Daily Archives: April 2, 2008
The Mets (2–1) defeated the Marlins (1–2) by the score of 13 to 0 in Miami tonight.
For a boxscore, and recap, go to Yahoo!.
…Oliver Perez looked outstanding…he pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out eight…his slider was terrific, changing speeds, and all around the zone…again, the bullpen stepped in, looked great and protected perez’s shutout…
…hey, Ryan Church, you have a nice arm…as shown in the first inning when he pegged Hanley Ramirez trying to stretch a single in to a double that he bounced off the wall in right…of course, had hanley initially been running hard he would have been safe, but he lollygagged a bit…and church gunned him down…which is good, because hanley would have scored on the ball that skipped by Carlos Beltran a few batters later with two outs…
….the Marlins can complain about payroll all they want, but until their best young players stop kicking the ball around and running the bases like a Little League team, it’s sort of hard to take that argument seriously…
…oh, and church hit a home run off a left-handed pitcher…i thought he couldn’t hit lefties, though…odd…
…speaking of beltran, he was robbed of a home run…the ball, which clearly bounced off the railing in center field, was initially called a home run…however, with beltran back on the bench, after having rounded the bases, all four umps gathered on the infield and reversed the call…look, even without instant replay, logic should dictate that any ball bouncing directly 20 feet up in the air had to have done so by ricocheting off metal, not the padded wall…unreal…come on, blue…
…early in the game, SNY’s Keith Hernandez said, “Every time we play the Marlins,” after which he corrected himself and said, “I mean, when the Mets play the Marlins.”…of course, later in the game, when asked by a caller if he would wear a Mets hat if accepted in to the Hall of Fame, he hesitated, gave pause while considering the Cardinals equal to the Mets, after which he said, ‘The Mets,’ because blue is his favorite color…dude, you’re calling Mets games, just say Mets…
…by the way, i am not sure how i feel about this in-game phone call idea…i want to like it, because it gets us, the fans, more involved in the game…but it just feels so awkward, even during a blow-out game like tonight…again, it’s going to work great during a rain delay…but during the game, something just seems off…i’m speculating here, but i sense a bit of displeasure in Gary Cohen’s voice while answering the calls as well, though i could be wrong…
…it was nice to see Carlos Delgado rip an opposite-field, RBI single off a left-handed pitcher, who was trying to bust him inside…he stayed in the box, steady, and went the other way…
…once again, Angel Pagan drove in a run…he has driven in a run in all three games this season…this time, driving in Carlos Beltran from third with a double down the left-field line…
…welcome to the Mets, Nelson Figueroa, who pitched a perfect eighth inning…nicely done…
….Jose Reyes essentially put the game away with a quick-hands, two-RBI double in the sixth, but David Wright really put it away with a bomb, and i mean bomb, of a home run later in the inning…willie even smiled as wright jogged around the bases…
…the name of the game is: win the series…that’s what counts…nice rebound, Mets…
Before tonight’s game, Orlando Hernandez told 
that he intends to make three minor-league rehab 
starts before rejoining the major-league club.
…so, if he starts on Thursday, as expected, this suggests he will be unavailable until at least the middle of April, which means the Mets will only need to start Nelson Figueroa once, on April 12, assuming a) the Mets push up their rotation, to start Oliver Perez next Tuesday in the home opener, and b) el duque does not suffer a set back…
Tagged Orlando Hernandez |According to SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, the Mets have placed Pedro Martinez on the 15–day disabled list with a mild strain to his left hamstring, while activating Nelson Figueroa.
Martinez is expected to be out four to six weeks.
Also, Willie Randolph told reporters that he may choose to pitch Oliver Perez on Tuesday, in the home opener, with Figueroa getting a start later in the week against the Brewers.
To hear more from Burkhardt, Matt Yalloff and Lee Mazzilli, be sure to check out ‘s Pre-Game Show starting at 6:30 pm.
The Game :
The Mets (1-1) look for the victory in the rubber game vs. the Marlins (1-1) at Dolphin Stadium at 7:10 pm.
The Lineup :
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- LF Angel Pagan
- RF Ryan Church
- C Brian Schneider
- SP Oliver Perez
The Pitchers :
LHP Oliver Perez makes his 2008 debut for the Mets. In 29 starts last season, Perez was 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA. In four starts vs. the Marlins last season, he was 2-1 with a 4.84 ERA. In four career starts at Dolphin Stadium, he is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA. Perez had a 5.40 ERA in six spring starts.
LHP Andrew Miller starts for the Marlins. In 13 starts with the Tigers last season, Miller was 5-5 with a 5.63 ERA. He was acquired by the Marlins as part of the Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis trade. He won his only career start vs. the Mets last season (June 10th), yielding four runs on five hits over 5.1 IP while walking three and striking out five. Miller had 4.23 ERA in seven spring appearances.
The Notes :
David Wright has a 19-game hitting streak dating back to last season. Wright is the only player in franchise history to have four separate hitting streaks of 15 or more games.
David Wright homered off Miller last season.
Josh Willingham is 4-for-12 with 2 HR vs. Perez lifetime.
The Bleachers :
For a live chat, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers.
…enjoy, and as always, let’s go mets…
Mets Manager Willie Randolph recently made his first of his weekly appearances on WFAN’s Mike and the Maddog today and touched on a variety of topics including, Pedro Martinez‘s injury, as well as, his concern about a slow start and psyche of Oliver Perez.
Randolph on Martinez’s injury…
“As we speak he’s getting an MRI. We have Nelson Figueroa on stand by, just in case we have to put Pedro on the DL, which we probably will do. He said he felt something pop and with the way he walked off the mound he didn’t look too good. I didn’t get a chance to see him before he left this morning.”
…as noted the previous post, the Mets place martinez on the 15-day disabled list and called up figueroa…
Randolph noted he will stay with the current rotation and will have Oliver Perez available to pitch opening day at Shea Stadium, but doesn’t mind using Figueroa for a ‘start or two,’ as he had a good spring.
Randolph on the being concerned about a slow start due last season’s collapse…
“No, I don’t think there will be any carry over. I don’t think the players think that way. We are so accustomed to picking each other up, without having some of our core guys around. The clubhouse is always very much the same… the mood in the clubhouse last night was pretty much upbeat.”
Randolph also stated he is happy with how is team is playing through the first two games, stating…
“Well, Angel Pagan got off to a nice little start with a couple of big hits for us. Carlos Delgado, if he was just a little more patient last night, he got a little to aggressive and swung at some bad balls. It’s all about patience with him. I’ve been happy with the bullpen so far. Aaron’s (Heilman) looked good all spring. He just looks stronger to me. For some reason, the fastball is coming out of his hand real nice, he’s come up with a cutter or a little slider, not his best pitch but a nice pitch to get you off the fastball and the change-up. He’s been really lights out so far.. We gotta get Feliciano & Wagner in the mix, hopefully tonight. The bullpen has looked real sharp so far.”
Randolph on Perez…
“I thought he had a decent spring. His achilles heal has always been staying focused & staying within himself. Keeping his arm angle right. I think Ollie is kind of oblivious to everything around him. He’s the kinda kid who just wants to go out and pitch. It’s gonna be a chore to keep him locked in everyday. I’m gonna stay on his butt about that.”
Randolph also stated he was tempted to put Raul Casonova in the starting lineup tonight, but Brian Schneider advised he was feeling great and decided to stick with Schneider due to the off day tomorrow.
…thanks to Peter Wade for gathering the quotes…
To listen to Randolph’s entire interview, go to WFAN.com.
Tagged Mike Nichols, Willie Randolph |According to the team, Pedro Martinez 
landed in New York late this afternoon.
…from what i understand, this bumped back his MRI to 4 pm or so…meaning we may not hear about results until around game time…
Also, Nelson Figueroa is currently flying from New Orleans to Miami, where a locker and jersey are waiting for him.
According to Jon Heyman at SI.com, the Mets have talked with free-agent 2B-3B Edgardo Alfonzo, “and he might 
try to come back with his old team.”
…you know, if fonzi made it back to the Mets, he’d have to wear a new number, because Billy Wagner currently occupies No. 13, which would be weird to see…at any rate, good luck, fonzi, i’d love to see you get another chance here in New York - on a minor-league deal, of course…
…thanks to resourceful Peter Wade for the link…
Heyman also writes about Moises Alou; spelling in Chicago; and other key injuries that occurred this week, not just Pedro Martinez’s, who he gives a nine of 10 on his ‘Worry Meter.’
…the word from Miami is that results from Pedro Martinez’s MRI will not be made public until later today…
…from what i can gather, the actual test occurred far later in the day than was initially suggested…
Tagged Pedro Martinez |…it’s never good when your team’s number two starter goes down with what may turn out to be a six to eight week injury, especially when the team lacks starting pitching depth, but Pedro Martinez’s hamstring injury should not shake our confidence and change the outlook we have for this season’s Mets team…
…yes, as fans, we’ll have to endure the inconsistencies of Mike Pelfrey, Orlando Hernandez‘s injury issues and the revolving door that may become the fifth starter, but the Mets still have three very good starters in Johan Santana, John Maine and Oliver Perez who can still be, as cerrone put it, the team’s firewall…and that should still provide some confidence that this team will be able to withstand losing streaks…
…the team will most certainly miss the swagger pedro brings, but they’ve been through this before and survived…and even if our worst fears are realized and pedro misses two months of action or more, i’m confident this team will still live up to the high level of optimism we all entered the season with, especially with the likes of santana, maine and perez guiding the rotation…
Tagged Mike Nichols, Pedro Martinez |At Bugs and Cranks, Brad Bortone lists 20 reasons why Pedro Martinez really injured his hamstring, such as, “The rigors of cockfighting,” and, “Figured out who his daddy is: Father Time.”
…painful, but that last one is pretty clever…well written, brad…
At his blog for the New York Post, columnist Joel Sherman asks, “Will the Mets be like the Celtics and be pleasantly surprised by depth that develops 
during the year?”
Dan Graizano, in the Star-Ledger, thinks Claudio Vargas makes sense for the Mets, because he fits their pitching of acquiring fly-ball pitchers.
Lastly, at the Cheap Pop, Jon Chattman talks with former Braves RHP Jon Rocker about his dislike for New York, as well as steroids, the Braves, and whether he is sad to see Shea Stadium go, to which he responds, “They should level that place.”
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