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The Mets lost to the Phillies by the score of 4-to-1 this afternoon.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
Fernando Nieve was inconsistent with his pitch location, allowing 4 runs, 3 earned on six hits, but also walked 6 batters, but he did last into the sixth inning.
Jamie Moyer, on the other hand threw just 87 pitches in 6 1/3 innings, allowing six total baserunners.
The lineup, with the exception of Alex Cora, was silent for the second consecutive day, scattering 6 hits and scoring their lone run on an RBI single hit by Nieve in the top of the 5th inning.
The 3-4-5-6 hitters in the Mets lineup were a combined 0 for 16.
A defensive meltown in the sixth inning which included David Wright giving up on a pop up, Omir Santos dropped popup, and Nick Evans not coming out to cut off an errant throw from Ryan Church ended Nieve’s day.
Other Observations and Notes:
I can take losing when the starting pitcher gets hammered, or a tough 2-1-type game, but no injury can excuse the inability to play fundamental baseball.
One bright spot was the bullpen as they continue to throw strikes, allowing 3 hits in 2 1/3 innings.
The Mets conclude their series with the Phillies tomorrow afternoon with Johan Santana facing Joe Blanton.
Wow, that win against Pittsburgh sure was big. The ugly Mets show up again. Cora being doubled off on a line drive, two consecutive missed pop ups, no cut-off men. I don’t mind losing, but please play the game the right way. I have said it before, the way this team plays on the field is fully reflected on their manager. He expects that the players play fundamentally sound baseball, i don’t want a manager that expects their players to play fundamentally sound, I want a manager that demands that his players play fundamentally sound ball.
And maybe I am just really frustrated, but David Wright just gets on my nerves. His at-bats today were atrocious and his fielding, especially his throwing, has been awful lately. Could he just stop with the whole leadership thing, just go out have fun and play ball.
Agreed, what wil, we say when Wrights lne at the end of the seaosn is .320, 12 HR’s, 90 RBI and 162 strikeouts.,
I won’t be happy with that. Batting average is an empty stat. I want to see production. I rather him hit 290 but hit between 25 and 30 homers and have more than 100 RBIs. And the whole CitiField excuse is overblown, other teams have not had any problems hitting homeruns at Citi.
I am tired of heraring the CitiField excuse, he has as more Homeruns at Citi than on the road wheer he has 2 and 3 at Citi I think.
agreed 100%
I loved HoJo back in the day, but he should have been fired 2 years ago with Rick Peterson.
And the fielding is terrible. Absolutely terrible. It’s like watching a little league team play. No discipline.
What happened to all those drills the coaching staff initiated in ST to get down the fundamentals?
Fire everybody.
It is a lot easier for the bullpen to pitch well when there is no pressure, like a 4-1 deficit and no chance that the Mets will come back. To me that is similar to hitting a homerun losing 6-1 in the ninth.
So you’d much rather them just rollover and play dead?
That comment never made sense to me.
What were they supposed to do? Throw gopher balls, or would rather they walk everyone in the park?
I could pile on about jerry and omar and the fundamentals, but it really wouldnt matter…it just comes down to this team having 2 or 3 guys who A. belong on the major league level and B. actually playing there position….the mets dont have a LFer on there roster…40 year old sheff isnt a good enough OFer to play there and he has to sit practically 1 out of every 3 days…there 2B cant hit to save his life and isnt that great defensively anymore…there 1B are all right now average at best…and even tho cora had 3 hits today hes practically a hole in the 1 or 2 spot in the lineup.
To pretty much sum it up….Omar needs to get someone for LF..and a legit LFer…and with fmart hurt now..that might of taken his value down…but id like to see them try to grind it out and win as many games as possible…but u cant keep playing with only 2 or 3 guys who belong in the starting lineup….wright, church, kindof sheff, and schneider of late are the only ones who would even be playing on a good portion of all the other major league teams…cora, castillo, murph, santos, even tatis all arent major league hitters, so until this team gets healthy and omar acquires a bat to be the every day LFer, preferably Holliday because he can hit and play some D and is right-handed, its gunna be hard to expect anything different. There is no point in getting annoyed or frustrated because the talent just isnt there right now and guys who normally are solid are getting exposed like crazy.
Mets need Johan to throw a gem tomorrow otherwise they are getting swept out of philly
If Alex Rios can be had for a couple of AA prospects, it’s a crime that Omar either won’t or can’t (because of the Wilpons) make a trade for him.
Look at Rios’s numbers…his OPS had declined for three consectuive years. He is no longer a very productive player…he is not much better than Francouer. He will add nothing. What’s the point of giving up anyone for him? You take a look at his numbers and tell me what you see that makes him worth trading for? We’ll be no better with him. Dunn is another matter.
You can say the same thing about Holliday and people are willing to trade the farm for him, even though he’s a FA next year and will be represented by Bora$. Rios is a comparable alternative, is under contract for 4 years and will cost peanuts in prospects compared to Holliday.
As for Dunn, the main problem I have with him is that he’s yet another lefty and that his defense is atrocious. Plus the Nats asking price is astronomical by all accounts. If they can get him for Murphy and an AA pitcher, great. But there’s been no indication that Nats are looking to sell him cheaply. And I do wonder why Omar never seriously considered him during the offseason was he was available at a relatively bargain basement price.
Two words: Adam Dunn.
No, he’s not a savior, but his bat is needed. But wait, “let’s not sacrifice the future!”
What future? You mean the .245 hitting Daniel Murphy? Or the potential back-end starters like Jon Niese and Dillon Gee? Or maybe you mean Eddie Kunz, who projects as a setup man at best, which are so unpredictable it isn’t even funny?
Trading any combination of the above isn’t going to sacrifice the future, it’s going to help it. If anything, the Mets have a 1B after this season when Delgado takes a hike, and his bat will strike fear in all NL East pitchers in between hitters like Beltran and Wright.
This team obviously needs a bat to help them at least stay afloat until their stars return, and Dunn is that guy. Nobody thought the Nats would trade Milledge, but they did, didn’t they? That just goes to show you that anything these GMs say is nonsense…Dunn can be had.
while i agree dunn is a big bat that this team is lacking…i think u need to get a right-handed bat and a guy who is at least servicable on defense…this really is getting comical how bad this team is defensively….
As far as Alex Rios…pretty sure ive read that they have no interest in a contract as ridiculous as his
If you think Rios’ contract is ridiculous, just wait until you hear what Bora$ will demand for Holliday with the Sox and Yanks in the market for a LFer.
Trade Castillo for Rios. LOL
Stupid errors when made a consistent basis –which this team has done all year long– is a direct reflection on the manager. He has created an atmosphere where mistakes are tolerated, apologized for and rationalized away. Hoiw lovely that our latest edition of Keystone Kops ball took place on national day on July 4th.
And his limp “I think they’re trying” quote after today’s game is evidence of his atmosphere.
You can get back Beltran, Reyes, Delgado and the others. You can acquire Dunn or Rios or anybody.
But if you continue to play sloppy, embarassing and shockingly bad baseball it doesn’t make a damned bit of difference if any of those guys are back….the losing will continue. I will be glad when we are done with the Jerry Manuel Show, which is a very tired act. I of course do not excuse the players who make these stupid mistakes. But I reserve the greatest blame for the clownish manager who presides over it all.
Well said Chiefman. We need a general manager who knows how to put a complete team together just not plug holes and we need a manager who doesn’t expect his players to play fundamentally sound, but who demands that they play fundamentally sound and if they don’t get them out of the lineup.
ditas, do you think the Wilpon’s will replace Minaya with someone out of the organization? I agree with both of you it’s time for some new faces, but I fear that wont happen.
I wish they would. The organization needs to be stripped down from top to bottom, but who knows. Sometimes I wish that these owners would be a little more like the Steinbrenners and come out and say something, it seems like they don’t even exist.
I wish they would to. If at nothing else, just say they (The Wilpon’s) are embarassed with the shape the organization isin.
Seeing as the Wilpons just signed Omar to a 4 year extension during the offseason, I doubt he’s going anywhere. On the whole I agree with his strategy of not selling the farm for a rental. But it also seems he’s not able to spend money either.
Jerry is another matter. I pray that he and the entire coaching staff and trainers will be let go come November.
I hear the “Fire Minaya” line on here alot. While I agree it may be time for Omar to go, I fear that the Wilpon’s will replace him with Tony Bernazard. Which to me is the same as replacing Willie Randolph with Jerry Manuel. If Omar has to go, and he probably does, then clean out everyone else. I fear that wont happen and we may be stuck.
your right, i think Tony B would take Omar’s spot, and id rather Omar stay over him…but lets not get too ahead of ourselves…i know we are all tired of seeing this garbage they present nearly all the time…but no matter how bad they are, does anyone really think they will fall so far out that the season still wont be in the balance, you know its gunna come down to the last 2 weeks of september again…and if the mets get swept tomorrow…i wouldnt be shocked to see omar overpay to get a big bat for LF and get some life into this team…and that would be the first step in turning this ship back in the right direction
I hear what your saying, but I’m not believing.
While the continuing lack of fundamental play is still disturbing, no amount of foul balls caught cleanly can atone for such a pathetic offensive showing against Jamie freaking Moyer. Who cares if the sloppy 6th cost them a run – this game was basically over at 1-0.
I guess the Mets figure most Americans don’t work on July 4, so why should they?
Yeah, but the rest of Americans go back to work on Monday. What are the Mets’ excuse gonna be then?
Everyone on this site has someone else to blame (And I’m not at all saying that’s wrong). Jerry. Omar. Poor D. No bats. Hitting. I’ll say this, at least the Mets are playing team ball, as in they are all screwing up together.
The frustration of this season continues. And this may be unfair but, despite all the injuries we have had to deal with, in watching most of the games this season, I have no doubt that we would be in first place if Wright was playing like the superstar that he’s supposed to be. He’s a gold glover but his fielding this year has been atrocious. He has repeatedly failed to even make productive outs. Besides the Ks, I would be curious to see how many foul outs/pop outs he has. It just seems like he’s making poor contact most of the time. I know he’s a streak hitter but we’re halfway through the season. And I don’t see this as a function of opposing teams pitching around him because he’s getting pitches to hit. He’s just missing them.
Most of the other players are being thrust into playing more often than expected or being in the bigs period because of injuries and it’s unrealistic to expect that much from them. We have every right to expect more from Wright because he’s supposed to be one of the elite players in the game and he hasn’t been playing like one. This is the time that the true elite players prove themselves and he’s failing. It hurts to say it because I’m a huge DW fan but it is what it is.
That said, I will still be hanging on his every AB tomorrow hoping that it’s the game he kicks it into high gear and praying that Santana gets back to form. We need it and just can’t get swept by the Phils.
Wright-bashing accomplishes nothing. You can’t expect superhuman deeds from him. he is a very good player…he is not a god. No one player can carry this team. I am as sick of his strikeouts as you are. But he’s not the reason we suck.
We suck because of injuries, horrendous fundamentals on the bases and on defense, a terible manager, and a handful of trades and poor free agent signings that stuck us for a few years with overpaid underperformers. I think we overvalue some of our prospects, too.
In my humble opinion; D.W. is Scottie Pippen, the problem is that we’re missing M.J.
D.W. is a fine All Star, but until he turns the corner and learns how to win, he will always be a second fiddle.
There is nothing wrong w/ that, it’s just we’re looking to him as if he were able to carry the club like a Agee,
Strawberry, Piazza, Beltran, Delgado, and he can’t.
I am a little late in my comments but…
Why are we on D Wright? The HRs are down but the man is going to drive in over 100 runs and he has had a lot of clutch hits this season. He is not ther reason we are losing. We just have to many injuries. And stop blaming omar. For go sake we lost the best CF in the game, our #4 hitter, our spark plug and in some ways the heart of this team, our #3 and #4 starters and our setup man. What do you expect????? Its not his or Jerrys fault (I hate Jerry by the way).
Fact is we have no choice but to wait till the 2nd half. There is a lot of baseball and we are not out of it until sept. People want Omar to “make a trade” like its so simple. Like people in the league want Gee, Niese and Muprhy. Come on guys. To get someone like Holliday its going to cost Fmart and your #2 & #3 prospects. Thats too much. And we also have no idea Rios is actually available and what the asking price is. There is also future impact, what his terrible contract will look like in a year, and quite possibly the bluejays and mets see a player not worth the $12 million he is getting.
Relax people. We can’t get upset at these losses. We have to suck it up for 2 to 3 weeks and see how we look then. 3 weeks ago people said we need to make a deal before we get buried. 3 weeks later, we are not buried. Calm down, the world aint crashing.
I agree that it’s not worth making a trade for the guys rumored to be available for the asking prices that have been publicly suggested. In this very difficult season, we are very fortunate to be in an incredibly mediocre division, which has allowed us to still be in it. We’d be buried in some of the other divisions.
I disagree that DW isn’t one of the reasons we’re losing. DW’s reputation as one of the best players in the game doesn’t actually match his on field performance this year. He shouldn’t be immune from criticism. He’s currently on pace for 10 hrs and 85 rbis, while striking out over 160 times. Not great numbers from a power position.
It just seems that many here are very quick to blindly defend him where, from my standpoint, he shoulders as much responsibility as any other player for the sub par play this year. (Omar and Jerry are a totally different story). Despite the injuries, we’re still in it and can survive until reinforcements come if DW picks up his play. It’s not like he isn’t getting opportunities due to all the replacement players in the lineup. The chances are there but in many respects he’s playing down to the quality of the rest of the roster. Especially at a time like this, we need him to elevate his play, or at least be what he’s been in past seasons.
I was at the Philly game yesterday and Wright did not give up on the pop up, Cora called him off and he gave up on it, and clearly gave Wright the mea culpa hand on the heart gesture.