Daily Archives: April 22, 2009
The Philadelphia Phillies opened a 3-game series with a bang last night, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-4.
Pedro Feliz led the Philadelphia offense with 3 hits, a home run, and 3 RBI. Jamie Moyer picked up the win on the mound.
Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun went 5-for-5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in a losing effort.
The two teams get back at it again tonight when Joe Blanton takes the ball for the Phillies against Braden Looper of the Brewers.
In Pittsburgh, the Pirates made it two straight over Florida by beating the Marlins, 3-2.
It was Jeff Karstens who stymied the Florida offense this time, allowing just one run on 3 hits over 6 innings for Pittsburgh. The Marlins Anibal Sanchez took the loss.
The two teams resume their series this afternoon with Florida’s Ricky Nolasco opposing the Pirates Paul Maholm.
Break up the Nationals! Washington picked up its second win in a row on Tuesday by holding off the Braves, 4-3.
Adam Dunn hit his 4th home run of the season and rookie starter Shairon Martis ran his record to 2-0 for D.C.
The two clubs wrap up their series tonight with Jair Jurrjens pitching for Atlanta and John Lannan going for Washington.
Braves catcher Brian McCann was in the lineup Tuesday night after receiving a new contact lens to correct his vision in his left eye. The lens will enable McCann to put off any additional lasik surgery until the offseason.
Brian, however, will sit out Wednesday’s game as he adjusts to his new lens.
In other news…the Marlins placed Andrew Miller on the disabled list with a strained right oblique, and the Braves may do the same with outfielder Garret Anderson who is suffering from tightness in his left quadriceps.
For more news, notes, analysis and statistics from around Major League Baseball, be sure to visit Baseball Daily Digest.
Tagged MetsBlog, News |
According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, Tim Redding pitched in an 
extended spring training game Monday, and is scheduled to pitch again this weekend.
Redding is on the disabled list with a rotator cuff strain.
…ok, so, when he’s eligible to return, say, in two weeks or so, then what, who gets cut i wonder… right now, i would not make any suggestions, since so much will happen between now and then, but it feels like the Mets have already made a lot of small transactions, all of which will add up to limit their options moving forward…
Tagged Tim Redding |Jerry Manuel talked with reporters in the clubhouse following last night’s loss to the Cardinals, and had the following to say about…
…on Oliver Perez, who allowed pitched four scoreless innings, only to allow four earned runs in the fifth…
“You know, Ollie wasn’t at his best tonight. I know it’s
frustrating for him, as well as for us… I though he was trying to battle all night, walking that tight-rope all night. I was trying to give him every opportunity to get through that fifth inning… It just didn’t work out.”
…the offense leaving men on base in three of the final four innings…
“We had a chance to do some damage, we didn’t leave as many men on base as they did, but we left enough to where we could have at least been more comfortable than it was…
…Carlos Beltran, and whether he would prefer to see the player slide in to home on a such a play…
“Yeah, I don’t know why he didn’t slide, but, yeah, I think had he slide it would have made it a closer play… That was one of those plays, you’ve got a guy on second base and there’s a fly ball hit to right field, there’s very little that an on deck hitter would do at that point; he’s probably getting ready to bat at that point, than get ready to direct traffic… Beltran is on his own there.”
…Daniel Murphy, and whether he is concerned with his defense…
“I guess I’m a little concerned, I have to be honest… He’s a hard worker, he does everything we ask him to do. I think for the most part, I’d just like to see him relax, just relax. I think he’ll be fine. I don’t see this as an on-going situation for him… We have to continue to talk with him (about his throws). We have to continue to slow him down a bit, he has to relax more than he is, it’s like he’s playing tight with anxiety as a fielder… I’ve got to keep putting him out there until we feel he’s getting comfortable, and I think he will.”
Last night, Daniel Murphy misplayed a line drive hit to left field, which sailed over his head, rolled to the wall, and allowed the hitter to reach third base and eventually score the go-ahead run.
Murphy, speaking to reporters from his locker about the play, following the game:
“I felt like I did everything right on that ball, but I slipped and I went down… I don’t know how to explain it. I slipped twice. On that one, I was right there, it would have hit me in the chest, but I slipped… Things are moving fast out there, but I’m working hard, I’m out there every day and I feel like I’m slowing the game down, and I’m trying and I feel like I am more relaxed… This one is tough to swallow because we lost the ball game, and I really feel like I put myself in a good position to make the play, I just slipped.”
…as i have said a few times this morning, i accept murphy’s mistakes in the field, and even on the base paths, assuming he is showing signs of progress, is working hard and is hitting the way he is hitting… eventually, he has to stop costing the Mets runs, but now is not the time to be overly critical…
…nevertheless, i suspect we will soon see a more obvious rotation among Ryan Church, murphy and Gary Sheffield, and even Carlos Beltran, to keep people fresh, keep the defense sharp and to get sheff’s bat in the lineup…
Carlos Beltran talked with reporters from his locker last night after the team’s loss to the Cardinals, and had the following to say about…
…not sliding in to home, on a play at the plate:
“When I took off for third I was watching the ball, and when I looked at home plate I was too close to slide – and Molina was on top the plate, so I tried to basically go over his feet, but I topped on his foot and was unable to touch home plate… I didn’t realize how close I was from home plate, so that is why I didn’t slide… I was running and looking at the ball, and didn’t realize how close I was too home plate… Razor Shines pointed to the ball, I didn’t react right away, it took me time, and that is probably why, had I reacted right away I would have made it, but that’s how it goes… In that play, as a player, you don’t have to ask for help, you just know what you have to to.”
…i have to be honest, i still have no idea what he’s talking about… it reminds me of the, ‘It’s too high,’ comment in the movie Major League… what does it mean…
…Daniel Murphy’s error, on which he let a line drive fly over his head:
“Well, that’s bad luck right there… He just slipped, he slipped on the play before. I think he’s trying and doing his best, unfortunately things are happening to him right now; but he’s putting in the effort and working hard out there and he’s trying to become the best left fielder he can be… It’s gonna take him time to feel better, but I do believe that he’s going to get better… My advice is for him to relax and do the best he can.”
…this is correct… murphy is a rookie, we all know it, he knows it, and he is allowed a learning curve, no question about it… i mean, it’s not like he’s a million-dollar veteran who didn’t slide in to home on a play at the plate…
…the loss in general:
“Well, you know, every loss is not a good feeling… I believe we had the opportunity to win (last night’s game)… But, we walked a lot of guys, and every time you walk people those are runs that will haunt you sooner than later, and they did. They took the lead and (the offense) just couldn’t come through.”
There is nothing worse than sloppy baseball.
I can handle my favorite team being beaten by a better opponent, on the level, talent for talent.
However, last night, the Mets played sloppy baseball.
Daniel Murphy not only slipped to his feet, lost his glove and let a line drive roll to the wall for a triple last night, he also threw to the wrong base on a few occasions and got picked off of first.
I cut Murphy slack, actually, because he’s a rookie learning the outfield and getting acclimated to the speed of the major-league game. He is a work in progress, hitting .320, who is going to have nights like yesterday, which is acceptable.
The veterans, however, have no excuse.
Oliver Perez, who threw more balls than 
strikes last night, walked the first batter of the game, and though he managed to skirt disaster on a few occasions, as usual, he imploded like a house of cards in the fifth, which was followed by Casey Fossum walking in a run with his first four pitches in relief.
Carlos Beltran wisely ran home on an errant throw to the infield, but said he was too close to home to slide, and so he was tagged out by Yadier Molina, eliminating what would have been the go-ahead run. Too close to home? What does that even mean?
Additionally, the team blew yet another lead when leading by three runs; they could not score in the second-half of the game, despite having runners on in three of the final four innings; and where was Ramon Castro or Luis Castillo, who could have been waving Beltran to slide, when he was ‘too close to home.’
The most disturbing part to this is that, Jerry Manuel had been preaching all through spring training the importance of ‘the little things,’ and, ‘the details,’ focus, and treating every game as being important, whether in April or September.
Yet, even he has been sloppy at times, making a series of questionable moves this season, such as last weekend’s decision to let Fernando Tatis hit instead of bunting with Luis Castillo, or not swapping out Murphy for defense following his final at bat in the seventh inning.
I like Manuel, but if the team’s management thinks his charm will carry him beyond criticism from fans and media they have another thing coming. I mean, he’s charming, but he’s not that charming – eventually, not now, maybe not next month, but, eventually, he will be seriously questioned if this sort of sloppy and confusing play continues.
I want to believe this is not a trend, from Manuel down to the players. I believe they’re better than this. The problem, however, is last night seemed eerily similarly to what plagued this organization towards the end of last season, and the season before.
The Mets are 6–7, which is hardly cause for panic. However, eventually, the entire team will have to be more sharp than this – with or without an improved bullpen.
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