Mets Game 70: Win Over Cardinals
Mets 11 Cardinals 0
An unexpected rout of the Redbirds.
The supposedly sickly and flaccid Mets lineup racked up 16 hits — 5 for extra bases — as the New Yorkers pounded Sir Albert and his St. Louis disciples.
David Wright led the way with a 4-for-4 day, but received plenty of help from Ryan Church (3-for-4, two doubles) and recently promoted Nick Evans, who mashed a two-run homer in the fourth frame.
Ace starter Fernando Nieve threw six shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 5 to earn his third victory.
Notes
My apologies for the late post … my TV went out prior to the game last night and MLB.com wouldn’t let me watch the game due to blackout restrictions until a few hours ago. Thanks MLB !!!
As it was I didn’t watch the game, so please fill up the comments with richly vivid descriptions of the key points of the contest. Many thanks.
Next Mets Game
The series finale begins at 1:10 PM. Johan Santana goes to the hill against Chris Carpenter. Thankfully the game will be available on WFAN and XM 183. Tweet me if Keith says something silly.
About the Author
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.
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Be happy to oblige, Joe!
The keys to victory in this contest were two things that have usually lead to the Mets downfall this season. Firstly, the Mets were 8-for-13 with RISP, leaving just 4 runners on base, while the Cardinals were 0-for-4 with RISP and left 8 on base. So St Louis doubled the Mets’ LOB total despite being outhit 16-4. How about them apples?
The second key was taking advantage of some absolutely downright sloppy play by the usually fundamentally sound Cardinals. There were pitchers not covering first base on balls hit to the right side, there were outfielders not calling for flyballs and bumping into one another, there were balls getting loose on the infield on throws from outfielders allowing runners to take extra bases, and there were errors aplenty all around the diamond. It got so bad in the 7th inning, you could almost hear the clown music emanating from the St Louis dugout.
The ghost of Rod Serling might have been at Citi last night because the game played out like some kind of Twilight Zone epidose, with the Cardinals and Mets swapping souls for 24 hours. Even Tony La Russa looked dazed and confused, making dopey calls to the bullpen and sitting starry eyed in the dugout as his players did their greatest impression of the Bad News Bears. But it does go to show that even a team known for it’s grit, hustle, and fundamentals can have a game like this where you wonder if they’ve ever stepped on to a major league field before.
So the Mets got 14 hits on Monday, 2 Tuesday, and 16 on Wednesday. This team is obviously forgetting to take it’s bipolar disorder medication. That said, don’t be shocked is Chris Carpenter throws a perfect game this afternoon on the heels of yesterday’s blowout. And yes, that means another tough luck loss for Johan Santana.
Also of note, the Mets DFA’d Jon Switzer and called up Argenis Reyes. That again gives the Mets 7 arms in the pen, with Feliciano and Misch as the only lefties. I hope that doesn’t make Stokes the longman by default, again. By the way, in a 7-0 game, why is Stokes even in the game last night? Does Jerry have to give us fodder to complain about after EVERY game?
A word to gary s: If only you had waited a day to catch the Mets in person you may have a totally different outlook on the team as you currently do.
Thanks ‘dude. Figures the game I miss is a blowout.
I hope that the Mets win and score enough runs for Santana, but I for one am not looking forward to hearing the inevitable lack of run support pity party if it doesn’t happen.
They are playing a day game after a night game, and fatigue is a factor, and in David Wright’s case, injury is not to be overlooked. Hope we can keep him off the DL, Minaya has to be shaking in his shoes after last night.