Mets Game 27: Loss to Phillies

Phillies 2 Mets 1

Holding the opposing team to two runs usually means you have a great chance to win — particularly when playing at a hitter-friendly park such as Citzens Bank. Unless, of course, you are facing Roy Halladay.

Mets Game Notes

Jon Niese matched Roy Halladay pitch for pitch through 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. I don’t think you can ask a lefthanded pitcher to do much better than that in Citizens Bank Park — unless his last name rhymes with “free”.

Niese seemed to keep his all-important release point fairly consistent, at an angle I would estimate is around 10:45 to 11:00. That angle allows him to get great rotation on the curveball and good natural sink on his fastball and change. However, the angle dropped to around 10:15-10:30 in the seventh inning, when he hung a curveball to John Mayberry, Jr. that was redirected into the left-field seats. Though, it seemed as though the release point dropped more once Wilson Valdez singled and Niese was pitching from the stretch. So now I wonder if the drop was due to fatigue, or is somehow connected to the stretch position. Hmm….

Meanwhile, Roy Halladay threw 18 consecutive strikes to begin the game; he didn’t throw a ball until there were two outs in the third inning. The last time a MLB pitcher started a game that way was when Sid Fernandez did it in 1990. Halladay finished the game with 109 pitches, 80 for strikes.

All that strike throwing reminded me of Ollie Perez, how about you? BTW Jose Reyes was the batter who watched that first ball, and in fact, Mr. Low OBP saw two balls in that at-bat.

Seeing Halladay still in the game in the 9th inning sent me back to when I was a little kid watching MLB games — the days when pitchers expected to finish what they started and took offense to being removed from the game. It’s unusual in this day and age to see a starter give up a walk in the ninth inning a one-run game and have complete confidence that the manager is not even considering walking out to the mound nor getting someone warmed up in the bullpen. Ah, the old days …

Halladay is now 8-2 all-time vs. the Mets.

Ike Davis’ 11-game hitting streak came to an end.

On a positive note, the Mets did score a run against Halladay.

Next Mets Game

The Mets attempt to avoid a sweep tomorrow by sending Chris Young to the mound against Cliff Lee. For reasons unknown, it is an 8:00 PM start.

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.
  1. Joe April 30, 2011 at 10:44 pm
    The game went about as a WFAN guy in Phillie suggested: close early with Phillie pulling out late. At least, enough to have the Mets lose the game.

    Ike Davis failed to tack on a run with less than two outs early one and made the last out. So, if you wanted him up, you had him, but he didn’t do the job this time around.

    Hard luck loss for Niese, especially since it required a hit and a sacrifice fly to be given up by Taylor to happen. Had to keep it tied, but the Phillies feed off many a pen late.

    • Izzy May 1, 2011 at 8:27 am
      You called it Joe. Davis not bringing in the second run of the inning was the game. Phils had one chance with a guy in third and Polanco popped one deep enough to score the run. Mets failed in their one chance. Polanco isn’t a star but he’s the kind of pro’s pro (as Seaver said a million times too many) that kaes the difference between a top team and an also ran.
      • Joe May 1, 2011 at 10:44 am
        Well, okay, but Halladay pitching in that spot is a bit different than Taylor Bucholtz, so that was part of it.
  2. Nick May 1, 2011 at 12:35 am
    Murph had a workout and a half at second. He looked pretty bad, but he made every play. He’s either got a brick in that glove or he has a funny method to catch balls, they should be IN the glove not getting knocked down BY the glove. Good job keeping the tag on Fransisco when his hand came off the bag, great replay to prove it. Fox can be objective when it wants to haha