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July 9, 2008 Mets 2008 Games Joe Janish

Mets Game 91: Win Over Giants

Mets 5 Giants 0

Finally, Johan Santana won one for Jerry Manuel.

Santana pitched five stellar innings before rain halted the game, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks, no runs, and striking out 5. He sliced through the San Francisco lineup like a hot knife through butter, never getting into major trouble.

Ramon Castro provided all the scoring Santana would need, blasting a three-run homer in the fourth. However, a 45-minute rain delay ended his outing.

When play resumed, Aaron Heilman took over and pitched two hitless innings before handing over the 3-0 lead to Duaner Sanchez, who spun a scoreless eighth. The Mets tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, on RBI singles by the non-brothers Reyes. Argenis Reyes drove in Carlos Delgado, took second on an error by Fred Lewis, then scored on another single by Jose Reyes.

Joe Smith came on to finish up the Mets’ second consecutive shutout.

Notes

They Might Be Giants, but they’re not hitting as such. Not only were they shutout again, but they again were held to a measly three hits. Is Mets pitching this good, or the Giants offense that bad?

Carlos Delgado went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. He is making a legitimate charge to .250, a mark I didn’t think he’d ever reach again (isuzudude, it’s your job to text me when it happens). The million-dollar question is, do the Mets assume he’ll remain this useful through the end of the year and keep him around, or try hawking him to an AL club while his stock is rising?

In addition to his homer, Ramon Castro added a single to go 2-for-4. Jose Reyes and Endy Chavez were the only other Mets with hits, but the team walked six times.

With five straight wins, the Mets have the longest winning streak going in MLB right now. They’re 7-3 in their last ten games — easily the hottest team in the NL East.

The Phillies finally won, beating the Cardinals 4-2, so the gap between them and the Mets remains a game and a half. Cardinals starter Mark Mulder suffered a major setback in his return from shoulder surgery, leaving the game after only 16 pitches. Watch St. Louis get aggressive on the trade market in the next few days. My guess is they’ll take a shot at Greg Maddux.

Next Game

The Mets go for a series sweep — isn’t that a great thing to state? — at 1:10 pm. John Maine goes to the mound against Barry Zito.

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. julie July 10, 2008 at 4:03 am
    It was 5-0, wasn’t it?
  2. sincekindergarten July 10, 2008 at 4:20 am
    Joe, I’d say that the Cards are going to take a run at A.J. Burnett. They have to do something, if only to match the Brewers getting Sabathia and the Cubs getting Harden. Yeah, Burnett’s injury-prone but he has something that the other two don’t–a WS ring.
  3. isuzudude July 10, 2008 at 6:19 am
    It’s true he has a ring, SK, but he was injured in April for the 2003 WS champion Fish and never pitched for them in the postseason, so I don’t know how much of an edge Burnett has in experience over Harden and Sabathia. And if all you’re looking for is experience, who better to obtain than Maddux? 30 career postseason starts. Sorry to interject, just wanted to set the record.

    I really think the Delgado situation is going to be a catch-22 for the Mets. If he’s swinging a hot bat like he is now, he’s ultra-important to the Mets lineup (especially with Alou and Church out) and so Omar will be very relectant to trade a guy he possibly still sees as a .280-30 HR slugger. But when Delgado is slumping, no other team will want him, and so the Mets are pretty much stuck with him. So I think unless Omar gets over his man crush for Delgado and admits the Mets will be better off in the longterm if they trade Delgado and get a solid return for him, he won’t be going anywhere for the rest of this season.

    I hate to jinx him, but Heilman looks like he’s 100% fixed. Don’t know what it was that made him get off to such a terrible start, but man is it nice to have the old Aaron back. And thank goodness, too…for all I was clammoring for the Mets not to trade him this offseason, I was looking like quite the fool for a couple months there. But now you can see that when he’s on, there are few in the game that are more reliable or more dominating than Aaron can be.

  4. joe July 10, 2008 at 9:28 am
    I think the Mets simply need to start Heilman at the beginning of innings, rather than bringing him into others’ messes. He does much better given a clean slate.
  5. Micalpalyn July 10, 2008 at 10:36 am
    All: See MLBrumors and note the Cardinals story. It seems the GM WILL NOT counter. Similar to 2006 i see the cards staying in the race but this time not finishing. Schumacher, Ankiel, Pinero, Looper are hardly cornerstones of a WS champ.

    Looking at said MLB rumors and noting Isuzu: I think catch-22 is more than Del. Omar had a 5 yr plan and expected the Mets to be a contender….(ie: gambled on El duque, moises, Pedro and DEL who are FA this off season). Now given Willie-gate he wants a WS run.

    Yeah i have been an optimist but i believe in this Mets team especially now that ALL of the Met starters are firing (reservations on Pedro aside). On ESPN last night it was noted by SP that the Mets have the best group of starters in the division and ultimately starting pitching wins out. The Phils are tooo reliant on Howard, Utley andd Lidge(& the BP). Also note Myers and Gordon are now down.

    Joe: You made a comment about the Giants being bad: my counter is that WE have all been waiting for the Mets to dominate ANYBODY and finally the might be getting there. Isuzu noted correctly the Mets have to build on recent success by winning this series and the next. Well so far they are not only winning but dominating. All without a corner OF and a DH at 1st.

    Hopefully Church returns but could Omar get a renta-slugger? say Milton Bradley? Jose Guillen. At this point Moises Alou is Barry Bonds with a contract….simply waiting to make his retirement official.

    Isuzu: I like aaron. And i have been a skeptic. But I must eat some pie …if Ollie et al can improve and be consistent why not aaron? I think there is a market for Del but i agree with u that the Mets might be committed to the known quantity.

  6. Taylor July 10, 2008 at 11:31 am
    Heilman needs to keep his change-up down in the zone. If he does that he is tremendous. When he doesn’t do that he is terrible. There is no in-between. Change-up down > great, change-up > terrible.
  7. Taylor July 10, 2008 at 11:31 am
    Heilman needs to keep his change-up down in the zone. If he does that he is tremendous. When he doesn’t do that he is terrible. There is no in-between. Change-up down > great, change-up up > terrible.
  8. harveybee July 10, 2008 at 2:09 pm
    heilman looked great last night, however i’m still wondering why manuel pulled santana after 78 pitches and a short rain delay. i’ve been out of the loop, not being in ny, but is there any good reason floating around on why santana was pulled? a 40 minute rain delay isnt good enough…
  9. isuzudude July 10, 2008 at 3:00 pm
    maybe not, harvey, but protecting your $137-million investment is. much like when jose reyes was pulled in the 1st inning out in Anaheim, the move was simply precautionary. rest assured that if the game had greater implications, johan would have been sent back out there. however, as it stands, the bullpen threw 4 hitless innings and the mets won the ball game. why search for things to nitpick over?
  10. sincekindergarten July 10, 2008 at 5:16 pm
    Now, with Tatis tattooing the ball, and Moises seemingly on his last legs, and the Mets actually getting the sweep, life is good.

    I still say that the Cards will be in on Burnett. Remember the so-called “kiss of death” for Willie? Omar’s “confidence” in him. Mic, this is disinformation on MLB Trade Rumors, IMO.

  11. harveybee July 10, 2008 at 5:43 pm
    isuzudude, my question was an honest one, and it was far from nitpicking. if you are paying someone 137 million to be your number one starter, you hope and expect them to pitch into the sixth inning. i dont think it is “nitpicking” at all, considering how overworked this bullpen has been for the past couple of years.

    as far as “protecting your investment is concerned, if you buy a car for its ability to efficiently and effectively get you from point a to point b, why stop when your almost there (with plenty in the tank) to hitchhike?

    but let me focus on something positive… HITTING WITH TWO OUTS!!!! how sweet it is to watch this team’s bats come alive…