Daily Archives: May 27, 2008
The Mets (24–26) defeated the Marlins (30–21) by the score of 5 to 3 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a boxscore, recap, play by play, etc., click here.
Right out of the gate, the Mets looked like the team we have been wanting them to be. They were running hard, hi-fiving, making strong defensive plays and looking alert.- In fact, the first three batters of the game reached base, and though Carlos Beltran popped out, Damon Easley drove home a run with a sac fly, which was followed by two RBI singles from Ramon Castro and Fernando Tatis, who later drove in another run with a single to left field.
- Tatis is on fire, and needs to stay in the lineup for a little while longer – and I can’t believe i just wrote that, but I did. Fernando Tatis. Go figure. In fact, I see no reason why Willie Randolph should change the lineup tomorrow.
- Later, Tatis and Carlos Beltran took part in a two-out double steal, with Ramon Castro at the plate and Nick Evans on deck.
- By the way, Evans looks totally overmatched.
- Thank God the Mets go to Andrew Miller early, though, because once he settled in, well, he settled in.
- Johan Santana allowed three runs on eight hits through seven innings pitched. He worked from behind in the count quite often, but that will do just fine against the free-swinging Marlins. The thing is, he just can’t resist allowing a home run, can he. Bizarre. Santana struck out Hanley Ramirez twice, which was nice to see.
- Later, Santana hit a double off the wall in left center, running hard to leg out the hit. He is among the best athletes on the team, no doubt about it.
- Beltran ran down a deep, deep fly ball in the left-center field gap, looking like a wide receiver, as Ron Darling likes to point out.
- In the seventh, with a runner on third and one out, Jose Reyes lost the handle on a high chopper hit right at him. The runner would have scored any way, thanks mostly to back-to-back wild pitches from Santana, but still, Reyes has now committed an error in three straight games. Also, hats off to Luis Castillo, who made a diving grab behind second earlier in the inning, which, had he not, who knows how badly the seventh could have been. In the end, Nick Evans made a hold-your-breath catch for the second out and Santana set up Dan Uggla, got ahead of the count and ended it by striking him out on a change up away. Close call.
- Speaking of close calls, I lost count of how many times the Mets hitters had to turn away and hit the deck from a high-and-tight fastball from the Marlins.
- By the way, Easley, Tatis and Castro, the heart of the team’s order tonight, were 5 for 9 with five RBI.
- Lastly, hat’s off to SNY for letting Keith Hernandez broadcast from the seats at field level behind home plate. Outstanding. In some cases, they had a camera over his shoulder looking out on to the field, as Keith broke down the at bat and pitcher. It was like Keith-Cam. The best part, though, was later in the game when in the middle of a sentence about batting stances he casually says, “Oh, no thank you, I don’t eat dairy,” after which he just continued on with his comments about the game. I laughed out loud, as it was clear he just refused ice cream from a fan.
- Despite the Marlins having runners on base all night, I felt pretty comfortable and confident in the Mets tonight. I think it was their energy level. At any rate, it was a strong, fun, exciting, entertaining game tonight, guys – and it’s about time.
The Mets play the Marlins on Wednesday, completing a three-game series, with Oliver Perez facing Scott Olsen.
According to SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, the results from Ryan Church’s CT scan were ‘good,’ and revealed that the outfielder suffered no brain damage following last week’s concussion.
…great, great news…i was a bit worried, actually…seeing as it was his second bang-up in a few months…great news…
However, the team sent Church home tonight to get rest.
Tagged Ryan Church |
Prior to tonight’s game, Willie Randolph told reporters that Carlos Delgado will be out of tonight’s lineup so he can “clear his head.”
…in other words, sit over there young man, and think about what you’ve done…or, have not done…
According to Randolph, Delgado may get tomorrow night off as well.
The Game:
Weather permitting, the Mets (23-26) continue their three-game series versus the first place Marlins (30-20) tonight at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm EST.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Damion Easley
- RF Fernando Tatis
- C Ramon Castro
- LF Nick Evans
- P Johan Santana
The Pitchers:
LHP Johan Satana (5-3, 3.36 ERA) toes the rubber for the Mets. Santana allowed a career high 12 hits in his last start in a loss on May 22 versus the Braves. In three career starts versus the Marlins, Santana is 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA.
LHP Andrew Miller (4-3, 5.33 ERA) starts for the Marlins. In his last start on May 22 versus the Diamondbacks, Miller earned a win throwing seven shutout innings lallowing five hits with a walk and nine strikeouts. Miller is 1-1 with a 8.38 ERA in two career starts versus the Mets.
The Notes:
Jose Reyes has reached base safely in 26 straight games and currently has an 11 game hitting streak, in which he is batting .333 (16-for-48) with 2 2B, 4 HR, 6 runs and 9 RBI.
The Mets are 11-5 versus left-handed starters this season.
Scott Schoeneweis has allowed only one run in his last 14.1 IP.Luis Castillo is batting .325 with 8 runs and 6 RBI in his last 40 at-bats.
How To Catch It:
Tonight’s game can be seen locally on SNY 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 |Of the 31 runs that Mike Pelfrey has allowed this season 24 have come with two outs and runners in scoring position. In addition, opponents have a .973 OPS against Pelfrey when there are two outs in an inning.
…as you can see, pelfrey has been unable to finish off innings this season and that inability to do so was on display last night as all six runs he allowed came with two outs….what’s worse, in most instances, the runners that pelfrey allows to score don’t reach base until there are two outs…
…as i’ve said before in previous posts regarding pelfrey, i’ve been following his career since the Mets drafted him with a ton of excitement…i’ve always thought pelfrey would be the Mets next great homegrown pitcher, but that has yet to come to fruition…
…the more i see pelfrey pitch, the more it becomes obvious he needs more time to develop…at 24-years old pelfrey has only 319.1 innings of professional baseball under his belt, which is limited amount at his age…i hate to say this, but with the way the Mets are currently constructed and the way this season has unfolded they can no longer afford to have pelfrey develop and grow at the major league level…
The Reds designated for assignment 1B Scott Hatteberg, who is batting .173 with seven strike outs and three extra base hits in 52 at bats this season.
Hatteberg hit .289 in 2006, and hit .310 with a .396 OBP in 361 at bats last season for the Reds, during 
which he hit .323 against left-handed pitching.
…he’d be an interesting pick up for the Mets…for starters, i do not believe he is as washed up as his numbers suggest…he’s rarely played this year, and i have to think this has messed with his rhythm…he got off to a rough start, and that was it…in fact, he has not had more than one at bat in a game since May 10 against the Mets…
…i don’t think he is the answer to the Mets problems, but a) he’s new blood, and b) it would allow them the opportunity to bench Carlos Delgado from time to time, which is needed…
…of course, should the Mets not want to sign a 39–year-old first baseman in hatteberg, they can just promote a 29–year-old first baseman in Val Pascucci from Triple-A New Orleans, who has 10 home runs in just 25 games since joining the organization…
Matt Wise has been placed on the 15–day disabled list with a strained shoulder.
RHP Carlos Muniz has arrived at Shea Stadium, and will take Wise’s spot on the roster, as had been reported earlier today by Adam Rubin of the Daily News.
In three appearances earlier this season, Muniz allowed no runs and two hits while striking out two batters.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Luis Castillo has 
grounded in to seven double plays in only 25 opportunities, which is the third-worst rate in baseball.
…what’s worse, it feels like so many of castillo’s double plays occur during what could be a big rally…first and second, one out, castillo hits in to a double…over and over again, it seems…
…for what it’s worth, from what i can gather out of people close to the team, Mets GM Omar Minaya wanted to sign David Eckstein, not castillo…
…however, eckstein’s plan was to hold out a) for more money from another team, and b) the opportunity to remain at shortstop…in fact, there are lots of people who believe eckstein had zero intention of playing second base…anywhere…
…meanwhile, castillo had a three-year offer from the Astros, and, for the sake of not waiting around, the Mets gave castillo one more year and ended their search for a second baseman…
…and so now the Mets have a 33–year-old second baseman with bad knees, earning $6 million per season for the next four years…
For what it’s worth, Eckstein is batting .246 in 30 games for the Blue Jays, while starting at shortstop.
Also, in 34 games for the Braves, Ruben Gotay is batting .258 in just 31 at bats.
According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, RHP Carlos Muniz is on his way from New Orleans to Shea Stadium.
Rubin continues on to explain why Aaron Heilman or Matt Wise could be the player Muniz replaces.
In three appearances earlier this season, Muniz allowed no runs and two hits while striking out two batters.
MetsGeek.com, a fellow Mets blog 
with a statistical bend, has changed it’s name to RaysGeek, in honor of the Devil Rays, because, as they put it, “The Mets suck.”
Meanwhile, in a post to Hot Foot, Anthony De Rosa wants to ‘blow the whole thing up,’ such as cutting ties with Moises Alou, Luis Castillo, Carlos Delgado, Aaron Heilman, Pedro Martinez and El Duque, while writing, “I’ve had it with this team.’
According to Ken Davidoff at his blog for Newsday, “A good week against the right teams, and the Mets can bring themselves right back into the race.” However, he concludes, “I don’t see that good week occurring on Randolph’s watch.”
Lastly, at his blog for the New York Post, Joel Sherman explains how, by doing nothing yesterday, Fred and Jeff Wilpon have sent the absolute wrong message to their team’s clubhouse.
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