Wednesday: Mets 9 Reds 7 Mike Pelfrey got his first win of the season on Wednesday. Pelfrey was far from good, in five innings of work he allowed four earned runs on five hits, but he made it through five. Actually, if it wasn’t for the fake to third throw to first Pelfrey probably wouldn’t have made it through five; when does that ever work? The Mets bullpen made it interesting; even Frankie Rodriguez struggled-he did not have his good stuff walking two in the inning. However, first base umpire Bill Welke made it a little more difficult for Rodriguez than it needed to be because of a crap call in the ninth inning-Brandon Phillips was on second, Edwin Encarnacion hit a grounder to third, Wright fielded the ball-throwing to first as Brandon Phillips broke for third. Delgado took the throw at first-his foot clearly ON the bag, threw to third. And that is where Welke fits into the equation-he called Encarnacion safe at first claiming that Delgado came off the bag too soon. Replays clearly show that Delgado was on the bag. Jerry Manual came out of the dugout to have a discussion with Welke but to no avail. Clearly Welke is a tough guy-and now we know that he is. Seriously though, who wasn’t on the edge of their seat when Lance Nix hit that ball to the warning track in the bottom of the ninth?
Thursday: Mets 6 Reds 8 Oliver Perez took the loss, he worked just four and a third, allowing eight earned runs; he walked five and struck out seven. And here is what I don’t get-really I don’t get it, he looked dominant early, he did strike out seven but then suddenly he just stinks-how does that happen? And how is it that a guy who is as talented as he is just loses it in the middle of a game? Every time he pitches like this-we, as Mets fans are going to be thinking about how we dropped the ball (so to speak) with Lowe. The bullpen really kept the Mets in the game once Ollie was pulled, but the offense just didn’t come back. The Mets scored first putting a three spot on the board in the third to take the lead and although the Mets didn’t throw in the towel after Ollie gave up eight, scoring one run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, in the end they fell short.
There was a Gary Sheffield sighting, he struck out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of yesterday’s game. I’m not sure that Ryan Church has a lot to worry about at this point, his defense is outstanding-did you catch that play on Monday? On top of that Church is hitting .455 with two doubles and two RBI. I’m rooting for Church!
Clearly, the Mets rotation is going to be a topic of conversation. They did little in the off season to address that situation. Pelfrey had a tough outing as did Perez. We know that they both have talent, but do they have guts? We’ll see what happens with Maine tonight. Obviously there are no worries with Santana. Hernandez is a work horse and has looked good this spring. Who cares how good the bullpen might be if our starters are going out there and giving up five or six runs a start.
The Mets will fly east to Miami to start a three game series with the Marlins. John Maine will face off against Anibal Sanchez, game time is 7:10 p.m.
Our thoughts go out to the family of Nick Adenhart and the Los Angles Angels of Anaheim.
