Daily Archives: August 1, 2008
The Game:
The Mets (58-50) begin a three game series against the Astros (50-57) tonight at Minute Maid Park in Houston, starting at 8:05 pm.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- RF Endy Chavez
- 3B David Wright
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- CF Carlos Beltran
- LF Fernando Tatis
- 2B Damion Easley
- C Brian Schneider
- P Pedro Martinez
The Pitchers:
RHP Pedro Martinez (3-2, 6.25 ERA) starts for the Mets.
RHP Brandon Backe (6–10, 4.73 ERA) starts for the Astros.
The Bleachers:
For a live chat, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers.
…enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets…
Tagged Mike Nichols |
The most worrying thing about Mike Hampton’s pitching so far is his lack of control In his nine innings of work, he’s walked six and struck out just one. Those numbers usually drive healthy pitchers from the game.
Charlie Manuel believes the Nationals intentionally threw at Chase Utley when they hit him in the back Thursday night. Utley, however, leads the team with 14 HBP, more than the next three Phillies combined. Note that not one Phillies pitcher received a HBP this season. In the NL, should retatliation be against the pitcher who threw the ball in the first place?
The Nationals could not find takers for Paul Lo Duca and Felipe Lopez, so Jim Bowden released both. They’re giving all their young players a chance to perform for the rest of the season.
Mike Phillips notes the Marlins failed to plug the hole at catcher, despite talking to six teams. They did improve their rotation, however, as Anibal Sanchez made a successful debut after returning from shoulder surgery.
For more real-time information, news, links and stats from around MLB, check out Baseball Musings.
La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports, citing ‘several people with knowledge of the situation,’ the Twins are expected to release RHP Livan Hernandez and promote LHP Francisco Liriano.
Hernandez is 10-8 with a 5.48 ERA in 23 starts this season.
…with Omar Minaya and company remaining quiet as the trade deadline passed yesterday, wouldn’t it be icing the cake to see livan make his way to shea…ugh…
Tagged Mike Nichols |At his blog for the Washington Post, Chico Harlan reports the Nationals have release C Paul Lo Duca and 2B Felipe Lopez.
Lo Duca, who battled various injuries this season, was batting .230 with 0 HR and 12 RBI in 46 games this season.
…the buzz from Miami last week had been that the Marlins might look in to trading for lo duca during the Trade Deadline…
Tagged Mike Nichols, Nationals, Paul Lo Duca |
Mets 2B-3B Dan Murphy has been promoted to Triple-A New Orleans, according to Toby Hyde of MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com
Murphy is the second top prospect playing in Binghamton to get promoted, after Jon Niese was called up and made a sparkling debut this past week.
In his great, informative post, Toby writes that Murphy’s manager at Binghamton, Mako Oliveras, said he 
would not be surprised if Murphy played in the big leagues this year, which jives well with what Omar Minaya said yesterday, that he would not be afraid to call up his top prospects to the Majors this year.
…i met and watched Murphy play earlier this season, and let me tell you, the kid can hit… even more impressive was how much of a gamer and hard worker he is… mid-interview, when he could have used my microphone as an excuse to avoid running laps, he bailed out on me so he could do sprints around the base paths, then came and finished the interview… i suspect Mets fans will love that…
Readers,
This is an exciting day for MetsBlog, as well as a ground-breaking day in independent sports blogging, as I am proud to announce that GEICO has become the presenting sponsor of MetsBlog.com.
Thank you again for your encouragement over the last five years, and for your continued support as I work to keep growing and improving this site.
On a side note, I’m glad that the Trade Deadline is behind us, regardless of what did or didn’t happen, as we can all turn our attention to what is likely to be a wild-and-crazy pennant race.
By the way, there are only 54 games left in the 2008 season, so buckle up enjoy the ride and Lets Go Mets.
Justin Terranova of the New York Post recently conducted an interview with SNY’s Keith Hernandez.
Among the topics discussed include, if Jerry Manuel deserves credit for the Mets turnaround, what to expect from Pedro Martinez and if he is concerned about criticising players during the broadcast.
Tagged Mike Nichols |
