Daniel Murphy’s Double Helps Mets Take Back NL East

The Mets got two strong innings out of Brian Stokes to close out the game in their 9-5 win over Atlanta on Friday night.  New York was 0-6 in Atlanta this season and really needed to get this win considering that both the Brewers and the Phillies lost their games. 

This bullpen is going to be the story every night.  It strikes me as interesting that when Dan Warthen came to the Mets the starting pitching took off, but why is it that the bullpen seems to have gotten worse?  Look-they were no great shakes to start the season, but no one has made any improvements and pretty much no matter who comes in, it seems that they can’t get an out.  It took four relievers in the bottom of the seventh to get three outs.  And how far have Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman fallen that Nelson Figueroa and Ricardo Rincon come in to pitch before either one of them?  As it turns out though, Aaron Heilman got a huge out for the Mets and so did Pedro Feliciano.  

The Mets defense was atrocious, David Wright made another throwing error in the second inning that allowed two runs to score.  Then in the bottom of the seventh inning; both Jose Reyes and Ryan Church made errors which helped the Braves tie the game.  At that point it looked as if the Mets were going to pack it in for the night, but their offense had other things in mind.  Lucky for the Mets that the Braves made two errors in the top of the eighth.  Boy, Kelly Johnson is a terrible fielder!

 Jose Reyes lead off the game with a homerun for a second consecutive night.  He was 3-4 for the night, scored three runs and drove in a pair.  Although David Wright has really been in a slump at the plate he did have 2 RBI and seemed to be hitting the ball better.  But David needs to get his head in the game.  As I mentioned before, he had a throwing error for a second consecutive night.  These games are important and these guys can’t play sloppy like this.  The only starter in the lineup to not get a hit was Ryan Church who looked totally lost at the plate. 

The rookies were in the mix as well.  Nick Evans started the game in left and hit his second homer of the season.  I don’t remember the last time Evans actually started a game, but with the injury to Fernando Tatis he got the start in left.  Daniel Murphy is a hitter.  Wow-he came through with a huge pinch RBI double that gave the Mets a 7-5 lead.  I know the Mets would like to have him play some second base during the winter, but this is a guy that can really be valuable for the Mets down the stretch.  Jerry Manual said that because the Mets will face righties in the next six games (or so) Murphy will be getting the start in left.
 
Also, Brett Meyers is a jerk.  Apparently he has a little problem with Jose Reyes.  It seems Meyers and his buddy Jimmy Rollins like to do this little jive where Meyers mocks Reyes-I guess I can see how the Phillies might see Reyes as a hotdog.  But really?  There isn’t enough mustard for Jimmy Rollins, and seriously it gets old to see Ryan Howard strike his homerun pose when he hits a homer in the freaking joke of a ballpark they play in.  But then again, it is all a matter of perception.
 
By the way, just an FYI-all you Morons who stand outside the SNY studios and do all that stupid stuff for the camera-you ALL look like JERKS! 
 
Game two is scheduled for 7 p.m.  Pedro Martinez will be on the mound for the Mets. 

Post info: By Bernalda on September 20th, 2008
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Mets Finally Win, Down Nats 9-7

I guess one thing you can say about the Mets bullpen is that they are historical-like as in they are the worst bullpen in the history of baseball.  Seriously, seven relievers to close out a game?  While the bull pen  was awful last night, the Mets got enough offense to finally win a game a stop their losing streak.  It was a good thing they won as both the Phillies and the Brewers won last night. 

Jose Reyes hit a lead off homer.  Reyes admitted that he was glad that the Mets would be facing some right handed pitching as he has really struggled against the lefties here in September.  Obviously something clicked for him as he was 2-4 with 2 RBI; he also walked once and scored twice.  Carlos Delgado hit his 36th homer of the season; he also scored twice and drove in a pair as well.  Carlos Beltran was the real story last night.  He hit two homers and was 2-3 with 3 RBI and two runs scored.  Is there another outfielder in the National league who has both scored and driven in over 100 runs? 

Unfortunately David Wright is choking.  He was 0-5 last night, he struck out two times and stranded four guys on base.  It also looked as if his ninth inning error might just blown the game for the Mets.  I like David a lot.  I think he plays hard and I think he is just an all around good guy.  He is being groomed as ”the guy” of this team for the long haul.  But, if you look at what Ryan Howard is doing for his team right now and you compare that to where David is right now, it looks like he is choking big time.  Listen, I hope tonight that Wright comes out of this funk and totally just makes a fool out of me for writing this.  If the Mets are going to go anywhere and not fall out of this, they need the big four Wright, Reyes and the Carloses to carry them there. 

It appears that we will be oh so lucky to continue to see Luis Castillo.  Damion Easley is probably not going to be able to contribute much after tearing his quad over the weekend.  Also, while Fernando Tatis is holding off on having surgery for  his grade 3 shoulder separation, he will not be back for the Mets this season, even if they do make the play offs. 

The Mets will have Johan Santana on the mound tonight.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog 

Post info: By Bernalda on September 18th, 2008
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Game 2: Mets 5 Braves 0

 

Jon Niese was awesome in his second start.  He pitched eight shut out innings, allowing only six hits.  Niese walked two and struck out seven.  It was a great outing for him, especially considering that his last outing didn’t go so well.  It was a shot in the arm for the Mets and (hopefully) a look at the future. 
 
The Mets offense was much better in the second game.  Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Jose Reyes all hit homeruns.  (Reyes was 3-5 in the second game)  Carlos Beltran has been red hot, he has an eleven game hitting streak, and is 18 for his last 42, meaning that during this hot streak he is hitting .429.  This is perfect time for him to get hot!  Luis Ayala closed out the game, he allowed two hits but no runs and stuck out one.  
 
The second game was what the Mets needed.  Because of how the schedule has worked out and because the Mets lost game one of the double header to the Braves, the Phillies picked up a half game in the standings.  Geez-could the Brewers show up at all?  The Brewers have lost the first two games of the series and now the two teams will play a double header this afternoon.  The Phillies are all po’d though because they asked the Brewers to stay in town and play Monday instead of playing the double header today and the Brewers declined, and it is basically so that they can save Sabathia for when the Brewers meet the Cubs on Tuesday.  Basically the Brewers have decided that their fight is more important than the Phillies.  I don’t blame them.  The Brewers are still fighting to get themselves into the playoffs.  Although, how great would it be to watching Sabathia just mow down that Phillies offense?
 
Headed into play today, the Mets have 15 games left.  On Monday they begin a four game series with the Nationals, then they travel to Atlanta for three.  They come home on Sept. 22 to play four with the Cubs and then finish the season with three against the Marlins.  In that time frame, the Phillies will have an off day on Monday, then will travel to Atlanta for a three game series  and then they’ll play three in Florida.  They return home to play three with Atlanta, and then after an off day on September 25th, they Phillies will complete their season with a three game set against the Nationals.  Every game has meaning-I love this time of year!  
 
The Mets will wrap up their last series ever at Shea Stadium with the Atlanta Braves this afternoon.  Chipper Jones has not played in this series because of a sore back but he did bring his four year old son, Shea to New York this trip.  Of course Shea Jones thinks that Shea Stadium was named after him!  Jorge Campillo will take the mound for the Braves and the Mets will throw Oliver Perez.  Game time is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. 
 
 
Post info: By Bernalda on September 14th, 2008
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Game 1: Braves 3 Mets 2

 

Game 1: Braves 3 Mets 2
What a disappointing loss for the Mets in game one of the double header on Saturday.  Johan Santana had pitched very well to shut the Braves out and you  know that Santana started the eighth inning because Jerry Manual has no confidence in his bullpen and rightfully so, because again the bullpen blew a game for Johan Santana. 
 
Now, maybe Santana should not have started the eighth inning yesterday, but you know he started the eighth because the bullpen is a wreck.  While Santana pitched very well yesterday, in his seven innings, not once did he retire the side in order; but he was able to shut the Braves out for seven innings.  The Braves, against Santana, were 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position.  Clearly Johan did his job. 
 
The bullpen situation is really tiring.  This pathetic performance was the seventh time the Mets bullpen has blown a game for Santana (meaning, Santana could be a 20 game winner, and the Mets could have a 10 game lead in the division)  Can someone just get an out?  Are the starters supposed to pitch eight innings eight innings every outing?  I know that when you are in a pennant race, the idea is to win, but, can the Mets starters go out there every start and pitch deep into games and continue to be effected not only down the stretch?  It makes you wonder, if they do make it to the playoffs, is the starting rotation going to be able to continue to pitch like this?
 
Now, the blame can’t fall squarely on the shoulders of bullpen because the offense didn’t exactly to their jobs either.  The Mets had the bases loaded two times and came away with nothing.  Brian Schneider hit into a double play with the bases loaded, one run scored but obviously he wasn’t getting credit for an RBI there.  Damion Easley did a terrible job, him hitting into a double play at that point of the game-especially because he “hit” ball four really changed the game there.  Also worth nothing is that Jose Reyes was 0-5 with two strikeouts, in the month of September Reyes is hitting just .161.  Needless to say, the Mets need Reyes to step it up if they are going to stay in this thing.  It isn’t just Reyes though, in all, the Mets left a total of eight guys on base, if someone gets a big base hit, then we aren’t having this conversation about the Mets bullpen.  It does go hand in hand, but it would be nice if the bullpen held up their end of the bargain sometime. 
Post info: By Bernalda on September 14th, 2008
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Mets 13-Nationals 10

The Mets had a huge inning against Odalis Perez scoring six runs in the bottom of the third.  It looked as if they would cruise to the finish, but the Nationals would not go down with out a fight.  New York blew a six run lead but, they seem to have found some offense at the right time and are playing like winners.  After the game was tied at seven, the Mets scored six more runs to win 13-10.  This is a hard time right now, the Mets have a three and half game (four in the loss column) lead with just 17 games left to play.  This is right where the Mets were last year when they blew the seven game lead.  But, this year is different, these Mets are different.  

Mike Pelfrey pitched just five innings, allowed five runs on eight hits walked two did not record a strike out.  Pelfrey had some trouble early on, his pitches were up in the zone and they were hitting him hard.  It again raises the question if Pelfrey is going to (or has he already) hit a wall given that he has never pitched this many innings in one season before.  But as Jerry Manual said, and I agree-the Mets are I in a pennant race and they need everyone to get them there. 
 
The bullpen was not great last night, but I guess when you see that the other team has scored 10 runs it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that the pitching stunk.  Ah–where is Matt Wise when you need him?  Aaron Heilman is a nightmare.  I really don’t want to see this guy again unless the Mets are winning by 14 or losing by the same number.  The Mets need to chuck him and just be done with that head case.  Also, if you aren’t on the DL I really don’t care where you have tendonitis.  If you are playing, then you are not injured.  I hate when someone stinks and they all the sudden it is like, Oh…we’ll he has been hurt-who cares?  Is he playing?  If the answer is yes, then shut up.  Anyway, the Mets had a two run lead and Heilman gave up a two run homer to Christian Guzman.  Brian Stokes, who had been really good as of late wasn’t so great last night.  He gave up a three run homer to who–uh, Christian Guzman.  But, Joe Smith had another great outing and Luis Ayala closed out the game for his seventh save of the season for the Mets. 
 
The offense, after not getting it done in the first two games against the Philles over the weekend has done an all out turn around.  The Mets scored 29 runs in their past three games.  Interestingly, it wasn’t Carlos Delgado who carried the team last night, although he did have an RBI in the game.  Carlos Beltran had three big hit; he scored two and drove in two.  The Mets also got RBI from Fernando Tatis (2) and Brian Schneider (2) and Damion Easley (1).  David Wright had a great night; he was 4-4, scored four runs and drove in three.  Wright said after the game that this is the best he has felt at the plate in a long time, and boy is that good to hear because the Mets need all their big hitters to get them through these next few weeks. 
 
Wow-two ESPN “Top Ten” plays for the Mets last night.  Fernando Tatis took the wrong route to a ball in left field and made an outstanding leaping catch to record the out it was great.  Then David Wright, who at times has not been good with the glove, made a beautiful barehanded play on a slow hopper to third to throw the runner out at first.  It was great!  The Mets have played great fundamental baseball after having kind of a tough weekend in the field.  Right now, this team is in a groove and they are playing some good baseball. 
 
Elijah Dukes is a head case, this is a guy who needs a round the clock “minder” (is that another word for babysitter?) because he can’t keep himself out of trouble.  Is it really worth it to have that guy on your team?  I mean, his reaction to the “inside pitch” was a little extreme.  Yes, Dukes hit a homer off Pelfrey in his first at bat-but the pitch wasn’t even close.  They guy reacted as if Pelfrey threw at his head.  Meanwhile, like two innings later Pelfrey trying to go inside hit Dukes and this time he just took his base.  Whatever.   
 
Jose Reyes stole his 282nd and 283rd bases in the bottom of the third inning and now is the Mets all time leader in stolen bases.  It took Jose just six season to break the record that it took Mookie Wilson ten seasons to set.  Just glad that Reyes is getting on base and that his slump against the Phillies didn’t carry over. 
 
The Mets have an off day and then the Braves will be in town over the weekend.  The Phillies will start a four game set with the Brewers tonight.  Go Brew Crew!  The Mets need to take care of business against the Braves.  I must say though, it is kind of sad that in Shea Stadium’s last season the Braves come to town and not be anywhere near the race.  I think they should as Chipper Jones to take down #10. 
 
Friday’s starters: Johan Santana v. Mike Hampton, game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 
 
Post info: By Bernalda on September 11th, 2008
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10-8 Seems to be Lucky As Mets Win and Phillies Lose By Same Score

The Mets were able to get by the Nats 10-8 last night, and strangely the Phillies lost to the Marlins by the same score.  So the Mets stretched their lead over the Phillies by two and a half-three in the loss column.  The Phillies were down early and came back to make it interesting, but in the end just couldn’t get it done.  Unlike the Mets who seemed to be determined last night. 
 
I don’t know if the Mets were scoreboard watching or what happened but they played like crazy last night.  The Carloses hit back to back homeruns to give the Mets the lead in the inning.  For Carlos Delgado that was his second homer of the night.  He is in a zone that I pray lasts until the end of September.  He hit two shots that were just unbelievable.  It isn’t just Delgado who has been in a zone, Carol Beltran is hitting .348 with six homers and 17 RBIs in his last 14 games, he also joined Wright and Delgado in 100 RBI club.  I thought it was a good sign last night that both David Wright and Jose Reyes did a much better job with the bat.  Wright actually had a two out RBI.  In addition, Ryan Church hit in the two spot last night, he had two RBI, one of the solo homerun. 
 
Oliver Perez stunk up the joint, for the most part the pitching for both teams was terrible.  Lucky for the Mets the Nationals pitched worse.  Perez, who has really been good for the Mets just didn’t have it last night.  He only worked three and a third innings; allowing seven runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out two.  It was uncharacteristic of the Perez we have seen recently.  Nelson Figueroa and Brandon Knight were awful, but kudos to Joe Smith, Brian Stokes, Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala who combined to pitch four shut out innings.   
 
For as much as I have ragged on Billy Wagner in the blog this season, I actually felt bad for him last night when they showed clips of his press conference from earlier in the day.  He really broke down when asked what his son thought of what was happening.  I guess you can understand how it feels.  It isn’t a life threatening illness, but it is your livelihood, and while I’m sure he has plenty of money, but it is always better to leave your terms.  Who knows if he’ll ever pitch again. 
 
The Mets and the Nationals will meet again tonight at 7:10 p.m.  Mike Pelfrey will be on the hill for the Mets and the Nats will counter with Odalis Perez. 
Post info: By Bernalda on September 10th, 2008
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Mets Avoid Sweep, Win Nightcap 6-3, Remain in 1st With a Two Game Lead

The Mets escaped a sweep by the Phillies winning the second game of the day night double header 6-3 on Sunday night.  After getting blanked by Meyers in the first game of the series, Mets fans were hoping to see some fight out of the Amazin’s but Pedro Martinez got off to a bad start and the Mets offense was unable to get anything going against Jamie Moyer in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader.  The Mets would lose the first game 6-2, and given how nonexistant their offense was in the first two games of the series, looked in danger of being swept by the Phillies. 
Prior to the final game of the series, the Mets saw their division lead dwindle to just one game, and were in danger of being swept.  The Mets bats had been silenced for something like 16 innings before they were able to score two runs in the bottom of the eighthin the first game on Sunday. 
 
I think there is some legitimate concern regarding the Mets offense as they play out the last three weeks of the season.  Like, will David Wright ever get a big hit?  In the nightcap, he struck out in the bottom of the second with the bases loaded-I know he is second in the NL in RBI, but has been atrocious when the bases are loaded.  Jose Reyes too is mired in a slump and I don’t think he even had a hit in the series, Reyes has said that his goal is to finish the season hitting over .300 and to not let his offense go missing at the end of the season like it did last year.  Well he was MIA in this series, and it nearly cost the Mets.  Hopefully this won’t be a prolonged slump and after a day off he can get back to business and get back to helping the Mets win some games. 
 
If Pedro wasn’t bad enough, the Mets also had some defensive miscues that certainly didn’t help the situation much.  We knew that having guys play out of position was something that might eventually come back to bit us in the rear-and that was the case yesterday when Fernando Tatis misplayed two balls and then again when there was some confusion between Nick Evans and Jose Reyes when a ball dropped between them for a base hit.  Of course though, there is no rule that says that Pedro Martinez can’t get anyone out either (although he can’t really and that is a problem).  
 
Martinez yesterday through just 74 pitches but he allowed six runs on seven hits, he walked one and struck out win.  He gave up two runs in the second and then just fell apart in the fourth.  Yeah, Pedro finally had more velocity on his pitches yesterday, but something that Tom Seaver says all the time, it isn’t about velocity it is about location-and that was the truth yesterday.  You could see that just by watching Moyer-the hardest he throws is like 79 but yet the Mets couldn’t touch him.  It is always sad to see legends fall like this. 
 
So, Johan Santana started the nightcap for the Mets, and if ever they needed a pitcher to step up and throw like an ace, it was last night.  Santana was spectacular.  He had a shaky first inning, but was able to pitch out of trouble allowing just one run.  Santana started the eighth inning facing two batters but only retiring one of them.  In his 7.1 innings of work, Santana allowed just two runs on five hits; he walked three and struck out six.  He really stepped up and pitched the game the Mets needed him to pitch.  Jerry Manual said it best when asked about Santana pitching this game, he said-that is why you have an ace. 
 
Carlos Delgado is a man reborn.  He hit two more homeruns last night, one of which I don’t think has landed yet.  They were monster shots and really gave the Mets what they needed.  Delgado had four RBI on the night, and has had 65 RBI in his last 65 games.  Last night’s RBI put him over 100 for the season.  It was his RBI single in the bottom of the first that put the Mets on top for good.  It isn’t just that Delgado has had a resurgence with his bat, but he has warmed up to the crowd, accepting the curtain call after the second homerun; he also has taken on a leadership role that we have not seen out of him before.  Last night, ESPN cameras caught a very animated conversation between Delgado and Reyes and it looked as if Delgado was really telling him something important (I hope Jose listened).  I was one of many who thought Delgado was finished-Wow am I glad that he proved me wrong! 
 
Any hopes of seeing Billy Wagner are now over, yesterday after throwing just 10 pitches in simulated game, Wagner had to stop because he was still experiencing tightness in his arm.  I don’t know what this means.  The Mets have been able to win with out Wager but can it go on.  Ayala has “filled” the closer role, but had a shaky outing last night-although the run that scored was actually unearned.  The problem is you just don’t know what you’ll get from the bullpen.  There is a lot of ball left to play, and along the way the Mets have gotten help from the most unlikely of candidates, so I guess all we can hope is that someone in the bullpen steps up. 
 
The Mets have an off day today before starting a three game series with the Washington Nationals at Shea Stadium.  Oliver Perez will be on the mound for the Mets and the Nats will counter with John Lannan.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.  If you are like me you will all be scoreboard watching, the Phillies start a three game series with the Marlins before playing four with the Brewers.  Go Marlins! 

Post info: By Bernalda on September 8th, 2008
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Mets Sweep Brewers With 9-2 Win, Return Home to Face 2nd Place Phillies

The Mets scored six times in the first inning to complete the sweep of the Brewers on Wednesday afternoon.  The big hit of the inning was a grand slam off the bat of Ryan Church who was back in the line up today after sitting out last nights game.  Church seems to still be trying to get himself back in game shape and it is good to have him back.  I was so happy for him when the ball left the yard, you know he has been itching to get back into the thick of things.  After Church hit the grand slam, Brian Schneider followed with a solo homer two batters latter.  The Mets did not score again until Nick Evans hit a two RBI pinch hit single in the eighth inning.  

The offense handed Oliver Perez a six run lead, but he really didn’t pitch all that well.  He allowed two runs on five hits, he stuck out five, but he also walked five.  Seriously Oliver-we don’t need a heart attack right now, with John Maine out and Pedro Martinez questionable (although the Mets aren’t saying that just yet) the Mets need the starters they have to go out there and give them some wins.  The bullpen again did their job today.  As of late, the bullpen has pitched well-but you know they are a meltdown waiting to happen. 
 
Jose Reyes is on fire.  He leads the National League in hits with 180, he is currently the only every day player in the Mets lineup hitting over .300 ( at end of play today his average is .306)  He tied the franchise record for stolen bases  when he swiped his 281st bag in the fourth inning.  Reyes also now has a new career high in triples, hitting his league leading 18th triple of the season in the second inning of the game.  Of course, they Mets stranded him at third, but that is a story for another day…  Reyes has said that he is determined to not fall off late in the season like he did last year in September.  Many Mets fans blame the abysmal output of Reyes as one of the key factors in the Mets collapse at the end of 2007. 
 
The Mets are on a role.  They return to Shea Stadium atop the NL East with a 2.5 game lead on the Phillies (as of the writing of the blog the Nationals and Phillies had yet to start their game-GO NATS!”  Right now,  I am a Mets fan, and a fan of any team playing the Phillies!  Anyway, to get back to what I was saying, the Mets have won 20 of their last 27 games are are a season high 18 games over .500.  The Mets right now have 79 wins with 22 games left to play.  If I had told you in May that the Mets could conceivably win 90 games this season-you would have told me I was crazy-now it is a distinct possibility that the Mets will win 90 games.
 
Ok, so the Phillies now come to town for three games.  This is the last the Mets will see of the Phillies n the regular season.  Wow-who was in charge of planning that?  Shouldn’t the Mets and the Phillies be playing each other at the end of September.  I hate it when the schedule plays out like that-MLB better think about that next year when they plan the season. 
Post info: By Bernalda on September 4th, 2008
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Mets Pound Astros 9-1

 
 
 
Mike Pelfrey and Carlos Delgado combined to have a great night for the Mets last night.  Pelfrey pitched his second consecutive complete game.  He allowed only one run (which came in the ninth inning) off six hits, he walked none and stuck out six.  He got the Astros to hit into three double plays.  Not only did Pelfrey pitch well but he scored from first on a triple by Jose Reyes in the bottom of the eighth.  Reyes had a good night at the plate going 3-2 with a walk, two RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base.   
 
Delgado, was 2-4 with six RBI, he belted two three run homers for the Mets and made an outstanding play on a grounder by Ty Wiggington in the ninth inning.  Carlos even came out for a curtain call after he hit the second homer.  Ryan Church who drew big applause from the crowd was 2-4.  I think when Chruch comes up to bat-you know how all players have their “song”-well I think they should play “Living On a Prayer” just because it would be funny! 
 
John Maine will return to the DL because of discomfort in his shoulder caused by bone spurs.  The Mets will not have to fill the rotation spot until next week Tuesday when they are in Milwaukee.  No news yet as to who will be starting but some of the names thrown around are Jon Neise, Nelson Figueroa, and Brian Stokes.  When something like this happens you can’t help by worry-the Mets are really in the thick of it, and while Perez, Pelfrey and Santana have been great, there is concern about the fourth and fifth starters-Pedro pitched better in his last outing, but has really struggled, and you can only guess what you will get from the guy who will take Maine’s spot in the rotation-especially considering that we’re still not sure if the bullpen can be trusted-clearly Pedro Feliciano didn’t have his good stuff on Sunday. 
 
So, the Mets open a two game short series with the Phillies down in Philly.  Tonight, the Mets will face Jamie Moyer-and we know how well that always goes.  Pedro is on the mound for the Mets, but after seeing the homeruns he’s given up recently, one can only imagine what can happen in that bandbox the Phillies play in.  At worst the Mets can split the series and not lose any ground, but they really can’t drop both games.  The Mets have played well against the Phillies this season, but we’ve all seen how tough the Phillies can play.  Hopefully the positive win against the Astros last night can give the Mets some momentum. 
 
Also, on a side note-last night was my birthday and I’m lucky enough to share it with my nephew Danny who just happens to be an Astors fan-so you guessed it, we spent the evening at Shea Stadium.  The win was bittersweet for me, because I really wanted Danny to have a great birthday.  But, after the second Delgado three run homer-Dan kind of new that it wasn’t the Astros night and did his best to handle his disappointment.  I have to give that kid credit because he proudly wore his Bagwell jersey to the game and cheered loudly for his Astros.  Dan turned 10 yesterday, and I have to tell you, conducted himself much better than a few Mets fan did.  Between the subway ride and the walk out of Shea Stadium more than one grown male had some snide remark for the kid-seriously guys?  Where do these jerks get off razzing a 10 year old kid?  I was really disappointed that there are so many JERKS that call themselves Mets fans.
 
Game time tonight is set for 7:10 p.m.  The crowd is going to be tough down there in Phillie.  Lets Go Mets! 
Post info: By Bernalda on August 26th, 2008
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Mets Get Best of Braves Pen, win 7-3

The Mets beat the Braves last night 7-3.  Going into the eighth inning, it looked as if the Mets would drop yet another game to the Braves, but lucky for the Mets, because for one night, the bullpen that blew the game was wearing red and blue, not orange and blue.   

The Mets scored two in the first inning off Braves’ starter Jo-Jo Reyes on a David Wright sac fly and a double by Fernando Tatis.  However, the offense stopped there and for six straight innings the Mets did not get another hit.  However, in the bottom of the eighth, down 3-2 the Mets got a little help from the Braves bullpen.  Jeff Bennett retired Jose Reyes on a ground out, but then he issued back to back walks to Nick Evans and David Wright and Carlos Beltran got aboard to load the bases on a little blooper that Chipper Jonescould not make a plan on. The Mets, who have just been awful with the bases loaded, now had Carlos Delgado at the plate, Delgado who has cooled off since that amazing run in July had a terrible game at the plate on Monday against the Pirates.  For whatever reason, Bobby Cox elected to bring in the lefty-now I know that is by the book, but Delgado has smoked lefty pitching, Delgado hit a double off the fence in left center that was only a few inches from leaving the yard, two runs scored to put the Mets on top 4-3.  Easley hit a single to center that scored both Carloses, and then Ramon Castro drove home a run with a double to left.  In all, the Mets scored five in the inning and won the game 7-3.  The Mets finally got someone to hit with runners in scoring position.  It’s about time.  It was really unexpected also because after the first inning, the offense looked like it wasn’t going to do anything.  And for one night, the bullpen didn’t blow it.   

Oliver Perez struggled last night, he walked five stuck out three and allowed three runs on seven hits.  Luis Ayala jumped right into the fire, as he entered the game in relief for Perez with two on, Ayala got both batters he faced to pop up, ending the threat there.  Aaron Heilman worked the eighth inning, he allowed one hit and walked one but did not give up any runs.  Scott Schoeneweis worked the ninth inning to close the game out.  And, after it was all said and done, Schoneweis basically said to the press that it was nice that the other team’s bullpen was the story on the night.  

This series against the Braves is one of those must wins.  The Braves are terrible on the road, and again lat night lost a game in which they had a one run lead.  Combine that with the fact that the Phillies are playing the Nationals, and the Nationals have lost 11 straight, the Mets are going to have to do their part to not lose any ground in the standings.  

So, the Mets got bad news on Billy Wagner.  And then Billy Wagner has to turn around and tell us how we can’t understand how hard it is to go out there and do what they do day after day-being picked on in the press-well Billy, boo-hoo.  If you don’t like, don’t play in New York.  I mean, you played in Philly, you had to have some idea of what you were getting yourself into.  If you want fans who don’t care, go play for the Marlins, who even though they are winning can’t get anyone in the stands.  Shut up-before you end up with an inflamed jaw. 

And on a funnier note, there was a conference call set to take place yesterday between the umpires, major league baseball and whoever else.  Turns out, the Umps missed the call again; see, they are boycotting the usage of instant replay.  While I still haven’t figured out what my position is on this matter, I can tell you one thing-if they’d gotten the myriad of calls right over the season, then this would be a non-issue.  But the fact that they go out there night after night and continue to screw up calls has brought baseball to this point.  I have harped on this over and over, if there is anyone out there reading this on a steady basis, you know that I’ve been killing the officiating of these games all season. 

The Mets and Braves play the second of three tonight.  The Mets will send Mike Pelfrey to the mound, he is 11-8 with a 3.91 era.  The Braves will counter with their “ace” Jair Jurrjens who is also 11-8 but with a much lower era of 3.15.  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

Mets Blog 

Post info: By Bernalda on August 20th, 2008
Comments: 24 Comments »
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