Daily Archives: September 7, 2008
The Mets (80–63) defeated the Phillies (78–65) by the score of 6 to 3 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., from tonight’s game, go to SNY.
Johan Santana was acquired to win a game like tonight, and he did not disappoint – on Johan Santana Bobble Head Night no less – letting up just two runs and five hits while striking out six. He struggled with his command initially, but quickly regrouped and dominated.
Santana was pretty pumped up tonight, too, pumping his fists, pointing at teammates after nice defensive plays, striking guys out, and looking totally in control on the mound.
ESPN’s Peter Gammons spent a two minutes during the broadcast praising the resurgence of Carlos Delgado, who then immediately crushed a home run to deep right-center field. He could not have timed it any better.
He hit a second home run later in the game, clobbering a change-up that he pulled out of the building, which was greeted with a curtain call, which he accepted.
Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes pitched perfectly in the eighth in relief of Santana, while Luis Ayala closed up the game in the ninth – despite some base runners and a leaping catch from Endy Chavez, all of which had me holding my breath.
Big win, though. I mean, the headline writers in New York were probably drooling over the idea of a three-game sweep by the Phillies, which would have unleashed a slew of Collapse 2.0 headlines, all of which must now be shelved.
The Mets are off on Monday.
They begin a two-game series against the Nationals on Tuesday starting at 7:10 pm, with Oliver Perez (10-7, 3.86 ERA) taking on John Lannan (8-13, 3.88 ERA).
As was first reported by the New York Post, 
Billy Wagner tried to pitch a simulated game this afternoon at Shea Stadium, following the team’s loss to the Phillies, but could only make it through one batter before being shut down.
Though Mets GM Omar Minaya would not categorize it as a ‘setback,’ he told reporters that Wagner will visit a doctor tomorrow to determine how best to proceed.
For more, check out the Bergen Record and the Journal News, as well as Newsday, where David Lennon provides a quote or two from Wagner.
By the way, speaking of Wagner, check out his recent interview with the Daily News, during which he talks about Mike Schmidt’s e-mail to the Phillies, Tropical Storm Hanna, the Collapse and 2008, and the difference between Jerry Manuel and Willie Randolph, among other things.
…Update…10:08 pm…
According to ESPN’s Jon Miller, during tonight’s broadcast, Wagner was in tears after being unable to finish his simulated game.
The Game:
The first place Mets (79-63) conclude their three-game series versus the second place Phillies (78-64) with the night cap of a day-night doubleheader today at Shea Stadium, starting at 8:05 pm.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- RF Ryan Church
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- LF Fernando Tatis
- 2B Damion Easley
- C Brian Schneider
- P Johan Santana
The Pitchers:
LHP Johan Santana (12-7, 2.71 ERA) starts for the Mets. Santana earned a no-decision in his last start versus the Phillies on August 27, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out six over 6.0 IP. He is 1-0 with a 2.94 ERA in five career starts versus the Phillies.
LHP Cole Hamels (12-7, 3.80 ERA) starts for the Phillies. In five career starts versus the Mets, Hamels is 1-2 with a 3.27 ERA. Hamels is limiting right-handed batters to a .215 batting average. He is 6-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 14 road starts this season.
How To Catch It:
Tonight’s game can be seen nationally on ESPN and heard on WFAN.
The Bleachers:
For a live chat, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers.
…to say this game is the biggest game of the year for the Mets would be an understatement…the offense looked to be on it’s heels in the last two games…they need to come out and be patiently aggressive against hamels, by working the count, and waiting for their pitch to hit…
…this is also santana’s most important start of the season…he needs to set the tone from the first inning and get ahead early in counts and not let the Phillies offense dictate the flow…
…with a win the pressure for the remaining 19 games will continue to be on the Phillies, but with a loss, the media and fan base will force the Mets to deal with the linger doubts on their ability to put last september behind them…
…enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets…
The Mets (79-63) lost to the Phillies (78-64) today by the score of 6 to 2 in Shea Stadium.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., go to SNY.tv.
As Gary Cohen said during today’s broadcast, you can tip your cap to Brett Myers‘s performance during Friday night’s game, but today there can be no excuse for the Mets offense. The Mets have faced Moyer six times this season and he has not pitch any differently in each of those six outings, yet they managed only two hits again the veteran lefty.
The Mets offense mounted a mini rally in the eighth, but managed only two runs against Scott Eyre.
Pedro Martinez was erratic in his four innings of work. After a clean first inning, Martinez struggled in the second as he allowed two runs on hits. Martinez followed with a perfect third inning, but the wheels came off in the fourth. Greg Dobbs crushed a three-run home run to right-center field, then with two outs Carlos Ruiz doubled to right and scored on Jimmy Rollins‘s double to right that was misplayed by the non-communicating Jose Reyes and Nick Evans.
And now the Mets have put themselves in a very difficult situation going into tonight’s matchup against Phillies ace Cole Hamels. The Mets need a win in order to hold onto sole possession of first place with a two-game lead. If they do not, they will be tied with the Phillies for first place in the National League East with 19 games to play and the haunting memories of last September coming to the forefront.
The Mets complete the night cap of the doubleheader against the Phillies tonight, with Johan Santana facing Cole Hamels, starting at 8:05 pm.
Tagged Mike Nichols |
Gary Cohen and Ron Darling will be answering extra Ask the Booth questions during today’s game.
If you’ve got something you’d like to know — especially about today’s game — you can email them through SNY’s Ask the Booth page.
Tagged SNY |The Game:
The first place Mets (79-62) continue their three-game series versus the second place Phillies (77-64) with a day-night doubleheader today at Shea Stadium, with game one starting at 2:15 pm.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- LF Nick Evans
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- RF Fernando Tatis
- 2B Damion Easley
- C Robinson Cancel
- P Pedro Martinez
The Pitchers:
RHP Pedro Martinez (5-3, 5.07 ERA) starts for the Mets. Martinez is 8-5 with a 3.50 ERA in 24 career games, 20 starts, versus the Phillies. In his last start versus the Phillies, Martinez earned a no-decision, allowing five runs on seven hits, while striking out eight. He is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA in six home starts this season.
LHP Jamie Moyer (12-7, 3.80 ERA) starts for the Phillies. Moyer earned a no-decision in his last start versus the Mets on August 26, allowing six runs on nine hits and two walks over 3.0 IP. In five starts versus the Mets in 2008, Moyer is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA. Moyer is 8-3 with a 2.83 in 14 road starts this season.
The Notes:
The Mets are 0-1-3 in four doubleheaders this season.
Jose Reyes needs one stolen base to become the Mets all-time leader. He is currently tied with Mookie Wilson with 281 stolen bases.
Carlos Delgado is batting .397 with 8 HR and 17 RBI in 78 career at-bats versus Moyer.
The Phillies lead Major League Baseball with 34 outfield assists this season.
Jimmy Rollins is 12-for-33 (.364) with 2 HR and 5 RBI in his career versus Martinez.
How To Catch It:
Game one can be seen locally on SNY and heard 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 |Game 1 on SNY today will be presented by SNY.tv.
I am still not 100 percent sure what that means, other then 
a) I will be on-air during the middle of the sixth inning, and b) there will be a variety of interactive features between SNY’s website, MetsBlog and the booth.
My suggestion is to tune in at the start of the game and see what they have to say.
As for me, during the sixth, I will be revealing the results of an SNY poll, and airing a comment from our post-game thread, which will hopefully be indicative of how most fans are feeling about the game at that time.
By the way, speaking of SNY, if you didn’t see it on Mets Weekly, click here, and be sure to watch Ted Berg’s segment, during which he returns to his roots selling peanuts at Shea Stadium – it is one of the funniest items to appear on SNY all year.
Tagged SNY |
Billy Wagner had been scheduled to throw a simulated game to live hitters today from the mound in Shea Stadium.
However, Jerry Manuel recently told reporters that Wagner will instead throw another bullpen session this afternoon, while waiting to be cleared by a team doctor before pitching a simulated game later in the week.
Following his bullpen session on Friday, Wagner told reporters that he feels good, and that he hopes to return from the disabled list on Tuesday – though the team may choose to take advantage of the extra off day next week, and bring him back on Friday.
Also, John Maine told reporters that he is still at least one week away from ‘picking up a baseball.’
Jo-Jo Reyes, starting for Atlanta today, is 0-6 with a 7.75 ERA over his last nine appearances. He’s walked more than he’s struck out and blames too much advice from Tom Glavine as part of his problem.
The oft-injured Elijah Dukes hit two home runs against the Braves on Saturday. He has only played 17 games since the start of July, but hit six home runs in 63 at bats and 13 of his 22 hits went for extra bases.
Part of the Marlins decline can be blamed on Scott Olsen, who is 0-6, during which the Marlins lost all nine of his starts since July 24th. If Florida splits those nine games they’re right in the hunt for the division title.
For more real-time information, news, links and stats from around MLB, check out Baseball Musings.
Pedro Martinez will pitch Game 1 today against Jaime Moyer, starting at 2:15 pm, while Johan Santana will pitch against Cole Hamels in Game 2, starting at 8 pm.
In Game 1, Jerry Manuel will go with his right-handed lineup, with Nick Evans batting second and playing left field, Fernando Tatis starting in right and batting sixth, Damion Easley at second and batting seventh, and Robinson Cancel batting eighth and starting at catcher.
The left-handed Hamels will start 
Game 2, so I suspect Ryan Church will be in for Tatis, Brian Schneider will be in for Cancel, and Daniel Murphy will be in Evans.
I hope Manuel sticks with Easley, instead of starting Castillo – if for no other reason than Easley is hitting .280 against lefties, while Castillo is batting .227.
By the way, since returning from the disabled list, Castillo is batting .208 with a .269 OBP in seven games.
