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LIVEBLOGGING - New York Mets vs. San Francisco Giants - 8-15-09

As the Mets continue to become more irrelevant in the postseason picture, that means the less games that FOX and ESPN are going to be televising with them involved.


However, the San Francisco Giants are 1.5 games out of the Wild Card hunt behind the Colorado Rockies, and 6.5 games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers, who have gone 13-15 since the All-Star Break.

Therefore, Giants in the playoff hunt on a Saturday afternoon gets FOX to air this game in the Los Angeles market. Works for me!

Despite the Mets woes of 2009, primarily due to overwhelming injury, fans still want to see them do well. It's more about "just win." Just get to the .500 mark now, and just plan for 2010. 

Today's pitching matchup is a dandy. Johan Santana (13-8, 3.00 ERA) vs. Matt Cain (12-4, 2.44 ERA).

Johan Santana's last start was Sunday at PETCO Park against the San Diego Padres. He went 8 innings, giving up 1 ER, and went 2 for 3 at the plate with an RBI. He got the W in the 5-1 victory that prevented a 4-game sweep at the hands of the Padres.

The last time the Mets saw Matt Cain, it was on the losing end of a 2-0 shutout at AT&T Park in San Francisco on May 17. That was the game where Mike Pelfrey balked 321 times in a game. True story! (ok, it was more like 3, but that's still a lot!)

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(ALL TIMES PACIFIC)
Top of 1st Inning:
1:11pm: I'm getting my first look at the old-school inspired-"New York Giants" cream-colored uniforms that the Mets are wearing this  There's a big N on the right side of the jersey, a big Y on the left side. It's pretty awful. Player names are not on the back either. But yeah, these unis kinda suck.

1:12pm: Eugenio Velez hits a pop foul into shallow rightfield which Francoeur, Murphy and Castillo all chase. Luis Castillo is the closest and gets his glove on it after a long run, but it falls out. The umpire ruled it a foul ball but the Mets may have caught a break cause it kinda looked fair. The official scorer ruled it an Error on Castillo.

1:13pm: No worries. Johan Santana gets Velez to strike out at the high heat. 1 out.

1:14pm: Freddy Sanchez hits a ball that almost tangles up 3B David Wright but he is able to field it and throw meekly to 1B Daniel Murphy who picks the throw out of the dirt for the out. 2 outs.

1:17pm: "Kung Fu Panda" Pablo Sandoval takes a walk on an inside fastball.

1:19pm: Johan Santana pulls the string on the 2-2 changeup which gets Bengie Molina desperately swinging and a missing for the K. 3 outs.

Bottom of 1st Inning:
1:22pm: Cory Sullivan smacks a curveball right to 2B Freddy Sanchez who throws onto 1B Ryan Garko for the out. 4-3. 1 out.

1:24pm: Luis Castillo slaps a single into LF to get on base. Castillo's BA just went over .300. I'm very pleased to see him having a rebound season.

1:25pm: David Wright flies out to CF Aaron Rowand. 2 outs.

1:26pm: Gary Sheffield looks foolish against Matt Cain, swinging through strikes 2 and 3. 3 outs.

Top of 2nd Inning:
1:29pm: Ryan Garko hits a broken bat grounder at SS Anderson Hernandez. 6-3. 1 out.

1:31pm: Aaron Rowand strikes out swinging at the famed Johan Santana changeup over the outside corner. 2 outs.

1:33pm: Nate Schierholtz hits a short bloop right into the glove of 3B David Wright. 3 outs.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:
1:36pm: Daniel Murphy lines a shot into LF but Eugenio Velez running in towards the ball makes a fine catch before diving. Usually you have to dive to make a catch but I guess this was more about balance. Either way, 1 out.

1:37pm: Jeff Francoeur flies out to RF Nate Schierholtz in foul territory. 2 outs.

1:38pm: FOX announcers Thom Brennaman and Mark Grace continue to talk about the Giants lack of offense, but tremendous pitching staff that has been keeping them in the playoff hunt. The Giants have the 2nd fewest number of homers in the NL (the Mets have the fewest) but are a winning team. It's not always about the longball, but the Giants hitting as of late has started to dwindle as they fail to score runs at all. Lincecum and Cain can only do so much.

1:40pm: Brian Schneider skies out to RF Nate Schierholtz. 3 up, 3 down. 3 out.

Top of 3rd Inning:
1:44pm: Edgar Renteria flies out to 1B Daniel Murphy who tracks it down running away from the plate before having a slight but harmless collision with 2B Luis Castillo, who was also chasing the ball. 1 out.

1:46pm: Matt Cain grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez. 6-3. 2 outs.

1:47pm: Eugenio Velez hits a grounder just past the glove of Johan Santana on the mound but SS Anderson Hernandez is able to field it and throw onto first for the out. 3 outs.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:
1:50pm: Anderson Hernandez hits the first pitch he sees right back to Matt Cain, who fields it and throws onto first for the out. 1 out.

1:52pm: Johan Santana hits the ball hard but right at 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 2 outs.

1:53pm: Cory Sullivan flies out to LF Eugenio Velez. 3 outs. Mark Grace says we have a pitcher's duel here. Well DUH!

Top of 4th Inning:
1:56pm: Aaron Rowand swings at the first pitch from Santana, and flies out to CF Cory Sullivan. 1 out.

1:57pm: We're already in the 4th inning and it's not even been an hour .Grace and Brennaman note that the pitchers have been cruising at a very fast pace. Santana has spent only 16 mins on the mound so far, and Matt Cain has spent 14. 

1:58pm: Pablo Sandoval scorches a ball into centerfield for a single. First hit of the game for the Giants.

1:59pm: Bengie Molina lines a ball into LF for a single. Pablo Sandoval moves to 2nd on the hit. I hope the wheels ain't coming off of Johan. 

2:01pm: Ryan Garko flies out to CF Cory Sullivan. Pablo Sandoval tags up to 3rd base. 2 outs.

2:04pm: Aaron Rowand flies out to shallow rightfield, but 2B Luis Castillo makes a TWO-HANDED CATCH on the ball. 3 outs.

Bottom of 4th Inning:
2:07pm: Luis Castillo slaps a chopper over the mound and a charging Edgar Renteria at shortstop can't get a good grip on the ball to get "Mr. Infield Hit" Luis Castillo. And the BA keeps rising for Castillo, as he has both Met hits so far.

2:10pm: David Wright just got hit in the helmet by a Matt Cain fastball that seems to have knocked him out. Cain looks quite concerned and there's no question that was an unintentional pitch on an 0-2 count. The trainers are out immediately to check on him. He is clearly loopy and out of it, and he may think he's ok, but he HAS to be taken out of the game and make sure there's no concussion, or worse.

2:12pm: David Wright is up and walking, but he's out of the game. Fernando Tatis is the replacement at 3B. Since Wright was hit by the pitch, Tatis now on 1st base, Castillo moves over to 2nd. 

2:15pm: Gary Sheffield may have gotten away with looking at strike 3, although the ump called it ball 3 instead. And then he swings at a high ball 4. Yeesh. Still a full count.

2:17pm: Gary Sheffield hits a long flyball into the left-center power alley, but Aaron Rowand tracks it down just in front of the warning track. Luis Castillo tags up to 3rd base. 1 out.

2:18pm: Daniel Murphy flies out to Nate Schierholtz in shallow rightfield. Luis Castillo tags up from 3rd base and slides around Bengie Molina to tag the plate and score the first Met run of the game. Fernando Tatis tags up to 2nd base. 2 outs, Mets go up 1-0.

2:20pm: Jeff Francoeur grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 3 outs.

Top of 5th Inning:
2:23pm: Nate Schierholtz crushes a ball off  the centerfield wall for a leadoff double.

2:25pm: Edgar Renteria strikes out swinging at the Johan Santana changeup inside. 1 out.

2:26pm: Matt Cain is up to bat and the fans boo him since he killed David.

2:29pm: Matt Cain strikes out swinging at the high heat. 2 outs. 

2:30pm: Edgar Renteria hits a check-swing grounder just past Johan Santana on the mound but 3B Fernando Tatis charges the ball and throws onto first for the out. 3 outs. No harm from the leadoff double. 

Bottom of 5th Inning:
2:32pm: Brian Schneider hits a weak grounder the opposite way towards 3B Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval fields it nicely and throws to first to get the slow Schneider. 1 out.

2:35pm: Anderson Hernandez grounds out to 1B Ryan Garko, who tosses over to Matt Cain covering 1st for the out. 2 away.

2:36pm: Johan Santana grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez, 4-3. 3 outs.

Top of 6th Inning:
2:39pm: Freddy Sanchez lines a ball past a diving Daniel Murphy for a leadoff single.

2:40pm: Pablo Sandoval lines a ball into leftfield for a single. Freddy Sanchez moves over to 2nd base.

2:41pm: Bengie Molina just misses a homerun off the first pitch he sees from Johan Santana, pounding the ball off the #14 sign in leftfield for a double. Sanchez scores the Giants' first run. Sandoval is over to 3rd base on the play, and Molina just makes it into 2nd base ahead of the tag. Tie game 1-1.

2:46pm: Ryan Garko lines a shot into centerfield that scores Pablo Sandoval to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. Bengie Molina moves to 3rd on the play. Still no out. The wheels seem to be coming off Santana. Tim Redding is now warming up in the bullpen.

2:49pm: Aaron Rowand grounds a ball up the middle past Santana, but SS Anderson Hernandez runs the ball down. He has a bit of trouble getting the ball out of the glove before shuffling it off to 2B Castillo at the last second to get the force on Garko at 2nd base. Bengie Molina scores, so it's now 3-1 Giants. 1 out.

2:51pm: Nate Schierholtz grounds to 2B Luis Castillo, who throws onto SS Anderson Hernandez at 2nd base to get the force on Aaron Rowand. 2 outs.

2:52pm: Edgar Renteria singles to leftfield. Schierholtz to 2nd on the play.

2:53pm: PItching coach Dan Warthen takes a trip to the mound to see why Johan Santana has fallen apart this inning.

2:54pm: Matt Cain strikes out swinging. 3 outs.

Bottom of 6th Inning:
2:58pm: FOX has footage of David Wright walking into the ambulance outside the ballpark. Good to see he's moving around, but he's obviously going to go through some tests at the hospital to make sure everything is good upstairs.

2:59pm: Cory Sullivan grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 1 out. 

3:00pm: Luis Castillo slaps another base hit to centerfield. 3 for 3 today, and the only guy on the team who is hitting Matt Cain today.

3:01pm; Fernando Tatis strikes out looking at a fastball that just catches the outside corner. 2 outs.

3:03pm: Gary Sheffield grounds out sharply to 3B Pablo Sandoval. 5-4 for the forceout at 2nd base. 3 outs.

Top of 7th Inning: 
3:07pm: Eugenio Velez grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez. 6-3. 1 out.

3:08pm: Freddy Sanchez skies out to CF Cory Sullivan in left-centerfield. 2 outs.

3:09pm: Well, it looks like Johan finally went for some payback. Santana throws way behind Pablo Sandoval, and the umpire issues warnings to both benches. That's a silly pitch considering Cain didn't intentionally go after Wright's head at all. Plus the ball didn't even hit Sandoval in the first place.

3:10pm: And then Kung Fu Panda Sandoval crushes a homer off the leftfield facade.  Giants go up 4-1.

3:12pm: Bengie Molina gets hit on an inside pitch from Johan Santana, but it was off the elbow. Giants manager Bruce Bochy is out to argue that since the warnings were issued, Molina should've been ejected. Jerry Manuel has a conference on the mound while Bochy argues with Brian O'Nora. Doesn't matter much, as Jerry is making a pitching change now.

3:15pm: Sean Green now on in relief of Santana, pitching to Ryan Garko. Garko hits a shot into the leftfield corner but it's high enough that Gary Sheffield tracks it down.  3 outs.

Bottom of 7th Inning:
3:19pm: Daniel Murphy leads off the 7th with a single to centerfield. Travis Ishikawa is in at 1B in place of Ryan Garko.

3:21pm: Jeff Francoeur flies out to deep CF, but Aaron Rowand tracks it down. 1 out.

3:22pm: Brian Schneider grounds into a 3-6-4 double play. Ishikawa to Renteria to Sanchez covering first. 3 outs.

Top of 8th Inning:
3:24pm: Aaron Rowand strikes out swinging. 1 out.

3:25pm: Nate Schierholtz grounds a ball past a diving Luis Castillo at 2B for a single.

3:26pm: Edgar Renteria grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez. They try and turn a double play but only get Schierholtz at 2nd. 6-4. 2 outs.

3:27pm: Edgar Renteria takes 2nd on a Sean Green wild pitch. Matt Cain is still in the game for the Giants, considering how well he is pitching.

3:28pm: Matt Cain strikes out swinging. 3 outs.

Bottom of 8th Inning: 
3:31pm: Jeremy Affeldt warming up in the Giants bullpen, Nelson Figueroa warming up in the Mets bullpen.

3:32pm: Anderson Hernandez lines a ball into left-center field for a leadoff single.

3:33pm: Jeremy Reed is in to pinch-hit for Sean Green.

3:34pm: Jeremy Reed grounds to 1B Travis Ishikawa who looks at 2nd base before shuffling the ball back to Matt Cain at first base for the sure out. Anderson Hernandez moves to 2nd. 1 out.

3:35pm: Cory Sullivan ropes a ball to RF for a base hit that scores Anderson Hernandez from 2nd base. The throw from Schierholtz to the plate is way off the line, backed up by Matt Cain on the 3rd base side, and Cory Sullivan takes 2nd base on the play. 4-2 Giants.

3:36pm: Matt Cain is done for the day and booed by the CitiField fans. Jeremy Affeldt is coming in to pitch in relief for the Giants.

3:39pm: Luis Castillo is now batting from the right side against lefty Jeremy Affeldt. 

3:40pm: Luis Castillo takes two ball 4's for a walk. Although one of them was called a strike. And that's it for Affeldt as Bruce Bochy takes a trip to the mound to go to the bullpen. 

3:44pm: Closer Brian Wilson is on in the 8th inning to try and save things for the Giants. He goes ahead 0-2 on Fernando Tatis.

3:46pm: Fernando Tatis shoots a sinking liner into RF for a single that scores Cory Sullivan from 2nd base. Luis Castillo moves to 3rd on the play. The Mets are fighting back, and are now down 4-3.

3:47pm: Gary Sheffield flies out to RF Nate Schierholtz. Luis Castillo tags from 3rd again and scores a lot easier on this sac fly. Schierholtz's throw to the plate is on the fly so Molina has to jump and get it. Gary Sheffield takes 2nd on the throw home. 2 outs. Tie ballgame 4-4. Despite Matt Cain's performance today, he won't get the W today.

3:49pm: Daniel Murphy is taking the intentional walk with a base open.

3:50pm: Jeff Francoeur skies out to RF Nate Schierholtz. 3 outs.

Top of 9th Inning: 
3:53pm: Jeremy Reed is in LF in place of Gary Sheffield as a defensive replacement. Frankie Rodriguez is in to pitch the 9th inning to keep the Giants down.

3:54pm: Eugenio Velez swings the bat, makes contact, but the ball drops right in front of Brian Schneider who picks it up and throws onto 1st for the out. 2-3. 1 out.

3:55pm: Freddy Sanchez hits a weak groundball towards 3B but Fernando Tatis makes a very nce play on the ball, throwing to first for the out. 2 away.

3:57pm: Pablo Sandoval grounds out meekly to Luis Castillo. 4-3. 3 outs.

Bottom of 9th Inning:
4:01pm: Brian Schneider grounds out to 1B Travis Ishikawa, who tosses on to Brian Wilson covering at first. 3-1. 1 out.

4:03pm: Anderson Hernandez strikes out swinging. 2 outs.

4:05pm: Jeremy Reed grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 3 outs. We're going extra innings.

Top of 10th Inning:
4:08pm: Bengie Molina takes a K-Rod fastball deeeeep and into the LF seats. Giants go up 5-4. I thought Frankie was back in the 9th. Guess not.

4:10pm: Travis Ishikawa flies out to LF Jeremy Reed in shallow leftfield. 1 out.

4:12pm: Aaron Rowand flies out to 1B Daniel Murphy. 2 outs.

4:14pm: Nate Schierholtz grounds out to 1B Daniel Murphy who takes it to the bag himself. 3 outs.

Bottom of 10th Inning: 
4:17pm: Giants closer Brian Wilson is still on the mound, which could be risky as he'll need to go 2.2 IP to lock it all down.

4:18pm: Cory Sullivan grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 1 out.

4:20pm: Luis Castillo strikes out looking at a 99 MPH fastball on the outside corner. 2 outs.

4:21pm: Fernando Tatis flies out to Nate Schierholtz in RF to end the game. 3 outs.  Mets lose it in 10 by a final score of 5-4.

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A valiant but unsuccessful comeback for the Mets who were down 4-1 in the 8th before tying it up and taking the W away from Matt Cain. However, Frankie couldn't hold the lead in his 2nd inning pitched, giving up a kaboomer to Bengie Molina and that was the ballgame.

The big story out of the game is David Wright getting hit in the head by a Matt Cain 94mph fastball. Wright was taken out of the game and to the hospital via ambulance to undergo medical tests. Hopefully he's ok, but I have to imagine he'll be kept out of the lineup tomorrow as well just to give the noggin a little healing time, even if he's cleared by doctors and there are no serious injuries to DW.

Tomorrow's Sunday matinee will pit Jonathan Sanchez against the ever-failing Mike Pelfrey, so things don't exactly look promising for tomorrow's game. 

Post a comment Tags: baseball, fox, mlb, new york mets, mark grace, david wright, brian wilson, shea stadium …

The quest for mediocrity.

If you believed in hexes or curses, one could certainly understand the troubled case of the 2009 New York Mets.


A team where only 1 everyday starter has been healthy all season, who has lost his power swing to the point he's on pace for a career low in HRs, a career high in his number of strikeouts, and yet still has hit over .300 all season.

But the team has been without 3 of 8 everyday players for the majority of the season. Shortstop Jose Reyes, first baseman Carlos Delgado, and centerfielder Carlos Beltran.

The team was also without starting catcher Brian Schneider for half of April and almost all of May, who means a lot more to the team behind the plate than he does batting at it. 

Ex-rightfielder Ryan Church also spent some time on the DL. As have Gary Sheffield, Angel Pagan, Alex Cora, Ramon Martinez and Fernando Martinez.

But we haven't even gotten to the pitching staff yet. Only two of the club's 5 pitchers in the starting rotation have remained healthy all year. Those two being Johan Santana and Livan Hernandez.

Oliver Perez spent some time rehabbing a sore knee, which at first was thought to be a phantom injury that the Mets came up with when he pitched so poorly to begin the 2009 season, but if one believes the Mets PR staff, and honestly, who knows these days... MRI results revealed that the injury was apparently real.

John Maine has had more shoulder problems this season, which is a thematic thing with him to the point the club can't possibly leave him in the 2010 rotation because his arm has never proven to stand up to the rigors of a full season. Despite his attempts at rehabbing the shoulder, things are not going well.

Tim Redding started the season on the DL, and the way he's pitched most of the time, one kinda wishes he had stayed there. There were even rumblings not too long ago that the club might release him outright, but additional injuries to the already-decimated pitching staff allowed him to stay on the club as a reliever.

Top setup reliever JJ Putz's elbow problems re-surfaced in 2009 to the point he needed surgery and may or may not return in September.

"Miracle" waiver pickup Fernando Nieve, who pitched very well in 3 of his 5 starts this season, with the 6th start being the one where he hurt his leg running out a grounder to first base, is also on the DL.

"But wait, there's more!" - Billy Mays

Today we added starting pitcher and one of the club's top prospects Jonathon Niese to the injury list, as he tore his right hamstring tendon off the bone while trying to make a fielding play at first base. Niese did an involuntary gymnastic-like split which his legs aren't quite made for, and suffered this season-ending injury as a result.

That makes it 9 players currently on the Mets' DL, and second baseman Luis Castillo just recently sprained his ankle while walking down the dugout steps, making him day-to-day.

When your starters go down, and your pitchers go down, and then your backups go down, and then your backups' backups go down... London Bridge can't be far behind.

It's early August, and the Mets are realistically, though not mathematically, eliminated from the postseason.

Not because of ownership. Not because of GM Omar Minaya. Not because of manager Jerry Manuel. 

Because injuries are the great unequalizer in the world of sports, and they've turned a $149-million club into a team that can't produce.

If the Pittsburgh Penguins lost Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, Miro Satan, and Ruslan Fedotenko, would they have won the Stanley Cup this year? Would they even have made the playoffs? Certainly no Cup for a team without those players, and a very doubtful playoff position either.

This isn't making excuses. It's the unfortunate and stark reality of the situation that this ballclub is in.

So now what? 

The Mets are now embarking on a 7-game West Coast swing against San Diego and Arizona. The good news is that San Diego is awful now. Except they were also awful last season, and the Padres swept the Mets in a 4-game set last June of 2008. Three of those wins by a score of 2-1, and that was with a lot more healthy Mets on the club.

As for Arizona, the good news is that the Mets have always done extremely well in games played in Phoenix. The bad news is that the Mets lost 3 of 4 just last week to the Diamondbacks at CitiField.

The postseason isn't the reality anymore. Now it's a quest for mediocrity. 

Can this ballclub finish the 2009 season with a record over .500? With a record of 51-56 through 107 games, and 55 games remaining in the season, a realistic projection for this team puts them at 77-85. That most closely resembles the record of the 1991 Mets that finished 77-84.

Can they win 82 games, finishing a game over .500? The team will need to go 31-24 over the rest of the season to achieve that. Is that the greatest accomplishment this team can hope to achieve with less than 2 months to go? Sadly, the answer is yes.

1 comment Tags: injuries, baseball, phoenix, mlb, san diego padres, hockey, nhl, new york mets …

LIVEBLOGGING - New York Mets vs. Tampa Bay Rays - 6/20/09

It's a LIVEBLOG doubleheader today, at least, that's the plan if the rain doesn't ruin things in New York. It certainly won't ruin anything in Southern California, since we barely have rain to begin with. That's sometimes a problem, but not when it comes to baseball.


It's the return of Johan Santana (8-4, 3.29 ERA) for the New York Mets, who had the worst start of his career last Sunday at Yankee Stadium when he gave up 9 earned runs in 3 innings. The Yankees slaughtered the Mets by a final score of 15-0 when it was all said and done. Santana has not been the same pitcher over the last 6 starts (6.50 ERA)  he was in his first 7 starts (0.78 ERA) of the season.

Mets ace Santana will be facing Tampa's ace James Shields (5-5, 3.52 ERA). While Shields does possess a 3-to-1 K/BB ratio this season, teams are hitting .282 off of him this season. The Mets have a very good offense, just not with bases loaded, and they're still in the midst of a team power outage with a total of 42 homeruns on the season. That's only one more than the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. 

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(All times Pacific)

Top of 1st Inning:
1:12pm: BJ Upton hits the first pitch from Santana hard but right at 3B David Wright for a 5-3 groundball out. 1 out.

1:13pm: Carl Crawford grounds out to 2B Luis Castillo. 4-3. 2 outs.

1:14pm: Evan Longoria hits a grounder up the middle but SS Alex Cora makes a nice play to grab the ball and throw onto Daniel Murphy at first for the out. 3 outs.

Bottom of 1st Inning:
1:19pm: Alex Cora watches a breaking ball go right down Broadway for strike 3, and he knew it. Cora had a nice at bat fouling off a bunch of pitches but froze on the curve. 1 out.

1:20pm: Daniel Murphy grounds out to 2B Ben Zobrist. 4-3. 2 outs.

1:22pm: Carlos Beltran flies out to LF Carl Crawford. 3 outs.

Top of 2nd Inning:
1:25pm: FOX shows a scary stat. Carlos Pena has 21 HRs this season. The Mets starting lineup today? A total of 22.
Part of the Mets' power problems is due to CitiField's huge dimensions, but they ain't hitting dingers on the road either.

1:26pm: Carlos Pena takes a leadoff walk on a full count.

1:28pm: Ben Zobrist hits a check-swing grounder to 1B Daniel Murphy who turns a beautiful 3-6-3 double play with SS Alex Cora. 2 outs.

1:29pm: Jason Bartlett grounds out to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 outs.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:
1:32pm: David Wright grounds out to 3B Evan Longoria. 5-3. 1 out. 

1:33pm: FOXSports' Ken Rosenthal notes that while David Wright is leading the NL in batting average, he's on pace for a record low in homeruns (10, he currently has 4), and a career high in K's of 160. He's also on pace to steal a career high of 48 bases. Of course, paces generally don't mean shit when the season is over and the numbers never match.
Even Tim McCarver knows tat.

1:34pm: Ryan Church lines a changeup for a double down the rightfield line.

1:35pm: Jeremy Reed tries to bunt his way on but fouls it off. Tim McCarver doesn't like the play here. Neither do I.

1:36pm: On the next pitch, Jeremy Reed grounds out to 2B Ben Zobrist. 4-3. 2 outs. Ryan Church moves over to 3rd base on the grounder. Same result as the bunt basically, but at least he was trying to hit.

1:37pm: Omir Santos lines a ball into rightfield for a double that scores Ryan Church. Mets go up 1-0.

1:38pm: Luis Castillo grounds out to SS Jason Bartlett. 6-3. 3 outs.

Top of 3rd Inning:
1:41pm: FOXNews' Greta Van Susteren threw out today's first pitch and now is in the broadcast booth. She throws just as poorly as Baba Booey. But at least she's a woman and has an excuse to throw that badly.

1:42pm: Gabe Kapler flies out to RF Ryan Church. 1 out.

1:43pm: Michel Hernandez hits a nice linedrive into the left-centerfield gap which is caught by LF Jeremy Reed. I really wish Reed would start more games for the Mets. 2 outs.

1:45pm: James Shields takes a walk thanks to Johan. He's pitching better today than last Sunday (so far), but walking the pitcher is never a good thing.

1:46pm: It's starting to rain hard again in Queens. BJ Upton strikes out swinging. 3 outs.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:
1:48pm: Today's Trivia Question. Who was the youngest player ever to lead in All-Star voting? I'd have to guess Alex Rodriguez when he was playing for Seattle?

1:49pm: Johan Santana hits a flyball to deep LF but it's caught easily by Carl Crawford. 1 out.

1:50pm: Random observation. Typically, Yahoo! Sports and other feeds are very far behind real-time, but for some reason today, they're not more than 30 seconds behind real-time. Go figure.

1:51pm: Alex Cora lines a double down the rightfield line. Hitting down that line seems to be working out well for the Mets today. 3 hits, 3 doubles, all to rightfield.

1:52pm: Daniel Murphy flies out to LF Carl Crawford. 2 outs.

1:53pm: Carlos Beltran grounds out to SS Jason Bartlett. 6-3. 3 outs.

Top of 4th Inning:
1:57pm: Carl Crawford flies out to LF Jeremy Reed. 1 out.

1:58pm: Evan Longoria flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. Announcer Thom Brennaman says it was smoked. It was not. 2 outs.

2:00pm: It sure looks like it's pouring in Flushing. Lots of umbrellas in the stands although the peeps behind home plate don't seem to mind getting wet.

2:01pm: The answer to the trivia question as to who was the youngest player to ever lead in All-Star voting? Ken Griffey Jr. That was my 2nd guess! :-)

2:02pm: Carlos Pena flies out to RF Ryan Church, who doesn't make the catch with 2 hands. GRRRRR. 3 outs.

Bottom of 4th Inning:
2:04pm: David Wright grounds out to 3B Evan Longoria. 5-3. 1 out.

2:07pm: Ryan Church strikes out swinging. 2 outs.

2:08pm: Jeremy Reed grounds out to SS Jason Bartlett. 3 outs. This game is moving along fairly quickly. 4 innings in less than an hour.

Top of 5th Inning:
2:11pm: Johan Santana throws a beautiful changeup on the outside part of the plate. Ben Zobrist swings and misses and that's strike 3. 1 out.

2:12pm: So much for Johan's no-no. Jason Bartlett doubles down the leftfield line for Tampa's first hit of the game.

2:14pm: Gabe Kapler lines a shot down the rightfield line for a double. Zobrist scores to tie up the game 1-1. All 5 hits in this game have been doubles.

2:16pm: Michel Hernandez flies out to 2B Luis Castillo in short rightfield. And the dumbfuck uses 1 hand. The crowd cheers him facetiously for making the catch. They should be on him for not using both hands. 2 outs.

2:19pm: James Shields strikes out swinging. 3 outs.

Bottom of 5th Inning:
2:22pm: FOX broadcaster Tim McCarver thinks Omir Santos has a slight resemblance to former Met catcher Paul LoDuca. I guess I can see that but he's hardly a dead ringer or anything. Santos flies out to RF Gabe Kapler. 1 out.

2:24pm: Luis Castillo grounds out to 1B Carlos Pena. 2 outs.

2:25pm: Johan Santana strikes out swinging at a James Shields changeup. 3 outs.

Top of 6th Inning:
2:31pm: BJ Upton is having a pretty good at bat against Johan Santana. 3-2 count and Upton keeps fouling off pitches. Santana has now thrown 77 pitches, and walks Upton. 

2:32pm: The rain has stopped. Or slowed a lot to the point it's no longer viewable on TV.

2:33pm: Carl Crawford shoots a grounder towards 3B David Wright. Wright throws onto Castillo at 2nd for the force on Upton but they can't complete the double play on the speedy Crawford. 1 out.

2:35pm: Thom Brenneman and Tim McCarver make the point that since Jerry Manuel took over as Mets manager, the team is 89-69. You'd think that would quiet the ignorant fools who think Jerry is going to be fired this season, but that would make sense, so...

2:36pm: Carl Crawford gets too big of a start trying to steal 2nd base and Santana picks him off by throwing to 1st. Daniel Murphy throws down to SS Alex Cora who makes the tag. Carl Crawford actually might have been safe but the ump called him out. 2 outs.

2:37pm: Evan Longoria flies out to LF Jeremy Reed. 3 outs.

Bottom of 6th Inning:
2:40pm: FOX replay seems to show that Crawford didn't get his foot on the bag cause Alex Cora was blocking it with his own. Still somewhat inconclusive since they only showed that image as a still and not in movement

2:41pm: Alex Cora flies out to LF Carl Crawford. 1 out.

2:42pm: Daniel Murphy hits a liner to deep RF but it's caught by Gabe Kapler. 2 outs.

2:44pm: Carlos Beltran looks at strike 3 on the outside corner. 3 outs.

2:45pm: This is a heckuva pitcher’s duel. Shields looks to be more on than Santana, as he hasn’t walked anyone yet.

Top of 7th Inning:
2:48pm: Carlos Pena crushes a bomb into right-centerfield to put the Rays up 2-1. Deepest part of the park too, over the 415-foot sign by a couple of feet. Throwing the ball back onto the field is still stupid.

2:49pm: Ben Zobrist grounds out to SS Alex Cora. 6-3. 1 out.

2:50pm: Jason Bartlett grounds out to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 2 outs.

2:51pm: Gabe Kapler flies out to LF Jeremy Reed. 3 outs.

Bottom of 7th Inning:
2:55pm: David Wright flies out to RF Gabe Kapler. 1 out.

2:56pm: It's raining again. We never have these rain problems in Los Angeles. For baseball, that's a good thing. For droughts and general water shortages in the state, that's a bad thing.

2:57pm: Ryan Church grounds out to 1B Carlos Pena. 2 outs.

2:58pm: Jeremy Reed hits a short grounder just past James Shields but it's fielded by 2B Ben Zobrist who throws to 1st to just get Reed. 3 outs. Shields has retired 15 Mets in a row. They haven't had a hit since Cora's double in the 3rd inning and Shields' pitch count is at 87. He could easily pitch all 9 innings at this pace.

Top of 8th Inning:
2:59pm: Now it's absolutely pouring at Flushing. They may have to call a rain delay cause now it's just ridiculous.

3:00pm: Michel Hernandez flies out to RF Ryan Church who is clearly annoyed by the rain in his face. 1 out.

3:01pm: And it's time for a rain delay. They had to stop it.

3:02pm: Most fans are headed towards the exits figuring this game is over. It's certainly an official game, but hopefully the Mets will get their chances to fight back down 2-1. FOX is moving on to the Detroit-Milwaukee game, which means I will temporarily stop the liveblog until the Mets game resumes. 

4:09pm: The rain delay is ending, the tarp is off the field, and they'll be finishing the game very soon.

4:11pm: Bobby Parnell is in the game now in relief of Johan Santana. Parnell has been terrible lately. Not sure why.

4:13pm: Pat Burrell is in to pinch-hit for James Shields. Good thing the Mets won't be facing Shields anymore. His line for the game, 7 innings, 3 hits (all doubles), 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.

4:15pm: Parnell walks Pat Burrell. Yeesh.

4:16pm: Pedro Feliciano is warming up in the bullpen. BJ Upton lines the first pitch he sees from Parnell into centerfield for a base hit. Burrell to 2nd base. With lefty Crawford at the plate, this should be the time for Feliciano to come in. Sure enough, here comes Jerry Manuel, presumably to make the pitching change.

4:18pm: Pedro Feliciano is in to hopefully get the Mets out of this jam. For Jerry Manuel to go to a struggling Bobby Parnell when the Mets are down by a score of 2-1, when he could've gone to Sean Green or Brian Stokes, is very puzzling.

4:19pm: It's raining again. Tim McCarver thinks Jeremy Reed is playing WAY too deep in LF, and he might be right.

4:20pm: Wow. Slightly wacky play. Carl Crawford grounds out to Pedro Feliciano, who turns around, throws to SS Alex Cora at 2nd, who throws onto 1st to just nail Crawford. First base ump Jerry Crawford signals safe at first but quickly switches to an out call. Tampa manager Joe Maddon comes out to find out why he called him safe first. Looks like Jerry just had a brain fart. Replays show that Carl Crawford was barely out, so it's the right call by the umpire. 3 outs.

Bottom of 8th Inning:
4:24pm: Dan Wheeler is in to pitch for the Mets. This is the best chance the Mets are going to have to score some runs. Omir Santos leads off the inning. Could certainly use a clutch dinger right about now.

4:25pm: Omir Santos swings at strike 3. Catcher Michel Hernandez drops it so Santos runs to 1st but he's thrown out, 2-3. 1 out.

4:26pm: Thom Brennaman notes what I wrote earlier. The Mets haven't had a baserunner since the 3rd inning. Shields didn't walk anyone. Luis Castillo needs to get his ass on base. Frankie Rodriguez and Sean Green are warming up in the bullpen. 

4:28pm: Luis Castillo hits a chopper right back to pitcher Dan Wheeler who jumps and fields it. 1-3. 2 outs.

4:29pm: Gary Sheffield is in to pinch hit for Pedro Feliciano.

4:30pm: Gary Sheffield grounds out to SS Jason Bartlett. 6-3. 3 outs.

Top of 9th Inning:
4:31pm: Sean Green comes on to pitch in relief. He has not given up a run in his last 15 outings, spanning 15.2 IP. I believe Green and Parnell switched bodies.

4:32pm: Evan Longoria grounds out meekly to 3B David Wright. 1 out.

4:34pm: Carlos Pena grounds out to 2B Luis Castillo, 4-3. 2 outs.

4:35pm: So much for Sean Green's scoreless streak. Ben Zobrist lines a shot down the RF line and over the fence for a homer. 3-1 Tampa. 

4:37pm: Jason Bartlett flies out to LF Jeremy Reed. 3 outs.

Bottom of 9th Inning:
4:38pm: Last chance for the Mets, but at least it's the top of the order. Cora and Murphy need to set the table, and Beltran/Wright need to be clutch motherfuckers.

4:40pm: JP Howell is in to close for the Rays. He CAN be beat but the Mets need to make something happen. Alex Cora is the man to do it. Righty hitter Fernando Tatis is going to pinch-hit for Daniel Murphy to face the lefty Howell. 

4:43pm: Alex Cora can't make it happen as he grounds out to 2B Ben Zobrist. 4-3. 1 out.

4:44pm: Fernando Tatis pinch-hitting for Daniel Murphy.

4:45pm: Fernando Tatis flies out to RF Gabe Kapler. 2 outs. 

4:46pm: Tim McCarver thinks Carlos Beltran may think about bunting to get on base cause he's a very good bunter. That may be true Timmy, but Beltran also knows how to take walks, and he can hit, and frankly, a bunt ain't the best call in this situation.

4:47pm: Carlos Beltran ropes a shot into left-centerfield for a single. Can David Wright boom one right now? 

4:48pm: Tampa pitching coach Jim Hickey holds a conference on the mound.

4:49pm: David Wright swings at a terrible pitch in the dirt putting him behind 0-2.

4:50pm: And he swings at another shit pitch to strikeout and end the game. 3 outs.

Game over. The Mets lose 2-1 to the Rays.

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Story of the game? Pretty easy. Tampa's pitching was extremely effective today. James Shields outpitched Johan Santana. The Tampa bullpen of Dan Wheeler and JP Howell did not falter at all. The only baserunner the Mets had after the 3rd inning was Carlos Beltran in the 9th. 

Carlos Pena's blast off Johan Santana in the 7th was the ultimate difference maker, and Ben Zobrist's HR off of Green in the 8th made it that much harder for the Mets to come back.

Bobby Parnell needs to figure his shit out soon. He has been terrible this month, posting a 9.53 ERA. Good thing Feliciano bailed him out of the 8th inning with the 1-6-3 DP.

Now I have an hour break before the next LIVEBLOG begins, which will be the Dodgers vs. Angels out at Angel Stadium.










Post a comment Tags: new york mets, david wright, johan santana, carlos beltran, pedro feliciano, tim mccarver, citifield, dan wheeler …

LIVEBLOGGING - New York Mets vs. New York Yankees - 6/14/09

It's an afternoon matinee (or on the West Coast, morning baseball) between the Mets and Yankees. The rubber game between the injury-riddled Mets and the steroid-riddled Yankees. These two teams will meet again in less than 2 weeks, next time at CitiField, the very antithesis of the home run launching pad that is the new Yankee Stadium.


Today's pitching matchup features Mets ace Johan Santana, 4-1 in 7 starts with a 3.15 lifetime ERA against the Yankees. Opposing him will be AJ Burnett, 2-6 in 16 starts, 3.83 lifetime ERA against the Mets. Most of those starts came while with Burnett was with the Florida Marlins between 1999-2005.

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(All times Pacific)

Top of 1st Inning:
10:11am: Nick Swisher makes a fantastic running catch in RF to prevent a leadoff double from Alex Cora. While stopping his momentum at the RF wall, he jumps on top of a pad above a scoreboard, knocking it off the wall, and the "Mets' scoreboard sign there goes off-kilter as well. That'll certainly be highlight fodder if the Mets should lose this game. 1 out.

10:12am: Fernando Martinez hits a soft line drive into CF which is easily caught by Melky Cabrera. 2 outs.

10:14am: Carlos Beltran strikes out looking against AJ Burnett. 3 up, 3 down.

Bottom of 1st Inning:
10:17am: Derek Jeter plunks the first pitch he sees from Santana into RF for a leadoff single.

10:20am: Johnny Damon strikes out swinging at a 2-2 changeup which also happens to be a beautiful strike, swung on or not. 1 out. That's the 92nd K for Johan this season.

10:22am: Mark Teixeira skies out to 2B Luis Castillo, who uses BOTH hands to squeeze the catch. The Bronx crowd makes a lotta noise to distract him, but Castillo makes the catch to the disappointment of the Yankee scumbags. 2 outs.

10:23am: Alex Rodriguez lines out to SS Alex Cora. 3 outs.

Top of 2nd Inning:
10:27am: David Wright watches a 2-2 curveball go right by him and he knew he struck out before the ump called it. 1 out.

10:28am: Ryan Church grounds a ball right up the middle past the mound but Derek Jeter, slightly shifted over towards 2nd base for Church, fields it easily and throws to 1st for the out. 2 outs.

10:29am: Gary Sheffield strikes out check-swinging at a pitch way outside. Terrible AB by Sheffield. 3 outs.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:
10:33am: Robinson Cano hits a leadoff double into the left-centerfield gap.

10:36am: Nick Swisher skies out to CF Carlos Beltran, but Cano tags up to 3rd base easily, especially since Beltran's throw is so off-target, and SS Alex Cora has to make the stop north of the 3rd base bag. 1 out. 

10:37am: The Mets infield is playing in against lefty Hideki Matsui hoping to prevent Cano from scoring.

10:39am: Johan Santana walks Hideki Matsui on a 3-1 count. It didn't look like he was giving him much to swing at to begin with. This does set up the double play if he can induce Melky Cabrera.

10:41am: Johan is not looking as sharp as normal. Cabrera is hitting some balls hard but foul, and some of his pitches are looking too high in the zone.

10:42am: Johan goes full count on Melky Cabrera.

10:43am: Johan strikes out Melky Cabrera swinging at a 3-2 inside changeup which was ball 4, but looked good enough. 2 outs.

10:45am: Francisco Cervelli bloops a low outside pitch for a single into RF that scores Robinson Cano and moves Matsui over to 2nd base. Yankees up 1-0.

10:48am: Derek Jeter cranks a 3-2 pitch into LF for a single. Fernando Martinez in LF makes a terrible throw to the plate which misses the mark up the first base line and Santana has to back it up. Cervelli to 3rd. Jeter to 2nd on the throw, but there's no error charged as he's going to 2nd base either way. Yankees up 2-0.

10:50am: Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen has a little conference on the mound with Santana. 

10:52am: Johnny Damon singles into LF scoring both Francisco Cervelli and Derek Jeter. Fernando Martinez throws towards home but the throw is cut off by David Wright at the mound who throws to Alex Cora in order to get Johnny Damon at 2nd. Damon gets caught in the rundown. Cora throws back to Murphy, Murphy throws back to Cora who drops the ball because Johnny Damon pulled an A-Roid glove swat which means he's out. I was about to throw a fucking fit when I saw Cora drop the ball but then saw on replay that Damon's left arm was responsible for Cora dropping the ball. Yankees do score 2 runs on the play, so it's 4-0 Yankees. 3 outs.

10:53am: Johan is looking worse and worse with each pitch. He's gotta settle down fast.

Top of 3rd Inning:

10:57am: Daniel Murphy works out a leadoff walk out of AJ Burnett.

10:58am: Yankees pitching coach Dave Allen has a conference on the mound since Burnett is now behind on Brian Schneider with a 2-0 count.

10:59am: Brian Schneider hits a nice seeing-eye grounder past a diving Mark Teixeira into RF. Daniel Murphy goes 1st to 3rd on the play. Luis Castillo is up now and a double play is not an acceptable outcome, even with no out.

11:02am: AJ Burnett goes full count on Luis Castillo before walking him. Bases now loaded for the Mets with 0 outs.
Normally that's a good thing, but for the Mets, bases loaded situations is kryptonite.

11:06am: Alex Cora checks his swing at a shit low inside pitch but the 3rd-base ump calls him out. Replay shows he did not go. Jerry Manuel isn't happy with that call. Nor should he be. 1 out.

11:08am: Fernando Martinez strikes out swinging. This guy is not ready for the bigs by any stretch.

11:10am: The Mets continue to be completely futile with bases loaded. Carlos Beltran lines out to Derek Jeter to end the inning. Absolutely ridiculous. 3 outs.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:
11:13am: Mark Teixeira lines out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.

11:14am: Dan Warthen is talking with TBS announcers Chip Caray and Buck Martinez. Warthen doesn't think Johan is looking too good so far. Lack of command, high pitch count, etc. Well, at least he knows what we all can see. This isn't the best of Santana by any stretch.

11:15am: Alex Rodriguez strikes out swinging. 2 outs. 

11:16am: Robinson Cano grounds out meekly to 1B Daniel Murphy. Santana finally gets a 1-2-3 inning. 3 outs.

Top of 4th Inning:

11:19am: David Wright hits a seeing-eye grounder on the right side into RF for a leadoff single. 

11:22am: Burnett gets Ryan Church to strike out at a wicked curveball that Buck Martinez says was a slider. Sure dropped like a curve to me. 1 out.

11:24am: With Gary Sheffield at the plate, AJ Burnett throws a wild pitch in the dirt that gets away from Yankee catcher Francisco Cervelli. David Wright take 2nd base on the WP. Sheffield should be taking as much as he can considering most of Burnett's pitches LOOK appetizing but still have a lot of drop to them.

11:25am: On a 3-2 count, AJ Burnett throws an inside fastball that Gary Sheffield lays off of and takes a walk. Burnett's fastball is still mid-90's velocity but it's probably the best pitch to hit. Unfortunately not a lot of Met hitters can catch up to it.

11:27am: Daniel Murphy does exactly what he shouldn't do by grounding into a 4-6-3 double play. Sheffield with a nice hard slide at Derek Jeter but Jeter leaps and still makes the throw to complete the play. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 outs.

Bottom of 4th Inning:
11:31am: Nick Swisher takes a leadoff walk from Johan Santana. 

11:32am: Hideki Matsui blasts a pitch up in the zone into the RF bleachers for a 2-run homer. Yankees up 6-0.

11:35am: Melky Cabrera doubles into the right-centerfield gap. CF Carlos Beltran makes a weak throw to 2nd base.

11:36am: TBS shows a graphic of Johan's first 7 starts in which he posted a 0.78 ERA. Next 6 starts? A 5.75 ERA, and it's gonna go higher after today's game.

11:37am: Francisco Cervelli hits a grounder on the right side which is fielder by 1B Daniel Murphy, but Murphy's throw to Santana is a very high lob which Santana catches but Cervelli beats the throw. Cabrera moves over to 3rd base without a problem.

11:39am: Derek Jeter hits a hard line shot at SS Alex Cora who can't come up with the ball and it goes into short LF. Cora grabs the ball, and Cabrera scores easily. Cervelli goes to 2nd base on the play. Yankees now up 7-0 and that's all for Johan Santana, who looked absolutely awful today.
 
11:43am: Brian Stokes is into relieve Johan Santana. Unfortunately the Yankee hit parade continues as Johnny Damon hits a double down the leftfield line that scores Francisco Cervelli easily. Yankees now up 8-0. Still 0 out. This game has quickly gotten repugnant.

11:44am: Mark Teixeira hits a swinging tapper back at the 3rd base side of the mound which Brian Stokes fields cleanly, looks Jeter back to 3rd but slips. He still throws to 1st but Tex is safe at 1st, and Murphy has to play hockey goalie in stopping the ball. And now A-Roid is up. Great.

11:46am: A-Rod lines out to SS Alex Cora who nearly turns a triple play. The ball bounces in front of Cora, who tags out Johnny Damon right off 2nd base. Cora then steps on 2nd base and throws onto 1st base, but A-Rod made it safely. Double play though Jeter scores. Yankees now up 9-0 in the 4th. 2 outs.

11:48am: Robinson Cano goes yard with a 2-run bomb to RF. Yankees now up 11-0.

11:49am: The Yankees have now batted around with Nick Swisher at the plate.

11:50am: Brian Stokes isn't looking any better than Santana. He gives Nick Swisher a free pass to 1st base.

11:51am: Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen holds a conference on the mound. 

11:52am: Brian Stokes gives another free pass, this one to Hideki Matsui on 4 straight balls.

11:53am: And then Melky Cabrera hits a shot that bounces off the RF-wall for a double that scores another 2 runs. Cabrera tried to make it a triple but gets thrown out. 3 outs. Yankees now up 13-0. Someone shoot me?

11:55am: Final line for Johan Santana today: 3 Innings, 9 ER, 9 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts. His ERA jumps up to 3.29. One has to wonder if he's still worthy of making the NL All-Star team the way he's been pitching lately.

Top of 5th Inning:
11:58am: Brian Schneider grounds out meekly to 1B Mark Teixeira. 1 out.

11:59am: Luis Castillo slaps a ball at 3B Alex Rodriguez who throws to 1st for the out. 2 outs.

12:00pm: Alex Cora checks a swing at strike 3 and is called out. The ball gets away from Cervelli. Cora is busy arguing so Cervelli gets the ball, tags out Cora who doesn't run. Normally one would be all over Cora for not running to 1st, but down 13-0... he might as well argue. 3 outs.

Bottom of 5th Inning:
12:04pm: Francisco Cervelli leads off with a single to leftfield.

12:05pm: Derek Jeter ropes a single to centerfield. No more Stokes please? 

12:08pm: Brian Stokes strikes out Johnny Damon with a questionable but consistently called low strike. 1 out.

12:10pm: Brian Stokes strikes out Mark Teixeira. 2 outs. Maybe Stokes finally settled down?

12:11pm: Alex Rodriguez launches a deep flyball to CF Carlos Beltran, who makes the catch for the 3rd out. Thankfully.

Top of 6th Inning:
12:15pm: Fernando Martinez lines out to LF Johnny Damon. 1 out.

12:16pm: Carlos Beltran lines a ball into CF for a single. Hooray offense?

12:19pm: David Wright thinks he's taking a 3-2 walk to 1st but the umpire calls the consistent low strike 3. David Wright argues a bit, and he rarely argues. 2 outs. Mets manager Jerry Manuel comes out seeing how pissed David Wright is, and he's rarely pissed. Home plate ump throws Jerry out of the game. 

12:20pm: Ryan Church hits a flyball to CF Melky Cabrera. 3 outs.

Bottom of 6th Inning:
12:23pm: Jon Switzer is on in relief of Brian Stokes. Wilson Valdez replaces Luis Castillo at 2nd base. Fernando Tatis is in at 3rd base in place of David Wright. Jeremy Reed is now in CF in place of Carlos Beltran.

12:24pm: Robinson Cano hits a shot to centerfield that bounces up against the CF wall for a leadoff double. This is now just a game of bullpen experimentation for the Mets considering the anal raping they're experiencing. Which reliever will suck the least?

12:27pm: Nick Swisher skies out to LF Fernando Martinez who just can't seem to be bothered using two hands for pop flies. 2 outs. 

12:29pm: Hideki Matsui sharply grounds out to Daniel Murphy, who tosses onto Switzer at first for the out. Robinson Cano moves to 3rd on the play. 2 outs.

12:30pm: Melky Cabrera hits a swinging bunt right back to pitcher Jon Switzer, 1-3 for the easy out. 3 outs.

Top of 7th Inning:
12:34pm: Defensive changes for the Skanks. Brett Gardner in at CF, Melky Cabrera moves over to RF, Nick Swisher moves over to 1B, so Mark Teixeira takes the rest of the game off. Angel Berroa replaces Alex Rodriguez at 3B and Ramiro Pena replaces Derek Jeter at SS.

12:35pm: Gary Sheffield hits a chopper off the plate which is fielded on the 3rd base side of the mound by AJ Burnett, but he throws the ball past 1B Nick Swisher, so Sheffield takes 2nd base. That SHOULD be scored an E1 on the throw.

12:36pm: It's scored a hit for Sheffield AND an error on Burnett since Sheffield went to 2nd on the errant throw.

12:37pm: Daniel Murphy takes a walk. 1st and 2nd for the Mets, 0 out. Brian Schneider up.

12:39pm: Brian Schneider hits a high fly ball into RF, but into the glove of RF Melky Cabrera. 1 out.

12:40pm: Jeremy Reed grounds up the middle but it's fielded by SS Ramiro Pena who makes a pretty flip to 2B Robinson Cano and throws to 1B Nick Swisher to complete the 6-4-3 DP. 3 outs.

Bottom of 7th Inning:
12:45pm: The sun has come out in the Bronx, and Yankee Stadium is a whole shade brighter.

12:46pm: Francisco Cervelli flies out to RF Ryan Church who makes a nice running catch. 1 out.

12:48pm: Angel Berroa is hit by a pitch and takes 1st base.

12:49pm: An announced crowd of 47,943.  I believe that's 3 straight NON-sellouts for this series. Still very large crowds at this ballpark though.

12:50pm: Johnny Damon walks. Angel Berroa moves to 2nd base.

12:52pm: Brett Gardner takes a walk too, and Switzer is looking pretty bad after looking good for 1 inning. Bases loaded now, and Ken Takahashi is warming up in the bullpen. At some point, maybe Daniel Murphy should pitch.

12:53pm: Ramiro Pena scalds one  up the middle which actually deflects off of 2nd base towards SS Alex Cora for an infield hit that scores Angel Berroa. Yankees now up 14-0. Acting manager Sandy Alomar Jr. has seen enough from Switzer, and it's Takahashi time. Unfortunately, bases are still loaded for the Skanks.

12:57pm: Robinson Cano hits a deep shot to the right-center warning track. CF Jeremy Reed catches the ball but Johnny Damon scores on the sac fly. 15-0 Yankees. 2 outs.

1:00pm: Nick Swisher grounds out to SS Alex Cora. 6-3. 3 outs.

Top of 8th Inning:
1:03pm: David Robertson is in to relieve AJ Burnett.

1:04pm: SS Alex Cora pops out to 3B Angel Berroa. 1 out.

1:05pm: Final line for Yankee starter AJ Burnett, in line for his 2nd home win of the season... 7 Innings, 4 hits, 0 ER, 4  BB, 8 K.

1:06pm: Fernando Martinez strikes out looking. The Mets HAVE to send Martinez back to Buffalo after the series against Baltimore. It's so obvious that the guy isn't ready for the bigs, and he refuses to use two hands in the outfield when making catches on pop flies. 2 outs.

1:08pm: Fernando Tatis strikes out swinging. 1-2-3 inning for David Robertson. 3 outs. Mets suck.

Bottom of 8th Inning:
1:11pm: Ken Takahashi strikes out Hideki Matsui on an 89 MPH fastball that Gojira can't make contact with. 1 out.

1:12pm: Melky Cabrera takes a free pass walk to first.

1:14pm: Francisco Cervelli grounds out to Ken Takahashi, 1-3 for the out. Cabrera to 2nd on the play.

1:16pm: Angel Berroa flies out to CF Jeremy Reed. Reed uses BOTH HANDS to make the catch. Fernando Martinez might learn something. 3 outs.

Top of 9th Inning:
1:17pm: RALLY TIME METS!!!! Maybe not, Phil Hughes is on to pitch the 9th for the Skanks. 

1:18pm: Wilson Valdez lines a single into CF for a leadoff hit. Let the rally begin!!!! 

1:22pm: Ryan Church strikes out looking. 1 out.

1:23pm: Gary Sheffield hits a grounder to 3B Angel Berroa, who seems to cut off SS Ramiro Pena on the play. He throws onto 2nd base but Valdez makes it in safely. 

1:26pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging. 2 outs.

1:28pm: Brian Schneider foul pops out to catcher Francisco Cervelli. 3 outs.

Game over.  Yankees win 15-0.

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What did we learn today kids?

For all of the emotion that Frankie showed in his little on-field confrontation with Brian Bruney today, it didn't mean shit when it came to the Mets playing the game. Further proof that "grit and fire and toughness and emotion and BLAH BLAH BLAH" is completely overrated bullshit. It doesn't matter how gritty and tough you are. Can you beat the other team or not? Some games you will, some games you won't. End of story.

Fernando Martinez HAS to go back to Buffalo soon. He can't hit, he can't or refuses to make two-handed catches.

Johan Santana had the worst start of his entire career.  He didn't have good command of his fastball, and he was leaving pitches up in the zone. Some say his velocity is down. Santana's ERA over his last 7 starts is above 6 now. It's terrible. 

Was this game worse than the Luis Castillo game on Friday? To me, it's apples and oranges.

Losing 15-0 to anyone, sucks. 
Losing 15-0 to the Yankees, sucks more. 
Losing 15-0 when Johan Santana has the worst start of his entire career, sucks the most.

Castillo's dropped fly ball should've ended the game, but instead it lost it in embarrassing fashion. But Johan Santana lost the game just by stepping onto the mound today. I know some might say that the Yankees didn't so much win Friday as the Mets LOST big time, but when your ace gives up 9 earned runs in 3 innings, it's pretty much the same.

In any case, one hopes that the upcoming road series against the lowly Baltimore Orioles gives this team a chance to turn their fortunes around before things get out of hand. A team that isn't contending by the end of June is usually in deep shit.





Post a comment Tags: baseball, mlb, new york yankees, tbs, new york mets, david wright, derek jeter, nick swisher …

What a difference a day makes. Mets vs. Yankees Saturday game - 6/13/09

Not even 24 hours after one of the most crushing Met losses of the season thanks to 2B Luis Castillo dropping a pop fly ball where the Yankees then scored 2 runs to win the game in the most unfortunate and soul-sucking torturous manner we've seen in a long time...


The Mets turned it around and beat the New York Skankees by a final of 6-2.

The keys to the game?

Fernando Nieve - A waiver pickup that the Mets grabbed from Houston back in spring training and he pitched well in Binghamton and Buffalo before coming up to replace John Maine who just went on the DL with a dead arm. Nieve hadn't had a major league start since 2006.

Nieve, who no one expected anything from today, all but handing the victory to the Yankees before a pitch was thrown, shut the Yankees down through 6.2 innings. He gave up 4 hits, 2 ER (1 was Alex Rodriguez flyball to LF that just kept carrying out of the yard), 2 BB, 2 K, and a hit batsmen in A-Roid.

Omir Santos - A 2-run HR to leftfield off of Andy Pettite in the 2nd inning gave the Mets the first lead of the game. Santos went 2-for-5 with 3 RBI, and more importantly, called a great game behind the plate.

Gary Sheffield - Gary is rumored to have some problems behind his knee, which is going to keep him in the DH spot through this and the upcoming Baltimore series, and he may need an MRI on the knee to see if there's any damage. All that being said, he pounded another homer in Yankee Stadium today, and also drove in Carlos Beltran in the 5th inning on a single to RF.

Sean Green - Despite a horrific April, Green is turning into the solid reliever we really needed, especially with the injury to Putz. Green gave up the hit to Derek Jeter that scored the 2nd Yankee run which was charged to Nieve, but that groundball was fielded nicely by 2B Luis Castillo whose throw to 1st was JUUUST beaten out by Jeter, and Melky Cabrera scored on the play. Next batter Johnny Damon grounded out hard to 1B Fernando Tatis. Green then pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning. Green hasn't been charged with an earned run in his last 12.1 IP. He's just gotta be able to handle inherited runners a bit better, but today he definitely did his job.

Every Met had at least one hit in the game, 7 of them had 2 hits or more. The team had 17 hits on the day, with 12 of them coming off of Andy Pettite. Luis Castillo didn't make a huge impact today but like the team, he rebounded from yesterday's heartbreaker and had 2 hits of his own, raising his BA to .281.

Oh yes, and now there's this little mess between Frankie Rodriguez and Yankee reliever Brian "Big Mouth" Bruney.

The shitkicker is that Bruney doesn't like Frankie because of a game between the A's and Angels back in 2005 where Frankie acted like a baby and the Angels lost the game when a ball thrown back to him by catcher Jose Molina got away from Rodriguez and the Angels lost the game. 

Keep in mind that:
A) This was 4 years ago when he was 23. Rodriguez has matured since then.
B) Bruney was pitching for Arizona at the time, so why is he so offended 
C) Frankie's post-save "celebrations" when he points to the sky is a dedication to his deceased grandfather, who meant a great deal to him when Frankie was growing up. If batters can celebrate after a walk-off win by jumping around with his team at home plate, why can't a closer do a little celebrating of his own when he gets the job done? That goes for any closer, not just K-Rod.

But that's fine, because this story may just push Luis Castillo's error on Friday night to the backburner and perhaps get Met fans to focus their anger upon Big-Mouth Bruney instead of Luis Castillo.

Tomorrow's finale of the Mets-Yankees series pits Johan Santana against AJ Burnett at 10am PST which is a national game on TBS. Because of that, I will be liveblogging the game as it happens tomorrow morning.

Post a comment Tags: baseball, mlb, new york yankees, alex rodriguez, new york mets, david wright, derek jeter, johan santana …

Great baseball farm systems are nice, but they're no guarantee of anything.

Every MLB team wants to develop their own talent. After all, it's much cheaper to develop an 18-year old high school phenom and have him in your organization for a while before they reach their free agent years than it is to sign a top free agent to a multi-million dollar contract later in his career.

But no matter how great your farm system is, developing talent is not an exact science. It involves a lot of player development, trial and error, and hard work. You can have the best farm system in the land, and it doesn't mean you'll win the World Series once, never mind multiple times.

Let's take a quick look at the Tampa Bay Rays of 2008.

Tampa Bay Rays 2008 Starting Rotation:
James Shields 14-8 3.56 ERA, 215 IP, 40 BB, 160 K
Andy Sonnanstine 13-9 4.38 ERA, 193.1 IP, 37 BB, 124 K
Matt Garza 11-9 3.70 ERA, 184.2 IP, 59 BB, 128 K
Edwin Jackson 14-11 4.42 ERA, 183.1 IP, 77 BB, 108 K
Scott Kazmir 12-8 3.49 ERA, 152.1 IP, 70 BB, 166 K

- James Shields, drafted by Tampa in 2000.
- Andy Sonnantine, drafted by Tampa in 2004.
- Matt Garza, acquired in a 2007 trade along with SS Jason Bartlett with the Minnesota Twins.
- Edwin Jackson, acquired in a 2006 trade with the Dodgers. Jackson was TERRIBLE with the 2007 Rays, going 5-15 with a 5.76 ERA. Jackson was traded to Detroit for OF Matt Joyce after the 2008 season.
- Scott Kazmir... we know.

At this point in time last year, the Rays were 35-24.

Now we look at the 2009 starting rotation for the Tampa Bay Rays and how they're performing so far...

Tampa Bay Rays 2009 Starting Rotation:
James Shields 4-4 3.53 ERA, 74 IP, 20 BB, 52 K
Matt Garza 4-4 3.67 ERA, 73.2 IP, 28 BB, 66 K
Andy Sonnanstine 4-5 7.07 ERA, 56.0 IP, 16 BB, 32 K
Jeff Niemann 5-4 3.77 ERA, 59.2 IP, 24 BB, 39 K
Scott Kazmir 4-4 7.69 ERA, 45.2 IP, 29 BB, 35 K

And since Kazmir is now on the DL, and the Rays FINALLY called up top draft pick David Price...

David Price 1-0 3.00 ERA, 9 IP, 7 BB, 17 K

So from examining the starting rotations based on the available stats, the only major issues are the falloff of Andy Sonnanstine and the injury to Kazmir. Kazmir will come back later this month. 

Ideally, the Rays would best be suited to have Price and Kazmir healthy and in the rotation, and find another role for Sonnanstine, who likely peaked in 2008.

The offense for the Rays is primarily the same as it was last year with the major changes being Pat Burrell at DH instead of Cliff Floyd.

So despite having a very similar roster to the 2008 team, this is a .500 team at 28-28 on June 3, 2009. 

Every team has injuries:
But the Rays suffered a big blow with 2B Akinori Iwamura tearing his ACL and he's gone for the season.

SS Jason Bartlett is currently on the 15-day DL with a sprained left ankle.

DH Pat Burrell is on the 15-day DL with a neck strain, though expected to return in late June.

3B Evan Longoria has a sore left hamstring right now, but SHOULD be ready to play by the weekend. Losing Longoria for any period of time would be extremely devastating to Tampa.

Closer Troy Percival, who had a huge comeback season in 2008, has had a disappointing 2009 and may be gone for the year with shoulder tendinitis, if not his career.

So yes, you can have a great farm system and develop quality players like Longoria, Shields, Price, etc.

But the Rays also have their share of veterans. Some are extremely productive stars (Carl Crawford) or underrated veterans (Carlos Pena), others are filling up roster space (Gabe Kapler, Jason Isringhausen).

And despite having a very similar team to a year ago, they're not playing the way they were. They could potentially have a strong second half and make a run at the AL East, but with Boston and New York having strengthened their rosters in the off-season, that's going to be a tough going.


Going back to the 2009 Mets for a second...
Their starting rotation is made up of...

1. The best pitcher in the NL
2. Mike Pelfrey, a homegrown Met farm system product who has finally begun to reach his potential.
3. John Maine, a minor league scrub in the Orioles organization who actually became a decent major league pitcher with the Mets.
4. Livan Hernandez, a one-year low-salary journeyman who has been far better than anyone had a right to expect this year, ESPECIALLY against NL East rivals.
5. Oliver Perez, an overpaid free agent who has had an awful start to the 2009 season, but his knee tendinitis is no b.s., and there is still a fair amount of upside to him if he can regain his prior form.
6. Tim Redding. 3 starts in 2009. 1 great, 2 stunk. Not exactly a fair sample to judge by.

Other Met players on the 2009 team who have come up through the Mets farm system?
Jose Reyes, David Wright, Bobby Parnell, Daniel Murphy, Fernando Martinez (and it looks like he ain't ready, but circumstances dictated a callup.)

What about our CAN'T MISS TOP PROSPECT Lastings Milledge who Minaya so insanely foolishly (dripping with sarcasm) traded to Washington?

After a very mediocre 2008, Milledge had a terrible 2009 start at the plate, lost all plate discipline, somehow played worse defense in the OF than Daniel Murphy, pissed off Nationals management (fairly or unfairly, but either way he certainly wasn't producing). As a result, Milledge was optioned to AAA Syracuse, and then broke his finger while trying to bunt.

The point about Lastings Milledge is the same point about Alex Escobar is the same point about Carlos Gomez is the same point about Aaron Heilman.

There's no perfect nor exact science to drafting players. Pitchers that put up great numbers in college may translate to the majors, or they may be total busts. There's zero way to know for sure.

The Nationals are obviously going to draft Stephen Strasburg later this month. Will he be the best pitcher in the game in 2012? Or is he going to be another bust of a top can't-miss prospect? I'd certainly rather have him on the Mets than not, but no one in their right mind is recommending trading Johan Santana for that kid either. 

Post a comment Tags: baseball, washington nationals, mlb, new york mets, david wright, world series, scott kazmir, matt garza …

Putting a shitty Mets start to 2009 in perspective.

The New York Mets are not off to a good start.

None of the starting pitchers except for Johan Santana are pitching with any semblance of consistency.

With the exception of a winning start over San Diego on April 15, Oliver Perez has been absolutely terrible.

The jury is still out on Mike Pelfrey and John Maine, and Livan Hernandez has so far only been able to pitch well against the Marlins and no one else. As it is, the expectations for Livan Hernandez are quite low.

While Frankie Rodriguez has not blown any saves yet, and he will, JJ Putz and Sean Green have not held leads during the last two games of the series against the Florida Marlins at CitiField. While these things are bound to happen, you don't want to see them happen two games in a row.

David Wright is off to a very bad start, and he's whiffing at a record pace for him. Slow starts are one thing, but striking out like you're Ryan Howard is another. On the other hand, you can see that his numbers for the month of April 2009 are still better than his start to April 2007, with only the strikeouts being the major increase.
April 2005: 17 strikeouts in 76 ABs, 23 games, .303 / .418 / .539
April 2006: 13 strikeouts in 89 ABs, 24 games. .303 / .377 / .584
April 2007: 23 strikeouts in 90 ABs. 24 games. .244 / .370 / .311
April 2008: 16 strikeouts in 96 ABs. 26 games. .281 / .417 / .531 (one game on March 31, 2008 also included)
April 2009: 27 strikeouts in 82 ABs. 21 games. .280 / .372 / .390

The highest amount of strikeouts David Wright has ever had in a single month was May 2006, when he struck out 29 times, but in 27 games and 110 ABs. He still remained far more productive during that period though, hitting .336 / .408 / .500.

However, slow starts do not rule out a team's ability to get to the posteason come October.

Here are the 21-game records of the World Series teams (both winner and loser) dating back to 2000. I use 21 as the benchmark since that's how many games the Mets have played in the 2009 season as of April 30.

(Teams with below .500 records after 21 games are bolded and italicized.)
2000: New York Yankees (14-7) and New York Mets (14-7)
2001: Arizona Diamondbacks (11-10) and New York Yankees (11-10)
2002: Anaheim Angels (7-14) and San Francisco Giants (13-8)
2003: Florida Marlins (10-11) and New York Yankees (18-3)
2004: Boston Red Sox (15-6) and St. Louis Cardinals (10-11)
2005: Chicago White Sox (16-5) and Houston Astros (8-13)
2006: St. Louis Cardinals (14-7) and Detroit Tigers (13-8)
2007: Boston Red Sox (14-7) and Colorado Rockies (8-13)
2008: Philadelphia Phillies (11-10) and Tampa Bay Rays (10-11)

The 2009 Mets are 9-12 after 21 games.

Is it better to have a strong start than not? Absolutely.
Can teams come back from slow April starts to win the World Series or make the postseason? Absolutely, although you might have to settle for the Wild Card (2002 Angels, 2003 Florida, 2005 Houston, 2007 Colorado,)

It's also important to remember that you can have the best regular season record over the course of a season, and not even make the World Series. Just ask Lou Piniella and his 2001 Seattle Mariners with their 116-46 record. They lost the ALCS to the Yankees in just 5 games. Or last year's Los Angeles Angels that ran away with the AL West crown and an MLB season-best record of 100-62, only to lose to Boston in the ALDS (again... grrrr!) in 4 games.

Can a strong April be absolutely worthless when it comes to the end result in September? Look no further than the 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks, who were 15-6 after their first 21 games, only to end up in 2nd place in the NL West when the season ended. Conversely, the Los Angeles Dodgers started 2008 9-12, and ended up winning the NL West division. The Oakland A's were 12-9 after their first 21 in 2008, and finished the season well below .500 at 75-86.

There's no shortage of examples on both sides of the coin. So when people panic about their team in April if they're not off to a 20+ win month, it's generally unwarranted. Of course, if you're a Washington Nationals fan, you can safely throw in the towel.

The Mets do have cause for concern, and they're going to need to kick things into high gear over the month of May if they want to compete for the NL East crown or the NL Wild Card. With 16 of 29 games against NL East teams in May, the Mets are going to need to win as many of those games as possible to get back into this race.

Post a comment Tags: perspective, baseball, mlb, new york yankees, st. louis cardinals, detroit tigers, boston red sox, new york mets …

Why you shouldn't worry about Oliver Perez... yet.

Allow me to bottom line this...

Oliver Perez was signed by the New York Mets to pitch against 3 teams.

The Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, and the New York Yankees.

Perez has inexplicably owned the Yankees throughout his entire career, (5-1 in 6 career starts, 41.1 IP, 2.61 ERA). While the Mets only face the Yankees 6 times per season, it would be quite fortuitous if Perez were able to have 2 starts against them.

Last year, Perez dominated the Philadelphia Phillies even more than Mets ace Johan Santana did.
In 4 starts against the Phillies, Perez was 1-0 with a 0.35 ERA over 26 IP. He gave up a total of one earned run in 4 games against Philadelphia.

In 2007, Perez posted a 4-1 record in 5 starts against the Atlanta Braves, with a 3.03 ERA over 32.2 IP.
In 2008, Perez had no decisions in 3 starts against Atlanta, with a 3.72 ERA over 19.1 IP.

For all the talk about how "inconsistent" Oliver Perez is, the reality is that he more often than not, pitches very well against any one of those 3 teams, OR in high-pressure situations. When he pitches against other teams that are merely "regular season games," no one really knows what to expect.

His one good performance in 2009 came against the San Diego Padres. It was a high-pressure situation in that the Mets had lost the CitiField opener to San Diego, and the Mets desperately wanted that first home win ASAP.

The way the schedule works out, unless there are any rainouts, Oliver Perez's next three starts will be against Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Atlanta.

Of course, there's no guarantee that Perez will pitch great those games, but the odds are in his favor based on track record.

If he fails to pitch adequately in these games, then I would say there is great cause for concern. As it is, you don't want to see him pitch so extremely poorly against the rest of the league.

But it's too early in the season to panic, especially when Oliver Perez is about to begin facing teams that he was specifically paid to beat.

Post a comment Tags: san diego padres, new york yankees, atlanta braves, new york mets, johan santana, oliver perez, citifield, philadelphia philles …

There are runs, and then there is run.

There are runs. There were 26 of them at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, but only 4 of them belonged to the Yankees.

If Thursday's home opener at Yankee Stadium was an assraping, then today's 22-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians was a pubic scalping. Someone oughtta let the Tribe know that the Home Run Derby isn't until July.

Just when you thought, "Hey, Chien-Ming Wang can't get any worse than his last two starts," he managed to show you "Oh yes I can!" Wang's ERA ballooned to a whopping 34.50.

But then, even knowing full well that Wang might be a problem today, the Yankees brought up AAA pitcher Anthony "Rhymes with" Claggett just in case. And he pitched just as badly as Wang did. Maybe worse.

Wang's line today was 1.1 IP, 8 hits, 8 runs (all earned), 0 walks (silver lining!), 1 strikeout, 1 home run.
Claggett's line? 1.2 IP, 9 hits, 8 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2 home runs.

Claggett's ERA is now 43.20. Welcome to the bigs, kid.

The rest of the Yankee bullpen wasn't much better. Between Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras and Damaso Marte, the three relievers managed to let another 6 runs score before the game was finally over. Only Veras could really be considered to have done a good job during the game, with his only mistake being a solo blast given up to Travis Hafner over the course of 3 innings.

But what was truly record-setting about this game, is that the Indians scored 14 runs in the 2nd inning. That is the highest number of runs ever given up in one inning in all of Yankees franchise history. It's also the first time in MLB history that any team has scored 14 runs in the 2nd inning of any MLB game.

The Yankees HAVE however, given up 22 runs before. 22-0 to the Cleveland Indians on August 31, 2004.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090418&content_id=4330040&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle

There is no truth to the rumor though, that any time the Indians score more than 20 runs against the Yankees, that all fans in attendance receive a free smallpox blanket.

--------------------------------------

And then there was a run.

The one run that belonged to the New York Mets. Johan Santana can't get no run support, but he's definitely getting the bullpen support.

Johan Santana pitched 7 innings of shutout ball against the Milwaukee Brewers, scattering 5 hits, seven strikeouts, and didn't walk a soul.

Unfortunately, Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo pitched 6 innings of shutout ball against the Mets, and it wasn't until the bottom of the 7th when a Jose Reyes liner that ricocheted off of reliever Carlos Villanueva's glove, knocking the glove off his hand, scored backup catcher/pinch-runner Omir Santos from 3rd base.

And that's all the runs the Mets needed, although Johan really could use some more in future starts. In 3 starts this season, he's given up a total of one earned run in 19.2 innings pitched, and that one run was from a Brandon Phillips sacrifice fly in the season opener against Cincinnati in which the Mets held on 2-1 for the win. That translates to a 0.46 ERA out of the gate.

Once the Mets got their one run, it was time for the bullpen to do their job. With Santana going 7, there was no need for Sean Green or Pedro Feliciano in this game. It was Putz for the 8th, and Frankie for the 9th.

No Brewer made it past 1st base all game. Ryan Braun was thrown out trying to steal 2nd base for the final out of the game by Santos.

That's the template the Mets want for all close games that the Mets have the lead in. Starter goes 6, Green/Feliciano in the 7th, Putz in the 8th, Frankie in the 9th. So far only Santana has been able to deliver each time out.

-----------------------------------

So the New York Mets now stand 6-5, having remained competetive in all of their 5 losses. Losing 4 of them by 1 run, 1 by 2 runs.

The New York Yankees now stand 6-6, having been absolutely blown the fuck out in 3 losses, losing convincingly in the season opener to the Orioles, only remaining competetive in 2 of the other losses in which they lost by 2 runs.


Post a comment Tags: baseball, mlb, new york yankees, yankees suck, new york mets, cleveland indians, milwaukee brewers, johan santana …

Why the Mets can't, and shouldn't, sign Manny Ramirez.

Is it really even about the money with Manny Ramirez at this point? Go ahead, offer him $25 million for a year. He turns it down.

Manny wants years AND money. The Dodgers offered 2 years with a 3rd-year option in October which would total $60 million. Manny said no.

Then they offered him arbitration. Manny said no.

Then they offered him $25 million/1 year. Manny said no.

Manny wants 4 years. So far, no team is saying yes. Not the Dodgers, nor the Giants. The Angels, Nationals, Yankees, Mets, have all publicly stated "we're not interested," and surely based on financial information alone, that's quite believable, although I suppose the Yankees could always pull a rabbit out of their ass at the final minute.

If the Mets DID offer him a long-term deal, where's the money available to fill the other slots in 2010 and beyond?

You're going to start the 2010 season with a lot of big-$ contracts already tied up.
Johan Santana: $21 million
Frankie Rodriguez: $11.5 million
Carlos Beltran: $18.5 million
Oliver Perez: $12 million
David Wright: $10 million
Luis Castillo: $6 million
Jose Reyes: $9 million

That's $88 million ALREADY tied up for the 2010 season. Add Manny Ramirez to a 2010 payroll? You're now looking at $115 million.

You still need money for all the players you won't have under contract in 2010.

That's 3 starting pitchers (Pelfrey, Maine, whoever) whose contracts are up after 2009.
That's a catcher you no longer have.
That's a 1B you no longer have.
That's a RF you no longer have.
That's practically an entire bench you no longer have.
That's more bullpen slots to fill. Sanchez, Feliciano, Green, Stokes, etc. All gone. If the Mets pick up Putz's 2010 option, add another $8.6 million to the payroll.

So now with Putz, Ramirez, and the aforementioned players, your exorbitant 2010 payroll is already at $123.6 million.

That leaves around... $30 million to fill ALL of those other positions, with RF, 1B and C being kinda major slots.

Still want to sign Manny?

Post a comment Tags: baseball, washington nationals, mlb, new york yankees, new york mets, san francisco giants, payroll, david wright …