Cardinals 5 Mets 3

Is it possible to win when your entire team is nearly out-hit by a 98-pound weakling named Brendan Ryan?

OK, he’s listed at 6’2″ 195, but don’t believe it for a minute. He might actually be David Eckstein in elevator spikes and a larger uniform.

Ryan, a banjo hitter in the minors, went 3-for-4 with the game-winning homerun in the 11th, a lazy fly ball that somehow cut through the muck and humidity and over the fence in leftfield. How? Oh, that’s right — Scott Bloweneweis was on the mound.

I was walking into a mens room at Shea when “The Show” was announced over the loudspeaker. A collective “that’s it, game over” reverberated off the marble walls. No one rushed back to their seat.

A shame, really, because the Mets had shown some gumption in the game, coming back from a 3-1 deficit via a solo homer by Paul LoDuca in the eighth and a mini-rally in the bottom of the ninth to tie things up against Cardinal closer Jason Isringhausen.

Izzy was brought into the 8th for a four-out save, but things didn’t quite work out that way. He retired the one batter he faced in the 8th, then got two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth. The game appeared over when Shawn Green fell behind 0-2 on a fastball and a knuckle-curve. However, Isringhausen lost his touch, Green worked the count full, and with the support of a suddenly rambunctious Shea Stadium crowd, walked on the next pitch. The crowd went crazy, as seeing a baserunner in a Mets uniform is a rarity these days. Isringhausen then fell behind Jose Valentin 2-1, and on the next pitch Green took off for second — and Valentin stroked a line-drive into the rightfield corner, chasing a scampering Green all the way home.

Isringhausen was in the midst of a meltdown, as he walked pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee, but Willie Randolph felt bad for the ex-Met and offered 48-year-old Julio Franco for fodder. Franco put up a good fight for an old man, but was no match for even a weary Isringhausen, and grounded meekly to second base to end the inning.

Billy Wagner wasted nine pitches for a perfect 10th, as the Mets were unable to score and finally gave up by bringing Schoeneweis in to end the game.

Notes

Other than Bloweneweis, the Mets’ bullpen did a fine job. Remarkably, the crowd at Shea heavily booed Aaron Heilman when he was removed from the game — apparently those nincompoops were not actually watching the game (most likely texting their friends or waving at the SNY cameras). Heilman came on in relief of Perez in the seventh with men on first and second and one out. He gave up a fly ball to So Taguchi for the second out, but Brendan Ryan tagged up and made it to third on the out. Scott Spiezio then hit a ball back through the box that Heilman deflected, and Jose Valentin fumbled, allowing Ryan to score. It was ruled a hit, but from where I was sitting it looked like Valentin could have, and should have, made the play. Heilman then got Albert Pujols to ground out and end the inning.

In the eighth, Juan Encarnacion led off by fisting a single to center, Ryan Ludwick struck out, and Aaron Miles bounced a seeing-eye single past a rangeless Jose Valentin on a hit-and-run, putting runners on first and third. Heilman induced a popup from Kelly Stinnett for out number two, but Brendan Ryan (again) hit a bloop single just past a diving Jose Reyes to score Encarnacion.

Granted, it was not a good outing by Heilman, but only an idiot would boo him — it was clearly a case of bad luck, with cheap hits finding a way beyond the Mets’ gloves. Unless Heilman is expected to strike everyone out? Save your breath for “The Show”, Mets fans.

Lost in all the excitement was another fairly good outing-turned-no-decision by Oliver Perez. Ollie went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five hits, three walks, and two runs — though he left the game tied. His problem in this game was inefficiency — he had run up the pitch count to over 75 by the end of the fourth inning. It looked like he might have been rushing forward out of his leg lift just a bit, which affected his command. When he’s on, you’ll notice that he sits on his left leg for just a moment, gathering his weight and balance, before striding.

In my humble opinion, Julio Franco should never have come to bat in the bottom of the ninth against Isringhausen. The decision to pinch-hit Ledee for Carlos Gomez was baffling, to say the least. With Jose Valentin on third, couldn’t you see Gomez dropping a bunt basehit to win the game? Even with the bunt option removed, why would Ledee be a better option? Wasn’t it only ten days ago that Gomez worked a fine at-bat against the greatest closer in MLB history, Mariano Rivera? With Izzy in meltdown mode, it was an ideal opportunity for Gomez to grow a bit more — and perhaps win the game. Had Gomez stayed in, and walked, then Willie would still have Ledee to go to when the pitcher’s spot came up. But Willie likes his veteran guys … grrrr…

Poor Willie was clearly outmanaged by Tony LaRussa throughout the game, but more annoying is the Cardinals innate ability to be in exactly the right spot whenever a Met hits the ball hard. They showed the same marvel in the 2006 NLCS, and you have to think that the Cardinals have an extraoardinarily effective team of advance scouts, and the brains to properly position their defense based on the scouting reports. This is something you miss when watching on TV, but take note when at the game — the subtle repositioning of players with each new at-bat, sometimes in mid-at-bat. The Cardinals place themselves better than any other team in MLB, and as a result turn many potential hits into routine outs. It’s a seemingly small part of the game that cannot be dismissed.

Before the bottom of the ninth, the Mets had only two more hits than Brendan Ryan. They finished with six hits in 11 innings — against future Hall-of-Famers such as Todd Wellemeyer, Troy Cate, Russ Springer, and Brad Thompson. And yet, Rick Down still has a job.

Two things became abundantly clear in this game: Scott Schoeneweis must be removed from the roster (DL?), and it’s time to start thinking about sitting Carlos Delgado — or at least dropping him in the lineup. Aside from his 11th-inning double, Delgado looked to have a poorly timed, weak swing. He continues to completely swing through pitches — often waving at three in an at-bat — and when he finally gets it all together, is not getting the distance he did a year ago. You’d like to think that a couple of his balls on Tuesday went dead in the humid air, but then how do we explain the drives of So Taguchi and Brendan Ryan? It would be nice to see Ruben Gotay get some reps at second, with Valentin pushed to the outfield and Shawn Green to first. It would be a better lineup both offensively and defensively.

Next Game

Since Brad Thompson pitched in relief in this game, the Mets will most likely see Anthony Reyes on Wednesday night. Tom Glavine goes for the home team in another 7:10 PM start.

Mets 2 Cardinals 1

After being no-hit for eight innings, Shawn Green finally broke the Mets offensive drought with a 410-foot blast off the scoreboard in the bottom of the eleventh — his second career homer off Cardinals reliever Russ Springer (against whom he is now 2-11).

Aaron Heilman scooped up the win, topping off a fine performance by the Mets bullpen.

It shouldn’t have lasted that long — not with scrubs such as Mike Maroth and Ryan Franklin leading a severely decimated Cardinals team — but we’ll take it.

As usual, the Mets got on the board first, this time via a monster solo homerun into the bleachers by rookie Carlos Gomez in the bottom of the third inning. However, the Mets didn’t get another hit for the rest of the game, and the Cardinals scratched out a tying run in the fifth using picture-perfect fundamentals. Adam Kennedy led off with an infield single that Jorge Sosa couldn’t handle, and advanced to second when Gary Bennett scooted a grounder through the right side. Mike Maroth followed with a hard bunt to David Wright to move the runners to second and third — no one’s quite sure why the Mets weren’t defending it more aggressively, and using the wheel play, considering that Maroth had bunted successfully only three times prior in his MLB career. So Taguchi then hit a simple ground ball on a 2-0 slider to second base that scored Kennedy with the tying run. Taguchi could have muscled up on the 2-0 count, but was smart enough to wait back and simply get the bat on the ball to score the run — that’s what team hitting is all about.

Jorge Sosa pitched six full innings, allowing only one run on six hits and two walks, but was removed after throwing 101 pitches.

Joe Smith replaced Sosa in the seventh, but walked leadoff hitter (is it appropriate to call him a “hitter”?) Gary Bennett. Maroth followed with two attempted sacrifices, then slapped a base hit past the drawn-in David Wright like he’s been doing it his whole life. And we thought it was Carlos Delgado’s birthday. So Taguchi then showed bunt but pulled back and swung, while Bennett (the catcher) and Maroth (the pitcher) pulled a double steal — drawing no throw from Paul LoDuca. Eventually, Taguchi grounded out to second, and the runners held. Smith then fanned Aaron Miles on a high slider for the second out, and intentionally walked Albert Pujols to load the bases. With switch-hitting Scott Spiezio up at the plate, Willie Randolph chose to remove Smith and bring in lefty Pedro Feliciano, despite the fact tha Spiezio was batting .341 against lefties and only .261 vs. righties. Feliciano fell behind 2-0, then snuck a questionable strike off the outside corner. Spiezio hit the next pitch right back to Pedro, who ran halfway to first before flipping to Delgado for the final out, leaving the bases loaded.

Feliciano then set the Cardinals down in order in the top of the eighth to hold the tie, and Billy Wagner did the same in the ninth.

Strangely, Randolph sent Wagner back out to pitch the tenth, despite the facts that he threw 17 pitches and might be needed again in the next few days. I wonder if Willie is trying to stretch Billy out a bit, with the Phillies series upcoming. Wagner is not getting many saves chances this year, as the Mets have either been ahead or behind by more than a few runs in most games. Perhaps the inconsistency of Aaron Heilman and Guillermo Mota has Willie considering four- and five-out saves in Billy’s future. Then again, he may have simply wanted Wagner — rather than anyone else — facing Pujols in the top of the tenth.

Notes

Sometimes I wonder why Billy Wagner screws around so much with the slider against weaker hitters. Against good ones, fine, but he threw it three times to light-hitting Gary Bennett before incuding a groundout, then twice to Ryan Ludwick in falling behind 2-0. He then reared back and threw four fastballs past Ludwick (the ump missed one of them) — including one clocked at 99 MPH on the gun. When you throw that hard, from the left side, and can spot it at the knees, why use the slider for anything other than a show pitch against a backup catcher and a AAAA outfielder?

Randolph again rested Ruben Gotay to preserve his .300 average. Gotay is most likely the guy to go down when a minor league starter (Mike Pelfrey?) is brought up to start in the Friday doubleheader against the Phillies, and also the odd man out when they need to bring up a catcher to back up Ramon Castro during Paul LoDuca’s two-game suspension. After all, the Mets can’t afford to lose future Hall-of-Famer Ricky Ledee from their bench.

Gold Glover Albert Pujols made two errors in the game. Sorry, I just like to point out anything negative concerning Prince Big Mouth.

Next Game

Another 7:10 PM start with the Mets sending Oliver Perez to the mound against either Todd Wellemeyer — who’s nursing a sore wrist — or Brad Thompson.

I’ll be in the Loge Level, Section 20, in the Mr. Met shirt, if you want to stop by for a beverage and some Mets chattering.