Mets 3 Nationals 2

“A long, ugly game that turned out pretty.”

— Willie Randolph’s fitting description during the postgame interview on SNY.

It took 14 innings of perseverance, but the New York Mets finally came out on top, winning on a wild pitch and sweeping the Nationals in a four-hour, 45-minute contest.

For a while there, it appeared neither team wanted to win the ballgame. Rallies would begin, but be extinguished quickly. In the end, it was sloppy play by the Nationals that allowed the Mets to win.

Damion Easley led off the 14th with a single — he was 2-for-2 — then took second base on a wild pitch. Shortly thereafter, Easley moved to third on a pickoff attempt that bounced off his knee and went scooting into the outfield. David Wright and Carlos Delgado were walked intentionally to load the bases, but those actions were moot when Joel Hanrahan free mp3 nokia ringtones crazy frog ringtones free nokia ringtones free get ringtones cingular ringtones boost free mobile ringtones free cricket ringtones verizon wireless ringtones totally free ringtones cricket free ringtones ringtones free ringtones verizon free samsung ringtones cell download free phone ringtones download free ringtones cell phone hotlink caller ringtones download free nokia ringtones free blackberry ringtones free ringtones for motorola phone crazy frog ringtones uncorked another wild pitch — the first to pinch-hitter Brian Schneider — that scored Easley, um, easily.

Ironically, the Mets never would have made it to the fourteenth had it not been for a Ron Belliard error in the eighth — with two out — that put Ryan Church on first base. Church scored minutes later to tie the game.

On the mound, Nelson Figueroa followed up his dominating debut with another gem, pitching 7 stellar innings of three-hit ball and striking out seven. He made just one mistake the entire evening, and it resulted in a two-run homer by Nick Johnson. Figgy was saved from a loss, however, when the Mets tied things up in the eighth on a run-scoring single by Carlos Delgado. The Mets had scored their first run in the first inning, when red-hot Ryan Church doubled in Jose Reyes.

The Mets bullpen was outstanding, holding the Nationals scoreless from innings eight through fourteen.

Notes

Is Mets pitching this good or the Nats hitting that bad? The Nationals were held hitless for seven innings at one point in the game — from the fourth to the eleventh.

What’s bothersome to me is that the Washington offense would appear to be better than their pitching … yet the Mets could manage only two runs in 13 innings.

I think I heard “Crazy Train” being played by the Shea Stadium organist. Kind of cool to hear the old keyboard getting tapped again.

The Nats look like a sloppy and lackadaisical bunch. Ronny Belliard is the king of lazy punks, and Lastings Milledge didn’t look so hot lollygagging after a fly ball that allowed Ryan Church to tag up from first to second.

Lee Mazzilli looked really tired during Nissan Postgame Live. In fact, he looked like a cross between George Hamilton and Yoda.

Next Game

Mets head down the NJ Turnpike to Philly for a three game set. Friday night’s opener begins at 7:05 PM and will match up the aces: Johan Santana vs. Cole Hamels. The game will be shown on CW11 and heard on 660 WFAN and XM 184.

Mets 5 Nationals 2

It took three starts, but John Maine “finally” earned his first win of 2008.

Maine threw 6 2/3 innings, allowing only five hits and two runs, in evening his record to 1-1. He ran into a bit of trouble early on, walking leadoff batter Cristian Guzman to begin the game and then watching the Nats manufacture a run in the most classical way (hit and run, sac fly), but Maine eventually settled down and cruised through the next five innings. He gave up a solo homer to Austin Kearns in the fourth but otherwise had no troubles at all until walking two batters in the seventh with two out.

Joe Smith was brought on to strike out Ryan Zimmerman — who looked completely uncomfortable against the sidearm slinger — and he proceeded to pitch a perfect 8th before giving the ball to Billy Wagner for an effortless save.

Meanwhile, the offense gave Maine plenty to work with, scoring five by way of the long fly ball. Jose Reyes and Ryan Church hit solo shots over the fence, and Carlos Beltran provided the big blow, a three-run bomb that took all the air out of the Nationals.

Notes

Smith is looking great, both with the movement on his sinker and his confidence. The pessimist in me, however, wonders if his early success is due to the change in his motion — in other words, what happens when he doesn’t look “new” anymore?

Lastings Milledge got plunked in the eighth inning by Joe Smith. About five seconds before it happened, I remarked to my wife, “wow, Lastings is really on top of the plate … he must be worried about that slider off the outside corner”. Then, “plunk”. Looking at the replay, Milledge didn’t even try to get out of the way — he actually strode into the pitch, seemed surprised that it was so far in, and by then it was too late to get out of the way. This isn’t Lastings’ problem so much as young players in general, who no longer are taught to get out of the way and who generally are not exposed to inside pitches. IMHO this is one of the biggest differences in baseball over the last 20 years, and a huge factor in the recent offensive explosion in MLB — in short, the batters have no fear. It was a whole different ballgame before body armor and pitchers thrown out of games for throwing inside.

Chad Cordero looked awful in his one-inning stint. He looked like he was playing darts in a pub with those weak 77-MPH “fastballs”. He makes Orlando Hernandez look fast by comparison (remember El Duque?).

David Wright and Carlos Beltran are on fire — both seeing and hitting the ball well. Beltran’s numbers are not as gaudy as Wright’s right now, but they don’t bear out how “locked in” Carlos is so far this season. Beltran is having great at-bats, waiting for his pitch, taking walks, and when he swings, is stinging the ball all over the place. Yes he’s under .300, but many of his outs this season have been hard line drives and long fly balls. His approach is reminiscent of 2006 — he appears focused and prepared, like a patient tiger twirling its tail and waiting for the right moment to strike its prey.

I said it a few days ago, I’ll say it again: I thought Ryan Church couldn’t hit lefties? Last time I was reminded of his vs. LHP stats, which weren’t great. My point then, and is now: Church is hitting the ball solidly off lefties — regardless of his average. Now he’s hitting close to .300 vs. lefties, and has proven he’s capable of handling southpaws — it’s not like he can be paralyzed simply because a guy throws with his left hand. Whether he can keep up this pace is another question.

Next Game

Mets and Nats do it a final time — until next week — at 7:10 PM. Nelson Figueroa makes his second start of the season against John Lannon

Mets 6 Nationals 0

Maybe he’s the stopper after all.

Mike Pelfrey was absolutely outstanding, throwing seven shutout innings. He positively dominated the Nationals hitters, pounding his 94+ MPH fastball inside incessantly, moving batters off the plate and breaking about a half-dozen bats. His heavy sinker stayed low in the zone and induced a plethora of ground ball outs. Big Pelf used his slider sparingly, just enough to keep the Nats from sitting on the fastball.

Meantime, it was the Late Night with David Wright show — all the scoring came courtesy of David “MVP” Wright, who hit a two-run homer and two RBI doubles. At the end of the night, Wright drove in five and scored twice.

Aaron Heilman threw a shaky but scoreless eighth, and Duaner Sanchez — who came off the DL prior to the game — pitched a nearly-perfect ninth.

Notes

The weekend’s rest seemed to have rejuvenated Jose Reyes, who nearly hit for the cycle, and showed no signs of the hamstring scare that sidelined him. Reyes “settled” for a four-hit game, smacking two singles, a double, and a triple.

Of particular note was Pelfrey’s ability to work out of jams early on. He got himself into a few tough situations that could have gotten ugly quickly, but he kept his cool and his confidence and went right after hitters with his fastball. In the past his body language would change and he’d start nibbling around the corners with his slider — pitching defensively. In this game he remained the aggressor, challenging batters to hit his fastball.

Duaner Sanchez looked OK, not great, with his velocity similar to what we saw in Port St. Lucie — in the high 80s, topping out at 91 MPH. Most importantly at this juncture, he looked healthy and comfortable and was throwing strikes. Whether he ever gets back into the 94-96 MPH range remains to be seen, but with his nasty assortment of sinkers and changeups, he may not need the velocity to once again be an effective setup man.