Daily Archives: June 19, 2009
This morning, at Mets Minor League Blog, Toby Hyde recaps all of yesterday’s Mets minor-league action.
In Double-A Binghamton, C Josh Thole had a big day going 3 for 5 
driving in two runs, while Nick Evans went 2-4 and hit his third home run of the season in a 11-9 loss.
Single-A Savannah received a good start from LHP Robert Carson, who pitched six innings of one-run ball, striking out four for the win.
In 13 starts, Carson is 4-5 with a 2.63 ERA and has only allowed only one home run.
Thole is now leading the Eastern League in average, batting .350 on the season.
For more, check out Toby’s Mets Minor League Blog.
Tagged News |
Livan Hernandez pitched seven innings last, he allowed two runs and eight hits, in his seventh quality start of the season.
Hernandez had a cramp in his right arm, which he attributed to the humidity, that brought the team’s trainers out to the mound in the seventh inning.
He remained in the game, and was removed before the start of the eighth, having thrown 100 pitches.
…he set down eight of the last nine hitters he faced, so i realize the temptation to keep him in the game… i realize he downplayed the cramp, but, given the injuries on this team, i would have pulled him from the game as well… Sean Green had been good of late, i still trust Pedro Feliciano against lefties, and so to make the decision to risk livan’s arm, assuming green and feliciano would fail, is not fair… manuel pulled him, pedro and green combined to let up a run, and it didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right call at the time…
The Mets are 6–3 in games started by Hernandez against team’s below .500, and 1–3 in games against team’s above .500.
Last night, in a loss to the Orioles, Francisco Rodriguez walked Adam Jones to force in a run, after which Aubrey Huff hit a line drive to right field to score the winning, walk-off run.
…a) hello, huff… i will say this: he has to 
know he’s being observed by Mets people, sort of like an audition, and i think it says a lot that he’s just playing his game, hitting, back-to-back walk-off hits, etc…
…b) the common talking point today seems to be: well, you can’t get all over K-Rod because he’s been so good this season… this is true… i buy this… no one loss is on a single person anyway…
Last night was the second-straight game Rodriguez walked in a run.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, courtesy of ESPN.com, he walked in a run only twice in his previous 150 appearances.
Rodriguez, talking to reporters after the game, said:
“Well, I’m a human being. So, unfortunately days like this are going to happen. Today, unfortunately, it happened to me. I’ve just got to move on… It was an awful, awful outing and I didn’t get the job done… I’ve just got to be ready for tomorrow, make sure I get I get the save tomorrow.”
Rodriguez walked five batters in his last four appearances, but walked just five hitters in the 15 appearances before that.
“At some point, he’s not going to be perfect,” Jerry Manuel told reporters following the game . “He had good arm strength. The command just wasn’t quite what he wanted to be. Every now and then that’s going to happen, even to a guy that’s as special as he’s been for us… He’s been able to walk that tightrope here occasionally. Tonight it just didn’t happen his way.”
…he flirts with disaster a lot… not because he puts guys on base, but because he works out of the strike zone a lot… even when he has his best stuff… this is what helps him be successful, because when guys do make contact, he rarely gets hit hard… the last week or so, though, guys have been taking pitches, and they’re not even close, it seems, and so he’s walking a lot of hitters…
In a recap for Mets Today, Joe Janish writes, “I’ve decided to view Mets games in the same way I do college basketball — which is, don’t bother watching until the final minutes, when the game is ultimately decided.”
Rodriguez is 1–2 with 17 saves in 19 chances, with a 1.10 ERA in 32 innings pitched, during which opponents are batting .162 against him.
For more on Rodriguez’s outing, and last night’s loss, check out David Lennon’s report for Newsday, as well as Steve Popper’s in the Bergen Record.
Tonight, I will be attending a Viewing Party to 
watch the Mets take on the Rays at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone in New York City
According to SNY, “Drink specials, great food and fun with fellow fans, at the newly reopened Hawaiian Tropic Zone located at the corner of 49th Street and 7th Ave… Call 212.626.7312 to make a reservation.”
Tagged SNY |
Here is SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra, from last night’s loss to the Orioles, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel and Francisco Rodriguez; and analysis from Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen:
