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The Mets (69–57) defeated the Braves (56–70) by the score of 7 to 3 tonight in Shea Stadium.
The Mets have won seven of their last eight games, and remain one loss better than the Phillies for first place in the NL East.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., go to SNY.tv.
The Mets opened the game by scoring two runs in the first inning, thanks in part to a well executed hit and run with Jose Reyes on first and Nick Evans at the plate.
However, the Mets did not get another hit until the eighth inning.
Oliver Perez hit a bump in the road during the third inning, letting up a walk and three singles on which three runs scored. Otherwise, he looked strong, despite not having his best stuff.
By the way, the Mets are 8–2 in Perez’s last 10 starts.
In the seventh inning, down one with a runner on first, and down 2–0 in the count, following a meeting at the mound, Luis Ayala rebounded to retire two hitters to end the inning.
Later, in the eighth, with one on, the Mets still down one, and with two outs, Aaron Heilman ended up walking a batter, despite having been up 1–2 in the count, but he too rebounded to get the inning’s final batter to pop up in foul ground to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, following two walks and infield dribbler from Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado ripped a two-run double off the wall in left, which kicked off a five-run rally that put the Mets up by four.
Why did Jerry Manuel has Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano throwing in the bullpen, with Scott Schoeneweis on the mound and the Mets up by four in the ninth. I don’t understand why he would even bother having a pitcher get up, stretch and throw, let alone two pitchers, considering the current state of the bullpen.
Speaking of which, and people think the Mets have bullpen issues. Ask a Braves fan to sing you a few bars of that song, assuming you can find a Braves fan.
The Mets continue their three-game series against the Braves tomorrow night in Shea, starting at 7 pm, with Mike Pelfrey (11-8, 3.91 ERA) taking on Jarr Jurrjens (11-8, 3.15 ERA).
What’s the name of the song they play on the organ at Shea for mound visits?? Not Green Onion, the other one!!
Sorry if I have posted this already but its’ driving me nuts!
I think they play it for pitching changes too!
On a related note (I know I posted this in the game thread too) but what are Jose Reyes’ first two at bat songs?
Thanks alot in advance.
earlier this year (i don’t know if he still uses it) one of them was ‘this is why i’m hot’
Ha, unfortunately the legendary MIMS track wasn’t what I was going for (god that song has not lasted the test of time.)
I’m wondering about the first reggeaton one that doesn’t address him by name. The second one that says his name in it would be a nice bonus!
I’ve heard someone mention here that it’s a song a friend of his recorded for him. It’s definitely a song about/for Jose Reyes and mentions him by name, but I’ve never made out much of the lyrics.
Okay so NO ONE knows the name of the song they play on the organ for the mound visits/pitching changes??
what is the song they play when santana warms up in the begining of the game and bats?
Smooth by Santana. Carlos Santana.
Get it? Cause they’re both named Santana!
…but seriously, its a very good song.
Just doesn’t get any better than this.
Great comeback.
Kudos to Ollie and the BP.
great game….man i love it when they beat up the braves…i also love love love watching other teams bullpens implode
The Brave’s bullpen delivered a familiar performance. Sure is nice to be on the right side of that.
Good to see a strong performance by the Mets, keep the train rolling!
Yeah, that was seriously the best part. When the Braves gave up the lead in the 8th with their bullpen, everyone in the stands was celebrating with a “so glad it’s them and not us” look on their faces.
Yeah, Braves pen is by far the worst in the league. But hell, these are the teams we are supposed to beat and have not been until lately.
Very important comeback win, get a nice streak going at home. Good to see Delgado get a big hit late in the game…maybe that will get him out of his funk.
I really wish we could all drop this “teams we’re supposed to beat” thing.
I’m sorry to be singling out your post, because you’re not saying anything I disagree with, but even when we just mean “this is the easier part of the schedule and we can’t lose ground now”, the phrase just smacks of Yankee entitlement, you know? Even great teams only beat terrible teams two times out of every three, and the Braves aren’t even a bad team, just a kind of underachieving one. The expression makes it sound like we think teams like Atlanta and Pittsburgh are beneath us, that failing to sweep them is a disgrace.
Well you just kind of said it yourself. You acknowledge that the bravos are an underachieving team. Therefore wouldnt it be a disgrace to be beat by an underachieving team? We are a better team than they are right now in terms of talent and accomplishments, we should be beating teams like washington/pirates/braves.
I think Manuel had Smith and Feliciano warming up in the 9th BECAUSE of the current state of the bullpen. These guys can blow up at any moment.
True, but part of that is rest, and even if they don’t get into the game, getting up and throwing is tiring. Gotta try to limit that kind of thing. If you really need, wait until the situation is getting more dire and then you can always employ mound visits and throws over to buy time.
I agree that it can tire the guys out and I was confused when I saw them in the bullpen but honestly they showed Smith and Feliciano about 4 times in the inning and neither one threw a pitch that I saw. So perhaps they were just standing up prepared to feverishly warm up if Show got into trouble.
Guys, Matt was being sarcastic. Cmon…
I don’t think he was being sarcastic at all. It looks like he was saying that, given the current sorry state of the Mets’ bullpen, why would he risk further tiring Smith and Feliciano by having them warm up with a 4-run lead.
And, I must say, I disagree with that. Well, maybe it was unnecessary to have *two* people warming up, but since these relievers keep blowing leads–including 4-run leads–Manuel cannot be too careful. Recently, seemingly secure leads have disappeared–or at least shrunk–in the blink of an eye. Without warning, we learn that a particular reliever doesn’t have it on a particular night, and then the game is too close for comfort–or worse, the Mets are tied or behind. It’s unfortunate, because you *would* like to get your relievers as much rest as possible, but the bullpen has been far too unreliable to have that luxury now.
Matt – Delgado’s two-run double was hit to left field.
Obviously a wise move by Jerry. Closing out games will be a group effort. If for any reason Scotty got into trouble (lets say Larry hits a 2 or 3 run hr) we would have an able arm ready.
At this point we are all scoreboard watching and cannot afford
to lose a game in which we just took the lead because of another failed attempt by our pen
Good Move Jerry
Good Inning Scotty
Good Game Mets
Mets still in first, and Yanks just a game out! Of 4th that is.
d wright cracked the met top 10 alltime in SF. Tied with Stearns.
I think the fact that he is climbing the club’s offensive record books speaks more of the team’s historic futility with the bats then the skill of David Wright….Of course he is pretty good himself.
That is a sad, but very good point.
Yup. With the news with Billy though, I want to see if they can pull off a trade for Weathers. I’m happy with this win. A lose would have been bad for this club because it could have started a losing streak.
Didn’t someone block Weathers on waivers so he can’t be traded?
I don’t know if Weathers, specifically, was blocked, but you have to presume that the Phils and/or Marlins will block any potential reliever that the Mets could acquire. It’s the one downside to being in first place–the teams chasing them get a crack at all the players first, and can block the Mets from getting *anybody*.
“However, the Mets did not get another hit until the eighth inning.”
Uh, Matt, the Mets got a hit in the 5th inning.
Correct, they had one hit between the 1st and eight innings.
Could have fooled me :)
It can’t get any better with the Yankees losing. If they someone win that division 11 out with 30 something to go, I’ll be convinced the umpire’s are pulling a Donaghy.
It could be better with a Phillies loss. Who cares about the Yanks…
Actually it could. I’d much rather see the Phils lose. I couldn’t care less about the Yankees at this point.
i win =)
Yeah, can’t wait to see Yankee fans personally dismantle Yankee stadium themselves, they don’t need a construction crew to take it down. lol
Matt, with the way the bullpen has been how can you blame Jerry for making sure he’s prepared in case of a sudden bullpen blowup? Its only a 4 run lead, you put a couple on and you are staring at the tying run soon.
R.I.P. Leroi Moore.
SARCASM!
Again, that didn’t appear to be sarcasm at all. Matt acknowledged a reason for Manuel’s concern, but said he was more concerned with wearing out the relievers by warming them up with a 4-run lead in the 9th.
Well, that’s just a matter of New York competition. The way the central is, it’d seem impossible that the playoff’s would be big enough for the Mets and Phillies to get in. You’re right though. A Phillies loss would have been big. Who ever doesn’t take advantage of playing Washington isn’t even worthy of any attention in my mind. I think the Nats can pick up maybe one out of these next two though. At one point or another, Lidge will begin to crunch under pressure. Billy’s ability to handle it was better in Houston than Lidge’s, but it’ll eventually catch up to him in Philly like the fans got on Wagner there. Wouldn’t shock me if Lidge ends up a Met one day or if Russell Martin does the way how the Mets get good Dodger catchers.
Eventually, the Nats have to win again, so we do have the law of probability on our side. Still, it’s no guarantee that the next win will come in this series against Philly. Hopefully it will, though.
Ryan Church played 7 innings tonight, 1 for 3 with an RBI double.
Closer and closer…..
Awesome, can’t wait to seem Church back. :)
As great as it is to see Churchy doing better, I can’t really get too excited until he comes back and stays for a long time.
If the Mets get in, who would you guys rather take on: St. Louis or Milwaukee? I’d rather see the Brewers, but just wanted to see what all of you are thinking.
Wel, I would have said the Cards, if it wasn’t for my memory of ‘06…..
You want Sabathia+Sheets in a five game series?
I’ll take my chances with the Cards.
Exactly. But then there was ‘06. Swept the Dodgers, should have taken the Cards who won what? 83 games that year? Just goes to prove you can’t ever play baseball on paper.
I just hope we get there so we can continue this speculation for real end of Sept……
Does the Brew Crew got playoff experience? No. The playoff’s has it’s way of producing weird results. Don’t ask me how. Look at what the Cards did in 06′ to us. Who the hell thought they could beat us? Probably not even them. You’re right though. If the Brewers can get hot enough, we may even get a shot with the Cubs. The good news for the Mets is if they can make it through the first round if they get into the playoff’s, the second round can’t be any harder. All of those NL Central teams are just as good as each other, maybe except for St. Louis which is probably why they won’t end up in the playoffs. Cross our fingers we can beat one of them and get the Dodgers. We took care of them in 06′. Right now though, winning the division seems like it’d be bigger than anything else. Closure to bringing back Jerry. And giving it to the Phillies with Beltran’s prediction.
I’ll agree with simon on this one. especially if sabathia is 15-0 when october start (which the BBTN crew was drooling over last night).
I’ll take whomever we have the opportunity to play should we be fortunate enough to remain in first.
At this current juncture the Mets have a distinct advantage in that there only real opportunity to make the playoffs is to win the division which gives them 3 games at home in the short series format.
I bet Church won’t be back until September 1st. Same thing with Castillo. They might actually have to do something with Luis coming to a limit on his rehab. I got a feeling they’ll try using the personal situation thing again if it they need to wait. They might actually need him back. It’s either hold three catcher’s or hold three 2B’s. Omar’s too stubborn to give up on Cancel for necessary players, so Luis won’t be coming back.
The Tigers can’t honestly believe they still have a shot. Kyle Farnsworth will probably make it through waivers because of his salary. Maybe the Mets can pull him off. The Tigers won’t have to feel bad about getting nothing for Pudge. I don’t think it’d take a lot to get him though.
Matt ,you did not give Ayala enough credit. He entered the game with runners on first and 3rd with 1 out and gave up zero. You said there was just a runner on first.
What would the Mets give up for Farnsworth?
they would give up the playoffs
Stay away, Kyle.
I think we should get him just so he can throw at the Phillies players. I’d love to see Rollins or Utley try to fight Farnsworth. He might kill them. Dude is a pyschopath.
I know you’re kidding…but I think Ayala can play the “psycho guy” role in the pen. He even throws at guys named Omar.
Not a lot. The Reds, Tigers and Rockies are done. With only one month less, you’ll get less in a trade. I like Brian Fuentes and David Weathers more than Farnsworth though. Naturally being subjected to watching Yankees games on the news even as a non-Yankee fan, you may tend to grow resentment to Farnsworth. He did well this year though. When the Yankees started actually needing him is the same time they traded him. Majeski, Brocail and Both of these guy’s are free agents at the end of the year. The Reds and Tigers are out. Farnsworth’s paid a lot of money because the Yankees were dumb enough to give it to him. If the Mets were willing to pay it for the last month of the year, the Tigers might be happy. They kind of semi-gave up when they trade Pudge for him. I think that was a more economical move though. Plus they probably wanted to see more of what Inge has behind the plate.
Actually, a better option can be Luis Vizciano or Alan Embree. From what I’ve read, Embree has cleared waivers. He’s paid 3 million this year. Both of these guy’s have experience. The Rockies will probably just be happy to not have to pay his 3.5 million salary next year. They may even some of it. The guy’s proven he has a rubber arm. He got hurt this year, but he threw in over 70 in the last two year’s before this year. He threw over 75 innings last year. He’s played for good clubs and in New York before. A lower level prospect or player to be named later could probably do it at this point of the year.
Even though Farnsworth isn’t much to speak about, there is no way the Phillies would let him get through waivers, so that the Mets could trade for him.
I love the fact that the Mets are winning, but the fact that the Yankees are losing puts me in the best possible mood. It doesn’t get any better than a Mets win and a Yankees loss in the same day.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.. I know we are rivals with the Phillies.. but it means more to me to see the Yankees lose than it does to see the Phillies lose.. I hate both teams, but I will never hate anything or anyone as much as I hate the New York Yankees
the Yankees are closer/better than the Phillies. We might not care about the Phillies after September for another 10 years.
So, you’d rather see the Philles gain on us, or even overtake us as long as the Yankees lose?
good come back game. finally some nice timely hitting.
Liked Nick Evans being in the middle of rallies. Future looks bright.
And who would have signed up in April for LosD having a 26HR, 80RBI season?
Nick Evans 47 AB’s vs LH pitching obp 412 slg 511 avg 362
Since being recalled in July he is hitting 320
If Nick Evans keeps hitting like this, he could have a bright future. That play he made on the double play from Argenis on the ground with that scoop impressed me. The only way Carlos would have got it with his vacuum cleaning first base mit is if you gave him one of those beach chair’s you see random old ladies sitting on sidewalks in. He’s okay in the OF, but better at 1B. Eventually when Delgado’s not there anymore, there may be an opening for him. Murphy’s a possibility there though. Or a mix of the two is. I think Murphy could become the 2B of this team when they finally give up on Castillo. I see him as a future role player on this team. It’s smart that they’re working within. They realized there mistakes with giving up youth in the past. They realized it should only come at the cost of player’s that really are remarkable like Johan. Or for guy’s of equivalence like Ryan Church. Lastings would have never lasted here. He’ll probably turn out decent in Washington though.
How do you guy’s rate the Milledge trade so far even considering the awkward circumstances of Ryan Church’s health? Lastings is finally coming around for Washington.
If the Mets had signed Torrealba, he’s hitting .250 with 5 HR and 29 RBI. Almost identical to Schneider. He was actually going to be given 3 yr/14 MM by the Mets until a thought in Omar’s mind came, hey I’m getting ripped of here. Too bad he didn’t think the same with Luis. No one would have been dumb enough to give Yorvit 3 years. The Rockies got him 2 yr/7.5 MM. We got Schneider on 2 yr/9.8 MM. The Nats probably would have given him for a low level prospect even if they never swapped Milledge and Church.
The main issue with Heilman’s walk was not that he lost the batter after being ahead in the count, but rather that the opposing batter was a RELIEF PITCHER.
Yes, this bothers me too. Heilman didn’t throw that bad tonight, but if you give a guy that many chances to throw of course he’ll have some good days. Aaron’s thrown a lot this year. He’s got to be as physically burnt out as he should be mentally. I’d be more comfortable seeing him thrown more in the situations we’ve seen Carlos Muniz previously in. He has the ability to throw multiple innings if they actually let him. He was a starter. I’d only use him when up or down enough to not actually have to depend on him. Going into next year maybe things will change. If we got a win now mentality though, it’s hard for us to be happy seeing them roll the dice on him every nice.
I think Pedro Martinez would do well in the bullpen. Unfortunately though, the Mets need him in the rotation right now because he’s been throwing good. He could be pitching in relief in September as an experiment to see if he could handle it in the playoffs. I think El Duque would have done well there. Oh well.
night*
Matt you of all people should know that 4 runs isnt a large enough lead..
No lead is safe
ugh.. Matt was being sarcastic..
Stop saying that.
You may be right, but it sure doesn’t read that way.
Agreed. I just wonder why you don’t do that when Wagner or any closer is out there. When they get into trouble, they gotta be yanked!
Most closers, including Wagner, should make you feel secure enough with the lead. And, in all likelihood, they are your best reliever, so why would you take them out for a lesser pitcher in a tight spot?
I actually want the Yanks to win… make to the World Series and get swept by the Mets.. How sweet would that be? :-D
That would be great. It seems like they’d be at an immediate disadvantage not having home field advantage because of our wonderful injured closer though. I don’t like the Yankees. Just thinking about them is sickening. If they made it to the WS, there annoying bandwagoning fans from here to Oregon would be back on their pedestal. Let’s not be greedy though. If the Mets are lucky or talented enough to even get to the world series even if they did lose to who ever it was, I’d be more than happy. History has it’s way of repeating itself unless you do something to change or get lucky. It seemed like that with the Braves for years. I don’t want the Yankees or Cardinals to ever there shot with us.
People are intimidated by the idea of going up against Milwaukee. Look at what we did to the Diamondbacks in 1999. They had Randy Johnson who was as great as any pitcher was going to be back than. He may have been the scariest pitcher in baseball. Remember that dodge ball commercial? We beat them though. I think it’s because of the momentum the Mets had after winning that extra regular season game Leiter pitched against the Reds. That and Arizona having no playoff experience.
Look at the Rockies. Philadelphia was a good team. There line up was hitting the crap out of everything last year. If Utley would have stayed healthy it wouldn’t have shocked me if he won a co-MVP with Rollins. The playoff’s is all about who’s hot. The Mets have to be hot before getting into the playoffs. They need to stay hot through September.
The way i see it we can beat any team on any given night. Tough pitchers no doubt but it can be done.Our starters arnt so bad either. I just worry if wagner is gone we are going to need to pick up a guy for the ninth inning. Having a different person close games every night aint gonna work.
Plus we have to worry about making it first!! this is gonna be a close one boys and girls.
I’d like to thank Bobby Cox for last nights win. A terrible team, a terrible bullpen. Has not held onto win a 1 run game on the road in 26 games and does he send Kelly Johnson up against Aaron Heilman, whom Johnson has naming rights to Aaron’s first born…
NOPE Bobby Super Genius Cox sends up the pitcher. Of course, Heilman walks said pitcher, never the less Cox avoids using a hitter who has flat out hammered Heilman, leaves the reliever in and the rest is a Mets win.
Thanks Bobby.
actually, johnson is 1-7 against heilman in his career. but the one was a 3-R bomb that really upset the mets day last year.
Apparently Eric Gagne has cleared waivers. Would Milwaukee be willing to move him and if so do you think he could help? I know he has kind of sucked since he left Texas but he was once one of the best in the game and sometimes that cliche “change of scenery” makes all the difference. Before I get attacked I agree he will not save like 80 straight games again but worth a shot? Why not? Everyone thought Brad Lidge had lost it right?
After how he sucked it up for Boston last year, I have to wonder if he can take the pressure of the NY market at this point. LA is a big market, but not ferocious like the NY press. Plus, he was a much better pitcher in LA, of course.
Anyone know if we get to face CC anytime soon? I’d like to test his abilities since he’s only really gone after .500/sub-.500 teams with bad offense. Sure his numbers are pretty but I’ll like to see him try the Mets or the Phils.
I believe the Mets play the Brewers in early September. We’ll have to wait and see if CC pitches then.
So did anybody else hear an edit (dump) when Ronnie was complaining about the appealed check swing on Jose Reyes that was called a strike? They were looking at the replay and Ronnie said, “That’s a _ call.” Did he curse or did my audio just cut out?
Matt, I stated earlier a few times that I thought you were being sarcastic in being perplexed on why Jerry would “get up, stretch and throw considering the current state of the bullpen.” Now Im perplexed on a statement like that. These men are professional, million dollar baseball players. Are you telling me that they are as fragile as a new born baby that they can not GET UP…STRETCH…AND THROW? Thats what they do. Especially given the way the bullpen has thrown up leads, Jerry better be by that bullpen phone at the first slightest hiccup. But that just IMO.. Now, if you were being sarcastic…very funny.
Off topic of the actual game, BUT, I am very upset with who ever controls the music during the game! It is traditional that during the 7th inning stretch that Shea plays Lazy Mary, but last night they played a song presumably from the Carribien because it was Carribien night! Even so they should have played Lazy Mary! The only song that could play instead of lazy mary is the Curly Shuffle which they played last night during one of many pitching changes!