Mets need walk-off to beat Pirates
With a 4-2 lead heading into the top of the eighth, it seemed as if the Mets shouldn’t have too much trouble closing the game out. I thought wrong.
After Duaner Sanchez walked in a run in the eighth inning to bring the Pirates within one, more silly mistakes let the Pirates stay in the game and eventually tie it. A throwing error by Jose Reyes in the top of the ninth during Billy Wagner’s save opportunity put a runner on base. Reyes fielded the ball with a backhand play, but his throw was a late one-hopper in the dirt that Delgado had trouble fielding. After a base hit that Carlos Beltran dived unsuccessfully for, the run came around to score and the game was tied.
Reyes led off the ninth inning with a single up the middle, but nobody following him was even able to get on base or advance Reyes. Finally, with bases loaded in the eleventh inning and one out, David Wright hit a fly ball to right field, securing the win for the Mets.
Although it was a bit rocky, Johan Santana’s start turned out quite nicely. He only gave up two runs before exiting with two outs in the sixth. Aaron Heilman allowed a hit and walked a batter, as he was only able to get one out in the process.
Jorge Sosa pitched a scoreless final inning to get the win.
From ophers to dingers: Delgado hits two HRs as Mets win series
Things weren’t looking so bright for Carlos Delgado and the Mets following a series-opening loss to the Braves on Friday night at Shea Stadium. Since then, the Mets won the series by taking back-to-back games, while Carlos Deglado increased his home run total in this young season to three.
The Mets rocked John Smoltz, who had his share of pathetic excuses following the game, saying that he left due to shoulder discomfort. Whatever. Smoltz only lasted four innings and allowed four runs.
Carlos Delgado took Smoltz to the opposite field in the second inning for his first homer of the game, then took Will Ohman deep in the seventh. The fans desperately wanted a curtain call, which Delgado declined. I’m fine with that and respect that decision completely.
Endy Chavez, although he has had some nice, smooth, but unlucky line drives right at guys, he is struggling at the plate, and yesterday went 0-3. His batting average is down to .160. Still not at his best, Jose Reyes went 1-4 with a double yesterday. He hasn’t been able to do much at the plate with a .237 average thus far. All of a sudden, Luis Castillo has been on fire. He went 3-5 yesterday.
Ryan Church went 0-4, but made a crazy, tumbling catch at the wall in right-center, as he hit the ground hard and got up slowly.
How about Raul Casanova? He also took Smoltz deep with a homer in the second. A usually poor hitter, Casanova has been a pleasant surprise as the Mets try to clear up their catching situation.
Brian Schneider was expected to get released from the hospital from his thumb infection, so hopefully everything went as planned. He is expected to be back in the lineup by mid-week. Lets hope Ramon Castro can get back as soon as possible so we can finally have our tandem of Schneider and Castro. Remember, I was the one that said Castro would become the starting catcher by mid-season, which still is possible. I did, however, predict this before Castro was injured in Spring Training.
Nelson Figueroa allowed three runs, while the four bullpen arms that threw yesterday never allowed any runners to pass home plate. Pedro Feliciano’s ERA stands at 1.13. You think that’s good? Billy Wagner’s stands at 0.00. He gave up his first hit of the season yesterday. If you have noticed, however, in the past two days, he has come very close to giving up home runs. Each day he allowed a fly ball at the very end of the warning track.
Other than the single and the near-homer, Wagner had no trouble slamming the door and clinching the series for the Mets.
Next Mets Test
Mets begin a three-game series with the Pirates tonight. The only problem with that? Look at the radar. Ha. I’m thinking the same thing.
G-Men’s Round 2 selection: CB Terrell Thomas
With the last pick of the second round, the Giants drafted CB Terrell Thomas from USC, their second defensive back drafted of the day. Thomas started every game of his junior and senior year. Last year, he was named to the All-Pac 10 second team by the league’s coaches and media.
Mets even series with Atlanta in nail-biter
A close game with a division rival is just about as good as it gets. Early on, Braves starter Tim Hudson looked like he was going to mow the Mets up and pitch deep into the game.
But before you could even blink, the Braves’ bullpen was active and the Mets were rattling Hudson to death. After a dominant first two innings, Hudson fell apart, giving up four runs in his short three innings of work.
John Maine, on the other hand, went five innings and allowed only two runs. Just a bit before he exited the game, he was examined on the mound by Mets trainer Ray Ramirez because he felt some numbness in his throwing arm. Maine continued to pitch, and exited after five innings. Up in the booth, SN/CW11 commentator Ron Darling explained that numbness occurs in the hands of several pitchers, but that it never happened to him in his career.
Following Maine was Aaron Heilman, who gave up his daily run. After Heilman exited in the sixth, Scott Schoeneweis did surprisingly well (he never does well at home). Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez combined to throw a scoreless eighth.
With the Mets holding a slim 1-run lead, Billy Wagner came in for the ninth and pitched his ninth consecutive hitless inning in nine tries this season. Keep an eye on him, though, because if everyone remembers, he started to slip when mid-season rolled around. I’m glad he changed his routine a bit with the new wind-up and added some pitches. Even with him getting older each season, his fastball is still in the mid-to-high 90’s consistently.
David Wright broke his 0-19 streak, the worst in his career, with two singles. Angel Pagan came into pinch-hit for Aaron Heilman and delivered a triple. He was unable to score, though, due to an amazing play by Braves first baseman, Mark Teixeira. Teixeira fielded a grounder on his knees and fired home without even getting up. He delivered a perfect, on-target bullet to Brian McCann, who turned around and tagged out Pagan.
Damion Easley filled in for Luis Castillo at second and had two hits. Carlos Beltran had two RBIs, while Carlos Delgado continued his opher, but still managed to get an RBI. It seems that although Delgado never gets hits anymore, he regularly is able to get an RBI in each game. He had some forgettable at-bats today, including a pop-up that caused the fans to boo very loud. His batting average dipped below 190 as his struggles continued.
Gustavo Molina was called up to catch today’s game and did fairly well, although on a ball in the dirt he allowed it to bounce over his head. Gary Cohen on TV said that it wasn’t an easy play, but when you’re in the big leagues, it should be.
Molina did, however, field a ball in the dirt and nearly threw out the runner stealing second while doing so. Molina is known for having the best arm in the Mets’ catching system.
Jose Reyes continued to pop-up and loop his swing so badly that he could hit the ball to the top of the stadium. His swing is a concern that Mets’ coaches need to fix, and fast. He is a young player that has amazing potential once on base.
Next Mets Test
The Mets conclude their weekend series with Atlanta tomorrow with a 1 PM first pitch.
No surprise: G-Men select Safety Kenny Phillips in 1st Rd.
It was not guaranteed, but I am not surprised that the Giants selected a safety in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Although the Giants already signed a safety this off-season, the Giants needed and selected Miami Safety Kenny Phillips with the 30th pick of the first round in the 2008 NFL draft.
Kenny Phillips comes across as a great athlete and led the shaky Hurricanes last season to some of their rare glimpses of success. To find out more about Phillips’ strengths and weaknesses, click here.
Phillips seems to be a smart person and a quick learner, something that you need when you enter the Tom Coughlin Regime. I don’t even want to know what Coughlin does to players who forget plays, etc when he reviews tape. I’m not going to say it’s anything too complimentary
Shockey trade rumors false as expected
There were rumors flying around like mosquitoes leading up to the draft’s beginning on whether Giants TE Jeremy Shockey would be traded to the New Orleans Saints. Reasons for the proposed trade included that they didn’t need him with the late-season success, his attitude, etc.
It appears that Shockey will not get traded and will stay with Big Blue, as I expected all along. The false reports that were written by New York reporters just made me shake my head. They would say things like “from a source close to the team.” Wh-w- WHAT?” What source close to the team? The fans? They just make all that garbage up and it happens way too much. This was all false and it was the exact reason why I never posted anything on it beforehand.