Daily Archives: May 18, 2009
In last night’s loss to the Giants, Mike Pelfrey pitched to 25 batters, allowing just two runs and six hits in six innings pitched.
However, Pelfrey also tied a franchise record with three balks, and so he was pulled from the game having thrown just 78 pitches.
The Giants scored both of their runs in the same inning as the first two balks.
…it’s a shame, because he was pitching a good game… again, he was using his secondary pitches well, he was commanding the inning, and looked strong… it’s funny, i found myself genuinely concerned after the third one, as though he was having a total melt down… hopefully he shakes this by the next start, and it doesn’t get in his head permanently…
Pelfrey told reporters he caught his cleat on the first balk, but the other two were simply mental mistakes.
“For some reason mentally, I didn’t want to come set,” Pelfrey explained. “It’s really, really weird. I knew that I was doing it. I tried to think about something else so I wouldn’t do it. It didn’t turn out that way… I think I had the yips… My mind kept telling me to pick the guy off… Maybe on national TV I like making a fool out of myself.”
Tagged Mike Pelfrey |
Jose Reyes missed the final three games of the Mets recent series in San Francisco with what was diagnosed as tendinitis below his knee, according to a Giants team doctor who examined Reyes on Saturday.
Reyes told reporters, though the muscle is tight behind the knee, at the top of the calf, it is nothing compared to pain and other leg issues he suffered earlier in his career.
…actually, this could end up being a good thing for jose…
…in 2006, he was struggling through April and May, and just couldn’t get it together… he missed a few days with a strain, during which Willie Randolph talked about how it gave jose some time to clear his head… he was able to sit back, watch the game for a few days, get a better feel for the team and the offense, and just take it all in… then he took the field and was on fire through October…
…hopefully, the same happens this time around…
Jerry Manuel said after yesterday’s game that he expects Reyes to be back in the starting lineup tonight against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, though it should be noted he said the same thing regarding Saturday’s and Sunday’s games.
“I’m able to do everything other than running,” Reyes said, according to the Daily News. “I’m not able to run the way I want… If I play I could make it worse. I want to be in the field. It’s hard for me to sit and watch.”
Alex Cora, who started in place of Reyes, left the game in the third inning with a sprained right thumb.
Cora was replaced by Fernando Tatis, who played shortstop for the first time since 1998.
Mets manager Jerry Manuel talked with reporters after last night’s loss to the Giants, and had the following to say regarding:
The final two balks from Mike Pelfrey, who had three on the night:
“He was starting and stopping, and I
think he just got kind of a brain lock there and couldn’t quite get comfortable. They were balks, the guy was right. My argument was, I thought it was time out, but it wasn’t. But, he was right, they were balks… I just think it was one of those things where he couldn’t quite get comfortable, one of those things that go off in your head that you can’t control. I was surprised. I had not witnessed that before… It just wasn’t happening for him today.”
Pinch hitting Angel Pagan for Daniel Murphy:
“I don’t think Murphy is swinging quite as well right now. I don’t see the quick hands, and it’s probably mechanical and fundamental right now for him not playing on a consistent basis like he’d like to be… I just thought Pagan, who has had a few at bats, as a right-handed hitter would give us a better shot.”
Pelfrey’s outing, balks not included:
“He pitched a good game… he had good stuff, he threw some breaking pitches, some secondary pitches for strikes I thought was good.”
The offense, and lack of runs:
Newer posts →“We just weren’t able to get that two-out hit, and that’s what had propelled up the last week, getting that two-out hit… We hit the ball once really hard with the bases loaded and they made a great play, home to first, that was a big play for them, then they turned that double play in the eighth and that was also huge and with the bases loaded. They played extremely well today, they had a lot of fight in them today.”
