Marlins 8 Mets 2

The Marlins avoided a sweep at Shea by blasting Mike Pelfrey for six runs in 4 and 2/3 innings, and riding behind the arm of Josh Johnson.

Big Pelf had a rough day, allowing 7 hits and 3 walks in a 98-pitch effort. The bullpen didn’t do much better, with Eddie Kunz uncorking a wild pitch to allow one of Pelfrey’s runners to score, and Carlos Muniz allowing two homers in the sixth inning.

From the offensive side, the Mets managed two runs thanks to an RBI groundout by Jose Reyes in the third and an RBI single by David Wright that scored Reyes in the sixth. Otherwise, pretty hum-drum game from the Mets fans’ point of view.

Notes

With Dan Murphy batting .500 going into the game, Argenis Reyes batting in the two-hole. Now, I like Argenis’ defense, but his .271 OBP doesn’t do it for me at the top of the lineup. Exactly why wasn’t Murphy — hands-down the hottest hitter on the Mets right now — guaranteed an at-bat in the first inning?

Speaking of strange moves, this game was a perfect example of how not to manage a bullpen — from both sides. With Pelfrey unable to finish the fifth inning, and the game on the verge of a blowout, Eddie Kunz was brought into the game for one-third of an inning. That move forced the Mets to use interim setup man Joe Smith in the eighth. If you don’t want Kunz hitting, why not pull a double-switch? Oh, because the best place to move the pitcher would be the sixth hole, where the hot-hitting Murphy was installed. Personally, I would have sent Kunz up to hit, so he could pitch another inning. It was two outs in the fifth, with the score 5-1. It wasn’t like Nick Evans was going to hit a five-run homer.

But the Marlins’ bullpen management was just as ridiculous. In the eighth, up by six with a man on third and two outs, Fredi Gonzalez brought in LOOGY Arthur Rhodes to face Carlos Delgado. Why? Even if Delgado homers, you’re still up by four. Even sillier, closer Kevin Gregg was brought in to finish the game in the ninth. I do realize he hadn’t pitched since August 7th, but what’s wrong with giving your closer a few days off — especially this late in the season and with a series opening tomorrow against the Cardinals?

Jose Reyes broke out of his mini-slump, going 2-for-4 with a double. Daniel Murphy had “only” one hit, and saw his average drop to .478.

Next Game

The Mets host the Pirates for a makeup game at 1:10 pm on Monday, before heading down to Washington on Tuesday. Pedro Martinez faces Zach Duke.

Mets 8 Marlins 6

Before the game began, we knew that a win would most likely require plenty of runs. After all, Brian Stokes — he of the 7.07 ERA last year — could not be counted on to shut out the Fish.

Ironically, Stokes delivered, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk, striking out 6. He wasn’t spectacular, but he kept the Mets in the game and left with the score tied 4-4. In other words, he ate up innings.

The bullpen was so-so, but they didn’t have to be spectacular, either. Scott Schoeneweis finished the sixth with five pitches and ended up with the win. Duaner Sanchez earned a “hold” in spinning a scoreless seventh. Joe Smith allowed three runs in a third of an inning, but was bailed out by Pedro Feliciano, who managed to retire two on three pitches to set up a save for Aaron Heilman. Heilman pitched a perfect ninth to earn his second save in as many days.

Offensively, the Mets exploded. They got on the board first, in the first frame, thanks to the Carloses: a two-run double by Beltran followed by a two-run homer by Delgado. Another three runs came in the sixth when Fernando Tatis scored on a groundout and Daniel Murphy blasted a two-run, opposite-field, pinch-hit homerun off lefty Renyal Pinto. Beltran blasted a solo shot in the seventh to add an insurance run and cap off the Mets scoring.

Notes

Carlos Beltran finally did something worth talking about, going 3-for-3 with a walk, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored.

David Wright was 3-for-4 with 2 doubles. Nick Evans hit in the two-hole and had two hits in four at-bats.

Murphy continues to hit .500, reminding us of Kevin Maas, Shane Spencer, Phil Plantier, and Mike Jacobs, among others. Keep it going, Danny boy!

How sad is it to be Matt Treanor, most famous as “the husband of Misty May”? Thanks to Matt, though, “Misty May-Treanor” sounds a lot less like a porn star than her nee / given name.

Next Game

The Mets go for the sweep on Sunday with Mike Pelfrey taking the mound against Josh Johnson in a battle of 6’7″ freaks. Game time is 1:10 pm and I’ll be at Shea, hosted in the SNY suite with other prominent Mets bloggers, so the postgame will be a little later than usual.

Mets 3 Marlins 0

Once again, the Mets needed a big-time effort from Oliver Perez. And once again, Ollie delivered.

Perez pitched seven strong innings, allowing no runs, only two hits, and three walks, striking out 8 in a heroic 120-pitch effort. I’m convinced that Ollie pitches purely on emotion, competitiveness, and guts, with everything else going out the window. He’s risen to the occasion since the moment he arrived in 2006, and continues to dominate in “big” games. That said, the exit of the cerebral Rick Peterson was the best thing to happen to Ollie — at least in the short term.

With that kind of effort on the mound, the Mets didn’t need much in the way of offense. All they needed arrived in the first frame, when rookie Daniel Murphy singled and jogged home on a moon shot by David Wright that put the Mets ahead 2-0. Carlos Delgado added a solo blast — his 24th homer of the season — in the fourth.

Aaron Heilman retired all six batters he faced in earning a rare two-frame save.

Notes

Daniel Murphy continues to impress. When he’s not stroking singles, he’s taking walks, showing outstanding strike zone judgment combined with prudent patience. I’m not loving his bat speed nor his current lack of power, but I think he’s holding back on his swing to make sure of contact right now. And you know what? If he’s going to hit .500 doing that, he may as well keep doing it. I’ll take 5 singles every 10 at-bats over one homer every 15 or 20, any day of the week.

Interesting to see Brian Schneider throw around the horn starting with first base, instead of third base, after a strikeout in the ninth. It means nothing, but I found it mildly intriguing.

In late June, who would have believed that Carlos Delgado would have 24 homers by the end of the season, much less by early August? His rejuvenation continues to be the biggest and most important story of the Mets this side of Fernando Tatis.

I’m trying to figure out how Carlos Beltran is batting as high as .269, and how he has 73 RBI. It feels like he’s hitting about .230 with 40 RBI. Kind of reminds me of Mike Cameron’s 2004 campaign, when he hit the lightest 30 homers in MLB history.

Is Aaron Heilman the closer? No, unless he’s a throwback. Closers in this day and age don’t get six outs, and don’t have guys warming up in the bullpen while they’re on the mound in the ninth. Nice job by Aaron. Too bad he’ll be useless for the rest of the weekend, since he’s thrown back-to-back days and in three out of the last four days. Who closes tomorrow? Joe Smith? Should be interesting, with Brian Stokes starting.

Next Game

The Mets and Marlins do it again at 7:10 pm on Saturday. Recent call-up Brian Stokes makes a spot start against Scott Olsen — the only Marlin who has been in the rotation since Opening Day.

Tonight I’ll be co-hosting “Live From Mickey Mantle’s” with fantasy guru Lenny Melnick from 6 pm to 8 pm.

We’ll be discussing the NL East from 6 – 6:45 pm and then breaking down the AL East pennant race from 7 – 7:45 pm. I’ll be stuffing chicken wings down my throat from 6:45 – 7 pm.

Be sure to tune in if you have the opportunity, and better yet, call in to the show with your questions and comments. The call-in number is 347 – 324 – 3989.

Mets 5 Padres 3

The bullpen blew another one for Johan … but David Wright saved the win with a ninth-inning, two-out, two-run homer.

Wright gets the save, and Aaron Heilman, of all people, gets the win. Good for Aaron, who needs something to help build back his confidence.

Johan Santana did his part, pitching seven stellar innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 7. He was removed after 104 pitches and back-to-back singles by the Padres to start the 8th.

Duaner Sanchez threw one pitch in relief, hitting Scott Hairston to load the bases. Pedro Feliciano was brought in to face Brian Giles, who grounded into a fielder’s choice for the first out of the inning (the out was made at home so no one scored). Adrian Gonzalez, however, followed with an RBI single just past an outstretched Jose Reyes that should have scored two, but Hairston ignored third base coach Glenn Hoffman’s waving him home and instead slid into third base. Joe Smith was then brought in, and he induced a grounder from Kevin Kouzmanoff up the middle. Argenis Reyes made a diving stop, smothering the ball, and flipped to Jose, who threw a ball in the dirt and up the line to first. Nick Evans made a spectacular dive to scoop the throw, and somehow kept his foot on the first base bag to double up Kouzmanoff and end the inning.

The spectacular defense, however, was for naught, as Scott Schoeneweis gave up a game-tying homer in the ninth to Jody Gerut before yielding to Heilman, who finished the inning without further damage.

Notes

The kids in the corners did it again. Nick Evans drove in two runs, and Daniel Murphy drove in the third, accounting for all of the Mets’ scoring before Wright’s blast.

Beautiful hit-and-run execution by Robinson Cancel in the sixth to push Murphy to third base on a single to right field. That’s not the first time Cancel has poked a perfect grounder past an infielder during a hit-and-run. He may not be a great hitter, but he’s a good situational guy. Little things like that win ballgames. Of course, Cancel also threw the ball to second base after a force out at home and a runner on third, and luckily didn’t throw it away. Little things like that can lose ballgames.

Speaking of little things, and Murphy, Daniel Murphy has been outstanding when it comes to working the count and getting a good pitch to hit. Both Murphy and Nick Evans have been very patient and selective, and taking easy swings at the ball. In other words, neither are trying to hit homeruns, or “jack” the ball. As Murphy stated in a pre-game interview with Kevin Burkhardt, he’s “not trying to do too much”. If these kids stay with that approach, they will continue to spray singles and doubles around the field and my squawking for a big veteran bat will be silenced.

In the third, it was noted by Ralph Kiner that Jose Reyes took a wide turn after rounding first base. This is actually a strategy by Reyes to set himself up for a triple. The hit was guaranteed to be a double, so there was no need for Reyes to get to second base as fast as possible. Usually, a player will start taking a wide turn prior to hitting the first base bag, to put himself on a straight path to second base for a double. Reyes, however, smelled a triple immediately, and took very little turn before first base, so that the resulting momentum of his body would cause a wide turn as he approached second base. This “banana” running path going into second puts his body in a straight sprint from second to third.

Who the heck is Jody Gerut? The most loyal MetsToday readers might remember me mentioning him last November, when he was ripping up the Venezuelan winter league and again in January after he signed with San Diego. My thoughts then: “The Padres might have a find in this guy.”

Jerry Manuel, during the SNY postgame, said that it’s OK for the bullpen to struggle with the ninth inning, as long as they’re winning the games. Thanks Jerry. Funny how people don’t sound like blithering idiots when they have a winning record.

According to Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal, both Scott Schoeneweis and Duaner Sanchez have cleared waivers. Hat tip to MLBTradeRumors for the link.

Other than MLBTR and McAdam, I haven’t seen this published anywhere else, so can’t be sure it’s true. If it is, I imagine one or both could be offered in a deal for another reliever or an outfielder. Could strikeout machine Marcus Thames be on the way to Shea?

Further, Ken Rosenthal says that Brian Giles has been claimed by a “mystery team in the NL”, and that the Padres are negotiating with the claiming team (hat tip to MetsBlog).

I doubt the Mets are dealing Sanchez and Scho to San Diego for Giles. But, who in the NL would claim a 37-year-old outfielder? Not the Dodgers, who picked up Manny last week. We’d assume someone among the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Cubs, Brewers, Cardinals, and Marlins.

The Cardinals have Rick Ankiel, Skip Schumaker, and Ryan Ludwick all having great years in the outfield. The Cubs have been in the market for an outfielder, but already have Jim Edmonds and Kosuke Fukudome from the left side. The Brewers seem set in the outfield with Corey Hart, Mike Cameron, and Ryan Braun, though they’re all righthanded bats. The D-Backs are desperate for offense, and have been starting Chris Burke in each of the corner spots. The Marlins have a righty-heavy lineup, but I don’t see them interested in Giles with Luis Gonzalez on the bench. Similarly, the Phillies have Geoff Jenkins backing up the regulars.

My money is on the Diamondbacks as the “mystery team”.