Mets Game 72: Win Over Cardinals
Mets 3 Cardinals 2
Bartolo Colon‘s arm, bat lead Mets over Redbirds, preserving Terry Collins‘ job for at least one more day.
Mets Game Notes
Since I was working my real, paying job while this game was happening, I only watched bits and pieces of the ballgame on the DVR afterward. Tiny bits and pieces, so please feel free to fill me in on whatever I missed.
The highlight of the game, hands-down, was Colon’s first hit since 2005 and first-ever extra-base hit — a double down the line in the sixth. And he RIPPED it, it wasn’t one of those Ruben Tejada 55-bouncers down the baseline nor a Daniel Murphy Texas Leaguer spotted in that vulnerable area between the third baseman, shortstop, and left fielder. Would it have been a double if someone other than Matt Holliday were in left field? Hmm … maybe if the left fielder were Lucas Duda or Carlos Quentin, but otherwise, I wonder. I timed Colon — it took him 12.2 seconds to reach second base after contact. For comparison, Billy Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds took 13.8 seconds to run around the bases for an inside-the-park homerun as a minor-leaguer. Current Cardinal Peter Bourjos once did the same in 14.02 seconds while playing for the Angels.
Colon also successfully dropped two sacrifice bunts. Is it possible he read MetsToday and became so embarrassed that he spent some time in the cage working on his skills?
Ironic that in the one game Terry Collins chooses not to bat the pitcher eighth, the pitcher goes 1-for-1 with a double and scores an important run. By the way, does Collins understand that the strategy behind batting the pitcher eighth is independent of the pitcher’s ability (or inability) to hit? Seems not.
In the same inning as Colon’s double, Eric Young, Jr. — who drove in Colon for the Mets’ first run — took third base on a grounder to third baseman Matt Carpenter. Young had strayed far enough off of second that Carpenter could have fired the ball to second and nailed Young, or, at the very least, started a rundown. We don’t know what would have happened had Carpenter chosen that route, but it wound up being a crucial play, as Young scored moments later on single by David Wright. Wright tried to stretch the single into a double, and made it safely, but overslid the bag. Oftentimes, an infielder will put the tag on the runner and then show the umpire the ball (for reasons unknown), but in this case, Daniel Descalso kept his glove on Wright’s body until Wright fell off the bag — THAT’S what infielders should ALWAYS do on tag plays. #littlethings
Again, I didn’t watch the entire game, but did see Colon in the 8th inning, and he looked fairly sharp and nowhere near fatigue. So why, exactly, was he removed? His pitch count was 86. Unless Colon said something to Terry Collins after the inning, I have no idea why he was pulled. I do realize that there was a runner on first base in a two-run game when Colon’s at-bat came up in the top of the ninth, but there were two outs, and, honestly, I would have preferred to keep him out on the mound rather than pull him with the purpose of trying to get a third insurance run. As Ron Darling offered at the time of Bobby Abreu‘s appearance as a pinch-hitter, “I think it’s a mistake.” Had I been watching live, I’m sure I would have agreed. You don’t mess with a starting pitcher having success like that. Removing him often gives the opposing team a mental advantage (it’s as simple as a sigh of relief, if not thrilled to see the guy gone) as well as your taking the chance that the cold pitcher you bring in won’t be as effective as the guy who is having a great day. Now, if Colon said something, or was showing signs of fatigue (I didn’t see any), then that’s another story.
As it turned out, Jenrry Mejia nearly shat the bed (again) but was miraculously saved by, of all people, journeyman Dana Eveland.
Can you imagine if Mejia or Eveland had blown this game? There couldn’t be any way possible that Collins could have averted responsibility for the loss. And yeah, his seat is beyond simmering — it’s Africa-hot right now.
Mets Game Notes
The Mets begin a four-game series in Miami against the Marlins on Thursday night at 7:10 PM. Zack Wheeler faces rookie lefthander and top prospect Andrew Heaney, who will be making his MLB debut.
2) Was I the only one to think “Colon just made himself more attractive to other NL teams”? It is sad that whenever I see a Met do well, my first reaction is to trade him. I hope one day Mets acquire plus players rather then trade them away.
2) I think the same. The cash-strapped Mets will be happy to unload Colon and his remaining salary — they’ll probably save about $14M and get a decent prospect in return.
1. Everyone is giddly about Familia-Black-Mejia, and I like this group better than Valverde-Farnsworth-Lanna at career’s end, but while these guys have good arms, not one has shown that they can dependibly handle the job for a month no less a season. This pen still needs a legit veteran closer and will likely next year, even with Parnell returning. These kids need to earn that job, and not by default (the Met way).
2. I have been thinking the same with every Bartolo outing. That said, I must say that while he is not RA Dickey, I look forward to his starts the most based on his crafty-veteran approach and the entertainment provided by his attempts at offense. Even he is amused by it, which makes it that much better. That double alone was worth checking in on the replay last night.
I gather when you write “Mejia nearly shat the bed (again)” that he has been running into a lot of trouble lately?
He’s been less than awesome since appearing in both ends of a doubleheader on May 25. His ERA in June is 8.10.
We can still say “Redbirds”? Cool.
Glad someone caught that …
Pathetic that we are in New York and talking about the tradeline in six weeks…and not for us acquiring, but us again trading for prospects.
On another note, an encouraging sign in that link above is the comparison of Brandon Nimmo to Steve Finley. Incidentally, Nimmo, Steven Matz, and Dilson Herrera promoted to AA today – let’s see how they do.
You can read the story mentioned in the previous post about the A’s and Angels need for pitching, and the Nimmo / Finely comparison by simply googling “Brandon Nimmo” and “Steve Finley” and can in this way find the Foxsports article yourself.
Maybe it is not a coincidence that he has been struggling since pitching in both games of a doubleheader?
I keep saying that Collins is not being careful with these bullpen arms especially Mejia who has a history of injuries.
Pathetic that we are in New York and talking about the tradeline in six weeks…and not for us acquiring, but us again trading for prospects.
On another note, an encouraging sign in that link above is the comparison of Brandon Nimmo to Steve Finley. Incidentally, Nimmo, Steven Matz, and Dilson Herrera promoted to AA today – let’s see how they do.