Daily Archives: April 6, 2008
The Mets (2–3) lost to the Braves (3–3) by the score of 3 to 1 in Atlanta this afternoon.
For a recap and boxscore, go here.
…Johan Santana did have his best stuff today, yet he muscled through and allowed just one run while pitching seven innings…he’s just so economical…also, entering this season, i knew he was a great pitcher…but he’s also a tremendous athlete…he put good wood on the ball twice, once legging out a double on a broken bat blooper (while carrying the bat handle with him)…also, he made two nice plays in the field, once diving to stop a ball and holding a runner at third, then kick-saving a ball while keeping another run from scoring…again, not his best stuff, yet a strong day…
…however, John Smoltz, who tossed 25 pitches in the first inning, was just slightly better than santana…or, i should say the Mets bats were just slightly worse than atlanta’s…i mean, it’s hard to score more than one run when Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, David Wright and Carlos Beltran go 0–13 on the day…only half of which was against the great smoltz…
…the Mets also made some suspect plays in the field and on the bases, such as Angel Pagan playing so shallow against Yunel Escobar, who ripped a double over his head to drive in a run, and Carlos Delgado getting doubled up on a hard line drive out by Ryan Church…it happens…hard to ridicule…but in a tight game, these things always seem to matter…
…like Aaron Heilman grooving a meaty change-up to Mark Teixeira, who clobbered it for a two-run home run, which essentially made the day’s difference…worst part, church may have been able to rob it had he been over a foot, as the ball bounced off the wall just to the side of his glove…
…on the other, santana’s fancy defense, and David Wright’s diving stop in the seventh, all stopped runs from scoring, none of which should be overlooked just because they lost…
…wright led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk, who was driven in by a single from church…pagan walked as well, bring up Brian Schneider, who ripped a ball over the first base bag, which would’ve tied the game, had teixeira not been wisely playing the line, who dove, made a nice grab and tossed out brian to end of the game…so, so close…
The Game :
The Mets (2-2) close out an abbreviated two-game series with the Braves (2-3) this afternoon at Turner Field, starting at 1:35 pm.
The Lineup :
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- RF Ryan Church
- LF Angel Pagan
- C Brian Schneider
- SP Johan Santana
The Pitchers :
LHP Johan Santana (1-0, 2.57 ERA) starts for the Mets. Santana won his Mets debut on Monday against the Marlins, allowing two runs on three hits over 7 IP while striking out eight. He took a no-decision vs. the Braves last season (June 14), despite allowing just two runs on five hits over seven innings, while striking out nine. In two career starts vs. the Braves, Santana is 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA. Today will be his first career start at Turner Field.
RHP John Smoltz makes his 2008 debut for the Braves. Smoltz began the season on the disabled list due to shoulder inflammation. In six starts vs. the Mets last season, he was 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA. In 68 career appearances vs. the Mets, Smoltz is 17-14 with a 3.42 ERA. He has faced the Mets more than any other team.
The Notes :
Jose Reyes was 7-for-19 (.368) with three RBI vs. Smoltz last season. Reyes is a .309 lifetime hitter vs. Smoltz.
Mark Teixeira has four hits, including a homer, in 17 career at-bats vs. Santana — he has also struck out five times.
David Wright is two homers away from 100 for his career. With his next home run, he will tie George Foster for ninth on the Mets all-time home run list.
The Braves have scored a major-league best 37 runs through their first five games.
The Bleachers :
For a live chat, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers.
…enjoy, and as always, let’s go mets…
At his blog for the Journal News, John Delcos reports that RHP Matt Wise will be unavailable today due to a sore right forearm.
An MRI on the pitcher was negative.
