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April 27, 2009 Mets 2009 Games Joe Janish

Mets Game 19: Win Over Marlins

Mets 7 Marlins 1

The Mets got all the runs they needed during a first inning explosion, capped off by a grand slam off the bat of Omir Santos.

John Maine protected the five-run lead through six strong innings — his longest stint of the season — allowing only one hit, three walks, and an earned run. He struck out four and threw 94 pitches.

Game Notes

Jets’ first-round pick Mark Sanchez threw out the ceremonial first pitch … and looked like a girl doing it. He admitted later that he wasn’t much of a baseball fan growing up. Still, you’d think a quarterback would at least look decent throwing a baseball. Weak.

Are my eyes deceiving me, or are those obnoxious Citi Field sleeve patches growing?

David Wright was the only Met with more than one hit. He went 2-for-4 including a monstrous, 408-foot triple to dead center, and looked much improved at the plate. Wright also made several stellar plays in the field.

Santos’ slam was his first big-league homer. He’s beginning to make the Mets wonder why they’re paying Ramon Castro $2.5M, and is making a strong case to stay on the roster when Brian Schneider returns.

Carlos Delgado sat out this game with hip pain, and Fernando Tatis filled in at first base. Alex Cora came on late in the game in place of Luis Castillo, who suffered back spasms.

J.J. Putz threw a scoreless eighth inning but expended 21 pitches in the process. Frankie Rodriguez closed things out in a non-save situation, but also threw more than twenty pitches (24 to be exact). One must wonder if both will be available if needed tomorrow night.

Next Mets Game

The Mets look to extend Florida’s losing streak to eight games tomorrow night at 7:10 PM. Livan Hernandez goes to the hill against Ricky Nolasco.

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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 April 28, 2009 at 4:14 am
    The first thing I thought of while watching Santos’ slam was, “He’s making Brian Schneider’s return into a tough decision for management,” in that they will be trying extra hard to do something with Castro.

    Gary Sheffield didn’t exactly help the decision process along, with a hit and an RBI.

    The starters–at least those with initials other than “JS”–will come along. Ollie will show the “Ollie Jekyll” (I know that I spelled that wrong!) on Saturday. 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, gets the win.

  2. sincekindergarten April 28, 2009 at 4:15 am
    Just to add to the last post–the starter who does have the initials “JS” is doing quite nicely.
  3. isuzudude April 28, 2009 at 9:29 am
    I thought John Maine was fantastic last night. Sure, you’d love to see him be more economical with his pitches and work longer into the game, but he battled through some early adversity and hung in there. As Sheffield dropped the flyball in LF on the first play of the game, and 2 batters later when Maine plunked Ramirez, the makings of a big inning and an early exit for Maine were evident. But John picked himself up, allowed just the one run, and didn’t allow a hit the rest of the way. His strike to ball ratio was fair (54/40), but it seemed like he was 0-1 on a lot of hitters, which is absolutely key. He also seemed unafraid to just let loose with his fastball and let the defense behind him get the outs that he couldn’t. Maine is completely able to pitch like this every 5 days, which gives hope that he can be the 12+ game winner we so desperately need.

    I don’t know what’s up with Castro not playing. I know Santos has been playing well, but I thought Castro lost a whole bunch of weight and rededicated himself to the game this winter. His reward is a quick seat on the bench after just 26 ABs in favor of a journeyman minor leaguer? If nothing else this should teach the Mets never to carry 2 catchers with salaries that merit a starting role. There’s just no need for it when there exist the Omir Santos’, Raul Casanova’s, and Robinson Cancel’s of the world. Guys who if given 200 ABs during the course of the year can hit their own weight and play solid defense – all that you really need to ask from a backup catcher.

    SK – that’s a pretty bold prediction. I’m going to hold you (and Ollie) to it.

    By the way, anyone see Freddy Garcia’s line with Buffalo yesterday? 5 IP, 7 hits, 7 runs, 2 walks, 3 Ks. His career seems to be drawing to a close.

  4. joe April 28, 2009 at 9:38 am
    ‘dude, your point on backup catchers with starting salaries is right on. The Mets don’t seem to be doing too well in the contract negotiation department — see: Castro, Redding, Castillo, Cora, Sullivan, Perez, Anderson, etc. Interestingly, this was supposed to be Tony Bernazard’s strong suit.

    I posted an update on Garcia two hours ago … where’ve you been? 🙂