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May 3, 2008 Mets 2008 Games Joe Janish

Mets Game 27: Loss to Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks 10 Mets 4

Last year in Game 27, the Mets came from behind to beat the Diamondbacks 9-4, highlighted by a last-inning, three-run homer by Damion Easley and a complete breakdown by D’backs closer Jose Valverde.

This time around, there was no Valverde to beat up on, and it was Arizona who came up with a bunch of runs at the end of the game.

For a few innings, it looked like Mike Pelfrey might be able to hang with Brandon Webb. Big Pelf got into deep counts and struggled mightily, but somehow held the D’backs to only three runs through four innings. Yeah, that’s not so great, but for Pelf it’s encouraging. However, the big righthander gave up two more runs in the fifth as Arizona expanded their lead to 5-1, which seemed insurmountable against Cy Young … er, I mean, Brandon Webb.

But, the usually uninspired Mets fought back in the sixth, as someone wearing Carlos Delgado’s uniform blasted a clutch three-run homer off the Arizona ace to make it a one-run game. With Webb out of the game, it appeared as though the Mets might just steal one from the Diamondbacks.

Then the eighth inning happened.

Duaner Sanchez, who is supposed to strike out every batter he faces and according to most people is 100 times better than Aaron Heilman, allowed singles to the first three batters he faced to load the bases and uncorked a wild pitch to allow a run before getting an out. He then allowed a fourth base hit to drive in another run, and walked the next batter before being lifted in lieu of LOOGY Scott Schoeneweis.

Schoeneweis made quick work of clearing the bases, giving up a long double to Augie Ojeda and a sacrifice fly to give the D-Backs three more runs (all charged to Duaner). With runners of his own responsibility on base, The Show was sure to strike out pinch-hitter Micah Owings to end the inning. When the dust cleared, the 5-4 game transformed into 10-4 Arizona, and the Mets went down meekly in the ninth against closer Brandon Lyon.

Notes

Backup second baseman Augie Ojeda — playing in place of the injured Orlando Hudson — had three hits and six RBI.

The Diamondbacks had 15 hits in 34 at-bats in the game, and also drew six walks. So, they were 21-40 for an OBP of over .500. I’m not too good at math, so I’m struggling to figure out how they made 24 outs in the game.

Brandon Webb now has SEVEN wins, and it’s only May 3rd. The Mets will be lucky to have a starter with seven wins at the All-Star break.

Next Game

Rubber match pits a pair of aces: Johan Santana vs. Danny Haren. Oh wait, Webb is AZ’s ace, isn’t he? Game time is 4:10 pm EST, and will be carried on CW11, TBS, WFAN, and XM 184.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. sincekindergarten May 4, 2008 at 4:18 am
    SO I’m sitting here, broomstick in mouth. Oh well. One of the mysteries of the game, to me, was that Moises Alou wasn’t playing, and he has a .474 average, or something like that, in 23 ABs against Webb. I just looked over to the preview on MLB.com and maybe saw why Alou wasn’t playing . . . because he’s 8-for-14 lifetime afainst Dan Haren, with two 2Bs and two HRs.

    Duaner got . . . well, unravelled. Tough to pin that on The Schoe, though, as he cam in to pitch to a RH batter (or was it a switch hitter?)

  2. isuzudude May 4, 2008 at 9:01 am
    After a good start to the year, Pelfrey has now allowed 28 hits, 14 runs, and 10 walks in his last 3 starts, spanning 15.1 innings. That equals a WHIP of 2.47, and an ERA of 8.21. Not to mention he only has 4 strike outs during this timeframe, giving him a BB/K ratio of 3.33 BB to 1.33 K per start. Granted, these 3 starts have come @ Philly, vs. Atlanta, and @ Arizona. But let’s face it, if the Mets are serious about winning and further developing their “future star,” Pelfrey needs to be in AAA as of yesterday. He’s clearly overmatched and in need of an offspeed pitch that he can throw for strikes. Claudio Vargas and Tony Armas are both ready to be called up and pitching well, so I don’t see what the delay is anymore.

    And while I’m at it, I was wondering to myself if Heilman could use a stint in the minors as well. Aaron took us through another adventure of an inning yesterday, loading the bases on a walk and 2 HBP’s, and ultimately needing 25 pitches to weasel his way through a scoreless inning. Any of us can see there is something clearly wrong with Heilman. He is giving up way too many hard hit balls and walks for there not to be. His strikeout numbers are phenomenal, so you know his stuff is still there. To me, it seems like it’s more a mental battle than anything else. Whether it be lost confidence, or abandonment of his fastball, or mechanics, I think it best serves Heilman and the team for him to work it out in AAA. I’ll admit, though, that I have no clue if he still has options left. I’m just presuming that since he hasn’t reached arbitration yet, he still does. I could be wrong, in which case the kinks will have to be worked out in the majors. I just think Heilman needs a couple weeks to go down, face some weaker hitting, regain confidence in himself, and shed the fear of throwing strikes and allow the guys behind him to make some plays and get some outs. This would also allow a Matt Wise to be activated from the DL, or a Carlos Muniz to be called up, without having to designate anyone for assignment. Any thoughts?

  3. joe May 4, 2008 at 10:28 am
    Aaron has options. I’m all for sending him down to AAA and putting him into the rotation. Get this guy back into a starting role — because we have ZERO talent available on the farm in that area.