Daily Archives: May 13, 2008
The Mets (20-17) defeated the Nationals (16-24) by a score of 6 to 3 tonight at Shea Stadium.
For a complete recap and box score, check out SNY.tv.
John Maine was outstanding tonight. It’s a shame a couple Damion Easley errors and a high pitch count knocked him out after six innings. Maine may have been the third starter going into the season, but clearly he has established himself as the team’s number two.
Can Ryan Church do no wrong? He plays great defense and continues to come through in big spot after big spot this season. And, tonight was no exception with four RBIs, including the go-ahead RBI double in the sixth, which was terribly misplayed by Austin Kearns. It’s official, I have a man-crush on Ryan Church and I’m not ashamed to admit. Keep it going, Ryno.
Without Church I don’t know how this team would score runs. The team continues to come up short and squander opportunities when they have men in scoring position. In four consecutive innings (2nd – 5th) the Mets had opportunities to break this game open, but let the pitcher off the hook going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position during those innings. The offense does a wonderful job getting men on, but they just haven’t had the ability to consistently put crooked numbers up on the board. And, this team will continue their seesaw season if the offense continues to sputter.
Duaner Sanchez raised my blood pressure a bit, getting himself in a eighth inning jam by walking two, but recovered nicely striking out Lastings Milledge and getting Kearns to ground out. Sanchez is still struggling with his control, but you can see his velocity is coming back, which is a great sign.
Anytime you see Billy Wagner on the mound this season you know it’s a win. Wagner continues his early season dominance and locked up his eighth save of the season. Exit light, enter night…
Good bounce back win tonight, guys.
The Mets continue their four-game series against the Nationals tomorrow night with Claudio Vargas making his Mets debut.
Tagged Mike Nichols |The Game:
The Mets (19-17) continue their four-game series versus the Nationals (16-23) tonight at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- RF Ryan Church
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- LF Moises Alou
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- 2B Damion Easley
- C Brian Schneider
- P John Maine
The Pitchers:
RHP John Maine (4-2, 3.00 ERA) takes the hill for the Mets. Maine was stellar in his last start, earning a victory, on May 7 versus the Dodgers allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out four over 8.1 IP. Maine has allowed two runs or less in six of his seven starts this season. Opponents are hitting .200 (10-for-50) and have scored only two runs off Maine after the fourth inning this season. Maine is 4-2 with a 4.84 ERA in eight career starts versus the Nationals.
LHP John Lannan (0-3, 3.43 ERA) starts for the Nationals. In his last start on May 8 versus the Astros, Lannan earned a win surrendering one run on seven hits and a walk while striking out three over 6.0 IP. In his last start versus the Mets on April 17, Lannan struck out 11 over 6.0 IP allowing just one run on three hits earning a no-decision. He is 0-1 with a 4.60 ERA in two career starts versus the Mets.
The Notes:
Jose Reyes is batting .353 with a double in 17 at-bats during the current homestand. He is 4-for-6 in his career versus Lannan.
The Mets are batting .272 versus left-handed pitching this season and are 8-4 versus left-handed starters.
Nine of Ryan Church‘s last 15 hits have gone for extra bases (3 2B, 1 3B and 5 HR). He is batting .326 (31-for-95) in his last 24 games.
The Nationals are 1-18 when trailing after six innings this season.
Cristian Guzman leads the Nationals with a .346 average with RISP. He is batting .339 in his career versus the Mets.
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 |According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, Willie Randolph confirmed Johan Santana will pitch the opening game of this weekend’s Subway Series on Friday night versus the Yankees.
as such, the following will be the team’s starting rotation for the remainder of their current series versus the Nationals and their upcoming series versus the Yankees…
Tagged Mike Nichols |Today: John Maine vs Nationals
Wednesday: Claudio Vargas vs Nationals
Thursday: Mike Pelfrey vs Nationals
Friday: Johan Santana at Yankees
Saturday: Oliver Perez at Yankees
Sunday: John Maine at Yankees
The Mets have announced RHP Nelson Figueroa and Jorge Sosa have been Designated for assignment.
The Mets have also placed OF Angel Pagan on the 15-day disabled list with a injured shoulder.
In their place the Mets have recalled RHP Claudio Vargas, RHP Matt Wise and OF/IF Fernando Tatis.
…good to see the Mets make the correct moves and field their best possible 25-man roster…i’m also happy to see Joe Smith stay with the major league club, he has pitched well and didn’t deserve a demotion…
Tagged Mike Nichols, Nelson Figueroa |
New Orleans (AAA): 3-2 loss to Sacramento
RHP Tony Armas took another tough loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks in six innings, striking out eight. RHP Jose Santiago tossed three scoreless innings in relief.
OF Chris Aguila was 2-for-3 with a walk, a homer and two runs scored. 2B Argenis Reyes was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, and SS Anderson Hernandez was 1-for-4.
St. Lucie (A+): 1-0 loss to Vero Beach
RHP Dylan Owen was sensational in tossing six shutout innings, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out eight. RHP Matt Wise tossed a perfect seventh inning, followed by two scoreless frames from RHP Stephen Clyne and LHP Edgar Alfonzo. was the only one of five Met pitchers to not allow a run, tossing a scoreless inning. RHP Ryan Coultas allowed the game’s only run in the 13th, his second inning of work.
St. Lucie managed just four hits, two coming off the bat of SS Ruben Tejada, who was 2-for-5. 3B Leivi Ventura was 1-for-5 with a double.
Savannah (A-): 3-2 loss to Asheville
Tagged Minors |RHP Maikel Cleto tossed five scoreless innings before an error extended the sixth inning and saw him allow a two-out, three run double. All three runs were unearned, deservingly so as he was terrific the rest of the night, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out nine. In just his second outing of the season, last June’s second round pick RHP Brant Rustich tossed a scoreless inning in relief.
SS Matt Bouchard, hitting .297 in his last 10 games, led off and was 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. OF Darren Stegall was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored.
Peter B from Jericho sent in an e-mail asking…
“Can you post the Mets come from behind wins this season? It seems once this team is down they stay down. No fight like other seasons.”
The Mets have five come-from-behind wins, and have won four games in their last at bat, including three walk offs.
However, while the Mets are 17–0 when leading after the seventh inning, they are just 1–16 when trailing after the seventh inning.
Last season at this time, the Mets had nine come-from-behind wins and were 17–1 when leading after the seventh inning, and 3–11 when trailing after seven.
In 2006, at this time of the season, the Mets had eight come-from-behind wins and were 18–1 when leading after seven, and 1–10 when trailing after the seventh.
During his appearance on WFAN today, Mets C Brian Schneider had the following to say when asked about the attitude in the team’s clubhouse:
“I’ve been in a few and this is a great one. Everyone is loose. We had a great road trip, faced some top teams. Everyone enjoys each other. This is one of the best clubhouses I’ve been a part of.”
Schneider, regarding the Nationals cheering from the dugout, and whether Elijah Dukes, who was accused of being the ring leader, should be knocked down with a pitch, said:
“It caught my attention a couple of times. I’m not used to seeing that in the big leagues, but I wouldn’t use the term ‘Bush League’ to describe it…I’d rather strike (Dukes) out, keep him off base. That’s the way I’d take care of it.”
To hear Schneider’s entire interview, during which he also discussed Scott Schoeneweis, Nelson Figueroa, and the Subway Series, among other things, go to WFAN.com.
…schneider has been a great addition to the team…he’s very good at dealing with the media, and handling the mets’ pitching staff, neither of which is tracked by statistics…i feel that by the end of the season, we will feel very good about the contributions he has made on the field as well…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche, WFAN |Triple-A New Orleans RHP Claudio Vargas was scratched from his start today, suggesting the Mets may opt to purchase his contract and have him start tomorrow at Shea for the Mets against the Nationals.
…at this point, it may just make sense to sit back and see how the Mets shuffle this roster around…
…if vargas is promoted, and Matt Wise is added, and if Luis Castillo is headed to the disabled list, which is more and more likely by the minute, there’s going to be all sorts of transactions coming down the pike, and all sorts of speculation to go along with it – ranging from whether Joe Smith will be demoted, to Jorge Sosa and Nelson Figueroa being dfa’d…
…Update…1:41 pm…
According to Adam Rubin at his blog for the Daily News, Figueroa and Sosa could be in ‘trouble,’ while Smith could be staying.
Rubin also reports on the future of Castillo, Fernando Tatis and Angel Pagan, who could be heading to the disabled list.
During the SNY telecast of last night’s Mets game, Kevin Burkhardt spoke about Scott Schoeneweis‘ torn tendon, inferring that the injury may have had something to do with his poor 2007 numbers. It was further suggested that Schoneweis was undeservedly booed by fans for 
his poor performances — and perhaps he should have been lauded for pitching through the injury.
I’m not for booing anyone, but have to disagree with supporting Schoeneweis for pitching on a bad leg. The injury severely affected his performance — to the detriment of the team.
With Pedro Feliciano pitching well in 2007, Schoeneweis was expendable. His role could have been filled by another arm in the organization — or J.C. Romero, who was released on June 19. Imagine how 2007 might have turned out if Romero (1.50 ERA vs. Mets in 10 games) was in New York and not Philadelphia?
Tagged Scott Schoeneweis |On Thursday, Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling will broadcast the 
Mets vs. Nationals game from near the last row of the upper deck at Shea Stadium to revisit where Cohen had watched many a game while growing up.
…i think this is such a great, and original idea…when i first heard this i didn’t believe it, but i’ll definitely be watching to see what goes right, and what goes wrong…overall it should be a lot of fun, but keith will need to bring a lot of tootsie pops to appease the shea masses…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche, Ron Darling | ← Older posts
