Daily Archives: May 26, 2009
The Mets defeated the Nationals by the score of 6 to 1 tonight.
For a full recap and boxscore, go here.
The Least You Should Know:
- Fernando Martinez made his major league debut tonight, and notched his first RBI with a fielder’s choice in the third inning. He finished the night going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Does that make him K-Mart? Seriously though, it was very exciting to finally see him make his way to Queens.
- Livan Hernandez bewildered the Nats with a complete game performance, only giving up a mistake to Adam Dunn who rocketed a home run to the left field reserved. He worked out of his biggest jam in the eighth, and always seemed to force a popup or groundball in timely fashion. Superb.
- Gary Sheffield hit a line-drive homer to left off his shoe tops in the seventh, for his second three-run shot in two days. No replay was needed this time around, and that froze the score at 6 to 1.
- The fifth inning housed the most exciting defensive play of the game. On an Angel Pagan throw to home, and after missing an elusive Jason Bard with the tag, Omir Santos stuck with it and just beat Bard to the plate to prevent the run.
- Every Mets starter, other than Fernando Martinez and Livan Hernandez, recorded a hit tonight.
Other Moments and Observations:
- I remain optimistic yet realistic with my expectations for the 20-year old Martinez.
- Livan’s 85 mph fastballs must have looked like 100 mph after his steady dose of slow, el duque-like, curveballs.
- Even before his homer, “Gary Sheffield” chants ruminate through the park at random times. I notice this almost every night, even when he doesn’t do much. It’s only a matter of time before fans start donning chef hats in left field. Not that he doesn’t deserve it, but I’m just confused as to why he is earning more chants than Carlos Beltran who has been almost supernatural thus far. Both names are equally chantable for lack of a better word.
- The Mets have won four of their last five, and after the Nats, play the Marlins, Pirates, then Nationals again. Just what the doctor ordered for a team riddled with injuries.
The Game Ball:
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Tonight’s game ball undoubtedly goes to Livan Hernandez for pitching a complete game, and providing an off night for the Mets’ relievers. He only walked one, struck out six, and allowed nine hits. It looked like he was throwing wiffle balls and his location was spot on.
The Mets go for the sweep tomorrow, with Johan Santana facing Jordan Zimmerman at 7:10 pm.
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |Oliver Perez had his first rehab start tonight in Buffalo.
Perez went four and one-third innings, allowed one run on three hits and struck out five. However, he did walk five batters on the night.
Tagged Oliver Perez, Regis Courtemanche |
Tonight’s Game:
- The Mets (24-20, 13-8 Home) continue their three-game series against the Nationals (13-31, 6-15 Road) tonight at Citi Field, starting at 7:10 p.m.
On The Mound:
- RHP Livan Hernandez (3-1, 4.93 ERA) starts for the Mets. Hernandez allowed one run over 7.0 IP in his last start versus the Dodgers on May 20, but earned a no-decision. He is 8-5 with a 4.28 ERA in his career versus the Nationals.
- RHP Craig Stammen (0-0, 5.68 ERA) takes the hill for the Nationals. Stammen made his Major League debut on May 21 allowing four runs over 6.1 IP versus the Pirates. This is his first career start versus the Mets.
The Lineup:
- Angel Pagan, CF
- Luis Castillo, 2B
- David Wright, 3B
- Gary Sheffield, LF
- Fernando Tatis, 1B
- Fernando Martinez, RF
- Omir Santos, C
- Ramon Martinez, SS
- Livan Hernandez, P
Notes:
- Gary Sheffield is 17-for-45 (.378) with 3 HR and 10 RBI and 16 runs scored in his last 15 games.
- The Mets are 18-7 when their starting pitcher pitches at least six innings.
- Pedro Feliciano has retired 20 of the 24 first batters he has faced this season.
- The Nationals are 8-20 when their opponent scores first.
- Austin Kearns has just five hits and batting .193 in his last 13 games. He is batting .444 with 2 HR and 11 RBI in 27 career at-bats versus Hernandez.
Tonight’s Broadcast:
- Tonight’s broadcast can be seen locally on SNY and heard on WFAN.
Ryan Church and Jose Reyes have been put on the 15-day DL, Omar Minaya told reporters today.
Fernando Martinez has been promoted, and is on his way to Citi Field.
The Mets also traded cash to the Indians for minor-league SS Wilson Valdez, who will be promoted immediately to the 25-man roster.
Tagged News |Carlos Beltran told reporters his MRI revealed a bruise on his knee, which will force him to miss the next three games as he recieves treatment.
Beltran said he does not know how the bruise occurred.
Lastly, from what I can gather, Alex Cora visited a doctor today and later threw a baseball, suggesting his injured thumb does not need surgery.
Yesterday, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt reported on air that if Cora is able to throw he will return from the disabled list sooner than expected.
Tagged News |Omar Minaya is scheduled to speak with reporters sooner than later, after which Jerry Manuel will take over.
Hopefully, Minaya will relay news of Carlos Beltran‘s MRI, the state of Jose Reyes, Alex Cora and Ryan Church, and whether there will be any roster moves on the horizon.
By the way, there is still no lineup posted, except for Livan Hernandez who is the only player listed.
Luis Castillo walked by and said, “So, only Livan is playing today,” which got a laugh from reporters standing outside the clubhouse.
Update, 4:22 pm:
I will do my best to blog what is said by Minaya and Manuel, within my Twitter feed, which you can follow in the previous post.
Tagged Omar Minaya |
I will be out at Citi Field today, doing some work for SNY, and working on content for the blog.
As usual, while out at the ballpark, I will be making live posts using Twitter, including pictures and random observations, which you can follow below:
To subscribe to my Twitter feed, go here.
The Mets put their championship pennants under the bridge, above the bullpens and the old Home Run Apple, facing the Bullpen Entrance:
I’m glad they’re on display, but I don’t understand why they chose to put them in a place that is hidden from the stands.
I liked being able to see them from the field, like it was at Shea, and in pretty much every other ballpark.
In a post to Mets Today, Joe Janish points out:
“In the first inning, Carlos Beltran attempted to score on a Gary Sheffield two-out single. As he approached home plate, he had to gingerly step around Sheffield’s bat, which was resting in the baseline, in front of home plate. Beltran had no chance to score — the throw beat him by 20 feet — but the fact the bat was out there was absolutely inexcusable. On-deck hitter David Wright should know better, and should have cleared the bat. Little things like that are inexcusable.”
…well, it is excusable, unfortunately, because wright will most certainly start today, and i doubt he will be disciplined in any way…
…that said, it’s an excellent pick up by joe…
…to me, this is totally symbolic of what has plagued the Mets at various times all season, which is a lack of paying attention to detail… you know, Luis Castillo not coming over from the on deck circle to wave beltran down to slide, or Ryan Church missing third base, or missed cut-off men, etc… it’s not rampant, but this sloppiness always seems to rear its ugly head at the worst times…
…the good news is that the Mets seem to be making less and less of these mistakes, as Jerry Manuel has been doing more pre-game drills with his team focusing on defense and base running…
…by the way, when you search Baseball Error on Google Images, Bill Buckner is suggested as a Related Search… ouch…
Tagged News |
San Francisco’s Travis Ishikawa (also of BDD fame!) went 4-for-4 with a home run, 3 RBI, 3 runs scored, and a stolen base, and the bullpen pitched 4 scoreless innings in support of starter Jonathan Sanchez as the Giants knocked off the Braves, 8-2.
Brian McCann continued his hot hitting for Atlanta, going 3-for-3 with an RBI.
The two teams will continue their series on Tuesday in San Francisco with rookie Kris Medlen starting for the Braves and the reigning Cy Young award winner, Tim Lincecum, going for the Giants.
In Philadelphia, Wes Helms went 3-for-5 and hit a 3-run home run in the 4th inning to put Florida ahead for good as the Marlins held on to defeat the Phillies, 5-3.
Florida’s Chris Volstad went 6+ solid innings on the mound to pick up his 4th win of the year. Ryan Howard hit 2 home runs and drove in 3 for Philadelphia.
…But for once, Raul Ibanez didn’t have a home run…or even a hit for that matter!
On Tuesday, the Marlins will send out starter Andrew Miller to oppose the Phillies Joe Blanton.
In other news…The Marlins placed left-hander Renyel Pinto on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with left elbow inflammation.
Braves third baseman Chipper Jones remains on the bench with a sprained right big toe.
And finally, Phillies reliever JC Romero will be able to return next week from his 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs.
For more news, notes, analysis and statistics from around Major League Baseball, be sure to visit Baseball Daily Digest.
Tagged MetsBlog, News |
