Daily Archives: September 14, 2007
The Mets (83-63) were defeated by the Phillies (78-69) by the score of 3-2 in 10 innings this evening at Shea Stadium.
For a full recap and boxscore head over to Yahoo! Sports.
The Mets have now lost six consecutive games to the Phillies.
…ugh, this is one you really wanted to have, but there’s no need to panic here…i will say that i’d really like to see Willie Randolph put on a squeeze play one of these years, especially with Luis Castillo up there…
The first-place Mets (83–62) welcome the second-place Phillies (77–69) for the first game of a three-game series in Shea Stadium tonight.
The Lineup
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- LF Moises Alou
- 1B Jeff Conine
- C Paul Lo Duca
- RF Lastings Milledge
- SP Tom Glavine
The Pitchers
Jamie Moyer (13-11, 5.23 ERA) starts for the Phillies. The 44-year-old left-hander has allowed eight runs in 19 innings in three starts against the Mets this season, during which he is 0–2.
Tom Glavine (13-6, 3.95) will start for the Mets. He has allowed just two runs in 20 innings over his last three starts. He is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four starts against the Phillies this season.
The Notes
The Phillies are seven losses behind the Mets for first place in the NL East.
The Phillies have won five games in a row. The Mets are 10–2 since being swept by the Phillies in Philadelphia.
Jose Reyes is 6-for-12 with four runs scored in his last three games.
The Bleachers: For a live chat, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers. …enjoy…and as always, let’s go mets…
This season, at the beginning of each series, MetsBlog will attempt to get the perspective of the opposition and their fans. From this, we hope to be better educated on the opposition going into a series. It also gives us a fine opportunity to highlight some of our favorite team blogs.
As the Mets look for revenge against the reeling Phillies, we revisit Tom Goyne of Balls, Sticks & Stuff.
What does losing a game like last Thursday’s against the Braves do to a team’s pysche?
It has to weigh on them somehow, whether they will admit it or not. What I have a hard time believing is that at some point, the position players don’t begin to thoroughly resent the pitching staff. They would probably never admit that either, but when the offense scores the way this one does and the pitching can’t even be average, it has to cause divisions on some level.
Have you ever seen a pitching staff this battered?
I’m sure you can go through the statistical archives and find staffs this terrible, but what is rare is to have such a good offense and such a poor pitching staff. They are first and next to last in the league, respectively. One team that comes to mind that had disparities such as this, but even bigger, just happened to also be another Phillies team. The 1930 Phillies, led by Chuck Klein, had a batting average of .315 and an ERA of 6.71.
Back to this year’s team for a second, the day after the loss to the Braves, I crunched some numbers and if this offense was coupled with just a league average number of runs allowed per game, their record would have been, at that time, exactly the same as your New York Mets.
Do you think there will be a few more Phillies fans at Shea Stadium than usual this weekend? If not, why?
Maybe a few, but really, I think most fans have decided that there just simply isn’t enough pitching to make the playoffs and its hard to keep up a vigorous interest when your mind has been made up on the outcome. Most Philly fans at this point are more concerned with the return of Reno Mahe.
Make a case for Jimmy Rollins as NL MVP.
First of all, he had the best quote of the offseason, right? Right? Since then, no one has had a more consistently excellent performance from Game 1 to Game 145 than Rollins (he’s played every game of the season too). He leads the league in runs scored for the team that’s scored the most runs in the league. Basically, he plays very good and sure defense at a premium position and is the ignition switch for a very good offense. Are you sold?
Do you have confidence that even if the Phils can play well in this series that they can sustain it for the final two weeks of the season?
Not at all. If Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick can get healthy, that is two out of every five games you have some confidence in a win, but for the other three out of five, you are just keeping your fingers crossed. In the end though, it’s usually Hamels, Kendrick, and Wish It Had Rained.
…thanks Tom…and no, if the Phillies don’t make the playoffs, Jimmy Rollins shouldn’t be a favorite for MVP…bottom line…just my opinion…another thing, it’s amazing to hear a fanbase so negative even though their team is only 1.5 games out…a lot can happen in two weeks, huh…
In an article for Fox Sports, Dayn Perry breaks down which teams might benefit from home field advantage in the post-season, and which teams might not.
Out of all the teams in contention, the Mets have the worst home record at 40-31.
Regarding the Mets, Perry writes:
“Certainly, they’d prefer to finish with the best record in the NL, but it’s no tragedy if they don’t (Mets hitters definitely wouldn’t mind a few more road games).”
The team that finishes with the best record in each league enjoys home-field advantage through the League Championship Series.
…i’m not sure that this is any consolation to me, but at least it’s one less thing to have to stress over should the diamondbacks surpass the mets’ record…all bets are off in the playoffs however…
In this recent column from Jim Molony, at MLB.com, David Wright is not mentioned among potential National League MVP candidates.
…which is ridiculous…yes, ridiculous…look, he may not win, but when talk radio, other columnists, tv shows, etc, keep mentioning his name as a possibility, i think it’s far to call molony’s omission ridiculous…
Molony lists Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols and Jimmy Rollins as favorites for the award, while Matt Holliday and Chase Utley are considered darkhorses.
By the way, Wright is the only player in the National League who is batting over .300, with at least 25 HR, 30 stolen bases, 90 runs scored and 90 RBI.
He is also on pace to be the first player in the history of baseball to hit at least .300, with a .385 OBP, along with 30 HR, 35 SB, 110 runs scored, 110 RBI, and 35 doubles.
…thanks to Robert Renode for the information…
At SNY.tv, Joey Whaler writes up a profile of Rob Ford, who is not only a big Mets fan, but who is also the radio play-by-play voice of the Double-A Binghamton Mets.
…rob is a good guy, and a great friend to MetsBlog, having hooked me up with interviews and insight over the last few years…i wish him the best of luck…
In the Star-Ledger, Dan Graziano describes Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez and Pedro Martinez as being ‘The Three Wise Men.’
…which is a great nickname, by the way…
Martinez, talking to reporters after his last start, said…
“You have to consistently go up there thinking about what you want to do, have a purpose with every pitch, and actually try to keep your mind and composure and do what you have to do…At this stage, I look more like a Glavine-type of pitcher than I used to. I used to be a power pitcher, and I realize I am no more a power pitcher. So, I rely on knowledge, experience and location most of the time.”
In his recent report for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark quotes a scout as saying of Martinez…
“I watched his first start on video, and I thought, ‘Boy, his arm looks slow, his arm slot has dropped, his stuff looks flat.’ Then I saw the next one in person, and he just carved them up. You don’t see many guys whose fastball ranges from 82-90, but with him it’s by design. He locks those hitters into one speed. Then, when he needs it, he can still dial one up at 89 or 90. And his changeup is still so deceptive, guys just can’t pick it up. He gets them a little anxious, gets them out front and he just slices them up. Is he anywhere near what he used to be? No. But he’s one of those guys who is always going to figure out a way to get people out.”
…i.e., he’s a wise man…just like the other two…
Tagged Orlando Hernandez, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine |Mets Ass’t GM Tony Bernazard has interviewed for the open Pirates GM job, according to Jon Heyman at SI.com.
Last week, at FOXSports.com, Ken Rosenthal wrote that Bernazard had been one of several candidates to fill the open GM job in Houston, as well.
As Heyman points out, Bernazard is GM Omar Minaya’s ‘right-hand man,’ “and a key player in the Mets’ success over the past couple seasons.”
This week on SNY’s Mets Weekly, watch a segment on Luis Castillo, and the impact he has had on the Mets since being acquired from the Twins; also, check out a spot on Pedro Martinez’s home coming and a feature on what went wrong with 1992 team, aka ‘the worst team money can buy.’
Mets Weekly will air at 11:30 pm on Saturday, and will re-run at various times through the following week.
Tagged SNY |Willie Randolph, talking to reporters on Wednesday, said…
“I’ve always said we bear down against some of the better pitchers in the league. We have to do a better job against some of the guys whose names are not as familiar. It’s just kind of weird, sometimes that’s how it is. That’s really good in a way, because we’re gonna face some of the better guys in the playoffs if we get there. So, that’s a big key for us…We’ve been doing that for a while.”
Only the following nine pitchers, within the top 20 ERAs in the National League, could find themselves in the playoffs: Chris Young, Brad Penny, Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb, Cole Hamels, Greg Maddux, Adam Wainwright, Ted Lilly and Rich Hill.
These nine pitchers are 5–5 against the Mets with a 3.93 ERA.
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