Daily Archives: June 12, 2008
The Arizona Diamondbacks (36-31) defeated the Mets (31-34) by a score of 5 to 4 at Shea Stadium this afternoon.
For a full recap, boxscore, stats, etc., go to SNY.tv.
Billy Wagner blew his third consecutive save opportunity — the first time he’s done that since 2000 — in wasting a tremendous effort by Johan Santana.
Wagner didn’t lose the game by himself, though. After Santana had shut out the D’Backs for seven innings, Joe Smith allowed a walk, a single, and a two-run triple to cut the Mets’ lead in half.
The Mets had a great chance to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, but the Diamondbacks made spectacular defensive plays on balls hit by David Wright and Damion Easley to deny a Mets win.
Those defensive plays continued the D’Backs momentum, as they quickly scored the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth off reliever and loser Aaron Heilman.
- What more can go wrong for the Mets? They finally get great efforts from starting pitchers, and the previously reliable bullpen gives them away. They hit the ball hard, and the opposition makes “web gem” defensive plays. It’s getting to a point where we as fans are waiting to see how the Mets will lose the game this time, rather than how they’ll pull out a win.
- Santana was spectacular, allowing only three hits and three walks in a 115-pitch effort. His only mistake was not pitching two more innings.
- Until the ninth, Ramon Castro was the second-best story of the game. Getting his first start since missing his wake-up call on Sunday in San Diego, Castro redeemed himself with a double and a solo homer, and he threw out a runner attempting to steal third.
- This might have been the most devastating loss of the season, and there’s not much else to say. We can however, look at Santana’s performance as a positive.
The Mets open a three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Friday night at 7:10 pm at Shea Stadium. Oliver Perez is scheduled to start for the Mets, with Scott Feldman going to the hill for Texas.
The Game:
The Mets (31-33) look to take the rubber game of their three-games series versus the Diamondbacks (35-31) today at Shea Stadium, starting at 1:10 pm EST.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- RF Endy Chavez
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- 2B Damion Easley
- C Ramon Castro
- LF Fernando Tatis
- P Johan Santana
The Pitchers:
LHP Johan Santana (7-4, 3.08 ERA) starts for the Mets.
RHP Dan Haren ( 6-4, 3.44 ERA) takes the hill for the Diamondbacks.
How To Catch It:
Today’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 |Moises Alou will not be with the team again today, as he said he is likely headed back to the disabled list.
…of course he is headed back…he took three swings before getting injured again…he fulfilled is quota…unreal…
…get well, mo, i guess…
Tagged Mike Nichols, Moises Alou |
In a post to Mets Minor League Blog, Toby Hyde recaps yesterday’s Mets minor-league action.
Among other comments, Hyde writes of strong performances by LHP Jon Niese, who allowed just one run in six innings while striking out seven and walking two in a loss for Double-A Binghamton.
According to Hyde, Niese has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five straight starts.
The 21–year-old Niese is 4–4 with a 3.18 ERA in 14 starts for Binghamton this season, but has allowed just four runs in his last 22 innings pitched while striking out 23 batters.
…well, i’m off to today’s game…and i’m pretty excited about it…
…admittedly, i was little confused after last night’s win…i wanted to be happy, and i was, but i also could not get the negative taste out of my mouth, which still remained long after Billy Wagner’s blown save…it was an odd moment…in the bottom of the ninth, with the winning run on second, the crowd and bench were silent, just so stunned, so lifeless, so defeated, and that image and feeling is tough to shake – despite Carlos Beltran’s home run…
…that said, today is a new day…it’s sunny, Johan Santana is on the hill facing Dan Haren, and i’m eager to get to the ball park and see this team get going…i’m really, really looking forward to the game – so maybe beltran’s home run had more of a positive impact on me then i initially thought…
…in other words, Lets Go Mets…
Tagged MetsBlog |
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Tom Seaver.
I was particularly interested in his remarks about playing with a foxhole mentality, which I wrote about last night on MetsBlog.
To watch my interview with Seaver, click play below, and to read a written transcript, scroll down.
Cerrone: There is a lot of stuff going on in the news about the Mets of late. They have been playing .500 baseball for about a year, and fans and media want to reinvent the wheel and solve all these problems. So, I’m curious, from your view as a player that has gone through a lot of these situations over the course of your career, how do some of solutions impact players. For instance if they were gonna bring in a new manager…
Seaver: Well everyone wants to win and the patience level in New York is probably lower than in any other place in baseball and a place where there is more than one newspaper and more than one tv outlet, etc., and all that stuff. So, you have a very passionate and energetic journalistic force beyond it – behind the scenes. If you do a knee jerk reaction every time someone throws a hand grenade, your gonna be all over the place. You have to have your gameplan, you have to stick with it…I’ve been on clubs where managers got fired and all that stuff. You have to do your job. You can’t come to work and worry that the managers gonna get fired. If he gets fired he gets fired, but I’ve still gotta pitch tomorrow night.
Cerrone: Well you mention knee jerk reactions; in that case if there is no move, no reaction, can that give the team confidence?
Seaver: It all depends on how they play. That’s the test of the players. Do you have foxhole people? Do you have people who you would get into a foxhole with and say, you got my back and I guarantee you I’m gonna watch your back. This is foxhole time, where you’re taking care of your teammate and taking care of your manager. You never hear people say Willie Randolph is a bad guy, bad manager. Why are we gonna change it? Because you’re not happy with what’s going on so you have to point a finger and its his fault or his fault – and what it really comes down to is that its the players fault.
Cerrone: So what if you have players that don’t have this foxhole mentality?
Seaver: You have to identify the problem before you get there?
Cerrone: So, if that’s the case, are there little things he can do?
Seaver: Well that’s a relationship the manager develops with anybody. You have different levels of those kinds of players. There are players that say, “I’ll see you at game 162,’ who don’t need anything. There’s some that need education, that need pointers and all the other stuff. You just have different types of players, that’s all it is.
Cerrone: Do you think that foxhole mentality no longer exists with free agency, there is so much camaraderie, and so on?
Seaver: I don’t know. The only way you know that is if you are in the clubhouse – and now you’ve come full circle, because that is what Willie and Omar have to define.
The following is my segment with Matt Yalloff from last night’s Pre Game Show on SNY – feedback is appreciated:
…admittedly, i didn’t really hear the final question, which i anticipated to be about the bench, not necessarily about a full-time player…so, i mentioned Chris Aguila…had i heard the question correctly, i would have said Xavier Nady, obviously…
Tagged MetsBlog |As the Daily News was first to report yesterday, Marlon Anderson followed up a player’s only meeting on Tuesday by handing out a paper to each player pointing out that they must win 62 games in the next 100 they play, while also pushing slogans such as, “We B 4 I,” and, “Team before Self.”
Anderson talked to reporters prior to yesterday’s game, and said:
“I came up with it in the car, driving to the game…I feel there’s a negative aura around the Mets right now. I don’t want to speak for the other guys, but I know that kind of thing has affected me in the past, so I just wanted to give the guys something concrete to look at on paper…The message was, ‘Don’t believe what you read in the papers, or what you hear on TV.’ The bottom line is it’s not over and we’re going to be okay.’”
In the 13th inning last night, and the team in desperate need of a hero, Carlos Beltran ripped a two-run, two-out, walk-off home run to give the Mets a 5–3 win against the D’Backs.
Beltran, talking to reporters after the game, said:
“We’re happy we were able to get back and win it…There are a lot of guys here that when we lose they do not sleep at night. How can you sleep when things are not going good. You go home, think about the game, think about how we can get better. There is a lot of people here who care about it…So, (Wednesday night) we’re gonna sleep good. Hopefully tomorrow we come here (Thursday) and win again.”
For more information on last night’s walk-off home run, be sure to go to Mets Walk-Offs, where you’ll learn, “The Mets last 13-inning walk-off win came in a game started by Brandon Webb, on May 31, 2006,” among other things.
In last night’s win against the D’Backs, Mike Pelfrey pitched eight scoreless innings, during which he allowed just five hits, walked two and 
struck out eight.
In the ninth, the first batter he faced reached base and eventually scored with Billy Wagner on the mound.
Pelfrey also got his first hit of the year, which drew a standing ovation, and a ton of laughter, from the bench.
…pelfrey looked like a pitcher last night, not a thrower…he was working fast and with a mission, he was locating both of his fastballs (the two seamer, and the four seamer), he was hitting the target, staying in the zone, using his slider, and, dare i say, it was sort of like he was channeling the opposing team’s pitcher, Brandon Webb, who is exactly who he should model himself after…
Pelfrey, talking to reporters after the game, said:
“You know, it was disappointing that I didn’t get the win, but that doesn’t really matter. I’m not really concerned with my W’s, I’m not gonna be a selfish guy. As long as the team wins, good. We did, and that’s the bottom line…In the eighth, I started to go out to hit and they told me I was done – and I was kind of mad at the time, because I wanted to stay in the game. [Willie Randolph] came up to me and said, ‘Do you want this.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I want it.’ He said, ‘Alright then, you’re on deck.’ Him letting me go back out for the ninth was a huge confidence boost. I thought that was huge.”
…by the way, from what i understand, Pedro Martinez had been spending time with pelfrey that last day or so, working with him on picking up his pace, and controlling the game more…so, hopefully this had something to do with last night’s success…
Randolph, speaking about Pelfrey after the game, said:
“He’s starting to show that he really belongs here…He’s a big, strong kid…This was the best I’ve seen him throw, but it shows that he’s continuing to grow.”
John Maine, regarding Pelfrey’s outing, as quoted by Newsday:
“He’s more excited about the hit, believe me.”
Pelfrey is 2–6 with a 4.24 ERA in 12 starts this season, during which the Mets are 4–8.
Tagged Mike Pelfrey | ← Older posts
