Mets 9 Brewers 2

Sweep!

The Mets pulled off another sweep, this time in Milwaukee as they battered the Brewers.

The game was over before Oliver Perez stepped on the mound, as the Mets exploded for six runs in the first frame off Milwaukee starter and loser David Bush. The biggest blow came off the bat of Ryan Church, who sent a line drive over the right-center fence for a grand salami. Is it safe to say Church is “back on track” ?

Ollie pitched well, looking much better than in his last start, spinning six and two-thirds while allowing only two runs. Remarkably, he did not induce one ground ball out during his time on the mound.

The Mets bullpen shut out the Brewers the rest of the way without incident.

Notes

Dan Murphy continues to stroke the ball consistently and get on base. He went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, and two runs scored.

Strangely, the only other Met with at least two hits was Brian “Sluggo” Schneider, who blasted his 7th homer of the year.

With a 6-1 lead in the sixth and Oliver Perez in minor trouble, Duaner Sanchez — who pitched an inning on Tuesday — was the first man warming up in the bullpen. So … what was the point of adding Carlos Muniz, Bobby Parnell, Brandon Knight, and Ricardo Rincon to the roster? Does it have to be a 10-run game for these guys to get an opportunity? Baffling.

More baffling, with a six-run lead in the 8th, Sanchez came into the game. Based on what I’ve seen of Sanchez over the last month, he needs rest, not more work. And the head-scratching continued in the ninth. After the Mets tacked on another run, increasing the lead to seven, instead of seeing Parnell or Muniz finish the game, Scott Schoeneweis strode to the mound. Looked a lot like something Jerry Manuel’s predecessor would have done, eh? But hey, for all we know, both Parnell and Muniz are nursing injuries, and that’s why we didn’t see them.

As Keith Hernandez astutely pointed out, David Wright absolutely must work in BP on shortening his swing and hitting to right field. The Mets need him to get back on track for the final stretch of the season.

Speaking of, I noticed something else about Wright (yesterday I pointed out his “overload” of the hands). Earlier in the year — and throughout his MLB career — he would step slightly early, but keep his weight back, kind of doing a toe-tap with his front foot as he waited and made his decision to commit to a swing or not. Lately, his stride and swing have looked smoother — he strides, and his hands immediately start forward. It may look smoother, but it’s not necessarily better. He may be better off going back to the early stride and toe-tap — it’s worked for four years at least.

The Scho’s new mustache is terrible. Absolutely terrible. It looks like a paste-on stache, like the one they gave away last year for Keith’s Mustache Day.

Next Game

The Mets have a day off on Thursday, then open their last series against the Phillies at Shea on Friday night at 7:10 pm. Mike Pelfrey goes to the hill against Brett Myers.

Mets 6 Brewers 5

The much-anticipated debut of Jonathan Niese was less than auspicious. However, it was pretty obvious that the kid was shaking in his boots — I believe he’ll show us a much better performance in future starts, when he’s more relaxed and tense-free.

After being handed a 5-1 lead, Niese couldn’t escape the fourth inning, allowing four runs to tie up the game. He exited with the only possibility a no-decision — so it was up to the Mets bullpen and the bats to take the game from there.

Not surprisingly, the offense pulled their sleepwalking routine for the next six frames. Surprisingly, the relief corps did more than an admirable job of keeping the Brewers at bay.

The game remained tied until the tenth, when Daniel Murphy started things off with a single up the middle. Jose Reyes followed with a sacrifice bunt that catcher Jason Kendall threw into right field, allowing Murphy to scamper to third. Endy Chavez (remember him?) then followed with a long fly to right to score Murphy easily and put the Mets ahead.

Joe Smith threw three pitches for the win, and Luis Ayala earned his fifth save — though not without a little bit of stress.

Notes

Keith Hernandez keeps harping on the fact that David Wright has a “curveball swing”, is “flying open” with his front side, and not going the other way. It looks to me like David is “loading up” more than usual — meaning, he’s bringing his hands back and up further than earlier in the season. The telltale sign is that you can see his entire name on the back of his uniform, and his right elbow fly up above his head as the pitch is coming in. Some rotation is vital to generating power, but too much can be detrimental (though, there is one school of thought led by former MLBer Mike Epstein that believes “rotational hitting” is the best way to generate power). For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, so Wright’s over-rotation in his “load” is likely causing his front side to fly open. Those who are paying attention will recognize this is the exact issue that caused John Maine’s shoulder problems. Luckily for a batter, over-rotation means you’ll be pulling everything, but not hurting yourself.

Keith also pointed out two terrible slides by the Brewers — one on a play at the plate that cost them a run, and one at second base that cost them a runner in scoring position in the 8th inning. Excellent analysis by Keith, and shame on big league teams for not stressing the fundamentals and/or teaching their players how to properly slide. It’s the little things that win and lose ballgames.

I distinctly heard “Hava Negila” played during the seventh inning by the Milwaukee organist (while Guillermo Mota was pitching). Nice to hear, since they don’t play it at Shea since Shawn Green retired.

Is it me, or does Jon Niese slightly resemble Michael Phelps?

Carlos Beltran was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer, and is smoking the ball all over the place. Can you say, September 2004?

Some strange moves by Jerry Manuel that could be criticized after the fact. For one, he chose to let Fernando Tatis swing away with no outs and men on first and second with the score tied. Tatis bounced into a double play. Later, Manuel allowed Nick Evans to hit with Argenis Reyes on second base with two outs in the seventh, Guillermo Mota on the mound, and five lefthanded bats waiting on the bench. In a stunning about-face, Manuel replaced Evans with Endy Chavez as a defensive replacement immediately after Evans grounded out to end the inning.

Next Game

Wednesday’s game is an afternoon affair, as they celebrate the day after Labor Day as Labor Day in Wisconsin (or something). First pitch is at 2:05 pm EST and will be thrown by Dave Bush. Oliver Perez pitches for the Metropolitans.

Want to see what Jonathan Niese looks like so you recognize him on your TV set tonight?

These are pictures I took of him pitching for the Mets during spring training in February 2008.

Mets 4 Brewers 2

It looked like it was going to be a quick, long day for the Mets.

Quick, because Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets was dispatching with Mets hitters as quickly as they could get their feet settled in the batter’s box. Sheets shut out the Mets through the first five frames, allowing only two hits and a walk and expending only 58 minutes and 54 pitches in the process. Meantime, Mets ace Johan Santana wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t great, either, allowing a baserunner in each of the six innings he hurled. He left the game with a 2-0 deficit.

However, the Mets caught a break: Sheets was forced to leave the game with a groin injury, leaving his slight advantage in the hands of the beleaguered Brewer bullpen. You think the Mets have relief problems? One afternoon of watching the malcontents in the Milwaukee ‘pen is enough to make you feel fortunate to have the likes of Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, et al, on your side.

The Mets immediately attacked reliever Carlos Villanueva, but came up short in their sixth inning rally. It was a warmup for the seventh, when Carlos Beltran started things off with a double against reliever Brian Shouse and moved to third on a groundout by Damion Easley. Reliever David Riske then came in to walk Marlon Anderson and Fernando Tatis to load the bases. Mitch Stetter was then summoned and he retired Jose Reyes to end the inning, but not before uncorking a wild pitch to plate Beltran.

With the score 2-1, Eric Gagne came in to “set up” the eighth. What he did set up, in fact, was another Mets rally as Daniel Murphy led off with a double. Gagne got two strikes on Carlos Delgado, but Delgado then ripped a high fastball into the right field seats to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Gagne remained in the game and let up a single to Beltran and a double to Ryan Church to close out the scoring.

In contrast, the Mets bullpen was spectacular. Nelson Figueroa spun a scoreless seventh to earn the win, and specialists Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith handled the eighth, setting up the save for Luis Ayala, who pitched a perfect ninth.

Notes

Two-for-four days were had by Jose Reyes, Dan Murphy, and the two Carloses. David Wright looked wrong, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and stranding four runners.

Next Game

Rookie Jonathan Niese makes his Major League debut on Tuesday night, starting against Manny Parra. Game time is 8:05 pm EST.

Mets 6 Marlins 2

It was a close ballgame until the seventh, and then the “offensive closer” came on to give the Mets enough cushion to make the bullpen relatively irrelevant.

With men on first and second and one out in the seventh, Jose Reyes smacked an opposite field RBI single that chased starter and loser Scott Olsen and ignited a three-run outburst that gave the Mets a comfortable four-run lead that they never relinquished.

Pedro Martinez pitched six strong innings, allowing only two runs on seven hits and a walk, to earn the win. After Pedro, the Mets required only five relievers to protect the lead over the final three innings. Good thing the cavalry is coming tomorrow (five pitchers from AAA).

Notes

Gary Cohen used the word “meritocracy” to describe the Mets’ bullpen. I believe that is the first time in 35 years I have ever heard the word “meritocracy” used in a baseball broadcast. In fact it may be the first time I’ve heard or seen the word since my SAT test.

There was talk from the SNY announcers that Fernando Tatis may start against the righthanded Ben Sheets on Monday — which means either Ryan Church or Daniel Murphy would not play. The way Murphy’s been hitting, I don’t see how you can sit him. Although Church has struggled since coming off the DL, I think you have to keep putting him in there until he gets his timing back — the way he swung the bat in the first two months of the season, you have to give him every opportunity to “get right”. We’ll see what happens.

Nick Evans hit his first big-league homer, a powerful blast into the left field seats. It was the second solo shot of the day for the Mets, and immediately preceded a dinger by David Wright. Evans hit a few homeruns in the minors, and many internal people believe he will develop legitimate big-league power as he gains experience. Four baggers would be a nice addition to his already sound, if slightly overmatched, offensive game.

Wright was 3-for-5, and Carlos Beltran hit the first dinger of the day, though didn’t do anything afterward. Beltran, though, has been either hitting laser beams or squibs, and I still think he’s on the verge of going ballistic.

Endy Chavez stroked a nice opposite-field single as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. It was a great thing to see, as he’s seen his playing time dwindle to nothing with the emergence of Evans/Murphy and the return of Church. Endy is no superstar but when kept sharp is a vital component — offensively and defensively — off the bench.

Next Game

The Mets travel to Milwaukee to face the Brewers in a 2:05 pm game on Monday. Aces Johan Santana and Ben Sheets will do battle.