After losing the first game of the doubleheader earlier today by a final score of 5-4, the Mets look for a split of the doubleheader as well as a split of this 4-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. This is the final game between the two teams of the season, which is likely why it was scheduled as ESPN's Sunday Night game. ESPN of course, can't be thrilled that this game has zero postseason implications, but that's what happens when you schedule certain things prior to the season.
Depending upon the result of this game, the Mets will have finished their season series against the Phillies with a final record of either 7-11, or 6-12.
Game 2 of the matchup pits Tim Redding (2-5) 5.78 ERA against Pedro Martinez (4-0) 3.64 ERA in 6 starts. Pedro's worst start of the season came on August 23 against the Mets in which he gave up 4 ER in 6 IP, but still got the W due to Philly's offense handing him a 9-7 victory.
What's been extremely impressive this season with Pedro is that he has only walked 4 batters in 29.2 IP. With 27 K over that timespan, Pedro has exceeded all reasonable expectations so far. But can his arm make it into October?
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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:
5:09pm: Luis Castillo slaps a liner into left-center field for a leadoff single. ESPN announcers Joe Morgan, Jon Miller and Steve Phillips argue about the description of Castillo's hit. Is it a flare? A slap? A solid hit?
5:12pm: Cory Sullivan flies out to CF Shane Victorino. Castillo cannot advance. 1 out.
5:14pm: David Wright strikes out swinging at a high and outside fastball. 2 outs.
5:15pm: Steve Phillips points out what most rational people already know. No team could survive the number of injuries the Mets have had to their major players (Reyes, Beltran, Delgado) and still compete. Of the big 3 injuries, only Beltran has returned, and it's too late. Many other players have also gone down with injury as we well know (ie: Johan Santana, Alex Cora, Oliver Perez, Fernando Nieve, Jonathon Niese, etc.)
5:16pm: Carlos Beltran walks. Luis Castillo moves to 2nd base.
5:19pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging at a wicked curveball from Pedro Martinez. 3 outs.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:23pm: Tim Redding gives up a leadoff walk to Jimmy Rollins on a 3-1 count.
5:25pm: Shane Victorino lines a single into leftfield. Jimmy Rollins moves to 2nd base on the hit.
5:30pm: Chase Utley smashes a long flyball off the top of the LF wall just beyond the reach of Fernando Tatis for a long long single since Jimmy Rollins thought the ball might be caught by Tatis and held up at 2nd base before scoring. Carlos Beltran retrieved the ball in left-center. Shane Victorino moves up to 2nd base on the play. 1-0 Phillies.
5:33pm: Ryan Howard hits a soft liner right at 2B Luis Castillo for the out. Castillo shuffles the ball to Anderson Hernandez at 2nd base hoping to double off Shane Victorino but he's back safe. 1 out.
5:36pm: Raul Ibanez hits a high flyball to CF Carlos Beltran. 2 outs.
5:41pm: Jayson Werth strikes out swinging at a 3-2 curveball and Tim Redding escapes the jam giving up only 1 earned run, although it took him 33 pitches to get through the inning. 3 outs.
Top of 2nd Inning:
5:44pm: Fernando Tatis never took the bat off his shoulder in this AB, watching 5 pitches go by, 3 of them for strikes. 1 out.
5:45pm: Brian Schneider ropes a first-pitch into rightfield for a single.
5:46pm: ESPN cameras are showing Tatis in the Mets tunnel with trainer Ray Ramirez checking out his left hand/arm which he may have injured in the 1st inning when he leaped into the wall on Utley's long single that just missed clearing the fence. He may be out for the rest of the game.
5:47pm: Anderson Hernandez lines a single past 1B Ryan Howard into rightfield. Brian Schneider makes it to 3rd base on the hit.
5:48pm: Tim Redding lays down a sac bunt to the 1st base side of the diamond. The ball is fielded by Pedro Martinez who throws down to Chase Utley covering 1st base for the out. 1-4. 2 outs. Anderson Hernandez moves to 2nd base on the sac bunt.
5:49pm: Luis Castillo gets drilled in the right elbow by a Pedro Martinez pitch and he's hopping around in immense pain before falling to the ground. Mets trainers along with manager Jerry Manuel are out to check on Luis.
5:51pm: While Castillo tries to recover, we're shown a stat that the Mets have had players spend 1,007 days on the DL, more than any other team in baseball by a wide margin. Luis Castillo is ok, and finally gets to 1B. The bases are loaded with 2 outs for Daniel Murphy.
5:53pm: Daniel Murphy flies out to LF Raul Ibanez. 3 outs.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:56pm: Jeremy Reed is in LF to replace Fernando Tatis.
5:57pm: Pedro Feliz pounds the ball onto the left-centerfield warning track for a leadoff double. ESPN announcers Jon Miller and Joe Morgan think Tim Redding got screwed by the home plate ump on the previous pitch that should've been called a strike instead of a ball. They're right.
5:59pm: Redding attempts a pickoff of Feliz at 2B but no dice.
6:00pm: Carlos Ruiz hits a weak grounder to 3B David Wright who makes a clean throw to 1B Daniel Murphy for the out. Feliz does not advance on the play. 5-3. 1 out.
6:01pm: Pedro Martinez grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez, 6-3. Feliz moves to 3rd base on the play. 2 outs.
6:03pm: Jimmy Rollins flies out to LF Jeremy Reed. 3 outs.
Top of 3rd Inning:
6:05pm: David Wright is at the plate against Pedro Martinez for the first time ever. Well, that would make sense considering they've been teammates since 2005 up until this year, and David was on the DL the last time Pedro faced the Mets on August 23.
6:06pm: Pedro wins that battle getting Wright swinging at a full count 91 MPH fastball that is tipped but caught by catcher Carlos Ruiz. 1 out.
6:08pm: Carlos Beltran grounds out hard right to 1B Ryan Howard, who runs to the bag himself to get the out. 2 outs.
6:09pm: Daniel Murphy flies out to SS Jimmy Rollins in short leftfield. 3 up, 3 down.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:12pm: Shane Victorino hits a weak chopper back to the mound. Tim Redding fields it and throws to Murphy at 1B for the out. 1-3. 1 out.
6:14pm: Chase Utley strikes out swinging at the high heat. 2 outs.
6:17pm: Tim Redding gets Ryan Howard to strike out swinging at the high heat on a full count. 3 outs.
Top of 4th Inning:
6:20pm: Jon Miller reports that the injury to Fernando Tatis was a sprained index finger on his left hand.
6:21pm: Jeremy Reed strikes out swinging at a fastball. 1 out.
6:22pm: Brian Schneider hits a hard grounder right to 1B Ryan Howard. He takes the ball to the bag for the out. 2 outs.
6:24pm: Anderson Hernandez flies out to SS Jimmy Rollins in shallow leftfield. 3 outs. Pedro is starting to cruise along in this game with 5 Ks in 4 IP.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:27pm: Raul Ibanez skies out to CF Carlos Beltran in right-centerfield. 1 out.
6:29pm: Jayson Werth smokes a ball right into the mitt of SS Anderson Hernandez. 2 outs.
6:30pm: Pedro Feliz grounds out to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 outs. That was 9 pitches for Redding, who has definitely settled in. Problem is, so has Pedro, and Tim Redding is usually garbage after 5 IP.
Top of 5th Inning:
6:33pm: Tim Redding grounds out to SS Jimmy Rollins. 6-3. 1 out. That makes 8 Met batters in a row retired by Pedro Martinez.
6:34pm: Luis Castillo is up with a little padding above his right elbow. However, he lines out to 2B Chase Utley. 2 outs.
6:35pm: Cory Sullivan tries to check his swing at a low pitch but he makes contact. The ball goes right back to Pedro Martinez on the ground, he throws to first. 1-3. 3 outs.
Bottom of 5th Inning:
I've been somewhat neglectful again of updating this blog on a consistent basis. The reason? Real life interferes.
But hopefully I'll find a little more time between all the sports action going on with the Mets and Angels, and other baseball playoff matchups, college football season now underway, and the NHL season starting in October.
So, with that out of the way, let's briefly talk about the New York Mets.
Through 143 games played, the Mets are 63-80. There are 19 games remaining in the season, so the chances of going 81-81 are virtually impossible unless the club goes 18-1. Now it's a matter of 70 wins instead of 81. Can they get there?
Back on August 6, I predicted that the Mets were going to end up with a final record of 77-85. However, even that seems unlikely unless they can go 14-5 to finish out the season. Possible, still not very probable, especially considering how the club has played over the past month.
Now, at best, the Mets are in the role of potentially playing spoilers to the rest of the NL East as they'll be playing Atlanta, Florida and Washington the rest of the way. None of them are in a strong position to take the NL Wild Card away from either the Colorado Rockies or Los Angeles Dodgers, although mathematically, Atlanta and Florida are still in the hunt.
As for 2010, there's going to be a LOT of talk going into the offseason as to what this Mets organization needs to do in order to rebound. The desperate need for a power-hitting leftfielder. How will the team fill holes at catcher, 1B, and the starting rotation? Will the bullpen undergo another overhaul outside of Frankie and Feliciano? That will all be covered in due time.
Right now, the Met players that are still healthy simply need to focus upon doing the best they can on the field. For many of them, this is an audition for a spot in the majors come 2010, never mind the Mets.
