Results tagged ‘ Oliver Perez ’
Loopy Lefty, Offensive Explosion Stop Slide
There couldn’t have been a more fitting beginning to this one.
The Mets had lost four straight and had not scored a single run in 22 prior innings. Not to mention their opponent, the Dodgers, own the best record in baseball.
No need to worry though because southpaw Oliver Perez is back.
He had been on the DL since early May 2, but the loopy lefty showed the Citi Field Faithful that he didn’t miss a beat.
It took him only one batter and four pitches to issue a leadoff walk to Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal.
Just Ollie being Ollie.
For the sanity, or lack thereof, of the 40,027 in attendance at Citi Field, Perez walked a tight rope for five innings but avoided falling into the lion’s den.
The southpaw starter surrendered a maddening seven walks, but somehow managed to limit LA to two runs and lower his ERA to a Chien Ming Wang-like 8.78.
When the dust settled after the Mets offensive explosion (5 runs scored) and K-Rod’s near implosion, Perez found himself with his first victory since April 15.
It certainly wasn’t pretty, not much is around Flushing these days, but it counts.
Frankie’s No Fraud: Hopefully, Oliver Perez was listening closely as Francisco Rodriguez spoke to the media following his 22nd save of the season Wednesday night. Upon entering with a 5-3 lead, the Mets’ star closer surrendered a ninth inning leadoff home run to Manny Ramirez followed by a walk and a single sandwiched around a strikeout. That was when the madness finally came to a close and the Mets completed a 6-6-3 double play to lock up their first victory since last Thursday’s comeback in Pittsburgh.
A save is a save though, right?
No, not according to Frankie.
“I’m the kind of guy that likes to be perfect. Even though I got the save, I don’t feel like I did my job.”
Wow. Talk about music to the ears, especially during an era in which starters are content with five quality innings and closers make a ton of money by piling up three-run saves.
I’ll never forget Steve Trachsel’s postgame reaction to his less than stellar outing in Game 2 of the 2006 NLCS. After surrendering five walks, five hits, and five earned runs in 1+ innings of work, Trachsel had the audacity to say how he made some good pitches that guys like Scott Spezio just happened to rope down the line.
Thankfully, both Trachsel and Spezio are out of the majors (I don’t know which player I liked less).
Even better the Mets have a closer who is willing to hold some self accountability.
“I have to pitch better. That’s the bottom line. If you look at my last 10 outings, it’s not been where I need to be. I just need to bounce back and find a way to be as sharp as I was earlier in the season,” Rodriguez said as reported by a sidebar story in The Star Ledger.
Hopefully, Perez sees his 7-walk victory in a similar light.
Redding Express Can Keep Mets Rollin’
The Mets have received two superb performances form their starting pitchers and have taken the first two in Boston as a result.
Now, it’s up to the Redding Express to roll through Fenway for the sweep.
Tim Redding may prove to be a decent addition to the Mets starting staff. At $2 million and one year of commitment he’s a relatively low risk.
Not to mention, he did win 10 games, just as many as Oliver Perez did a year ago, and did so on one of the worst teams in baseball.
Whether it’s Redding, Santana, Pelfrey, the Mets need their starting staff to step up now more than ever with the ballclub suffering injuries galore.
Food for Thought: Why has management insisted on playing a man short all week long instead of shelving Jose Reyes?
Had the Mets put him on the DL last Monday, they could have had an extra man on their bench for both the Dodgers series and Beantown.
What’s the harm in letting Reyes reach 100 percent before returning? It’s a long season. Let’s not allow this injury to worsen and turn into the hamstring saga he had earlier in his career.
Time to Focus for Putrid Perez
The loopy lefty left me wondering how his free agent market value was anywhere close to $12 million per year. Add 1.2 innings to his line and subtract 5 earned runs, and that would mean Oliver Perez turned in a quality start during his 2009 de-boo Thursday. There’s no arguing that Perez’s arm is nothing short of electric (he had 7 K’s yesterday), but his wiring upstairs seems to short-circuit way too often. It’s time for this maddeningly erratic performer to learn some focus. He’s been in the Majors for five years already. He’s far from a kid anymore so he needs to stop acting like it. The Mets certainly need him to.
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