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The Mets (3–4) defeated the Phillies (4–5) by the score of 8 to 2 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a boxscore, check out the new-and-improved 
…i am so proud of Mike Pelfrey…here it was, time for him to step up, take hold of his spot in the rotation, and lead this team to a much-needed win, and he looked sensational…for starters, he looked very, very comfortable…i believe he will only get better the more he pitches, because he will grow more comfortable and confident…i initially suggested this maturation should occur in Triple-A, but if duty calls here in the big leagues, great…go get it, mike…trial by fire works just as well…tonight, he did exactly what he had been saying he needs to do, which is pound his fastball low, and in, and keep his slider away…he never faltered…what’s more, after Jose Reyes bobbled a ball and botched a double play, pelfrey kept his cool and worked out of the inning…
…the third inning was just this team needed: a full-participation, merry-go-round of hits and runs from more or less every one in the team’s lineup all within a 10–minute span…it also helps when the opposing team makes three errors, but, whatever…i’ll take it…exhale, friends…
…i hate to be picky, though, but, the Mets also left eight men on base…i’m just saying…
…nice job by Jorge Sosa, who threw two scoreless innings in relief of pelfrey…however, jeez, Pedro Feliciano, make it a bit closer will you…it’s funny, because so many of us, me included, were screaming for feliciano yesterday – as though he was the save-all, be-all to relief pitching – yet today he comes out and puts three men on base, before getting Pedro Feliz to pop up and end the inning…yikes…of course, he did get the two big lefties out, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, so, you know…
…by the way i love that Shea Stadium is using the organ more this season…it just makes the ambiance more authentic…
…lastly, i think Shave Victorino wears roller skates while playing in the outfield…he’s all over the place…seriously, because of the way the game is filmed, it feels like he plays all three outfield positions at the same time…
…again, nice job, Mike Pelfrey, who clearly gets the game ball and, hopefully, and added shot of confidence as well…
Go Big Pelf!
Lets get the Momentum rolling!
I was at the 1st 2 games of the year and i gotta tell you that there have been a lot of fights in the stands so far.
Opening day had atleast 4 fights and for this game there were atleast 2 (1 huge on in the upper deck –took about 10 minutes till they pulled the guy out)
i was there tonight too in section 2 of the upperdeck and that kid was relentless tonight. they were pulling at him trying to get him to leave but he just kept on hanging on the railing.
I think people are just celebrating the nostalgia of Shea.
Hate to be a downer, but this team isn’t going anywhere with this offense. If Rollins was playing SS we’re looking at a much closer game, and possibly a loss.
why, just why? Could you let us have just one game?
Whatever you say there Mr. Happy. It’s going to be very rewarding proving you wrong.
One of the single stupidest comments I have ever heard in my life. This isnt hockey or basketball. Rollins missed a game. It happens. Stop making excuses. The Mets have been missing key parts everytime they play philly. How do you know Rollins would have made a difference? How do you know he wouldnt have went 0 for 4? It is just a really ignorant, stupid, and unsubstantiated statement to make. And Rollins is overated. He has killed the Mets for one year, and what did he ever do before that. He cant draw a walk, and benefits from hitting in a bandbox. To say we probably would have lost if Rollis played is an absolute joke.
You’re a joke.
Why don’t you read what I had to say, before going off on a rant about how stupid it is? Did you watch the game? If so, you’d know I wasn’t saying Rollins would have OFFENSIVELY beat us, but defensively.
Bruntlett made three errors, if I counted correctly, including a botched double play ball. There is a reason Kendrick was only charged with one earned run. It’s because we really on scored one run. The rest were practically handed to us due to Bruntletts laughable defense. Rollins doesn’t make those errors, or at least not anywhere near as consistently.
This offense underperformed last year, and picked up right where they left off so far this year. To let yourself be blinded by a win is ignorant. This offense is sad, and until they start scoring runs, it will remain that way. Teams aren’t going to make 4 errors every game.
You’re telling me Rollins would’ve generated 5-6 runs by himself?
No. Were you even watching the game? His DEFENSE would have prevented a handful of those runs. Nobody makes that many errors in a game, especially not Rollins.
And this isn’t even about Rollins, exactly. This is about our offense not being up to par with the rest of the league.
i agree, i think we had like 5 or 6 hits tonight .. and i am surprized david wright is struggling, usually hes a given, and reyes looks like the reyes from last year, swinging at the first pitch and popping everything up.
Yea, Wright is really struggling. He hit a line shot at Utley that was ruled an error. A hard groundball toward the hole played into an error. A screaming, scorched linedrive that was an atom ball. The day before he hit 2 balls that are home runs or extra base hits in most other parks with most other center fielders. He was also robbed by Victorino in right center. Good job he seriously is ice cold.
Mistakes were made on both teams over the past two games that contributed to their losses, a win is a win.
If we’re going to pick through every game for what should have happened, even when we win by six runs with a fantastic bullpen performance, what’s the point?
I’m not basing this on one game. This offense leaves a lot to be desired, and has for the past year. I’m as happy as anybody that the Phillies made so many errors today, but that simply will not happen again. The fact that we have to rely on another team’s mistakes as opposed to our own team’s ability is sad.
And to ignore our flaws when we win is just as silly as focusing on nothing but them when we lose. Let’s try to be realistic.
No, you’re just being a typical Mets pessimist. How many times did the Phillies beat the Mets last year because of the Mets’ mistakes? Do you think anyone in Phily was kavetching last September? What goes around comes around.
You gotta account for the hitters becoming less aggressive because Kendrick couldn’t throw a strike. That kept the hit count too. Plus of course the entire booth would’ve scored Wright’s first AB a hit not an error.
this was the type of the win the mets needed.
yes the won on errors and walks and an injured jimmy rollins but a game like this shows the mets and mets fans that all that misfortune, bad luck, errors, pitching control problems, a key player injured, all that other bad stuff can happen to any team. it just unfortunately happened to the mets at the wrong time last season.
the phillies won the division on the mets’ errors last season, so i could care less if we beat them because of their errors.
^^^what he said
word
this is the whole point here. If we’re going to get 1000 posts after a loss talking about how the sky is falling, everyone sucks, and everyone needs to be fired, don’t we get a win where we don’t have to hear about the offense, how we were lucky, and how we’re doomed regardless?
Yeah, I guess if you want to be ignorant, you can get 1000 posts like that.
shoulda,coulda,Would have-What if?
None of that matters-They won and Rollins didn’t play-so it goes in baseball-The Mets However have some kinks to work out.
Pelfry may have found his game finally-better than a good thing-a great thing
Keith Hernandez-what’s with the purple jacket? The more I hear Ron Darling-the more I like him
Peace, jason
the Phils definitely won on mets errors last year… specifically one at second base… and they won on an error last night… specifically one from first base… and tonight the mets FINALLY won and it was on philllies errors. I’m fine with that. It’s all about the ‘W’.
Congrats to the mets on the win today. Much needed for all. A repeat tomorrow will bring talk of the division crown. And a loss will bring back the feeling that we won’t sniff october baseball. Thats beisbol, friends. Lets go mets!
A win is a win is a win….and this one was much needed.
Yay….comments!
I was pretty disappointed with Pelfrey tonight.
Granted, we’ve seen worse. but this wasn’t particularly encouraging.
His velo was at 90 most of the game. When he hiked it up to 92-93, his location was decent. When he went to 95+, he was way off. The slider command was better than we’ve seen, but it wasn’t a particulalry impressive pitch. He’s sacrificed the sharp break on it for better command. While I agree with the logic, it’s discouraging to see he isnt able to harness the same slider from the past (which was always in the dirt, but would be far more dominant with command than his current breaking ball).
It was nice to see him use the change so much (about 20% I think), but again, it wasn’t a particularly impressive pitch. He did generate some swings and it occasionally ran a little, but it was inconsistent.
He seems to have scrapped the sinker, or at least nothing he threw looked like a sinker.
Based on today’s showing, his upside is a #3 starter. If he can be a mid 4’s ERA innings eater, I suppose I’d take that at this point, but I was hoping for a lot more.
If he can maintain his command at 94 mph, his mediocre change and decent slider would play up a lot. If J Roll were in the lineup today tho, getting on base and putting more pressure on him, I think he would’v been hit a lot harder. Vs a better lineup, he wouldnt have gotten away with being in the middle of the plate with such weak velocity and that flat slider.
The improved command was promising. He was on the edges of the plate a lot more and he kept the ball down, which were great signs. There was jus no explosiveness. Hopefully taking a step back will allow him to develop better feel, and maybe take it up a notch in the future.
I’m not saying he was “bad”. Just saying I was disappointed.
“I was pretty disappointed with Pelfrey tonight.”
I think you’re the only one…
He looked good to me.
For you to have been disappointed, you must have had crazy expectations for Pelf tonight. Which would be your own fault considering his struggles in spring and last season. So the disappointment is yours only because of what you created in your mind.
With that per ESPN’s radar gun his velocity was great. Not a big issue. And not sure what game you were watching but he wonderful controll of his sinker. 10 groundball outs compared to 2 flyball outs. The only ball that was hit with any authority was Utley’s double in the 5th.
I’d like to see greater effeciency out of him but that goes for all the Mets starters for the past 3 years not named Santana.
Considering where Pelf was coming from I think he did absolutely very good. Cerrone’s word of “sensational” might be a bit strong, still a very good performance.
Yes I agree with Koko.
“absolutely very good”.
for the moment, the pressure, and considering his checkered past, Pelfrey looked “sensational”. If he didn’t at least exceed expectations, you really need to realign that compass.
The Doom and Gloomers will do anything to disparage this team – even after a victory. Do they feel this much hopelessness in the rest of their lives as well? That would be very sad…
Disappointed? How?
The guy gave up two runs in 5 innings. And apart from Reyes’s error, it should have only been one earned run.
If you expect him to be 1985 Dwight Gooden or 1969 Tom Seaver then you can be disappointed. But the man did his job. There is nothing else to say about it. It doesn’t matter how he won the game, he won it and he earned the win because he pitched well.
Something else. He wasn’t giving up a lot of fly ball outs, the ball was down and the Phillies hit the ball on the ground all night. Most of their hits were grounders through the infield.
I have seen Pelfrey look better but if you think his upside should be based upon last night you’re nuts. When Pelfrey is at his best is when he pounds it inside and breaks a lot of bats along side weak infield grounders.
One other thing you don’t realize is that Pelfrey has a devastating sinker. And suffice it to say I don’t remember any sinker ball pitcher starting out of the gate as an ace. Think of Brandon Webb, he lost 17 games in his second season. Once a pitcher learns how to effectively use his sinker (and Pelf’s sinker is more than good) they can become an ace. Pelfrey has a higher ceiling than number 3. His stuff is that good. That is why the Mets didn’t off him for Santana. He just needs to have confidence in himself and this was a good step. He was a stopper tonight. That means something.
You don’t know wtf you’re talking about.
No sinker? What game were you watching? He threw it right by guys for strikeouts, more than once.
Unimpressive slider? Tell Chase Utley the pitch that made him look frickin’ stupid was ‘unimpressive’.
If you wanna be miserable, fine, but don’t try to bring us down too.
Good job, I just scrolled past your entire post after reading one sentence. Thank you mr scout. I am officially giving all hope up on Pelfrey as a major leaguer now. Good job. Our guy throws 5 solid innings against by far the best hitting team in the league after being dominated and struggling through 07 and you are disapointed. Way to go you ignorant moron.
Todays’ game was a gimme. The Nats would’ve beaten them tonight. It’s nice to throw a “W” up there, but nothing to rave about.
More encouraging than our performance, was just how bad Kendrick was. They’re relying on this kid and Myers is looking pretty bad too. It’s a very small sample size, but hitter seem more on top of Hamels too, now that they’ve seen him more.
Hamels hides the ball well, but it seems hitter are adjusting.
If they’re pitching sucks, we’ll be ok.
Reyes is Reyes. He’s never going to be Rickey Henderson. We’re always going to have to hope his hot streaks last longer than his cold streaks. I don’t think u can take his aggressiveness away from him and have the same player. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than having Juan Pierre (I think).
Peeple are so stupid it is funny. The Mets hitters havent gotten any credit for working walks, even though Kendrick throuigh tons of first pitch strikes, even got to 0-2 all night. Drawing walks (especially these type of walks, Kendrick was not out of control, missing on lots of borderline pitches), is good plate discipline. Lasdt year we wouldnt have saw 8 walks because the Mets swung at everything last year. That is a difference. There is no such thing as a gimme. Stop acting like you know what your talking about omar21. Was there gimmes last year when we had to play the nats and marlins to end the year? No, I didnt think so. You are just wrong, and you are wrong on every level.
Was at the game tonight and had a few thoughts:
1. Pelfrey was just what the doctor ordered, giving the Mets a) a decent outing and b) a fifth (or fourth) SP option. More innings would have been nice, but considering the pressure on him (and the less-than-favorable weather conditions), he did just fine and has earned another start.
2. Offense definitely sputtered tonight, but yeah, a win’s a win. The talent of Reyes, Wright and Beltran alone makes the Mets lineup formidable, a timebomb waiting to click into place. Until then, scratch wins are fine.
3. The Mets aren’t perfect, and J-Roll may not have been in the lineup, but the Phils are far from ideal as well. Let’s take them tomorrow and re-establish the tone of the NL East for the rest of the year.
–KV
As far as your #3 is concerned, hey, even the Tigers spoiled their “perfect” start, against the Red Sox, last night by winning 7-2. Adam Eaton is the next one that needs his hex on the Mets broken, and in a huge fashion.
Why is it that comments seem to be disappearing these days? I was involoved in a little dicussion about two or three threads below this one and half of the posts vanished.
In summary: Great game by Pelf, great game by bullpen (especially Sosa), still concerned about the offense, we’ll take it.
On a side note, I really like Easley. Last year he alway seemed to make the smart play or get an important hit when we needed it. Last year in less than 200 ABs, he had 10 home runs, somethind we desperately need, and had just a bit under the same on base percentage as castillo.
If it was me, I’d start him, or at least platoon him.
Did you see his defense last night? It’s as bad as Gotay’s was. Castillo will and should be the starter when healthy.
I had always suspected that LOB is a silly stat to worry about, on the theory that the more guys on base, the more chances to score. I did a little quick research on the extreme ends of the matter (LOB records) and here’s what I found:
sources: baseball-almanac.com, The Hardball Times, Wikipedia
holding the record for least LOB in a season in the AL with 925:
Kansas City Athletics 59-94
The 1957 Athletics led their league in home runs, with 166, and they led by a wide margin: the second-best team hit 153, and the average of the seven other teams in the league was 123. Yet the A’s were dead last in their league in runs scored, with 563, and by a wide margin: the next-to-worst offense scored 597, and the average of the seven other teams in the league was 664.
holding the record for least LOB in a season in the NL with 964:
1924 Cubs 81-72, 5th place
holding the record for most LOB in a season in the AL with 1334: 1941 St. Louis Browns 70-84, 6th place
holding the record for most LOB in a season in the NL with 1328:
1976 Cincinnati Reds 102-60
1st place, won division by 10 games, the only team to ever sweep through the post season
clearly not a stat to worry about, one way or the other.
:)
Great job finding that info, but none of the teams that you list are from the “modern era” of baseball. The LOB stat in this day and age is almost a completely different stat from the one that existed in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s with the drastic changes that the game has endured since then.
Leaving runners on base on a consistent basis still troubles me.
excellent point about the eras, though I thought it was interesting that the record for LOB was held by that dominating Reds team of 76, sort of in the “modern” era I guess. I also thought it interesting that the team with the least led the league in home runs, but had a terrible record.
The LOB troubles me a bit, too..which is why I felt it necessary to compile this list to make myself feel better ;)
LOB only hurts in innings in which you don’t score. If the guys left on all got on with RBI hits, it’s not a problem.
Take for example, last night’s 3rd inning. 3 LOB. Who cares, we scored 6.
We just have to accept that this is not a lineup that’s gonna score a huge number of home runs, and as such, there are going to be plenty of runners LOB.
I agree with you in principle. That is to say that I am happy we scored 6 runs.
But who cares that we left ducks on the pond? I do.
If the Phils hadn’t kicked the ball all over the infield, we wouldn’t have scored much.
That concerns me a bit.
I agree LOB is nothing to worry about, how many times does the 6th and 7th hitters get hits with 2 outs and then they pitch around or intentionally walk the 8th hitter to get the pitcher out. Thats 3 men LOB but whose at fault for that? Yes they left 3 men on base but cleared the pitcher to have the top of the order and middle of the lineup coming up next inning. Who would you rather have batting to lead off the next inning, Reyes in the 1 spot with the big bats coming up with the chance to score runs or Easley and the pitchers spot coming up where its a quick 3 outs and lose of an inning?
Also Pelfrey and the pen only allowed 2 runs so even if the Phils don’t kick the ball around in that 3rd inning, how do you know we don’t score another couple runs in the 4th inning against Kendrick (since the batters that came up in the 3rd do to the errors would have batted in the 4th inning) and win atleast 3-2?
I look at it this way, a small LOB could mean your driving in the runs or your not getting anybody on base. A large LOB could mean your not driving in runs, but, like last night, it could mean your offense is scoring runs and big innings. An example of the small LOB could be this. You get a couple of 3 run homers, a couple of run scoring hits before them, you win with 10 runs and only 2 LOB. Or you could be shut out and no hit with 2 walks giving you 2 LOB. LOB means nothing without runs scored next to it.
first point is that the Phils have been playing pretty horrendous in the field all year, including Jimmy Rollins.
second point is that the mets have been robbed on some pretty nice defensive plays this years. texeira doesn’t make that play and that game would be tied. Werth made a hell of a diving catch last night.
yeah, rollins was hurt yesterday. he missed a game. so did Castillo. Pedro has missed one start so far. El Duque is hurt. injuries are aprt of the game. we spent so much time on this board arguing about Ruben Gotay and now all of a sudden depth doesn’t matter?
Delgado throws the ball in Utley’s back yesterday but it is only the Mets who are lucky when the Phils make bad plays.
to all those people that have panicked this week. look at MLB standings. the Phils are agame under .500. The Braves are under .500. The Sox and yanks are a game under .500. Thre Tigers are in a deep hole. it is early. let’s see where teams are at the end of April and then we can make judgements.
Not for nothing, but the play where Delgado threw the ball into Utley’s back was fantastice baserunning on Utley’s part, not bad luck on Delgado’s.
But you’re right, depth is a big time issue, especially in our starting rotation right now.
Yeah, Utley is fantastic at getting in the way of the ball. The git.
couldn’t have said it better myself.
Maybe the Mets should try to “pry” Zito away from the Giants at this point. They probably would love to dump his salary and would pick up a portion of it. I can’t see what they really could ask for him. Reuniting him with Peterson could do wonders for him, I can’t see him being this bad for the next 6.75 years. El Duque is done and there doesn’t seem to be much else out there anyhow. Imagine turning Zito back to his A’s form.
How much do you really think the Giant’s are going to be willing to eat? I don’t think as much as you think. And I also believe that in any trade talks the Giants are going to drive the “returning to A’s form” thing home as they demand F-Mart.
You think that even though Omar wouldnt do Omar straight up for Santana, that the Giants would expect him to do it for a pitcher much, much, much worse then Santana, who has almost the same contract? Silliness. The Giants wouldnt be making any big demands for Zito, I am sure they would love for some idiot GM to rectify their mistake.
Zito? I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. The guy all the sudden is topping out at 83. Coupled with horrendous control, and no other real skill, no thank you. Worst contract signing in the history of sports, Barry Zito. I told you all. I cam here celerating when he signed with SF and got killed on this site as being a troll or not a real met fan. Maybe Zito just isnt good. If the Giants eat like 100 million, then maybe, thats it though.
Where is EastFallowfield? Where is BillyGoat? I figured those guys would be on here saying things like “The Mets didn’t win that game; the Phillies lost it.”
Well, one could say that the Phillie blunders did help plate several of the runs when you consider that with a couple of exceptions the Mets couldn’t come up with the big hit.
8 Runs on 5 hits?
Doesn’t sound like a blow me away offensive outting either..but a win is a win..not goin to complain.
Just need to flip the “Clutch Hitting” switch back on.
yup
It was nice to see a fresh pair of legs in the 2-hole.
good win for the mets. on m&md yesterday willie said its time for pelf to step up and he did a pretty good job.
but what the mets really need to boost their confidence over the phillies, would be to come from behind in the 8th inning, and then slam the door shut in the 9th. those are the kind of wins that can really build momentum.
I’d say winning by 6 with 4 innings of scoreless relief would be a huge confidence builder too.
The Phillies had every break during their 9 game win streak over us. They played above their heads in the field. They pitched way better than they should have as well.
Last night, we saw more of the Phillies that others in the league saw. Granted it was a total meltdown by the Phillies but they aren’t as good as they played against us last year. The Phillies have holes that we had not seen until last night. They simply know how to lose some games.
The Phillies biggest problem is their pitching. 6 walks in the first two innings was atrocious. That lulled their defense to sleep and put pressure on their defense as well. They have two starters and a bunch of number five starters. And I am not sure Brett Myers is a number one starter. He probably is a number 2 or 3. The Phillies are going to have to score a lot of runs this year to win, they just don’t have good enough pitching. And good pitching will beat them.
Amazing how this section gets 50 comments after a win, and about 700 after a loss. I think some of our sick, demented fans actually subconsciously want the mets to lose so they can come here and complain. We have a bunch of mental people who like being down and hurt and feelingh bad. It is insane. Really is. Busniess would be better for Matt if the Mets keep losing
Well part of the reason it gets to 700 is that people like me try to reason with the doom and gloomers which gets me labled sunshine and everything else. I wonder if they realize that most Mets fans fall right in the middle and are realist.
I did like the lineup. I wish (and I know, they won’t do it to a “vet”) that Pagan would be left in the 2 hole, with Castillo hitting 8th trying to clear the pitcher. Assuming they can’t leave him onthe bench of course, not that I really want Easley out there every day.
Castillo will be fine at the 2, it’s nice to have Pagan down in the lineup with the ability to drive in runs. Castillo is not all of a sudden done. He hit .300 with almost a .370 OBP last season, he will do similar this season as well.
Too funny, I like the “vs a better lineup” comment above. So, without Rollins the Phils become a AAA offense?
I liked the way Pelf kept the ball down and hard all night, very encouraging. He hadn’t pitched in almost 2 weeks as well, so hopefully it is something to build off. Even if he pitches well, we are still short a solid starter, I have no faith in Pedro/El Boot/Armas. I don’t know if Omar ran out of money or what, eveyone saw this coming in the spring.
Delgado is hitting the ball hard it seems, as is D-Wright. If they send Pagan down and keep Clark when Alou comes back my head will explode.
thank you Brian Schneider
yer welcome, I did catch a few games back in AAA of the Babe Ruth LL in ‘77 so obviously I know what I’m talking about…
it wasn’t sarcastic, I was actually thanking Schneider for keeping Pelfrey/Ollie focused….. and his overall contributions so far
lol, I like him as well, defense and working with pitchers is overlooked alot when you don’t have the flashy offensive numbers, its an important position. Seems like he has fit in, I guess time will tell whether it was worth L-Milz or whatever he is calling himself these days
I think we’ll all be satisfied with the job Schneider does this year…… LoDuca who?