Daily Archives: May 27, 2009
Mets manager Jerry Manuel talked to reporters 
after yesterday’s win against the Nationals, and had the following to say about:
Gary Sheffield, who hit a three-run home run for the second consecutive day, and how he will get him rest given how well he’s hitting and how valuable he is to the lineup right now:
“Well, I’ll probably get him a recliner in the locker-room, probably get him a big soft chair, and put him in that. I call him Pops everyday, he gets a little upset, but I tell him, ‘We need ya, Pops,’ and he’s been delivering for us. It’s good to see a person at this point in his career, still be able to do the things that he’s doing, it’s really amazing.”
Livan Hernandez, and why he chose to leave him out for a complete game:
“The three-run home run is what made the difference… It gave us a little more margin for error, so to speak… So, I could afford to let Livan get a runner on, or a couple of runners on, because he had been able to get the double-play ball.”
Hernandez’s calm, confident demeanor:
“I think that’s kind of the culture of him and his brother, they’re both that way, they really love pitching and have tremendous instincts, they know when to get the ground-ball, how they’re gonna get it, where it’s gonna be hit to… I don’t think anything really phases him out there.”
Manuel mentioned he had the bullpen warring up in the eighth inning, in the event Hernandez ran in to trouble.
Last night, Livan Hernandez pitched a 
complete nine innings, and allowed just one run on nine hits while walking one and striking out six for a win against the Nationals.
“This day is about Livan,” Gary Sheffield told reporters, when asked about the three-run home run he hit during the game. “He went out there and took matters in his own hands and went the distance.”
According to Elias Sports Bureau, courtesy of ESPN.com, “Hernandez is the only active pitcher to throw a complete game for six different teams.”
He throw 127 pitches, 65 percent of which were strikes, and got three ground-ball double plays.
Jerry Manuel noted how Hernandez typically throws around 80 pitches in the bullpen, prior to the game, saying, while laughing, ‘So, he probably through around 250 pitches today.’
Hernandez has allowed two earned runs or less in four of his last five starts, during which the Mets are 4–1.
Hernandez, speaking to reporters after the game, said:
“I feel real good… This is the Livan everybody knew before… The last two years have been a difficult time, but now I’ve come back and been the same as before… Today was a day everything happened perfect: a lot of double plays and the sinker working real good.”
…he’s fun to watch against teams like the Nationals and Marlins, teams with younger, more aggressive hitters, because, when he’s on, he’s throwing 65–mph change-ups, looping curve balls and bp-style fastballs, yet he’s setting guys up, moving their feet and knees, and getting awkward swings and easy outs…
Here is SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra, from last night’s win against the Nationals, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel, Fernando Martinez and Gary Sheffield; and analysis from Ron Darling and Gary Cohen:
