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The Mets (18–15) defeated the Reds (14–22) by the score of 12 to 6 in Shea Stadium this afternoon.
For a full recap, go to SNY’s Boxscore.
It’s impressive, because even a so-so day, in which he threw a ton of pitches, and allowed 10 hits, Johan Santana let up just three runs in six innings. So many times it could have so much worse, but he always seems to do what is necessary to get out of the inning. Also, the team’s defense came through for him often. What’s more, they got a favorable call from the ump on a grounder in the fifth, on which the runner at first was called out, when he was really safe. Thanks, ump.
I’m not sure why Willie Randolph was initially bunting with Johan Santana in the second inning, with runners at first and third and one out. Nevertheless, the pitcher threw a wild pitch, and Moises Alou scored from third anyways.
Nice hustle by David Wright in the fifth, taking second on a deep pop-up by Carlos Beltran. Wright was then able to score on a bloop single from Ryan Church.
In the third, with the infield in, Moises Alou dunked a single over the head of Brandon Phillips, to score two runs. Normally, phillips catches that ball, but, oh well.
In the top of the fourth, Edwin Encarnacion hit a home run off of santana…alou jumped to try and rob it, but missed. Honestly, I’d rather alou just keep his feet on the ground at all time – it’s just safer that way, don’t you think.
Santana struggled in the sixth, losing the bottom of the order…with 100 pitches in his pocket, two outs and runners on base, willie stuck with him, and returned the favor by striking out the batter to end the inning.
Even on a day when the Mets score 12 runs and win by six, they still manage to use three relief pitchers – on a day when they’ll have to play another nine innings. Unreal.
Give a game ball to Carlos Beltran, who had five RBI on the day, and who put the game out of reach in the sixth with a three-run, bases-clearing triple. The Mets got a nice ovation, having tacked on four insurance runs in the sixth – I look forward to endless columns in the newspapers tomorrow about the happy fans.
By the way, the Mets have won their last two games by a combined score of 24 to 7.
The Mets will play the Reds again today at 7:30 pm, with Mike Pelfrey on the mound against Bronson Arroyo.
mets won!
how could willie do that, doesnt he know anything about….
…uh…..
fire him!
Thats bottom of the 6th was the Mets best half inning all year. Having a game where Santana lets the team back in it and wears himself out in the top of the inning was followed by the type of pick me up inning the offense hasnt been providing since last April. It was a lovely thing to see.
Instead of a parade of struggling relievers trying to hold only a small lead they get to work in less pressurized situations and the fans get to breathe easy while Heilman and Feliciano still try to blow the game…
Good point. That’s the type of thing we’ve all wanted to see more of from this team since last year. Step on their throats!
I don’t know what this means really…Health, bad pitches or something else. 36 Hits and 28 runs the last 3 games. Makes me sleep better at night knowing we can score more than 3 runs. Sounds like Willie is going to get at least one more month no matter how things go. I would’ent mind a change but if we go on a nice run that would be even better. So i hope to see you this summer Willie. Godspeed
Did Willie deserve the credit/blame for today’s win/loss?
They lost? Absolutely he deserves the blame, fire him!
They Won? Absolutely not, he deserves no credit.
matt’s polls about this are obnoxious. why do willie’s defenders only address the dumbest arguments? and then put up those polls as though it’s that simple: it’s either he deserves credit for the wins and blame for the losses or neither. wrong.
when the mets win in a blowout, willie is not responsible for the win. when the mets lost a bunch of games in ‘07 because willie stubbornly stuck with mota in high leverage situations, that is very likely willie’s fault. this is not as open-and-shut an argument as matt is trying to make it. it’s game by game, case by case. he’s not responsible for every win and he’s not responsible for every loss but there is a strong case to be made that he does more harm than good.
Exactly. People who call for Willie’s head at any lost are morons, but there are plenty of people who call for his head because of years worth of bad choices.
Defend him if you want, but just saying “see they won,” is no argument that he should stay, just as “see they lost” is no argument he should be fired.
Absolutely correct that there are plenty of people who call for his head because of years worth of bad choices.
Those who come up with dumb reasons why (oh he lost or won a game so go or stay is so Sillie) are just dumb.
i think the point being made is that after the blowout loss to the Pirates, everyone wanted him gone: if you don’t give Willie credit for a blowout win, you can’t blame him for a blowout loss.
I have no problem blaming him for the bullpen issues and other tactical decisions, but people jump on the “he can’t motivate the team” bandwagon, and then conveniently ignore games the Mets win like this and the last game against the Dodgers.
I wonder how the night game will turn out. It’s our worst pitcher against theirs.
They have a starter worse than Belisle? yikes
This is a good series to keep the bats hot.
And after these three and Wed. hot batting day perhaps they will remain hot enough to stay hot.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and label Arroyo a bad pitcher. Sure, he’s been dreadful, so far, this year, but he is not going to end the season with an ERA over 8.00. He may not be one of the league’s elite pitchers, either (in fact, I would consider that pretty likely), but he will get better. For all we know, it could all start tonight. (Frankly, I always worry about the offense in the next game when the Mets score a ton.)
please be quiet!!
willie has to be given a fair chance at managing this team.
you obviously wrote this comment to be the first and get people’s attention. well, you know what?, you’ve got mine.
I hope all fans read todays newspaper article in which Willie clarifies his situation and I’m definitely one of those fans who support Willie.
i was being sarcastic, i thought obviously.
i agree with you, i’m tired of the willie bashing
How exactly has he not been given a fair chance?
Willie must have some kind of dirt on him.
You said “Absolutely correct that there are plenty of people who call for his head because”
OK so what does that mean???
Assuming Smith isn’t the guy to go down (which would be foolish), we’ve got Scho, Smith, Sanchez, Wise and Wagner in the pen. Should be plenty, unless Pelfrey gets absolutely shelled (knock on wood….)
They could use Figueroa in long relief (on 2 days rest) and then call up Tony Armas Jr to pitch in place of Figs on 5/12. Then Figgy would be the extra starter they need on 5/14, which would give him 3 days of rest after the relief outing.
I would have Figgy on alert tonight, its probably his throw day anyway. They will need a 6th starter sometime this week, so thats one way to manage that situation.
Based on us not using Smith, maybe the choice is to DL Pagan and get Wise back. Maybe Marty Noble didn’t get it correct in his story.
Thats the better choice. The mets don’t have an off day until the 19th. More pitching would be good considering we have the Yankess and Braves after the Nationals this week.
One problem with this is that they will need another starting pitcher for one of the games against the Nats. Santana nor Pelfrey will come back on 3 days rest, so they will still need to swap out a reliever for a starter. Sosa cant be that starter, it just isnt realistic, imo.
Not to mention, having only Castro, Easley, Endy, and Marlon on the bench leaves the team really short.
I particularly agree with the last point. Don’t forget, Castro is just coming back from the DL, and seems to be a bit fragile–not to mention, Willie is always (understandably) wary of using his backup catcher too soon. Plus, Endy is often used as a defensive replacement for Alou, late in games. With such a short bench, you either risk leaving the bench extra short, after inserting Endy as a defensive replacement, or you scrap that plan altogether (and playing Alou for all 9 innings is always an injury waiting to happen, isn’t it?).
As for the need for another starter, that’s a definite. Pelfrey isn’t coming back on 3 days rest, simply because he has been struggling enough on regular rest. The only exception would be if he gets shelled tonight, and doesn’t pitch much. Otherwise, not a chance of it happening. And Johan threw about 120 pitches, so he won’t be working on short rest, either.
I wonder if they would call Armas up and DFA Sosa? Clearly, Joe Smith doesn’t deserve to be sent down, but since he is the only one with options, it seems like the only choice they have. That being said, if they call up Armas for the spot start on Wednesday, against the Nats, they’d either have to DFA him or Sosa afterwards, because they don’t need two long relievers. So, if they have no choice but to DFA somebody, why not Sosa? Armas can serve as the long man, and Sosa’s higher salary may make him more likely to clear waivers.
Nice win for the Mets.
Willie Must Go!
GROW!
“Willie must go”…man I’m getting tired of reading that from posters here and on other sites. Even in jest..it’s getting stupid.
Ha, and I thought I made it up. I don’t usually visit the comments section of the site. But I mean, enough is enough.
Vendor, I’m sure you would find it tough to find any manager whose fanbase is unanimously supportive. People will express their opinions regardless of how irrational they may be.
I don’t think Willie is the best manager, but he isn’t the worst either.
Willie must go!
if Willie goes, who manages the team. We do need a manager, don’t we?
Ralph Kiner.
And you know why I don’t visit the comments more often? Because I type a well-thought out, three paragraph response, two times in succession and it just never appears. And no I don’t use profanity in my posts. Way to go Metsblog, keep reeling ‘em in!
Metsblog won’t let you post the name of a famous Red about to hit his 600th homer. Did your post mention him?
Nope, but I think I found out what it was.. in typing my first reply to you (this is the second if you are seeing it), I answered no to K3N G,JR, and I also jokingly suggested that it could be the phrase “Upper Deck,” except take out the word “deck” and replace it with “manage” plus “ment.” If you are actually seeing this then I guess that’s what it was!
Wow and Matt says he isn’t owned by SNY?
Sweet Baby Jesus! That’s a laugh.
Is that serious?
I tried to post a couple of weeks ago and it didn’t show up (3 times). It mentioned that guy. It was on the thread about Church getting voted into the all star game.
I said it would have to be as a reserve since the starting OF will be Beltran, Andruw Jones and KG. Jr.
interesting..
No joke, when I typed the first one right above I had no idea if it was gonna show up. And I spent about 10 minutes typing and then re-typing the Willie reply that never got up here. How lame.
Metsblog is by the fans, for the fans!
holy crap, i just tested it. Now it’s not here.
i can type ” holy crap”, but can’t type the name of a future HOFer.
It was true the other day. It might still be, but two of us tired to put kgjr in — in fact his name is ALL i wrote — and it would not post. I have no idea why.
yeah sorry Jose I thought you were referring to the phrase “UM.”
But isn’t that one even more of a slap in the face than opposite-of-Barbie? I mean, why should we have to talk like this?
I should start my own site and kick this thing’s behind.
Weird, huh?
I don’t know why you can’t type that certain guys name, but seriously, the rest of it and complaining about not typing other things, just leave if you don’t like it.
Matt has been trying to clean this place up ever since this site got so popular and now he can’t control some of the out of control skeptics. That is where you come in.
oh and AndrewP, great laugh you just gave me about starting your own site and kicking this site’s behind, come back and let me know when you do that….It will also be the same day that the Yankees have the lowest payroll in baseball…
Hah your right about that one.. and while I have trouble with the comments section I do love the rest of the site, so please forgive me for that.
But seriously, I am not the only one I know who has much to contribute to the intelligent portion of the discussion that goes on here, but is driven away from the comments section because of silly things like not being able to type “UM.”
Great site, but that’s lame. It should be fixed.
And dude, “out-of-control skeptic?” I don’t doubt that Matt is having to combat some, but do I even know you? What did I do, say that Willie should be fired? What else do I think about the 2008 Mets?
Jeez, what I am is pissed about wasting my time for no good reason with those posts. What’s your excuse?
I’ll be at the game tonight to continue the ovation. Lets go Willie! Lets Go Mets!
It’s funny how during post game a reporter asks Johan how it feels to get his first win at shea, johan quickly corrects him”as a Met’.He remembers last years complete game shut out against them.
If reporters were as sharp as Johan, we would be better off. Good for him to correct a mistake by an alleged journalist.
metsfansforever.com
check it out
wesommer@gmail.com
Im very pleased with the win today.
But I still don’t like Willie as the manager…I’m not going to pretend like all of his poor coaching desicions get erased by this win.
On a happier note, I’m thrilled to see Carlos and Carlos finally picking it up. Absolutely great hitting today and I gotta love seeing Delgado in the 7 hole. Not only is it good to have him there when he isnt performing well…but when hes on fire like he was today its very very dangerous. (I don’t consider this a product of Willie Randolph’s genius, but more due to Alou coming off the DL).
It was nice, indeed. These last two games this team has really poured on the offense, which is great to see!
Although Delgado should be down in the lineup, this afternoon’s lineup was not the right one (regardless of the outcome). My problem was not Delgado hitting 7th, but Castillo hitting 2nd. How well does Church have to do before he sticks in the 2nd spot? And how badly does Castillo have to do to stick in the 8th spot? The lineup should’ve been: Reyes, Church, Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Schneider, Castillo, Johan.
Castillo needs to stay in the 8th spot. Not only is he not hitting, overall, but he has zero strength, rendering him virtually incapable of a productive out. Although he is relatively short for a man, he is clearly a grown adult, yet, he seems like a boy playing among men–not strong enough to hit a long fly to score a run, or to hit a grounder strong enough to get a run in. Under these circumstances, why should he be getting more plate appearances than every Mets player but Jose Reyes? Obviously, he sholdn’t.
One-down - One-to-go!
I have a trademark saying, “I’m not just a fan - I’m a Coach and Teammate.” Thus, I’m putting the Coaching jersey on, and would like to share an on-going disappointment we call the Bullpen.
In a game that had enough run support to have our bullpen buddy’s feel more relaxed than usual - at least I’d like to believe how their mindset would shift with a big lead - compared to either a tie-game or one-run game. Nonetheless, our bullpen came into the game looking to get some quality practice, with no thoughts of blowing their lead.
Well, let’s analyze our Bullpen Buddy’s performance - in a game where they should’ve been lights-out.
Heilman is a given to do something that just ticks me off, so let’s start with the Fighting Irish guy. I tell ya, we could’ve made a llllot of money if we bet on each of his outings, with the obvious bet being that he’ll give-up something to make me scratch my head enough to start shedding like a dirty dog.
Ya know what, I changed my mind, enough said about the man of no emotion - so let’s summarize the entire bullpen performance today, which had 3-pitchers take a crack at their practice session . . .
-3-innings pitched
-5-hits
-3-runs
-2-walks
-1-strikeout
-0-homers
Awesome how they threw a no-no with homeruns huh??!!! NOPE, not impressive at all, because all I can say is, “Thank Goodness the game wasn’t close.”
Scottie-B
**In my opinion . . .”
–Scottie-B
boooooo!!!
Does anyone else think this post wasn’t written by Matt Cerrone? The style of writing is completely different, and there are a number of questionable grammar and punctuation choices. Weird.
Anyway, good game and good win. Let’s take two!
You know, I actually was reading it and scrolled up to see who wrote it because it seemed off. Maybe he’s just hungover. haha.
I wonder if the media still thinks we should be booing Beltran.
As much as I hate Willie, I actually DO credit him with the win today. SOMEONE clearly told wright to stay back on pitches away, and it worked. Wright-Beltran-Church-Alou looked very good today, and he utilized Johan as well as any manager in baseball could have today.
As for the bullpen decisions, Heilman was the right choice for the 7th, and feliciano needed some work I guess.
Sosa in the 9th is clearly Jorge pitching for his job. If anyones gotta go to make room for Wise, it should be him.
Maybe I’m really slow, but I JUST figured your name our. LOL!!!!!
No we just need a Ryan Mosque…. (Sorry for the lack of seriousness with my post).
Meant to type “Now we just need a Ryan Mosque”…..
Would like to see Schneider start the 2nd game catching Pelfrey since he has seemed to help Pelfrey pitch better but it’s not likely I guess, after catching in the first game today.
Why did he catch the first game today, anyway?
to be fresh for tomorrows day game
So he can catch tomorrow’s day game.
Alright I like that then, considering that Ollie would appear to be a candidate to benefit from any Schneider-ness in the air just like Pelfrey, if indeed a significant level of Schneider-ness does exist.
Very profound, Andrew! I like it: “Schneider-ness”! :)
how about we call down aaron heilman instead of sosa or smith. i know heilman has to be put on waivers but he is too much of a risk. how can u trust heilman with a one two run lead. even with a 10-3 lead heiman still had trouble. not worth it.
That’s why he’s not pitching in close games right now. But if you do have to risk losing him outright, don’t you have to consider more than just his last 6 weeks of work?
sorry for the typo i meant i know he has options but is too much of a risk
OK, so he does have options? Thought I had read that on here.. I may consider it then if I thought it would get him straightened out quicker. That’s the type of thing it’s hard to know without being a part of the team..
On the other hand for whose sake, Sosa?
I’m glad to see that someone else has big enough concerns with Heilman. I think he may be watching too much Notre Dame football, because there is absolutely no confidence surrounding him.
**I’m always right.**
–Scottie-B
No way–Heilman would never make it through waivers, and he is too valuable to lose. Granted, he has been terrible for most of the season, but his work in prior seasons suggests that he will eventually turn it around. When he is on, he is one of the top set-up men around, so it would be crazy to lose him for nothing simply because they weren’t patient enough to wait out his slump. They are doing the right thing now–using him in lower pressure situations, until he works things out.
cant do it if he is out of options…you cant just give him away.
but heilman is just horrible. he cant pitch. i dont think he realizes that major league hitters can hit the changeup
As has been discussed here many times, Heils has one more option.
my bad he doesnt have options. i make a lot of typs
Quote Matt Cerrone: “It’s impressive, because even a so-so day, in which he threw a ton of pitches, and allowed 10 hits, Johan Santana let up just three runs in six innings.”
I’m sorry, but I was very disappointed in Santana’s performance today. In the front end of a double header with a young unreliable pitcher going tonight and a head case going tomorrow, I think Santana needed to go 7 or eight inning. We went through three relief pitchers; will they be available tonight, too? On top of that, Santana gave up three runs in six innings (10 hits and 1 walk) which is not a good start. I just expected more from him today, and he did not step up.
It’s even more disappointing that Willie does not think Sosa can pitch two innings without giving up 8 runs.
No kidding. In fact, don’t we keep hearing that the Mets will send down Smith to make room for Wise, instead of DFA’ing Sosa, because Sosa’s ability to throw multiple innings is too valuable? If he can’t throw 2 or 3 innings in a 10-3 game, what’s the issue?
Shhhh…before you’re labeled an out-of-control skeptic with irrational prejudice against Randolph.
I’d ask for my money back if I had to watch Heilman pitch twice in the same day.
**Throw a freakin’ strike.**
–Scottie-B
Do you want Heilman being picked up by, say the Braves–and have Roger McDowell figure out his problems, and have Heilman absolutely own us? Or would you rather have him pliced up by the Phillthies, and suddenly turn into the NL version of Mariano Rivera?
Because one of those two would happen.
First of all, the only chance that Heilman has to own the Mets is if he wins the Lotto, and I don’t see him as the gambling type.
I think my High School team has a pitching coach opening.
**Even I can walk a batter.**
–Scottie-B
Absolutely that would happen. Heilman is the kind of soft thrower that gives this team fits.
You all need to calm down about Johans start…sure it wasnt his best outting…but over the course of the year your going to get those…at least his bad starts look like 6 innings 3 runs and a Win.
Johan is Hope.
My point is that the ace cannot throw up a weak start like today when the club has a doubleheader.
Its an okay outing on a given day…but not what you expect out of you ace on a day when you have your most craptastic pitcher going in just a few hours. Need to conserve that pen! Aces step up. Johan didn’t today. Nobody is saying he isn’t excellent (he was robbed of some Ws earlier this year when he picthed great but got no run support and/or the pen blew it) but you expect your ace to step it up a notch in the situation he had today as game 1 starter of a DH, especially against a weak team like Cinci.
I agree to a certain extent. Certainly, I would’ve liked to see Johan go at least 7 in game 1 of a doubleheader. Nevertheless, it sometimes can’t be avoided. He only walked 1, didn’t hit anybody, and threw almost twice as many strikes as balls. His pitch count simply got high because the Reds–also professional ballplayers–managed to get 10 hits off of him, and seemed to also foul off a lot of pitches. Sometimes you need to just tip your hat to the hitters. And, of course, once he got up to 116 pitches after 6 innings–and seemed to be tiring in the 6th–it would have been lunacy to have him come out for the 7th.
He can….and he did.
is this game not gonna be shown on mlb tv?
Why were the fans in the Upper Deck doing the wave while Santana was struggling to hold the lead in the 6th? This used to be a baseball-savy city.
Why were the few Cincy fans in the Upper Deck who showed up harassed to the point of leaving early?
Why was I harased for lighting a smoke 100 feet away from another human while the drunks are given free reign to fight amongst themselves? Second-hand violence is rather annoying to smokers.
Why can’t Santana ever keep his pitch count at Shea below 100 before 5 2/3 innings?
And damn…Reyes and Castillo did zilch, but the Mets managed to score 12. Very impressive. And perhaps the shortest game I’ve ever been to when 40 players combined managed to reach base.
BREAKING NEWS
Pelfrey does not have the mouth piece in.
Note to Pelfrey . . . Put your mouth piece back in.
A run is already on the board, and he’s now making me want to grind my teeth.
**Are you picking-up what I’m putting-down?**
–Scottie-B