The Mets defeated the Nationals by the score of 10 to 8 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., go to SNY.
Here’s the short of it, the Mets had the lead, the Nationals tied it, the Mets took back the lead, the Nationals tied it, then the Nationals took a lead, and added on, but Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado hit back-to-back home runs in th sixth, after which the bullpen did it’s job and that was that.
The thing I am left thinking about is Delgado. It’s not like he’s just hitting home runs. This guy is teeing off on the ball like it’s slow-pitch softball. His first home run tonight hit the far-left corner of the scoreboard, just off of center field, which is a bomb. His second home run hit the AZEK board in back of the team’s bullpen. It’s crazy. Honestly, I am afraid to let myself be excited about it, for fear that it may soon end. Because, I do not recall ever watching this sort of hot streak before, most all of which occur in such big spots, for such a long time, with such towering power. It’s bordering on hard-to-believe, at this point – and I hope it continues for at least another month…or so.
Also worth noting, I think it’s important that Luis Ayala was able to lock down an easy save on the first game back after the reality of Billy Wagner’s exit; also David Wright had a ‘clutch’ RBI single; and, lastly, for better or worse, Luis Aguayo may be the most aggressive, in-the-moment third base coach I have seen in a long while – seriously, try decaf, Luis.
In the end, unlike so many games from one year ago, the Mets fought back on four occasions tonight to get the lead and win on a night when the Phillies lost.
The Mets conclude their two-game series with the Nationals tomorrow at 7 pm in Shea Stadium, with Odalis Perez (6-10, 4.19 ERA) taking on Mike Pelfrey (13-9, 3.62 ERA).
{ 119 comments }
Man, the NL east was hitting tonight
Mets – 14 hits
Washington – 12 hits
Marlins – 13 hits
Braves – 14 hits
Phillies – 12 hits
all that matters though is that the mets one and the philllies lost…
won not one*
The won one.
I mean “they won one.” Oh, forget it.
I gess all of us are sacrificing proper spelling and grammar for the feeling of being excited about today’s outcome.
Oh crap, I meant “guess,” not gess. See what I mean?
Oh my god, this is hilarious. Hey, I didn’t make a misyake, I’m orud.
Crap, even I did it. This is just sad.
you guys are gerks…
…i meant jerks :)
Nothing better than a September baseball game, a Mets win and a Phaillies loss.
Don’t forget to insert (sic) after “Phaillies”.
Why is sports center saying the Mets lost 5 of their last six? Do your research clowns…
Let’s Go Mets!
Delgado is simply amazin’ at this point. It’s getting ridiculous.
Matt, not to be a pest but Beltran and Delgado went back-to-back in the sixth.
Honestly, I am afraid to let myself be excited about it, for fear that it may soon end.
Are you some kind of robot? How have you gone this long without being excited?! THIS IS SO COOL.
good point. If you can’t get excited about this good luck getting excited about anything in your life for fear it will eventually end. Everything ends one day, enjoy it.
On another note, its time to go Beltran-Delgado-Wright in the 3-4-5
Beltran is scorching the ball, we need to get the Carlos’ more at bats while Wright is slumping
yes,
that worked in 2006
And you still have good protection there with Tatis, Murphy or Church behind Wright.
im in agreement
Yeah, but why fix what ain’t broken? This lineup is scoring, don’t mess with it.
Yea i’d be reluctant to mess with what’s working.
David will come around soon enough.
David’s “broken,” though. There’s no reason to expect Delgado and Beltran to suffer by hitting 3rd and 4th, instead of 4th and 5th, with the same baserunners on that would have been if David had gotten out again as the #3 hitter.
“Broken” is a little harsh for a guy who had two hits tonight, one of which tied the game with two outs in the inning. I think Wright will be fine.
and the fact that he’s batting in front of the carloses will get him better pitches, ie out of the ’slump’ faster
david will be alright. the kid is nasty
interesting bit of stat nonsense re DWright: since 06, his plate appearances with runners on have gone up, but the percentage of them that he’s knocked in has gone down. He scored about 19% of runners on in front of him in 06, about 18% last year, and he’s at about 17% this year (and it looks lke he’ll end up having quite a few more baserunners this year than the last two). I don’t know if it means anything.
He is 25. I’m not worried. He can hit and he works as hard as anyone to adjust his game.
That was everything you could want tonight:
- Ollie’s value (and Boras’ payout) diminishing
- Mets getting the win
- Phollies losing
- Delgado stating his case for MVP again
Faaaaantastic.
I wouldn’t count on Ollie’s value diminishing. The fact remains, his overall stats are still good, and Boras can still market him as a “big game pitcher.”
And I fully hope he gets the opportunity to pitch an amazing big game in the playoffs this year…
i’m surprised most of the gms in the league haven’t told boras to stick his ‘marketing books’ up his arse when he comes to the table. I mean, everybody already knows what his players can do. They watch sportscenter just like you and me. I don’t need boras reminding me about all the good things, and conveniently omitting the bad things about a player. gimme a break. haven’t gms learned their lesson with zito and the like? i wonder what that marketing book had to say.
GMs have learned their lesson, if recent history is any guide. Boras has overplayed his hand more than once in the last couple years with his clients.
so did anyone notice wrights stance tonight….how he didnt do the leg kick….i must of said it about 5 times now…someone is ganna give me crap soon enough lol…but i love how he went back to his 06 stance where he just rolled over his foot….no leg kick is what is ganna make wright an all around hitter again…
I’d take whatever he was doing in September ‘07.
Yes!!! I did notice that, and I feel like there has not been much (any?) talk about how he used to not pick up his front foot when swinging…he would just shift his weight. And the last couple of years he abandoned that and developed a leg kick. I have wondered why he made the change and why he had not tried to go back to the old style.
He did some extra work with HoJo during the day. It paid off.
Yeah, DW will be fine as long as he keeps his swing short and drives the ball to right. There will always be the temptation with him to load up and try to crank pitches — this is the 2nd time he’s gone through this. He must know by now that he’ll never be a 40 HR guy, but maybe in the mental rigors of the long season he sometimes loses his focus and dumbs down his approach a bit without realizing it.
not only is delgado leading the mets.. but he is also carrying my fantasy baseball team (The Carlos-Del-Got-Its) throughout the playoffs.
Well now my life is complete. Thank goodness. And thank you for sharing this important information.
there’s nothing i like to hear about more than someone else’s fantasy team
Heh heh, thanks guys.
anyone see Aaron Heilman?
He seems to be lost.
hopefully he stays lost because I don’t think anyone is actually looking for him.
And nobody is complaining.
Seriously though, it’s good for Heilman to get a break. He was definitely the most overworked guy in the pen. It’s a good rest for him physically, and more importantly mentally.
I’m calling it now, if we can get into the playoffs, we’ll all be singing Heilman’s praises at least once.
probably right..
just noticed that since his 3 innings in philly aug 26th he’s been AWOL
hope nothing is wrong as he’ll most likely come in handy in Oct.
actually, he re-appeared last week in FLA and walked in the winning run, then went into the witness protection program down in South Beach.
Maybe he caught a ride with Duaner’s old cabbie…
Who?
Hey, you don’t see too much Sanchez either, which is fine with me.
I thought he pitched Sunday
Just doesn’t get any better than this.
Delgado is just simply amazing. Curtain call or no curtain call…..
Well, really, if he’s going to be hitting a couple homers a game, he can’t be giving us a curtain call every night.
I think he thought it was too early in a nail-biter to take a curtain call. He wants wins, not applause. I love it.
exactly. that game was back and forth and no telling if that was going to be the game winning hit or not. Just get all the fans screaming. it’s great to hear the loud chanting crowd coming through the TV loud and clear.
Last year the Phillies finish their comeback vs. Florida and win, and the Mets let a heartbreaker slip away. On the same night, and it would be devastating.
Different year !!!!
Did anyone see the “who do you feel most comfortable with in the closer role” text poll today? Some people (I think it was 4%) actually chose Heilman!!
Yeah, I saw it. But Heilman actually got a little higher – 8%.
was shocked he got that high.
I had him at 2% in the pool
Heilman must have multiple cell phones out in the pen.
He narrowly beat out Danny Graves and Shingo Takatsu.
Did he beat Burgos?
you really set that one up nicely for someone, didn’t you?
Now that’s funny!
It’s nice to be 2 1/2 games up on the Sillies. We’re playing some good ball. That said, as a fan, I can’t get too up about all this. Things can always take a harsh turn as we’ve learned the hard way. I know things were different last year, but we were still up ….. games with …… games left (not allowed to mention the actual numbers, but you know what I’m referring to). This Phillies still scare me and the Nats and Florida were thorns in our sides last year.
Let’s hope we can continue to win games.
Let’s Go Mets!
You have to get “up” about this. It is about as good as a pennant race can get.
really, this is a great race. Thought last year’s was great too, til the end. But a baseball fan has to love this.
And you’ve got to be able to see that this is a whole different team.
A couple of thoughts on this crazy pennant race:
1. Cubs are tanking
2. Brewers are tanking
I know we still have a pennant to win, but I actually started thinking that the Mets have a legit shot at getting best record in NL. Mets play 4 vs. Cubs in 2 weeks, and currently only 5 games behind them!
Also, Phils could sneak in as a WC and we could play Dodgers in first round again like in 2006.
The way things are going, I have no clue on what is going to happen. The NL is going to be a mess by the end of the month…which is fine as long as Mets are on top of it.
delgado is in a “nice little rhythm”
who cares about MVP – Delgado has just won this year’s “Feats of Strength”
Now on to the airing of the grievances.
hahaha that episode was on tonight!
he got out of his funk
Ha, “nice little rhythm.” He is playing out of his mind. What makes it even more astounding is how bad he was playing earlier in the season. A turnaround of stupendous proportions indeed.
If the Mets win the Division and Delgado has just a “decent” rest of the season (3-4 HRs, 10-12 RBIs, .270), he should win MVP.
hey, he’s “one of my guys”.
Nice to see he is battling.
No he’s not, he’s one of my guys! Go get your own guy and stop trying to steal one of mine; just because he’s in a nice little rhythm! However if you need to have a “guy” of your own I’ll GIVE you one. Shh; his first name is Aaron.
man he has 25 (36) in my book cuz of the shot that was taken away from him in Yankee Stadium. If he was playing 1/2 his games in that joke of a park in Philly, he’d have 40 HRs. right now, probably would lead the league in HR.
And I thought this guy was done. Right now he is def a leg MVP candidate.
If he was playing in Citizen’s Bank Park, they’d have to put a roof over the parking lots behind right field.
35, not 25, but i’m not informing anyone of anything anyway.
He also gets a lot of cash should he get votes in MVP race….quite a bit from what I recall.
I have no problem with paying a man who does a good job, and right now, he is earning it bigtime.
Wow what a game. Lord Gado is on his own planet at this point. Ayala did his thing. Great game to win.
I am certainly not complaining but when is Jerry going to see what Al reyes has to offer? I was hoping to see him instead of Knight. Strangly our pen hasn’t performed better for such a stretch in a long time. I think 32 innings with one earned run.
Dalgado is also hitting very well against lefties. All four of his homers yesterday and todat were against lh pitching.
just getting back from shea and i got to say this was one of the best games i have ever attended at shea (the kuo game against the yankees was great also). delgado’s shot was an absolute BOMB!
aside from figueroa and knight the bullpen was lights out
the crowd (aside from being too small for a september game with a 1st place team in the final season of shea) was electric and loud, especially when delgado hit the second homer.
during the phillies series i was saying that the mets were not different from last year’s but they are. they are because of what happened last year, they’re better because of Santana, they’re better because of Delgado.
Stokes was great and so was Ayala. Can’t believe they’re the 8th and 9th, just goes to show you about bullpens.
LEt’s Go Mets!
Brandon Knight sucked tonight. I don’t know how he gave up only one run. It’s a win, so it’s not a huge deal, but I hope Jerry learned to bury him deeper in that bullpen than Eddie Kunz was buried.
yeeeeeeeeahh –we’re going to the playoffs this year… I’m sayin it!!
aw crap, ya jinxed it
Can’t have the thread end on a potential jynx……
This just goes to show how far this team has come, not only from a year ago, but from 3 months ago….Our starting pitching has been incredible lately, picking up the slack for the bullpen and having the offense do just enough with timely hits. What happens tonight? Ollie was awful BUT we kept swinging the sticks and the bullpen was terrific, sans Figgy and Knight (though I still love Figgy). Let’s keep the train rolling, take this mini-series later tonight.
GO BIG PELF AND LET’S GO METS!!!
The Mets are now only 5 back of Chicago for best record in the NL. Given the weakness of their schedule and the difficulty of the Cubs’, it’s not out of the realm of possibility they could end up with home field. There’s a long way to go, but it gives them something to attack rather than defend…
Very good point. That definitely should keep the team hungry. Win win win. Don’t look back, don’t look up. Keep your head down and do what it takes. That’s the September mantra.
Phillies elimination number is 16.
Braves were eliminated with the loss (always a fun time)
The difference between this Sept and last was as you said. The Mets came back 4 times. Last year they’d only come back three, or the bullpen would blow it a 5th, but then we didn’t have any September call-ups in the bullpen last year, so we were stuck with the same tired pen.
Anyone see baseball tonight? John Kruk and some other guy (non player) said that Pujols is without a doubt the MVP of the NL.
I can accept him being MVP. His numbers are off the charts, but with what Delgado is doing how can it be with a doubt. Did anyone else see that? Delgado has taken this team on his back like I dont remember any Mets offensive player being this clutch (knock on wood).
Don’t worry, the baseball writers are all noticing what is going on. It all depends on who makes the playoffs. Kruk is still a Philly at heart, so pay him no mind……
True, but April does count as part of the season too.
Divisions are not won in April. What happened to Chase Utley? Unbelievable April, not so much the rest of the year. So many MVP awards have been won based on 2nd half results. Its almost always the case.
True, but it still has to be a factor. It’s why he’s only batting 265 or so. I think he needs to raise it a teensy bit. Especially if Wright gets it going again and has the team lead in RBIs.
Besides, by the time the award is handed out, it’ll be icing on the cake.
Kruk has proven himself to be a putz time and time again.
Heck, I bet Mike Schmidt sent an email out saying Rollings should win again because everyone knows he is the best…
Delgado is making NL East pitching look really, really bad!
What is true about the playoffs is the team that is carrying the most momentum before getting there is usually the team with the best advantage. Experience matters, but nothing compared to being in a groove. Not the one the Rockies were in last year.
With that being said, the Astros might be that team this year. And the Mets may be like the Phillies. Win the NL East while continually being hot after taking the lead in the division. There’s a chance we will play the Astros in the playoffs. If the Mets manage to some how win the division, it’s obviously either going to be Milwaukee, Houston, St. Louis or the Dodgers/Diamonds in the 1st round if the Phillies made it. Or perhaps the Mets may play the Cubs if they won the wild card.
There’s a lot of scenarios. None of them really matter until it all starts. The magic number is now 16 for the Mets. If the Mets can continue to play good ball and the Phillies only stay .500 against competitive teams, than the cards are in their favor.
So now with the Mets have 18 games left and the Phillies having 17 with the Mets being 2 1/2 games it’d mean if the Mets were to hypothetically go 12-6, the Phillies would have to go 14-3 just to tie them. This has to be a minimal target record of the Mets. Winning 2/3 of your games. And especially all the easy ones.
The Phillies may just lose 3 games by the end of the week. Tomorrow won’t be easy and a split with the Brewers is likely. The Mets are the team who controls the destiny of this division now. And in my opinion, there own worse enemy aren’t even the Phillies. It’s themselves. But they’re not going to allow themselves to get down.
Realistically and being generous, I think the Phillies may go like 11-6 which still is a pretty good record. That’d mean 10-8 can do it – but it’ll take more for all of us to breath easy. Our next 11 games are with the Braves and Nats (5 with Nats, 6 with Braves) so we’re looking pretty good. It’s all about getting out as ahead as you can before getting the Cubs and the Marlins. The last thing we need is Hanley waiting to play spoiler again.
I also here a lot about the .260 junk with this and that – but he’s made his case for MVP. If he gets to 40, at least stays above .260 or gets a little hitter and gets to 115+ RBI’s with us clinching – how can he not? Who else could it be? Maybe Ludwick. Pujols. Berkman. You’d have to give the advantage to the team that gets in. The Cubs don’t have one particular guy. So many of them are great. It’s really amazing how this Mets team has turned around.
The funny thing is the Mets may only turn out 3-4 wins short of their total in 2006. The season that so much prestige is put on. I know that team was great, but I think we tend to give it more credit than it deserves. Part of the reason why the Mets looked so good was because the NL East used to be so weak. The Mets never had a real challenge – other than their own injuries in 06′. These playoff type regular season series with the Phillies have given the Mets much exposure it can use. The playoffs is about being in the moment every game and that is something the Mets have had to fight to do all year.
I think when it’s all said it done, this team will be regarded higher than the 2006 team. Because of the experience this team’s accumulated. Because of the fight they’ve shown. And simply because we are a pretty hot team going into the playoffs.
I still can’t believe Johan may not actually win the Cy Young this season… You never know though.
With his recent slump its time to put Wright in the 2 hole, he’s selective enough to give reyes chances to swipe a bag and it’ll give him some fastballs to drive the other way. A hit and run just might be what he needs to get goin.
Here’s Delgado’s MVP trump card: He’s potentially carrying a team to a division win. Pujols is potentially carrying a team to a third or fouth place finish in their division.
If CC Sabathia can win a CY Young for otherwordly second half performance in Milwaukee, Delgado can win an MVP for his second half.
Think about it, how are CC and Delgado any different right now in terms of heightening their performance to unheard of levels? The guy had been averaging more than an RBI a game for nearly half a season now.
What amazes me is how the Mets have essentially rebuilt their bullpen in the course of a month. It is now clear that Stokes is the 8th inning guy and Ayala is the closer. Smith almost appears to be the 7th inning guy and Show, Sanchez and Feliciano are the situational guys. But for the most part, Manuel goes with situational pitching in the 7th and/or 6th.
Heilmann is out it appears. I know there are most likely going to be 12 or 13 spots open for the playoffs (if we make it). That means Heilmann and maybe Rincon would make the squad. Quite frankly, I kind of think Reyes ought to be given a look.
i cant see who will win the mvp of the national league..i would say pujols but he wont make the playoffs and normally they wouldnt do that…i really think delgado has a great chance
How could Pujols win the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER award if he’s on a team that may finish in 4th place in its division? How valuable could he have been!? They made 4th place instead of 5th???
.361/.467/.655 vs. .266/.350/.518
The Mets are three games better than the Cards. Regardless of how much we all love what Delgado has done recently (and I LOVE it!), there is no question who has been more valuable to his team.Pujols blows Delgado and everyone else away.
And since this is a full-season award, David Wright is at .291/.380/.513, which beats Delgado on that 30 points of on-base.
Reyes and Beltran also have great numbers while playing good defense (actually fantastic D in Beltran’s case) at the most demanding positions aside from catcher, and DWright’s no slouch at a tougher position than Delgado plays.
Delgado’s resurgence has been what has been what started the Mets resurgence. Does that make him the most valuable guy on the team? Maybe, but I would guess that just making that a four-man lineup instead of a three-man one is the key. And of those four, I think Delgado ranks #4.
The AZEK board is not at the back of the bullpen. It’s above the benches the pitchers sit on at the front of the bullpen, in front of the pitching mounds. But it was still an impressive blast. Would’ve landed in the back of the pen had it not hit the sign.
Actually, we have seen this before. Remember when Mike Jacobs was called up in late August 2005 and was just hitting moon shots every other at bat (11 HR in 100 AB)? Again, not just home runs, but BOMBS, and coming off of arm surgery no less! Funny that Jacobs was traded for Delgado just after that, though. :)
Maybe it’s the arm surgery (Delgado had wrist surgery this past offseason). Do you think they’re giving these guys bionic arms?
lol..”we can fix him…we can make him stronger…
I think it’s as simple as pitch selection. Earlier this year, they were throwing him horrible pitches, and he kept missing them. Then, he stopped swinging at them, so they had to come in with strikes, and he has been hitting them.
that and i think jobu was pissed at the other teams for playing the shift against de gawd o
Even though Mike Jacobs has 32 home runs with more than 2 weeks to go, I’m starting to feel better about the Jacobs-Delgado swap. It look like it payed of for 06′ and 08′. Not so much 07′, but it should pay for 09′ too. Jacobs may have been around here for a decade – probably twice the length of Delgado. But I’m very happy with the production of Delgado as he could potentially help us to two divisions in three years. Or at least what should be three.
peepeee
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