Daily Archives: August 1, 2009
The Mets defeated the Diamondbacks by the score of 9-6 tonight at Citi Field.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
Despite the walks, somehow Oliver Perez was able to hang in for five innings, but he was typically erratic, throwing 112 pitches, and allowed 11 baserunners.
Perez did strike out seven batters which helped put out numerous fires for the enigmatic lefty.
Angel Pagan had a huge night including a grand slam in the eighth inning, five total RBI and the first grand slam of his career.
Interestingly enough, Manuel used Tim Redding in the seventh inning, but he only pitched 1/3 of an inning.
Mark Reynolds hit a monstruous home run into the second deck, in left center field off of Brian Stokes in the ninth inning and he also made a highlight reel catch on the third base tarp in foul territory.
Tonight marked Francisco Rodriguez‘s first save since the All-Star Break.
Other Observations and Notes:
Alex Cora is red hot – 7 for his last 14.
When Pagan is healthy, he always seems to be a major contributor, the key is keeping him on the field.
David Wright, along with the crowd and anyone watching on TV, seemed to have fallen asleep on Perez and did not cover third base during the fifth inning when Gerardo Parra and Mark Reynolds executed a double steal.
The Mets continue their series against the Diamondbacks tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 pm with Mike Pelfrey facing Jon Garland.
Prior to tonight’s game, Jerry Manuel told reporters that Monday’s starter will either be Tim Redding or someone from Triple-A.
Manuel would prefer not to have Johan Santana pitch on three days rest to face Diamondbacks’ Dan Haren.
Tagged Tim Redding |
Earlier today, Carlos Beltran participated in the team’s batting practice on the field and hit from both sides of the plate in a 20-minute session.
After the session, Jerry Manuel told reporters that he looked very good during batting practice but it was more of an exercise to see if he could get through the session without any discomfort.
Manuel also told reporters that the next step for Billy Wagner will be rest today and tomorrow, followed by another inning of work, and then possibly pitch back-to-back days.
Finally, Gary Sheffield is expected to return from the disabled list tomorrow.
The Mets (49-53) will play the second game of their four game series against the Diamondbacks (45-58) tonight at Citi Field.
Angel Pagan will lead off, followed by Luis Castillo, David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Cory Sullivan, Alex Cora, and Brian Schneider.
Oliver Perez (2-3, 7.42 ERA) will pitch for the Mets.
Max Scherzer (6-6, 3.61 ERA) will pitch for the Diamondbacks.
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |
Speaking of the trade deadline…
In 2004, on the trade deadline, Mets GM Jim Duquette traded a 20–year-old LHP Scott Kazmir to the Rays for Victor Zambrano, who had gone 21-17 in the previous two seasons.
Kazmir had been 25–17 with a 3.49 ERA in 358 innings, during which he struck out 405 batters.
However, this season, in which he has spent time on the disabled list, he is just 4–6 with a 6.69 ERA, and just 58 strike outs.
…and, of course, zambrano was last seen hopping in pain off the mound in Shea Stadium, in what has got to be the most bizarre exit from a team ever…
This afternoon on MLB Network, Duquette was asked why he made this deal, to which he responded:
“I’m still answering questions about the Kazmir trade. It was six years ago… Kazmir, here’s a guy that what we talked about in the evaluation he turned out exactly like we thought; his stuff, his makeup, his desire, all the things that Kazmir turned out to be we had right… What we didn’t have right was the guy we got back, Victor Zambrano. In that, when you’re sitting in the GM chair, and you’re going, ‘What were we looking at, what were our scouts looking at.’ It ended up, he was broken.”
…like i said the other day, the buzz around kazmir is that his elbow may be a ticking time-bomb, and that he may not put in the effort to raise himself from this level pitcher to the next level… i guess what duquette is saying is that, it is these concerns that were of concern to the Mets… and so, today, duquette is comfortable with how they evaluated him… in addition, though he is confused by recommendations made to him about zambrano, he believes zambrano was damaged goods when they got it…
The 25–year-old Kazmir will earn $20 million through 2011, after which he could become a free agent.
Tagged Scott Kazmir |Brian Schneider missed his third straight game last night due to a knee injury.
…the buzz from Citi Field yesterday suggested he would be back in the starting lineup either today or tomorrow…
…in addition, the Mets may activate Gary Sheffield from the disabled list this weekend, as well…
…it could not come at a better time, because the bench is super weak…
Last night, Angel Berroa pinch hit for Livan Hernandez and grounded out with the bases loaded in the sixth.
Following the game, Hernandez said, ‘I think we made a bad decision,’ regarding Manuel’s choice to pinch hit Berroa.
…ouch… but, he might be right… i mean, manuel’s bench has been so weak of late, livan has been taking batting practice every day because he, a starting pitcher batting .135, is consider a legit option for offense from the bench…
Last night, with no outs, a runner on first and the game tied, Sean Green hit the first batter he faced, then walked Mark Reynolds to load the bases.
Following a double play, Green threw a wild pitch allowing the D-Backs to the score the go-ahead run.
…green was booed pretty hard after getting the final out, and walking from the mound to the dugout…
“I threw a fastball in the dirt and it got away,” Green explained. ‘My command was subpar, to say the least.”
Green had not allowed a run to score in each of his previous eight outings.
…Bobby Parnell was clearly unavailable, because he pitched in both games the day before during the double-header… Brian Stokes and Pedro Feliciano had already been used… Tim Redding is being held aside, i think, because he’s most likely going to start on Monday… this means, only Pat Misch or Francisco Rodriguez were available to pitch in relief of green… misch has not been good, allowing seven hits in his last three appearances… frankly, i, too, would have trusted green to get out of his own mess over misch… in other words, the only option was to use rodriguez, but it was a tie game at the time…
…manuel’s mistake, if he must be charged with one, would be using both feliicano and stokes in the seventh inning… in the end, the mistake is not on manuel using or sticking with green, it’s in green for not executing his pitches…
In case you missed it…
To watch SNY.TV’s Post Game Extra, featuring clips from the game; quotes from Jerry Manuel and analysis from Ron Darling Gary Cohen, see the video player in the sidebar of MetsBlog.com.
Tagged Sean Green |
Billy Wagner pitched a perfect seventh inning while striking out two batters for Single-A St. Lucie last night.
…from what i can gather, wagner will likely pitch in several rehab games before being promoted to the Mets…i keep hearing, ‘it was a major surgery, and he needs to go slow,’ despite wagner’s wish to speed it up…
…that said, it does sound like he’ll be back before any one else, which is amazing…
