Mets Game 87: Loss to Braves
Braves 4 Mets 0
Any chance of gaining ground on the Braves in this series are now gone.
The Mets were shut out by the Braves and are now five games behind the NL leaders — and only a game ahead of the third-place Phillies (who were in the midst of playing the Reds when this post was published). The way the Mets are looking lately, the All-Star break cannot come soon enough.
Game Notes
Mike Pelfrey had another bad outing — his third straight poor performance, and also the third consecutive time he failed to pitch at least five innings. Big Pelf allowed 4 earned runs on 12 hits and 3 walks in 4 innings, and the scary thing is, it could’ve been worse. Pelfrey allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in four of the five frames he started, and was in trouble in every inning. However, he was like a cat with nine lives, and escaped trouble twice thanks to the double play. It was only a matter of time before his luck ran out, and it did in the fifth.
All week we’ve been hearing that Pelfrey is suffering from a “dead arm phase”, but it looks to me like a mechanical issue — one that’s been mentioned here before. After collecting more video stills, we’ll investigate this further.
Elmer Dessens did not have an earned run charged against him, but he did allow two inherited runners to score — both charged to Pelfrey.
The offense was anemic — an alarming recent trend. While the Braves pounded out 15 hits, the Mets managed only 4 — three of them were smacked by Angel Pagan. Pagan hit his 17th double and stole two bases. Carlos Beltran better be comfortable playing right field, because there is no reason to remove Pagan from the lineup.
Jose Reyes left the game in the top of the 7th after making a throw from deep in the hole to put out Troy Glaus — presumably after aggravating his nagging oblique injury. I would hope that he is placed on the DL and held out of the All-Star festivities. I wonder if Mike Bordick is available?
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Braves play the final game of the first half on Sunday at 1:10 PM. Johan Santana faces Derek Lowe. Is anyone else surprised that Lowe has a better won-loss record than Santana?
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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mike bordick, great line Joe..I was at citifield for the game today and i’ve seen more excitement at a wake.other than pagan, nobody deserved to get paid today.Jason K (aka Jason Bay) is getting a nice serenade from the boobirds on this homestand.Wait till u hear what it sounds like in another month.They mentioned the mets are 1-28 when losing after 7 innings this year during last nite’s telecast.Maybe if they played in a park where some of the team could reach the fences, we could come back now and than..the phillies came back from a 7-1 deficit the other nite ..with HOME RUNS.colorado came back from 9 down to win the other nite..also with home runs..i watched the highlights on espn and during the comeback the crowd was going nuts and that in turn fired up the home teams to comeback from huge deficits.every other game we play at home is 0-0 or 1-1 in the sixth.snooze city and 1-28 when losing after seven.Go ahead everybody, tell me how speed and pitching is all we need in a big ballpark..I say a three run bomb in the first inning can add a lot of w’s also..
One tiny glitch in this post – the Phillies are playing the Reds, not the Cubs.
This season is really starting to resemble 2009 way too much. The offense is sleepwalking through games, the starting pitching gets little run support and is starting to break down, the bullpen is overworked, comeback victories are unachievable, injuries are mounting, the roster is being mishandled, and we’re all still waiting for members of the “cavalry” the make their way back and save the day. This avalanche is gaining momentum (as I accurately predicted before the CIncinnati series began), and at this pace it looks like another disappointing second half is in the cards.
gary – you are simply unbelievable and as stubborn as they come. I just love how you think that a smaller ballpark would only result in increased home runs for the Mets and not the visiting teams. Don’t you think that the away team would have just as better of a chance to perform a come from behind homerfest if CitiField were to play like Citizen Bank Park or Coors Field, the two alternatives you mentioned above? Do you not recall Henry Blanco’s walk off home run at home this season? Or Rod Barajas’? Or Ike Davis’? Did you not see two of the Braves’ more light-hitting players, Omar Infante and Melky Cabrera, hit home runs on Friday that ultimately led Atlanta to the win? Why can they hit the ball out but not our own power hitters? You are putting the blame on the field when the team is the true culprit failing to live up to expectations? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do us all a favor and stop bringing up this inane debate. When the team executes and produces up to standards, they will be one of the better home teams in all of baseball. Their record at home is all the evidence you need to believe in that theory. If all you want to see is home runs and you don’t care about anything else, then go to Yankee Stadium and applaud everytime a popup reaches the outfield seats. You’ll apparently get more excitement out of that than if the Mets are legging out triples and using strong pitching to cut down their opposition.
dude, looks like our september swoon is starting early this year.i said before the season this was a .500 team, so they are basically reverting to the mean.Manuel is a fool..playing reyes while hurt and getting him reinjured shows that he learned nothing from last year.Minaya learned nothing too.He should have signed a utilityman with some pop in his bat in the offseason who could fill in for reyes without the dropoff in speed, defense and power that we get when cora or tejada fill in.As for citicavern, you are just as stubborn as i am.just in the opposite direction.The way the mets are going thru the motions right now kind of negates our arguements.If they lose today, the jerry watch will begin in the media when they start the 11 game road trip after the allstar break.
Thanks ‘dude – it’s been corrected.
I have to agree that this Reyes injury stirs all-too-familiar memories of a year ago.
As for the ballpark size debate, I wonder what Johan Santana’s ERA would be this year if the park was smaller. It seems like he’s been saved on more than a few occasions by the distance to the fences.
santana’s e.r.a in his 7 no decisions is 1.24.I have been to Yankee Stadium a few times and guess what?? 400 foot fly balls to the alleys are home runs, not outs.Hopefully, Johan can go deep again today and we can win 1-0.oops, change that to a triple and a wild relay throw lets him score on the play. (i know u love those triples, dude) lol… btw, does anyone have reyes’s hgh doctor’s phone #.He seems to have another one of those injuries that never heals again..paging dr. galea, paging dr. galea…………..
I dont see the resemblance.
The reason its different is….RA Dickey, Tak, and 2 rooks…Tejada (not Mike Bordick and not wilson Valdes), Ike Davis (arrival time 2011), special kudos to Jon Niese, Jenry and Bobby P. who have made the memory of Guillermo Mota and Scott Schoenweiss fleeting. Carlos Beltran, an
Carlos Beltran, Ramon ortiz and sean green could help. could also help. Bottomline i think the Mets will stay in the WC chase. BUT the Braves are not that much better than the Mets. angel Pagan is our best hitter bar none. DW is in the conversation obviously but Pagan’s no’s w/RISP has been a revelation as has his hitting at #1 and #2.
I think french has to be in the trade talk for a pitcher.
if parnell can be trusted for the 8th inning and we get another starter, i think we can hang in..pagan should be on the all star team..he’s been great all year,,
mic – i agree the Mets should hang in the WC all year, but I think the Braves are a mediocre team, at best. Philly is still the class of the division if they can hit. If they can’t – and they really haven’t so far – this division is wide open. The Mets could lock it up with a guy like Oswalt and maybe even with Haren/Lilly.
Beyond ATL/PHI, there isn’t one really good team in the league. CIN/STL/SD/LA/SF are more of the same – average teams with some strengths and alot of holes.
Time for Omar to do something and lock it up. If he has the resources.