Daily Archives: April 25, 2008
The Mets (11–11) lost to the Braves (12–11) by the score of 6 to 3 in Shea Stadium.
For a recap and boxscore, go to SNY.
…never in a million years did i think Braves RHP Jarr Jurrjens would go six innings, considering how bad he looked in the third inning, during which he walked-in three straight batters to give the Mets a temporary lead…as David Wright said after the game, his team had to knock jurrjens out of the game at that point, and they didn’t, instead allowing him to get back in a groove, which eventually shut down the Mets…
…seriously, night after night, it’s like this team gives itself one opportunity to score a ton of runs – and if they do not take advantage, that’s it…they may as well leave their bats in the dugout…
…David Wright and Jose Reyes were a combined 0 for 7…in fact, the team’s only two hits came from Raul Casanova and Marlon Anderson…that is not sustainable…
…in other words, give a game ball to the home plate umpire, who did his best to keep the Mets in the game tonight…
…it’s hard to get on Mike Pelfrey, who allowed five runs in five innings on nine hits while walking four…he had control issues tonight, starting with the first batter of the game and he never got back on track…look, as we said all spring, he is a young, inexperienced pitcher, who needs more time in Triple-A, and to expect him to dominate every single start and help to repeatedly stop losing streaks is a bit unfair…he’s 2–1 with a 4.43 ERA following four starts, which is about what i would have thoughts he’d be at this point in the season…
…it should be noted, in a loss, Scott Schowenweis, Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez allowed no runs, while Joe Smith let up one…
John Maine will face Tim Hudson today in Shea Stadium, as the Mets continue their three-game series with the Braves at 1 pm.
The Game:
The Mets (11-10) begin a six-game homestand with a three-game series against the Braves (11-11) tonight at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm EST.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- RF Ryan Church
- LF Angel Pagan
- 1B Marlon Anderson
- C Raul Casanova
- P Mike Pelfrey
…Carlos Delgado is out of tonight’s lineup….
According to Anthony McCarron of the Daily News, there is nothing ‘physically wrong’ with Delgado. He is just getting the day off.
The Pitchers:
RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-0, 3.18 ERA) toes the rubber for the Mets. Pelfrey earned a no-decision in his last start, surrendering four runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out two over five innings pitched. He is 5-1 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.28 K/BB ratio during his last six starts dating back to September 1. In two career starts versus the Braves, Pelfrey is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA.
RHP Jair Jurrjens (2-2, 3.20 ERA) starts for the Braves. In his last start on April 20 versus the Dodgers, Jurrjens earned a win allowing one run on three hits and three hits while striking out over seven innings pitched. This is Jurrjens first career start versus the Mets.
The Notes:
Luis Castillo is batting .341 (14-for-41) with 3 RBI, 5 SB and 6 runs scored in his last 10 games.
During his current 10-game hitting streak, Ryan Church is 16-for-40 (.400) with 1 HR, 3 2B, 6 RBI and 13 runs scored.
Chipper Jones is batting .310 with 19 2B, 19 HR and 53 RBI in 83 career games played at Shea Stadium.
The Braves are the only team in the National League without a hit from one of their pitchers, going 0-for-39.
How To Catch It:
Tonight’s game can be seen locally on
and heard locally on WFAN.
The Bleachers:
For a live chat, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers.
…enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets…
Tagged Mike Nichols |
…as the Mets return home to host the Braves for the first time this season, I caught up with Matt Foreman, who blogs about the Braves at Talking Chop…
D.J. Short:
First, tell us a little about tonight’s starter Jair Jurrjens.
Matt Foreman:
Well he meets our team requirement of always carrying one player native to Curacao. A lot of people say he will be no better than a #3 or #4 starter which I think is complete bollux. His stuff is better than most people think with his fastball topping out at 95 or so and he can locate all of his pitches exceptionally well. Just look for him to work both sides of the plate and not give away any pitches.
D.J. Short:
Past all the nostalgia, were you happy to see the Braves sign Tom Glavine?
Matt Foreman:
Obviously this was a hot topic all off season with us here and I personally wasn’t a huge fan of it. Our only real options (financially at least) were take Glavine back at the discount he was offering or rely on Jo-Jo Reyes or another young starter to fill the void. I was all for bringing in Reyes and letting him pitch his way out of the job, but I guess the front office didn’t really see it that way. In the end I really couldn’t get past the fact that Glavine put up 23 quality starts on the season, and if we had that last year we might have been playing in October again.
D.J. Short:
Are you concerned about Mark Teixeira‘s slow start? Does he have any chance of staying a Brave long-term?
Matt Foreman:
Not really. He has started slow in the past and he has been hitting better lately. His plate discipline has been solid as well so I don’t really think there is much there to worry about. Do we have a chance to sign him? Sure there’s a chance for everything. We are paying Mike Hampton $15 million this year and can finally be rid of him by exercising his buyout so we will have a little money to play with. Also, Liberty appears to be a little more willing to open up the purse strings. We’re all baseball fans here so that means we like numbers. I say we have a 40-60 shot of resigning him. He comes off as too much of a merc. for my tastes and with Boras behind him I don’t know that we can afford him.
D.J. Short:
So I’m guessing the Braves aren’t missing Edgar Renteria at shortstop?
Matt Foreman:
No. I was a huge detractor of Yunel Escobar and was all for Brent Lillibridge being our starting shortstop this season. I didn’t like Escobar’s power production or his lack of speed or the fact that he doesn’t walk much. His only real asset is the ability to hit for high average which is so subjective that it just scared me. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to keep Renteria, but I didn’t like Escobar. Well I’m an idiot and Escobar is the second best shortstop in the division behind Han-Ram.
D.J. Short:
The bullpen appears to be held together with scotch tape at the moment. How confident are you with this bunch?
Matt Foreman:
I honestly don’t know. They have held together fairly well this week and have been helped by our starters going deeper into games. They really were overtaxed in the first couple of weeks of the season but none of these guys are bullpen stars. I don’t know when Soriano will be back and his shoulder has always been a bit balky, Moylan is most likely done and he was our best reliever and I have about as much confidence in Mike Gonzalez return as I do in Mike Hampton’s. We do have some decent depth at Richmond and even Mississippi if we need it and 50% of bullpen work ends up being finding the hot hand anyways.
D.J. Short:
Lastly, does it bother you that the Braves are often overlooked in the NL East race?
Matt Foreman:
I don’t know how overlooked we were this year with ESPN’s front page spread picking us to win it all. But I know what you are saying. It doesn’t bother me much, we have been the underdog for a couple of years now and I think the Phillies and Marlins know we are coming for them.
…ha…nice touch at the end there, Matt…thanks for pinch-hitting for Martin on such short notice…
Tomorrow on Mets Weekly, Joe Janish from Mets Today, Ted Berg from SNY.tv, Anthony De Rosa from Hot Foot, Coop from My Summer Family and I continue our Blogger Roundtable segment discussing the ‘cornerstones of the Mets: Jose Reyes and David Wright.’
Mets Weekly will air on SNY at 12:30 pm, before the game, and will rerun at random times during the week.
This season, Aaron Heilman has allowed 13 runs and four home runs in 13 innings pitched.
Meanwhile, he leads the major leagues in appearances.
In an article for SNY, Ted Berg wonders if the Mets would better served giving Heilman a break, using Pedro Feliciano more, or sending Jorge Sosa packing, adding, “I only know that what they’re doing now isn’t working.”
Heilman, talking to reporters after last night’s game:
“I left a change-up up, the ball that Zimmerman hit was over the middle, you know, I’ve just got to figure out a way to make better pitches…Unfortunately, it just feels like I have been making more of those mistakes lately…One outing – one way
or the other – isn’t going to make or break you…This is not something that I haven’t gone through in the past, I mean, not to this degree, but you’ve just got to keep going out there and battling and being aggressive and be confident that things are going to turn around.”
…i will say this, and i’m learning this more and more, though i don’t know whether to admire it or loathe it, but these guys have amazing resolve – and i suppose you have to in a game where people fail more than they succeed…
…that said, heilman is a mess…in so many words, he seems to agree…so, now what…as i said earlier, the answer is probably to get him off the mound, so he can work on his pitches and clear his mind, but that can only happen if the starting pitchers go deep in to the game, allowing less relievers to be used in the first place…
…i like heilman…i think he has a great stuff…but he looks like he gets down on himself out there…i could be imagining that, but it is what it looks like…i don’t know, maybe some fans are right when they say he is dejected and still wants to be a starter…personally, i don’t buy that…or, at least don’t buy it to the extent that it alters his performance on the mound…
…he’s an odd case…he really is…the Mets will argue that he lacks the necessary repertoire of pitches to be a starter…on the other hand, i am starting to think he lacks the necessary mindset to be a relief pitcher…maybe his temperament is such that he must be a starter, meaning he needs another pitch…it’s possible that the Mets are right, and so are the fans…either way, the Ebb and Flow of Heilman continues…
In a report for Newsday, David Lennon explains why Mike Pelfrey’s mouthpiece may help to distract hitters.
According to Metsie, Citi Field will soon be renamed Denny’s Field, “Home of the Grand Slam.”
…well…played…best Mets-joke in a long while…
Our old friend, La Velle E. Neal III, in the Star-Tribune, reports that the Twins may soon consider demoting Carlos Gomez, who is hitting just .209.
Speaking of ex-Mets, Lastings Milledge did not play last night because he arrived late to the park, again, according to John Delcos in the Journal News.
Zoe, from Pick Me Up Some Mets, reads lips and calls out umpire Angel Hernandez for cursing out Carlos Delgado during last night’s game.
Meanwhile, at Metstradamus, John posts a parody image of a great Notre Dame tradition.
New Orleans (AAA): 11-5 win over Round Rock
LHP Adam Bostick was terrific, surrendering just one run on two hits and three walks in six innings. The 25-year old lefty struck out three. RHP Carlos Muniz pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
An offensive feast for New Orleans, every starter reached base, and all recorded at least one hit with the exception of 3B Fernando Tatis. Six Zephyrs had multi-hit games. OF Caleb Stewart was 2-for-5 with an RBI double and a two-run homer. OF Christopher Aguila was 2-for-4 with a triple, a HR, two runs and four RBI. 1B Michel Abreu was 2-for-5 with two runs, and C Mike Nickeas finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, a run and an RBI.
Binghamton (AA): 2-0 win over Portland
LHP Jon Niese was terrific, tossing six innings of shutout baseball. The young lefty allowed five hits and two walks, striking out five. RHP Eddie Kunz tossed a perfect ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.
OF Fernando Martinez raised his average to .271 with a 2-for-4 night, and he had a hand in both B-Met runs, scoring one and driving in the other. 3B Danny Murphy, also 2-for-4, had the other RBI for Binghamton. 1B Nick Evans was 1-for-4 with a double, while DH Mike Carp finished 0-for-4.
St. Lucie (A+): 7-2 loss to Daytona
RHP Toby Stoner threw three scoreless innings until coming unhinged in the fourth, when he allowed two runs while getting just one out. Overall on the night, he allowed those two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out two.
1B Lucas Duda was 2-for-4 with an RBI, driving in OF Ezequiel Carrera, who finished 2-for-4, as well. 2B Hector Pellot went 1-for-4 with a double.
Savannah (A-): 5-4 loss to Rome
Tagged Minors |RHP Michael Antonini allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits
in 5.2 innings. He didn’t walk a batter, and struck out six. RHP Edgar Ramirez took the hard luck loss in relief, allowing a run on just one hit and a walk in 3.1 innings.
SS Matt Bouchard was 2-for-5 with a triple, two runs and two RBI, and 23-year old catcher Jordan Abruzzo sent his average back up to .439 with a 2-for-2, two walk night. 2B Greg Veloz was 1-for-5 with his ninth stolen base of the season.
In a post to Yahoo!’s Big League Stew, David Brown conducts a fun and unique interview with David Wright, during which they talk about topics ranging from Shea Stadium his GQ photo shoot with Jose 
Reyes to the contacts in Wright’s cell phone.
Asked what would happen if he traded places with Alex Rodriguez for a day, Wright said:
“It’d good for me because I’d be a much better player [laughs]. For him, not so much. He’d be taking a step back in his baseball development.”
Last Saturday, SNY.tv’s Ted Berg and I traveled to 
Philadelphia to watch the Mets take on the Phillies in Citizen’s Bank Park, while also hanging out with fans at a large tailgate before the game.
To watch a short video from the first part of our trip, click here.
Speaking of video, on Wednesday, my MetsBlog Minute for the pre-game show focused on Carlos Delgado, and how best to handle him going forward.
To watch the one-minute clip, click here.
If you’re a fan of B-Mets 1B Mike Carp, and support him as the starting 
first baseman for 2008, Joe from Shoffee.com has created a campaign sign which you can download and print by clicking here.
In 21 games for Double-a Binghamton, the 21–year-old Carp is hitting .420 with five HR, seven doubles and 19 RBI.
…i think it’s too early for carp…however, he is in favor among decision-makers within the organization…i think people took it as a bad thing that he was not with the team during spring training, instead working out in minor-league camp…however, from what i understand, this was because they wanted him working and hitting – not riding the bench in exhibition games…i think he’ll get a chance…i just don’t know if it he will or should get one right now…soon, but not yet…
Tagged Mike Carp | ← Older posts
