I'm not gonna lie.
This is going to be a pivotal game for the New York Mets in numerous ways. They've already lost the season series against the Yankees, having lost 4 out of 5 games so far. Will tonight be 5 of 6? Or can they escape with a 2-4 season record against the Skanks? If the Mets lose tonight, they'll have been swept at home by the Yankees.
The first Mets-Yankees game this year in which 2B Luis Castillo dropped what should have been the final out and put the Mets up 1-0 in the series, is looming larger than it has in a long while.
But it's more than the Yankees now. If the Mets win, they're going to fall to a record of 37-37, and 3 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies. Falling to .500 at this point in the season is only slightly palatable because the rest of the NL East (not including Washington) are all within 5 games of each other.
This is a Mets offense riddled with injury, and the reserves are not holding it together they way they need to. David Wright may lead the NL in BA, but his power numbers have dropped so far down, that he can't carry the team anymore.
The minor league callups like Argenis Reyes (2B) and Fernando Martinez (CF) have been perfectly fine in the field, and absolutely dreadful at the plate. The middle relief has become a little burnt out, and the minor league callups like Jon Switzer and veteran Elmer Dessens haven't helped any.
The key to the Mets winning games is that the "everyday players" need to step things up at the plate and begin to manufacture runs. You don't have to hit longballs to win games, but you do have to execute when runners are in scoring position. For a team to be 1-hit by AJ Burnett and shutout by the Yankees last night is discouraging. But the Mets only amassed 3 hits and 1 run on Friday night. So they've been outscored 14-1 by the Yankees in 2 games, and
40-15 over the 5 games played so far. Disgusting.
Tonight's pitching matchup pits Chien-Ming Wang (0-6, 11.20 ERA) aginst Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05 ERA). While Wang is winless this season, and hasn't won a game since June 15, 2008, he IS looking better than he did in the beginning of the season. He gave up 3 ER in 5 IP in each of his last two starts (Washington, Atlanta), and while that's nothing great, it's a lot better than the way he was pitching to begin the 2009 season.
Livan has become a solid #2 for the Mets. In his last two starts, he pitched 7 innings each game, giving up 2 earned runs each time out. However, he was the starting pitcher against the Yankees in the first game between these two ballclubs in 2009 in what is forever going to be known as "The Castillo game," and he got rocked hard in that outing for 6 ER in 5.1 IP.
The trick to Livan's success tends to be fiddling around a wider strike zone, and taking advantage of relatively inexperienced hitters who aren't easily fooled by his 80 MPH fastballs and 60 MPH curveballs. Livan has been enormously successful for the Mets against other NL East opponents this season, less so against the crosstown rival Yankees. We'll see if he can save this team from sinking tonight.
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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:
5:11pm: Not a good way for the Mets to start a ballgame. Derek Jeter pounds a shot to deep left-center field which bounces off the wall for a leadoff double.
5:13pm: Nick Swisher grounds a ball to 1B Daniel Murphy who is playing in a little. Murphy seems to have a little trouble getting the ball out of his glove. He throws to 3B David Wright to get Derek Jeter at 3rd base, but Jeter makes it in safely. I don't fault Murphy for trying to make the play, but the sure out at 1st was probably more wise. Swisher safe at 1st.
5:16pm: Mark Teixeira strokes a double down the leftfield line scoring Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher. 2 runs across so far. Yankees up 2-0 and still nobody out.
5:18pm: Alex Rodriguez walks. Livan Hernandez is looking pretty bad through 4 batters. He may end up settling down but he's gotta limit the damage ASAP.
5:21pm: Robinson Cano grounds into 2B Luis Castillo, who throws to SS Alex Cora, and then onto 1B Daniel Murphy for the double play. However, Daniel Murphy drops the ball out of his glove, and his foot was moving off the bag anyways, so it looks like Cano woulda made it safely to first base no matter what. Daniel Murphy can't afford any more mental mistake at 1B. Mark Teixeira to 3rd base. 1 out.
5:24pm: Livan Hernandez almost picks off Robinson Cano at 1st but he dives back in just ahead of the tag.
5:25pm: Jorge Posada hits a sac fly to CF Fernando Martinez. He finally makes a two-handed catch and makes a nice throw home to catcher Brian Schneider, but Teixeira is safe without a problem. Yankees up 3-0. 2 outs.
5:26pm: Robinson Cano is caught stealing by Brian Schneider who throws onto Alex Cora, getting Cano easily. 3 outs. Livan has GOT to settle down, and no more fucking errors from the Mets defense.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:29pm: Daniel Murphy leads off and flies out to CF Brett Gardner. 1 out.
5:30pm: They just showed footage of Livan Hernandez in the Mets dugout after the top of the 1st. Schneider told him he did well, and then Livan gave Castillo a pat on the back for his nice play in the inning. Livan then went into the clubhouse to vomit.
5:31pm: Alex Cora gets hit by a pitch from Chien-Ming Wang and takes his pass to 1st base.
5:34pm: David Wright strikes out at a slider in the dirt. Lovely. 2 outs.
5:36pm: Gary Sheffield singles up the middle, sending Alex Cora to 3rd base.
5:37pm: Fernando Tatis flies out to RF Nick Swisher. 3 outs.
Top of 2nd Inning:
5:42pm: ESPN shows an interesting stat about Livan Hernandez. During the 1st inning this season, Livan has posted a 6.00 ERA. The rest of the game? A far more manageable 3.90 ERA.
5:43pm: Melky Cabrera strikes out swinging. 1 out.
5:44pm: Brett Gardner flies out to SS Alex Cora in shallow leftfield. Cora uses two hands baby. 2 outs.
5:45pm: Fernando Martinez may suck with the bat, but he makes a superb diving catch in centerfield to grab a sinking liner off the bat of pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. 3 outs.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:50pm: Fernando Martinez grounds out to 3B Alex Rodriguez who is perfectly positioned in the 3B-SS hole, away from the line, makes a short dive to his left and throws to 1B Mark Teixeira for the easy out. 1 away.
5:51pm: ESPN shows a replay of A-Rod on the last play wincing a bit after the throw. Did he just hurt his hip a little? I FUCKING HOPE SO!!!!
5:53pm: Brian Schneider takes a 3-2 pitch low for a walk.
5:55pm: Luis Castillo grounds into a 4-6 forceout. 2B Robinson Cano to SS Derek Jeter to get Schneider. Castillo is safe at first as there was no throw from Jeter since Luis can still move.
5:56pm: Livan Hernandez swings at the first pitch he sees from Wang, grounding it to SS Derek Jeter who tosses to 2B Robinson Cano for the force. 6-4. 3 outs.
Top of 3rd Inning:
5:59pm: Derek Jeter hits a solid and hard line drive into the glove of CF Fernando Martinez. 1 out.
6:01pm: Nick Swisher crushes a ball off the FOXBusiness.com sign just on the foul side of the rightfield foul pole.
6:02pm: Swisher hits a line drive on the next pitch into the glove of RF Fernando Tatis. 2 outs.
6:03pm: Mark Teixeira lines out to LF Gary Sheffield. 3 outs. Livan looks like he settled down. But this Mets offense needs to come alive and not allow Chien-Ming Wang to get his shit straight today of all days.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:06pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging at a low pitch in the dirt. Posada drops it so Murphy runs but Posada completes the strikeout by throwing down to 1st. 1 out.
6:09pm: Alex Cora works out a walk.
6:10pm: David Wright hits into a 6-4-3 motherfucking double play. 3 outs. Wang can walk everyone he wants as long as the Mets keep grounding into these fucking DPs.
Top of 4th Inning:
6:14pm: Alex Rodriguez rips a ball into CF for a single. That makes him 12 for 20 off of Livan Hernandez.
6:15pm: Robinson Cano hits into a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play. Castillo to Cora to Murphy. 2 outs. Whew!
6:16pm: Jorge Posada grounds out to 2B Luis Castillo. 4-3. 3 outs.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:22pm: Gary Sheffield takes a leadoff walk.
6:24pm: King of the Double Play Fernando Tatis hits a chopper to 3B Alex Rodriguez, but with Sheffield running to 2nd base, Rodriguez throws on to 1B for the sure out. 1 out, Sheffield at 2nd base.
6:28pm: Fernando Martinez hits a fly ball the opposite way to deep leftfield which goes over the head of LF Melky Cabrera. The ball takes a carom towards centerfield, so it's tracked down by CF Brett Gardner. Martinez is into 2nd with the double, Sheffield scores. Mets finally score a run!!!! But they're down 3-1.
6:30pm: Brian Schneider grounds to 2B Robinson Cano. 4-3. Fernando Martinez to 3rd on the play. 2 outs.
6:32pm: Luis Castillo slaps a shot down the 3rd base line to score Fernando Martinez. Mets down 3-2 now.
6:33pm: Luis Castillo steals 2nd base although he doesn't really slide but rather, he kinda flops down at the last second. Maybe he thought that either the throw wasn't coming, or the throw was going into centerfield? Strange, but he's safe...
6:34pm: Livan Hernandez grounds out to SS Derek Jeter. 6-3. 3 outs. Finally some offense against Wang!
Top of 5th Inning:
6:37pm: Melky Cabrera crushes a 3-2 pitch to one of the deepest parts of right-centerfield, but Gary Sheffield makes a nice catch on a 400-ft flyball. 1 out.
6:38pm: Brett Gardner takes a walk to 1st.
6:40pm: Chien-Ming Wang tries to lay down a bunt but it goes up in the air about 15 feet, leaving Brett Gardner unsure of whether to run or not. Livan lets it drop on the 1st base side of the mound, fields it cleanly, throws to SS Alex Cora at second base, who throws onto Luis Castillo covering 1st to complete the double play. Excellent job by the Mets defense for once. 3 outs.
Bottom of 5th Inning:
6:43pm: On the replay of the double play that ended the 5th, you can see Wang is slowed down by Livan Hernandez's body that is in his way as he throws onto 2nd base. Wang can't legally run into him while Livan is fielding the ball, but he could have maybe bumped him immediately afterwards while the throw was being made. Still, I can't imagine Wang wants to run into any collisions.
6:45pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging again. 1 out.
6:46pm: Alex Cora grounds out to 2B Robinson Cano. 4-3. 2 outs.
6:47pm: David Wright hits a soft grounder to 3B Alex Rodriguez which is fielded very nicely by A-Roid, who throws onto 1B Mark Teixeira to get the third out. David Wright is 0 for 11 this series.
Top of 6th Inning:
6:52pm: Derek Jeter takes a leadoff walk. Leadoff walks are never a good thing, and Nick Swisher has been hitting the ball hard tonight against Livan Hernandez.
6:56pm: Livan Hernandez walks Nick Swisher as well. Derek Jeter to 2nd base. Mark Teixeira is up and we's in trouble folks.
6:57pm: Bobby Parnell is warming up in the bullpen. Well that's not gonna help things...
6:58pm: Mark Teixeira skies out to Fernando Martinez in deep CF just short of the warning track. Both Jeter and Swisher tag up to 3rd and 2nd base respectively. 1 out.
6:59pm: With Alex Rodriguez up at the plate, 1 out, and an empty base, they may choose to walk A-Rod and face Robinson Cano, hoping to induce another double play out of Cano. Tough choice, but with A-Rod's numbers against Livan, I would probably give A-Rod the intentional pass.
7:00pm: Jerry Manuel makes the call to give A-Rod the intentional walk and load the bases. Robinson Cano has hit into two double plays tonight so far, although only one of them was successfully completed.
7:01pm: Robinson Cano is more unclutch than David Wright lately. Another tailor-made double play induced. Cano grounds up the middle to SS Alex Cora, who steps on 2nd and throws onto 1st to complete the 6-3 double play. 3 outs.
Bottom of 6th Inning:
7:04pm: Gary Sheffield hits a chopper up the middle which pitcher Chien-Ming Wang tries to leap and grab but it deflects off his glove towards 3rd base. Sheffield gets an infield single for his troubles.
7:07pm: Fernando Tatis lays down a bunt in front of the plate which is fielded by pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. Wang makes a slightly high throw to first base but Mark Teixeira makes the catch. Sheffield over to 2nd base. ESPN announcers Joe Morgan, Jon Miller and Steve Phillips are wondering about that play, theorizing that maybe Tatis missed a sign and it was supposed to be a hit and run instead of a sac bunt. I kinda doubt that. Tatis isn't good enough of a contact hitter to execute the hit and run, and with his luck it'd STILL be a double play. 1 out.
7:09pm: Lefty reliever Phil Coke is in the ballgame to pitch for Chien-Ming Wang. He'll be facing lefties Fernando Martinez and Brian Schneider, and also turn Luis Castillo around to the right side if it gets that far.
7:10pm: I don't like this matchup. Fernando Martinez can't hit lefty pitching this year unless it's Andy Pettite.
7:12pm: Sure enough, Fernando Martinez not only strikes out, but swings at a pitch which was at the level of his face.
7:13pm: Omir Santos is announced as the right-handed pinch-hitter to replace Brian Schneider, so Yankees manager Joe Girardi is making a double-switch of his own. Johnny Damon is in to play leftfield, Melky Cabrera moves over from leftfield to rightfield. Philip Hughes relieves Phil Coke, and Nick Swisher is out of the game.
7:16pm: Omir Santos flies out to RF Melky Cabrera. 3 outs.
Top of 7th Inning:
7:21pm: Jorge Posada slices a linedrive into leftfield but Fernando Tatis tracks it down. 1 out.
7:23pm: Melky Cabrera skies out to LF Fernando Tatis. 2 outs.
7:25pm: Brett Gardner pop flies out 2B Luis Castillo. The fans give him a sarcastic cheer. Although who knows if it's the Mets or Yankee fans doing that. Maybe both? 3 outs.
Bottom of 7th Inning:
7:31pm: Luis Castillo takes a leadoff walk.
7:32pm: Argenis Reyes is in to pinch-hit for Livan Hernandez. He's there to bunt Castillo over.
7:33pm: Argenis Reyes lays down a bunt towards the charging Alex Rodriguez who makes the throw to SS Derek Jeter to barely get Luis Castillo out at second base. Reyes should've been bunting towards 1st instead. Reyes now on 1st. 1 out.
7:34pm: With Argenis Reyes running on the pitch, Daniel Murphy grounds to 2B Robinson Cano. 4-3. 2 outs. Reyes at 2nd base.
7:38pm: Alex Cora watches a 1-2 fastball go right over the plate and I have no idea why, but he definitely looked overmatched by Hughes' 95 MPH fastballs. 3 outs.
Top of 8th Inning:
7:40pm: Lefty Pedro Feliciano is in to pitch for Livan Hernandez.
7:41pm: Johnny Damon grounds out to 1B Daniel Murphy who tosses onto Feliciano covering first base for the out. 1 out.
7:42pm: Brian Bruney is warming up in the Yankees bullpen.
7:44pm: Derek Jeter works out a walk.
7:45pm: Sean Green is warming up in the Mets bullpen.
7:46pm: Lefty hitter Hideki Matsui is in to pinch-hit for Phil Hughes. He grounds out to Pedro Feliciano. 1-3. Jeter to 2nd base. 2 outs.
7:48pm: After falling behind 2-1 to Teixeira, they make the call to give him the intentional pass. Probably a good idea.
7:49pm: Righty Sean Green is in to pitch for Pedro Feliciano. He's gonna face righty Alex Rodriguez.
7:53pm: With a 3-2 count, Sean Green walks Alex Rodriguez to load the bases. Jerry Manuel looks ticked off.
7:54pm: A lot of back and forth "LETS GO YANKEES" and "YANKEES SUCK" call and response chants. Unfortunately it's the Mets sucking big-time in this series.
7:55pm: Robinson Cano is up with the bases loaded and 2 out.
7:56pm: Robinson Cano grounds sharply to Luis Castillo's left. Castillo makes it looks easy with the pick and throw to 1st base for the 3rd out. That would've been another double play for Cano had there been less than 2 outs.
Bottom of 8th Inning:
7:58pm: Brian Bruney is on in relief of Phil Hughes to pitch the 8th and bridge the gap to Mariano Rivera. He'll be facing the slumping heart of the Mets lineup, beginning with David Wright.
8:00pm: David Wright takes a 4-pitch leadoff walk. I woulda preferred a homerun, but Bruney wasn't exactly giving Wright anything in the zone to swing at.
8:01pm: Alfredo Aceves is warming up in the Yankees bullpen.
8:02pm: Gary Sheffield skies out to SS Derek Jeter in shallow leftfield. 1 out.
8:03pm: Fernando Tatis is up, and I'm scared of the double play...
8:04pm: Bruney didn't give Tatis anything much to put in play, so he takes a walk too. Wright to 2nd base.
8:05pm: Fernando Martinez is in, and this is his chance of redemption. 2 men on, and he's facing a right-hander. He can't press here. A basehit to the outfield will likely tie the game.
8:06pm: Fernando Martinez swings at another high pitch around his neck level, and K's. Fucking crap. 2 outs.
8:07pm: Enter Sandman. It's time for a 4-out save from Mariano Rivera who will be facing Omir Santos.
8:08pm: Mariano Rivera comes in to pitch in relief of Brian Bruney. Bruney is responsible for the runners on 1st and 2nd.
8:12pm: Santos is putting together a nice AB against Rivera, and he just gave everyone a thrill by punching a nice liner down the rightfield line but landed on the railing in foul territory.
8:14pm: David Wright steals 3rd base without a throw.
8:15pm: Mariano throws an inside cutter that crosses the inside corner. Santos doesn't like the call, but it was a strike. 3 outs. *sigh*
Top of 9th Inning:
8:17pm: Jeremy Reed is into play RF, Gary Sheffield moves from LF to RF. Frankie Rodriguez is on to pitch the 9th and hopefully maintain the 1-run deficit.
8:18pm: Jorge Posada pops one into the Bermuda Triangle in short centerfield. Alex Cora thinks Luis Castillo has it, Castillo thinks Cora has it, so both momentarily look at each other. Cora dives for the ball but can't make the play. Probably scored as a hit.
8:20pm: It is scored as a hit, the first since the 4th inning. Although earlier Joe Morgan said they hadn't had a hit since the 1st inning. WTF ESPN?!
8:21pm: Melky Cabrera grounds to 3B David Wright. He throws to 2B Luis Castillo, who throws to 1B but Cabrera is too fast to double off in this spot. 5-4 forceout. 1 out.
8;23pm: Melky Cabrera steals 2nd base. Santos makes a nice throw to Cora who makes a nice tag, but Cabrera beat it. Nice?
8:25pm: Brett Gardner takes a 3-2 pitch high and outside for a walk. Yankees with runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out.
8:30pm: Johnny Damon smokes a liner into RF but it's a damn good thing Jeremy Reed is there cause he's right on it for the out. Runners do not advance. 2 outs.
8:31pm: The situation is simple. 2 outs, runners on 1st and 2nd. Derek Jeter is up. If you walk Jeter, Mariano Rivera is going to bat, and... he doesn't bat. So either you walk Jeter and force Girardi to pinch-hit, or you just face Jeter. Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips think that facing Jeter is a huge mistake. I do too. They should force Girardi to do something with Rivera.
8:34pm: They're pitching to Jeter?! WTF?! Even Jeter doesn't get it. Frankie goes 2-1 before the IBB is called. That was a waste of 3 pitches.
8:35pm: Mariano Rivera is batting with bases loaded and 2 outs. Frankie can't fuck this up, can he?
8:36pm: Frankie goes 2-0 before catching up 2-2 on the count. Mariano has his bat on his shoulders all the way so far. Rivera swings and fouls one off.
8:37pm: Holy fuck. Frankie walks Mariano Rivera and Melky Cabrera scores from 3rd base. Yankees up 4-2. Unfuckingreal.
8:40pm: On a 3-2 count, Mark Teixeira checks his swing and thinks he's walking, but the 3rd base umpire says he swung and that's it. 3 outs. Yankees up 4-2.
Bottom of 9th Inning:
8:43pm: Mariano Rivera is still pitching, now facing the bottom of the order with Luis Castillo, Jeremy Reed and Daniel Murphy.
8:45pm: Luis Castillo grounds out to 2B Robinson Cano. 4-3. 1 out.
8:47pm: Jeremy Reed strikes out looking. He was clearly overmatched by Mariano. 2 outs.
8:48pm: Daniel Murphy fists a base hit to LF to prolong the agony a little more. Alex Cora is up next, with David Wright after him. I hope Cora can somehow take a walk here.
8:49pm: Nope. He swung first pitch and grounded right to 2B Robinson Cano. 4-3. 3 outs. Fucking unreal.
GAME OVER - Yankees win 4-2
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What an absolute nightmare. Swept by the Yankees in 3 games in their own ballpark. Mariano Rivera gets his 500th career save along with his first RBI EVER. Chien-Ming Wang finally wins a fucking game.
Plenty of blame to go around tonight.
- Daniel Murphy's fumfering in the 1st inning. He attempted to get Derek Jeter at 3rd base on a groundball, and it was close. But it was the wrong play. I won't kill him on that only because it was close, and it would've been great had he nailed him. However, dropping the ball on the Cano double play AND having your foot off the bag when neither of those things should have occurred.
- Manager Jerry Manuel. Despite needing to make a couple of moves, having lefty Fernando Martinez face lefty Phil Coke in the 6th inning was a bad call. Martinez can't hit lefty pitching, and looked like a fucking joke doing so in this AB where he struck out at a ball at eye level. The right move was pinch-hitting for him using Nick Evans, and then either moving him into CF, or then putting Jeremy Reed into CF instead. I can understand not wanting to sub in 2 bench guys for one, but it had to be done, and Jerry didn't.
The other ridiculous managerial call was pitching to Derek Jeter in the 9th with Mariano Rivera on deck. Even Jeter thought this was retarded. Seriously! While ultimately the Mets lose the game either way, the fact that Jerry didn't call for the intentional pass to Jeter immediately was one of those huge "Is this guy for real?" moments. The only defense I can imagine Jerry Manuel might have for not walking Jeter initially was a reluctance to put Melky Cabrera on 3rd base, capable of scoring on any wild pitch or passed ball that got away from catcher Omir Santos.
Now, if you want to go with that defense, fine. Well, not fine, but... I get it. But then on a 2-1 pitch, he changes his mind and gives Jeter ball 4.
- Frankie Rodriguez. Despite Cora and Castillo not figuring out who should make the catch on Jorge Posada's flyball into the Bermuda Triangle, he's given leadoff hits before and gotten out of jams. However, walking Brett Gardner couldn't happen here, and walking Mariano Rivera was unforgivable. The only saving grace was that they were already losing the game 3-2, so what's another run at that point?!! Still, tough to take.
So what now?
The team drops to 37-37, 3 games behind Philadelphia and further down into the murkiness of the wildcard race. Granted neither of those things really mean too much right now, but this team isn't even treading water anymore.
They're at .500, still sinking and it's June 28. July doesn't get any easier for this decimated team, as they go on the road to play 3 in Milwaukee, one make-up game in Pittsburgh, and then 3 in Philly which they HAVE to win by any means necessary or this season is over before they get to the All-Star break. Even if all the regular players (Delgado, Reyes, Beltran) make it back by August 1, they're likely going to have to win over 40 games in August-September, which is asking a helluva lot from any team.
The month of June isn't over yet, but despite the team's 19-9 turnaround in May, which honestly should've been closer to 22-6, the best the Mets can now hope for is to take the next two games against the Brewers and go up to a 11-16 record for the month of June. They went 9-12 in April.
The thing is, with so many key people out, making a deal for one player, even someone like an Adam Dunn for example (which won't happen, but for the sake of my point...) doesn't address the other needs the team has. So for the front office to go ahead and deal for players, it has to be significant, and that's going to likely require moving some valuable prospects in a deal. The Mets don't want to mortgage their future, nor should they.
But part of their future is hurting them right now, namely Fernando Martinez, who clearly isn't ready for the bigs, and maybe AAA isn't right for him either yet. But with no Carlos Beltran for a while, the team is in a pickle and then some.
I don't envy GM Omar Minaya right now, because you're truly in a bind right now. The team finally hit the .500 mark, there's no quick fix, you have no real idea who is coming back when. This makes for a strong possibility that the Mets would become sellers at the July 31 deadline, instead of buyers, depending on the way things go over the course of July. Then that begs the question, who would the Mets trade AWAY at that point? Well, if that happens, I'll address it in 30 days from now. Hopefully that doesn't come to be.
