Diamondbacks 4 Mets 1

Not a great game for the Mets.

Oliver Perez did not pitch poorly, and kept the Mets in the game. He threw 7 complete innnings, and gave up 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and struck out 5. However, the Mets could do nothing against soft-tossing Doug Davis, and thus was saddled with the loss.

The only run scored by the Mets came on a Carlos Delgado groundout that scored Endy Chavez. The four runs scored by the D’Backs were unexciting, scratch-out runs. A truly boring game for fans of explosive offense, and equally uninteresting for those who enjoy a pitching duel — though both pitchers did well, neither was what you would define as dominating.

Notes

Carlos Gomez started in rightfield and went 2-for-4. However, both he and Ben Johnson were way too aggressive in the ninth inning against meltdown specialist Jose Valverde.

For the second time in three games, the Mets had difficulty getting their leadoff man on base. The leadoff Met in an inning managed to reach base only twice in nine chances.

The Mets’ best chance to score in the game came in the 8th inning, when they loaded the bases with two out. Too little, too late.

Ruben Gotay did not play despite his three-hit night on Saturday. In addition, Willie Randolph was lukewarm when asked if Gotay might hang around as injured players come off the DL. Does anyone have any idea what Gotay did to tick off Willie? I get the feeling that he would have sat today even if he went 5-for-5 — despite the Mets’ need for offense right now.

FYI, former Met Victor Diaz went 2-for-4 with two homers and 5 RBI for the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon. He’s now batting .297 with 7 HRs and 16 RBI in just 21 games and 64 ABs. Anyone who read this blog last year knows how I feel about Diaz … and we could sure use an outfielder like him right now.

Next Game

Mets have Monday oph and then phace the Phillies at Shea. Game time is 7:10 PM, and it will be a duel of sopht tossers Tom Glavine and Jamie Moyer.

Mets 7 Diamondbacks 1

Jorge Sosa was brilliant again, spinning six and two-thirds innings of five-hit, one-run ball, striking out 4 and walking one in the process. His only mistake of the afternoon was a third-inning solo homer by Eric Byrnes.

Joe Smith came on in the top of the seventh to strike out pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo on four pitches to finish off the inning. Callaspo never took the bat off his shoulder.

The Mets mustered three runs in the fourth inning against Livan Hernandez, who otherwise threw a strong game — it was reminiscent of John Maine’s performance on Friday night, in that he pitched well enough to win, but didn’t, mainly because of one bad inning.

Carlos Delgado tied the game with a leadoff homerun in the fourth — a mighty, high blast that bounced off the Pepsi sign beyond the rightfield fence. Livan Hernandez had a hard time after that, allowing five hits in all in the inning — including a one-run single by David Newhan to untie the game, and a sac fly by Ben Johnson to make the score 3-1. After the fourth, though, Hernandez settled down, not allowing a run through the sixth.

In the seventh, however, the Arizona relief corps took over. Situational lefty Doug Slaten induced a groundout by Endy Chavez but then gave up a walk to David Wright and a double down the leftfield line by Delgado — who did a nice job of spoiling a 1-2 pitch off the outside part of the plate and bouncing through the big hole left by “the shift”. Slaten was replaced by Juan Cruz, who struck out Ramon Castro for the second out of the inning. However, he fell behind Ruben Gotay 2-1, then hung a slider that Gotay deposited over the rightfield fence for a three-run homer.

Joe Smith retired two more batters in the eighth before yielding to Pedro Feliciano to finish off the inning and the game.

Notes

Delgado went 2-for-5 on the day; he’s getting good cuts when ahead on the count, and using the whole field. Everything looks in sync with his mechanics, he’s being more patient, and he appears much more comfortable and confident than he did two weeks ago.

Gotay went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Is that enough for Willie Randolph to give him more than two starts a month? It would be REALLY nice to see what this kid can do with a weeks’ worth of starting, before Jose Valentin comes back. But of course we’ll likely continue to watch sourpuss Easley frown around second base for the next few weeks.

Carlos Gomez entered the game as part of a double switch with Feliciano, and hit a line-drive single in the eighth, then stole second. Though he swings at nearly everything, it will be somewhat sad to see him go back down when Moises Alou and Shawn Green come off the DL — his enthusiasm, energy, and excitement factor are quite like a switch-hitting shortstop we all know and love.

Speaking of, Jose Reyes hit the ball hard three times without earning a hit, before hitting a triple in the 8th that chased Gomez home. He’s hot again, and the numbers will bear that out in due course.

Next Game

Oliver Perez faces Doug Davis in the rubber match, another 1:10 PM start.

Diamondbacks 5 B-Mets 1

Poor John Maine threw a fine ballgame, but had a AA-level offense supporting him.

Maine threw six strong innings, allowing five hits, two runs, and no walks while striking out seven over 103 pitches, 68 for strikes. He made one mistake in the ballgame: a meatball to catcher Chris Snyder — a guy who is barely hitting his weight — that was inexplicably deflected into the bleachers.

Who is Chris Snyder? Think of a young Mike DiFelice, or Sal Fasano. In other words, not a guy who should be belting a two-run homer off of John Maine. But that blow sealed the game for the D’backs, who rode behind the spectacular pitching of Brandon Webb to win the game.

Although, it wasn’t like Webb was facing Murderer’s Row. With Carlos Beltran out, and Shawn Green and Moises Alou still on the DL, the Mets outfield was comprised of David Newhan, Endy Chavez, and Ben Johnson. To make matters worse, Willie Randolph thought it a fine time to rest David Wright — apparently he forgot that Beltran would not be playing. The resulting starting lineup looked more like the Binghamton Mets than the one from Flushing, and was picked apart easily by Webb’s array of sinkers and change-ups.

The Mets offense never got anything started; the first time their leadoff man reached base was the ninth inning, when Endy Chavez walked. Guess what, folks: if you can’t get the first batter on base in any inning, and you have few homerun hitters in the lineup, it’s going to be REALLY hard to score runs. That the Mets scratched out one run — on a pinch-hit single by Ruben Gotay in the eighth — was something of a miracle.

Though Julio Franco made some nice plays at third base, worked a walk, and stole a base, it’s confounding that this would be the night David Wright was given a rest, considering that Beltran would be sitting. As soon as the lineup was announced — with Damion Easley batting third — it was assumed that Willie Randolph had planned this to be a “giveaway game” to the Arizona ace. It was like, “ah, heck, Webb is great, we’ve got guys licking their wounds, let’s just put all the bench guys out there and cross our fingers.”

Hopefully, the NL East will be decided by more than one game; otherwise, this will be one of the contests we’ll look back on and say, “what was Willie thinking?”

Notes

David Newhan is becoming less and less useful to this ballclub. It’s apparent that he is not much of a pinch-hitter, and he can’t get his stroke going with one start per month (who can?). The whole point of having Newhan around was that he was versatile, fast, and could get the bat on the ball. Well, let’s see … he hasn’t played anywhere other than two starts in leftfield, he hasn’t been on the bases enough to utilize his speed, and not only does he swing and miss too often, but he can’t even get bunts down. So why haven’t we cut him and signed Todd Walker yet?

Look, I like Newhan’s scrappy play and personality and speed and versatility and blah blah blah, but if Willie isn’t going to make use of all these positives — if he’s going to use him strictly as an early pinch-hitter and a blue moon starter — then what’s the point? You may as well carry a Todd Walker or a Ruben Sierra instead.

Since Newhan rarely gets starts, I understood why he started in leftfield. However, with so many bats absent from the lineup, I might have put Easley out there and started Gotay at second to get a little more pop. But then, Randolph is of the assumption that Newhan can hit and Gotay can’t.

Guillermo Mota was dominating until allowing a three-run homer to Stephen Drew in the eighth. He may have simply been tired — either mentally or physically. His fastball had good velocity and good movement, and his changeup was pretty nasty.

The Braves picked up a game on the Mets by beating the Cubs in a game that featured dugout fisticuffs between pitcher Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett.

Next Game

Jorge Sosa matches up against Livan Hernandez in a 1:10 PM start. Let’s hope that slider of Sosa’s is working. More importantly, let’s hope the Mets can muster more than a few hits against Hernandez.

Mets 4 Giants 2

Orlando Hernandez had some first-inning issues, giving up a leadoff single, a triple, and a sac fly to give the Giants a quick two-run lead. However, the Mets matched that output in the bottom of the inning, then added another two in the second to give El Duque a lead and a cushion. From there, Hernandez went into cruise control, mowing down the Giants with ease.

El Duque finished seven full innings, allowing just two hits, two runs, one walk, and struck out three, using 95 pitches in the process. Mighty Joe Smith pitched a perfect eighth (13 pitches, 10 for strikes), and Billy Wagner spun another 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game and earn his 13th save.

All the action of the game occurred in the first two innings. After the Giants jumped out to the two-zip advantage, Jose Reyes (who else?) began the response with a leadoff walk, steal of second, was advanced to third on a grounder, then scored on an infield single by Carlos Beltran. Two batters later, Beltran was chased home on a double by David Wright to tie up the game.

In the second inning, Damion Easley led off with a double, Ben Johnson walked, both were pushed ahead another base by an El Duque bunt, and Jose Reyes drove home Easley with the go-ahead run — the result of a finely fought at-bat. Reyes was caught stealing on the next pitch for the second out, but Endy Chavez dumped a bunt down the third base line that scored Johnson for the insurance run.

Notes

Jose Reyes is getting back to watching the ball longer, and as a result having better at-bats. His at-bat in the second inning was particularly good, as he worked the count full, then took a defensive swing on a pitcher’s pitch on the low outside corner of the plate, and poked the ball into leftfield to drive in the go-ahead run.

In the first, Carlos Delgado hit a bomb to dead center that would have been a homer had the wind not knocked it down. He’s seeing the ball fairly well now and taking good, healthy cuts. That’s bad news for National League pitchers, good news for the Mets (and my fantasy team).

Carlos Beltran injured himself in a collision with first baseman Rich Aurilia in the first. Beltran eventually scored on the double by D-Wright, but was replaced the next inning by Carlos Gomez.

Gomez is incredibly aggressive, and will need to become more selective if he wants to stay up in the bigs.

Ben Johnson got his first start since being acquired by the Mets. He had a sharp basehit to center in the fourth and walked, going 1-for-2 with a run scored.

Next Game

The Arizona Diamondbacks come to town, sending Brandon Webb to the hill against John Maine in a battle of sinkerballers. Game time is 7:10 PM. I’ll be in the Loge, Section 20, if you want to stop by for some free peanuts.

Giants 3 Mets 0

The overhand curveball remains the Mets’ kryptonite. And if Pedro Feliz sat out, the game might still be going on.

Barry Zito had a pocketful of kryptonite in this ballgame, scattering six hits over seven innings, striking out seven, walking one, and allowing no runs. Manager Bruce Bochy was interested in winning the game, so Armando Benitez remained on the bench and the Mets fared no better against Giants relievers Jack Taschner and Brad Hennessey.

The Mets could get nothing started the entire evening, offering nothing in the way of offensive support for Tom Glavine, who had an otherwise excellent performance. Glavine pitched seven strong innings, allowing nine hits, two walks, and three runs — all driven in by Feliz on a first-inning single and a third-inning triple. A wasted effort in his bid for career win #296.

Notes

Paul LoDuca went 2-for-4 with a double, lifting his average to .327.

Carlos Beltran also doubled, his 14th of the season.

In a matchup of similarly styled pitchers at different phases of their respective careers, Zito threw 122 pitches, 77 for strikes, in 7 innings, while Glavine threw 122 pitches, 77 for strikes, in seven innings.

Barry Bonds started in leftfield. Nobody cared.

Speaking of steroid users, Guillermo Mota made his 2007 debut, pitching two scoreless innings, striking out two.

Next Game

The rubber match pits Orlando Hernandez vs. Matt Cain in another 7:10 PM start.