Daily Archives: September 5, 2009
The Mets lost to the Cubs this afternoon by the score of 5-3 at Citi Field.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
Nelson Figueroa went six innings and took the loss, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings, but he did strikeout eight Cubs today, after striking out ten last Sunday in Chicago.
Although he only went five innings, Rich Harden allowed two runs on seven hits, but struck out ten.
Aaron Heilman made his return to New York, and in 2/3 of an inning allowed a run on two hits.
Josh Thole had two hits in his Citi Field debut for the Mets.
Cory Sullivan hit another solo home run today after hitting one last night.
Derrek Lee had a big day for the Cubs, hitting a two run home runs – one in the fifth inning to put the Cubs on top as well as a solo home run in the eighth inning.
Other Observations and Notes:
The 1-4 batters struck out ten times today while going 4 for 19 at the plate, and the Cubs struck the Mets out 13 times overall.
Up Next:
The Mets play the rubber match of their three game series against the Cubs tomorrow afternoon at Citi Field with Mike Pelfrey facing Randy Wells.
Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal is reporting that the Mets have completed the trade that sent Billy Wagner to the Red Sox.
The Mets will receive 20 year old minor-league first baseman Eddie Lora, who hit .222 in the Gulf Coast League this season.
Tagged News |
The Mets continue their series with the Cubs this afternoon at Citi Field, seeking their third win in a row.
Josh Thole will be making his Citi Field debut today and bat seventh.
Angel Pagan will lead off, followed in order by Luis Castillo, David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Cory Sullivan, Thole, and Anderson Hernandez.
Nelson Figueroa (2-3, 4.50 ERA) will start for the Mets. Figueroa is coming off of a splendid outing last Sunday in Chicago, earning a career high 10 strikeouts in seven strong innings. He is just 0-2 with a 10.79 ERA at Citi Field this season.
Rich Harden (8-8, 4.19 ERA) will start for the Cubs. Harden has been a disappointment for the Cubs this season, mainly struggling with control as he has allowed 58 walks in 129 innings. He is making his third lifetime appearance against the Mets today, and has no record in just seven innings of work.
Last night, Carlos Beltran went 0 for 3 for the Cyclones in an 8-2 loss to the Lowell Spinners at KeySpan Park.
He did play through seven innings in center field before coming out.
Beltran is expected to play again tonight for the Cyclones, and is 1 for 8 in three rehab games.
Last night, Bobby Parnell had perhaps his finest outing since being moved into the starting rotation, headlined by working out of a bases loaded, nobody out situation in the seventh inning of last night’s 6-2 win over the Cubs.
After the game, Parnell told reporters:
“It was a good feeling out there.”
…i’d have to agree…i have to say i was charged up for the first time in a long time when he was able to induce that comebacker to end the inning…
Despite the positive performance, David Wright wants Parnell to be able to find some consistency, telling reporters:
“He’s got to find that middle ground…where the highs aren’t so high and the lows aren’t so low.”
Jerry Manuel praised Parnell’s ability to get out of that bases loaded jam in the seventh inning, saying:
“I thought he had a pretty good chance because I thought he was still throwing the ball pretty well…That’s part of his maturation process. That was huge for us.”
In addition, Manuel had this to say about Parnell in general:
“He’s a guy that has a tremendous, tremendous arm…And they’re very rare.”
…he does have a great arm and it was really exciting to see him strikeout Kosuke Fukudome on a 97 mph fastball in the seventh inning, as he was around the 100-pitch mark…
…what i think the club needs to determine is whether or not he has the ability to mature, and that comes down to his mental makeup…i don’t think anyone has ever questioned the physical talent, but like a lot of players, what’s going on in his head and therefore would he be part of the solution…
Johan Santana was at Citi Field last night, three days after surgery was performed on his left elbow to remove bone chips.
Santana says that he feels better, and he jokingly told reporters:
“I told them that I’ll be ready for Tuesday, but they don’t want me to.”
While Santana remains optimistic that he will return to form, he also wants to be very cautious going into the off-season, saying:
“Looking forward, we definitely have to make sure that my arm’s fine…We’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that we don’t go through this again.”
Santana told reporters that he didn’t feel any problems while throwing, but the injury did make it difficult for him to follow through and finish his pitches which resulted in balls being left over the plate.
…i think the club should have taken a more conservative approach in Spring Training when he first reported elbow trouble…look, you never want to see the ace of the rotation get injured and go down and i would have to believe that they felt, as did we, that the rotation was thin behind Santana, so losing Santana wasn’t a viable solution at the time…but looking back on his situation then and knowing now that this was discovered over the All-Star Break, why on earth would anyone send Santana out to pitch knowing full well that he has potentially already altered his mechanics which can lead to an even bigger disaster…
