Mets Begin West Coast Trip On the Wrong Side of a Blowout

New York Mets 3 @ San Diego Padres 8

After a couple strong bounce back starts, Livan Hernandez struggled Thursday night, giving up six runs in the first three innings and seven runs in his five total innings of work. The big blow was Adrian Gonzalez’s two-run homerun in the bottom of the third that turned a 2 – 0 lead into a 4 – 0 one. That was followed by a few more runs in the third, and a run in the fifth, which gave the Padres a 7 – 0 lead.

The Mets mustered a bit of a rally in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs on a couple of walks and a couple of singles, but the inning could’ve potentially been a lot bigger if Daniel Murphy didn’t hit into an RBI double-play with runners on first and third and just one out.

After putting up a good fight in the top of the sixth, the Mets offense slumped to the finish, failing to get a runner past second in the final three innings.

Angel Pagan and David Wright both had rough days, striking out twice. Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy got two hits apiece. Tatis’s single in the top of the sixth drove in the Mets second run of the evening.

On the bright side, by making it through five innings, Hernandez saved the Mets bullpen some work. Manuel ended up using Sean Green, Tim Redding, and Elmer Dessens to get through the final three innings, thus giving Pedro Feliciano some much-needed rest. So by soldiering through five tough inning, Hernandez avoided ruining the Mets bullpen for a week, instead just ruining their chances in one game, something that ought to be appreciated.

Hernandez is now 7 – 6 on the season with a 5.08 ERA.

With Thursday’s loss, the Mets are now 11 games back in the NL East and 9 back in the Wild Card hunt.

Redding Rocked on Saturday, Mets Come Back Sunday for Series Win

Mets End Weekend 1/2 Game Behind Phillies

Saturday’s game was simply a contrast of two pitchers. On one hand, the Marlins sent out their young sterling ace Josh Johnson, who pitched an excellent game. 7 innings. 5 hits. 2 walks. (That’s a baserunner per inning.) And just 2 earned runs. Josh Johnson now has a 4 – 2 record, a 2.66 ERA, and a 1.09 WHIP. Meanwhile, the Mets sent out their aging replacement starter Tim Redding. He pitched horribly for the Mets. 4-plus innings. 8 hits. 2 walks. (That’s 2.5 baserunners per inning.) And 7 earned runs. Redding is now 0 – 2 on the season, with a 9.20 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP. Certainly it’s going to be hard to win and pitch well when you’re giving up that many baserunners.

The Marlins offense clearly had Redding’s number Saturday. Emilio Bonifacio, Hanley Ramirez, and Jorge Cantu each had two hits. Jeremy Hermida, however, was the offensive star for the Marlins, knocking an RBI single in the first and a 3-run home run in the top of the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Hermida’s home run also served to knock Redding out of the game. He was replaced by Sean Green who pitched a scoreless inning. Green was followed by Ken Takahashi, who pitched three scoreless innings for the Mets. Brandon Stokes added a scoreless ninth. It was a truly great day for the Mets bullpen. 5 innings. 3 hits. 1 walk. 0 runs. But the damage had already been done. The Marlins seven runs against Tim Redding was more than enough, and they would end up winning 7 – 3.

Meanwhile, the Phillies defeated the Nationals at home Saturday to move a half game ahead of the Mets for first place in the NL East.

The Mets jumped on the board early against Chris Volstad on Sunday, when Angel Pagan doubled in Wilson Valdez in the bottom of the third to give the Mets a 1 – 0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Mets got an excellent start from John Maine, who went six shutout innings before leaving the game due to illness. He gave up just three hits and two walks and needed just 82 pitches to get through six innings. If not for the illness, who knows how long he could have gone.

Maine was relieved by Pedro Feliciano, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for the Mets. Perhaps most importantly, Feliciano threw 10 of 13 pitches for strikes Sunday. His control really has been most impressive this season. He hasn’t walked a hitter in his last seven appearances and has just 3 walks against 19 strikeouts on the year.

The Mets remained in front by the slimmest of margins until the bottom of the seventh, when Fernando Martinez and Omir Santos each hit RBI doubles to give the Mets a 3 – 0 cushion.

But given a 3 – 0 lead in the eighth, J.J. Putz got into trouble, walking Ross Gload with one out. He then gave up a single to Chris Coghlan, and an RBI single to Emilio Bonifacio. With the Marlins now down by just two runs and with the tying run on first, Manuel replaced Putz with Bobby Parnell. Parnell proceeded to give up an RBI single to Hanley Ramirez before striking out Jorge Cantu and inducing a fly out from Jeremy Hermida. After seven and a half at Citi Field, the Mets were clinging onto a 3 – 2 lead.

The Mets failed to score in the bottom of the eighth, but it didn’t matter. Francisco Rodriguez pitched another scoreless ninth for the Mets, walking one and striking out three to earn his 14th save in 14 chances. Unfortunately for the Mets, the Phillies also won Sunday, so the Mets remain a half game behind Philadelphia for first place in the NL East. On the bright side, St. Louis lost Sunday, so the Mets are now just a half-game back in the NL Wild Card chase.

Fernando Martinez Watch

Fernando Martinez, the highly touted prospect for the New York Mets, got his first two hits Saturday. In his first 16 at-bats in the big leagues, he has a single, two doubles and has struck out just three times. He has yet to earn a walk. In the field, he has yet to make an error.

Mets Greet Home Fans With 5 – 2 Victory Over Nationals

Mets Bullpen Bends But Doesn’t Break Against Nationals

Over 41,000 fans greeted the Mets at Citi Field Monday night as they returned home from a 5 – 5 road trip through San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. And the Mets, in turn, treated their fans to a 5 – 2 victory over the last-place Washington Nationals.

The Nationals got on the board first Monday, when Wil Nieves hit an RBI single in the second-inning to give the Nats a 1 – 0 lead, but the Mets responded just one inning later with an RBI single by Carlos Beltran. The game remained tied at 1 until the sixth inning, when Gary Sheffield hit a 3-run homerun to give the Mets a 4 – 1 lead. Ramon Martinez added a sacrafice fly to make it 5 – 1.

The Nationals threatened in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. In the seventh, Bobby Parnell, coming in for John Maine, walked the first batter he faced. He struck out pinch-hitter Justin Maxwell, but then gave up a single to Carlos Guzman and walked Nieves to load the bases with just one out. Next up was Nationals third-basemen Ryan Zimmerman, who Parnell proceeded to walk. With the score 5 – 2 and the bases still loaded, Jerry Manuel brought in Pedro Feliciano to face Adam Dunn. After Dunn flied out to deep center, Manuel replaced Feliciano with J.J. Putz, who was able to record the final out of the seventh.

In the eighth, J.J. Putz walked two, but was able to keep the Nationals from scoring. Then, in the ninth, Nick Johnson singled off Francisco Rodriguez, and Zimmerman walked again, but once again, the Mets bullpen was able to avoid damage, as Rodriguez struck out Austin Kearns and got Willie Harris to pop out to preserve the 5 – 2 victory.

It was a scary but encouraging victory for the Mets. John Maine had a nice comeback outing Monday. After giving up five runs (four earned) against the Dodgers, Maine gave up just one run in six innings of work against the Nationals. It wasn’t his best performance.  Yet, it was a solid performance, one that was good enough to get Maine his fourth win of the season.

Meanwhile, the bullpen was shaky yet ultimately effective. In three innings of work, the bullpen (Parnell, Feliciano, Putz, and Rodriguez) gave up two hits and six walks but only gave up one run. Parnell’s performance was discouraging, but Feliciano recorded a crucial out with the bases loaded, and Putz and Rodriguez showed mental toughness getting out of jams.

On offense, there were lots of good signs. David Wright had more than one walk for the fifth time in eight games. Meanwhile, Gary Sheffield had two hits, including the three-run home run. His average is now up to .277 with 4 home runs and 14 RBI. Angel Pagan walked twice in the leadoff spot. And Beltran got another two hits to raise his average to an astounding .367.

Monday’s victory combined with losses by Philadelphia and Atlanta, put the Mets all alone in second place and just a half game out of first. Tonight, the Mets will send Livan Hernandez against Craig Stammen. The game is scheduled to start at 7:10 EST.

The Mets Off-Day Report: Dropping the Ball

The New York Mets made six errors in their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Five of them came in Monday’s game. One came in Tuesday’s game. Rather than an aberration, this just continued a disturbing trend for the Mets, who have made the fourth-most errors in the major leagues. The Mets have made 32 errors. Compare that to the Phillies, who have made just 11.

The only three teams to make more errors than the Mets are the Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, and the Washington Nationals, all of whom are under .500 and struggling.

In terms of individual errors, David Wright leads the Mets with six errors, which also ties him for second among all major league third basemen. Jose Reyes has made five errors and Luis Castillo has made four, both numbers that are higher than ordinary for players at their positions. In the outfield, Daniel Murphy has had a terrible time of it. He is tied for the league lead in errors and has one of the worst fielding percentages in the major leagues.  Essentially, for any position, if you search for who’s made the most errors, a Met will be high on that list. It’s an embarassment, and something the Mets will need to work on.

There are reports that Jerry Manuel is going to start having the Mets take infield before games, and that’s probably a good idea. The Mets will need to cut out the errors, especially this weekend as they head to Fenway to take on a very tough Red Sox team.

Reds Come Alive Against Oliver Perez, Defeating Mets 8 – 6 In Series Finale

Only 17, 837 fans showed up for Thursday afternoon’s series finale between the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. But those who did show up got to see the Reds pick up their first win of the season against an erratic Oliver Perez.

The Mets got off to a good start Thursday, scoring 3 runs with two outs in the top of the third. The inning started with a single from Jose Reyes who was then caught stealing, and a groundout by Daniel Murphy. But with two outs, David Wright walked, Carlos Delgado singled, Carlos Beltran drove in Wright with a single, and then Ryan Church hit a double that drove in both Delgado and Beltran. 3 – 0 Mets.

But then Perez, who had retired the first six hitters of the game, began to unravel in the bottom of the third, giving up four runs on two walks and two hits. The big hit of the inning was a three-run homerun by Joey Votto, who hammered the Mets all series long. 4 – 3 Reds.

The Mets fought back in the fifth, with singles by Murphy and Wright, and then an RBI fielders choice by Carlos Delgado. The game was tied. But once again, the Reds answered. Perez gave up a bunt single, a walk, an RBI single to Votto, a sRBI acrafice fly to Brandon Phillips, and then another walk, before Jerry Manuel finally took him out with two runners on and with the Reds leading 6 – 4. Darren O’Day managed to record the final two outs of the inning but not before letting both inherited runners score on a critical 2-RBI single by Paul Janish. 8 – 4 Reds.

Oliver Perez was horrible. 4.1 innings, 5 hits, 5 walks, and 8 earned runs. Yet, the Mets refused to give up. The bullpen delivered 4 and two-thirds shutout innings, including two sterling innings from Brian Stokes and a good comeback performance from Pedro Feliciano (2 batters faced, 2 strikeouts). Meanwhile, the Mets offense put together a few runs. A sacrafice fly by Alex Cora in the 6th. A sacrafice fly by Carlos Delgado in the 7th. But then the Mets ran into the heart of the Reds bullpen. Arthur Rhodes, David Weathers, and Chad Cordero, who pitched 2 and two-thirds perfect innings to seal the victory for the Reds.

The offense was decent and efficent for the Mets Thursday. They scored 6 runs and only left 5 runners on base. The bullpen was strong. The only real problem was with Oliver Perez. The pressure is really building on Perez, to show Mets fans why he deserves his big paycheck. Mark the date April 15 on your calendar. That’s Oliver Perez’s next start. At Citi Field. ESPN2. Against the San Diego Padres. It will be primetime. It might be exactly what the doctor ordered for Oliver Perez.

Mets Take Out the Brooms and Mop Up the Brew Crew

The Mets had already won the series against the Milwaukee Brewers. They had already impressed fans and reporters alike. But, that wasn’t enough for the Mets. With some suggesting that the Mets take it easy today and rest their key players for the upcoming weekend series against the Phillies. the Mets refused to lose.

Instead, they came out playing hard as ever, scoring six runs in the top of the first and never looking back en route to a 9 – 2 victory. The first inning onslaught was highlighted by three straight hits, a walk, and then back-to-back homeruns. The first was a grand slam off the bat of Ryan Church. The second a solo shot by Brian Schneider.

It was a truly impressive showing by the offense. On a day when the stars were mostly held in check (Reyes, Wright, Beltran, and Delgado went a combined 4 for 16 with just 2RBI), the other key contributors came through. The Mets got another big day from Daniel Murphy (2 – 4, 2R), and got a big 2RBI single from Nick Evans to put the game out of reach in the eighth inning. And then of course, the big blows from Schneider and Church. Nine runs on ten hits. Another productive day for the Metsies.

And meanwhile, Oliver Perez wasn’t at his best today, but he managed to overcome bouts of wildness to pick up his 10th win of the season. He walked five, but in the end gave up only two earned runs, lasting into the seventh inning. He was then followed by 2 and a third innings of seamless bullpen work.

It was a great day for the Mets, but I do wonder about today’s bullpen management. Don’t get me wrong. I love Jerry Manuel, and think he deserves serious consideration for Manager of the Year. However, I’m not sure why he put Scott Schoenweis in to pitch the 9th, with the team up 9 – 2. Why not give one of the new September call-ups a chance to pitch?

But, at the end of the day, it was the Mets fourth straight win, and if we’re lucky we could end the day with a 3 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. Every day, it seems like the Mets are rapidly making their way towards an NL East title. Success this weekend would make things even better, and allow us to soon begin talking about magic numbers. But for now, great win. Great offense. Great pitching. Great team.

Mets Win Third Straight – Taking Down Brew Crew in 10

With an injured Luis Ayala struggling to throw strikes on the mound, and no pitchers up in the bullpen, things got a little scary for the Mets in the bottom of the 10th. But, Mets fans needn’t have worried. Because just like the Mets have been doing over and over again these last few weeks, they overcame all obstacles tonight to record a 6 – 5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Tuesday night’s win moved the Mets to 5 – 2 on this crucial eight-game road trip, and kept the Mets two games ahead of the Phillies, who were victorious tonight in Washington. The victory gives them a chance to rest some players, and in particular a worn out bullpen corps, in tomorrow’s series finale in Milwaukee ahead of the Mets critical upcoming weekend series at Shea against Philadelphia. And it also ought to leave them feeling good.

This is a team that has a knack for finding ways to win. For most of this season, the starting pitching has been a strength, and the bullpen has been a weakness. Yet, last night, it wasn’t the bullpen blowing a lead, instead the starting pitching blew it this time. Handed a 5 – 1 after Carlos Beltran’s three-run homerun), Jonathon Niese managed to give the entire lead up, failing to make it through the fourth inning. But, this time the bullpen succeeded when the starter could not, pitching a dandy of a ball game, and keeping the game tied at 5 from the fourth inning until the Mets were finally able to score the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.

And the run in the bottom of the tenth was pretty. Pure fundamentals. Nice hitting by Daniel Murphy, who led off the inning with a solid single up the innings. A good sacrafice bunt by Jose Reyes. And Reyes ran hard down the line, which allowed him to knock the ball out of Milwaukee second basemen Rickie Weeks’s glove in a collision at first base. The play resulted in first and third with no outs. Then, Endy Chavez hit a sacrafice fly, in a good show of situational hitting, allowing the Mets to score what would prove to be the game-winner.

Big game for the Mets, who have made grittiness a staple of their season. Good job managing the pen by skipper Jerry Manuel. Now, let’s see if we can get the sweep this afternoon with Ollie on the mound.

Saturday Frustration Turns to Sunday Joy for Mets

No Offense Late + Bad Bullpen = Loss

Insurance Runs Late + Good Bullpen = Win

Those two “mathematical equations” pretty much sum up this weekend, as well as the last few weeks, for the Mets. All season long, the Mets have received solid starting pitching, whether in wins or losses. But the bullpen has highly inconsistent. And all season long, the Mets have gotten good starting hitting. They score runs early. But the offense becomes much shakier as the game goes on.

And so, in all three games against the Florida Marlins this weekend, the Mets got a solid effort from their starting pitcher. And in all three games, the Mets managed to score early. Starting pitching and early offense are the two things that the Mets seem to do a good job with every day.

On the other hand, the bullpen and the success of the offense late in games have become the X-factor for this team. On Friday night, the team followed the winning formula: the bullpen was just good enough to hold the lead, and the offense scored four runs in the top of the ninth to get the win. On Saturday, the team followed the losing formula: Duaner Sanchez blew the save in the 8th, and Aaron Heilman walked in the winning run in the ninth. And the offense was shut out from the fourth inning on. Bad bullpen and bad offense late killed the Mets. Then on Sunday, the Mets returned to their winning ways. They not only scored early, but also tacked on three runs in the 7th to take the life out of the Marlins. And the bullpen was great, pitching three shutout innings to seal the series win.

The Mets win keeps the team one game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Now, the Mets head to Milwaukee, where they will have to take on a Brewers team that has been dominant (41 – 24) at home. Meanwhile, the Phillies will have a chance to gain ground on the Mets, as they visit Washington to take on a decidedly bad Nationals team. The Mets will need to play exteremly well these next few days if they want to have the division lead when they wake up on Thursday.

And now, time for tonight’s shoutouts.

On the offensive side of the ball, the shout out goes to David Wright who went 3 – 5 with a homerun yesterday.

And for the pitchers, the shout out goes to Brandon Stokes, who pitched a scoreless ninth for the Mets yesterday, and has really been the only reliable man in the bullpen of late.

Late Surge Propels Mets to Victory

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

New York Mets           6

Philadelphia Phillies   3

For all the insults that have been heaped on our bullpen this year, let’s give them credit when credit is due. After an exhausting Tuesday night when the bullpen combined to pitch 8 strong innings in relief of Pedro Martinez, the bullpen gave up only 1 hit in 3 scoreless innings last night to help the Mets earn a 6 – 3 comeback victory over the Phillies. Great job by Brian Stokes, Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith, and Luis Ayala tonight.

And give credit to an offense that finally scored runs in the later innings of a ballgame. The Mets put up 4 runs in the top of the eighth, taking a lead from the Phillies that they would never give back. This eighth inning rally included Carlos Delgado’s second homer of the night (and his 30th of the season), another clutch RBI double by Daniel Murphy, and a 2 RBI single by the red-hot Brian Schnieder that gave the Mets some insurance. Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Delgado each got three hits. It was particlarly nice to see a night like that from Beltran, who as has been noted by many others, has had a pretty quiet season thus far.

Over the course of this season, the Mets have had a terrible run differential (giving up far more than they score) in the later innings of ballgames. Tonight, they were +4 in the 7th – 9th innings. The offense and bullpen both deserve credit for that.

And give credit to a team that has been as resiiant this year as they were lackadasical last year. Jerry Manuel really seems to have built a mentally strong team here. This team came back last night and got a big victory following a tough loss, something they have already done several times during Manuel’s short tenure as Mets manager. Yesterday, I said that the Phillies were resilient. Tonight, I can say the same about the Mets. Never count us out! We too have a plethora of good hitters: guys who hit for power, average, and speed. It’s going to be a good NL East race this year. Enjoy!

Hero: Carlos Delgado (3 – 4, 2HR, 3RBI) – he knocked in the first three Met runs of the evening, including his shot in the 8th which tied the game.