8 posts tagged “espn”
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(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.
6:37pm: 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.
- 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.
Let's start with the New York Mets.
They're 5-5. Not a great start, but it's still .500 ball. What is overlooked is that unlike another team in New York, the Mets have been in every single one of their losses until the very last pitch of the game.
They're not getting obliterated (like the Yankees were 15-5 by Tampa Bay when Nick Swisher had to pitch.)
Nor are they getting completely embarrassed (like the Yankees were at their home opener once CC Sabathia left the game and the bullpen gave up NINE RUNS in the 7th inning, leading to a 10-2 Yankee Stadium opening destruction.)
Of the Mets 5 losses in this early 2009 season, the Mets lost 4 of those 5 games by 1 run, 1 of them by 2 runs. You often have to judge teams not only by their wins, but by their losses. Are they in the game until the end? Are they playing exciting baseball? Is the game over in the 9th inning or the 5th? Teams that play until the final out are going to allow themselves a greater chance of success and comebacks, and so far the Mets are doing just that. Of course, it'd be much nicer for them to win more of those close games, but there are 152 games left to play.
Tonight's game against Milwaukee was another nailbiter for the Metropolitans that saw Gary Sheffield get his 500th career HR in a key situation with the team down by a run, tying the game and allowing the solid bullpen to keep them in the game until Luis Castillo became the hero in the bottom 9 by hitting an infield single with 2 out that scored Carlos Delgado from 3rd for the CitiField walkoff victory.
Of course had the Mets lost tonight, fans would somehow find a way to blame Willie Randolph again.
---------------
It's still very early in the season, and most teams seem to have their fair share of problems right now except perhaps for the Florida Marlins. The Red Sox are in the AL East cellar, and a lot of the standings 10-11 games in, are a tad lopsided. But fans and media pundits alike have to remember that what happens in April rarely reflects the final results at the end of September.
Both the Marlins and Padres are off to very hot starts. Are both going to win their division? Not likely with the Marlins, and no way in hell with the Padres. Is Toronto going to win the AL East? Not a chance. But it always leads to a never-ending string of panic from each team's fanbase that "drastic actions" must be taken in order to right the ship immediately!!!!
Maybe these same people forget how hot the 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks were for most of the season, only to fade away when August (and Manny Ramirez) came around.
-------------
One team that's already had enough problems both on and off the field, are my 2nd favorite team, the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim).
Three of their top starters in their pitching rotation began the season on the DL: John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar.
While Lackey began last season the DL as well (and Escobar spent the entire season on the DL), Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana stepped up to hold the team together along with Jered Weaver and Jon Garland, until mid-May when ace Lackey came back.
This season, it's even rougher, certainly off the field. The tragedy that all of baseball suffered with the loss of Nick Adenhart, which has affected both the team and fanbase on multiple levels.
Add to that the injury to slugger Vladimir Guerrero, who will be out for at least a month with a pectoral muscle tear injury. There's hope that Vlad can heal without the need for surgery, but losing the team's power bat for any length of time is never a positive, and could potentially shake things up in the AL West. As it is, the Angels are off to a slow start, and Seattle is on fire.
The Angels opened a 3-game series tonight in Minnesota at the MetroDome, and pretty much every one of their pitchers did horribly tonight with the exception of Justin Speier, who ironically enough, usually is terrible out of the bullpen. He pitched 2 IP, 4 Ks, no hits. Everyone else, an utter disaster.
That was capped off by a Jason Kubel grandslam in the bottom of the 8th off of Angel reliever Jason Bulger which took the Twins from down 9-7, to an 11-9 victory taking the opener.
The Angels' bullpen, usually one of their greatest strengths, has not been too strong this season ever since Frankie Rodriguez went to New York. Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields, normally rocks of this team's 7th and 8th innings, currently have 7.20 ERAs on the season. I'm confident things will normalize over the course of the next couple of months, but it does raise an eyebrow or two.
Game 3 of the final series between the Mets and Phillies during the regular season all comes down to this.
The Phillies won the first two games of the series and have shrunk the Mets NL East-division lead to 1 game. If the Phillies complete the sweep at Shea, they will be tied for first place as the two teams go their separate ways. The Mets have a 2-game series against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Phillies return home to face the Marlins in a 3-game set Monday through Wednesday.
A lot is going to be made of this series, but even if the Mets lose this game, there are still 19 games remaining for both teams, and it's very likely going to be a race that goes down to the final week, or even day unless one team... ahem... collapses.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:
5:11pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds sharply to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 1 out.
5:12pm: ESPN's Jon Miller reads off a bunch of stats as to how many times Santana has pitched well only to have the Mets' bullpen blow it for him. *sigh*
5:13pm: Chase Utley lines a single into centerfield.
5:14pm: Jayson Werth is up, and he hits lefties VERY well this season, especially with the longball. He has 15 HRs in 2008 against lefty pitching, which leads the majors.
5:15pm: Johan Santana falls behind Jayson Werth going 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, and ends up walking him.
5:17pm: Ryan Howard singles to leftfield scoring Chase Utley from 2nd easily. Jayson Werth to 2nd. Phillies go up 1-0.
5:18pm: Met-killer Pat Burrell is up. Although he's slumping something fierce over the last month. Burrell has 42 HRs against the Mets, the most among all active players.
5:20pm: Johan Santana is having trouble throwing strikes. 20 pitches in the inning so far 11 of them are balls.
5:22pm: Pat Burrell thinks he just saw ball 4, but it was clearly strike 3 that went into Schneider's mitt. 2 out.
5:23pm: Shane Victorino flies out to deep centerfield. 3 out.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:28pm: Jose Reyes pops out to 2B Chase Utley. 1 out.
5:30pm: Ryan Church fights off a high fastball and hits it into LF for a single.
5:31pm: David Wright, swinging an 0-2 pitch, fouls it off but also hits catcher Chris Coste's glove on his swing, triggering a catcher's interference call from the home plate umpire. David Wright automatically gets 1st base, Ryan Church moves to 2nd.
5:33pm: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is out to argue and gets the toss for his argument. The fans pop huge and a "LETS GO METS" chant erupts.
5:34pm: Carlos Beltran lines a ball down the leftfield line. Ryan Church scores easily. David Wright beats the tag of Pedro Feliz at 3rd base, Carlos Beltran to 2nd on the throw. Tie game 1-1. Bench coach (acting manager) Jimmy Williams is out to argue the call at 3rd. Replays show Wright may have been out but it's tough to tell. No ejection this time.
5:37pm: Carlos Delgado grounds a ball up the middle for a single, driving in David Wright and Carlos Beltran. 3-1 Mets.
5:39pm: Fernando Tatis grounds a ball up the middle but SS Jimmy Rollins makes a nice play to field the ball, toss to Utley at 2nd for an out, but Tatis beats the throw to 1st. 2 out.
5:41pm: Cole Hamels strikes out Damion Easley. Pretty exciting inning to start this one. Mets up 3-1, a rare catcher's interference call, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel ejected, and Cole Hamels looks very hittable. Hopefully moreso than Santana.
Top of 2nd Inning:
5:45pm: Pedro Feliz goes down swinging at a Johan Santana changeup. 1 out.
5:46pm: Chris Coste takes a trot down to 1st base.
5:47pm: Cole Hamels lays down a bunt in front of Johan Santana who fields it cleanly, fires to Reyes at 2B for the out. Reyes throws to Easley covering 1B, but Hamels beats the throw. 2 out.
5:49pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 out.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:52pm: Brian Schneider strikes out swinging. 1 out.
5:55pm: Johan Santana lines a 3-2 pitch down the leftfield line. If not for 3B Pedro Feliz knocking it down, it would have been a double for Santana. However, he'll settle for a single.
5:56pm: Jose Reyes is not looking good at the plate against Cole Hamels.
5:57pm: Jose Reyes hits a weak groundball to SS Jimmy Rollins who tosses the ball to Chase Utley at 2B, but Utley comes way off the bag and Santana is safe at 2nd. That should be ruled an error on Utley as there was no need for him to field the toss from Rollins that way.
5:58pm: Ryan Church hits a grounder back to pitcher Cole Hamels, but he can' t field it cleanly as it goes off his glove. Bases loaded for the Mets and that may end up rule being an infield single. David Wright to the plate with bases full and 1 out.
6:01pm: Miller and Morgan note David Wright's less-than-stellar numbers with bases loaded. And sure enough, Wright goes down swinging on a 3-2 fastball from Hamels. 2 out.
6:02pm; Carlos Beltran swings at the first pitch and fouls out to 1B Ryan Howard. Phillies escape the jam. 3 out.
Top of 3rd Inning:
6:06pm: Johan Santana strikes out Chase Utley. 1 out.
6:08pm: Johan Santana strikes out Jayson Werth on 3 pitches. 2 outs.
6:09pm: Ryan Howard crushes the first pitch he sees from Santana into the LF bleachers for his 40th HR of the season. Mets lead cut to 3-2.
6:10pm: Pat Burrell strikes out swinging. Santana ends up striking out the side but gives up the dinger to Howard. 3 out.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:12pm: Carlos Delgado hits a scoreboard moonshot SLAMMA LAMMA DING DONG, which is all the more dramatic considering the piece ESPN just did on him, explaining how the Mets were trying to figure out what to do with Carlos after his subpar first half. Mets up 4-2.
6:15pm: Fernando Tatis hits a hard lineshot into the glove of CF Shane Victorino. 1 out.
6:16pm: Damion Easley breaks his bat with a bloop shot to shallow center which is tracked down and caught by SS Jimmy Rollins. 2 out.
6:18pm: Brian Schneider smokes a shot into centerfield which almost gets past CF Shane Victorino, but Schneider is limited to the single.
6:20pm: Johan Santana grounds out to 3B Pedro Feliz who throws to Utley for the forceout at 2nd. 3 out.
Top of 4th Inning:
6:24pm: Shane Victorino foul pops to 1B Carlos Delgado. 1 out.
6:25pm: Pedro Feliz pops out to 2B Damion Easley. 2 out.
6:26pm: Chris Coste grounds to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 out. A very economical 7-pitch inning for Johan Santana.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:28pm: Cole Hamels is going to be lucky to go 5 innings this game with his pitch count now above 80.
6:29pm: Jose Reyes continues to look horrible against Cole Hamels, swinging at a pitch in the dirt for strike 3. 1 out.
6:30pm: Ryan Church grounds out sharply to 1B Ryan Howard who runs to the bag for out 2.
6:31pm: David Wright flies out to 2B Chase Utley in shallow left-center. 3 out.
Top of 5th Inning:
6:34pm: Johan Santana strikes out Cole Hamels, which is now 6 K's through 5.1 IP. 1 out.
6:36pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 2 out.
6:38pm: Chase Utley flies out to LF Fernando Tatis. 3 out.
Bottom of 5th Inning:
6:43pm: Carlos Beltran goes down swinging. 1 out.
6:45pm: Carlos Delgado crushes yet another moonshot off of Cole Hamels' first pitch. This time off a changeup instead of the curveball. Mets up 5-2.
6:46pm: Fernando Tatis grounds out to 3B Pedro Feliz. 5-3. 2 out.
6:47pm: Damion Easley hits a hard shot to LF that bounces up against the wall for a double.
6:48pm: With a base open, Cole Hamels gives the IBB to Brian Schneider so they can face Johan Santana.
6:49pm: ESPN's Jon Miller says Carlos Delgado's 2nd HR went an estimated 460 feet. Wow.
6:50pm: Johan Santana strikes out swinging on Cole Hamel's 109th pitch. 3 out.
Top of 6th Inning:
6:53pm: Jayson Werth grounds out to 3B David Wright who makes a very nice play and throw onto 1st for the out. 1 out.
6:55pm: Ryan Howard flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 2 out.
6:58pm: Pat Burrell works out a walk.
6:59pm: Shane Victorino flies out to RF Ryan Church. 3 out.
Bottom of 6th Inning:
7:02pm: Now pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies is right-hander Clay Condrey. Maybe Jose Reyes can start hitting better now.
7:03pm: Or not. Reyes breaks his bat with a grounder to 2B Chase Utley. 4-3. 1 out.
7:05pm: Ryan Church strikes out swinging. 2 out.
7:06pm: David Wright grounds the first pitch he sees from Condrey right to SS Jimmy Rollins. 6-3. 3 out.
Top of 7th Inning:
7:08pm: Pedro Feliz grounds a ball past Carlos Delgado into RF for a single.
7:09pm: With Johan Santana nearing 100 pitches, this will surely be his final inning.
7:10pm: Chris Coste flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.
7:11pm: Carlos Ruiz in to pinch-hit for Clay Condrey.
7:13pm: Ruiz grounds out to David Wright who makes a diving stop, gets up and throws to Easley for the out. Easley throws on to Delgado at first but Ruiz beats it easily. 2 out.
7:15pm: Jimmy Rollins lines a 3-2 pitch directly at David Wright for the third out. Santana throws 110 pitches for the night through 7, and he's done. Another very good outing from Johan.
Bottom of 7th Inning:
7:20pm: In relief for the Phillies is right-hander Rudy Seanez.
7:21pm: Carlos Beltran just misses a HR by a bit as he hits a long flyball to the warning track, but Jayson Werth catches it. 1 out.
7:22pm: The fans chant "MVP" at Carlos Delgado, which he may be for the Mets team, but certainly a joke if they think it's for the National League. Mind you, a good percentage of these "fans" are the same asshats who were busy booing Delgado in May, demanding his release, and parroting the words "Bring up Mike Carp!" until their empty heads exploded.
7:23pm: It is noted that no Met has ever hit 3 HR in one game at Shea Stadium.
7:24pm: Carlos Delgado strikes out swinging. 2 out.
7:26pm: Jon Miller notes that no one is pitching in the Mets bullpen, which indicates Santana is going another frame.
7:27pm: Fernando Tatis skies a shot into left-centerfield, but it's caught by Shane Victorino. 3 out.
Top of 8th Inning:
7:29pm: Johan Santana pitching another inning to the heart of the Phillies order. Utley, Werth and Howard. Endy Chavez is in LF as a defensive replacement for Fernando Tatis.
7:31pm: Chase Utley grounds out to 1B Carlos Delgado who jogs to the bag for the out.
7:32pm: Jayson Werth pounds a ball to deep CF for a double. Mets manager Jerry Manuel goes to the mound to get Johan Santana, who gets the standing ovation from the Shea fans. Santana even tips his cap to the 1st-base side fans. Sometimes lefty-specialist Pedro Feliciano is coming in from the bullpen to face lefty powerhouse Ryan Howard.
7:36pm: Ryan Howard grounds out to 1B Carlos Delgado who jogs to the bag for the out. Jayson Werth goes to 3rd on the play. That's all for Pedro Feliciano. Jerry Manuel to the mound for the pitching change as righty Brian Stokes is in to face righty Pat Burrell.
7:39pm: Pat Burrell breaks his bat on the first pitch he sees from Brian Stokes, grounding out to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 3 out.
Bottom of 8th Inning:
7:42pm: Luis Ayala is warming up in the bullpen for the 9th. Ayala may be the closer for the rest of the season if Wagner's setback today is as serious as is being reported.
7:43pm: Damion Easley hits a ball over CF Shane Victorino's head that goes just past his glove for a leadoff stand-up triple.
7:45pm: Brian Schneider hits a long fly ball into RF caught by Jayson Werth, but Damion Easley tags up easily to expand the Mets lead to 6-2. 1 out.
7:46pm: Marlon Anderson is in to pinch-hit for Brian Stokes.
7:47pm: Marlon Anderson fouls off two pitches before swinging through the third and striking out. 2 out.
7:48pm: Jose Reyes grounds out to 1B Ryan Howard who is a step away from the bag when he fields it. 3 out.
Top of 9th Inning:
7:51pm: Luis Ayala is on to pitch the 9th in a non-save situation.
7:52pm: Shane Victorino hits an excellent unintentional swinging bunt which deadens downs the 3rd-base line. Catcher Brian Schneider fields it and tries to throw out Victorino at 1st, but the throw sails over Delgado into RF and bounces into the stands. Victorino to 2nd on the error.
7:53pm: Greg Dobbs is in to pinch-hit for Pedro Feliz. Dobbs flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.
7:54pm: Righty pitchers Al Reyes and Joe Smith are warming up in the Mets bullpen. Lefty Matt Stairs is on to pinch-hit for Chris Coste.
7:55pm: Matt Stairs basically does the same thing Shane Victorino did. A swinging bunt, except the ball goes further up the third-base line for an infield hit. David Wright knows he has no chance so he lets the ball go. Victorino to 3rd base on the play. The hide is torn off on this ball.
7:57pm: Tadahito Iguchi is in to pinch-run for Matt Stairs. Andy Tracy is in to pinch-hit for Rudy Seanez.
7:58pm: Andy Tracy hits a flyball to deep LF which Endy Chavez catches near the wall with a slight jump. Victorino tags up. Mets lead cut by one, but they're still up 6-3. 2 out.
7:59pm: Luis Ayala gets the dramatic strikeout game-ender with Rollins swinging and missing. 3 out. GAME OVER. Mets win 6-3.
-----------------------------------------------
With the Mets victory, they lose the series but gain a division lead back on the Phillies to 2 games.
The two teams will not meet again this season, and with Milwaukee looking to be the NL Wildcard team at this point, they can't face each other in the postseason either.
More importantly, the Mets win the season series from Philadelphia 12-7, something they did not do in 2007 when they went 6-12 against the Phillies.
The next 19 games will be very important to both teams, which I believe will go down to the final week. The Mets have a 4-game series against the Chicago Cubs Sep 22-25 which the Mets are going to have to dominate if the Phillies are still in the race 2 weeks from now, and with their upcoming schedule, there's no reason to expect that they won't be.
The month of June begins with the final game between the Mets and Dodgers this season. As the Mets lost 2 of 3 to the Dodgers in Los Angeles during May 5-7, the Mets MUST win this game in order to win the season series 4-3.
The Mets will be taking a late-night flight tonight after the game to San Francisco for a game against the Giants tomorrow night. The Dodgers will also be taking a late-night flight tonight after the game back to L.A. to play Colorado. This is something that ESPN announcers Jon Miller and Joe Morgan will mention several times during the national telecast.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Top of 1st Inning:
5:08pm: Pierre slaps a hit past David Wright at 3B who was playing shallow. The ball goes into LF and Pierre scratches out a double.
5:12pm: Matt Kemp lines a single into CF that easily scores Juan Pierre from 2nd. Dodgers go up 1-0. Shit.
5:16pm: Jeff Kent watches strike 3 go right by him, even though it was slightly inside. 1 out.
5:18pm: On a 2-1 pitch, Matt Kemp gets picked off by Johan Santana as he's trying to steal 2nd. Kemp gets caught in a brief rundown as Jose Reyes chases Kemp back to 1st before laying on the tag. 2 out.
5:19pm: James Loney K'd. 3 out.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:22pm: Jose Reyes lines a single into CF.
5:24pm: Jose Reyes steals 2nd, though still almost gets thrown out by Russell Martin, who double-clutched.
5:25pm: Luis Castillo flies out to centerfielder Matt Kemp. Reyes dekes a throw but isn't tagging up. 1 out.
5:27pm: David Wright hits a bloop single to RF Delwyn Young. Not sure if Young misjudged it or was just playing too deep. Reyes was running full speed once he noticed the trajectory of the ball and runs past Russell Martin's tag to score. 1-1 game.
5:29pm: Carlos Beltran hits a swinging bunt which goes to the third-base side of the mound. Kuroda fields it and fires a bad throw to 1B James Loney who doesn't quite catch it, but pins it to his body long enough to demonstrate control, and Beltran is out at 1st. Wright to 2nd on the 1-3 play.
5:30pm: Carlos Delgado flies out to deep CF for the 3rd out.
Top of 2nd Inning:
5:35pm: Johan Santana gives up a leadoff walk to Russell Martin.
5:36pm: Delwyn Young strikes out swinging. 1 out.
5:38pm: Blake DeWitt strikes out swinging. 2 out.
5:41pm: Luis Maza walks on a full count. Russell Martin to 2nd.
5:44pm: Pitcher Hiroki Kuroda pops out to 1B Carlos Delgado. 3 out. Santana walks 2 in the inning but also strikes out 2. He has 4 Ks through 2 IP.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:47pm: Ryan Church skies a ball to deep rightfield but Young catches it without a problem. 1 out.
5:48pm: Brian Schneider pops up to SS Luis Maza for the 2nd out.
5:50pm: Endy Chavez grounds out to SS Luis Maza. 6-3. 3 up, 3 down. Short inning for Kuroda.
Top of 3rd Inning:
5:52pm: Juan Pierre lines out to LF Endy Chavez. 1 out.
5:55pm: Matt Kemp hits a chopper past the mound on the third-base side which is bare-handed and thrown to first by David Wright, but Kemp has the speed to beat the throw. Infield single.
5:56pm: Jeff Kent grounds to Jose Reyes who makes a diving stop, gets up, flips to Castillo at 2nd, Castillo throws to 1st to complete the 6-4-3 DP. 3 out.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:00pm: Johan Santana grounds out to 2B Jeff Kent. 4-3. 1 out.
6:02pm: Jose Reyes doubles to left-centerfield. If Andruw Jones' fat ass was playing CF, Reyes probably could've went to third.
6:07pm: Luis Castillo grounds out to 2B Jeff Kent, 4-3. Jose Reyes to 3rd on the play. 2 out.
6:10pm: David Wright hits a line drive past 3B Blake DeWitt for a single to LF. Reyes scores and the Mets go up 2-1. Yeehaw!
6:12pm: Carlos Beltran hits a 2-run Strawberry shot to RF. BOOM SHAKKALAKKA. 2nd HR in 2 days. Mets up 4-1.
6:14pm: Carlos Delgado walks. Hiroki Kuroda is not looking too good, which worries me, cause if he continues to pitch poorly, we'll see the evil Hong-Chih Kuo soon. Mets need a lot more runs. Maybe they can space it out over the game? :)
6:17pm: Speaking of more runs, Ryan Church hits a 2-run bomb to RF! 6-1 Mets!
6:20pm: Brian Schneider hits only his 2nd double of the year as he smacks the ball to LF.
6:21pm: Endy Chavez getting the intentional pass with Johan Santana up next.
6:23pm: Pitching change. The evil Hong-Chih Kuo is in relief for Kuroda and will probably pitch at least 3 Innings.
6:25pm: Johan Santana grounds out to 1B James Loney. 3 out.
Top of 4th Inning:
6:28pm: James Loney hits a chopper that slightly glances off the tip of Johan Santana's glove, but SS 3Jose Reyes fields it cleanly and throws to 1st for the out. 1-6-3. 1 out.
6:29pm: Russell Martin grounds out to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 2 out.
6:31pm: Delwyn Young grounds out to 2B Luis Castillo. 4-3. 3 out.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:35pm: Jose Reyes hits a soft liner to 2B Jeff Kent. 1 out.
6:37pm: Luis Castillo hits a linedrive to 2B Jeff Kent, who dives in the air to make the play. Great D from a 40-year old 2B. 2 out.
6:38pm: David Wright singles to CF.
6:39pm: David Wright steals 2nd base easily.
6:40pm: Carlos Beltran gets the intentional pass so Kuo can pitch to the weak-lefty-hitting Carlos Delgado.
6:41pm: Carlos Delgado hits a solid line drive right into the glove of leftfield Juan Pierre. 3 out.
Top of 5th Inning:
6:45pm: Blake DeWitt flies out to LF. 1 out.
6:47pm: Luis Maza grounds out to 3B David Wright. 2 out.
6:49pm: Hong-Chih Kuo strikes out. 3 out.
Bottom of 5th Inning:
6:51pm: Ryan Church hits a flyball over CF Matt Kemp's head for a double.
6:52pm: Brian Schneider grounds out to SS Luis Maza. 6-3. 1 out.
6:54pm: Endy Chavez grounds out softly to 3B Blake DeWitt. 5-3. 2 out.
6:56pm: Johan Santana pops out to LF Juan Pierre. 3 out.
Top of 6th Inning:
7:00pm: Juan Pierre singles to center.
7:01pm: Matt Kemp grounds out to SS Jose Reyes who makes the throw to Luis Castillo but Pierre's hard slide and Kemp's speed prevents the double play. 1 out.
7:02pm: Jeff Kent grounds out to 3B David Wright who makes a great pickup on the ball. 5-4-3 DP! 3 out.
Bottom of 6th Inning:
7:05pm: Jose Reyes hits a chopper that Hong-Chih Kuo jumps in the air to field, throws to 1B for the out. 1-3. 1 out.
7:07pm: Luis Castillo pops out to 2B Jeff Kent. 2 out.
7:10pm: David Wright strikes out. Fucking Kuo shuts down this offense. 3 out.
Top of 7th Inning:
7:12pm: James Loney hits a leadoff single to CF.
7:15pm: Russell Martin hits a flyball to deep left-center, but it's caught by CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.
7:16pm: Delwyn Young hits a chopper to 1B Carlos Delgado, 3-6 fielder's choice. Loney out at 2nd, Young on 1st. 2 out.
7:18pm: Blake DeWitt hits a long flyball down the RF line that goes foul, but not by much.
7:20pm: Blake DeWitt strikes out. 3 out.
Bottom of 7th Inning:
7:25pm: Carlos Beltran hits a grounder to SS Luis Maza, but Maza throws wide of 1B James Loney. Beltran safe at 1st on Maza's error. E6.
7:27pm: Carlos Delgado grounds to 2B Jeff Kent, who throws to 2nd to get the lead runner Beltran. Fielder's Choice, 4-6. Delgado on 1st. 1 out.
7:28pm: Ryan Church hits a grounder past SS Luis Maza for a single. Delgado to 2nd.
7:30pm: Brian Schneider looks at a low strike for strike 3. 2 out.
7:32pm: Endy Chavez lines out to LF Juan Pierre. 3 out.
Top of 8th Inning:
7:35pm: Luis Maza lines out to SS Jose Reyes. 1 out.
7:37pm: Terri Tiffey pinch-hits for Hong-Chih Kuo and grounds out on the first pitch to 2B Luis Castillo. 4-3. 2 out.
7:39pm: Juan Pierre takes a 4-pitch BB.
7:41pm: Matt Kemp hits a hard grounder up the middle for a basehit.
7:42pm: Willie Randolph comes to the mound and is taking Santana out. The fans are very happy with his performance, as they should be. Righty specialist Joe Smith is coming in to face Jeff Kent with 2 out and 2 men on.
7:45pm: Smith hits Kent in the butt with a pitch. Bases loaded with lefty James Loney coming up. It's time for either Feliciano or Schoeneweis to come in.
7:48pm: Lefty Scott Schoeneweis is in to hopefully get the team out of the jam.
7:50pm: On a 3-1 hitter's count, James Loney grounds out to SS Jose Reyes. 6-4. 3 out, crisis and ulcer averted.
Bottom of 8th Inning:
7:53pm: Cory Wade is on in relief for the Dodgers. Raul Casanova is in to pinch-hit for Schoeneweis.
7:54pm: Raul Casanova strikes out looking. 1 out.
7:55pm: Jose Reyes strikes out swinging. 2 out.
7:57pm: Luis Castillo grounds out softly to SS Luis Maza. 6-3. 3 out. Will we see Heilman in the 9th?
Top of 9th Inning:
7:59pm: No Heilman. Lefty Pedro Feliciano is in to pitch.
8:00pm: Russell Martin foul pops out to 1B Carlos Delgado. 1 out.
8:02pm: Delwyn Young hits a hard but harmless groundball chop back to pitcher Pedro Feliciano. 1-3. 2 out.
8:03pm: Blake DeWitt flies out to LF Endy Chavez to end the game. 3 out.
METS WIN 6-1!!!!
--------------------------------------
The Mets take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers, giving them the season series win 4-3. After losing 2 of 3 to St. Louis at home, the Dodgers got swept in Chicago, and lost 3 of 4 to the Mets. Good.
FUCK THE DODGERS AND THEIR ROTTEN SHIT FANS!
The Mets now go on to play the Giants in SF, and then Padres in San Diego. Here's to a winning June!
I really should be a little better at updating this blog, as it's the first entry since the Mets-Dodgers series at Beaner Ravine back in July.
Now it's the final game between the two teams this season, with the Mets currently leading the Dodgers 5 games to 4, for those who keep track. The Mets got swept 3 games in June by Los Dodgers, took 3 of 4 from them in July, and have now won 2 of the first 3 games at Shea Stadium.
This entry will be updated in real-time, as the game is on ESPN on a Sunday night, and that means I CAN ACTUALLY WATCH THE METS!!!
TOP 1
5:11pm: Rafael Furcal leads off the game with a double to left-center. Furcal reaches 2nd base and then does this goofy cross-on-his-chest shit thanking Jesus. I've always marveled at the lunacy of athletes who think "God" had anything to do with their base-hit, touchdown, or three-point jumper.
5:13pm: Juan Pierre is trying to bunt Furcal to 3rd, but fouls two away. He then swings at the next two and fouls them off. Pierre swings and grounds out to 2nd, Furcal goes to third on the play. 1 out.
5:14pm: John Maine is the most non-descript lanky 6'4" white guy you'll ever see.
5:15pm: Matt Kemp strikes out looking. He seems disappointed at the 3rd called strike but that was definitely low in the zone. 2 out.
5:17pm: Jeff Kent to the plate and he pops up to Ruben Gotay at 2nd base for the third out.
BOTTOM 1
5:18pm: Pitching for L.A. tonight, is David Boomer Wells. Jose Reyes scalds the first pitch he sees right to third baseman Shea Hillenbrand, who easily throws Reyes out at first. 1 out.
5:20pm: Lastings Milledge singles up the middle. ESPN commentator Jon Miller tells us that Milledge had the flu recently and lost 10 pounds. I think I need to get the flu too.
5:22pm : David Wright doubles to leftfield. Strange baserunning situation with Lastings Milledge rounding 3rd too much and getting caught in a rundown. David Wright however, manages to get to 3rd on the play. Willie Randolph looks less than pleased.
5:23pm: Carlos Beltran batting from the right side. He's known to be better from the left side, but no matter, Wells walks him on 4 straight pitches.
5:24pm: Moises Alou grounds out to shortstop Rafael Furcal, who flips to Kent at 2B for the 3rd out. Both teams get a runner to 3rd base in the 1st inning but fail to score.
TOP 2:
5:27pm: Joe Morgan makes his first gaffe of the night calling Shea Hillenbrand "Shawn." And he does it a second time before he stops mid-sentence, pauses, and corrects himself. Clearly an ESPN producer was in his ear on that.
5:28pm: Andre Ethier whiffs at a high fastball for strike 3. 1 out.
5:29pm: ESPN is analyzing the Milledge play from the previous inning. It seems that Milledge thought he had a legit chance at scoring, but 3rd-base coach Sandy Alomar held up the stop sign, and by the time Milledge was able to stop, he was too far off 3rd and got caught.
5:30pm: Shea Hillenbrand lines out to Carlos Beltran for the 2nd out.
5:31pm: James Loney hits one deep to leftfield, but Moises Alou catches it at the edge of the warning track. 3 out.
BOTTOM 2:
5:33pm: Jeff Conine grounds out to short for the first out. Did you know that Jeff Conine is supergood at racquetball?
5:34pm: Joe Morgan makes his 2nd gaffe of the night, talking about the pickups that Mets GM Omar Minaya has made over the season. Apparently the Mets got Marlon Byrd, but clearly Joe MEANT Marlon Anderson.
5:35pm: Ruben Gotay grounds out to short for the second out.
5:37pm: Mike DiFelice skies out to Juan Pierre in centerfield for the third out.
TOP 3:
5:39pm: Peter Gammons interviewing Dodger ace Brad Penny. What can Los Angeles do to catch Arizona in the NL West or San Diego for the wild card? Trust me Brad, you guys suck. Dodgers have NO shot at winning the division. They still have a shot at the wild card, but not based on the way they are playing lately. Thankfully. Fuck L.A.
5:40pm: Mike Lieberthal grounds out to shortstop Jose Reyes for the first out.
5:41pm: David Wells strikes out. He looks as comfortable with a bat as I do with a tampon. 2 out.
5:43pm: Rafael Furcal walks.
5:44pm: Juan Pierre lines one down the rightfield line for a triple. Milledge was expecting the ball to continue down the line but it a railing so Milledge had to charge in for the ball. Furcal scores easily, Dodgers lead 1-0.
5:45pm: Matt Kemp grounds out to Jose Reyes for the third out.
BOTTOM 3:
5:48pm: John Maine singles to centerfield. Jon Miller jokingly says, "Man that guy is a good hitter," just seconds after telling us that Maine is not a good hitter, which is true.
5:49pm: The Josayyyyyyyyyy Josayyyyy Josayyyyy Josayyyyy, Josayyyyyyy Josayyyyy chants ring out at Shea. Jose Reyes bloops a single to centerfield.
5:50pm: L-Millz up at the plate. Dodgers play in for the bunt, but Milledge is swinging so far. 0-2 after fouling off the first two pitches.
5:51pm: Wells throw the John Maine specialty, which is the high heat, and gets Milledge to strikeout. 1 out.
5:52pm: David Wright doubles to left-center. John Maine scores easily from 2nd. Reyes draws a throw home as he scores, but the throw was off and a tad late. Mets up 2-1.
5:54pm: David Wright is picked off of 2nd base. Wright started to steal 3rd but Wells stepped off and the Dodgers caught Wright in a rundown. 2 out.
5:55pm: Carlos Beltran reaches at an outside pitch and flies out to centerfield. 3 out.
TOP 4:
5:59pm: Jeff Kent takes a John Maine ball to the helmet. Ouch. But hey, he's a Dodger so fuck him. He doesn't go down though. Clearly unintentional and Kent seems to be ok, but he's removed from the game.
6:01pm: Ramon Martinez takes over for Jeff Kent and jogs out to 1st base.
6:04pm: After a long at-bat, Andre Ethier grounds a ball up the middle past both John Maine and Ruben Gotay for a single. Martinez gets to 3rd base on the pitch. 1st and 3rd, with 0 out.
6:07pm: Hillenbrand lines a hard shot to 2B Gotay who gloves it for the first out. Gotay throws to Conine at 1B hoping to double off Ethier but he's back safe.
6:09pm: James Loney is up. Jon Miller talks about the ridiculous difference in BA for Loney when he's on the road (very high) and when he's at Dodger Stadium (around .235 BA).
6:10pm: John Maine gets Loney swinging at a low changeup for the well-needed K. 2 out.
6:11pm: Another troubling stat for the Mets, John Maine in particular, is how awesome he was the first half (sub 3-ERA) and how bleh he has been since the All-Star Break (6.10 ERA).
6:12pm: Maine gets ahead 0-2 on Mike Lieberthal, who is not a great hitter to begin with. Lieberthal swings through strike 3 and Maine gets himself out of the jam quite impressively. 3 out.
BOTTOM 4:
6:14pm: Moises Alou leads off the inning singling to left.
6:16pm: Jeff Conine hits a flyball to rightfield for the first out.
6:18pm: Ruben Gotay hits a ball hard but right at leftfielder Andre Ethier. 2 out.
6:19pm: Mike DiFelice flies out to centerfielder Juan Pierre. 3 out.
TOP 5:
6:22pm: David Wells shocks the world in a play sure to be a WebGem tonight, by laying down a bunt for a leadoff single. Wright made a play on it but couldn't throw Wells out in time, and Boomer is hardly a speedy guy.
6:24pm: Rafael Furcal hits a chopper just past 1B Jeff Conine for a basehit. 1st and 2nd, 0 out. Maine getting himself into another jam.
6:25pm: Juan Pierre hits a grounder to 2B Ruben Gotay who gets handcuffed a bit but is able to shuffle the ball to Jose Reyes at second for the sure out. Pierre at 1st, Wells at 3rd. Pierre can easily steal 2nd too as he's the second speediest guy in the NL.
6:27pm: John Maine fakes to 3rd, Juan Pierre is almost fooled but get back to first just under John Maine's throw to Conine.
6:28pm: Matt Kemp bloops a single to rightfield, driving in David Wells to tie the game 2-2. Juan Pierre to 3rd.
6:30pm: Ramon Martinez hits a shot to right-center that goes to the wall. Matt Kemp, running on the pitch, should have scored on the play but once he reached 2nd, didn't know where the ball was and didn't want to get doubled off, so he hesitated until he figured out what happened. Kemp to third base, Martinez at 2nd with a double. Pierre DID score, so it's 3-2 Dodgers.
6:32pm: With Andre Ethier batting, Matt Kemp makes another baserunning blunder as he gets picked off 3rd by Mets catcher Mike DiFelice, who throws down to David Wright for the tag. 2 outs.
6:33pm: Andre Ethier flies out to centerfielder Carlos Beltran. 3 outs.
BOTTOM 5:
6:36pm: John Maine grounds out to first baseman James Loney, who tosses to David Wells for the out.
6:37pm: Jose Reyes grounds out to Rafael Furcal, 6-3 on the scorecard. 2 out.
6:39pm: Lastings Milledge grounds to Rafael Furcal. Furcal makes a hurried throw to first, Milledge slides headfirst and is safe, even though the throw goes past Loney. Milledge however, cannot advance as the ball bounces back fast.
6:41pm: Joe Morgan informs us that David Wright has reached base safely in 17 of his last 21 plate appearances. That's pretty damn impressive. Since August 14, David Wright is hitting .475. Beltran hitting .405.
6:42pm: David Wright walks. Dodger pitching coach Rick Honeycutt visits Boomer on the mound.
6:43pm: Wells HAS been pitching pretty well so far. If he gets out of this inning unscathed, this will have to be considered a success. I doubt Wells will be pitching the 6th either way. Action in the Dodger bullpen from Rudy Seanez.
6:44pm: Carlos Beltran walks. Bases loaded for the Mets with 2 out. Moises Alou coming to the plate.
6:46pm: Moises Alou loves to swing first-pitch, and he fouls off a curveball for strike 1. Alou fouls off another curveball, 0-2.
6:47pm: Wells throws another beautiful curveball that drops low, Alou swings and misses, 3 out.
TOP 6:
6:50pm: Shea Hillenbrand grounds out to David Wright, 1 out.
6:51pm: James Loney grounds a ball hard off of 1B Jeff Conine, the ball bounces towards Ruben Gotay who rushes a throw to John Maine covering first, but the ball gets thrown away. Really 2 errors on one play, but an E gets charged to Conine since the ball wasn't that tough to field.
6:53pm: Mike Lieberthal strikes out again. 2 out.
6:54pm: Luis Gonzalez is up, pinch-hitting for David Wells. Boomer did pretty well tonight. 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
6:58pm: After an 11-pitch AB, Luis Gonzalez hits a long long single off the rightfield wall which scores Loney. Dodgers up 4-2.
7:00pm: Rafael Furcal singles up the middle, and that's it for John Maine. With Juan Pierre coming up, Willie is going to Scott Schoeneweis in the bullpen.
7:04pm: Juan Pierre singles to rightfield, driving in Luis Gonzalez. Furcal to 3rd. All of this with 2 out. 5-2 Dodgers.
7:05pm: ESPN shows us an interesting stat about Schoeneweis. He pitches terribly at Shea, but extremely well on the road.
7:06pm: Matt Kemp squibs an infield single down the third base line, looking almost like a bunt. David Wright had no play on it. Furcal scores on the play, Juan Pierre to 2nd. 6-2 Dodgers. Can't blame Schoeneweis for that one.
7:08pm: Furcal and Pierre do the double steal. DiFelice throws to Wright at 3rd but Pierre is easily safe, and the ball gets away from Wright. However, not far enough for Pierre to score.
7:10pm: Ramon Martinez grounds out to shortstop, 6-3. 3 out. Dodgers now lead 6-2.
BOTTOM 6:
7:13pm: Rudy Seanez is now pitching for the Dodgers. Jeff Conine grounds out to shortstop for the first out.
7:15pm: Ruben Gotay grounds out to 2nd base. 2 out. Guillermo Mota is warming up in the bullpen, and he is gonna get the shit booed out of him if and when he comes in. He's absolutely terrible.
7:16pm: Mike DiFelice flies out to leftfield. 3 out. Seanez made quick work out of the bottom of the Mets order.
TOP 7:
7:18pm: Schoeneweis still pitching for the Mets. Andre Ethier grounds out to 1B Jeff Conine, who runs the ball to first himself for the first out.
7:20pm: Shea Hillenbrand grounds out to Jose Reyes. 2 out.
7:21pm: James Loney slaps a ball to leftfield for a single.
7:23pm: Mike Lieberthal singles to left. Olmedo Saenz pinch-hitting for Rudy Seanez.
7:24pm: Saenz flies out to Moises Alou for the third out. Schoeneweis gets out of the jam.
BOTTOM 7:
7:29pm: Joe Beimel is now pitching for the Dodgers. Shawn Green pinch-hitting for Scott Schoeneweis. With the Mets down 4 runs, this might be the one time I can stomach Guillermo Mota pitching, unless the Mets can score some runs in this inning.
7:31pm: Shawn Green strikes out. Not a way to start off. 1 out.
7:33pm: Jose Reyes hits a slow groundball towards 3B Shea Hillenbrand who barehands the ball and then throws it way wide of 1B. Jose Reyes gets to 2nd on the error. Reyes is given a single, as he was likely safe either way.
7:34pm: Jose Reyes steals 3rd base without even a throw. Huge jump.
7:35pm: Lastings Milledge walks. Grady Little yanks Beimel and goes to right-handed fireballer Jonathan Broxton an inning early.
7:40pm: David Wright watches a picture-perfect slider go by for strike 3 on a full count. Milledge steals 2nd uncontested. 2 out.
7:42pm: Carlos Beltran grounds to 2B Carlos Martinez. 4-3 putout. 3 outs. No rally this inning. I expect Mota to pitch the 8th and give up at least 1 run.
TOP 8:
7:46pm: Guillermo Mota pitching. Rafael Furcal leads off the inning and for the first time this evening, does NOT get on base, as he lines out to leftfielder Moises Alou. 1 out.
7:47pm: Juan Pierre flies out to leftfield, 2 out.
7:48pm: Matt Kemp flies out to centerfield. 3 out. Quick work by Mota, surprise!
BOTTOM 8:
7:50pm: Jonathan Broxton still pitching, being asked to go 1.2 IP tonight. Moises Alou lines out to 2B Ramon Martinez.
7:51pm: Jeff Conine singles a ball into rightfield. If this was a closer game, someone would be pinch-running for Conine.
7:54pm: Is it just me, or does Dodger catcher Russel Martin bear more than just a passing resemblance to Entourage star Jerry Ferrara (Turtle)?
7:55pm: Ruben Gotay pops out to shortshop Rafael Furcal. 2 out.
7:56pm: Mike DiFelice strikes out. 3 out.
TOP 9:
8:00pm: Guillermo Mota pitching the 9th, understandably with the Mets down by 4 runs.
8:01pm: Ramon Martinez grounds out to 2B Ruben Gotay. 1 out.
8:02pm: Andre Ethier grounds out to 1B Jeff Conine. 2 out.
8:04pm: Shea Hillenbrand strikes out. 3 out. The fans seem to cheer Mota for not blowing the game open.
BOTTOM 9:
8:06pm: Dodger closer Takashi Saito is in for the 9th in a non-save situation. However, Saito hasn't had a reason to pitch lately, so this will allow him to get in some work. Saito has 34 saves and a 1.44 ERA.
8:07pm: Marlon Anderson is pinch-hitting for Mota. Anderson pops out to shortstop. 1 out.
8:10pm: Jose Reyes strikes out. 2 out.
8:12pm: Milledge also strikes out, 3 out, game over.
-----------
So the Mets take 2 out of 3 from the Dodgers, going 5-5 during the regular season against the fading boys in blue. David Wells pitched quite well, and the Dodgers bullpen didn't fall apart, despite shaky action form lefty Joe Beimel.
Next up for the Mets is a series in Philadelphia against the Phillies in which the Mets need to win 2 out of 3 in order to move towards locking up the NL East once and for all. Then they have the Braves in Atlanta, the team the Mets simply do not do well against. If the Mets can win 2 of 3 in Atlanta, that will be considered a success. If the Mets lose ground to either team, it will make September a little more dramatic than we want it to be.
I haven't done this since the 2006 MLB playoffs, but it's time for another rendition of a liveblog during a game.
Tonight's game is on ESPN from Yankee Stadium, Mets vs Yankees. The series is tied 1-1, and the Mets are desperate for not just a win, but a true rebound. Atlanta and Philadelphia are 2 and 2.5 games back respectively, and the Mets are barely clinging to the top of the NL East.
Remember, all times are Pacific.
5:05pm: Peter Gammons joins in the commentary as to what the Mets are trying to do while playing the Yankees, which has been to steal a shitload of bases. Jose Reyes has stolen 5 bases in the first two games.
5:09pm: Skankees take the field. Willie has put Paul Lo Duca back in the #2 position in the Mets lineup, which is a good idea. Not sure why he thought moving Lo Duca to #6 was the right call. Unfortunately, Carlos Delgado is still in the lineup, something which clearly needs to temporarily stop. Delgado is hurting this team more than helping. People want to call it a slump. I call it it hitting the wall. And I wonder if Delgado could even do that with a bat anymore.
Top 1:
5:12pm: Jose Reyes leads off and pops out to shallow rightfield. You can hear the Skankee fans in the bleachers doing their annoying "chant each guy's name" briefly. We get a nice blimp shot of the New Yankee Stadium being built. Paul Lo Duca is hit on the first pitch he sees from Wang. Looks like it got him on the left elbow. He's in a little pain.
5:13pm: Jon Miller informs us that this is the 5th batter Wang has hit all season, more than any other Yankee pitcher. Carlos Beltran is up, and he's not hitting much better than Delgado. Beltran has seemingly reverted back to 2005 form, and that's a terrible thing.
5:14pm: Sure enough, Carlos Beltran hits into a 4-6-3 double play. Beltran is REALLY frustrating.
Bottom 1:
5:18pm: El Douche gets leadoff hitter Johnny Damon to strikeout looking.
5:20pm: Derek Jeter hits a 3-1 pitch on the ground just under 2B Ruben Gotay for a single. Joe Morgan calls the Mets 2B Jose Valentin and Carlos Gomez before finally getting it right. Which is more than I can say for "legendary" Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, who gets player names wrong more often than Ralph Kiner ever did.
5:23pm: Bobby Abreu flies out to centerfield on a 3-2 curveball. Gay-Rod up to the plate with 2 out, his boyfriend on first.
5:26pm: El Douche doesn't have his stuff tonight, again. A-Rod crushes a 2-run blast to leftfield, Yanks up 2-0 in the bottom 1.
5:27pm: Jorge Posada grounds out to shortstop for the third out.
Top 2:
5:30pm: David Wright is up to lead off the 2nd. He and Reyes are the only people on the team hitting in key positions lately. Lo Duca still has the high average but isn't driving people in.
5:31pm: Wright grounds out to Jeter for out 1.
5:32pm: Carlos Delgado hits a grounder the opposite way but A-Rod dives, stands up and throws out the slow Delgado easily for the 2nd out.
5:34pm: Jose Valentin is the DH today, which probably says a lot about just how bad the Mets are right now when a .263 hitter who is strikeout-prone, is DH'ing. This is not the 2006 Mets right now, nor is this even close to the 2006 Jose Valentin.
5:35pm: And to prove my point, Valentin strikes out looking.
Bottom 2:
5:38pm: Hideki Matsui leads off the 2nd and rips a single past 2B Gotay.
5:39pm: Robinson Cano grounds into a 4-3 FC. 1 out.
5:42pm: Melky Cabrera watches strike 3 go by. Very nice 12-6 curveball. 2 out.
5:46pm: Miguel Cairo hammers a 3-2 curveball into leftfield for a clutch double which drives Matsui home for a 3-0 lead.
5:50pm: Johnny Damon singles to rightfield which drives in Miguel Cairo. Shawn Green makes a horrible throw to the plate which is way off, and Damon scoots to 2nd on the throw. 4-0 Yankees. I'm now regretting my decision to blog this game.
5:52pm: El Douche gets Derek Jeter to swing at an outside pitch for strike 3, out 3. Go figure. El Douche is pissing me off.
Top 3:
5:56pm: Shawn Green leads of the 3rd and hits a long flyball to deep leftfield, for the first out.
5:58pm: Ruben Gotay his a short chopper towards 2B Cano, but is thrown out easily for out 2.
6:00pm: Chien-Ming Wang strikes out Carlos Gomez for the easy 1-2-3 inning. The bottom of the Mets order is all sorts of pitiful.
Bottom 3:
6:03pm: Bobby Abreu leads off the inning lining a ball down the leftfield line which caroms away from Carlos Gomez and turns into a triple for Abreu. Gomez is not a particularly good leftfielder, but to be fair, I'm not sure anyone other than Matsui might've been able to play that ball correctly.
6:04pm: A-Rod hits a ball to deep centerfield but Carlos Beltran tracks it down for the out. Abreu scores on the sac fly, Yankees now up 5-0. They've scored in all 3 innings so far. The Mets, have not. At this pace, the final score is going to be 15-0. This is not good.
6:07pm: Posada strikes out. 2 out.
6:08pm: Hideki Matsui grounds out to Carlos Delgado for the third out.
Top 4:
6:14pm: Jose Reyes works a 3-2 leadoff count against Wang before singling to centerfield. The ball was just out of reach of Derek Jeter, who even if he got it, would not have been able to thrown out the speedy Reyes. Finally the Mets get a hit. Now they just need 6 runs.
6:15pm: The Yankees pitchout on a 1-1 count, Reyes was stealing and gets thrown out easily. Smart play by the Skanks. FUCK!
6:16pm: Lo Duca grounds to Jeter for out 2. That would've been a double play had Reyes been on first.
6:18pm: Carlos Beltran strikes out to end the inning. I need to dunk my head in some acid.
6:20pm: Willie Randolph is interviewed between innings by Miller and Morgan. Willie notes that El Douche is not firing on all cylinders tonight. Gee, ya think? Now we learn that Paul Lo Duca is out of the game because his forearm started to swell up after being hit in the 1st inning by Wang. Ramon Castro is in to replace him.
Bottom 4:
6:22pm: Robinson Cano wallops a ball to deep center, but Carlos Beltran makes the catch.
6:23pm: Melky Cabrera flies out to shallow rightfield. Shawn Green makes a diving (but not pretty) catch for out 2.
6:25pm: Miguel Cairo hits a routine grounder to David Wright, 5-3 for the 3rd out.
Top 5:
6:28pm: David Wright hits a soft chopper to Derek Jeter for the first out. Why do the Mets insist on making Wang look so good? He's really not!
6:29pm: Carlos Delgado is up, and he's likely an instant out.
6:30pm: Not only an instant out, but an instant strikeout. Delgado looked really bad swinging at a high fastball.
6:31pm: Jose Valentin lines a ball down the rightfield line for a double. Only the 2nd hit of the game for the Mets, and the first Met to reach 2nd.
6:32pm: Well that didn't last long. Green pops out to A-Rod for out 3.
Bottom 5:
6:34pm: Johnny Damon leads off with a solo shot to the short porch in rightfield which barely clears the fence. That ball probably went 330 feet. 6-0 Yankees.
6:38pm: Jeter gets struck out again on an outside corner pitch.
6:39pm: Bobby Abreu gets nailed in the high back on what seemed like a fastball, but can't see any reason why it would have been intentional. Now the NEXT batter, I recommend hitting in the fucking head.
6:40pm: Scott Schoeneweis is up in the Mets bullpen. The way Hernandez has been pitching today, Aaron Sele should have started instead.
6:41pm: El Douche walks A-Rod on 4 straight balls.
6:42pm: Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson has a meeting at the mound with Douche and Castro. Interesting trivia note from ESPN. The Yankees have won 18 of the last 19 interleague series played at Yankee Stadium. The one time they lost, was in 2005 against the Mets. If memory serves correctly, I think they won 2 of 3 from the Mets at Shea that year.
6:44pm: Douche gets Posada to strikeout for the 2nd out, but that's it for Hernandez. Willie Randolph going to lefty Scott Schoeneweis to pitch against lefty Hideki Matsui.
6:47pm: Jon Miller thinks El Douche got a round of applause for his performance from the Yankee and Met fans. No Jon, they (Yankee fans) applauded him for sucking ass and giving up 6 ER in 5 IP.
6:48pm: Schoeneweis gets Matsui to strikeout on 3 straight pitches to end the inning.
Top 6:
6:52pm: Ruben Gotay strikes out looking for out 1.
6:54pm: Carlos Gomez works out a walk, the first one given up by Wang in the game.
6:56pm: Reyes grounds out into a 3-6-3 double play. This is pretty much the norm for this team at this point.
Bottom 6:
6:59pm: Robinson Cano hits a chopper just past pitcher Scott Schoeneweis, who should have gotten it but doesn't. Infield hit for Cano.
7:03pm: Melky Cabrera flies out to Carlos Gomez, who manages not to run back and forth like a deranged monkey before catching the ball.
7:04pm: Miguel Cairo grounds into a 4-3 double play to end the inning.
Top 7:
7:07pm: Ramon Castro strikes out to lead off the inning. This is Wang's 6th K of the game, which is way higher than normal for him since he isn't a strikeout pitcher. In fact, he has 3.43 K per 9 IP, which is the lowest of any starter in MLB who pitches with any regularity.
7:09pm: Carlos Beltran grounds out to 2nd for out 2.
7:12pm: David Wright strikes out but reaches 1st base when Posada can't handle the ball in the dirt. 7 K's is Wang's season-high.
7:13pm: And here comes strikeout #8, Carlos Delgado.
7:14pm: Shock of shocks, Delgado doubles to rightfield, scoring David Wright, breaking up the shutout. 6-1 Yankees.
7:15pm: An airhorn is blaring a 3-horn beat, which is supposed to get a "LETS GO METS" chant going. The Skankee fans boo it.
7:16pm: Ron Guidry and Jorge Posada meet on the mound with Chien-Mien Wang to discuss things. The Mets probably have a better chance against the Yankees bullpen than they do Wang, unless he has just hit his breaking point and is going to give up a bunch of runs.
7:17pm: Jose Valentin scorches a grounder right to Robinson Cano who throws to 1st for the 3rd out.
Bottom 7:
7:23pm: Aaron Heilman is in to pitch for the Mets.
7:24pm: Johnny Damon grounds to Ruben Gotay at 2nd who almost takes the ball in the face before throwing to 1st for the out.
7:26pm: Jeter hits a hard grounder to David Wright's right. Wright dives, gets up and barely gets Jeter at 1st. Web gem, yes. Best web gem today? No.
7:28pm: Why is Andy Pettite throwing in the Yankee bullpen? Bobby Abreu grounds out to Carlos Delgado who runs to the bag for the third out.
Top 8:
7:31pm: Joe Morgan notes that Moises Alou has been gone for 3 weeks and no one knows when (or if) he's coming back.
7:32pm: Wang gets Shawn Green to strikeout. Peter Gammons notes that the Mets might be interested in Mark Buehrle on the White Sox. The camera has a shot of Omar Minaya, and right behind him is Spike Lee. Gammons also mentions the Mets interest in Brad Lidge, although that doesn't seem so likely right now. The Mets really need an outfielder who doesn't get injured easily AND can hit.
7:34pm: Ruben Gotay shoots a single into leftfield.
7:38pm: After fouling several balls off, Carlos Gomez strikes out swinging.
7:40pm: Jose Reyes swings through strike 2 so much that he almost injures himself.
7:41pm: Reyes strikes out. That's 10 K's for a guy (Wang) who usually doesn't strike out more than 3 guys in a game. The Mets truly suck.
Bottom 8:
7:46pm: A-Rod lines a double to the left-centerfield wall.
7:47pm: Jorge Posada is up, and he's due.
7:49pm: I called it. Posada lines a homer to the short porch for another 2 runs. 8-1 Yankees.
7:50pm: Willie Randolph has seen enough from Heilman, so it's time (presumably?) for Pedro Feliciano to pitch against Hideki Matsui.
7:52pm: The Yankees are going to expand their league-leading overall interleague record to 112-74 in about 20 mins.
7:54pm: Matsui hits a ball to leftfield which Carlos Gomez tracks down for out 1.
7:55pm: Cano grounds to Gotay for the 2nd out. Apparently Carlos Delgado thought that was the third out.
7:56pm: In a play typical of the Mets tonight, Melky Cabrera squirts a grounder down the first base line. Pedro Feliciano fields the ball cleanly and should have tagged Cabrera coming down the line, but instead tried to look to first. Delgado wasn't covering, thinking that Feliciano would've made the tag. That'll be scored an infield hit, but it really should be an error on the pitcher. At least he didn't throw the ball away into rightfield.
7:58pm: Peter Gammons talks about Eric Gagne being a reliever very likely to be traded before July 31. Several teams (Mets, Tigers) have interest in him, and it's a foregone conclusion that he won't be with Texas for much longer. Where he goes, no one knows yet.
7:59pm: Miguel Cairo is hit by a pitch on the leg. Runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.
8:00pm: Johnny Damon pops out to Jose Reyes at shortstop for the 3rd out. Mets last chance coming up and they're down by ONLY 7 runs... Uh huh.
Top 9:
8:04pm: Wang goes into the 9th inning, and why not, he's mowing the Mets down in one of his best starts of the season. However, Ramon Castro leads off the inning with a ground rule double to left-center.
8:05pm: Beltran scalds a ball to rightfield which ends up only being a single since Abreu plays it well, but Castro scores on the hit. 8-2 Yankees.
8:06pm: Lefty Mike Myers is up in the Yankee bullpen.
8:08pm: Just when the Mets might have somewhat of a rally going, David Wright grounds into a 5-6-3 double play.
8:09pm: With lefty Carlos Delgado coming up and Wang's pitch count being over 110, Joe Torre decides to go to the pen. The Yankee fans are booing since they wanted him to get the Complete Game (very valuable in fantasy baseball). They then give him an ovation for a fantastic performance (2 ER, 6 H, 8.2 IP, 1 BB, 10 K)
8:11pm: Mike Myers is now in to face Delgado, and will likely K him.
8:12pm: And Delgado strikes out again to end this miserable game.
The Mets now go back home to Shea for 10 games. They'll face the Twins, A's and Cardinals, and then go to Philly to finish out June.
Though the Baseball Writer's Association of America is a strange bunch. Consider this:
1. No player has ever been unanimously voted. Granted, getting 400-550 (depending upon year) sportswriters to agree on something can be difficult, but players like Ruth, Dimaggio, Aaron, etc. were not unanimously elected. Dimaggio didn't make it into the HOF on his first try.
2. This is me splitting hairs, but Cal Ripken Jr. received 537 of the 545 votes, while Tony Gwynn received 532 of 545. Tony Gwynn was the greatest pure hitter of his generation and was nearly impossible to strike out. Gwynn had a career .338 BA over 20 years, winning the NL batting title 8 times. One of the highest in baseball history, and it's doubtful that anyone other than Ichiro Suzuki will put up a career BA that high (currently at .331 lifetime) in the forseeable future. Gwynn hit over .350 in seven of his twenty seasons and chased .400 in the strike-shortened 1994.
Cal Ripken Jr. was a great shortstop, the first one to hit for power in a long long time, amassing 431 HRs. But he was a career .276 hitter, never winning a batting title, was not bad with the glove but didn't compare defensively to someone like Ozzie Smith.
I'm certainly not going to dog on Ripken, but it seems a slight disservice to Gwynn to receive less votes than Ripken did. I wonder if Ripken would've been as highly regarded if not for his famous streak of 2632 consecutive games played. I think he'd be in the HOF either way, but perhaps not with such an overwhelming number of votes.
3. Mark McGwire, tainted by the brush of steroids and his clamming up in front of Congress, did not get into the HOF. This of course, is the right decision.
Jose Canseco's motives may have been questionable in naming names in his book, but not a single lawsuit has been filed against Canseco for libel. If any of the names Canseco mentioned in there were knowingly false, careers would have suffered irreparably as a result and any ballplayer libeled in the book would have filed an instantaneous lawsuit.
It has never happened.
I believe Jose Canseco when he says he personally injected Mark McGwire with illegal steroids when they were teammates with the Oakland A's. By the way, whether steroids were banned in baseball or not in the 80's and 90's, they were illegal without a prescription, and even most of those prescriptions were highly questionable. It's a sad joke when people try to bring up a defense of, "Steroids weren't on the banned substance list." As if they had to be?
The sad thing about the steroid era in baseball is that not everyone who took part, will get caught. But for those who do, or at least have strong reasonable suspicion, they should never be allowed entry into the Hall of Fame. Unless they pay their admission at the gate like everyone else.
4. Goose Gossage didn't make it into the Hall of Fame this year, falling short by 21 votes. Old school Baseball Writer's have a strong bias against relievers, which was thought to subside somewhat with the election of Bruce Sutter last year. Gossage belongs in the Hall, and as years go by, other ace relievers (Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman) should get into the Hall of Fame on the 1st ballot and hopefully not suffer this ludicrous belief that relievers are somehow lesser pitchers than starters just because they pitch less innings over the course of a career.
Next year I suspect Gossage will get in, with a slight possibility that Jim Rice will get in as well.
I'd vote yes on Goose, no on Jim Rice, although Rice is soooooo on the borderline, I wouldn't complain if he got in.
I'd also vote yes on Lee Smith, who up until this year, was the all-time saves leader. That title now belongs to Trevor Hoffman, inarguably even a better closer than Smith. But now that Smith is merely second-best, it's assured he'll never get in.
Next year's first-timers are: Shawon Dunston, Travis Fryman, David Justice, Mike Morgan, Tim Raines, Randy Velarde.
Of the 2008 class, only Tim Raines merits consideration, but ultimately falls short.
And to top off this blog entry, ESPN's Jayson Stark is super.
The Wildcats were a perennial Big 10 doormat in the 1980's, as well as the early 1990's until they finally rose to prominence in the mid 1990's under head coach Gary Barnett when they went to the 1996 Rose Bowl (and lost to USC) and the 1997 Citrus Bowl (and lost to Tennessee.) Even last year, they went to the Sun Bowl in Texas (and lost to UCLA) under Randy Walker, who succeeded Barnett. Walker died of a sudden heart attack over the summer, and former player Pat Fitzgerald was named the new head coach of the team, despite having zero head coaching experience.
So today, Northwestern is playing the Michigan State Spartans in NCAA football, and apparently they were winning 38-3 in the 4th quarter.
I turn ESPN2 on and Michigan State is mounting a ridiculous comeback, having tied the score 38-38.
And with :18 seconds to go in the 4th quarter, Michigan State kicks a field goal to pull ahead 41-38.
Northwestern has been quite bad this season, with new coach / former player Pat Fitzgerald at the helm. The Wildcats have not scored more than 10 points against any Big 10 opponent all season. But when you have a 35-point lead in the 4th quarter, and you blow it... That signifies a LOT of problems with the defense, who already has been giving up a ridiculous amount of points this season so far.
But right now, they are a terrible terrible team. Someone should get fired for this loss, probably the defensive coordinator.
