Phillies 10 Mets 6

Others may argue, but the turning point in the game came in the top of the second inning. With two out, runners on first and second, and the opposing pitcher at the plate, Ollie Perez dropped down and threw a slider out of the strike zone for ball one. That pitch epitomized everything that was wrong with the Mets’ approach and execution of the game.

Because, that pitch was both illogical and off the mark. It was the result of someone on the field not thinking about the situation, not considering the consequences, and not focusing on the task at hand. Furthermore, the ill-advised decision led to a four-pitch walk, which put Perez into a deeper hole than he should have been in. This is what the Mets did all day — they weren’t thinking, didn’t focus, didn’t make pitches / plays / hits, and every mistake made led to worse and worse situations.

Perez threw his 72nd pitch in the third inning, and was knocked out of the game by his 118th — but before finishing the fifth. In 4 2/3 frames, Ollie walked 6, allowed 6 hits, and gave up 5 runs. But because of Mets errors, only two of the runs were earned. In truth, Perez may have been partly to blame for the errors — after all, it’s difficult to stay focused on the game when a pitcher is throwing ball after ball after ball.

Miraculously, despite all the walks and errors, the Mets were still in the game, when Carlos Beltran hit a three-run homer in the fifth to tie the game five-all and take Perez off the hook.

Then the sixth inning happened.

Everyone in the stadium could feel a bad omen when the inning began with Guillermo Mota on the mound. I realize Willie Randolph wants to keep putting Mota out there to get him back in the groove, but could he choose less stressful situations for a bit? It’s apparent that Mota’s confidence is shot — throwing him to the wolves is clearly not the way to motivate him. Anyway …

Taking Oliver’s cue, Mota began the inning by walking Pat Burrell. (The Phillies’ leadoff batter reached base in each of the first seven innings, BTW.) Ryan Howard then grounded into what should have been a double play, but Luis Castillo bobbled the ball and then threw it wildly to second. Predictably, Mota walked Aaron Rowand to load the bases. By then Randolph had seen enough and trotted in Jorge Sosa, who proceeded to walk Jason Werth, forcing in the go-ahead run. When Greg Dobbs came up to pinch-hit, Sosa must have heard someone in the stands say, “just let him hit it!” — because that’s exactly what he did. Dobbs jacked one over the rightfield fence, putting the Phillies ahead 10-5.

After that, it was a matter of getting the game over with as quickly as possible.

Notes

Leading off the top of the sixth, down by five, Paul LoDuca shockingly took the first pitch offered by reliever Geoff Geary — something he’s rarely done in the past. In fact, he worked the count to 3-1, but buried all that effort by swinging wildly at ball four — a pitch around eye level. He fouled off a few more pitches before finally popping up to Chase Utley for the first out. I had no idea LoDuca had the capability to hit six-run homers with no one on base.

It is positively baffling to me that the Mets can endure walk after walk after walk while in the field, see that the walks almost always score, then think the best way to get back in the game is to swing like madmen. You would think after LoDuca had been sitting through the top of the sixth, when the Phillies walked three times, a run walked in, and a grand slam was hit, that maybe, just maybe, something would “click” in his head — like, “hey, maybe a walk could work for US!” Goes to show you that just because a guy has 10 years’ MLB experience, doesn’t necessarily mean he has intelligence.

David Wright hit his 30th homer of the season, making him the first 30-SB, 30-HR Met since his guru Howard Johnson.

The only other highlight, from the Mets’ point of view, was the fact that some nutcase bride agreed to have her wedding reception at Shea — despite not being a Mets fan (I guess we know who’s wearing the pants in THAT relationship). The bride and groom were visited and congratulated by Mr. Met, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling. Let’s hope the debacle of a game is not a bad sign for their marriage.

Down by four entering the ninth inning, why was Aaron Heilman in the game? Does he HAVE TO pitch every other game? Did Willie really think it was critical to remain within four runs? Did he honestly believe his free-swinging crew could somehow mount a five-run rally in the bottom of the ninth against Phillies closer Brett Myers? Ha ha … what a knee-slapper!

The Mets have now lost eight consecutive games against the Phillies.

Next Game

The Mets travel to Washington to begin a three-game series with the Nationals. Monday night’s contest will begin at 7:05 PM, and if things didn’t seem bad enough, Brian Lawrence will be starting for the Mets (why? no one knows). Tim Redding takes the hill for the Nats.

Phillies 5 Mets 3

Once again the Mets squandered a stellar performance by their starting pitcher.

Pedro Martinez pitched 6 innings, allow one measly run on 7 hits and no walks, striking out 9, expending 98 pitches. He was masterful, riding a very effective down and in, sinking fastball and a variety of change-ups. I didn’t see him throw one curveball nor other breaking pitch — making the performance all the more impressive. But then, when your slowest pitch is clocked at 58 MPH and your fastest 93 MPH, you can get by pretty nicely commanding pitches at varying speeds.

After those strong six frames, Pedro Feliciano came on in relief and promptly gave up a double to Tadahito Iguchi, who scored on Shawn Green’s first error in 80 games at first base. It was typical of the Phillies’ day — of their seven hits off of Pedro, three were weak bloops perfectly placed between fielders, with one of them an RBI single by Aaron Rowand.

Feliciano responded by striking out the next three batters — Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, and Ryan Howard — to end the inning. Unfortunately, despite the fact it is September 15th, Willie Randolph still hasn’t figured out that his relief pitchers are not effective beyond one inning. As a result, he pushed Pedro Lite back out there to start the eighth, and whaddya know Aaron Rowand hit a homer on the second pitch he saw to tie the game. The genius known as Randolph brought in Jorge Slider … er, Sosa … to come in one batter too late. However, Sosa wasn’t very effective, walking future Hall of Famers Wes Helms and Pete LaForest (who?!) to face Jimmy Rollins. Somehow before Rollins came to the plate, two outs were made — but that was actually a negative because the runners were going at the crack of the bat. And once again the Phillies got lucky, as Rollins lifted a fly to center that Carlos Beltran either misjudged or lost in the sun. By the time Beltran chased after the ball and got it back to the infield, both runners scored and Rollins was standing on third. Phillies, 5-3.

In the eighth, J.C. “Superman” Romero came on to get a groundout from pinch-hitter Carlos Gomez, and then Tom “Flash” Gordon came on to get two easy outs from Paul LoDuca and Lastings Milledge. With the Mets down by two runs and no one on base, both LoDuca and LMillz swung wildly at the very first offering from Gordon. When Gordon was really “Flash” — about three years ago — I MIGHT excuse that bit of stupidity. But against a guy who’s a shell of his former self, and carrying an ERA near six? Take a strike, dummy.

Notes

Anyone think J.C. Romero might have some “help” since joining the Phillies? You know, kind of like the “help” Guillermo Mota received last year when he joined the Mets? Romero was a bullpen teammate of Juan Rincon with the Twins. It’s sad, isn’t it, that we now have to question anyone who suddenly revitalizes his career? (Mota, cough, cough … Ankiel, cough, cough … )

Pedro was clocked as high as 93 MPH, but I think it may have been a glitch in the tracking by the Shea Stadium gun — partly because he didn’t go above 89 on any other pitch, and partly because Phillies’ reliever Kane Davis was also clocked at 99 on one pitch (his next-fastest clocking was 93).

Although he popped up the pitch, it was good to see Moises Alou swinging on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the third with Beltran on second base and one out. Why? Because pitchers often throw meatballs on 3-0, and Shawn Green was on deck — Green the double play machine. If Alou walks and Green grounds into a DP, it’s essentially the same result (I hope that made sense). As it turned out, Green walked instead of grounding out — but he wouldn’t necessarily have walked if first base were not open and the righty-hitting LoDuca on deck against the righty Kyle Lohse.

The Mets stole four bases in the third inning, the third time they have accomplished the feat in their history (the first time included a TRIPLE steal).

However, there was some buffoonery on the bases. Most glaring: Jose Reyes attempting to steal third base with two outs and David Wright at the plate — and getting thrown out. What the heck was Jose thinking? Beltran had pulled the same stupid stunt in the third inning and got away with it — but it didn’t make it an intelligent move.

Marlon Anderson was thrown out of the game for arguing a full-count strike three call in the ninth. The pitch was at least four inches outside. Reyes walked as the following batter, so instead of first and second with no outs, it was one out and a man on first in the ninth. Going one further, Luis Castillo reached on an infield hit, so it could have been bases loaded, no outs, with David Wright up at the plate. Still, it was too little, too late.

The Mets have now lost seven straight games against the Phillies.

Next Game

Another afternoon game for the finale, with Oliver Perez facing Adam Eaton at 1:10 PM. As mentioned in the Series Preview, the Mets need only win ONE game, and this is the one they need. Ollie has pitched some nice Sunday afternoon games at Shea this year, let’s hope he keeps that trend going.

If Tom Glavine received a little more support from both the bats and bullpen this year, he’d have at least three to four more wins and be a legitimate Cy Young candidate. Friday night’s game was another example of a gem of a game thrown away.

Unfortunately for Glavine, Jamie Moyer matched him pitch-for-pitch. Actually, that’s not quite right, because Moyer didn’t need quite as many — throwing only 76 pitches in 7 innings to Glavine’s 107 in 7 2/3. Both geezers gave up only two runs and two walks in their stints, with Moyer allow one less hit (4 to Glavine’s 5). Each gave up a homerun. If you weren’t a baseball fan, you might have assumed the same pitcher was throwing for both teams — and been fascinated by the speed with which he could change his uniform between half innings.

The Mets offense was completely stalled by Moyer’s offspeed stuff, with only David Wright and Lastings Milledge hitting the ball hard off the graybeard. D-Wright’s two-run homer was half of the offensive output (Moises Alou drove in a run with a single), and though Milledge doubled, he also hit the ball hard two other times but right at people.

The turning point in the game came in the bottom of the 8th, when the Mets loaded the bases with two out but couldn’t score. J.C. Romero — who has been stunningly effective since plucked off the scrap heap — began the inning by plunking Milledge with a pitch. Carlos Gomez was called on to sac bunt, failed twice, then bunted right back to the box with two strikes. Catcher Carlos Ruiz pounced on the ball and fired to second to get Milledge easily. No matter, because Gomez stole second two pitches later, then advanced to third on an infield bouncer by Jose Reyes to put runners on the corners. Bunter extraordinaire Luis Castillo batted next, and with the speedy Gomez dancing off the third base bag, 90% of the stadium was expecting a squeeze. Instead, Castillo swung away and struck out on three pitches. No matter, because MVP candidate David Wright was the next batter, and 99% of the stadium knew he’d come through with the clutch hit. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was one of those 99% and brought in Tom Gordon to make it look like he was trying. Phortunately for the Phils, Gordon hit Wright with the first pitch, loading the bases for Carlos Beltran. That same 99% recognized the situation all too well: bases loaded, two outs, game-winning hit needed, Beltran batting, a curveball expert on the mound. For most of the crowd at Shea, it appeared to be a good time to hit the men’s room. Predictably, Beltran struck out to end the inning.

Billy Wagner pitched a perfect ninth, striking out the side on 12 pitches. The Mets, however, couldn’t score in the bottom of the frame, and when Aaron Heilman came on to pitch the top of the tenth, most people remembered the plotline. Personally, the moment I saw Aaron jog in from the bullpen, I hightailed it to the #7 train — I’d seen this story before.

Notes

Glavine threw more pitches to Jamie Moyer in a third inning at-bat (11) than he did in the entire first inning (8).

Glavine no doubt was kicking himself last night after walking Abraham Nunez on four pitches to lead off the sixth. Nunez eventually came around to score (don’t leadoff walks always seem to do that?) on a Chase Utley homerun, which some mistakenly point to as Glavine’s only mistake of the game (it wasn’t really a mistake, it was a pretty good full-count pitch with Burrell and Howard waiting on deck). In fact, the real mistake was walking Nunez, the 8th hitter with the .241 batting average and zero homeruns in 230+ at-bats. We like to talk about youngsters Ollie Perez and John Maine losing their focus, but the old men are prone to brain farts as well.

Next Game

Pedro Martinez makes his 2007 debut against an NL East team today at 1:10 PM. Kyle Lohse is the scheduled starter for the Phils.

Mets 4 Braves 3

John Maine took a step forward, and deserved to win the game. And though he wasn’t credited with the victory, at least the Mets won.

Maine pitched six strong innings, allowing only three hits, three walks, and one run, striking out five. It was a fine performance, and necessary, as he needed to outpitch John Smoltz — who pitched a fine game himself.

Maine left the game after 102 pitches with a 2-1 lead, thanks to a fifth-inning solo homer by Marlon Anderson. Carlos Beltran drove in the first run of the game in the third frame with a sac fly to score Jose Reyes (now, that’s more like it). After Maine exited, Lastings Milledge — pinch-hitting for Maine — led off the bottom of the seventh by blasting a triple to rightfield past a diving Jeff Francoeur. He scored soon after when Reyes reached out and poked a single through the middle of a drawn-in Braves infield, giving the Mets an insurance run. Jorge Sosa held the lead through the seventh, and after Aaron Heilman got two quick outs in the eighth, things were looking good. However, Heilman then walked Edgar Renteria on four pitches and allowed a single to Mark Teixeira, putting runners on the corners. At that point, manager Willie Randolph panicked — plain and simple.

Instead of leaving Heilman in to clean up his own mess, Randolph turned into Gene Rayburn and thought he was hosting the Match Game. If only Brett Somers were in the dugout to laugh at his moves … or Charles Nelson Reilly to finish a “Dumb Donald” joke. Instead, Rayburn … er, Randolph … had not Reilly or Somers but Feliciano and Mota to call on. Unfortunately, neither could finish the question, and by the end of the inning, no one was laughing.

Feliciano was rushed in to face Brian McCann, who walked on five pitches to load the bases. That failed execution prompted Willie to exit the dugout again and summon Guillermo Mota, who jogged in to a chorus of boos from the hometown fans. Why Randolph thought this situation — facing Jeff Francoeur with the bases loaded — was ideal for Mota, is anyone’s guess. To Mota’s credit, he got ahead of Francoeur and nearly struck him out, but a potential strike three foul tip barely evaded Paul LoDuca’s mitt. Moments later, Francoeur poked a ball in between David Wright and Jose Reyes to score two runs to tie the game and take the victory away from Maine. Again, in Mota’s defense, it was a good pitch in a good spot, and the only other batter who digs that out is Vladimir Guerrero. Luckily, Mota regrouped to strike out Andruw Jones before any more damage could be done.

But the score did not remain tied for long. Once again the Mets answered the bell — something that’s become a common occurrence the last few weeks. Carlos Beltran led off the inning with a single and stole second base to start the process. Moises Alou then grounded out to third, and an alert Beltran took third as Yunel Escobar threw to first. Shawn Green followed with a base hit into right-center to regain the lead.

Billy Wagner came on to pitch a perfect ninth, expending 14 pitches in earning his 34th save of the season.

Notes

Shawn Green continued his dominance of John Smoltz, with two more hits against the future HOFer in addition to his game-winning single. He went 3-for-4 on the evening.

Oddly, due to MLB scoring rules, the victory was officially “earned” by Guillermo Mota. He’s gaining on Heilman for the 2007 vulture award.

Reyes had two more hits and stole his 76th base. He’s warming up, folks.

If Willie Randolph had left Heilman in the game, and Heilman had blown the lead all by himself, I MIGHT have crucified Willie for leaving Heilman in with Feliciano ready to save the day. But probably not. Regardless, the Mota move remains a head-scratcher.

Next Game

Day off on Thursday, then the Phillies come into Shea for a three-game set — the last regular-season series between the teams. Friday night’s opener begins at 7:10 PM and happens to be Dog Day at Shea, and Tom Glavine is scheduled to start against — you guessed it — Jamie Moyer.