Mets Game 56: Loss to Nationals
Nationals 7 Mets 6
The Mets come back again. Then give it away. Then come back. Then give it away. Rinse. Repeat.
Mets Game Notes
So, just to be clear, I was at a work event on Tuesday night and didn’t get home until around 11:00 p.m. However, I get the feeling that what I saw of the game — the 11th and 12th innings — was a representative microcosm of the entire contest. Am I right?
It seemed that Scott Hairston had once again pushed the Mets to victory, with his go-ahead homer and three runs scored. But it was not to be, as the last Mets pitcher available was a very shaky Elvin Ramirez, who beyond being nervous was exhausted by the 12th; I doubt he was ready to expend the 46 pitches he did in his 1 2/3 inning outing.
How out of sync / jittery / exhausted was Ramirez? Consider that he nearly allowed the winning run to score from third while issuing an intentional walk. Josh Thole performed unprecedented acrobatics in order to reach for some of his intentional balls; Ramirez resembled Steve Sax or Chuck Knoblauch throwing to 1B. And if that sequence wasn’t enough to convince you something was wrong, it was followed by a bizarre six-pitch unintentional walk to opposing pitcher Ross Detwiler, who attempted to bunt two pitches that were far out of the strike zone. Ramirez’s impersonation of Jorge Julio was so on point that it stunned me to see Xavier Nady take a swing before seeing a strike. Eventually the poor kid settled down, but one can be afforded only so many gifts before the baseball gods finally have to make things even out.
Hairston now has 8 homeruns in 99 ABs / 106 plate appearances, a homer rate one would normally associate with the likes of Mark McGwire. Can he keep it up?
I didn’t see Chris Young but from the boxscore it appears he pitched surprisingly well. What was his velocity like?
I heard enough of Bobby Parnell on the radio to know he was hurt by errors, but wasn’t exactly lights-out.
Looking at the boxscore, Parnell threw 30 pitches, Frankie Francisco 27, and Ramirez 46; my guess is all three are unavailable in game two — and Jon Rauch is out for three days while they wait and see what’s up with his elbow. Will the Mets find a way to call up another arm? Not sure they have the roster room.
When did the Nats get 14 lefthanded relievers? OK it’s not that many but it sure feels like it.
Another 0-for-4 with three strikeouts for Ike Davis. This is getting silly. He’s getting to a point where his batting average can’t mathematically go any lower.
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Nationals meet again on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Jeremy Hefner takes the hill against Edwin Jackson. Let’s hope Hefner can hurl a six-hit, complete-game shutout.
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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Parnell pitched great. His “defense” kept him on the mound throwing those pitches!
All those routine plays turned into errors by the non entities masquerading as ss’s cost us the last 2 games and the division lead.But what is more important? Winning games or letting a ss walk who makes those plays with his eyes closed and led the league in hitting because the senile owner was determined not to give him a long term deal?
What was Young’s velocity like you ask? what velocity!!! He ramped it up to 85 once or twice. Total roster mismanagement by the genius Sandy Alderson. Left his manager with 5 relievers. Why the hell couldn’t he start Hafner last night, bring up a reliever and then send Hafner down today and pitch the beloved Young today. Nope!! Have to baby sandy’s pet. Or just DL the lousy Rauch. If he needs 3 days to evaluate his arm give it a rest. He has been Acosta like anyway.
Or kept Egbert on the roster a little longer,
But that would make sense.
Rauch has an elbow full of pitching shrapnel, it won’t get better until he gets it cleaned out, but a 2 week rest and a lighter work load might get him through the rest of the season. Would also be a good opportunity to see if Egbert can be useful.
Joe,
The Mets have bpounced back from tough losses all year, and this may be the toughest. We’ll see how they play tonight…hard to be worse than last night. I did not see Young either but read that he topped out at 85, which I guess at 6’11″ looks like 90 to a hitter. There are many goats tonight, but I also have to hold Alderson accountable as a manager needs 25 players EVERY game. I will go light on Ramirez, who hasn’t looked good in either appearance, as he was put in a very tough spot last night. If Rauch is hurt he needs to be DL’d. This is nuts playing the first place team with a short roster. That is more nuts than all the fumbles they made in the field. Get another arm to DC ASAP.
PS: Tejada hurt himself again last night.
The silver lining to last nights game is that the Nats are no better than we are and if we can stop self destructing like we did last night we can win the division.It would help if the manager made better decisons and the arrogant GM made sure we have a full team going forward.
Btw, 0-2 in the Bill Maher era.Maybe he can play ss?
- Thole and Ramirez should never work together as a battery. Woof.
Every pitch of that inning and 2/3 scared the everliving crap out of me. Some of it had to do with Ramirez being jittery – most to do with the way Thole attempts to pass himself off as a major league catcher.
- Most of the starters in this Met lineup need to follow Scott Hairston through the clubhouse, from the early morning — mainly to find out what kind of juice he’s drinking with his breakfast these days.
As someone who isn’t a huge fan, I have to admit his surge has been impressive.
- Nice job by Bobby Parnell last night, even if the defense behind him looked like it was trying to lose the game on purpose.
- Valdespin should never play SS again; even in the event of an emergency.
- Collins needs to start managing games, and all those calling to “EXTEND HIM NOW!!!” will soon see what has bothered me from the beginning…..even though some winning has kicked dirt over most of his in-game decisions.
When games matter, people will take notice.
- In his defense: why they’re leaving him to manage with 5 relievers is beyond me. D.L. who needs to go on it, and call up a couple of relievers.
- Keith Hernandez is an absolute treasure in the booth. It’s not often you’ll get “BRING ON THE DANCING BEARS!!!” (referring to the circus on the field) and directly calling an opposing player a “ROCK HEAD!!” within a minute and a half of each other.
- Oh yeah…..Daniel Murphy’s awesome at 2nd base.
…………really.
Additionally – not sure if you saw this yesterday, Joe.
(By way of Adam Rubin’s linkage)
• Ike Davis told Steven Marcus in Newsday the minors will not be worthwhile for him. “It’s not going to help me down there,” Davis told Marcus. “If I hit .400 down there, what’s it going to do up here? You can’t just hit in the minor leagues. That’s not going to help.” Said Collins postgame Monday to reporters: “Ike’s going to work it out. He’s going to have to keep grinding it out.”
RE: Ike — they come to their senses by the end of the work-week.
Part of me thinks they’re just clinging to the “Ike won’t be demoted” quote – simply because they don’t want to look like they’re “going back on their word” —- in addition to having thought it would light a flame under him by putting some outward vote of confidence toward his game.
Fact of the matter is – Ike’s sucked arse through a straw.
And that’s all fine and dandy — to say “we’ll stick with him” when you’re winning…………but wait’ll it really starts costing us (directly) in a big spot.
It’s already obvious that the squad could potentially be better than they’ve been by getting ANY sort of production from him.
I’m a supporter of Ike Davis; and figured they should have given him some time to work things through here (June 1st was my cut-date). But right now, he’s the furthest thing from Ike Davis – and hasn’t remotely approached a method of hitting that would suit him in his way back to relevance. And he knows it.
It’s time for both parties to be honest with themselves, and send him somewhere to undergo a dissection of his approach…..and actually stick to whatever is being conveyed to him during a game setting.
….sorry, Ike.
And how Dave Hudgens allows him to play, taking the kind of AB’s he has….is a bit of an indictment, if you ask me. There’s no way I wouldn’t have been benched by mine, going through and playing – provided I went up and did whatever I wanted as the plate to no success.
Tell him to go up and hit the ball the other way, or he’ll be in Buffalo so fast his head will spin. Better yet, just send him down.
Walnutz,
Two great posts. Ike belongs in the minors NOW, and he belongs there for an extended period of time. That swing will not survive in the bigs. Plus, he has fielded poorly, and his bobble in the 9th, like Murphy’s in the 8th, while not scored as errors, were as costly as any mishap in the game. If either handles the ball properly, DP, and Mets win probability goes up dramatically.
Great points, ‘nutz. I think you are on to something with the “not going back on their word” theory.
We’ve discussed from the beginning of this slump that Ike’s mechanics are screwed up, and he has a complex swing with many moving parts. Mindset, approach, and confidence are only going to go so far before mechanics prevent a player from reaching his potential.
And at this point, Ike has none of the three. Time to visit Buffalo for a spell.
Murphy’s glove has Valley Fever.Everytime the ball is hit to him i cringe.Plus as i have pointed out in the past, the only reason you put up with his glove and bad instincts at 2nd base is if u get some power production.Uggla stinks in the field, but he wins games with 3 run bombs.Murphy hitting singles and messing up doubleplays has made the experiment look bad.As for Ike, everyome knows he should be demoted except for Terry and Sandy
Valdespin makes Eduardo Nunez look like Omar Vizquel
After the 8th it turned to globetrotter baseball
We desperately need a shortstop NOW!
We had a all star ss and a batting Title winner.Now we have a mess as only the Wilpons can create..