That’s What I’m Talking About!
Click here for a recap of yesterday’s game.
The Mets controlled the whole game yesterday. Scored first, held the lead, scored some more and never gave up (even when Danny Graves was pitching). Kazuhisa Ishii (4 H, 0 ER) did a good job of protecting his spot in the rotation for now despite walking 5 batters in 6 innings. David Wright continued to show why so many people think so highly of him. It was just a good game all around to complete the sweep and pick up a game on first place Washington. The Nationals are now in a first place tie with Atlanta and the Mets are in second place, 4 1/2 games back. Their weekend opponent is the Dodgers who are 43-52 but are not to be taken lightly. The Mets have a way of playing well against first place teams (like the Padres) and then falling apart against teams they should beat (like the Pirates).
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Notes
Sorry for not having posted the last several days. Things at work have gotten a bit busy with a big project nearing an all too agressive deadline preventing me from posting more regularly than I have in the last week and a half or so.
In the second half the Mets have managed to get 2 games over .500 and are now 5 1/2 games behind first place Washington and 5 behind Atlanta for the Wild Card. They’ve played some good ball and will need to continue to do so if they stand a chance at catching either of the above mentioned teams.
David Wright continues to improve as his recent promotion to the 5th slot in the batting order (ahead of Mike Piazza) shows. He’s learning and coming along very well. Michael Morrissey has a nice piece in today’s New York Post about Wright’s career since being called up to the big leagues one year ago today.
In other news, Steve Trachsel pitched 2 2/3 innings in his first rehab start. He could be ready to return in mid august which is only a few weeks away. That means things could get interesting in the starting rotation. There could be a deal in the works to trade one of the current starters for help in another area so there could be room for Trachsel when he’s ready to return. It could also be doom for Kazuhisa Ishii despite the fact that he seems to have complete backing by Willie Randolph in spite of his lousy numbers this year. It’ll be interesting to see how this situation shakes out.
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Good Start to Second Half
The Mets opened the season last night with a good win against a good team beating the Braves, the wild card leader, 6-3. There were a few good performances last night:
- Mike Piazza hit a game winning 3 run homer.
- Carlos Beltran went 4 for 4.
- David Wright hit 2 homers.
- Kris Benson had a very goog outing going 7 innings and allowing 5 hits & 2 earned runs while striking out 7.
The only problem with this win is that it was a come from behind victory. Don’t get me wrong. Come from behind victories are good. They count just as much as any other win does and they build character, especially when they come against good teams. They help you grow. But if you’re going to have a realistic shot at winning the division you need to win more games wire to wire. In a division as tight as the NL East the team that controls more games will be the team that end sup winning more games. This Mets team has a habit of these come from behind wins. Unless they start to get ahead early and protect their lead they will probably be doomed to being also rans in this division this year.
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Welcome to the Second Half
Good morning, class, and welcome back from your mid term break.
With the All-Star break behind them the Mets try to improve on their .500 record tonight, starting the second half with a 4 game set against the Atlanta Braves. Though a .500 record at the break is an improvement on last season it’s not going to be good enough for Mets fans. Willie Randolph is going to learn pretty quickly how tough it is to manage in New York. With the first half over fans are unlikely to continue to give him the benefit of the doubt because he’s a rookie manager.
The steady performance of Pedro Martinez and the steady improvement of Carlos Beltran, who’s play has just gotten better since he’s gotten over his injury, are two key ingredients that will help this team improve in the second half. But they will need more help than they’re getting especially with the first place Washington Nationals having acquired Preston Wilson yesterday. Wilson is a strong bat that will help improve the Nationals offense which is among the worst in the league. If they can maintain first place with a bad offense then how much harder will they be to beat with a bat like Wilson’s in the middle of the order?
The bottom line is this – .500 isn’t good enough. And if they are going to improve on it they’ll need to trade a starting pitcher (Tom Glavine?) and another player (Mike Cameron) for a hitter. They lost out on Wilson but maybe there’s someone else out there who could be of help.
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Why Piazza is an All-Star
Click here for a recap of yesterday’s game.
Mike Piazza proved yesterday why he was selected as the NL’s starting catcher in next week’s MLB All-Star game. With the score tied at 2 in the top of the 11th inning should be All-Star Cliff Floyd was intentionally walked because Washington manager Frank Robinson would rather his pitcher, Luis Ayala, pitch to Piazza. Piazza answered by working the ball to an open spot in short right center to knock in the winning run in the person of Carlos Beltran, who scored on a play at home plate. Piazza then tried to get another run accross the plate for his team by trying to stretch his single into a double. Piazza had to know he would be thrown out at second but was hoping that throw to second would buy Floyd enough time to score. And if the Nationals hadn’t thrown to second Piazza knew that Floyd wouldn’t have even tried to score. Either way a controvesial but good idea on Piazza’s part. As it went Piazza was thrown out at second and Floyd was thrown out at home. This ended the inning with a double play but gave the Mets a lead they would not relinquish as Braden Looper preserved the Mets 3-2 win in the bottom of the 11th and giving the Mets 3 wins in 4 games over the division leading Nationals.
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Minaya a Buyer – Reason for Optimism?
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
The day after I mentioned my (not so) secret formula for winning – score first, protect the lead, win the game – the Mets tried to follow it in beating the Nationals 5-3. Though they scored early on a Mike Cameron homer in the 1st they ended up falling behind 3-1 in the 4th. They regained the lead in the 6th and kept it from there on behind solid work by Aaron Heilman and Braden Looper in relief of Tom Glavine.
Even though the Mets scored first they still needed to come from behind to win the game. This is what .500 clubs do. If they are going to turn the corner they are going to need to do better at getting the lead and maintaining it. Championship teams comeback when necessary but do not make a habit of it like .500 teams do.
What do the Mets need to get that early lead and maintain it? Exactly what everyone says they need – another explosive bat and help in the bullpen. And with GM Omar Minaya claiming in the media that the Mets are buyers in the trade market (indicating they think they can still make a race of it) as opposed to sellers (which would indicate he was conceding the race) there is still reason for optimism by the Mets faithful this season.
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Bats Must Get Going
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
Willie Randolph’s new lineup took the field for the second game in a row last night. And for the second day in a row the Mets didn’t score a run until late in the game. This time they didn’t score until the 9th inning after being no-hit into the fifth and, though the game was not completely out of reach, they came up short, scoring 2 runs in a 3-2 loss. Too little too late.
Pedro Martinez pitched a good game (7 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 6 SO) but was matched pitch for pitch by Esteban Loaiza (8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 8 SO). It just goes to show you that just because Pedro is on the mound doesn’t mean the team is guaranteed to win (a belief that seems to be prevalent among the mainstream media).
Now this tattered offense will take on Livan Hernandez, Washington’s ace, in tonight’s game. Though not anywhere near as talented as Pedro, Hernandez is 12-2 on the year and has been as close to money in the bank as you can get. It’ll take everything this lineup has to muster up enough offense to beat this guy tonight. And a late inning comeback isn’t a good gameplan.
If this team is to maintain realistic hopes of winning the division the offense will need to perk up. They will need to start hitting early in the game. Score first, protect the lead, win the game. It’s a simple formula that this team must learn if it’s going to rise significantly enough above the .500 mark and challenege to win the division.
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Lineup Change
The Mets lost 2 out of 3 to the Marlins over the weekend but then came back to beat the Nationals 5-2 yesterday…
Alot has been made of Willie Randolph’s reshuffled lineup yesterday. The lineup saw Jose Reyes batting seventh for the first time in his major league career, Carlos Beltran batting second, Cliff Floyd batting third and Mike Cameron leading off. Though the lineup produced 5 runs I would guess it won’t become the regular lineup. Sometimes a lineup needs to be shaken up to try to bring hitters out of their funk and that was the case here. It was also nice to see how certain guys would respond to batting in different places in the order. That kind of information could become valuable if a trade or injury causes a more permanent batting order shift in the future…
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Great Game
Click here for a recap of yesterday’s game.
Everything worked for the Mets against the Phillies yesterday afternoon at Shea. Pedro Martinez pitches (6 IP, H, ER, 6 SO). Jose Reyes triples (his league leading 9th of the season). Chris Woodward gets 2 hits and knocks in 2 runs from the 8th hole in the order. Carlos Beltran and Cliff Floyd steal 2 bases each. Braden Looper pitches a perfect 9th inning for his 16th save. But brace yourselves. The Marlins are coming to town for the weekend and they’re in much better shape thean the free falling Phillies. This Mets team seems to get up for playing against the tougher teams but you still need to be wary. Especially with Pedro having pitched yesterday (meaning he won’t pitch against Florida). I’m not saying they’re going to lose but be afraid. Be very afraid.
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Cameron/Sheffield Trade Dead
It seems the Mike Cameron for Gary Sheffield deal is dead. I guess it’s all for the best. Did you hear Sheffield’s tirade about being traded yesterday? I don’t blame him for feeling that way but if that’s the way he responds to a rumor then I’d hate to see how he reacts to an actual trade.
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