Mets Game 118: Win Over Reds
Mets 8 Reds 4
Mets save up all their offense for the final game. Why didn’t they put that Harvey kid in the lineup in the first two games?
Mets Game Notes
Matt Harvey did it all – pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball, hit a double, and drove in two in leading the Mets to victory in very Tom Seaveresque fashion. But we’re not making any comparisons, of course.
The Mets offense exploded for 8 runs on the evening, and Frankie Francisco imploded for 3 to keep things interesting at the end. In addition to Harvey’s wallbanger, Ike Davis and Jason Bay put balls over the wall. Yes, Jason Bay! I think he’s broken out of his three-year slump!
No hits but two runs scored by Kelly Shoppach in his Mets debut. Methinks his contribution went beyond the boxscore.
Sorry for the short post; I’m at a conference in Oregon for work until Monday so the recaps will be brief and likely late — help me out in starting the conversation in the comments, OK? Thanks.
Next Mets Game
The Mets open a weekend series with the Nationals on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Johan Santana takes the hill against Ross Detwiler.
LOL — RE: Harvey
Really liked what I saw from him last night, especially in having a little bit of concern – pitching in a ridiculous ballpark.
He had great command of his fastball, and the slide-piece looked really good. Only 1 walk and a HBP, while racking up 8 K’s; utilizing the ball down in the zone, and hitting his spots outside — nice to see.
Memo to Dan Warthen: a power pitcher doesn’t need to work on throwing his change-up, when hitters haven’t even seen (or caught up to) his fastball yet. Absolutely no need to speed up a Major League hitter’s bat…..and Harvey didn’t last night.
It was mainly: Fastball, Curveball, Slider. Work on the change-up during side-sessions….switch it up, and take something off as needed. Until then?
Ignore Warthen, and work with Shoppach.
Also doesn’t hurt that Harvey swings the stick better than a bunch of our regulars.
P.S. — Go away, Fat Francis. (This, of course, will have everyone else telling us how GREAT Jon Rauch has been……since Fat Francis has been so atrocious.)
If you trace Rauch’s season back to when he got his knees drained, he’s really been a different pitcher. Unfortunately, for the Mets – those 7 losses he took on the chin, early….cost them.
Doesn’t matter much, since the bottom dropped out – anyway. That’s why I’d be leery about bringing him back next season, especially if he looks for a raise based on the “merit” of performing for a team out of contention.
In addition to the strange season-to-season fluctuations of relievers, bad knees tend to flare up.
He’s looked like a world-beater since June 10th — that Yankee game, where he started getting death threats on Twitter:
Rauch: 19 IP, 4 BB, 14 K, 1 HR
Good for him…..but $3.5MM wasn’t a preference for me from the get-go. I couldn’t imagine giving him a dollar more than that, past this season.
I don’t mind seeing Harvey work on the change-up in-game, and I’m really pleased he’s using an overhand curve. As long as the Mets don’t take pitches away from him, he’ll be fine.
Looking at Rauch’s mechanics, I surmise he has periods of pain and pain-free. Like Santana, his shoulder doesn’t rotate the way it should, and he kind of pushes the ball, which puts even more strain on an already tight shoulder. I would be wary of signing him to anything other than a one-year deal, and would do so keeping in mind that he’s a backup reliever, rather than someone to count on for 50+ outings.
I wouldn’t want to pay him that much but again there aren’t too many cheap good relievers either. Meanwhile, FF (just off an injury and twice going in non save situations) didn’t look so “fat” yesterday. There too, the options just were that good, and more than one of them have been out for the year. FF has on the whole did the job for a mediocre team. Parnell had the chance & didn’t do it.
Baxter may never lead the league in ave., but he does look like a very competent hitter against right-handers. Don’t know about southpaws.
I think that David Wright needs: 1. More protection behind him. 2. A talk with Kiner about the mental approach to hitting. 3. Some more periodic days off.
I hope they give Bay an extension and trade Wright to the Marlins for Jose Reyes.