24 posts tagged “luis castillo”
After losing the first game of the doubleheader earlier today by a final score of 5-4, the Mets look for a split of the doubleheader as well as a split of this 4-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. This is the final game between the two teams of the season, which is likely why it was scheduled as ESPN's Sunday Night game. ESPN of course, can't be thrilled that this game has zero postseason implications, but that's what happens when you schedule certain things prior to the season.
Depending upon the result of this game, the Mets will have finished their season series against the Phillies with a final record of either 7-11, or 6-12.
Game 2 of the matchup pits Tim Redding (2-5) 5.78 ERA against Pedro Martinez (4-0) 3.64 ERA in 6 starts. Pedro's worst start of the season came on August 23 against the Mets in which he gave up 4 ER in 6 IP, but still got the W due to Philly's offense handing him a 9-7 victory.
What's been extremely impressive this season with Pedro is that he has only walked 4 batters in 29.2 IP. With 27 K over that timespan, Pedro has exceeded all reasonable expectations so far. But can his arm make it into October?
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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:
5:09pm: Luis Castillo slaps a liner into left-center field for a leadoff single. ESPN announcers Joe Morgan, Jon Miller and Steve Phillips argue about the description of Castillo's hit. Is it a flare? A slap? A solid hit?
5:12pm: Cory Sullivan flies out to CF Shane Victorino. Castillo cannot advance. 1 out.
5:14pm: David Wright strikes out swinging at a high and outside fastball. 2 outs.
5:15pm: Steve Phillips points out what most rational people already know. No team could survive the number of injuries the Mets have had to their major players (Reyes, Beltran, Delgado) and still compete. Of the big 3 injuries, only Beltran has returned, and it's too late. Many other players have also gone down with injury as we well know (ie: Johan Santana, Alex Cora, Oliver Perez, Fernando Nieve, Jonathon Niese, etc.)
5:16pm: Carlos Beltran walks. Luis Castillo moves to 2nd base.
5:19pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging at a wicked curveball from Pedro Martinez. 3 outs.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:23pm: Tim Redding gives up a leadoff walk to Jimmy Rollins on a 3-1 count.
5:25pm: Shane Victorino lines a single into leftfield. Jimmy Rollins moves to 2nd base on the hit.
5:30pm: Chase Utley smashes a long flyball off the top of the LF wall just beyond the reach of Fernando Tatis for a long long single since Jimmy Rollins thought the ball might be caught by Tatis and held up at 2nd base before scoring. Carlos Beltran retrieved the ball in left-center. Shane Victorino moves up to 2nd base on the play. 1-0 Phillies.
5:33pm: Ryan Howard hits a soft liner right at 2B Luis Castillo for the out. Castillo shuffles the ball to Anderson Hernandez at 2nd base hoping to double off Shane Victorino but he's back safe. 1 out.
5:36pm: Raul Ibanez hits a high flyball to CF Carlos Beltran. 2 outs.
5:41pm: Jayson Werth strikes out swinging at a 3-2 curveball and Tim Redding escapes the jam giving up only 1 earned run, although it took him 33 pitches to get through the inning. 3 outs.
Top of 2nd Inning:
5:44pm: Fernando Tatis never took the bat off his shoulder in this AB, watching 5 pitches go by, 3 of them for strikes. 1 out.
5:45pm: Brian Schneider ropes a first-pitch into rightfield for a single.
5:46pm: ESPN cameras are showing Tatis in the Mets tunnel with trainer Ray Ramirez checking out his left hand/arm which he may have injured in the 1st inning when he leaped into the wall on Utley's long single that just missed clearing the fence. He may be out for the rest of the game.
5:47pm: Anderson Hernandez lines a single past 1B Ryan Howard into rightfield. Brian Schneider makes it to 3rd base on the hit.
5:48pm: Tim Redding lays down a sac bunt to the 1st base side of the diamond. The ball is fielded by Pedro Martinez who throws down to Chase Utley covering 1st base for the out. 1-4. 2 outs. Anderson Hernandez moves to 2nd base on the sac bunt.
5:49pm: Luis Castillo gets drilled in the right elbow by a Pedro Martinez pitch and he's hopping around in immense pain before falling to the ground. Mets trainers along with manager Jerry Manuel are out to check on Luis.
5:51pm: While Castillo tries to recover, we're shown a stat that the Mets have had players spend 1,007 days on the DL, more than any other team in baseball by a wide margin. Luis Castillo is ok, and finally gets to 1B. The bases are loaded with 2 outs for Daniel Murphy.
5:53pm: Daniel Murphy flies out to LF Raul Ibanez. 3 outs.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:56pm: Jeremy Reed is in LF to replace Fernando Tatis.
5:57pm: Pedro Feliz pounds the ball onto the left-centerfield warning track for a leadoff double. ESPN announcers Jon Miller and Joe Morgan think Tim Redding got screwed by the home plate ump on the previous pitch that should've been called a strike instead of a ball. They're right.
5:59pm: Redding attempts a pickoff of Feliz at 2B but no dice.
6:00pm: Carlos Ruiz hits a weak grounder to 3B David Wright who makes a clean throw to 1B Daniel Murphy for the out. Feliz does not advance on the play. 5-3. 1 out.
6:01pm: Pedro Martinez grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez, 6-3. Feliz moves to 3rd base on the play. 2 outs.
6:03pm: Jimmy Rollins flies out to LF Jeremy Reed. 3 outs.
Top of 3rd Inning:
6:05pm: David Wright is at the plate against Pedro Martinez for the first time ever. Well, that would make sense considering they've been teammates since 2005 up until this year, and David was on the DL the last time Pedro faced the Mets on August 23.
6:06pm: Pedro wins that battle getting Wright swinging at a full count 91 MPH fastball that is tipped but caught by catcher Carlos Ruiz. 1 out.
6:08pm: Carlos Beltran grounds out hard right to 1B Ryan Howard, who runs to the bag himself to get the out. 2 outs.
6:09pm: Daniel Murphy flies out to SS Jimmy Rollins in short leftfield. 3 up, 3 down.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:12pm: Shane Victorino hits a weak chopper back to the mound. Tim Redding fields it and throws to Murphy at 1B for the out. 1-3. 1 out.
6:14pm: Chase Utley strikes out swinging at the high heat. 2 outs.
6:17pm: Tim Redding gets Ryan Howard to strike out swinging at the high heat on a full count. 3 outs.
Top of 4th Inning:
6:20pm: Jon Miller reports that the injury to Fernando Tatis was a sprained index finger on his left hand.
6:21pm: Jeremy Reed strikes out swinging at a fastball. 1 out.
6:22pm: Brian Schneider hits a hard grounder right to 1B Ryan Howard. He takes the ball to the bag for the out. 2 outs.
6:24pm: Anderson Hernandez flies out to SS Jimmy Rollins in shallow leftfield. 3 outs. Pedro is starting to cruise along in this game with 5 Ks in 4 IP.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:27pm: Raul Ibanez skies out to CF Carlos Beltran in right-centerfield. 1 out.
6:29pm: Jayson Werth smokes a ball right into the mitt of SS Anderson Hernandez. 2 outs.
6:30pm: Pedro Feliz grounds out to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 outs. That was 9 pitches for Redding, who has definitely settled in. Problem is, so has Pedro, and Tim Redding is usually garbage after 5 IP.
Top of 5th Inning:
6:33pm: Tim Redding grounds out to SS Jimmy Rollins. 6-3. 1 out. That makes 8 Met batters in a row retired by Pedro Martinez.
6:34pm: Luis Castillo is up with a little padding above his right elbow. However, he lines out to 2B Chase Utley. 2 outs.
6:35pm: Cory Sullivan tries to check his swing at a low pitch but he makes contact. The ball goes right back to Pedro Martinez on the ground, he throws to first. 1-3. 3 outs.
Bottom of 5th Inning:
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.
I'm not gonna lie.
This is going to be a pivotal game for the New York Mets in numerous ways. They've already lost the season series against the Yankees, having lost 4 out of 5 games so far. Will tonight be 5 of 6? Or can they escape with a 2-4 season record against the Skanks? If the Mets lose tonight, they'll have been swept at home by the Yankees.
The first Mets-Yankees game this year in which 2B Luis Castillo dropped what should have been the final out and put the Mets up 1-0 in the series, is looming larger than it has in a long while.
But it's more than the Yankees now. If the Mets win, they're going to fall to a record of 37-37, and 3 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies. Falling to .500 at this point in the season is only slightly palatable because the rest of the NL East (not including Washington) are all within 5 games of each other.
This is a Mets offense riddled with injury, and the reserves are not holding it together they way they need to. David Wright may lead the NL in BA, but his power numbers have dropped so far down, that he can't carry the team anymore.
The minor league callups like Argenis Reyes (2B) and Fernando Martinez (CF) have been perfectly fine in the field, and absolutely dreadful at the plate. The middle relief has become a little burnt out, and the minor league callups like Jon Switzer and veteran Elmer Dessens haven't helped any.
The key to the Mets winning games is that the "everyday players" need to step things up at the plate and begin to manufacture runs. You don't have to hit longballs to win games, but you do have to execute when runners are in scoring position. For a team to be 1-hit by AJ Burnett and shutout by the Yankees last night is discouraging. But the Mets only amassed 3 hits and 1 run on Friday night. So they've been outscored 14-1 by the Yankees in 2 games, and
40-15 over the 5 games played so far. Disgusting.
Tonight's pitching matchup pits Chien-Ming Wang (0-6, 11.20 ERA) aginst Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05 ERA). While Wang is winless this season, and hasn't won a game since June 15, 2008, he IS looking better than he did in the beginning of the season. He gave up 3 ER in 5 IP in each of his last two starts (Washington, Atlanta), and while that's nothing great, it's a lot better than the way he was pitching to begin the 2009 season.
Livan has become a solid #2 for the Mets. In his last two starts, he pitched 7 innings each game, giving up 2 earned runs each time out. However, he was the starting pitcher against the Yankees in the first game between these two ballclubs in 2009 in what is forever going to be known as "The Castillo game," and he got rocked hard in that outing for 6 ER in 5.1 IP.
The trick to Livan's success tends to be fiddling around a wider strike zone, and taking advantage of relatively inexperienced hitters who aren't easily fooled by his 80 MPH fastballs and 60 MPH curveballs. Livan has been enormously successful for the Mets against other NL East opponents this season, less so against the crosstown rival Yankees. We'll see if he can save this team from sinking tonight.
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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:
5:11pm: Not a good way for the Mets to start a ballgame. Derek Jeter pounds a shot to deep left-center field which bounces off the wall for a leadoff double.
5:13pm: Nick Swisher grounds a ball to 1B Daniel Murphy who is playing in a little. Murphy seems to have a little trouble getting the ball out of his glove. He throws to 3B David Wright to get Derek Jeter at 3rd base, but Jeter makes it in safely. I don't fault Murphy for trying to make the play, but the sure out at 1st was probably more wise. Swisher safe at 1st.
5:16pm: Mark Teixeira strokes a double down the leftfield line scoring Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher. 2 runs across so far. Yankees up 2-0 and still nobody out.
5:18pm: Alex Rodriguez walks. Livan Hernandez is looking pretty bad through 4 batters. He may end up settling down but he's gotta limit the damage ASAP.
5:21pm: Robinson Cano grounds into 2B Luis Castillo, who throws to SS Alex Cora, and then onto 1B Daniel Murphy for the double play. However, Daniel Murphy drops the ball out of his glove, and his foot was moving off the bag anyways, so it looks like Cano woulda made it safely to first base no matter what. Daniel Murphy can't afford any more mental mistake at 1B. Mark Teixeira to 3rd base. 1 out.
5:24pm: Livan Hernandez almost picks off Robinson Cano at 1st but he dives back in just ahead of the tag.
5:25pm: Jorge Posada hits a sac fly to CF Fernando Martinez. He finally makes a two-handed catch and makes a nice throw home to catcher Brian Schneider, but Teixeira is safe without a problem. Yankees up 3-0. 2 outs.
5:26pm: Robinson Cano is caught stealing by Brian Schneider who throws onto Alex Cora, getting Cano easily. 3 outs. Livan has GOT to settle down, and no more fucking errors from the Mets defense.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
5:29pm: Daniel Murphy leads off and flies out to CF Brett Gardner. 1 out.
5:30pm: They just showed footage of Livan Hernandez in the Mets dugout after the top of the 1st. Schneider told him he did well, and then Livan gave Castillo a pat on the back for his nice play in the inning. Livan then went into the clubhouse to vomit.
5:31pm: Alex Cora gets hit by a pitch from Chien-Ming Wang and takes his pass to 1st base.
5:34pm: David Wright strikes out at a slider in the dirt. Lovely. 2 outs.
5:36pm: Gary Sheffield singles up the middle, sending Alex Cora to 3rd base.
5:37pm: Fernando Tatis flies out to RF Nick Swisher. 3 outs.
Top of 2nd Inning:
5:42pm: ESPN shows an interesting stat about Livan Hernandez. During the 1st inning this season, Livan has posted a 6.00 ERA. The rest of the game? A far more manageable 3.90 ERA.
5:43pm: Melky Cabrera strikes out swinging. 1 out.
5:44pm: Brett Gardner flies out to SS Alex Cora in shallow leftfield. Cora uses two hands baby. 2 outs.
5:45pm: Fernando Martinez may suck with the bat, but he makes a superb diving catch in centerfield to grab a sinking liner off the bat of pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. 3 outs.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
5:50pm: Fernando Martinez grounds out to 3B Alex Rodriguez who is perfectly positioned in the 3B-SS hole, away from the line, makes a short dive to his left and throws to 1B Mark Teixeira for the easy out. 1 away.
5:51pm: ESPN shows a replay of A-Rod on the last play wincing a bit after the throw. Did he just hurt his hip a little? I FUCKING HOPE SO!!!!
5:53pm: Brian Schneider takes a 3-2 pitch low for a walk.
5:55pm: Luis Castillo grounds into a 4-6 forceout. 2B Robinson Cano to SS Derek Jeter to get Schneider. Castillo is safe at first as there was no throw from Jeter since Luis can still move.
5:56pm: Livan Hernandez swings at the first pitch he sees from Wang, grounding it to SS Derek Jeter who tosses to 2B Robinson Cano for the force. 6-4. 3 outs.
Top of 3rd Inning:
5:59pm: Derek Jeter hits a solid and hard line drive into the glove of CF Fernando Martinez. 1 out.
6:01pm: Nick Swisher crushes a ball off the FOXBusiness.com sign just on the foul side of the rightfield foul pole.
6:02pm: Swisher hits a line drive on the next pitch into the glove of RF Fernando Tatis. 2 outs.
6:03pm: Mark Teixeira lines out to LF Gary Sheffield. 3 outs. Livan looks like he settled down. But this Mets offense needs to come alive and not allow Chien-Ming Wang to get his shit straight today of all days.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
6:06pm: Daniel Murphy strikes out swinging at a low pitch in the dirt. Posada drops it so Murphy runs but Posada completes the strikeout by throwing down to 1st. 1 out.
6:09pm: Alex Cora works out a walk.
6:10pm: David Wright hits into a 6-4-3 motherfucking double play. 3 outs. Wang can walk everyone he wants as long as the Mets keep grounding into these fucking DPs.
Top of 4th Inning:
6:14pm: Alex Rodriguez rips a ball into CF for a single. That makes him 12 for 20 off of Livan Hernandez.
6:15pm: Robinson Cano hits into a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play. Castillo to Cora to Murphy. 2 outs. Whew!
6:16pm: Jorge Posada grounds out to 2B Luis Castillo. 4-3. 3 outs.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
6:22pm: Gary Sheffield takes a leadoff walk.
6:37pm: 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.
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 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.
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.
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...
Getting swept sucks.
Getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers sucks beyond belief. And the fact that it's happened twice in 3 years now at Dodger Stadium (2007 and 2009)? The ignominy of getting swept by a ballclub that has the world's worst and most classless repugnant fans makes it all the more miserable.
The New York Mets started this road trip by beating the San Francisco Giants in AT&T Park 3 out of 4 games, and the loss on Sunday was at least a good game. They accomplished all that without the help of stars Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado, who is now going to be out until late July at the earliest. They scored 24 runs in those 3 wins, and none of the runs were on homers. The last time the Mets had a homerun,
Things turned really bad when the team got to Los Angeles. Alex Cora was placed on the 15-day DL when he injured this thumb sliding into second base the night before in San Francisco. Ramon Martinez, an emergency call-up whose natural position is 2B and not SS, was part of the error parade on Monday night. And more problematic, Martinez has been dreadful at the plate so far in his 3 games, going 0 for 12 with 1 RBI and 3 Ks to start off.
First, concentrating on the final game of the 3-game series...
Like Monday night, this was another unexpected pitcher's duel between Livan Hernandez and Jeff Weaver. Hernandez has been brilliant against NL East rivals Atlanta and Florida so far, and pretty bad against everyone else. Tonight, Hernandez was brilliant, going 7 IP, scattering 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2.
Livan continues to prove to be 2008 version of Oliver Perez by either being fantastic or dreadful, with little in-between, and no real explanation as to why. Hernandez had a shaky 1st inning, as the Dodgers scored in the 1st inning in all 3 games against New York.
Juan Pierre led off the inning with a swinging bunt that Hernandez fielded and threw to first but Pierre just beat it out. Rafael Furcal singled to rightfield. Orlando Hudson grounded out to 1B Daniel Murphy, moving the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. Andre Ethier hit a sac fly to RF Ryan Church which scored Pierre from 3rd and Furcal took 3rd base safely on the play. The inning ended when Russell Martin flied out to rightfield.
And after that, Hernandez was pretty damn good. Any time he got into trouble over the course of the game, he got out of it with ease.
The problem is that Jeff Weaver was just as stingy. While he only went 5 innings due to him being used primarily as a long reliever this season, the Mets were only able to score once off him in the 2nd inning when Carlos Beltran doubled in Luis Castillo from 1st base.
After Jose Reyes grounded deep out into the 2B hole to lead off the 3rd inning, he re-injured his right calf which has caused him to be on the bench during most of the road trip. Word is that now Reyes is going back to NY to get looked at, and won't play against Boston over the weekend. With Reyes having calf problems and Alex Cora on the DL, the Mets are in deep shit when it comes to having someone competent play shortstop, which has been one of my biggest fears over the last 4 seasons, as there was never a truly suitable backup for Jose Reyes. And this year now that they have one in Alex Cora, he's hurt too.
In any case, the Dodgers bullpen shut the Mets down for the rest of the game. Ramon Troncoso pitched the 6th and 7th innings without incident. Ronald Belsiario walked Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran to lead off the 8th inning. David Wright flied out to deep center which allowed both runners to tag up. At this point, Joe Torre went to lefthanded rookie Brent "No relation to Terry" Leach. With the infield in and Daniel Murphy up in a big spot, he grounded out to 1B James Loney, who promptly stepped on first for the 2nd out, and the runners could not advance.
At this point, Fernando Tatis was put in to pinch-hit for Ryan Church, who doesn't have strong numbers against lefty hitters. Sadly, Tatis grounded out to SS Rafael Furcal to end the top half of the frame.
In the bottom of the 8th, J,J, Putz was brought in a 1-1 game to keep it that way. But he failed.
Putz started the inning by getting Rafael Furcal to strike out swinging, but then gave up a single to Orlando Hudson, a walk to the slumping Andre Ethier, and a single to Russell Martin that scored Hudson from 2nd. David Wright intercepted the throw home from LF Jeremy Reed and threw out Andre Ethier trying to take 3rd base. Ramon Martinez, who was covering 3rd, made the tag on Ethier.
Putz then intentionally walked James Loney and then struck out pinch-hitter Mark Loretta to end the 8th, but the damage was already done.
Big Jonathan Broxton came in to close out the 9th, and as luck would have it again, like the night before, he was facing the bottom of the Mets order which was hardly going to be a formidable opponent for Broxton. Angel Pagan did manage a base hit with 1 out, but Jeremy Reed foul popped out to 1B James Loney, Angel Pagan took 2nd base uncontested, and then Ramon Martinez grounded out to Casey Blake to end the game.
Some Met fans will question why manager Jerry Manuel didn't pinch-hit for Ramon Martinez in this spot with either Gary Sheffield or backup catcher Omir Santos. But Manuel could not make that move because someone needed to still play shortstop in the bottom of the 9th inning had the Mets been able to tie the game. Even a double-switch of positions was not possible since Reyes had gone down with injury and Fernando Tatis had been used as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning. It was Ramon Martinez or bust, and well, he's a bust with the bat.
So that was the ballgame, and the series. The Dodgers completed their 3-game sweep of the Mets, and what began as an encouraging road trip in San Francisco, has turned 180 degrees with the Mets now 3-4 on this trip, and another 3 games against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park to go. Like the Dodgers, Boston doesn't lose at home (15-4).
So now what?
Good news:
The Daniel Murphy at 1B experiment has begun! While he failed twice tonight at the plate in big spots with RISP, he looked perfectly fine at first base, making a couple of nice plays and no mistakes nor errors. Granted, it's only one game, so we'll have to see how things progress. If he's going to become any sort of legitimate fill-in for the injured Carlos Delgado, he's going to need to find his swing again, even if he doesn't hit for power.
Livan Hernandez pitched his best start as a Met, but I already went over that.
Johan Santana pitches against Daisuke Matsuzaka on Friday, so at least the Mets have a fighting chance against the Sawx behind Santana. But if this offense continues to struggle in Boston like they did against the Dodgers.. yikes.
The team is still 21-19, two games above .500 and 1 game behind Philadelphia. No need to panic.
Bad news:
With Jose Reyes hurting again and Cora still injured, WE'S GOT A PROBLEM! Ramon Martinez is a natural 2B, not a SS. So the team is either going to have to use Fernando Tatis at SS for a while, which is not his best position by a longshot, or find someone in the minors at Buffalo or Binghamton to promote in the meanwhile. But there isn't anyone on either of those teams good enough to fill in. Martinez also can't hit, which isn't helping matters, so they may be stuck with him for a bit.
The Mets are back to their old problems hitting with RISP, going 0 for 10 tonight, and 3 for 27 (.111 team BA) in the 3-game series.
No Delgado, no Reyes, no Cora, no Schneider. Only Beltran and Wright are hitting with any consistency now but neither are doing it with the longball.
The Dodgers are now 17-3 through 20 home games, which ties a modern MLB mark set by the 1998 Yankees, also managed by Joe Torre. With the Angels coming in for interleague play Friday-Sunday, and I'm an Angels fan in addition to being a Mets fan, I'm not thrilled with the prospects of watching the Dodgers win even more games while I'm at Dodger Stadium (aka: The Unhappiest Place on Earth) this weekend.
The summary for this New York Mets loss to the L.A. Dodgers is a LOT simpler than the debacle on Monday night in the 11th inning.
Chad Billingsley was shaky early on, throwing a plethora of pitches through 4 innings but was able to right himself after giving up 3 earned runs to the Mets. Billingsley also helped his cause with a walk and two base hits off John Maine, one of which was a double that scored Casey Blake.
John Maine was a little iffy at start, although he wasn't helped out by another Daniel Murphy error in leftfield. Juan Pierre hit a sinking line drive to the opposite field, and while Murphy tracked it down, it went off his glove and Juan Pierre made it to second base with ease. He eventually scored to give the Dodgers the early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the 1st inning, Daniel Murphy got picked off of 1st base in one of those baserunning mistakes that shouldn't happen, as he broke for 2nd far too soon.
The Mets got the lead back in the 2nd inning thanks to a surprising bases loaded hit up the middle from John Maine that scored David Wright and Jeremy Reed.
The Mets tacked on another run in the 3rd when David Wright singled in Carlos Beltran, although Wright got caught trying to take 2nd base on the throw into the infield from CF Matt Kemp.
That's all the Met offense was able to muster as far as runs in this game. The Dodgers got back a run in the 4th when Billingsley hit the aforementioned double.
But the big blow came on Pitch #101. With two men (Loney and Kemp) on base and one man out in the bottom of the 6th, Casey Blake blasted a home run into the leftfield bleachers to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead which they held onto for the W.
The Mets' best chance to fight back came in the top of the 8th against reliever Cory Wade. Beltran led off the inning with a single, and David Wright then walked. Ryan Church flied out to leftfield. At this point, 2B Ramon Martinez was up at the plate. While it was only his 2nd game, Martinez had already struck out three times (all against Billingsley) and was probably not the best guy to be hitting in this position. So of course, I wondered why Jerry Manuel wasn't using Luis Castillo in this spot as a pinch-hitter. It's possible Castillo was unavailable, but I don't know. There's of course, no guarantee that Castillo is able to do the job in this spot, but he does have very good RISP numbers this season, and he's certainly a better hitter than Ramon Martinez.
Martinez ended up grounding into a 4-3 double play.
Big John Broxton pitched an easy 9th inning against the bottom of the order for the Mets (Reed, Santos, Pagan) and that was the ballgame.
Any bright spots for the Mets? Sure. The bullpen didn't let the game get out of hand once Maine left. Ken Takahashi gave up a Juan Pierre single before getting Furcal to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to get the Mets out of the 6th inning. Sean Green pitched a perfect 7th, and Frankie Rodriguez pitched a perfect 8th.
At the plate, David Wright and Carlos Beltran continue to hit extremely well. The problem is, they're currently the only ones doing so, but neither are doing it with the longball.
While the New York Mets curently lead the majors in hitting with a .291 BA, they also have the 4th fewest home runs as a team, with 26 total. While you can definitely win games without the longball, the lack of Delgado's power bat in the lineup is going to start becoming more and more noticeable if no one else (Tatis, Sheffield) is able to step up in the SLG department.
And all it took was one game at Dodger Stadium on a chilly night at Chavez Ravine. It was not the game I expected to see, and the ending was one I never hoped to EVER see.
Every team goes through that old cliche. You win some, you lose some. There's nothing wrong with losing.
But the way the New York Mets lost this game on May 18, 2009 against the Los Angeles Fucking Dodgers was just fucking pitiful.
It's two hours after the game now, and I'm STILL FUCKING PISSED. I can't remember being this pissed off in the longest time.
In fact, I WAS going to write stuff up about yesterday's Giants-Mets game that I went to in San Francisco, but that's ancient history at this point in time. They lost 2-0 in a very well-pitched game, save for three Mike Pelfrey balks. Can't win 'em all.
But this game.... FUCK! (at the top of my lungs)
Let's start from the beginning... with the Mets taking Batting Practice.
So then we move to the actual game itself. Tim Redding vs. Randy Wolf.
You wouldn't really expect this game to be a pitcher's duel, but that's pretty much what it was for a good portion of the game.
Redding, pitching his 1st start as a New York Met since being activated from the 15-day DL (right shoulder tendinitis before the season began), had a slightly rough 1st inning, and pitched far better than anyone had the right to expect the rest of the night.
In the aforementioned shaky first inning, Redding walked Juan Pierre (who walked 3 times this game, and this is not a guy who knows how to take walks), gave up a single to Rafael Furcal, sending Pierre to 3rd.
Next batter Orlando Hudson grounds a weak chopper to 1B Fernando Tatis, who instead of throwing down to 2nd or taking the sure out at 1st, decides to make a throw home to catcher Ramon Castro in order to get the speedy Pierre. Except Tatis' throw was to the right side of homeplate, making it virtually impossible for Castro to take the throw on that side and then rotate left to tag Pierre out. A perfect throw in the right spot MIGHT have gotten Pierre, but the sure out would've been the right play. Tatis didn't make that play. Dodgers go up 1-0.
Andre Ethier flied out. That's the 1st out of the inning. Russell Martin got hit by the very first pitch he saw, which loaded the bases. James Loney hit a sac fly to CF Carlos Beltran, who made a very strong throw to the plate but Furcal was too quick and he scored. 2-0 Dodgers.
Redding then got Matt Kemp to ground out to 3B David Wright, who made a nice pick on the play and a less-than-nice throw on to 1st tha 1B Fernando Tatis was able to hang onto for 3 outs.
The Mets scored a run in the top 2nd when David Wright hit a leadoff double down the leftfield line. Tatis grounded out to 2nd which moved Wright over to 3rd. Ramon Martinez then grounded out to SS Rafael Furcal, which scored David Wright and the Mets had their run on the board.
And then, nothing. Great pitching from both Randy Wolf and Tim Redding.
Tim Redding pitched 5 of 6 strong innings (the 1st, not so good. The rest, great!) giving up only 2 hits and 2 runs on 4 walks, striking out 4.
Randy Wolf's final line, which got him a very deserved standing ovation from the Dodger Stadium fans who were still left when manager Joe Torre lifted him in the 8th inning, was 7.2 IP, scattering 6 hits, walking 2, striking out 2, and was charged with 2 earned runs, though when he left the game, he was in line for the win with a 2-1 lead. Wolf was also extremely efficient, finishing up with 96 pitches in the 8th inning.
In a move that Dodger fans were pissed about, especially after the move didn't go their way, with a runner on 2nd (Angel Pagan led off the top 8 with a double) and 2 out, instead of having closer Jonathan Broxton pitch a 4-out save, which he likely would have gotten, Joe Torre went with righty pitcher Cory Wade to face righty hitter Gary Sheffield.
Right-handed hitters were only batting .200 against Wade, so the decision certainly made sense, but Broxton would probably have done the job that Wade ultimately didn't.
Gary Sheffield, the biggest target of Dodger fan booing and catcalls by far, hit a ball through into the hole between 1st and 2nd which 2B Orlando Hudson ran down. Pagan was running from 2nd and just beat the throw to the plate from Hudson in shallow rightfield. This tied the game at 2. Wade then ended up walking David Wright, and getting Fernando Tatis to foul out to catcher Russell Martin to end the inning.
JJ Putz pitched the bottom 8 for the Mets. Ramon Martinez committed his 2nd error of the ballgame at shortstop, which like his 1st error, ended up being inconsequential in the grand scheme of this game. Although clearly, this team can't get Jose Reyes back playing regularly soon enough.
After the 8th inning, this is what the stands in Dodger Stadium looked like. This, during a 2-2 tie game. This "fans leaving early" stuff happens everywhere, but Dodger fans are known for being the absolute worst when it comes to leaving games before they're over. It's a well-deserved reputation for the world's worst fans.
It thinned out even more as the game went on.
Big John Broxton pitched the 9th for the Dodgers, retiring them with ease even after a Ryan Church base hit with 2 out. That was only the 2nd hit by a lefty off Broxton all season long.
Curiously, Jerry Manuel had Sean Green pitch the bottom 9 for the Mets, which was one of those decisions you had to question somewhat because we all know that Green is pretty rotten lately on the mound. Green got pinch-hitter Xavier Paul to ground out to 2B Luis Castillo. Then he walked Juan Pierre, which is never a good idea. Green struck out Rafael Furcal, and then got Orlando Hudson to hit a squibber on the 3rd base side of the mound. Green fielded it, threw wide of 1st, and Hudson was easily safe at 1st. Pierre ran to 3rd on the Mets' third error of the game.
With the winning run at 3rd, and a man on 1st, and lefty hitter Andre Ethier at the plate, Jerry Manuel went to the bullpen to have LOOGY Pedro Feliciano pitch against Ethier with the game on the line. Ironically, had the Dodgers won the game at this point, it would've been a perfectly acceptable loss. The better team would have won.
Luckily, or perhaps not, based on the way it all ended, Feliciano got Ethier to ground back to him, and tossed the ball over to 1B Fernando Tatis.
And onto extra frames we went.
Nothing much happened in the 10th inning, but everything that could go wrong for the Mets, occurred in the 11th inning.
First, the top of the 11th, where the Mets pretty much won the game, but still ROYALLY fucked up.
With 2 outs, the Mets were facing Dodger reliever Ramon Troncoso. Ryan Church managed to single to leftfield.
On a 2-2 pitch, Angel Pagan hit a long flyball to the base of the right-centerfield wall which seemingly scored Ryan Church, and Pagan ended up with a triple. Met fans in Dodger Stadium were going crazy. We just took the fucking lead in the game, Frankie would've come in to pitch the bottom of the 11th and likely get the 3 outs. Well, with this defense, who knows.
But the boxscore says... "- A. Pagan singled to deep right center, R. Church out at third."
Why?
BECAUSE MOTHERFUCKING RYAN CHURCH MISSED 3RD BASE! 3B Mark Loretta noticed that, and the Dodgers appealed to the umpire, tagged 3rd with a confused Angel Pagan standing on it, and the appeal was successful. Dodger fans roared. Met fans were confused as hell, as were other Dodger fans nearby. Did Pagan miss a base? Did he get picked off on a trick play of some sort? The 3rd run was up on the scoreboard, so what the fuckity fuck happened?
Once the run was taken off the scoreboard, we realized the horror of Ryan Church's blunder. The Mets didn't have the lead after all, the inning was over, and the Mets had just blown it big time. Namely Ryan Church. Whiel at the stadium, one could only figure that Church really must have missed it by a lot because no one from the Mets dugout bothered to argue. Shades of Marv Throneberry.
After now having seen the TV replay with Vin Scully's overrated nasally monotone whine dripping with laughter over the play, it was clear that Church definitely missed 3rd base.
So the anger is palpable at this point, because the Mets had finally taken the lead, until they didn't.
Moving to the Bottom of the 11th, reliever Brian Stokes was onto pitch his 2nd inning. He walked Mark Loretta. Then Xavier Paul hit a flyball to the left-centerfield gap which both LF Angel Pagan and RF Carlos Beltran converged upon, but the ball was missed by both. Both Pagan and Beltran were calling for the ball, and presumably once Pagan was too close to Beltran, it spooked him and it was a two-base error on Carlos Beltran.
Un
fucking
real.
Juan Pierre got the intentional pass to load up the bases with 0 out. And Brian Stokes was now having to pitch himself out of the most awful jam imaginable. Tie game in extra innings. Winning run on 3rd base. Bases loaded. 0 outs.
Jerry Manuel then went to the mound for an infield conference to set up the defense. Carlos Beltran was called in to play a 5th infielder, playing up the middle. Pagan and Church were then playing short left-center and short right-center.
On a 3-2 count, with the game on the line and my heart in my throat, Brian Stokes got Rafael Furcal to fly out to Angel Pagan for the first out. Not nearly deep enough to score the sac fly. Pagan threw a one-hopper to Castro which would've gotten Loretta easily had he decided to run.
Then, what might've been the absolute best possible outcome for the Mets, turned into the Hindenberg of losses.
Brian Stokes, on a 2-2 count, managed to get Orlando Hudson to hit a weak grounder back to 1B Jeremy Reed, who had replaced Fernando Tatis there during a double-switch in the 9th inning. This was a tailor-made forceout at home, if not a 3-2-4 double play with Luis Castillo moving to cover 1st on the play.
But Jeremy Reed threw the fucking ball way wide of catcher Ramon Castro, sailing to the backstop. This was the 5th error of the ballgame (at least, of the ones that were scored as errors), and Mark Loretta scored. Dodgers win by a final score of 3-2.
Dodger dinosaur announcer Vin Scully said it might've been the worst game the Mets have played since the days of Casey Stengel. Well, there's no question the 11th inning was the worst single inning I've ever seen a team have in an MLB game.
I can't remember the last time I was this angry after a Met loss. I'm sure Brian Stokes isn't much happier about it either. He was credited with the loss, despite inducing Orlando Hudson's junkball grounder to Reed which could've ended the inning and allowed the Mets to fight on in the 12th. Saying the defense let him down would be the understatement of this young milennium.
The Dodgers had 5 hits the whole game, whch is the same number of errors as the Mets had in this shameful loss.
The Mets kept giving the fucking game right to the Dodgers.
Walking out of Dodger Stadium after a Met loss isn't anything new. Leaving that shithole stadium after a shit loss like that with those shit fans gloating like jackasses, is something I never want to experience ever again.
I've been watching the Yankees-Angels game this morning, and what a fantastic pitcher's duel between CC Sabathia for New York, and Matt Palmer for the Angels. I linked a NYTimes.com profile of Palmer in a post earlier this morning.
And the Angels just went up on the Yankees 5-1, with Palmer pitching 3-hit ball into the 7th inning. I'm just concerned about the Angels' bullpen having another implosion like yesterday, but Palmer ain't going all nine.
