Daily Archives: June 24, 2009
Livan Hernandez pitched seven innings last night, and allowed two earned runs and eight hits, while walking and striking out three, during a loss to the Cardinals in Citi Field.
…he’s really only had one bad start since the middle of May… otherwise, he’s been pretty even-keel, just going out and doing his thing like a total professional… most important, on a night when Joel Pineiro was shutting down the Mets, livan did a good job keeping the team within striking distance…
Hernandez is 5–2 with a 4.05 ERA in 14 starts, during which the Mets are 7–7.
…the big mistake came in the seventh inning, when, with two outs, and two on, and Albert Pujols on deck, livan walked Chris Duncan… i was actually surprised Jerry Manuel left livan in to pitch to pujols with the bases loaded - seeing as Brian Stokes had been successful the night before in a similar situation… naturally, pujols singled to center field, and knocked in the Cardinals third run… on one hand, stokes had success the night before… on the other hand, pujols is a smart hitter, and what are the chances stokes was going to get him again… also, livan did get pujols to strike out in his previous at bat, plus got him to fly out earlier in the game…
In case you missed last night’s game…
Click here, to watch SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra from last night’s loss to the Cardinals, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel, and analysis from Ron, Keith and Gary.
Last night, the Mets had just two hits, and scored no runs, against 
Cardinals RHP Joel Pineiro, who pitched nine innings and allowed only one runner to reach second base.
…pineiro was rocking a nasty slider, and was seemingly always ahead in the count… the Mets just kept topping it over and over again, all night… in fact, of the 29 batters the Mets sent to the plate, 21 hit the ball on the ground… incredible… i mean, he put on a ground-ball clinic, basically, and i hope Mike Pelfrey was watching…
“I know I’m going to throw the sinker,” Pineiro said, as quoted by the Post-Dispatch. “If I have that pitch working, it’s going to make the slider better, the changeup better… That’s what Dave Duncan says before every game, ‘Have a good sinker. Keep it down.’”
…exactly… did you get that, mike…
“The sinker, that’s what he threw, here it is, hit it,” Daniel Murphy explained to reporters after the game. “And we didn’t do a very good job. I know personally, I didn’t. I had four ABs that looked just like each other, and not in a good way… We just didn’t attack him the right way today.”
Following the game, David Wright said:
“When you’ve got a sinker-ball guy, who’s throwing the ball where he wants to and keeping it down, it’s tough to elevate and really tough to do a lot with… It’s tough to make adjustments when he’s got a game plan and he’s sticking to it, and he’s executing it… There’s nothing we could have done more other than try to find some holes, and that wasn’t happening tonight… When a sinker-ball pitcher is on you beat it in to the ground and hope for the best.”
…the Mets had a tough time against pineiro in April, too, as he executed the same game plan then… so, clearly, the Mets have a hard time with this guy… add him to the list of Mets Killers…
In case you missed last night’s game…
Click here, to watch SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra from last night’s loss to the Cardinals, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel, and analysis from Ron, Keith and Gary.
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