Mets 12 Brewers 4

This game recap is brought to you by Reef, makers of the cool-looking leather flip-flops with the bottle opener built into the sole (really, it does have a bottle-opener!).

I know, I know … looking at the final score, it doesn’t look like much flip-flopping occurred. But if you check the linescore, you’ll see it was a fairly interesting game until the seventh inning. Mets go up by two, Brewers tie it with two. Mets score a run, Brewers score a run. Etcetera, etcetera …

As always, the Mets scored first, in the initial inning. David Wright got a two-out rally going by hustling a single into a double, and was doubled in by Carlos Delgado. Moises Alou followed with a single to drive in Delgado and give the Mets a quick 2-0 lead.

However, the Brewers charged back with two of their own in the bottom of the second, thanks to a rash of hits by Johnny Estrada, Tony Graffanino, Chris Capuano, and Corey Hart.

The score remained tied until the fifth, when David Wright blasted a solo homer. I think it’s time for Keith Hernandez to stop saying “I’m just waiting for David to bust out”. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Corey Hart (sans sunglasses) answered with a solo shot of his own, tying up the game again.

In the top of the sixth, the Mets took over the lead once again, when Alou doubled and Damion Easley followed with an inside-the-park homerun. It looked as though the Brewers might respond in the bottom of the frame, as they loaded the bases with two out for the red-hit Hart, but Jorge Sosa induced him to popup to Delgado in foul territory.

The Mets began to mount a rally opening the seventh, as Wright singled, Delgado was hit by a pitch, and Easley singled to load the bases with one out. Ramon Castro whiffed for the second out, but Lastings Milledge worked a 3-1 count before bouncing a ball past the glove of J.J. Hardy, driving in two. Jorge Sosa then hit for himself and extended the lead to 8-3 by blasting a ground-rule double to left-center.

Just for good measure, the Mets scored another four runs in the ninth, via a two-RBI ground-rule double by Marlon Anderson and a two-run homer off the bat of Jose Reyes.

Notes

Brian Lawrence made his debut as a Met, and though was not overpowering, he got enough outs to keep the team in the game. He took advantage of the aggressive Brewer hitters, who appeared to be salivating and trying to pull everything he threw into the leftfield seats. In five innings of work, he allowed 8 hits, no walks, and 3 runs, striking out 3. I’m not sure why Willie Randolph removed him from the game after five, but I’ll guess it had to do with his throwing 90 pitches (?). Also not sure why Willie entrusted the two-run lead to Scott Schoeneweis, but I suppose he was “playing a hunch”. Luckily he removed “The Show” before too much damage was inflicted, and Sosa put out the fire.

Those who remember back to 2005, when Aaron Heilman was pitching out of the bullpen “temporarily”, can see what’s going on with Jorge Sosa. Sosa pitched out of another jam in the sixth, en route to stellar two and one-third inning outing. In my opinion, middle relief is ideal for Sosa, unless he ever comes up with a legit third pitch.

Lastings Milledge continues to have a problem with Moises Alou on fly balls hit into the left-center gap. Milledge’s speed and aggressiveness carries him into Alou’s limited domain, and the unwritten law is that the centerfield takes whatever he can handle. Alou, however, either doesn’t hear Milledge, doesn’t understand him, or is pushing his veteran ego around by ignoring him. If it happens a few times a year, no biggie, but this type of incident has occurred multiple times, sometimes more than once in a game, since LM has started playing center. Alou may think he’s in the right, but if he doesn’t start yielding to the hard-charging Stings, he’s going to find himself on an all-too-familiar list — the disabled one.

Easley and Milledge both went 3-for-5 at the plate, and Wright had a 4-for-5 day, raising his average to .304.

Next Game

The Mets travel to Chicago for three games with the Cubs, beginning with another afternoon start. Orlando Hernandez duels against Carlos Zambrano at 2:20 PM.

Mets 8 Brewers 5

Willie’s played about a hundred hunches this year, and, finally, one paid off.

Instead of penciling Lastings Milledge into the “8” hole — both on the field and in the lineup — he instead wrote “Marlon Anderson” in the sixth spot of the order, and “CF” next to his name. Anderson repaid the insanity by driving in four runs in his first two at-bats, including a three-run homer that put the Mets ahead 7-5 in the third and chased starter Claudio Vargas from the ballgame.

Anderson had singled in Carlos Delgado the inning before, and Ramon Castro followed with a two-run bomb that put the Mets ahead 4-3. Milwaukee answered by jumping ahead to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the second via a walk, two singles, and an atrocious error by Shawn “Flipper” Green, who inexplicably dove for a blooper he had no chance of catching and let it bounce over his head and to the outfield wall behind him.

Green made up for the gaffe — sort of — by blasting a solo homer over the right-centerfield wall in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-5.

Oliver Perez had a strong performance, despite allowing five runs. He pitched six innings, threw 115 pitches, and gave up five hits, three walks, one homer, four earned runs, and struck out 11. If you watched the game, he was a lot more dominating than the boxscore might suggest. I’m still not sure how those five runs scored … though I vaguely remember a three-run homer by the Pillsbury Doughboy in the first inning.

After blowing Tom Glavine’s shot at his 300th career victory, Guillermo Mota came on in relief to pitch two perfect innings. Maybe Willie should put him out there to start innings more often — he seems fine as long as there aren’t any runners on base.

Billy Wagner struggled in the ninth, allowing two singles and throwing 24 pitches, but grinded out his 25th save in 26 chances.

Notes

Good thing Marlon hit that bomb in the third. I was throwing things at the TV when third base umpire Chad Fairchild (huh … same schmuck with the tiny strike zone) called Carlos Delgado out on the swing in the previous at-bat. In case you missed it, the count was 2-2, and an inside pitch looked like it grazed Delgado’s forearm as he started to swing, then stopped and tried to get out of the way of the ball. While he was getting out of the way, he dropped the bat behind him before his hands came forward — it looked like it might have dropped right on top of the catcher’s foot. If anything, it should have been called a hit-by-pitch, at the very least a ball. However, the plate umpire asked Fairchild for help and he was only too happy to punch him out. That guy must have grown up a Braves fan. Interestingly, Willie Randolph remained on the bench, and didn’t bother to argue. A minute later, Moises Alou grounded out to third (a fantastic play by Ryan Braun, BTW), so within sixty seconds the Mets went from possibly having bases loaded and none out to two out and men on second and third.

Guillermo Mota was working much more quickly than normal in this game. Perhaps a suggestion by Rick Peterson to pick up the tempo forces Mota to think less and just throw? With the kind of talent Mota has, his lack of success can be due only to whatever is going on in his head. If speeding up his rhythm helps him to be more effective, I say, “zip, zip, my friend!”

Gary Cohen has pointed a few times in the last few games, the fact that batters watch the ball on the ground as they run down the first base line after a bunt. It’s a valid point — what the heck are these guys doing? After the ball comes off the bat, put your head down and run like there’s a rabid pitbull on your butt until you’re two steps past the first base bag. End of story.

Am I crazy, or did I hear “Hava Nagila” played sporadically in Miller Park during the game? It was never played when Shawn Green — or any other Jewish player — was at-bat, though it seemed to be played at least twice when Oliver Perez came to bat (a coincidence, I’m sure). Now I know that the Brewers ownership — the Seligs — are Jewish, but I wonder how many Milwaukee fans are wearing yarmulkes under their cheeseheads? (That can’t be kosher.) Personally, I’d like to hear “Hava Nagila” played at Shea when Green comes to bat — much the way “Volare” is played when LoDuca’s up — and am not being critical of it being played in Milwaukee. Rather, I’m curious, as I thought the city was at least 95% Christian.

Julio Franco was DFA’d by the Braves to make room for Octavio Dotel, so the Mets have a chance to claim him on waivers and return him to the role of “big-mouth cranky useless ancient guy”. My guess is they’ll pass.

Next Game

The series finale pits newly promoted Brian Lawrence against Chris Capuano in a 2:05 PM start. Catch it on MLB.com while at work or feign sickness from bad meatloaf at the caf and rush home to see it on SNY. (Or, record it with your DVR / Tivo.)

Brewers 4 Mets 2

Number 300 will have to wait, though it was no fault of Tommy Glavine.

Glavine looked great in his first three innings, holding the Brewers hitless. However, he walked J.J. Hardy to begin the fourth, then gave up a single to Ryan Braun that Moises Alou bobbled, allowing Hardy to reach third. The next batter, Prince Fielder, grounded out up the middle to score Hardy with the first run of the game.

In the top of the sixth, Jose Reyes stroked a single that he hustled into a double when Billy Hall didn’t come up with the ball right away. Luis Castillo followed with a beauty of a bunt that moved him to third, and David Wright bounced a full-count pitch over the drawn-in Ryan Braun to score Reyes and tie the game. Carlos Delgado then reached for an outside pitch and pulled it into right-center for a single, pushing Wright to third. Alou followed with a deep fly to right that scored Wright easily, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. Shawn Green then blasted a double to the left-center wall, but Delgado was nailed at the plate on a fine relay throw by Tony Graffanino (Billy Hall had overthrown cutoff man J.J. Hardy, but Graffanino was alertly backing up). Not sure what windmill man Sandy Alomar was thinking, because Delgado was barely rounding third and running out of gas when Graffanino had the ball just a few feet from the infield dirt. Not a good gamble with hot-hitting Ramon Castro on deck.

Glavine pitched six full innings, and started the seventh, but was removed after allowing a leadoff single to Damian Miller. The crowd at Miller Park offered him a standing ovation as he walked into the dugout. His stat line: 6 innings, 2 hits, 5 walks, 1 earned run, 2 strikeouts, 95 pitches.

Aaron Heilman came on in relief and induced a double play grounder on his first pitch to Tony Graffanino, who inexplicably was not bunting. Pinch-hitter Craig Counsell was, however, and dropped a beauty that Ramon Castro could not pounce on quickly enough with the cinderblocks tied to his shoes. Heilman, however, settled down to get another grounder from Corey Hart to end the inning.

In the eighth, Graffanino led off the inning by fisting a full-count fastball just beyond the reach of Jose Reyes for a bloop basehit. Heilman then retired Ryan Braun on a flyout to left before giving way to Pedro Feliciano to face Prince Fielder. Feliciano hit Fielder on the elbow to put the go-ahead run on first, and Guillermo Mota came on to put out the fire. Mota, however, threw gas — and I don’t mean he was throwing fast. Rather, he accelerated the flame. Bill Hall drilled his first pitch — a high, fat changeup — into left field and over the fence on a bounce for a ground-rule double to tie the game. Where Mota came up with that choice of pitch and location is anyone’s guess. Eventually, the Brewers were retired and the game remained tied, but not before Graffanino nearly lifted a Mota meatball to the base of the leftfield wall.

The Mets couldn’t score in the top of the ninth, and Jorge Sosa was brought on to pitch the bottom of the ninth. Strangely, he chose to pitch out of the stretch, rather than the windup, and walked leadoff batter Geoff Jenkins on four pitches. Corey Hart followed with a hard bunt that skipped past Carlos Delgado, who with those feet could have played the role of Sondra Lomax in the movie “Lady in Cement“. J.J. Hardy followed with a sacrifice to put runners on second and third, with hot-hitting Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder coming up next. Despite getting royally squeezed by the home plate umpire, Sosa managed to strike out Braun, getting him to chase sliders a foot out of the strike zone. Fielder was walked intentionally to load the bases and bring eighth-inning hero Bill Hall to the plate. Hall fell behind 0-2, but worked the count full before blooping a Texas leaguer to center that looked to be the game-winning hit before Lastings Milledge came out of nowhere and made a spectacular diving catch to end the inning.

In the top of the tenth, Milwaukee reliever Matt Wise threw 10 straight balls, walking David Wright and Carlos Delgado, before being removed for lefty Brian Shouse with a 2-0 count on Moises Alou. Shouse threw another ball before throwing a strike, then gave Moises “DP” Alou an ideal pitch to bounce into a routine double play. With two outs and Wright on third, Damion Easley was sent up to pinch-hit for Shawn Green, but Brewers manager Ned Yost countered with righty Chris Spurling, who struck out Easley to end the threat.

In the bottom of the eleventh, Aaron Sele came in and was victimized by back-to-back basehits by Geoff Jenkins and Corey Hart to start the inning and set up another sacrifice bunt for J.J. Hardy. However, Carlos Delgado pounced on the ball immediately and threw out Jenkins for his first assist to third base since 1992 (when he was a minor league catcher). Sele then induced a double play grounder from Ryan Braun to end the frame.

Prince Fielder nearly ended the game twice leading off the bottom of the 12th, hitting two 1400-foot shots just inside the rightfield foul pole and into the upper deck. OK, they weren’t exactly 1400 feet, but I’m counting the Kingman-like height on the ball as well as the distance. Fielder eventually stroked a single, and was sacrificed to second by Rickie Weeks. That brought up Kevin Mench, who was 6-for-12 lifetime vs. Sele before that at-bat. However, Mench popped up to center for the second out, and got Damian Miller to fly out to an again diving Milledge.

Leading off the 13th and therefore no possibility of hitting into a double play, Moises Alou welcomed Dave Bush with a single to start the inning. Damion Easley struck out on a full count slider, but Alou was running on the pitch and barely stole second. (Mets fans everywhere breathed a sigh of relief when Alou reached his feet unscathed.) Ramon Castro bounced out to third for the second out, and Milledge went to short for his grounder that ended the inning.a

For the third straight time, the Brewers led off the inning with a hit, as Tony Graffanino hit a double down the leftfield line off Sele. Geoff Jenkins followed by mashing a 1-2 pitch over the rightfield fence to end the game. When he reached home plate, the Brewers mobbed him like it was the World Series. Relax, guys — all you did was stay in first for another day.

Notes

Why Bud Selig wasn’t in attendance to witness this game is anybody’s guess. Milwaukee is Selig’s home, and Glavine’s potential 300th win is much more significant than any other milestones about to be reached. Unless you think there is a better chance of seeing another 300-game winner before another homerun king? Yeah, I thought so.

Glavine got squeezed pretty tightly by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild — which was expected as Fairchild has a small strike zone. Glavine’s response was to steer his change-up more toward the middle of the plate early in the count. There was one point, however, in the fourth where Glavine started off Damian Miller with a pitcher’s pitch on the outside edge of the plate and didn’t get the call from Fairchild. Glavine responded with frustrated body language, and Fairchild walked a few steps out toward the mound and said something to Glavine. Ramon Castro and Rick Peterson trotted out to the mound in unison to diffuse a situation that could have turned ugly, as Tommy was fired up and may have gotten himself tossed if given the opportunity.

With Glavine in a pinch — one out, a man on third and a 3-0 count — Bill Hall offered a gift by swinging wildly at a low change-up off the outside of the plate, popping up for the second out of the inning. Dumb baseball.

How about Glavine’s kid wearing a David Wright jersey?

Shawn Green made a great diving catch in the sixth with two outs and runners on first and third to save a run and end the inning. He showed no fear of the rightfield wall, which was about five feet from his face when he hit the ground. Green may be slow in the field, and only a shell of his former self, but you have to admire his all-out play — he seemed to be giving a little bit extra in this game, perhaps because Glavine’s #300 was on the line.

Speaking of, Aaron Heilman was pretty revved up himself for this game, touching 97 MPH on the gun a few times.

When Feliciano was removed from the game, I wondered if Willie Randolph had considered bringing in Billy Wagner for a five-out save. Crazy, I know, but Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, Sparky Lyle, and Skip Lockwood did it all the time. I’m certain Wagner would have been willing and up to the task, to save Glavine’s 300th.

Mota’s confidence is shot. He is of no use to the Mets in tight situations while his psyche is damaged. He and Aaron Sele should switch roles for a few weeks.

Jorge Sosa in the bullpen means Mike Pelfrey gets another start? The Mets normally would have to wait ten days after demoting Pelfrey to AAA, but I believe he can come back if someone — such as Paul LoDuca — is placed on the DL. If not Pelfrey, then perhaps we’ll see the 2007 debut of Philip Humber, who had been held back from his regular turn in New Orleans due to food poisoning (was he really sick, or being kept out to prevent injury in the event he was traded for Cordero?).

I know it’s only one game, but not getting Chad Cordero, Eric Gagne, or any other top reliever at the trading deadline looms as a much larger disappointment after seeing the bullpen give away Glavine’s 300th win. Who can the Mets count on out of the ‘pen, besides Billy Wagner?

Luis Castillo’s debut as a Met was inauspicious at the plate, but he flashed a good glove, making several nice plays ranging to his left and right. The Mets can’t expect him to get on base the way he did three or four years ago, but he should save a few runs in the field with his sure hands and ability to turn the double play.

Scary stat: of Luis Castillo’s 106 base hits this year, 36 were infield singles. That explains how he’s hitting .300 with that sick-looking swing. The Brewers outfielders were playing so shallow on him, it looked like a little league game when the girl on the other team comes up.

Strange move by Willie in the top of the 11th, originally getting Ruben Gotay ready to pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot, then switching to David Newhan with two out. Newhan singled, but why burn him — a guy who can play several positions, including the outfield — instead of Gotay in an extra-inning affair? Personally, I’d be more comfy having the versatile Newhan available — especially with Green and Marlon Anderson already out of the game and Easley in right — just in case.

The knock on Ryan Braun — and the reason he didn’t join the Brewers sooner — was suspect defense. However, he made at least two web gems in this game and looked like a Gold Glover at the hot corner … oh, except for his 15th error of the season in the seventh.

Geoff Jenkins is on fire, but likely won’t play with the lefty Ollie Perez pitching on Wednesday. Thank goodness.

As we suspected here at MetsToday, Carlos Beltran was placed on the 15-day DL just a few minutes after the trade deadline. Luis Castillo took his place on the roster, so the Mets are still an outfielder and a relief pitcher short. We’ll guess that Paul LoDuca hits the DL tomorrow, as the Mets really need to add an arm to the roster.

Next Game

The Mets and Brewers do it again at 8:05 PM, with Oliver Perez facing Dave Bush.