Redding Plays Ace and the Mets Take it in Extras

I couldn’t post after the Mets final defeat in Pittsburgh. I was simply too frustrated. 11 – 6. The Pirates ruthlessly jumped on Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey couldn’t even make it through the fourth Thursday. In his three and two thirds innings, he was charged with nine runs (eight earned). He gave up nine hits,  four walks, and he hit a batter.

Ken Takahashi, Sean Green, and Pedro Feliciano pitched nicely out of the bullpen, but even the bullpen was marred by another bad performance from J.J. Putz. Putz pitched an inning Thursday, giving up two earned runs on three hits. Now, Putz is in line to get elbow surgey, and will be out for the next couple months.

Just about the only good news for the Mets on Thursday was the reappearance of Carlos Beltran, who got two hits, including a solo home run in the fourth inning, and a two-hit day for David Wright, who had been slumping recently.

But baseball is a strange and unpredictable game. On Friday, the Mets sent Tim Redding out to the mound. Redding has been awful all season. But he pitched like an ace against the Washington Nationals, going six innings and giving up just one run. Yet, the Mets had their own troubles against Nationals pitcher Shairon Martis, and going into the later innings, the Mets found themselves tied 1 – 1 with the worst team in the major leagues.

Thankfully for the Mets, the bullpen was strong Friday, holding the Nationals scoreless until the Mets were finally able to get some runs in the tenth. Brandon Stokes pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, Parnell worked his way out of trouble in the eighth, and Sean Green continued his recent string of successful outings with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

That’s when the Mets finally rallied. Luis Castillo hit a soft single through the infield to lead off the inning. Carlos Beltran followed with a walk. And then David Wright hit them both in with a double into the right-field gap. Those two runs would prove to be more than enough for Francisco Rodriguez who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the 3 – 1 victory. Rodriguez now has 15 saves on the season.

Of the Mets eight hits Friday, four were from David Wright. Friday night’s performance combined with Wright’s two hit performance on Thursday seems to indicate that Wright is finally out of his slump, which is good news for a Mets team that badly needs his bat.

With the Phillies loss to the Dodgers, the Mets are now just three back in the NL East. The Cardinals lost as well, so the Mets are now just one back in the Wild Card chase. The Mets hope for more success Saturday night when they send John Maine to the hill.

With Ace on the Mound, Mets Fall Flat

They have an old saying in baseball. Throw strikes. Let them hit the ball. That’s what the eight guys behind you are for. That advice certainly worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday night. The combination of Zach Duke, John Grabow, and Matt Capps failed to record a single strikeout. Yet, they found other ways to get 27 outs, giving up just one run in a big 3 – 1 victory over the visiting New York Mets.

The game began as a pitcher’s duel between two aces: Zach Duke of the Pirates and Johan Santana of the Mets, and remained scoreless until the fifth. In the top of the fifth, Ramon Martinez and Jeremy Reed singled. Johan Santana sacraficed, moving Martinez to third and Reed to second. Luis Castillo followed with a sacrafice fly, giving the Mets a 1 – 0 lead.

The Pirates responded with one out in the bottom of the fifth when Jason Jamarillo hit a solo home run to tie the game at one. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Freddy Sanchez singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. This was followed by conseutive RBI doubles from Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche giving the Pirates a 3 – 1 lead.

Giving the lead, Zach Duke managed to go one more scoreless inning for the Pirates. He was followed by John Grabow, who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Matt Capps, who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to record his 12th save in 14 chances.

It was a continuation of woes for the Mets offense, who after scoring five runs in the first three innings of Monday’s game have scored just one run in their last fifteen innings at the plate. David Wright is one for his last sixteen. His average is now down to .328 down from a high of .362 on May 22. Fernando Martinez went 0 for 4 Tuesday after a couple of big games. Omir Santos also went 0 for 4.

Of course, it’s hard to get too mad at the Mets offense, seeing as they were without Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Ryan Church, Alex Cora, and Jose Reyes on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Santana went six innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits and a walk. After a nearly perfect beginning to the season, Santana has “struggled” of late. He gave up four runs in seven innings to the Giants. He then had a beautiful start against Boston, but followed that with a subpar start against Washington when he gave up three runs in six innings. And now, in this game against the Pirates, he again gave up three runs in six innings of work, which was particularly surprising giving his record of domination of the Pirates. On the bright side, Sean Green, Ken Takahashi, and Brandon Stokes combined to pitch two scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Meanwhile, the Phillies gained yet another game on the Mets Tuesday night. They dispatched of the Padres to move two and a half games ahead of the Mets in the NL East. Thankfully, for the Mets, the Brewers also lost, so the Mets remain just one and half games back in the NL Wild Card race.

The Mets will aim to end their two-game losing skid Wednesday night as they send Mike Pelfrey (4 – 1, 3.88 ERA) against Ross Ohlendorf (5 – 5, 4.45 ERA) of the Pirates.

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.

Livan Hernandez Goes the Distance, Mets Win 6 – 1

Santana Will Go For Sweep Tonight

The biggest move the Mets made this winter was getting Francisco Rodriguez. Yet, that was hardly the only move Omar Minaya made this past off-season. He brought in J.J. Putz, Ken Takahashi, and Sean Green as well to help shore up the bullpen. Sean Green aside, those moves have worked out pretty well. He also brought in some key position players. Gary Sheffield was clearly the biggest and best acquisition, but Minaya also brought in solid players like Jeremy Reed and Alex Cora to provide depth. But perhaps, one of Minaya’s biggest and most underated moves was bringing in Livan Hernandez.

Livan Hernandez is 33 years old, and presumably past his prime. Yet, he brings plenty of experience, craftiness, and of course his rubber arm to the Mets. He has been remarkably consistent this year. He is rarely spectacular, but he keeps the Mets in games. As evidence of the statement, Hernandez has lost only one game this entire year. The fact is he may not win every game, but he usually gives his team a chance. And on a starting staff that has been wildly inconsisten this year, Hernandez’s work has to be appreciated.

Last night, against one of the worst teams in baseball, Hernandez was hardly spectacular, but remarkably efficent. In going all the way for the Mets, he gave up nine hits and a walk, but just one earned run. It took 127 pitches, yet at the end of the evening, Livan Hernandez had gotten the first complete game at Citi Field.

Despite their depleted lineup,  the Mets provided plenty of offense for Hernandez. Ramon Martinez hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second. The Mets added another two runs in the bottom of the third, and then with the Mets leading 3 – 1 after six and a half innings, Gary Sheffield put the game out of reach with his three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh.

In other good news, Oliver Perez made his first rehab start for triple-A Buffalo, and presumably, dependent on how Perez does for Buffalo and on how Tim Redding does for the Mets, could rejoin the big club within the next few weeks.

With the Braves loss to the Giants last night, the Mets are now two games ahead of the Braves. They remain a half-game behind the Phillies iu the NL East and 1.5 games behind the Brewers/Cardinals in the Wild Card chase.

Red Sox Batter Mets Bullpen, Win Series Finale

Phillies Win in Extra Innings to Move 1.5 Games Ahead

For a brief moment Sunday, it looked like the New York Mets were on their way to a series sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Led by David Wright and Jeremy Reed RBI singles, the Mets had stormed back from a 3 – 1 defecit. Then, up 4 – 3 in the top of the fifth with runners on first and third, Gary Sheffield hit a single off Tim Wakefield to give the Mets a two-run lead. With Tim Redding doing surprisingly well, it looked like the Mets might be able to pull off a shocking three-game sweep of the Red Sox. And with the New York Yankees hanging tough against the Philadelphia Phillies, it looked like the Mets might end the weekend in first place.

That’s when Tim Redding imploded. In the bottom of the fifth, After retiring Kevin Youklis and Jason Bay on deep fly balls, Redding gave up a single to J.D. Drew. Mike Lowell followed with a deep drive off the Green Monster. Sheffield played the bounce perfectly, holding Lowell to a single. George Kottaras hit a double to make it 5 – 4. And that’s when Manuel came out, and replaced Redding with Sean Green.

The Mets entered Sunday’s game with one of the best bullpens in the major leagues, but Sunday wasn’t a very good day for the Mets relief corps. Red Sox shortstop Nick Green hit Sean Green’s first pitch into right field for a two-RBI single. Green was tagged out trying to stretch it into a double, but by then the Red Sox were already up 6 – 5.

Ken Takahashi came in to pitch the seventh. He walked Dustin Pedroia but also recorded two outs before handing the ball over to Brandon Stokes. Stokes immediately proceeded to walk Youklis before giving up an RBI single to Jason Bay and an RBI double to J.D. Drew. 8 – 5 Red Sox.

 Stokes got into more trouble in the eighth. He gave up consecutive singles to Kottaras and Green to start the inning. After getting Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out, Pedroia hit an RBI single, and two batter later, Youklis hit a three-run homerun to give the Red Sox a 12 to 5 lead.

It was a rough day for the Mets bullpen. Sean Green actually made a pretty good pitch to Nick Green, but Nick took it the other way for the 2-RBI single. Ken Takahashi was OK too, but ended up being charged with an earned run. Meanwhile, Brandon Stokes was awful, giving up five earned runs in just one and a third innings. On the bright side, Pedro Felicano pitched a scoreless eighth inning, his ninth straight appearance without giving up a run. His ERA is now down to 2.50.

Meanwhile, while the Mets bullpen was giving away the game, the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees were battling it out at Yankee Stadium. Down 3 – 2 in the ninth, Melky Caberea hit a game-tying single off Phillies closer Brad Lidge to send the game into extra innings. But in the top of the 11th, Carlos Ruiz hit a double, driving in Chase Utley to give the Phillies a 4 – 3 lead. Chad Condrey shut the Yankees out in the bottom of the inning to secure the win for the Phillies, who now lead the Mets by one and a half games in the NL East. 

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays, defeating Toronto by a score of 10 to 2. Atlanta has won seven of their last ten, and are now tied for second place in the NL East with the Mets.

Mets Lose Third Straight

Phillies Take Over First Place in NL East

On Sunday morning, the Mets woke up the winners of three straight games and 11 of their last 13.  Now, just days later, the team is struggling as they head into their series finale against Los Angeles Wednesday night.

Tuesday night started well enough for the New York Mets. After Orlando Hudson’s RBI single gave the Dodgers a 1 – 0 lead in the bottom of the first, the Mets responded with two runs in the second and another in the third. John Maine drove in both second-inning runs with a single up the middle, and David Wright made it 3 – 1 with his third-inning RBI single.

But that’s when the Mets offense turned off. The Mets went down 1-2-3 in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings against Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley. Billingsley was also effective at the plate, hitting a RBI double in the bottom of the 4th to make it 3 – 2.  

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Casey Blake hit the game-winning blow off Maine, a three-run homerun to left that gave the Dodgers a 5 – 3 lead.  The Mets would put several baserunners on in the seventh and eighth but failed to score. Jonathan Broxton then set the Mets down 1-2-3 in the ninth, clinching the Dodgers sixth win in seven games.

On the bright side for the Mets, they made only one error although it was a costly one. The bullpen was good as well. Ken Takahashi got a big double play in the bottom of the sixth. Sean Green pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth.

Yet, there were far more negatives than positives for the Mets on Tuesday night. John Maine struggled. He gave up five runs (four earned)  in five and a third innings, surrendering eight hits and three walks in his time on the mound. 

Meanwhile, the offense was once again pathetic. Of the Mets three runs Tuesday, two were driven in by the pitcher and one was driven in by Wright. David Wright has been red-hot of late but the rest of the Mets offense is struggling. The Mets have scored just five runs in their last three games.

The Mets are now one game behind the Phillies, who won their fifth straight Tuesday night. They are also one game back of both the Cubs and Cardinals in the NL wild-card race.

Tomorrow’s series finale against the Dodgers is at 10:10pm EST. Then, they head to Fenway to take on the always-dangerous Red Sox.

Many Opportunities, Nothing to Show for It

Matt Cain was all over the place Sunday evening. In the top of the second, right after Bengie Molina singled to put the Giants ahead 1 – 0, Cain walked the first three hitters. Bases loaded. No outs. The perfect chance to hit it big. But then Jeremy Reed hits into a double play and Mike Pelfrey grounds out. In the fifth, Mike Pelfrey walked to leadoff the inning, but then the 1, 2, and 3 hitters went down in order. Inning over. In every inning except the 6th and 9th, the Mets had at least one base runner. And yet, at the end of the night, the Mets were unable to score, shut out for the first time this season.

David Wright had another good game for the Mets, singling in the third and walking twice. Carlos Beltran singled and walked. Yet overall, the Mets offense was stymied by a wild yet effective Matt Cain. Cain would end up going six innings for the win. Bob Howry, Jeremy Affeldt, and Brian Wilson each piched an inning out of the bullpen to secure the 2 – 0 win. It was a particularly important outing for Wilson, who had already lost two games in the series.

Meanwhile, Mike Pelfrey struggled for the Mets. He gave up only two runs in six innings of work, but he clearly had his struggles on the mound. He gave up six hits, two walks, balked three times, and looked visibly frustrated as the game went on.

The Mets, however, did get two nice comeback outings from their bullpen. Ken Takahashi pitched a scoreless seventh after giving up runs in his two previous outings, and Sean Green pitched a 1 – 2 – 3 eighth. Green has struggled over the past month. His ERA was 2.45 after a scoreless outing against Milwaukee on April 19. It was 8.80 going into tonight’s game, so the scoreless inning was huge for Green and the Mets.

The Phillies beat the Nationals on Sunday, to move just a half-game behind the Mets. The Braves game against Arizona was postponed Sunday and are now just two and a half behind the Mets. The Marlins lost yet again Sunday and remain three and a half games behind the Mets.

Meanwhile, the Mets, if they weren’t leading their division, would be just a half-game back in the wild card chase, which is certainly good news. The Mets will now head to Los Angeles to take on the streaking Dodgers.

Braves @ Mets: Series Summary

Monday: Braves 8 @ Mets 3 

• W: Derek Lowe (6.2 IP, 2ER)
• L: Johan Santana (6.1 IP, 2R, 0ER, 7K)
• The Big Hits: Matt Diaz and Casey Kotchman seventh inning 2-RBI singles that turned a 1 – 1 tie into a 5 – 1 Braves lead. 

Tuesday: Braves 3 @ Mets 4 (10 innings)

• W: Frankie Rodriguez
• L: Jeff Bennett
• Mets Starter: Mike Pelfrey (7 IP, 2ER)
• Braves Starter: Jeff Jurrjens (7.2 IP, 2ER)
• Hits of the Game: Jose Reyes 2-RBI single in the 8th and Luis Castillo game-tying sac fly in the 9th

Wednesday: Braves 8 @ Mets 7 (12)

• W: Jeff Bennett 
• L: Ken Takahashi
• S: Mike Gonzalez
• Mets Starter: Jonathan Niese (4.2 IP, 5ER, 7H, 2BB) 
• Braves Starter: Jo-Jo Reyes (3 IP, 5ER, 4H, 3BB)
• Hits of the Game: Fernando Tatis grand slam, Gary Sheffield solo HR in the 8th for the Mets. Garrett Anderson two RBI-singles and a sac fly and a Martin Prado 12th inning game-winning homer for the Braves.

The Amazings

Grittiness, Gary Sheffield, Reyes Talent, Carlos Beltran, Fernando Tatis grand slam, not leaving as many runners on base

The Lows

Ken Takahashi (gave up a run in multiple outings), J.J Putz (same as Takahashi), Reyes Baserunning, Poor Performance from Jonathan Niese

Braves Edge Mets in Series Finale

Phillies Remain One Game Behind

The Mets made a valiant effort Wednesday afternoon, but fell short against the Atlanta Braves by a score of 8 to 7 after 12 innings of hard-fought baseball.

The game featured multiple lead changes. The Braves jumped out to a 2 – 0 lead in the top of the first spurred by a Chipper Jones RBI double and Garret Anderson RBI single. The Mets came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the first. But the Braves broke the 2 – 2 tie with two more runs in the top of the third. Garret Anderson was again in the middle of things, knocking an RBI single for the Braves.

 The Mets took a 6 – 4 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a tremendous grand slam to center field by reserve outfielder Fernando Tatis. Yet, Niese failed to pitch effectively with the lead, and Parnell and Putz both gave up runs out of the bullpen. 

The Braves went into the bottom of the eighth with a 7 - 6 lead. Then, the Mets got a long overdue homerun from Gary Sheffield which tied the game at 7. Both bullpens then put up zeroes until the 12th, when Martin Prado hit what would prove to be the game-winning long ball against Mets reliever Ken Takahashi.

 Jose Reyes nearly tied the game with a ball that nearly cleared the left-center field wall in the bottom of the inning, but ended up with just a double (it probably would’ve been a triple had Reyes been running). Reyes got to third with one out, but was stranded there, as the Braves held on to take the series.

Yet, the Los Angeles Dodgers blowout of the Philadelphia Phillies ensured that the Mets would remain a game ahead in the NL East standings. Atlanta now stands 1.5 games back as do the Florida Marlins.