Matthew Cerrone

postGame: Mets 6 Phillies 4
By Matthew Cerrone - Apr 18, 2008 11:05 pm

The first-place Mets (9–6) defeated the Phillies (8–9) by the score of 6 to 4 in Citizen’s Bank Park.

For a recap and boxscore, go to SNY.tv.

it’s funny, because after Thursday’s night 14–inning game, i remember thinking, ‘Man, after that, Johan Santana is going to have to throw at least seven or eight innings on Friday,’ and sure enough, he pitched seven innings, allowed three runs, four hits, no walks and struck out 10…actually, he looked far more dominant than that line suggests…Aaron Heilman let up a home run, not santana, but the runs were charged to johan…

…ugh, heilman…he’s just so streaky…it’s like he goes through these phases, during which his change up is weak, he looks dejected, and lets up home run after home run…then, i’ll blink, and he’ll be untouchable and i’ll think, ‘Wow, this guy could be the next closer,’ and before i can finish that thought, he lets up another home run…which is ok, i guess, but it’s not ok in the bullpen, where stability is so important…

…aaron, again, must thank Pedro Feliciano and Billy Wagner for cleaning up his mess…

David Wright looks like an MVP…in every way, shape and form…tonight, he was 4 for 4 with a double, triple and two RBI, while looking like he was in a playoff game…intense…

…did Phillies fans actually boo Jose Reyes, after he banged his head on Eric Bruntlett during a slide in to second, and had been down and out for a few minutes…unreal…savages…

…hat’s off to Ryan Church, who i feared may have develop a complex from fans and reporters who did so much worrying and talking about him in the spring…however, he looks totally comfortable and in control…defensively and offensively…

…best part of the game to me, beside santana’s 10 strike outs, and Cole Hamels looking like he wanted to cry, was how the team piled on insurance runs in the eighth – this is what i was most concerned about earlier in the season, and in the last few days the team seems to have it’s foot pressed hard on the gas pedal…all game long…and it’s about time

The Mets face the Phillies on Saturday, as Oliver Perez takes on Jamie Moyer, starting at 4 pm.

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40 Comments »

Comment by Bon... Simon LeBon
2008-04-19 07:35:52

Did I miss it? Everyone and their mother is reporting bruntlett’s knee to Jose’s head. I saw utley.

Comment by jstrong
2008-04-19 15:00:24

Matt, while booing reyes while he’s down is lame lets not forget how many metsfans jeered and chanted while milledge was down at shea. right now, metfan sadly has no room to talk about class.

Comment by GottaBeliever
2008-04-19 16:01:00

There’s a difference between chanting “Milledge s*cks” after he gets hit by a pitch and the Philly fans’ reaction to Reyes’ getting back up.

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Comment by jimyager
2008-04-19 07:38:49

Well thats not true, Santana DID give up a HR to Utley I think it was in 7th to make the score 2-1. It seems to me that when Santana and Heilman pitch you better have at least a 4 run lead because there will be HRs given up. Santana has given up a HR in every start and we all know about Heilman. I did question Willie when he put him in with 2 men on and a 4 run lead and them WHACK it was a 1 run lead. Why not use Sanchez in that spot? We did win, but, it was closer than it had to be. Use Heilman when a HR or 2 wont hurt us. Oh,well. We won and Florida lost so we are in first place. Lets sweep them and stay in first :} LETS GO METS !!!!

 
Comment by novanoto
2008-04-19 07:53:19

why not use sanchez? if i had to guess, 99% because he pitched 2 2/3 innings in the last 2 nights…

 
Comment by raincntry
2008-04-19 07:57:40

Well, if Aaron can’t protect a one-run lead then what good is he? Look, it’s still way too early to project that Heilman won’t have a good season or won’t be able to right the ship. He should be fine. I’m more impressed with Santana and his utter dominance last night. He totally shut the Phils down.

Games like last night, on the road against the reigning NL East Champs, are why we signed him and why I simply don’t worry every 5th day when he takes the mound.

 
Comment by theperfectgame
2008-04-19 08:05:45

Don’t fool yourself, Matt. There are plenty of idiot Met fans who would have booed Jimmy Rollins if he had almost knocked himself out on Castillo’s or Reyes’ knee. These are the same fans who boo Carlos Beltran for grounding into a double play. Or Scott Schoenweis for entering the game. It only seems like the Phillies have more of this type of fan because we’re Mets fans. But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably pretty close.

 
Comment by beltran the warrior
2008-04-19 08:06:20

amazing how people continue to want to bash willie.

if heilman can’t even protect a four run lead, what good is he? at some point, the player has to accomplish his role, guys. the mets were up by four runs! a night like this is case in point why heilman is the most overrated met on this team. i realise i may be speaking in hyperbole right now but it’s uncanny how you can count on him to give the opposition insurance runs and give up a crushing homerun.

the fortuitous part is tonight, he mets pulled themselves and scored another run.

i hate heilman.

Comment by m00kie
2008-04-19 10:58:37

heilman seems fine unless it’s the braves or the phillies, then you’re almost guaranteed a homer. The rest of the league he shuts down. It’s really frustrating!

 
Comment by Another Matt
2008-04-19 12:42:46

Check his career splits.

He stinks up April, but dominates September.

His ERA+ the last 3 years of 130, 120, 140, his WARP the last 3 years of 3.3, 2.6, 3.7 and his VORP the last 3 years of 25.9, 20.6, 19.4 suggest quite strongly that Heilman is not overvalued - he’s correctly valued.

 
Comment by paganchurch
2008-04-19 15:03:50

I spent about 5 minutes cursing out Heilman at the bar after he gave up that homer. And then I saw a slo-mo of the pitch. It was pretty decent. Then I stopped cursing.

 
 
Comment by Mingo
2008-04-19 08:25:16

Look its Philadelphia, where fly balls are home runs. Heilman is not a ground ball pitcher and neither is Sanchez. The right person to put in to pitch in that park is Joe Smith or Feliciano. It has nothing to do with confidence or prescribed roles. You just don’t put a fly ball pitcher in to pitch in that park if the game is on the line.

Comment by toomanyuniforms
2008-04-19 08:42:21

Agreed, and that home run was a routine out in essentially any other park in the majors.

But, let’s not dwell on the negative. A positive: Met pitchers: 0 walks. None. Zippo. Thanks, Johan. Met hitters, only five Ks, three of which were Santana.

Matt’s analysis is spot on, 100%: What’s most important was that the Mets didn’t fold up after yet another anonymous Phillie hit yet another cheap late inning home run to chip away at a Met lead. As Matt points out, the insurance runs were so refreshing to see.

The real test comes in September, if both teams are again in the hunt.

 
 
Comment by stickguy
2008-04-19 08:36:12

Didn’t anyone notice that the Mets are once again in 1st place?

And, just to prove that BB is a funny game (and players take time to develop), Pelfrey is 2-0 with an ERA below 2, and Phil Hughes on the Stankees is 0-3 with a snappy 8.82 ERA.

Yes it is early, but still nice to see!

Comment by toomanyuniforms
2008-04-19 08:42:43

We’re still in first!!!!!!!!!

Comment by pvhornet05
2008-04-19 13:27:45

I could have sworn I heard that statement before.

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Comment by bigben10471
2008-04-19 09:15:02

I was at the game, and yeah, this is how that Reyes play went down:
1) Reyes gets called safe, Phillies fans groan
2) Reyes is lying on the ground in clear pain, they start chearing
3) Reyes eventually stands up and everyone boos
4) Reyes takes some time to make sure he’s okay and the boos continue
5) Reyes puts his helmet back on and goes back to second, I and other Met fans stand up to chear him (as I’ve seen Met fans do so many other times for opposing players at Shea, and done myself) and I hear “sit down!” from somewhere behind me.

Also, on at least three separate occassions leaving the park I heard people yelling out a derogatory term for gay men at anyone wearing a Mets shirt.

Unbelievable.

Comment by toomanyuniforms
2008-04-19 09:24:05

Don’t worry — they all went home to South Jersey and Delaware, curled up with a Yuengling and a Bon Jovi “ballad” dripping out of their broken portable stereos, and wept themselves to sleep, staring wistfully at their vaguely homoerotic Chase Utley posters.

Eat it, D-bags. Another dose of medicine today.

Comment by mextache
2008-04-19 09:31:35

….Bad Medicine

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Comment by toomanyuniforms
2008-04-19 09:39:47

Lordy. . . .

 
Comment by Deadpanwalking
2008-04-19 14:44:57

Ha, Mets fans, funniest in baseball.

 
 
Comment by nyjfanjmk
2008-04-19 11:46:33

“Yo, Adrian!”

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Comment by Crazy Nyce Dave
2008-04-19 12:43:37

…now I feel bad for liking Yuengling.

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Comment by JDuelz (Athens, GA)
2008-04-19 14:40:19

I wish they had that ish in GA…

 
 
Comment by Another Matt
2008-04-19 12:45:25

Are you sure they’re not the “Pat the Bat” posters… same as the T-shirts their team wore in ST this ytear?

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Comment by PhillyMet
2008-04-19 09:40:42

BigBen, right on…I was there too. There were not the number of Met fans I am used to seeing, but it was dispersed all over the park. I’m sure today everyone will be coming down…..I walked all around the stadium throughout the game and I was in the upper deck in LF when Reyes went down…there was a ton of trash-talking throughout the game all around me.

A load of Santana jerseys, and even a FIGGY jersey….how cool! Saw a group of Met fans outside, and some Phillie fans yelling at the Santana guy, calling him a gay term and mocking him every which way.

I’m used to it though…I didn’t see any fights, but was sure I was going to on a couple of occasions.

I liked the wasy the Mets tacked on runs late….key points:

1. killer instinct
2. good plate discipline
3. great starting pitching
4. solid defense

Comment by bigben10471
2008-04-19 20:29:10

Haha, I was in the upper deck in LF too: section 329. Had a Santana t-shirt on though, not a jersey. I didn’t get heckled all that much during the game, although a guy two rows in front of me got yelled at every time he stood up to applaud a Met run. Of course when the Phillies score runs it’s okay to stand during the rest of the inning, but if a Met fan stands in between batters he’s ruining it for everyone.

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Comment by PhillyMet