Daily Archives: October 3, 2009
The Mets defeated the Astros by the score of 5-1 today at Citi Field.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
Pat Misch pitched well once again today, going five innings and allowing a run on five hits to the Astros before the rain came in the top of the sixth inning forcing an end to his day and season, but earning his third victory of the year – all in September.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Carlos Lee made a great sliding backhanded catch which, at the time, saved a couple of runs for the Astros.
In that fourth inning, Josh Thole broke out of a 1 for 22 funk with his first career triple and Mets’ 48th triple of the year which is the new franchise mark for triples in a season.
Fernando Tatis drove in two runs with a two out single in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Sean Green walked three batters in 1 2/3 innings forcing a save situation with two outs in the ninth inning, and Francisco Rodriguez nailed down his 35th save of the year.
Other Observations and Notes:
Tatis is enjoying a six game hitting streak, and he is 11 for 22 over that stretch with three doubles, one home run, and six RBI.
Today was a 2004 Mets redux by the Astros as former Met Jeff Keppinger and Kaz Matsui were in the lineup for Houston today.
Cheers to the fans that stuck around during and after the rain delay – they were allowed to move to the first rows behind the dugout to watch the game.
Up Next:
The Mets will play their final game of the 2009 season tomorrow afternoon at 1:10 pm at Citi Field, with Nelson Figueroa facing Wilton Lopez.
update, 12:43 pm:
Carlos Beltran has been scratched from today’s lineup, and Jerry Manuel said that it is simply to give him a break the day after a night game.
The new lineup is:
Angel Pagan, followed in order by Luis Castillo, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Cory Sullivan, Fernando Tatis, Josh Thole, and Anderson Hernandez.
…not sure why he was in the lineup to begin with if that’s the case…
Original Post:
The Mets (68-92) continue their series with the Astros (74-86) this afternoon at 1:10 pm at Citi Field.
David Wright will have the afternoon off, and Fernando Tatis will take his place at third base.
Angel Pagan will lead off, followed in order by Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Josh Thole, Tatis, and Anderson Hernandez.
Pat Misch (2-4, 4.71 ERA) will start for the Mets. Misch is coming off of a brilliant complete game, eight hitter last Sunday in Miami as he looks to build some consistency going into the off-season.
Yorman Bazardo (1-2, 8.23 ERA) will start for the Astros. Bazardo is making his sixth start of the season, and he earned a victory against the Phillies on September 28, allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Tagged Twitter |Since having the day off last Sunday to ‘clear his head’, David Wright is 6 for 16 with four doubles and two RBI.
Last night, Wright had three hits and raised is league leading average to .416 against left handed pitching.
…as Matt said on Thursday, David is the least of my concerns going into 2010, and despite the power outage, the figure above should be comforting…
David Lennon, in today’s Newsday, spoke with hitting coach Howard Johnson earlier this week and he says both he and Wright watched video and pointed out instances where he was flinching at the plate.
Johnson told Lennon:
“I think it’s important that he sees it and he can go from there…he’s going to be OK. I think a lot of it is subconscious and those things take time to go away. But they do go away. I just keep putting the thought in his mind – be aggressive, swing the bat and be the hunter up there. Let it go.”
…its important to note that as the end of the season looms and questions are arising as to which coach will be retained and which one will not, that Johnson and Wright have a very close relationship and they are expected to work closely together in the offseason…in addition, the offense, outside of the power, has been good this year as the team is hitting .270 which is the best in the league…they are eighth in the league in on base percentage at .334, but for the most part, the hitting has been good…what happens after they get on base is another story…
In addition to Wright, Jeff Francoeur hit his 15th home run of the season last night and since last Sunday he is 7 for 20 with two home runs and four RBI.
Since joining the Mets in July, Francoeur has hit .313 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI in 74 games.
…i think Jeff has been a great story as he tries to bounce back from a terrible 2008…he has turned his season around since leaving Atlanta and i would expect that he is a part of the Mets plans in 2010 as a very strong complimentary player with tremendous potential to be a force in the lineup as well as the field…
Last night, John Maine went seven innings, and allowed just a run on five hits and struck out seven and walked none, which was the first time he hasn’t walked a batter in an outing this season.
He made 106 pitches, 72 of which were strikes.
Most importantly, Maine was efficient and his pitches were free and easy with a lot of movement on his slider, and had his trademark movement up and away to the left handed hitter with his fastball.
Maine attributed the bite on his slider to a new grip, and told reporters the adjustment he made during last night’s game was to simply pitch to contact, saying:
“I was just trying to pitch to contact a little more. Walks always hurt me, I’d always give up a lot of walks, and that’s how they end up scoring…this start I just had a better slider, and that always makes your fastball better.”
…i can’t remember a start in the past two seasons where i have been as encouraged by performance as i was with Maine last night…i don’t doubt he has been struggling with pain and weakness in that shoulder but last night told me that he might actually be over his shoulder woes…he looked so good and the movement he had on his slider made it mostly unhittable…
Prior to last night’s game, Jerry Manuel told reporters that Jose Reyes might have lasting effects from his hamstring injury, saying:
“I still feel very confident, despite maybe even if he’s a step or two slower…I don’t see that hindering him as far as overall offensive production and defense.”
…ok, jerry, part of what makes reyes a great offensive player is his ability to beat out infield hits, his ability to steal both second and third at any point of the game, and leg out triples, which turn into runs, that most players don’t normally do… reyes is a player who can take control of a game in a way not many players can, other than a guy like Carl Crawford… so if he is a ‘step or two slower’, how will he not be impacted offensively or defensively…
Yesterday, Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated said Reyes has been advised to have surgery on his torn hamstring tendon and is awaiting a second opinion, but the Mets did not confirm any course of action yesterday, which you can read here.
Manuel did speak of the size of the ballpark and the franchise itself making adjustments to maximize the benefits of Citi Field, to which he said:
“I do think we need to make some adjustments, but for me the field is not that big of an issue. I like the ballpark; I like that it’s different…I like that it’s large…I like speed. I do think that if we adjust to it as a franchise…as an organization, that it would be very beneficial for us.”
Manuel said the only player they have really been able to evaluate at Citi Field from a home-run perspective is David Wright, and he wonders whether or not Wright will be able to make the necessary adjustments to increase his power, saying:
“How does that affect him going forward, or was there some mechanical, fundamental thing that he could have done differently to hit more home runs or on the road…I don’t think we’ll make any adjustments as far as the ballpark goes, but as individuals and hitting programs go, there’s a possibility of some adjustments being made.”
…i think it really is a good idea to build a program of player acquisition and development that caters to Citi Field... if they are successful, they have the possibility of creating a team like none other in baseball in that they would have very strong pitching, and players up and down the lineup capable of stealing 30 bases a piece, including wright, who has 27 on the year by the way…
…the need to hit for power and better situational hitting is still there, even though the idea is to build a team primarily around pitching, defense and speed, but the team cannot depend on having to get three singles to score one run, which, including base running gaffes and poor judgment this season, has been a major challenge for this club… but none of that will matter if this team doesn’t have the starting pitching to support the offense…
Lastly, Manuel said the emphasis for the team’s pitchers next Spring will be to throw first pitch strikes.
…i’d like the emphasis to be on just throwing strikes, pitching efficiently and consistently being ahead in the count…this team has allowed 612 walks which is a close second to Washington’s 619…
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