Mets Game 96: Win Over Braves
Mets 4 Braves 1
Who ever would have thought that Carlos Torres and the Mets would beat Kris Medlen and the Braves? But that’s why they play the games.
Mets Game Notes
Who does Carlos Torres think he is, shutting down the Braves’ vaunted collection of sluggers? How did he do it? Not with “stuff,” that’s for sure. He simply threw strikes, hung tough, and got outs.
Conversely, Kris Medlen was not the pitcher of 2012 — though he wasn’t all that awful, either. He simply wasn’t as good as Torres, and his lineup wasn’t as prolific as advertised.
If I’m the Braves, I’m concerned about the offense’s make-up. It’s hauntingly similar to the “all or nothing” Yankees lineups that frightened opposing pitchers, feasted on lesser clubs, but fizzled in a short series. The Braves may well run away with the NL East, but if a few of those long-ballers is slumping, they’re going to have a really hard time scoring runs — particularly against the NL’s elite moundsmen. It won’t be Fredi Gonzalez‘s fault, though, because he’s a great guy. Harumph.
LaTroy Hawkins is a survivor. I thought he ad retired five years ago, but now I’m starting to believe he has at minimum another five years ahead of him in MLB. He’s the relief-pitching version of Livan Hernandez — just keeping on, keepin’ on.
How many more times does Brian McCann have to hit the ball to left field to convince the Mets to stop playing him in the shift? It’s not like he’s getting lucky or dinking the ball the other way — he’s clearly focusing on waiting on pitches and purposely hitting the other way with authority.
Glad to see Bobby Parnell can close out a game with a three-run lead.
Next Mets Game
Game three of this series begins at 7:10 PM on Wednesday night in Flushing. Jeremy Hefner takes the hill against Tim Hudson.
Ike Davis’ double was a big hit from a player for whom so little production has come from.
Collins taking out Aardsma for Rice with two outs in the seventh and a man on first, I know that it seems normal for him, but burning a pitcher to get one out. Aardsma deserves more faith than that.
Young seems to be slowing down, not just less hits but starting to strikeout a bit more.
Normally I would agree with you about taking Aardsma out, but he did not look comfortable pitching to Heyward. With two lefties coming up I think this time the move to Rice was prudent.
If you watch the mets every day for 45 years you get to know the rhythm of the team. they are starting to look like the 83 mets or the 68 mets, on the verge of being a first division team (NOT saying they will make the playoffs next year). If you don’t know what first division means, you probably are younger than 40 😉
None of the Mets’ weak spots this year (Davis, Duda, Tejada) appeared to be playing with a “spark” – I recognize that’s an intangible that can’t be rendered in fangraphs – and it’s no coincidence the Mets started winning when they came out of the lineup. If Ike plays well for the season’s remainder, I’d have no issue with trading him and moving on. The Mets may or may not have a competitive lineup next year, but it’s a cinch they won’t if they have to carry Davis on their backs for the first three months again.
James, I know what a first division team is, albeit from a historical context rather than from being there, and I appreciate the reference.
I am ok with trading Ike Davis, too, if we can get anything reasonable.
Very funny on Parnell, but he’s come into a game with a tie or one run lead 21 times this season and finished 16 with wins or saves (and two of those blown saves were in April). Not Kimbrel-worthy, but I haven’t felt as comfortable with the 9th inning in many years.
Could the Mets do better? Sure, but Craig Kimbrel’s are in short supply – and are in no way guaranteed to perform well year-over-year. That’s why I remain on the fence as to whether or not he’s a valuable trade chip. He’s not so lights-out that a contending team would offer much for him, and the odds of him getting better over the next two years are probably the same as gambling on someone else to do as good of a job.
Take heed, Mets Today commenters.
When factoring in the team’s obvious emphasis on its talented, young starting pitchers, a strong defense, particularly up the middle, is crucial for the Mets success going forward. Defensively, Lagares is already the Mets best homegrown OF prospect to play in the bigs since Gomez. Not that there’s been much competition.
It’s great to hear that Ike considers himself as a visiting player when he hears the boos. That something a “face” of a franchise should say! NOT!
I hope he gets out of this funk so we can trade him and put Duda at 1st. BUT, I know that will never happen.
We should trade relief like Dave A & Hawkins and get an A or AA player. BUT, i know that will never happen. Maybe I should just become a CUBs fan. They are trying to make the team better.
I bet they make the playoffs before the Mets.
[Side note to Joe — I phrased this very carefully]
I was at the game last night, and a few points to note –
Torres was impressive. The Braves were all over him in the first inning, but he did not fold. He battled and gave them a badly needed 6 innings. I’ll take a guy like that any time.
Ike’s bunt was a debacle. First, he bunted foul. Then, he bunted right back to the pitcher and he was out by a mule. In contrast, as you point out, McCann “hit” to the left side. I don’t mind a surprise but here or there, assuming there is some competence, but if Ike wants to get the opponent out of that shift all he has to do is take some pitches to left via his swing, not a bunt.
Lagares looks as smmoth in the OF in person as he does on TV. He just missed one on the warning track but covered a huge amount of ground. He doesn’t play too deep and gets great jumps, especially charging like he did on the assist in the first inning.
Lastly, regarding the attendance. it sure didn’t look like there was 24K as reported in the box score as paid attendance. But, throughout the course of the game, there are many fans on the concourse and in the food area in the outfield and around Shea bridge. It was actually a more decent atmosphere and less depressing than it looks on TV with all those fans disguised as empty seats. Still, it looks odd that the big buck seats behind the plate are almost all empty. They really need to lower those prices and get some fannies close to the action.
And then, whaddaya know, Medlen hangs a curve inside, Ike hits a double.
On any other pitch, Ike is still toast. He needs to fix his timing (Keith is right). The fact that it’s been a problem all year, before and after AAA, is a bad sign. Part of what makes a good hitter is the ability to fix yourself when you get out of whack. It wouldn’t surprise me if Ike has a great season ahead of him at some point, but I don’t think anyone can know how much sub-replacement-level performance will precede and follow it. 3 months? 3 years? I’d send him to the minors until he becomes a different hitter… unless he did fix his timing in the minors, and it instantly regressed in the majors… in which case I’d send him to a psychiatrist.