Results tagged ‘ Phillies ’
Unful-philling First Two Games for Sloppy Mets
Entering the series batting at a .209 clip, leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins is once again bidding to become Mets Public Enemy No. 1. Rollins has four RBI in the series first two games, which have seen the most beleaguered of Phillies come to life.
Spot starting for the injured Bastardo, veteran castaway Rodrigo Lopez silenced the Mets’ best imitation of a major league lineup. Then, it was the aging Jamie Moyer on Saturday, pitching a gem hidden in what has been an awful season for the soft-tossing southpaw.
To add insult to injury, Brad Lidge came on for a 1-2-3 ninth inning during the Mets 4-1 defeat before a national TV audience ox Fox.
In just two short days, the Phillies have seemed to cure all of the ills we examined in our series preview.
Meanwhile, if there is one team in baseball that cannot afford to give away runs, the Mets are it, but these bumbling ball players can’t seem to help themselves.
With the ballgame still very winnable, the Mets gift-wrapped Philadelphia’s fourth run during the defensive debacle that was the bottom sixth.
First it was David Wright looking like Bob Huggins at a DUI stop when he let a popup drop in foul territory. Then, Omir Santos failed to squeeze the third out on an ensuing foul popup.
They were mistakes that professionals should not make and miscues the Mets can simply not afford.
Hopes Rest on Redding in Rubber Match
The Mets have made a habit of winning series against the Phillies in recent years, and now it’s up to Tim Redding to pitch the Amazin’s to another series triumph Thursday night at Citi Field.
Redding (0-2, 6.97 ERA) will take the ball for the Mets while the Phillies are set to remove Jamie Moyer (4-5, 5.35 ERA) from his cryonic capsule for another start.
Before anyone gets riled up about how awful Redding has been, relax and read for a second.
Redding won 10 games on the worst team in baseball (Washington) last year and sports a 5-3 career record against the Phillies.
As putrid as the right-hander was at Fenway Park against the BoSox and again in his Citi Field debut against the Marlins, he has been equally as good in his other two Met outings. He held the Dodgers to two runs in six innings on the road before allowing only one run in Washington during his most-recent outing.
Then, there’s Moyer. The 46-year old struggling southpaw should be playing in a AARP-sponsored rec league as his best days are clearly behind him. He’s currently 0-1 against the Mets this season with a Chien-Ming Wang-like 13.50 ERA.
I certainly wouldn’t want Redding pitcher every rubber match, but it could be worse (Moyer is evidence of that).
Not a Night to Remember
I heard people use the word devastating to describe what went down at Citi Field Wednesday night. Now that may be a bit too much.
It was nowhere near the nightmare that was Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. It wasn’t even nearly as deflating as any September loss to the Marlins could be.
Still, there’s no getting around the fact that this one was bad.
Sixteen hits, yet only four runs. An error apiece from a pair Gold Glovers. And to cap it all off, an extra-inning game-winning home run by Chase Utley.
Yes, as the back page of Thursday’s New York Post reads, this loss was “Utley Ridiculous.”
The Mets had chatterbox Cole Hamels (baseball’s most-overrated “ace”) on the hook and were in prime position to guarantee themselves yet another series victory over the Phillies.
But then, the seventh inning happened.
Carlos Beltran and David Wright looked like anything but Gold Glovers during the defensive meltdown that helped sink the Mets.
The Mets entered the top of the seventh holding a 4-1 lead, but back-to-back singles off Mike Pelfrey to start the inning made things interesting.
With Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez on base, Jayson Werth blasted a ball to dead center where Carlos Beltran had it lined up a step in front of the wall. One out, right?
No, Beltran did a cute little hop and a subsequent drop to load the bases with Phillies.
Simply put, that ball needs to be caught, especially by a Gold Glove winner (regardless of what some hack official scorer thinks).
Next it was David Wright’s turn. The heartthrob third baseman tried to come home and throw out Howard on a soft grounder from Pedro Feliz. The only problem was, he tried to throw home before the ball was even in his glove. Even the official scorer knew how to call this one – E5.
It may be a bit unfair to pick on Beltran and Wright for their shortcomings Wednesday night, especially considering the Mets had about as many chances to win this game as the Phillies have all-time losses.
But these two posterchildren of Mets Baseball get no sympathy here. They failed to make the routine plays when their club needed it most.
Meanwhile, Jayson Werth was busy pulling rabbits out of his cap in right field.
After the Mets received a pair of two-out singles in the 10th inning, Wright scorched a ball into the opposite field gap only to watch Werth do his best Ron Swoboda impersonation.
Yes, Mets fans, the catch was that impressive and although it wasn’t one of the greatest in World Series history, it ultimately won the Phillies a big game against a division rival.
Phils Flail to No Avail Against Frankie: The Mets’ lone highlight from the fifth inning on was an appearance from Frankie Rodriguez (there’s a new sheriff in town Mariano). K-rod pitched a pair of scoreless innings* to lower his ERA down to a miniscule 0.61. Not even the oh-so-impressive Philadelphia lineup can figure out Frankie, who has saved all four victories the Mets have over the Phils this season. Is it really the celebratory antics that irk you Philly? Or is just the fact that he’s nearly unhittable?
*-Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth before being helped out tremendously by a sparkling play from Fernando Tatis in the 10th. With one on and no out, Jimmy Rollins absolutely smoked a liner to first base but there was Tatis. He robbed Rollins of an extra-base hit before stepping on first to double off Chris Coste. Click Here to see the play courtesy of mets.mlb.com.
Santana Does It All In Amazin’ Victory
Yes, Johan Santana is that good. Maybe only the Mets ace can surrender four home runs yet still beat the defending champion Phillies and deserve the win at that.
While JA Happ was making Phillie fans yearn for the return of Chan Ho Park, Santana was busy being a complete ballplayer in claiming a 6-5 decision over the division rivals.
Santana probably threw too many strikes (imagine if Oliver Perez knew such a concept) during his 7+ innings of work Tuesday night.
The sensational southpaw threw 50 pitches in the first five frames, an incredible 42 of which were strikes.
After getting Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez the first time around, the lefties mashed back-to-back homers the second time through the order.
The Mets were ahead 3-0 before the blasts thanks to a pair of their own. David Wright and Carlos Beltran bopped two over the left field wall. Gary Sheffield and Fernando Tatis easily could have had two more in any other ballpark.
Still, Santana relinquished a 3-0 and actually found himself down 4-3 when Jimmy Rollins, .220 average and all, smoked a two-run shot to left.
That’s when Santana stepped up… to the plate.
His answer came from the batter’s box. With two on and one out in the sixth inning, Santana took two strikes as he tried to move the runners.
Then, showing bunt on an 0-2 count, Santana pulled the ol’ butcher boy hack and scorched a double into the rightfield corner.
In the top of the seventh, Santana did it with the glove.
Protecting a 5-4 lead, the Mets ace made an unbelievable snag of Shane Victorino’s liner and threw over to first base for the double play.
Tuesday was about a pitcher helping himself.
He gave up four long balls, but walked only one batter.
He made some mistakes, but did the other things right like winners do.
Johan Santana proclaimed to Jerry Manuel, “I’m a man. I’m a man,” as the Mets ace was forced to give up the ball to the manager in the eighth inning Tuesday night.
In layman’s terms, Santana wanted to remain on the rubber. He’s a man, a grown-*** one at that, and he’s confident he can win his own game.
This man is clearly a winner.
Cora Clutch: Citi Field was rocking as Johan Santana helped himself by ripping the game-tying double to right field, but the momentum was on the verge on dissipating. The Mets had already squandered a number of scoring chances when Alex Cora stepped to the plate in the sixth inning and could not afford another one at this juncture of the game.
The game was tied at 4-4, Santana stood on second and Omir Santos on third. Luis Castillo couldn’t get them in, popping out weakly. That’s when Cora picked up his teammate and his club. He sent a Clay Condrey pitch right back up the middle to put the Mets in front for good. A Big hit for the veteran second baseman, who is batting .304 this year, on his way to a big night (2-for-5, BB, R) in the two hole.
mlblogsmetsmerized
Recent Comments