More Quotes
When I saw that big black cloud over the stadium, it looked like it was going to dump on us
– Mets pitcher Kris Benson forseeing what turned out to be a 1 hour 22 minute rain delay in Florida.
The moment I see the ball in the gap I start thinking third base.
– Met shortstop Jose Reyes.
We had two difficult games in Atlanta and it was only a matter of time before we would start producing. What was so important was that everybody contributed to the victory.
– Met shortstop Jose Reyes on the Mets 12-4 victory over the Marlins.
Comments to this post
Quote of the Day
It didn’t matter who we put out there tonight. They were either going to hit them or we were going to walk them.
– Marlins manager Jack McKeon on his team getting pummeled by the Mets, 12-4.
Comments to this post
Knock with Wood
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
The Mets bats finally came to life last night as they pounded the Marlins 12-4. Let’s hope thay can build on that kind of performance. With Pedro Martinez going tonight they shouldn’t need as many runs but it would still be nice for them to hit well and try to build some momentum for the following two games against opposing starting pitchers Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett.
Among the hitting highlights was Jose Reyes hitting his league leading 7th triple.Mike Cameron hit 2 doubles to bring his total to 7 in just 19 games. If you work that number out to a full 162 game season Cameron would end up with 60 doubles. Reyes and Cameron also knocked in 3 RBIs each and Reyes stole his 10th base of the season.
Comments to this post
Quote of the Day
How good was Kyle Davies against the Met’s last night?
Davies was better tonight that he was in Boston. He was very good in Boston but tonight he was even better. I thought he was just outstanding.
– Braves manager Bobby Cox on Davies’ performance against the Mets.
Comments to this post
Swept by Atlanta
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
The Mets failed to score a run for the second game in a row. In yesterday’s Game Comments I said that the Mets not being able to score was a great concern. Perhaps I was being alarmist based on the fact that the pitcher they were up against the previous night was Tim Hudson. But last night’s pitcher was rookie Kyle Davies who was making only his second major league start and was working on only 3 days rest. Here was a pitcher that was ripe for the picking and the Mets hitters couldn’t muster anything sustainable against him.
On the plus side VÃctor Zambrano (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) had a good night on the mound. He was a victim of bad fielding (his own) when he didn’t wait long enough for David Wright to get to the bag before he threw the ball to third base in an attempt to get a force out on a ball hit by Pete Orr. The play cost him 2 unearned runs.
Carlos Beltran was out of the starting lineup again but pinch hit late in the game. Today’s Daily News says that Beltran’s injury may lead to the return of VÃctor DÃaz. DÃaz is eligible to be called up tomorrow and the Mets may want him back to fill an outfield spot until Beltran is ready to start again.
On the plus side, the Phillies put an end to the Marlins win streak yesterday. Florida had won 6 in a row in their longest win streak of the season. Maybe the loss will take a little wind out of their sails and allow the Mets to gain an edge.
Comments to this post
Quote of the Day
Put ‘I suck’ with a big picture of my face on it.
– Mets first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz on his recent slump before being demoted to the eighth slot in the batting order for last night’s game.
Comments to this post
McEwing Discusses Interference Call
According to a story in today’s Daily News former Met utility man Joe McEwing is in regular contact with David Wright and thinks that umpire Jeff Nelson made the correct call the other day on the controversial baserunner interference call. The story ran a couple of funny quotes by McEwing on the subject:
There’s no way he could have touched the base. I think he thought he might have been watching the Heat game, thought he was Shaq.
Apparently McEwing said to Wright:
Who are you trying to take out, Andruw Jones?
Comments to this post
Glavine Falls to Braves Again
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
Tom Glavine pitched 6 great innings last night. Unfortunately the 7th wasn’t anywhere near as good as Glavine lost to his onld team again. But of even greater concern was the Mets not being able to hit anything against Tim Hudson. Let’s hope they can turn it around tonight. They will likely need to score a whole lot of runs with VÃctor Zambrano starting tonight.
Comments to this post
Danny Graves: Free Agent
The Reds cut closer Danny Graves yesterday. He’s more or less been stinking up the joint this season but had 41 saves last year. I have to believe that someone doesn’t lose their stuff that quickly and that if he’s really that bad it’s a mental block or a small mechanical breakdown that can be fixed. That’s why I think that any team has nothing to lose by signing him. I don’t know his thinking in terms of taking a minor league deal but certainly if you could get him like that it would be a no brainer. Get him down on the farm with your organizations pitching guru and see if he can work it out. What have you got to lose, Omar?
Comments to this post
The Wright Call?
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
How far out of the baseline can a player go without being called out? Second base umpire Jeff Nelson showed us last night. With one out in the eighth inning and the bases loaded Doug Mientkiewicz hit the ball to Braves first baseman Julio Franco who tossed to Rafael Furcal covering second base. Furcal touched the bag to get the runner, David Wright, before throwing the ball to pitcher Chris Reitsma who was covering first base. Two runs scored on the play to tie the game at 7. Though the throw was wide of Reitsma and Mientkiewicz appeared safe Nelson called interference on Wright, the penalty of which was that Mientkiewicz was called out at first for the double play and the runs were negated.
We see this play all the time. A runner going from first to second takes out the infielder covering second to avoid a double play. When this play occurs we see some of the oddest slides, mostly hook slides designed to show the umpire that the player is actually in a position to touch the bag, the criteria when it comes to the question of interference. Though some people may disagree it was quite clear to me that Wright was in no position to touch the bag which was further than arms length away from him when he took out Furcal. It stinks to be on that end of a call but it was the right call.
On the plus side it was nice to see Wright, a great competitor but a very timid personality, lose his cool while arguing the call. Wright eventually was ejected when he threw his helmet but it was nice to see him show some fire.
All this overshadowed a bad outing for Kazuhisa Ishii, who’s spot in the rotation appeared safe after the Mets decided not to promote Scott Strickland on Sunday giving Strickland the right to declare free agency (which he did on Monday). VÃctor Zambrano also kept his spot in the rotation while Aaron Heilman was sent to the bullpen. One has to believe that if Heilman can stay steady in relief and Zambrano continues to falter that the two pitchers may end up switching roles before too long.
Steve Trachsel was very quietly cleared to resume baseball activity and expects to be ready after the All Star break. This will only complicate things for Zambrano, Heilman and Ishii. I also expect a deal to be made to strengthen the bullpen which could end up negating the bullpen from being an option for any of these players. Though this situation was temporaily simplified by Strickland’s exit it is still getting more complicated by the day. It’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out.
Comments to this post
