spend his autumn with his driver, putter, and chipper.
Larry no more. He’s the Chipper. He’s earned it.
My only worry would be if Duque wasn’t fully healed, and is hiding something. Won’t know til they break down the tape, and see him pitch again on Monday…
What an uninspired performance.
Hernandez is the concern out of this game. Sure, the pen wasn’t great, but the Braves were due to bust out eventually, and probably none of these guys are going to make a PS roster, or if they do, you won’t be seeing them much!
But, if Hernandez is still hurting, they will need to shut him down again (probably) to let the foot heal, but there just isn’t much time to get him healthy, and back on th emound to shake off the rust.
If you are Omar, and Duque misses the rest of th eregular season, do you put him on the roster for the NLDS (if there is one of course, gotta get that in!), hoping that he can go out there and give you some quality innings?
If they do, might have to carry Pelfrey in thepen as a long man, assuming that Hernandez might end up being scratched.
I don’t know… maybe my perspective has changed…
I know our boys are on a great run, but damn… I hate losing to the Braves.
I’m not worried about El Duque. He’s had several starts as a Met were he gets bombed, then usually responds with a string of excellent starts. Plus, even without Chipper, the Braves lineup is as good as there is in the NL.
El Duque clearly did not have it tonight and it was obvious very early being at the game. The whole stadium knew he had nothing with his ridiculously slow curve balls and slow fastballs. he clearly is still bothered by the foot. Willie is a joke. No reason why he did not take El Duque out earlier. He waits until the game is out of reach! He basically conceded this game which sucks for fans. Why get embarassed by the Braves when we should be putting them away for good? After the game willie’s post game comments were ridiculous saying El Duque is fine. Willie is a terrible manager and many fans at the game last night were saying the same thing. He sucks and I hope management is seeing that he is simply a bad manager with no tactical skills and no fire. This team wins despite wilie and I hope the mets seriously consider making a move at manager after the season even though he has a contract. Let the Yankees take him please…..
yeah, the manager who has the only team in the majors in first place two years running, the manager who is about to lead the Mets to their first back to back division titles needs to be fired. Mmmmhmmm sure. :roll:
I am not defending firing Willie because I don’t think we can find someone better. He is great at the intangibles and motivating players, but downright inexcusably awful with the strategic side of baseball. I have a Love/Hate relationship with Willie.
Do you think the Yankees playing well has much of anything to do with Torre?
Willie might get players to play up to their potential and is good in the long run. But damn it if he doesn’t irritate many with his all-baseball-logic defying “gut”.
El Duque was left in the game way too long last night. This is September, there should be plenty of arms to around. It was the perfect opportunity to see what the youngins had. They did not fair so much better, but it was obvious that El Duque did not have it last night and wasn’t getting it. I haven’t seen him miss by that much that often in a long time. Even Duque on an off day will have a few bad innings, not one after another after another. That is poor in game management. No other way around it.
YOU SUCK!!!
No, really though.
Willie Protection Patrol in the house!!!!!
willie-attack-only-show-up-after-losses trolls in the house!
Willie does many questionable things in wins as well. As long as the team is winning, I see no point in pointing out his shortcomings as a manager.
I am not saying last night might still not have been a loss, but I feel it could have been closer than it was. Not everyone who speaks out against Willie or Omar or a player is a basher. I considered both sides of Willie’s managing. That’s fair.
Can’t we all get along?
The Mets are fine. They were bound to lose one of these three games. El Duque looked like he might have been favoring his foot. It looked to me like he was lacking that high kick in his motion. He said after the game that he felt fine, but had “no control”. Which happens. Two or three more starts and he’ll be ready to go *if* they make the post season.
He can’t have the high leg kick when he is pitching from the stretch. He had runners on all game cause he couldn’t control the ball.
I missed Jose Reyes not legging out a double to the base of the wall by seconds. I am very disappointed that he doesn’t go all out when he smells a hit. I thought every ballplayer went all out when they smelled a hit.
Hits have an odor?
gomez thinks they do!
They has an odor, and a flavor. ;)
Willie Randolph is a terrible manager? Look, I think they should be ahead by more, too, but how much more were you thinking?
sorry, but saying “the team is talented and they win despite…” is just a load of crap really. The managers job is to win games. The mets have won more games in the last two years than any two years in a row in a *long* time. That makes him good at his job. Period. And the fact is, this blog becomes mysteriously silent on the matter when they do win. I understand venting, but it’s such a stark difference, that it’s a little obnoxious.
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