Home » Mets 2007 Games » Mets Game 83: Loss to Rockies
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July 5, 2007 Mets 2007 Games Joe Janish

Mets Game 83: Loss to Rockies

Rockies 17 Mets 7

No comment.

Notes

El Duque’s line:

4 IP | 6 H | 6 BB | 1 HR | 2 K | 6 ER

Guillermo Mota’s line:

2/3 IP | 6 H | 0 BB | 2 HR | 1 K | 6 ER

Suddenly, the Jason Vargas line of Tuesday night doesn’t look THAT awful.

Which brings up an interesting point — if Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson, and the Mets brass have a pauw-wow regarding whether Vargas should get another start, will they consider the fact that El Duque, Mota, and Tom Glavine all had similarly horrible outings? Is it possible that it wasn’t Vargas, but the thin air in Colorado that caused the problems for the Mets in the past three days?

My nephew, an ex-Marine, claims that it takes 48 hours for the human body to adjust to a severe altitude change — such as suddenly playing at an elevation above 5000 feet. You hate to make excuses, but then again, are the Mets really this bad? Couldn’t we at least pretend that the thin air made all the Mets sick, and unable to play to their potential?

While we’ve seen teams lose like this — allowing the opposing team nearly 20 runs — how often does it happen to a FIRST-PLACE team?

Anyway …

Todd Helton drew 7 walks in this series. The Mets, as a team, drew 3. Matt Holliday matched that output in this game. But, no, it doesn’t mean anything, really. The Mets are just running into really great pitching. I mean, who beats Josh Fogg, Aaron Cook, or Jason Hirsh?

For the season, in Colorado: Rockies: 47 All NY Teams: 17.

David Wright went 3-for-4 with 4 RBI. Too bad it was hardly noticeable.

Ruben Gotay did not start but was brought in to pinch-hit, and stroked a single. He now leads the Mets with a .317 batting average.

Both Shawn Green and Paul LoDuca had two hits and a double. They needed to quadruple those efforts for it to matter.

Next Game

The Mets travel to Houston for a four-game series in Minute Maid Park. John Maine goes in the opener against Jason Jennings. Hopefully the Mets can adjust quickly to sea level and right the ship before it starts sinking.

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. JIMMYJ723 July 5, 2007 at 1:02 am
    Don’t worry my fellow Met fans, help is on the way. Another VETERAN (and by “veteran”… I mean 41 YEARS YOUNG !!!) will be on the squad when we get to Houston, Sandy Alomar Jr. At least he was putting up some decent numbers in the minors (.323 with four home runs and 29 RBI in 38 games).

    How much longer till the All-Star break?

  2. sincekindergarten July 5, 2007 at 4:37 am
    He’s insurance in case LoDuca has to sit out both games of his suspension.

    I’d say that the Mets need someone, anyone to go on a fire-breathing stemwinder, and soon. Since both the Phillthies and Squaws won last night, things are tightening up again.

  3. joe July 5, 2007 at 10:40 am
    Alomar used to be the bomb … maybe if he can recapture some of his youth for a week (talk to Mota about that stuff he took last year), it can spark the Mets.

    BTW, what’s a “stemwinder” ?

  4. Micalpalyn July 5, 2007 at 10:56 am
    ANGER: I’m sorry to sound like a broken record, but Willie needs a brain. In his 3 yrs as managers there is a common phenena. The Mets LIMP into the all-star break tired and decomposed. They also limp to the season finale. Yet he bellows about how if he had to do it again he would have given player ‘X’ more.

    Gotay does it again. I heard some guy talk about Gotay’s range. I doubt very much that Gotays defense is worse than Valentin’s or Easleys.

    Easley’s been swinging a hot bat. Why cant he see time in the OF.

    I’m glad Paulie gets some time off. I would also applaud Sandy getting into a game. I think he has alot to share on game calling.

    NOW THAT EVERY MET ARM IS ABOUT TO FALL OFF HOW ABOUT SOME ROSTER CHANGES. PLEASE!!

    Dave Williams replacing Sele for one, and Humber in as another bullpen arm.

    Oh, I also think the breaking pitch, control make up of the Mets is not suited to Coors.

  5. joe July 5, 2007 at 12:19 pm
    Mica — you’re not a broken record. The weakest aspect of Willie’s management is his inability to keep players fresh. He obviously “learned” from Joe Torre the concept of running his players (and relief pitchers) into the ground. He treats his starters like old Chevys — keep driving it, hard as you can, don’t change the oil or antifreeze, keep going until the thing dies.

    As for Gotay, I have no idea what more he has to do to earn a semi-regular spot. And anyone who has spouted anything about his range/fielding is probably a stathead citing some ridiculous numbers. Those who watch the games can see with their own two eyes who is the most athletic and sure-handed second baseman among the three current options on the 25-man roster.

  6. kong July 5, 2007 at 1:10 pm
    Isn’t a sidewinder a watch?
  7. joe July 5, 2007 at 1:11 pm
    You meant stemwinder, and, sort of.

    See here:
    http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19961015