Mets 10 Marlins 4

Now, that’s better. The Mets averted a sweep at home by going back to an old stratagem: hit
the ball over the fence.

The Marlins jumped out to a quick one-nothing lead thanks to a leadoff homerun by Hanley Ramirez to start the game, but a Moises Alou three-run blast in the second put the Mets up by two.

In the third, however, Oliver Perez let the Fish right back into the game.

Jose Reyes evened up the score again with a solo blast to lead off the bottom of the third, tying the game four all.

In the fifth, Cody Ross reached on a fielder’s choice, and took second base when Ollie threw away a pickoff attempt. For reasons unknown, Carlos “The Cannon” Delgado tried to get Ross on his way to second, but air-mailed the ball into leftfield, where Alou was applying tanning lotion … or perhaps he lost the play in the sun. In any case, Ross wound up on third by the time the ball came to a final rest. Luckily, though “catch and throw guy” Mike DiFelice nailed the pesky Ross on a successful pickoff attempt to end the inning.

Reyes drew a one-out walk in the bottom half of the inning, and stole second, just barely getting underneath the tag. Ruben Gotay followed with a clothesline rip to right, but it went directly into the glove of Ross for out number two. Carlos Beltran struck out swinging to strand Reyes on second.

In the bottom of the sixth, Moises Alou drilled his second homerun of the game off the Ameritrade sign in left to put the Mets ahead 5-4.

Carlos Delgado blasted a 450-foot, two-run homer in the eighth — off lefthander Tankersley, no less — to add some insurance, putting the Mets ahead 7-4. The Mets weren’t done there, though, as they piled on three more thanks to some perfectly executed hit and runs and aggressive baserunning.

Billy Wagner capped off four innings of shutout relief with a 1-2-3 ninth to bag the game.

Notes

Alou missed a third homer by about twenty feet, driving a ball just inside the leftfield foul pole in the fourth.

Ramon Castro left the game after the third inning with back discomfort and was replaced by Mike DiFelice. Paul LoDuca is already on the DL, so it’s possible we’ll see Sandy Alomar Jr. returning to the big league squad.

Jose Reyes scored from first base on an infield single in the eighth. Reyes had been running on the pitch, and Lastings Milledge poked a grounder that tipped off second baseman Dan Uggla’s glove and bounced a few feet into the outfield grass. Reyes continued on to third, and when Uggla took his sweet time getting to the ball, Jose ran through a rare stop sign by Sandy Alomar and scored — kicking the ball out of catcher Matt Treanor’s glove in the process. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone score from first on an infield hit before … have you?

Not sure if it’s because he doesn’t get enough opportunities to catch pitchers in games, if he’s lazy, if it was because of his back issue, or if his technique is flawed, but Castro was awful behind the plate in his three innings of work. There were a few pitches in the dirt that he should have blocked — two in particular in the third inning that led to runs — and his overall defensive execution was less than adequate. I don’t like the way he receives pitches — often it’s like he’s stabbing at the ball and I think it has a lot to do with inexperience with the Mets’ hurlers. Perez looks like a very difficult guy to catch if you’re used to him, but he must be next to impossible for Castro, who catches him in games maybe once a month. Considering his back problem and lack of playing time, I’m willing to give him a free pass this time.

Now that I’m on the subject, I don’t like the way LoDuca receives the ball, either. Both backstops jerk the ball back into the strike zone too much — their attempt at “framing” the pitch I presume. Framing might work with amateur umpires, but at the MLB level, it is a waste of effort and disrespectful — but, everyone does it. Umpires have already decided ball or strike about a foot or two before the pitch hits the catcher’s glove. What catchers don’t realize is that they probably lose four or five strikes for every one they “steal” when they’re trying to frame every other pitch. It’s a much better plan to simply catch the pitch when it’s a strike, keep the glove still, and give the umpire a good look at it.

Ruben Gotay should abandon righthanded hitting altogether. He’s tense, without confidence, does not see the ball well, has a lot of head movement, and doesn’t have a very good swing — jumping at the ball rather than keeping his balance and swinging smoothly.

Speaking of switch hitters, after saying he was unavailable to bat righthanded, Beltran came up as a righty against Taylor Tankersley in the seventh (he flew out, and lived to talk about it). He also said he would not bat lefty against a lefty because he’d never done it before. Kind of a dumb statement, dontcha think? This is baseball, ‘Los, not brain surgery … no one’s likely to lose their life if you screw up. I imagine he’s not much fun at amusement parks, or in the bedroom, with that kind of attitude.

Crazy stat: in Mets wins, Jose Reyes is batting .351. In Mets losses, he’s hitting .251. So anyone who poo-poo’s the concept of “As Reyes goes, so go the Mets”, better re-check the numbers.

Next Game

The Mets begin a three-game series against the Pirates on Tuesday. El Duque is scheduled to face Ian Snell in a 7:05 PM start.

It’s going to be a nervous six weeks, folks. Let’s hope the Mets get hot.

Marlins 7 Mets 5

Future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine left the game with one out in the seventh and a 3-1 lead. Unfortunately, in this day and age, Hall of Famers have no effect nor impact on whether their team wins or loses. No, the final outcome of a game is in the hands of a team’s worst pitchers — the ones not good enough to start, and not good enough to close.

I’m not going to go over the scoring nor play by play. Instead, I’m using the time saved to sell off the rest of my Mets tickets. If you’re interested in watching, in person, a team fold like wet blanket down the stretch, drop me a line.

Next Game

The Marlins go for the sweep at Shea at 1:10 PM. Rick VandenHurk is poised to pitch the game of his life against Oliver Perez. Perez will attempt to break his recent habit of averaging less than one earned run per inning.

If you’re interested in seeing the 2007 NL East Champions, watch ESPN at 8:05 PM, as they will be carrying the Braves-Phillies matchup — two teams fighting for first place. Philadelphia sends ageless wonder Jamie Moyer to the hill against one of the top young righthanders in the game, Buddy Carlyle.

Marlins 4 Mets 3

That was great comedy. Now can we please move on to the game?

Oh crap … that WAS the game.

The Mets played a cruel joke on their fans who braved the elements on this cold and soggy Friday evening, losing painfully to a far inferior club. At times, being held to three runs is understandable — because the opposing pitcher has been so dominant on a particular night. In this case, there is no explanation. All you can do is shake your head.

With the Mets up by one in the top of the ninth, Miguel Olivo — who owns Wagner for unexplained reasons — led off with a single up the middle. After a strikeout, pinch-hitter Jason Wood worked a walk, and Hanley Ramirez followed with a 400-foot blast just shy of the centerfield wall and outside the grasp of Carlos Beltran, who had initially misjudged the drive. The blast drove in both runs and landed Ramirez on second with a two-run double that put the Fish up by one. The Mets went down with barely a whimper in the bottom of the frame against Marlins closer Kevin Gregg.

It’s not fair nor logical to blame this game on Billy Wagner, who had been perfect since June. Nor can you believe that the game was lost because Carlos Beltran mis-read a fly ball off the bat of Ramirez. No more was this game lost in the ninth than the previous night’s game lost because Willie Harris robbed Carlos Delgado of a homerun for the final out. This game was lost, plain and simple, because the Mets did not execute in the previous eight innings.

The Marlins got on the board first when Ramirez singled to lead off the game, stole second and third, and was driven in by a Josh Willingham single. They scored again in the second when Mike Jacobs singled, took second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a hit by Miguel Olivo, then scored on a base hit by Jeremy Hermida.

That was all starter Brian Lawrence would allow, in an admirable outing. He pitched six innings, allowed two runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, striking out 6. I don’t think the Mets could have asked for much more from the fringe fifth starter.

Down by two, the Mets marched back in the fifth. Jose Reyes led off the inning by reaching on an error by second baseman Dan Uggla, and was joined on the bases by Luis Castillo, who turned an attempted sacrifice bunt into a base hit. Carlos Beltran followed with a blast over the right-center fence to put the Mets up 3-2. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring the Mets could accomplish against a starting pitcher and middle relievers that would be considered mediocre at the the AAA level.

Notes

Paul LoDuca was the only Met in the lineup with more than one hit. He went 2-for-3.

Beltran’s blast was the best he could do in his first game back. He struck out in his other three trips to the plate. It was good to see him back in centerfield, partially because he got to everything with ease — other than the Ramirez drive in the ninth — and kept several runners from taking extra bases (and scoring) based on the respect of his arm.

By the way, Beltran’s ability to start against the lefthanded Scott Olsen tomorrow is questionable, because Beltran is not comfortable batting righty due to his oblique strain. Am I crazy, or why not simply bat lefty? I’d much rather have Beltran in the lineup batting lefty vs. a lefty and playing centerfield, than seeing Lastings Milledge take his place. Nothing against Milledge — but I’d much rather see “Stings” in rightfield tomorrow alongside Beltran instead of Shawn Green. Lets use our heads here people — can Beltran do worse as a lefty against a lefty than Green has done against lefties? And which gloves would you rather see out there? LMillz in center and Green in right or Beltran in center and LMillz in right? It’s astounding that this even being contemplated.

Jorge Sosa pitched two perfect innings of relief, striking out one. He is quickly becoming Willie Randolph’s version of Scott Proctor. Luckily it’s late enough in the season that he likely won’t be burnt out.

I’ve stated it before, I’ll state it again: the Marlins and “hustle” will never be confused. Instead of being called the “fish”, they should be called the “dogs”. One glaring example is their emerging superstar Hanley Ramirez, who stood and watched his ninth inning drive to center rather than getting his ass out of the box and running toward first. Just what in the world was he doing? Admiring what might have been a long fly out? We’d heard all kinds of great reports about manager Fredi Gonzalez, but I’m not seeing anything near the influence Joe Girardi had on these kids a year ago. Nevermind the regression of their pitching — we know that’s the main reason the Marlins have lost more games this — but they play like losers. You can still carry yourself like a winner, and play winning baseball, despite being on the losing end of the final score.

Next Game

Well the Fish screwed me up with their starting Dan Barone in the first contest, so I have no idea who’s pitching for them in Saturday night’s game. We’ll guess Scott Olsen faces Tom Glavine in the 7:10 PM start.

Braves 7 Mets 6

Sometimes, it can be very difficult to be a passionate student of the game, while also root for the team playing Bobby Cox’s Braves. Because anyone who is truly into the little things that win games, has a hard time not respecting and appreciating “the Braves way”.

It was nice to see the Mets fight back and try to come from behind in the last inning; it showed chutzpah, and gave the fans something to get excited about. However, do not fall for the ruse that they “came up just short”; had they played solid, hard-nosed baseball for the other eight innings, they might not have had to resort to dramatic fireworks at the end of the game to make it close — and would have had a better chance to win the game.

While the Mets are exciting, the Braves are boring — yet at the end of the game, the scoreboard shows the Braves as the winning team. This contest was typical of any Bobby Cox win from the last 16 years. It’s called fundamentals folks … and it may be hard to swallow for the passive Mets fan, who is used to waiting for their team to hit a three-run homer.

Though, the Braves were helped by the ball over the fence in this contest — it just was more of a surprise than part of the plan. If you watched the game, you saw the Braves execute the following:

1. consistently taking the extra base on the basepaths (this included their catcher)
2. dropping perfect bunts
3. playing both solid and extraordinary defense
4. throwing strikes
5. putting the ball in play
6. advancing runners with outs
7. scoring runs with outs

When a team constantly performs the above, it will almost always put itself into position to win the game. If a team does all the above, AND hits the ball over the fence, it’s gravy and they score seven runs. This is what’s called “grinding out” wins. It’s also what Willie Randolph wishes his team could do, as he was a “grinder” as a player — but hasn’t been able to get his team to play similarly for the most part (though, some of that is due to the personnel at his disposal; trying to get guys like Carlos Delgado, Ramon Castro, and Moises Alou grind is akin to forcing a square peg into a round hole).

Anyway …

John Maine did not have his good command in this game, and had one of his 2006-like flake-outs in the fifth, which resulted in a three-run homer by — who else? — Larry Jones, which put the Braves ahead 5-2. The Mets got one back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Carlos Delgado, but didn’t do anything else until the ninth, when Ruben Gotay TOOK A STRIKE before smacking and infield hit, and was followed by a Jose Reyes double. Gotay scored on a grounder by Luis Castillo, and then Reyes scored on a David Wright bomb over the fence.

Notes

Mark Teixeira made an outstanding diving play on a ground ball over the bag in the fifth inning, with Reyes on first, that killed a potential double and likely a run. The play made pretty clear why Teixeira won a Gold Glove in the AL. Willie Harris made TWO outstanding defensive plays in leftfield, first stealing a double from Moises Alou early in the game, and then stealing a homer from Delgado in the bottom of the ninth. These three plays were the difference of the ballgame, and should be helpful to those who wonder why some teams care so much about defense.

Marlon Anderson left the game in the fourth inning after diving for a ball and spraining his wrist. Lastings Milledge replaced him, but was also seen getting his wrist taped up by the Mets trainer between innings. What kind of a voo-doo spell has been put on the Mets outfielders this year?

Against the Braves, the Mets’ lack of sound fundamentals are much more glaring than against lesser teams. On defense — and in stark contrast to the Braves — the Mets made several defensive gaffes — none of which resulted in errors but many of which led to the loss. For example, in the third, Marlon Anderson got a poor jump on a Kelly Johnson drive that ended up being a triple. We understand that Marlon’s not a centerfielder, but that’s exactly the point: he’s not a centerfielder. Luckily, Johnson didn’t score, but it gave the Braves an extra out and forced Maine to throw more pitches. Later, in the sixth inning, Yunel Escobar slapped a base hit, stole second, and made it to third when Ramon Castro threw the ball into the dirt, it skipped into center, and Milledge was nowhere near the ball and allowed Escobar to get to third. Shame on Castro, both Reyes and Castillo, and on Milledge. Then, with two strikes, Tim Hudson dropped a suicide squeeze to score Escobar, as Delgado had no chance to make the play. Now maybe the Mets can’t defend that play, but kudos to the Braves for executing it. Later in the inning, Castro made an awful attempt to block a pitch in the dirt, which put runners on second and third for Larry. Larry popped out to end the inning, so it didn’t matter, but it was another example of poor execution. Those were just a few of the issues that the average fan likely doesn’t notice, but when you add up all these little things, it’s easy to see how a team can lose or win a game.

On offense, the Mets’ fundamentals pale in comparison to the Braves, partly because of their lack of athleticism. Case in point: Moises Alou drives a ball down the leftfield line with two outs and Delgado on first. 99% of MLB players are athletic enough to get a good two-out jump at the crack of the bat and score on that drive. Delgado, however, slowly jogs into third. Another example: eighth inning, down by four, Ramon Castro takes a pitch that almost hits him, then swings at the next pitch and grounds out to short. Milledge follows by grounding the first pitch to Larry at third. Down four runs, the Mets are out on five pitches — the only reason there are five is because Shawn Green leads off by (correctly) taking a strike and Castro is nearly hit by a pitch. Strange, it doesn’t feel like June, yet the insanity of that month has returned.

I know I’ve stated this before, but the Mets pitchers need to make opposing batters dance once in a while. Larry and Teixeira, in particular, are WAAAAAAAAY too comfortable in the batter’s box. Beanballs are not necessary — but a pitch on the inside, making the batter move his feet, is all that’s necessary. Or did you not notice Hudson, Soriano, and Smoltz getting Mets batters to dance several times in the series?

The Mets finally turned a double play against the Braves, but it resulted in a run being scored. Another head-scratching moment for Willie, as it came in the seventh with the Mets down by three. Someone please explain why the infield was back in that situation? Very, very strange that two nights earlier, down by four, Willie is changing pitchers like it’s the seventh game of th World Series, but down by three in this game, he gives away the run. My theory? Willie doesn’t care for, nor feel the need to win, weekday afternoon games.

Next Game

The Mets host the Marlins in a 7:10 PM start. Brian Lawrence goes to the hill against Scott Olsen — who remarkably is not behind bars this week.

Mets 4 Braves 3

The Mets needed to only take one game in this series, and they did it — and now have an opportunity to win the series and gain another game on the Braves.

Once again, Orlando Hernandez rose to the occasion, matching John Smoltz pitch for pitch until the sixth inning. Just as important, the Mets offense showed mettle and gumption, coming from behind late in the game to tie and then win the game.

As mentioned in the previous game recap, the hot and humid, heavy air in Shea Stadium was an advantage for El Duque, who relied almost exclusively on sharp breaking pitches of all speeds the first two times through the Atlanta lineup. The third time through, however, the Braves turned the tables on Hernandez, scratching out three runs in the top of the sixth inning. El Duque struck out the first two batters of the inning, but then Willie Harris worked an excellent 10-pitch at-bat that took the steam out of Hernandez. Kelly Johnson, Chipper Jones, and Mark Teixeira followed Harris with consecutive base hits, and just like that the Braves were up 3-1.

Meantime, the Mets were only able to manufacture one run — in the first inning — off John Smoltz, who didn’t have great command of his fastball but was spot on with the slider. Jose Reyes led off the game with a base hit, made it to second on a pickoff attempt gone awry, was sacrificed to third by Luis Castillo, and came home on a David Wright sac fly. The Mets didn’t threaten again until the bottom of the seventh.

Shawn Green started the Mets’ seventh with a single up the middle, his third hit of the game off Smoltz. After Paul LoDuca flied out, Lastings Milledge singled off reliever Pat Mahay, and pinch-hitter Damion Easley walked to load the bases. Jose Reyes flied out to shallow right, and it looked like the Mets were not going to take advantage of the rally. However, Luis Castillo dropped a single into center to score Green and Milledge to tie the game.

Aaron Heilman then came on to pitch a scoreless eighth, and in the bottom of the inning Moises Alou blasted a homerun off Rafael Soriano to put the Mets ahead 4-3.

Billy Wagner came on the ninth, but it wasn’t exactly a done deal when Enter Sandman was played. Wagner had no command of his fastball and fell behind 2-0 to Chipper Jones before Jones lined a single. Teixeira followed with another single, and Chris Woodward was brought in to bunt for Brian McCann. Wags walked Woodward on five pitches, throwing the ball all over the place, to load the bases with none out. Miraculously, he found the plate long enough to get hot-hitting Francoeur to ground a ball to David Wright, who threw to home for the forceout. Andrew Jones followed with a grounder to Castillo that resulted in the game-ending double play.

Notes

Paul LoDuca threw out Willie Harris attempting to steal in the eighth to thwart a potential rally. It was a key moment, as Kelly Johnson was at the plate and Larry Jones on deck and who knows what might have ensued if Harris were safe.

Shawn Green went 4-for-4 and has a nine-game hitting streak.

Luis Castillo went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI (his first two RBI as a Met) and a sac bunt; he’s hitting .344 as a Met this year.

Alou’s homer was his first as a Met at Shea.

El Duque went 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks, and striking out 7.

Next Game

Another camp day, as the Mets and Braves face off at 12:10 PM. John Maine takes the hill against Tim Hudson. Since it’s a weekday afternoon game, we’ll likely see Ramon Castro behind the plate and Ruben Gotay at second base. Maybe the noontime start will throw Hudson off his game.