Daily Archives: June 10, 2009
The Mets lost to the Phillies tonight by the score of 5 to 4 in 11 innings.
For a complete recap, boxscore and stats, go here.
The Least You Should Know:
- Mike Pelfrey outpitched Cole Hamels tonight, going six innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits. He did allow a home run to Chase Utley that was a clone of last night’s shot to right-center, but otherwise had his sinker working pretty well.
- David Wright is hitting everything and notched his 15th and 16th stolen bases. He had 15 all of last year.
- In the fourth inning with the bases loaded, Pelfrey, who had two hits on the night including a double off the wall, had an RBI single. Then, Castillo dunked a ball into right field to score Ryan Church. Alex Cora then singled to score Omir Santos. Carlos Beltran tried to beat out a double play, and actually did, but the umpire called him out. Apparently everyone but the umpire knew he was safe.
- Carlos Beltran made a rare misplay in the seventh on a fly ball off the wall.
- Sean Green came in from the bullpen with the score of 4-1 and promptly gave up an RBI to Pedro Feliz. A hurrying Wright then flubbed a grounder to allow Carlos Ruiz to score. Jayson Werth later scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the game.
- Pedro Feliciano retired Utley, Howard, and Ibanez in order in the eighth inning and continues to impress.
- With runners on first and second in the ninth, Luis Castillo sharply grounded out to Chan Ho Park, sending it to extra innings.
- K-Rod strongly pitched scoreless ninth and tenth frames.
- Jayson Werth kept the game alive with an amazing catch on a David Wright line drive that would have scored the winning Mets run. Bobby Parnell came in to pitch the 11th, and Utley greeted him with a home run to give the Phils an insurmountable 5-4 lead.
Other Observations and Notes:
- Win or lose, I love the way the Mets are playing right now. They seem completely focused on the task at hand, and Citi Field seems to have finally come alive. Still disappointing to let this one get away though.
- Umpires continue to blow calls at an alarming rate.
- The Mets left the population of Rhode Island on base tonight.
- Great job by Cora in the fourth to emulate Jimmy Rollins‘ take-out slide from last night. However, Greg Dobbs set a new record for distance from second on a slide in the fifth inning. I always thought the runner had to be somewhere near the bag, unreal.
- Utley called time in the sixth inning, and Pelfrey didn’t like his timing. Pelf seemed pretty angry over the next couple pitches, so David Wright wisely came in to settle him down.
- Jeremy Reed is an excellent defensive replacement.
Tim Redding faces off against Jamie Moyer in the rubber game of the series tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m.
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
Tonight’s Game:
The Mets (31-25, 18-9 Home) continue their three-game series against the first-place Phillies (33-23, 21-9 Road) tonight at Citi Field, starting at 7:10 p.m.
On The Mound:
- RHP Mike Pelfrey (4-2, 4.85 ERA) starts for the Mets. Pelfrey allowed a career-high nine runs, eight earned, over 3.2 IP in his previous start on June 4 versus the Pirates. Left-handed batters are hitting .298 with 4 HR against Pelfrey this season. Pelfrey earned a victory in his last start versus the Phillies on May 7, allowing three runs over 7.0 IP. He is 3-2 with a 4.19 ERA in six career starts versus the Phillies.
- LHP Cole Hamels (4-2, 4.40 ERA) takes the hill for the Phillies. In his last start on June 4 versus the Dodgers Hamels threw a complete game shutout, striking out five. After finishing April with a 7.27 ERA, Hamels has lowered his ERA to 4.40 in his last six starts. Hamels, who is 1-3 with a 3.79 ERA in six games versus the Mets, has not faced the Mets since May of 2008.
The Lineup:
- Luis Castillo, 2B (.000 in 3 at-bats versus Hamels)
- Alex Cora, SS (.000, 1 K in 1 at-bat versus Hamels)
- Carlos Beltran, CF (.278, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 K in 18 at-bats versus Hamels)
- Gary Sheffield, LF (has never faced Hamels)
- David Wright, 3B (.294, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 6 K in 17 at-bats versus Hamels)
- Fernando Tatis, 1B (.000 in 3 at-bats versus Hamels)
- Ryan Church, RF (.300, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K in 20 at-bat versus Hamels)
- Omir Santos, C (has never faced Hamels)
- Mike Pelfrey, P
Notes:
- The Mets bullpen leads the National League with a 2.91 ERA this season.
- Alex Cora is batting .339 with 10 runs scored and five doubles over his last 17 games.
- The Mets are 18-8 when they hit a homerun this season.
- Ryan Howard is batting .357 with 1 HR and 2 RBI in 14 career at-bats versus Pelfrey.
- The Phillies lead the league with a .991 fielding percentage this season.
- Ryan Madson has not allowed a run in his last 12 appearances. He has allowed 17 runs in 54.1 IP versus the Mets in his career.
Tonight’s Broadcast:
- Tonight’s broadcast can be seen locally on SNY and heard on WFAN.
According to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post, on Twitter, the Mets have signed Chip Ambres, who will be assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.
Update, 4:00 pm:
Jerry Manuel will use the same lineup tonight as last night, with Luis Castillo leading off, then Alex Cora, Carlos Beltran, Gary Sheffield, David Wright, Fernando Tatis, Ryan Church, Omir Santos and Mike Pelfrey.
Update, 4:25 pm:
Prior to the game, Manuel said he had no problem with Cole Hamels‘s remarks about his team being ‘choke artists,’ like he told WFAN last winter.
“That’s good for baseball,” he said, about the comment.
Update, 4:29 pm:
Manuel said he had no problem with Johan Santana‘s actions last night when he was told to come out of the game.
Manuel said Santana did not make a plea to stay in the game.
Update, 4:33 pm:
Manuel said Alex Cora is a vocal leader for this club, noting he has done ‘a lit of different things for this club.’
He said he prefers to have Luis Castillo bat leadoff against a left-handed pitcher, but likes Cora hitting leadoff against a righty.
Update, 5:42 pm:
J. J. Putz is talking with reporters at his locker, with his arm in a sling.
This morning, WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton announced today they were recently asked by the Mets to submit four songs to replace Sweet Caroline during the eighth inning in Citi Field.
…oh, jeez, this again… ok, fine… let’s see what we’ve got…
Carton, Esiason and their staff selected the ‘Curly Shuffle,’ ‘Blame it on the Boogie,’ ‘I Like it Like That,’ and ‘Mama Said Knock You Out,’ to join the organization’s selections, which include ‘Meet the Mets,’ ‘Twist and Shout,’ ‘This Land is Your Land,’ and ‘Shout.’
According to Carton, the eight choices will up for vote on Mets.com at some point in the next week or so.
…again, why does there have to be sing a long in the first place… and why do we need to go through this every season… just play Meet the Mets… or don’t… or, frankly, at this point, play Sweet Caroline, play the theme to MASH, whatever, just pick something…
…hey, here’s a song idea: Watch the Game… how about that one… how about you stop distracting me with songs, and trivia, and t-shirts, and let me actually watch the game, and talk to my father about the situation at hand without having to shout over the public address system… just a suggestion…
Tagged MetsBlog |On February 12th, I posted about my campaign to raise money this season for the American Cancer Society in honor of the five year anniversary of my father’s passing due to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
For every home run the New York Mets hit this season, I will be donating $5 to the ACS.
As a quick update, I have already raised nearly $2,600, due mostly in part to members of the Metsblog community, and for that I am extremely grateful.
Although last night’s game helped, I have an overall goal of raising $5,000, but I can’t reach it alone.
Please help me ‘Knock Cancer Outta Here!,’ and reach my goal before season’s end on October 4th. All contributions go to the ACS and will help to fund many cancer-related programs and research.
All the details are on my ACS sponsored site, so please go there for more information.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and Let’s Go Mets!
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
Here is the latest New York Baseball Today, during which Ted Berg talks with Pete McCarthy of MLB.com about the stat of the day, revised zone ratings, and how it pertains to tonight’s Mets and Yankees games:
Tagged News |
To watch today’s edition of The Nooner, go to TheNoonerBlog.com.
On TheJetsBlog.com, Brian Bassett has notes from yesterday’s training camp session.
John Fennelly from Giants Football Blog takes a closer look at the 2009 schedule for the New York Giants.
And lastly, on SnyRangersBlog.com, Adam Rotter reports on a poll being held at NewYorkRangers.com about the most “raucous” moment in Rangers history.
Tagged News |
Josh Johnson was impressive once again for Florida, tossing seven strong innings, and Jeremy Hermida’s launched a game winning home run as the Marlins rallied to beat the Cardinals on Tuesday, 4-3.
With the score tied at three in the ninth inning, Hermida hit a solo shot off Jason Motte to give Florida the walk-off win in the opener of the three game series in Miami.
Emilio Bonifacio also had 2 hits and 3 RBI for the Marlins.
The Braves were held without an extra base hit last night, but Derek Lowe kept his team in the game, and shortstop Yunel Escobar drove in two runs to lead Atlanta to a 4-3 victory over Pittsburgh.
Escobar also collected three hits and scored a run while Lowe gave up three runs on seven hits over seven innings.
The first two Atlanta victories of this series have been one-run affairs.
Elijah Dukes and Cristian Guzman each hit solo home runs, but that wasn’t enough for Washington as the Reds nipped the Nationals, 3-2.
Ross Detwiler took the loss for Washington, who has now dropped eight of their last ten. The rookie left-hander allowed three runs on five hits while striking out six in six innings of work.
In other news…The 2009 MLB First Year Player Draft kicked off on Tuesday, and the Washington Nationals picked San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the first overall selection.
…Here’s a complete Strasburg scouting report according to MLB.com
For more news, notes, analysis and statistics from around Major League Baseball, be sure to visit Baseball Daily Digest.
Tagged MetsBlog, News |With the 72nd overall pick in the MLB draft yesterday, the Mets selected fellow Long Island native Steven Matz out of Ward Melville High School.
The official Mets press release at Mets.com gives more info on Matz, as well as their second pick, 21-year old Robert Shields.
At Mets Today, they write, “The Mets need all the young arms they can find, and Steven Matz would provide both a legit talent and a good story to follow.”
Also, Adam Rubin of the Daily News quotes the Director of amateur scouting, Rudy Terrasas:
“He’s got three pitches: fastball, curveball, changeup. Just like any typical high school player, he just needs some time and experience on the mound. He pitches anywhere from 89 to 93, but he settles in around 90 mph. But, again, there’s projection left with this kid.”
Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger says, “Shields hit .345, with five homers, two triples, 19 doubles, 37 RBI and 10 steals in 57 games this season. He hit .329 over his three-year career and started 167 games. He was a second-team all-Sunshine State Conference selection as a sophomore.”
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
The Mets bullpen has not allowed a run in their last 13 innings of work, including two scoreless innings last night from Robert Parnell, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez.
This season, Rodriguez is 16 for 16 in save opportunities, and has allowed just two earned runs in 27.2 innings, during which opponents have struck out 31 times and are hitting .152 against him.
Jerry Manuel, speaking about Rodriguez’s influence on the bullpen, while talking to reporters after the game:
“He is the piece, he is the guy, he doesn’t panic… Again, he just has tremendous instincts with great stuff, and it makes him so effective. If something isn’t clicking that night, he has enough of an arsenal to find something else.”
…he was making me nervous last night, because he was throwing more off-speed pitch after off-speed pitch… i could be wrong, but i think he entered the game, and tossed two change-ups and a curve ball to start off Jimmy Rollins, who eventually hit a single… but, what do i know… i mean, clearly he has a plan, makes necessary adjustments and reads hitters as well as anyone… i joke around about him being an adventure, but i think it may be by design… i don’t think he gets enough credit for how smart he is out there…
He is 4 for 4 in save opportunities against the Phillies.
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