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May 24, 2009 Mets 2009 Games Joe Janish

Mets Game 42: Win Over Red Sox

Mets 3 Red Sox 2

This was a game the Mets shouldn’t have won, and they by unexpected means with the involvement of unlikely men.

Mike Pelfrey pitched a brilliant ballgame, allowing just two runs on six hits in seven innings, but Josh Beckett was just a bit better, allowing one run on five hits in eight frames. It appeared that the Bosox were to deliver a heartbreaker as Jonathan Papelbon stepped on the mound to face the second half of the Mets lineup.

Things looked even bleaker after Papelbon struck out David Wright and Jeremy Reed. Down by a run with two outs and Omir Santos at the plate, many Mets fans likely turned off the TV.

But this Fenway Park, where anything can happen, at any time. Just ask Russell “Bucky” Dent.

Santos lashed a Papelbon pitch over the Green Monster, scoring Gary Sheffield from first and giving the Mets a one-run lead. Now all the Mets had to do was send out K-Rod to seal the victory, right?

Instead, J.J. Putz took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, and despite walking leadoff batter Kevin Youkilis, managed to earn his second save of the season — but not before getting some help from Ramon Martinez, who made a diving snare of a Mike Lowell ground ball and threw a one-hopper to Danny Murphy to end the game.

Notes

Nothing for me to add. Either you saw the game or you didn’t. Mets won the series, regardless of what happens today. I think it’s clear: the Mets and Oliver Perez have quite a bit in common, in that we’ll never know which one (good Mets / bad Mets) will show up on a particular day.

Comment away.

Next Mets Game

The series finale begins at 1:35 PM on Sunday afternoon. Tim Redding pitches against Tim Wakefield.

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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. isuzudude May 24, 2009 at 12:32 pm
    This was the best, most dramatic Met victory since perhaps the first game after 9/11 where Mike Piazza homered in the 8th. Just as unbelievable and inspirational as they come.

    By the way, have we had enough injuries yet? You look at the Phillies and the Red Sox and they don’t have one key player hurt, while the Mets continue to average more injuries-per-game than home runs. Enough is enough!

    But anyway, a sweep may be in the cards today. If the Mets win and wind up with a 6-4 west coast/Boston road trip and a sweep at Fenway, with all these injuries, it would be nothing short of a miracle. Probably just in time for a 1-5 homestand against the hapless Nats and Fish.

  2. Eli From Brooklyn May 24, 2009 at 12:54 pm
    Joe writes: This was a game the Mets shouldn’t have won….

    Um, why? The game of baseball goes 9 innings. The first inning has the same importance as the 9th inning. If one determines who should win based on the starting pitchers’ performances then why don’t we close shop up after 7 innings?

    The only way your sentence can be uttered is if after 9 innings of play (and the Red Sox had won) – MLB gaves the Mets the W. Only then can you state, “This was a game the Mets shouldn’t have won.”

    Until then, all 27 outs are to be played and each batter is equal in status to the one before him.

  3. isuzudude May 24, 2009 at 6:22 pm
    I think Joe meant that, if one looked at this matchup on paper, with Beckett dealing against a “yippy” Pelfrey, and with a bunch of fill-ins up and down the Met lineup, the Mets, by most accounts, should not have won. And down to their last out, against a previously perfect Papelbon, with light-hitting Omir Santos at the plate, it was even more improbable the Mets would have wound up the victor, especially after seeing Papelbon blow away Wright and Reed in the prior two ABs. And I’m sure this morning the Red Sox were telling anyone within reach that that was a game they shouldn’t have lost, which means the Mets shouldn’t have won it.

    Let’s just say this game in which the Mets shouldn’t have won makes up for at least one of the games in which the Mets should have won.

  4. Eli From Brooklyn May 25, 2009 at 12:54 pm
    JOE!

    Is all okay?

  5. joe May 25, 2009 at 2:09 pm
    Eli’s right … the game is nine innings, 27 outs.

    Next time Johan Santana pitches 7-8innings of shutout ball, and Putz or K-Rod blows the game in the 9th, I won’t mention anything to the effect that the Mets should’ve won.

    It wasn’t a slight to the Mets, Eli, it was a compliment to their ability to come back and win. Get with the program already!