Mets Game 36: Loss to Marlins
Marlins 7 Mets 2
Another chapter in the biography of Bad Ollie was written in Miami.
This time, he couldn’t blame the cold weather. He couldn’t blame the condition of the mound. He couldn’t blame a bad knee, or a stomach ache, or an umpire with a tight strike zone.
In short, Ollie is out of excuses.
The scary thing is, the Marlins might’ve scored even more than 7 runs in the first four frames, but Ollie was saved by a few excellent defensive plays behind him. At no point in his brief interaction with the Fish did Oliver Perez appear to have command, confidence, or a clue. Putting him on the mound every five days is becoming an embarrassment to both he and the Mets, and is turning into a sad story.
If there was a bright spot in the game, it was … hmm … I guess Raul Valdes pitching nearly 3 innings of perfect relief. See, there was that.
Game Notes
Oliver Perez allowed 7 earned runs on 9 hits (including 4 homeruns) and 3 walks in 3 1/3 innings. He threw more strikes than in his last debacle start, but unfortunately they were served on a silver platter — over the middle of the plate, waist high, at BP velocity. He threw a handful of decent sliders, but also threw several flat, fat ones — one of which was deposited into the left field seats by Dan Uggla, others that were just missed / fouled off by other hitters. Perez was lucky to get off the mound with “only” 7 runs attached to his line.
Anibal Sanchez was unlike Ollie, pitching 7 full innings and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks; he struck out 7.
Those 4 hits were the only ones mustered by the anemic Mets offense. Half of the hits were doubles by Angel Pagan — who drove in both Mets runs — and Rod Barajas.
With this loss, the Mets are now back to Omar Minaya’s target of .500 with an 18-18 record. And, the Marlins win boosted them to an identical 18-18 record.
For those who are scoreboard watching, the Braves won, making their record 17-18. So the NL East race at the moment is the Phillies in first, Nationals (!) in second, and a three-team fight for the basement. At least he Mets are fighting for something.
Next Mets Game
Game three of this four-game set begins at 7:10 PM on Saturday night. John Maine faces Nate Robertson. You can be sure that Jerry Manuel will be pulling out every stop to win, because his job is suddenly teetering toward jeopardy again — and I don’t mean an appearance with Alex Trebek.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2010/05/perez-could-lose-rotation-spot.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Fblogs%2Fmets+%28Blogs%2FSurfing+the+Mets%29#ixzz0nzzs4ajY
mall obvious changes,
-why cant Jerry get Carter PT in RF?
-Why is GMJ here?
-Why isnt Escobar on the 60day DL
-Why isnt Ollie in the pen?
With Bob Melvin, Wally AND Terry Cllins already on the payroll there is not lack of alternatives…(see Jim Riggleman).
..Beware the 40 game mark
My viewpoint is to embrace the losing streak. Embrace the futility. Embrace the embarrassment. Because with every additional egg in the face gets us a step closer to a new manager and a new GM. If this season produces nothing else but the pink slips for Jerry and Omar, it will have been a success in my eyes.
I would also add that jenry should be back in the minors developing his secondary pitches and building arm strength.
As for Ollie, however, I don’t see how you can put him in the pen because he has no command of the strike zone. I mean, after last year, I assumed that his diminished velocity was because of his injury. Apparently, I was wrong. And the problem is, you can’t be that wild if you’re only throwing 88 mph.
This situation is getting worse and worse and it’s time for them to make the tough decision and either send Ollie down or release him ( and I say tough not because it’s a tough baseball decision – it is not – but because they invested a lot of money in him).
And, please, please move Jose back into the leadoff position. I can’t stand watching him put all those balls into the air. He’s in a slump and the best way for him to getgoing again is to start putting the ball onto the ground and using his speed to leg it out.
– Ollie came thru as a releiver, and most teams with interest in Ollie (as a FA and prior to that) have viewed him as a releiver. Why, notice he can get thru 1-2 even 3 inning but melts at the 4-5 inning mark.
– I dont think its hard to sell an injury if his velocity is messed up and he cant deliver the ball. Beyond that he could handle Jenry’s role.
As for Jenry: I for one am fine with him. He is learning ML hitting. Besides given his wild winter season,NOTHING should have been expected of him. I think next yr…winter ball THEN stretch him. Parnel is a guy who needs to be starting.
As for French his ABs need to be diminishing.