Daily Archives: June 17, 2009
The National League East took a beating Tuesday night at the hands of the AL East.
Washington’s poor defense and shoddy relief pitching allowed New York to score twice in the seventh inning and once more in the eighth as the Yankees came from behind to defeat the Nationals, 5-3.
In Philadelphia, the Blue Jays scored once in the ninth inning off Ryan Madson to tie the game and erupted for five more runs in the tenth off Clay Condrey to stun the Phillies, 8-3.
Boston got to Florida’s Chris Volstad early and often, and starter Tim Wakefield had the knuckleball working throughout the evening as the Red Sox dominated the Marlins at Fenway Park, 8-2.
In other action, Cincinnati defeated Atlanta, 7-2. Chipper Jones broke out of his 0-for-21 five-day slump by going 3-for-4, but it wasn’t enough for the Braves to get by the Reds.
Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens pitched only 2 innings before a long rain delay ended his night early.
Before the game, the Braves activated 1B Casey Kotchman from the disabled list.
For more news, notes, analysis and statistics from around Major League Baseball, be sure to visit Baseball Daily Digest.
Tagged MetsBlog, News |
This morning, at Mets Minor League Blog, Toby Hyde recaps all of yesterday’s Mets minor-league action, including strong performances from SS Wilmer Flores, who went 1-3 with a home run, and 1b Josh Satin, who went 3-4 with two rbi’s in a win for Single-A Savannah.
Flores is now hitting .257 on the season with nine doubles in 55 games.
the 1b Satin is batting .311 for the Sand Gnats and is leading the team with 17 doubles and 41 walks.
For more, check out Toby’s Mets Minor League Blog.
Tagged News |
Today is Jerry Manuel’s one-year anniversary since being named manager of the Mets, during which he is 88–67.
His .568 winning percentage is seventh best during that span, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
…my biggest complaint with jerry this season is that he’s been very, very inconsistent with the lineup… and, i realize that may be a by-product of injury… however, the constant back-and-forth with Ryan Church, which Keith Hernandez criticized on air last night, as well as the constant rotation of shortstop, first baseman and corner outfielders, has been questionable…
Manuel talked to reporters prior to yesterday’s game, and had the following to say when asked about the inconsistent lineup and injuries:
“I can see where people say, hey, you don’t have the same lineup, he’s been inconsistent… That’s OK, I can understand that… But again, it doesn’t go without a thought process or preparation… It’s been tough, (due to injuries), because the things that you implement in spring training are designed to get the core to another level.”
…the injury issue is fair… no question… he’s probably just trying to catch lightening in a bottle, with all the constant shifting around, but i sometimes wonder if he’d be better served just assigning roles and letting these guys play it out…
In a thought-provoking, and well-written post to his blog for the New York Times, Ben Spihgel writes, among other things:
“As he promised, Manuel has helped turn the Mets into a better situational hitting team. They enter Tuesday batting .279 with runners in scoring position, tops in the N.L., and .280 with runners on base. That 80-pitch curveball drill from spring training has instilled the importance of making contact – only five teams have fewer strikeouts with runners in scoring position than the Mets – and helped Carlos Beltran become a better opposite-field hitter.”
…nice work, ben… i hadn’t seen those numbers in a while, and it’s interesting to think it could be the result of jerry’s drills… then again, it could just be…
…in the end, i think jerry has done a good job… not great, but good of course, i’d probably be being saying the same thing about Willie Randolph, or Bobby 
Valentine, or whomever else might have had the job… like i said yesterday, i find managers to be overrated… player performance is most important… so, i never feel any one decision from the manager is bigger than a player’s swing or how a pitcher is throwing… this is probably why i never write detailed post-game criticism of jerry… i guess i’m just not that smart, or i just don’t focus on it… or, at least i don’t focus on it to the extent i focus on the guy who struck out with the bases loaded, or the guy who dropped the pop fly…
…i also reject the idea that any one man can get a major-league veteran to play better fundamental baseball… these guys are professionals… they’re either good at that stuff, or they aren’t… they either trust and believe in their teammates, or they don’t… if the team is playing poor, fundamental baseball, to me, that falls more on the GM than the manager…
[poll id="269"]
In a post to Mike’s Mets, Dave Mills asks, ‘What’s a GM to do,’ with regards to prospects, injuries and the trade deadline.
Craig Kesten from Oh Murph harnesses his inner Tim Kazurinsky and reveals The Encyclopedia Of Mets Sex Terms: The 1986 Edition.
The gang from Kiner’s Korner discuss the aftermath from rivalry week.
Judge Adam Salazar, of Brooklyn Met Fan, recaps yesterday’s competition at Modell’s to win two, free season-tickets in Citi Field.
For more on last night’s win against the Orioles, check out post-game recaps from Amazin Avenue, Mets Fans Forever, Mets Merized Online, the Real Dirty, the Ropolitans, and Mets Today.
Prior to yesterday’s game, Johan Santana 
told reporters, “My knee doesn’t hurt… My knee is the last issue here.”
Yesterday, former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson told 1050 ESPN Radio, “There’s been some rumors that his knee has been bothersome.”
To listen to Peterson’s entire interview with ESPN’s Brandon Tierney, click here.
“How would he know that my knee hurts?” Santana said sarcastically, standing in front of his locker.
“That’s the question I have. It is crazy. Not even the trainers know, not even me. I didn’t know my knee hurts. Just put it that way… He’s not here… My knee doesn’t hurt. I’m being honest and realistic. My knee is the last issue here. That has nothing to do with what’s going on right now.”
Santana did acknowledge he might have been affected to by a blister and a split nail on his throwing hand, which he had been pitching with for more than a month.
“Now it’s fine,” though, he added.
…if this is true, and i’m sure it is, then it would not be crazy to think the pain and awkwardness of the blister and nail would accidentally make him adjust his delivery and give him less bite on his off-speed pitches, which require a more subtle grip… hopefully the blister and nail are no longer a problem…
Last night, in a win against the O’s, Mike Pelfrey allowed two runs and five hits through two outs in the sixth inning, before being removed with a runner on first.
Pelfrey set down the first 11 batters he faced.
…it was text-book pelfrey, and the type of game i always hope to see him throw… he was working his fastball inside, setting up 
his sinker and off speed pitches away, and getting ground balls… unfortunately, he lost command in the sixth, and struggled… but, like Jerry Manuel said after the game, every pitcher is going to have that one inning during which they lose it a bit, the question is: how does he work to limit the damage…
Pelfrey is 5–2 with a 4.56 ERA in 12 starts this season, during which the Mets are 8–4.
SNY cameras nabbed a great shot of David Wright pulling Pelfrey aside and confronting him in the dugout following the sixth inning.
“I just want to make sure he’s not satisfied with what he did tonight - that he can take it up a notch,” Wright told the Daily News.
To read more from Wright, regarding his talk with Pelfrey, read Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.
Tagged Mike Pelfrey |In the seventh inning last night, the Mets scored two runs on a dropped, over-the-shoulder pop-up by O’s 1B Aubrey Huff.
…i think it’s worth noting that Fernando Martinez was running hard on contact 
from second to score the run, since, in listening to WFAN, there are still some fans who label him a loafer because of that one place in his first few day’s of games… he’s not… he runs hard and plays hard all of the time… at least so far…
…that said, ouch, aubrey… ouch indeed… i mean, i assume this guy is essentially auditioning for the Mets, so to speak, and he commits the one crime that, for right now, is near and dear to New York’s heart… again, ouch, man…
“We’ve all been there,” David Wright said, when asked about the pop up by reporters following the game.
“I’ve dropped pop-ups. I know how tough it is when you start backpedaling and that ball starts bouncing. That’s the beautiful and sometimes the terrible thing about this game. It’s very humbling. Just when you think everything’s going good and everything’s going well, something like that happens.”
In case you missed it…
Yesterday I did a Q&A with Matt Sadler, and O’s fan and writer of Right off Russell, to learn more about Huff, who has been the subject of trade rumors, which you can check out by clicking here.
Here is SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra, from last night’s win against the O’s, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel, Mike Pelfrey and Brian Schneider; and analysis from Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen:
Newer posts →
