Mets Game 82: Loss to Dodgers

Dodgers 8 Mets 0

This game was so bad for the Mets for so many reasons … I’m not sure where to start.

I’ll try.

To begin, Mike Pelfrey was awful. Big Pelf completed three innings and allowed five runs (four earned) — that’s 3 innings short and one run too many to qualify for a “quality start”, for those who are wondering. The relievers following weren’t much better, but not that it mattered. After all, the offense scored zero runs, and MLB rules dictate that you must score at least one in order to win a ballgame.

The Mets did manage to collect four hits, though I don’t remember any of them. That doesn’t mean they didn’t happen, however.

Notes

The Dodgers did a phenomenal job of forcing Pelfrey to throw strikes. Even with runners in scoring position, most LA batters consistently took a strike from Pelf, and were rewarded by getting into comfortable hitter’s counts as a result.

We talk quite a bit here about “the little things”, and fundamentals, and how the Mets seem to be challenged on those subjects. For those who poo-poo concepts that can’t be measured by the propellerheads and their calculators, witness the fourth inning performance by Manny Ramirez. Immediately prior to his at-bat, Ramirez stood behind home and directed Rafael Furcal to slide on a play at the plate. As a result of Ramirez’s help, Furcal was safe with the Dodgers’ fourth run. Minutes later, with Orlando Hudson on second and none out, Ramirez hit a grounder to the right side that zipped through the infield, enabling Hudson to score the fifth run. Now understand something: Ramirez INTENTIONALLY hit the ball on the ground to the right side (I know this because it was an inside pitch, and Manny purposely took an inside-out swing). The idea behind such intention was to advance Hudson to third base — it was a bonus that he scored. These are just two of the immeasurable, invaluable “little things” that win ballgames. They also happen to be the type of things we rarely see the Mets execute.

I stand by my opinion that even with “the cavalry”, the Mets still would not execute these “little things” often enough to change the outcome of ballgames. This team was built to out-talent everyone, in spite of their fundamental flaws. But hey, keep believing the “woe is us” mantra if it makes you feel better. Whatever it takes to get you through the day.

Mets pitchers approached Rafael Furcal like he was Manny Ramirez. Maybe they got confused by the scouting reports. Furcal walked twice by pitchers who seemed to be pitching around him — in both cases loading the bases — despite the fact he’s hitting around .250 and never a threat to hit the ball over the fence.

Great work by Bill “Wizard” Webb in capturing an extreme close-up of Ramirez’s helmet on the ground just prior to Ramirez getting thrown out of the game for flinging his arm guard. A picture is worth a thousand words.

The Mets have gone 22 consecutive innings without a run, and three games without an extra-base hit. To push it a bit further, there has not been an RBI by a position player since last Friday. So, why haven’t we heard much lately about Jerry Manuel’s opposite-field curveball machine drill from spring training? Hmm …

Manuel says the Mets are in a “team funk”. Guess it’s time to bring in George Clinton and some Atomic Dogs.

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Dodgers do it again on Wednesday night at 7:10 PM. Livan Hernandez goes against Met killer Randy Wolf, who will not be in sheep’s clothing. Ooops … actually the scheduled starters are Oliver Perez and Hiroki Kuroda … guess I was wishing away Ollie. And really, does it matter who is pitching any more?