Daily Archives: June 6, 2008
The Mets (30–30) lost to the Padres (26–37) by the score of 2 to 1 in San Diego tonight.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., go to SNY.tv.
Randy Wolf + Petco Park = Loss
However, in case you missed it:
- The game’s only runs were scored in the sixth inning, the rest of the game was a pitching duel between two very, very effective left-handed starters in Wolf and Johan Santana.
- Santana was hit on the shoulder with a pitch from Wolf while trying to lay down a bunt. He told reporters he didn’t feel anything, and ‘is OK.’ Santana was unable to get Endy Chavez to third on the bunt, then Chavez got pegged trying to take the base on a Santana fielder’s choice.
- In the sixth, the Mets picked up a run, and continued the rally with a series of singles, walks and sac-flys by Jose Reyes, David Wright, Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran, but Damion Easley ended the inning with a ground ball leaving the bases loaded.
- The Mets loaded the bases again in the next inning, but both Robinson Cancel and Castillo grounded out.
- In the eighth, the Padres used three pitchers to get Beltran, Wright and Easley out.
- Trevor Hoffman blows saves against every one but the Mets, apparently.
- Petco Park is an offensive wasteland. It’s like watching baseball be played on another planet.
My e-mail is flooded with comments suggesting Saturday’s game is a must win, because the Mets have now lost two in a row. It isn’t. The season does not end with a loss on Saturday. However, it sure would be nice to get back on a winning streak. The thing is, that will not happen in San Diego unless the Mets drop down effective bunts, hit sac-flys, and literally play for one run every inning. There is no such thing as an extended rally while playing in San Diego.
The Mets continue their four-game set against the Padres tonight at 10 pm, with Oliver Perez taking on Cha Seung Baek.
The Game:
The Mets (30-29) continue their three-games series versus the Padres (25-37) tonight at Petco Park in San Diego, starting at 10:05 pm EST.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Damion Easley
- LF Fernando Tatis
- C Brian Schneider
- RF Endy Chavez
- P Johan Santana
According to John Delcos of the Journal News, Ryan Church is not in tonight’s lineup as Willie Randolph stated Church needs to ‘build up his stamina and leg endurance,’ and not due to side effect from his recent concussion.
The Pitchers:
LHP Johan Santana (7-3, 3.20 ERA) starts for the Mets. Santana was stellar in his last start on June 1 versus the Dodgers allowing one run on six hits over 7.2 IP while walking three and striking out six. The Mets are 8-1 in Santana’s last nine starts. He 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA in two career starts versus the Padres.
LHP Randy Wolf (3-4, 4.33 ERA) takes the hill for the Padres. In his last start on June 1 versus the Giants, Wolf earned a no-decision allowing one run on four hits and a walk while striking out five over 6.0 IP. Wolf is 9-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 25 career starts 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 |
Jose Valentin was hitless in four at bats for Triple-A New Orleans last night.
He had been hitting .320 in seven games during a rehab assignment for Single-A St. Lucie.
Last week, at the baseball blog for the New York Times, Charlie Nobles talked with Valentin, who has been frustrated watching the Mets from the sidelines and believes he can help the team reach their potential.
This weekend on SNY, Mets Weekly looks at the return of Pedro Martinez; the construction site of Citi Field; and Lynn 
Cohen’s t-shirts on GaryKeithAndRon.com.
Also, the third episode of Playing for Peanuts will air this Sunday at 6 pm on .
According to the show’s notes, “Back at the stadium, the Peanuts are visited by former MLB slugger Cecil Fielder and manager Wally Backman chews his team out after a sloppy performance.”
Phillies (36-26, First):
Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports SS Jimmy Rollins broke one of Manager Charlie Manuel‘s two team rules by not hustling out a routine fly ball that was eventually dropped. Rollins was benched by Manuel the following inning.
Over at Beeleaguer, Jason Weitzel provides his opinion on the Rollins’ benching.
…terrific job by manuel for benching rollins for not running hard…its sets a good tone for his team that even the reigning MVP can be punished for his actions…also a good job by rollins for taking full responsibility of his lack of hustle …
…on a side note, the Phillies are scaring me…winning the nl east last year has given them confidence, as such, they have finally learned the ability to win and be a front runner…and their ability to comeback from any deficit is quite impressive…
Marlins (32-27, 1 LB):
Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald recaps the Marlins loss to the Braves last night, as well as, their 3-7 road trip, which knocked the Marlins out of first place.
On the same note, at Fish Stripes Craig is thankful the Marlins road trip is over and blames the team’s defense for the Marlins woeful road trip.
Braves (32-29, 3 LB):
According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chipper Jones, who hit the 400th homerun of his career last night, plans on playing into his 40′s.
Jones, who is 36-years old, is a free-agent at the end of next season.
…i’ve said it before, but i think chipper has a good shot at being the first player in 67 years to hit .400 in a season…he misses enough games due to nagging injuries that he may hit .400 and still qualify with enough at-bats…
Martin Gandy of Talking Chop says the Braves returned to their ‘tried and true draft strategy’ by drafting high school pitchers from the south.
Nationals (25-36, 10 LB):
Tagged Mike Nichols, Nationals, Phillies |Over at Oleanders and Morning Glories, which does an excellent job keeping tabs on the Nationals, Harper Gordek recaps a few quotes from Nats GM Jim Bowden, which have a similar tone.
David Wright is the only player to play every single inning for his team this season.
Prior to last night’s game, Willie Randolph told reporters that he may give Wright a day off soon, saying:
“We’ve been talking about that, but he says he feels
great. We’ll try to find a spot here and there. If I really feel like he’s struggling, then I’ll give him a day off…If he’s swinging the bat good, you’ve got to be careful – you don’t want to throw him out of rhythm.”
…i’m guessing that this is why Abraham Nunez promoted from Triple-A New Orleans, to give the team an option at third other than wright…
However, regarding Nunez, Ted Berg writes the following in a pretty funny column for SNY.tv:
“Here’s the short list of players who were hitting better than Nunez in New Orleans: Everybody.”
Wright, as quoted by Newsday:
“Mentally, you just can’t think about it. You can’t think about needing a day off. That’s kind of accepting defeat mentally, giving in to being tired. It’s a grind, but I take a lot of pride in trying to go out there every day…It’s one thing if you’re rolling as a team, playing well and racking up the wins. But when the team is scuffling a little bit, I want to be in there. When we’re this inconsistent offensively, I feel responsible as an everyday guy to go in there and make something happen.”
…i mean, if wright needs a day off give him a day off…but, if he doesn’t, and he feels good and he’s hitting well, let him play…i don’t think this is very complicated…said Cal Ripken…
The following video of me and Ted Berg from SNY.tv discussing Ike Davis and Reese Havens, who the Mets selected in the first round of yesterday’s draft.
To watch the video, click play below:
By the way, in case people are interested, you can watch Ike Davis play for Arizona St. in the NCAA Super Regional this Sunday at 10 pm on ESPN 2.
…thanks to Len F for the information…
…added to by Ted Berg …
…here’s a transcription of the video, in case you can’t watch at work or wherever…
Matt: The Mets made three major picks in the first round. What was your impression of the strategy?
Ted: I think you have to like what they did. They didn’t get a chance to go above the slot and get a guy who fell, because most teams aren’t letting these guys fall anymore. With the positions that the Mets had — at least with the first two picks — you have to be happy.
Matt: Absolutely. The first guy they took, Ike Davis, sounds like he can play first or outfield. He is described as an athlete in the sense that he’ll be good at both positions. He has a pretty good bat, a left-handed bat. It would be nice to see him play first base; I suspect there will be a void there in the next year or so. But if he happens to be a corner outfielder that would be fine, too. I’m excited, if for no other reason than when he does get there, the crowd will be full of I Like Ike buttons and shirts, which I think is pretty cool.
Ted: You’re enjoying that on the blog. The second guy they picked, with the 22nd pick is a shortstop, Reese Havens, who is playing in
Matt: Which is good. At least he isn’t an opera singer or a golfer.
Ted: That’s true, but I think what he means by that is he is a polished player. I like that pick, and I have to credit Michael Salfino who writes a column for SNY.tv for calling this out. The Mets often take guys who are athletes and who project real well, like an Alex Escobar type, who is a physical specimen who may not have the baseball tools, while this kid Havens is a disciplined hitter a polished player that could play all over the infield. Peter Gammons suggested teams might put him at catcher, which is out of the box thinking that I would like to see the Mets try.
Matt: More than anything, I’m glad this guy was someone that a lot of teams liked. The Red Sox were looking heavily at him, which is a good sign. Teams were disappointed when he went to the Mets, which is always nice to hear. So far so good. They approached the draft, it seems, in a good way; they went for the best players available. They were looking for some bats that are going to be ready sooner rather than later and they seem to have gotten that. So hopefully we will all know how it turns out in a couple of years.
Ted: Well the jury is still out on this third guy, Holt, but we will see. Right now it seems he is a one-pitch pitcher, which depends on how you look at it. Mike Pelfrey is that, too, and if you see Mike Pelfrey as a good pickup, then maybe Holt is a good pickup. If you’re worried about Mike Pelfrey then maybe not so much.
I’m proud and excited to announce that Toby Hyde will now be writing SNY’s Mets Minor League Blog.
…a link to the blog will always appear in the SNY Blog Network badge, which appears in the upper-right corner of MetsBlog…
Toby has worked for several minor league teams, and has developed insightful contacts throughout the game.
He provides outstanding analysis, as well as daily recaps from each night’s action.
Today, Toby recaps last night’s action in New Orleans, Binghamton and St. Lucie, while also providing a great recap of yesterday’s draft including all of the day’s picks.
Regarding 2B-SS Reese Havens, who the Mets took with their second pick, Toby writes:
“Compare this scouting video taken during 2007, with the later video from 2008 to see his hand adjustment. In the 2007 video, he shows a much more standard, classic load and swing initiation. However, by the time he reached the Cape Cod League he’s moving his hands down in the batting cage. This is a great angle to watch his unusual hand path. Note the drop. Also note the good, hard consistent contact…I like this pick in some ways more than the Ike Davis pick in front of Havens, who I think becomes the most promising 2B prospect in the Mets system the day he signs.”
…see what i mean…excellent…welcome aboard, toby…
Tagged Minors |Padres RHP Josh Banks entered last night’s game having not allowed a run in his first 14 innings pitched this season.
The Mets were only able to score one run against him, in the sixth on a RBI single from David Wright.
…actually, the RBI should go equally to Jose Reyes, who scored the run…while on second, reyes did so much tap dancing off the bag, it clearly distracted banks…in fact, on the pitch to wright, which he hit to center, banks looked back at jose in the middle of his delivery, then hung the pitch to wright…nice work, jose…
…however, outside of that, the offense could not get it together…
Willie Randolph, on the team’s production, speaking to reporters after last night’s loss:
“We had a few opportunities…But, any time you play in this ball park you’re not gonna get a lot of runs, you have to manufacture runs, and tonight we didn’t do a good job of that.”
…it is a tough park…plus, banks is pretty damn good…as SNY’s Gary Cohen pointed out in last night’s broadcast, the idea that the Mets are unable to hit rookie pitchers is somewhat of a myth…in 11 games against rookie pitchers, i believe cohen said the pitchers had a 5.38 ERA against the Mets…
…in other words, give banks credit, who did a nice job of mixing up his pitches and keeping the Mets off balance all night long…the key is to come out tonight and work hard against Randy Wolf…
Moises Alou continued to tell reporters yesterday that he hopes to return from the disabled list on Tuesday.
…again, i’ll believe it when i see it…and even then, forgive me if i remain skeptical…
Meanwhile, in St. Lucie, Orlando Hernandez is throwing from a mound, but there is still no timetable for his return.
…next time it’s being offered, please sign me up for getting 
paid a million dollars to throw a baseball beneath a palm tree…jeez…get well, el duque…
Lastly, Angel Pagan, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, is able to throw a baseball and is making progress on batting from the right-side of the plate.
…the Mets could use pagan…if you haven’t noticed, Endy Chavez is hitless in his last 16 at bats…he is batting .189 in 44 games played this season, and hitting .182 as a pinch hitter…
Prior to his injury, Pagan, who played all three outfield positions, was hitting .275 with a .346 OBP in 31 games.
Tagged Moises Alou, Orlando Hernandez | ← Older posts
