Mets Game 80: Win Over Tigers
Mets 16 Tigers 9
Thanks goodness for the Mets’ special teams and dominance by the defensive line, or this game might’ve gotten away.
Mets Game Notes
For the third time in the last four games, the Mets scored two touchdowns. This time, they did it without the help of the long ball.
Chris Capuano was disappointing; he was handed an 8-2 lead and couldn’t hold it. He didn’t walk anyone but was hit hard, giving up three gopher balls among the six hits and five runs allowed in five innings. His outing was glazed over by the offensive outburst, but it does have me concerned.
Both Angel Pagan and Ronny Paulino went 4-for-6 (or, a combined 8-for-12). Don’t look now, but Paulino is hitting .346, and suddenly challenging Jose Reyes for the team lead in batting average (though, he doesn’t have enough plate appearances to officially qualify for the batting title).
Bobby Parnell hit 100 MPH or more on nearly every one of his 14 pitches, touching 103 a few times. His command, however, was so-so — 8 strikes and 6 balls.
In the 7th, Terry Collins called in Tim Byrdak to relieve Pedro Beato, facing Andy Dirks with a man on. Just one problem: Byrdak had not been warming up. There was some kind of miscommunication and Parnell was the one who first emerged from the bullpen, running out on to the field. But Byrdak was the pitcher Collins wanted and notified the umpire as such, which meant Byrdak had to come into the game. Byrdak threw two pitches, Dirks hit the second one over the fence, and then left the game. According to the rules, Byrdak had no choice but to face a batter for an entire at-bat, so removing him after the first pitch was not an option.
The most effective Tiger pitcher of the night was outfielder Don Kelly, who came on with two outs in the ninth to retire Scott Hairston on a fly ball to center.
The Mets rapped 20 hits and walked 7 times. How often do you see 27 baserunners in one game?
Meanwhile, the Tigers hit 5 homeruns and lost the game by a touchdown. How often do you see that?
The Mets are now two games over .500 for the first time since they were 3-1 after the fourth game of the year. It’s exciting for us while we bask in our warm bubble, but not when we come out and compare that to the Phillies, who are currently 21 games over .500.
Next Mets Game
The Mets go for the sweep on getaway day on Thursday afternoon. Mike Pelfrey faces Justin Verlander in a 1 PM start — so if you are like me and working during the day, set the VCR / DVR. Expect to see a recap here at some point tomorrow night.
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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If B. wasn’t warmed up, it might be better to just have him walk the guy, instead of forcing the issue.
As to Capauno, Detroit is a good hitting club and he is going to have bad days. How about the Detroit pitching staff for a second day? This is a first place club?
Thinking tomorrow’s game is going to be a tad more low scoring, at least on one side.
Joe, who missed the extra point for detroit?
I believe they got three field goals.
If they beat Verlander, it’s going to be a wild day on sports radio Friday in the big apple!!
Joe,
Your incessant cynicism about this years team has grown tiresome. When reading your game summaries it’s like you have never recovered from the collapse of ’07 and ’08. You seem to want to punish the success of the ’11 team with your own bitterness over how the Mets failed in those seasons. Let me tell you something, both the failures of ’07 and ’08 pale in comparison of ’85 and ’87-88 when the Mets were the best team in baseball. Gibson’s overrated HR only occurred because the Mets couldn’t best a team it should’ve swept. That being said, I do believe this years Mets squad is their best since ’06.
Joe, why you can’t simply let go of the past and at least somewhat embrace this years team is sad. But, what will separate the Mets fans from pseudo-wanna bes will be when Jose has a huge correction in the 2nd half. Unless you really think Reyes will push .350 this year. Only and idiot would believe that, however .285-.290/350/375 is more realistic.
The problem is that most media will twist numbers and figures to support the archaic structure of the current music world.
Sidd, you seem not to “get” MetsToday. There are plenty of Mets blogs for cheerleaders and Kool-Aid drinkers. This one attempts to remain realistic and keep the balance while focusing on baseball education.
As for letting go of the past, that’s only a minor part of the cynicism. It’s much, much more about the present and the future — specifically, the ownership, leadership, and financial situation.
I’m not sure about this team being their “best” since ’06 … maybe it is, but so what? The rest of the NL East has improved dramatically since then. And do you mean the current 25-man roster, minus David Wright and Ike Davis? Will you feel the same way if there is a fire sale in late July?
Personally I think the ’07 club was better put together than this one. What hurt that team was poor bullpen management, the combo of Moises Alou’s chronic DL stints and Carlos Delgado’s off year, and not getting more than Luis Castillo at the trade deadline.
I must be an idiot, because I do think Reyes will keep pretty close to his current pace. I’ve always felt he had the ability to be a superstar, and just needed to stay healthy enough to prove it (so much for cynicism, eh?). He might not finish the year at .350 but I definitely see him at .320-.330 with a .370 – .390 OBP and 120 runs scored.