Daily Archives: April 27, 2009
Last night on The Happy Recast, SNY’s live, online, post-game, call-in show, we took your calls about the game, we talked with MetsBlog’s Matthew Cerrone, looked back on the night’s minor league action.
To listen to last night’s show, click below:
Tagged SNY |
The Mets (9–10) defeated the Marlins (11–8) by the score of 7 to 1 in Citi Field tonight.
For a recap and boxscore, go here.
The least you should know…
- John Maine pitched six innings, allowed one hit and one run, while walking three and striking out four.
- Sean Green, J.J. Putz and Frankie Rodriguez pitched three scoreless innings in relief.
- Omir Santos hit a grand-slam.
Other Observations…
- Maine had a nice slider going tonight, which he used well against his fastball, which combined with the free-swinging Marlins, made for a easy going night.
- In the fifth, while still reaching 94 mph, Maine walked two batters, but with two outs, in what felt like a key moment in the game, he got the final batter of the inning to pop out to center.
- Luis Castillo hustled to move from first to third on a single from Carlos Beltran, hit in to right field. Castillo was then able to score on a single from Gary Sheffield.
- The inning continued, including an RBI single from David Wright, and a grand-slam from Santos, for the first home run of his career.
- Being a Jets fan, it was fun seeing the team’s new QB not only in a Jets hat, but simultaneously wearing a Mets hat.
- I would love to know what is going through Maine’s mind while he’s pitching. In the third, the final batter of the inning struck out looking at a slider. No runs scored. Yet, Maine marched off the mound shaking his head. I’d love to know why.
- Sheffield might have had a double, had it not been for an outstanding one-handed, wide-receiver like catch, running away from the field towards the wall, on a ball hit over his head.
- Castillo appeared to be in pain, grabbing at his lower back, and stretching it out, after legging out an infield single. He stayed in the game, but did not look comfortable, and was later in pulled in the eighth. SNY reported he had back spasms.
- Jose Reyes made a fantastic defensive play, reacting like a goalie, back-handing a hot short-hopper to his right, which knocked him to his knees, which was followed by a strong throw for the out.
- The Mets have 11 home runs this season, and eight triples. “It’s like the 1890s,” Gary Cohen said.
- K-Rod walked two, but struck out two of the five batters he faced for the save. I was starting to forget he was on the team.
The Game Ball…
- Tonight’s game ball gets split it two, one half goes to Maine, while the other goes to Santos.
The Mets continue their series against the Marlins tomorrow night, with Livan Hernandez facing Ricky Nolasco.
Tonight’s Game:
The Mets (8-10, 5-4 Home) begin a three-game series versus the Marlins (11-7, 6-3 Road) tonight at Citi Field, starting at 7:10 p.m. EDT.
On the Mound:
- RHP John Maine (0-2, 7.47 ERA) will start for the Mets. In his last start on April 22 versus the Cardinals, a loss, Maine allowed five runs on seven hits and five walks, while striking out two over 5.2 IP. Maine is 3-1 with a 2.85 ERA, including a .178 BAA, in seven career starts versus the Marlins.
- RHP Anibal Sanchez (1-1, 2.50 ERA) will pitch for the Marlins. Sanchez earned the loss in his last start on April 21 versus the Pirates, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out six over 7.0 IP. He is 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA in four career starts versus the Mets.
At the Plate:
- Jose Reyes, SS
- Luis Castillo, 2B
- Carlos Beltran, CF
- Gary Sheffield, LF
- David Wright, 3B
- Ryan Church, RF
- Fernando Tatis, 1B
- Omir Santos, C
- John Maine, P
Stats:
- Jose Reyes is batting .353 (18-for-51) during his current 12-game hit streak.
- Carlos Beltran is 17-for-36 (.436) in his last nine games. He is batting .429 (3-for-7) with a homerun in his career versus Sanchez.
- The Mets bullpen has allowed two homeruns in 58.1 IP this season, the lowest ratio in the National League.
Random Thoughts:
- Let’s keep the Marlins streak alive.
- New Jets QB Mark Sanchez will throw out tonight’s first pitch. I wonder if he can start…
Tonight’s Broadcast:
- Tonight’s game will be broadcast locally on SNY and WFAN.
Enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets!
Earlier today, Jerry Manuel told reporters Oliver Perez will start on Saturday.
Manuel cited Perez’s success against the Phillies, saying he needs to give his pitcher the benefit of the doubt and let him show what he can do.
…i get no sense that there is a trip to the minors in the cards for perez… in short, if the Mets want perez to get it together, he needs to be around manuel, his teammates and Dan Warthen… it wouldn’t shock me if he were skipped one turn, should he stumble against the Phillies, but that is a long way from now…
Tagged Oliver Perez |Update, 5:03 pm:
Carlos Delgado is a late scratch from tonight’s lineup with pain in his hip.
Tatis will start at first, with Luis Castillo starting at second.
Jerry Manuel told reporters Delgado may have injured the hip during yesterday’s triple.
Manuel suggested he is unlikely to use Delgado as a pinch hitter.
Original Post:
Fernando Tatis will bat second and start at second base tonight, while Gary Sheffield will bat sixth and start in left field for Daniel Murphy.
Omir Santos will once again start at catcher and bat eighth.
…from what i can gather, as long as Ramon Castro isn’t hitting, Jerry Manuel is getting santos as much playing time as possible, to see what they’ve got… Brian Schneider is due back around May 3…
…it will be interesting to see what happens then, considering, according to previous reports, the Mets had been shopping castro all winter…
…in the end, i believe manuel would rather have the best defensive catcher he can find, in place of offense from that position…
Here is today’s edition of New York Baseball Today, during which SNY’s Ted Berg and Alex Belth respond to comments from MetsBlog and Bronx Banter Blog, while previewing tonight’s pitching match ups for the Mets and Yankees:
In a post to Mets Today, Joe Janish explains that David Wright 
is a notoriously slow starter, adding, “and we’ve come to expect subpar numbers from him in the first month of the season.”
…like wright told reporters, his timing is off… and, i still think he’s turning his body back too much in advance of his swing… he’s late on too many fastballs, either fouling them off or just plain getting beat… we have seen this from him before, so i trust he’ll come out of it…
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, “Wright is one of just 11 players in the majors who has at least 30 plate appearances with runners in scoring position and only Vernon Wells (.115) is hitting worse than Wright’s .200. The other nine players in this category are all hitting at least .273.”
…i would still like to see him return to hitting the gaps, and focus on being a doubles hitter, going the other way, etc… his goal should be to win a batting title, not a home-run or RBI crown… sherman believes wright is pressing, and carrying too much pressure due to back-to-back collapses… he may be right… who knows…
At her blog, Mets Geekette discovers that being overly connected to the Mets’ fanbase through the internet has brought out the best and worst in her as a fan.
…anonymity can certainly do that, and i often wonder how good a thing it is that we have twitter, message boards, dare i say it blogs, talk radio, and everything else us fans use to voice our opinion with, usually in an anonymous way…
Aaron Torres, a Red Sox fan, writes about how Mets fans are second to none, writing that they are “a large group of passionate individuals who live under one large dark cloud.”
…well said aaron, sometimes it feels like the cloud is pretty dark, but i try to find the silver lining, as i think most of us do…although this quote may be perceived negatively, this piece is very complimentary to mets fans…
Planet of the Geeks is back with more Legos, this time with Keith Hernandez, glasses and all, interviewing Carlos Delgado.
Joe Hamrahi, whose name you’ll recognize from our NL East updates, recaps his first visit to Citi Field at Baseball Daily Digest.
Lastly, Ted Berg of SNY.tv revisits the topic of booing players on the toom you root for.
…i understand that people are frustrated and like to vent, that’s fair, but i agree with ted here that booing david wright is a waste of energy…i think it gives away our home field advantage, and are we really so impatient that we need to boo a player who’s having an early season slump…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |Oliver Perez is still listed as the probable starter for Saturday’s game against the Phillies.
In a post to Newsday, David Lennon asked a team official is Perez will be skipped, and was told, ‘Not right now.’
Yesterday, Perez faced 26 batters, three of which he walked, he allowed nine hits and two home runs.
He’s had one good start this season, against the Padres; otherwise, he has looked bad every time he steps on the the mound, including the World Baseball Classic.
In 19 innings this season, Perez 
has allowed 40 base runners, while opponents are batting .295 against him.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the Ollie of old yet,” Jerry Manuel told reporters after the game, “I’m really, really concerned about him right now.”
Who isn’t? To me, the real concern is his fastball, which topped out at 88 mph yesterday.
I believe it’s fair to say the WBC had a negative impact on Perez, whether because he, the Mexican team, or the Mets, did not keep him on his regular between-games schedule, or because he only pitched in game action twice in two weeks, either way something isn’t right, though I suppose he could just be going through a dead-arm period.
The thing is, this is not the normal, ‘coin-flip,’ ‘Good Ollie, Bad Ollie bit,’ this is like watching a totally different pitcher than who the Mets signed for three years.
There is no room for Perez in the bullpen, if for no other reason then there is nobody in the bullpen who can slot in to the rotation. Bobby Parnell has looked too good as a set-up man to dislodge him from that role.
Instead, the Mets could ask, and Perez would be wise to accept an assignment to Triple-A; not as punishment, but as an opportunity to focus and work on his issues without having an impact on the major-league club.
At the very minimum, the Mets could skip Perez’s next start, but will not, even though they are off on Thursday and can afford the necessary adjustment.
Perez allowed one run in 26 innings against the Phillies last season – and he tends to perform better when facing the best teams in the division – so, I bet the Mets are hoping he finds ‘Big-Game Ollie,’ and rights his wrongs.
Lastly, if he struggles again, the Mets could bench Perez one time through the rotation, give him to work with Dan Warthen, and activate Tim Redding, who pitched four scoreless innings in an extended spring training game over the weekend, while cutting a player from the bench to make room on the roster, like Manuel suggested doing last week.
Tagged Oliver Perez |
The Philadelphia Phillies continued to bring the Florida Marlins back down to earth by sweeping the Fish this weekend by scores of 7-3, 6-4, and 13-2.
On Friday, the Phillies rallied to overcome a 3-0 deficit by scoring 7 runs in the 9th inning, capped off by a grand slam by Shane Victorino. On Saturday, Philadelphia came back again to tie the game in the 9th and win it in the 10th.
And on Sunday, well, the Phillies just mauled Florida pitching, collecting 12 hits and 11 walks!
Philadelphia opens up a series tonight against the Nationals while the Marlins travel to Citi Field to take on the Mets.
…Somehow I get the feeling that the Phillies will be on top of the division by the end of the week.
In Atlanta, the Braves took 2 of 3 from the Reds to climb within 2 of the first-place Marlins.
Javier Vazquez (6 IP, 1 ER, 9K) and Derek Lowe (7 IP, 2 R, 8K) provided Atlanta with two exceptional starts on Friday and Saturday respectively.
The Braves kick off a 3-game series in Atlanta tonight against the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals.
In other news…Atlanta placed catcher Brian McCann on the 15 day disabled list Saturday. McCann continues to experience blurry vision in his left eye after having lasik surgery two years ago.
Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels is still scheduled to start on Tuesday after being hit by a line drive last Thursday. Hamels threw a bullpen session on Saturday and appeared fine.
Finally, in case you missed it, I had a chance to visit Citi Field on Friday and meet up with our fearless leader, Matt Cerrone. You can read all about my first trip to the Mets new home over at BDD.
For more news, notes, analysis and statistics from around Major League Baseball, be sure to visit Baseball Daily Digest.
Tagged MetsBlog, News | ← Older posts
