Mets vs. Yankees Brief Notes

Ike Davis ended the game dramatically with a prodigious solo blast over the batter’s eye in the bottom of the ninth to give the Mets the victory. It was fun to watch.

However, if there’s any concern about Davis it’s his continued habit of complaining publicly to the home plate umpire after striking out looking. We’ve discussed this here many times before; it’s bush league, disrespectful, and does nothing to endear himself to the men in blue. By now, Davis has established himself as a whiner among that tight-knit group of men who call balls and strikes — who in turn will continue to “ring him up” on close calls.

In Ike’s defense, the home plate umpire seemed to have a very liberal strike zone for both sides and against all batters.

One of the beneficiaries of that big strike zone was Mike Pelfrey, who pitched very well. He had excellent focus and oozed with confidence throughout his outing, throwing tons of strikes and showing good command of his sinker. I think he’ll be a Cy Young candidate if he can prevent runners from reaching base and avoid adversity.

How about Justin Turner coming up with a big hit to tie the ball game? He’s struggled this spring, but is picking up right where he left off in clutch situations.

Jonathon Niese got roughed up; the Yanks looked very comfortable against him and assaulted him with an ensemble of both hard-hit balls and bloopers. I can’t get too concerned about it, though, since Niese has otherwise had a strong spring. I still don’t like his laredo angle, and hope he shelves it.

Great to see Tim Byrak on the mound. His knee seems fine. His timing looked a little off, like maybe his arm was lagging behind, but that should work itself out after a few bullpens.

The Mets offense exploded for 7 runs on 13 hits, perhaps inspired by my critical piece from the other day. The players read this blog every day, don’t they?

Fun to see the Yankees’ switch pitcher Pat Venditte throw from both sides of the mound. You don’t see that every decade.

Also fun to see Francisco Pena rip a base hit and throw out a runner. Remember when Pena was supposed to be the next Tony Pena? Seems a long time ago, but he’s still only 22 and still has time to turn it around.

That’s all from me. What did you see in the game that was interesting? Sound off in the comments.