Daily Archives: September 27, 2009
The Mets beat the Marlins today, 4-0, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The least you should know:
Pat Misch was a little shaky at first, but kept the Marlins off the board and settled down to throw the first complete-game shutout of the season for the Mets.
Jeff Francoeur provided most of the offense, going 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and two runs scored.
Anderson Hernandez added a home run, and Wilson Valdez tallied three hits — two of which didn’t leave the infield.
Other observations and notes:
I’ve heard of the Good Ollie and the Bad Ollie; was this another sighting of the Good Pat Misch?
Misch credited the defense behind him after the game, and rightfully so. The Mets turned a huge 1-6-3 double play to get Misch out of a jam in the fifth, and Francoeur reached over the fence to rob Chris Coghlan of a home run in the seventh.
Misch did not allow a hit after the fifth inning.
The Mets used only nine players in the game, allowing David Wright to take a full day off after last night’s baserunning mishap.
Tagged News |
The Mets will look to take the rubber game of their three game series against the Marlins beginning at 1:10 pm, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami.
David Wright will have the afternoon off.
Angel Pagan will lead off, followed in order by Anderson Hernandez, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Cory Sullivan, Fernando Tatis at third base, Josh Thole, and Wilson Valdez.
Pat Misch (1-4, 5.59 ERA) will start for the Mets. Since Misch earned the victory against the Rockies on September 3, he is 0-3 with a 12.41 ERA. His only start of the year against the Marlins wasn’t pretty either, allowing five earned runs in six innings on September 9.
Chris Volstad (9-12, 5.17 ERA) will start for the Marlins. Volstad is taking the place of Josh Johnson, who was scratched with the flu. Volstad last faced the Mets on May 31 at Citi Field and pitched well in a loss, allowing three runs in seven innings.
…i’d say thats a break for the Mets, considering Johnson is 7-0 with a 2.30 ERA lifetime against them…
After last night’s game, David Wright apologized to his teammates for making the baserunning mistake which cost the Mets a run in the fifth inning.
After he apologized, Wright addressed reporters as he normally does, saying:
“It’s been tough because we’re playing, as far as the standings go, in pretty meaningless games…That’s the tough part. I knew it was going to be a challenge for me coming off the DL and just right away feeling good at the plate. I wish personally I would have had a little more success coming off the DL, but that’s not the case and you have to work your way through it.”
…part of what makes a bad team bad is the attitude of a team, because the attitude of a team dictates mental preparedness, and for a player to admit that a game is meaningless, whether there are 30 days left or one day left, is a testament to the manager…i don’t think any game is meaningless and with 89 losses and seven days to go in the season, I still want my team to win, and if the players themselves aren’t into it mentally, why should we as fans invest our time in them…
Wright did break his 0 for 10 streak with an RBI double in the fifth inning, but he promptly struck out two times after that.
Despite his struggles, Wright would like to work on what Jerry Manuel calls a “loop” in his swing which makes him susceptable to inside pitches, telling reporters:
“You still take a lot of pride in each at-bat, so you want to try to fix things…By no means am I just looking ahead to next week. I want to try to correct whatever I’m doing wrong mechanically and go from there.”
…so i guess these games aren’t meaningless…
Wright will not be in today’s starting lineup.
The Mets were defeated by the Marlins by the score of 9-6 in Miami last night.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
John Maine was solid through the first four innings of the game, allowing just two runs and two hits, but in the fifth inning the game got out of control for him, and after all was said and done, he and Elmer Dessens combined to allow nine runs and the game was out of reach for the Mets.
David Wright slowed down and failed to score from second base base on a two out single by Jeff Francoeur in the fifth inning, and it appeared that Francoeur tried to get into a rundown to allow Wright a chance, but he was tagged out before Wright could score.
Other Observations and Notes:
The thing that bothers me more than anything about last night, was not the ineffectiveness of Maine, moreso the continued blunders on the bases and in the field, and for Wright to make such a mistake, which would have given the Mets a 4-2 lead, is completely inexcusable and unacceptable.
Updated, 8:54 am, by Matthew Cerrone:
The Mets need to figure out why they have played such poor fundamental baseball this season. Is it Jerry Manuel? Is it the players? Is it both? Is it just lazy thinking? Are the players dejected, due to a long, disappointing season? It’s something, and whatever it is, whomever is responsible, it cannot be allowed to interfere with this team next season.
Up Next:
The Mets will attempt to win the rubber game of this three game series today at 1:10 pm in Miami with Pat Misch facing Josh Johnson.
