If Carlos Beltran hits three homers and no one is there to see them, do they count?
Carlos Beltran strapped the Mets to his back and carried them to victory over the Colorado Rockies, blasting 3 two-run homers.
Ike Davis? David Wright? Who needs ’em?
Has Mike Pelfrey returned?
Pelfrey was brilliant through 7 innings, shutting out the Rockies in a 122-pitch effort en route to his first win since June 25th and his 11th of the season.
With this win, the Mets have reached their perpetual goal of .500. They are 56-56.
Pelfrey allowed 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 4. His command was better than we’ve seen lately, but the mechanical flaw is still there. But minor mechanical flaws can be overcome when one is brimming with confidence and is throwing first-pitch strikes (Pelf threw 19 first-pitch strikes to the 26 batters he faced). Also in his favor: a generous strike zone and opposing hitters who have been struggling of late. No matter, we’ll take it. If Pelfrey can keep getting ahead of hitters, keep runners off base, and keep his confidence, he should be able to overcome the glitch in his delivery.
Much has been made about Dan Warthen working with Pelfrey on keeping a consistent arm speed. I have no idea what that has to do with command, and am not confident that “fixing” his arm speed was the key to Pelf’s success in this game. I do wonder, though, if he was tipping his pitches by hunching over / not hunching over; in previous outings, I think he may have been staying more straight up on the curveball.
The only run scored in the game came when Jose Reyes lifted a sac fly to right field to score Jeff Francoeur, who had pinch-run for Chris Carter, who had walked to lead off the seventh. Francoeur replaced Carter immediately and moved to third on a booming double off the right field wall by Josh Thole.
This was a pitchers’ duel to say the least. While Pelfrey allowed only 4 hits, Ubaldo Jimenez did the same in as many innings. Though, Jimenez also walked 4 and struck out 8.
Game 2 vs. the Rockies begins at 7:10 PM on Wednesday night in Flushing. Jonathon Niese faces Jeff Francis.
Tim Redding gave the Mets a stellar 6 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs on seven scattered hits and one walk. However, he was up against a buzzsaw in Ubaldo Jimenez, who handcuffed the Mets through eight innings and also allowed only 2 runs, on five hits.
The tie was broken in the bottom of the eighth, when Brian Stokes opened the inning by loading the bases, then gave up back-to-back RBI singles to pinch-hitter Jason Giambi and former almost-Met Yorvit Torrealba. By the time K-Rod came on to rescue him, Stokes had allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in one-third of an inning.
Jimenez won his 13th game, and Franklin Morales pitched the ninth en route to his first career save.
Interesting that Redding is pitching well now — now that he’s pitching for a contract. Smart to perform well at the end of the season. It is similar to a restaurant’s strategy of serving a great dessert or a tasty sweet beverage — because people will remember you fondly if they leave with a good taste in their mouth.
One of the Mets’ five hits was Jeff Francoeur’s 12th homer of the year, a solo shot. Francoeur nearly threw out Jimenez at first base on a line-drive single to right field. That was about all the excitement of the game from the Mets’ POV.
Ubaldo Jimenez was hitting 99 MPH on the gun in the seventh inning, as he approached 100 pitches.
The final game of the series begins at 3:10 PM EST on Thursday afternoon. Pat Misch faces Jason Marquis. Josh Thole is scheduled to squat behind the plate for the Mets.
And for a followup routine, the Mets played a baseball game …
The excitement in Flushing began with the firing of Tony Bernazard, an event that closed with a squabble between Omar Minaya and Adam Rubin. For an encore, the Mets held another press conference to speak about the first (but unfortunately, did not announce a steel cage match between Minaya and Rubin). But the crowd at Citi Field clamored for more, so nine men were dressed up and sent out on the field to engage the Colorado Rockies in a battle royale.
The encore for the evening began as a much more benign affair compared to the day’s earlier activities, but finished with a bang. With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Rockies reliever Juan Rincon couldn’t find the plate and walked the first two batters he faced, and after a Dan Murphy sac bunt, Jeff Francoeur was intentionally walked to load the bases. With LH hitter Cory Sullivan coming to the plate, Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy called for LOOGY Franklin Morales, and Jerry Manuel countered with Fernando Tatis. Tatis fell behind 0-2, then laced a low changeup into the seats to give the Mets their first lead of the ballgame.
Pedro Feliciano was credited with the victory and K-Rod pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation.
Oliver Perez allowed three runs on four walks and five hits in five innings of work. Remarkably, most people associated with the Mets will look at it as a “positive step”. The rest of us will refer to it for what it is: garbage.
Not to be lost in the excitement was Brian Stokes’ two perfect innings in relief of Ollie to keep the Mets in the ballgame.
Nice to see Tatis tie into one and deliver such a dramatic victory. We know he’s not the guy who hit like Roy Hobbs last July, and his DPs have been maddening, but his approach to the game makes him someone who is easy to root for. After making contact on the grand slam swing, Tatis was sprinting out of the box, taking nothing for granted. Nice to see.
Dan Murphy hit fourth again and went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a sacrifice bunt. How many MLB cleanup hitters are called on to bunt?
Luis Castillo and David Wright combined to go 4-for-4 with 2 walks and 4 runs scored. The red-hot Castillo is now hitting .305.
Jeff Francoeur blasted his third homerun as a Met, a solo shot in the fourth. In seven games, Francoeur has three homeruns; the rest of the Mets combined have seven taters in the entire month (three of them by Tatis).
This win marks the Mets’ third in a row — their longest winning streak since 1986.
The rising Mets take on the Rockies again at 7:10 PM on Tuesday night. Mike Pelfrey goes to the mound against Tottenville HS graduate Jason Marquis.
