Daily Archives: June 24, 2008
Last night, in a loss to the Mariners, Johan Santana gave up five runs, seven hits and two walks in seven innings.
In the second, Felix Hernandez and 
his eight career at bats, shut his eyes, swung, and hit a grand slam off of Santana.
Santana, on the grand slam, said the following while talking to reporters after last night’s game:
“In that situation there, we knew we had a pitcher hitting, and we tried to throw him a fastball up in the strike zone…and he put a good swing. The pitch was out of the strike zone, it was up where it was supposed to be, but all of sudden the ball left the park. There’s nothing you can do about it. We had a good idea of what to do, but it seems to me when he swung he even closed his eyes and the ball just left the park.”
The Mets are 0–4 in Santana’s last four starts, during which he has a 2.07 ERA.
Santana’s 2.93 ERA is fifth best in the National League.
Prior to Hernandez’s home run, David Wright bobbled a routine ground ball that could have ended the inning.
Santana, on executing, while talking to reporters:
“We had a pretty good chance, and it didn’t happen in the at bat before that one…They were putting the ball in play, and we didn’t execute it the way we were supposed to be. We didn’t make routine plays that make you win games.”
…in other words, i’m not naming names, but if some one had caught the ball, say, third base, No. 5, hernandez never would had a chance to hit the home run…
…of course, santana – one of the best pitchers in baseball – could just get out hernandez – a guy who never hits, eyes wide open or not – instead of actually letting up the homer in that spot…
In the second inning last night, with two runners on and two 
outs, David Wright bobbled a routine ground ball that would have ended inning, but, instead, allowed it to continue.
Felix Hernandez – the young pitcher, who later left the game with an injury – then hit a grand slam off of Johan Santana.
Wright, on the error, talking to reporters after the game:
“Obviously, it’s a play I should make. I played back, I thought the ball was hit a little harder than it was, I waited back and tried to transfer a little too quickly, bobble it…That’s a play that should be made so we could be out of the inning.”
Wright is on pace to committ roughly 20 errors this season.
He made 19 errors in 2006, and 21 errors last season, during which he also won a Gold Glove.
Following the game, Jerry Manuel told reporters that Wright will not play on Tuesday because he looks tired, adding:
“Tonight, I thought David appeared fatigued. So for me, and I told him, tomorrow he won’t play. I mentioned earlier that I hate to rest the regular players at home, I prefer they play in front of our fans. But, I just think that’s a necessary move tomorrow to freshen him up.”
As of now, Wright is the only player in the league to have played every inning of every game for his team.
Wright, on being told he will not play tomorrow, while speaking to reporters after the game:
“We’ve had some days off, with rain outs…but, Jerry is a great baseball mind if he thinks I need a day off, I’ll rest up a bit and hope to come back Thursday.”
Wright is batting .241 in 83 at bats during the month of June.
At Hot Foot, Robby O’Daniel squashes the myth that Wayne Krivsky ‘single-handedly reshaped the Reds farm system,’ before being fired by Cincinnati.
Krivsky was recently hired as a special assistant to Omar Minaya.
In a post to his blog for the New York Post, Joel Sherman barks at Omar Minaya, telling him, ‘The only time that really matters is New York time,’ and so, according to Sherman, Omar Minaya did in fact fire Willie Randolph at 3 am, not 11 pm, despite the time on the clock in the room with Minaya and Randolph on the West Coast.
At Mets Fever, Ed Ryan wonders, ‘How much longer do we have to put up with Carlos Delgado,’ while also admitting he is disappointed in Johan Santana.
In a post to Brooklyn Met Fan, detailing last night’s games, among other things, Adam writes:
Gotta hand it to Manuel for keeping his sense of humor after the loss. When asked about Felix Hernandez’s sac bunt he said, “I couldn’t believe that. I’ll have to talk to Riggleman about that…Why is this guy bunting? He just hit a home run.” Someone better tell Bart Hubbuch he’s not allowed to write, “Jerry Manuel Conspires With Opposing Manager”
Lastly, at Mets Geek, Jeff Mathews lists 10 Reasons Why it’s Still Good to be a Mets fan, such as, “The Mets Still Have a 40% Chance Of Making the Playoffs.”
To watch SNY.tv’s exclusive Post Game Extra, hosted by Gary, Keith and Ron, including highlights and quotes from last night’s loss to the Mariners, click here:
