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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Game #59 - Santana vs Latos... Our first Running Diary

The lineups are in - nothing really special to report here, other than Cora in the 8 hole for the Mets playing 2nd base.  I find it worth mentioning that he's probably the worst offensive player in the National League, so he's got that going for him, which is nice.  Tune back in around 30 minutes for the start of the running diary...

Top 1st - Not a good sign when Johan is throwing 85-87 on his fastball to the first batter of the game.  A worse sign when Eckstein gets around an inside fastball and hits in to the way for a long out.  Hope Johan's just loosening up after three days of extra rest.  Velocity creeps closer to 90 to Headley, who pops a weak fly to center for the 2nd out.  Pagan started back on it, but was able to recover for the easy out.  Adrian Gonzalez makes sure that this won't be the game where the Mets throw their first no hitter with a bloop single to left on a high 3-2 changeup.  No worries though, as Santana gets the worst cleanup hitter in the major leagues to fly out weakly to right.  Seriously, anytime you're feeling really down about the Mets, keep in mind that Scott effin' Hairston is the Padres cleanup hitter.  Wow.  Spotty half inning location wise for Johan, but let's see if the Mets can get him a lead to help him find his comfort zone.

Bot 1st - The tattoos on Mat Latos' left forearm are really terrible.  Anyway, Reyes leads off with an infield single to third.  Headley had to play in to defend against the drag bunt and the ball went right over his head.  A perfect Reyes hit.   Tough strikeout for Pagan - it definitely seemed that Latos' zone is a little bigger than what Johan was working with.  We'll see how that develops.  Bay flys lazily to right center for out #2.   Pretty sure Latos made more throws to first than pitches in that inning, which ended with Ike striking out meekly on a strong curveball.  The game sure is slower with Reyes on 1st.

Top 2nd - Hundley gets ahead 3-0 only to take a strike and then ground weakly to Reyes.  Every time I see this Hundley kid it brings back fond memories of Todd Hundley.  Remember 1996 and his chase of the Mets HR record?  Anyway, I digress - the other Hairston is out on a routine grounder to Reyes.  Chris Denorfia follows with a groundout up the middle that Cora gets to.  Three quick outs for Johan - strangely all 3 in the first on flyouts, and all 3 in the second on groundouts to the middle infield.

Bot 2nd - Wright leads off with a walk after fouling off a good pitch on 3-2.  I was sure the AB was jinxed when Gary pointed out that he had gone 4 straight games without a strikeout.  Francoeur puts a good swing on one, but it dies in right field for the first out.  It's Cora time baby!  Cora wastes a 3-0 count by chasing a breaking ball on 3-2 and flying out to right.  The ball went about 220 feet though, so Alex should feel good about showing off his pop.  Henry Blanco would be great portraying a character in a Tarantino movie.   AND BAM!!!!! It's 2-0 Mets!  Blanco with a terrific at bat, fights off three tough pitches, and on the 10th pitch takes Latos deep to left.   Santana goes down swinging, but he'll take the mound in the 3rd with the biggest lead he's had in his last 4 starts.  (How sad is that tidbit?)

Top 3rd - Tony Gwynn Jr. ground out to second.  He's really terrible.  Latos pops out to shallow right, but the at bat is at least made interesting by the attempt by a 6' 6" pitcher to drag bunt with no one on.  Eckstein singles between Wright and Reyes, followed by Headley hitting a screaming liner right at Reyes that Jose is able to snag just before it hits the ground to end the top of the 3rd.

Bot 3rd - Reyes grounds out to short.  The Mets however are doing a good job at prolonging at-bats, even when they result in outs.  Of course, as soon as I say that, Pagan strikes out on 4 pitches, for Latos' 4th K of the game, the second for Angel.  Latos is hitting 96 on the gun now, and you have to wonder how much the Mets will be able to add to this 2-0 lead.  Bay flies out to right to give Latos his first 1-2-3 inning.  Jason the Overpaid is now 1 for his last 17.  Solid.

Top 4th - Great AB for Adrian Gonzalez, who lines the 8th pitch to center for his second hit of the day, and the first time Johan has allowed the leadoff man to reach base today.   Santana follows with his first walk of the day to Hairston #1, and the Pads have runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out.  Terrible situation for Johan, as he has Hundley 0-2 and throws balls on 4 of the next 5 pitches to walk the bases loaded.  Johan does NOT have his A game again today, and his location is terrible.  Hairston Jr. hits a sac fly to center to end Santana's scoreless streak at 18 straight innings, and it's now 2-1 Mets.  Cora makes a great turn at 2B on Denorfia's grounder to third, and the 5-4-3 double play ends the inning and the Mets are able to escape with minimal damage.

Bot 4th - Ike Davis starts off the inning with a groundout to short.  Ike's been really hit or miss the last few weeks, but I guess that's to be expected from a young guy.  Just wish he wasn't going through these ups and downs in the cleanup slot.  There we go!  Wright strikes out YET AGAIN on an up and away fastball.  I don't even think I could keep track of how many times he's done that this year.  I don't think I've seen him make contact on a high fastball yet.  Francoeur takes strike 3 looking, and Latos is just dominating the Mets right now.  That's 6 K's through 4, and 7 Mets in a row have failed to reach base.  Hopefully Johan will be better in the 5th against the bottom of the lineup.

Top 5th - I'm still furious from home bad Wright looks chasing high fastballs.  This habit has really developed over the last year and a half, and it basically makes him an automatic out for any right hander with a strong fastball.  Makes me sick.  I do have to say that it seems that Santana is getting squeezed on the close ones, but I can't say I blame the ump as Santana has missed TERRIBLY on about half of his pitches.  Gwynn Jr. with the leadoff walk, and I'm sure Latos will be looking to lay down the sac bunt.  Latos does a terrible job and strikes out bunting foul to give Santana his first K of the day.  That was ugly.  Watching David Eckstein dry hump the air every time he steps into the box makes me want to punch him in the face even more.  Is his humping gritty and hustling too?  The pest doubles to left to tie the game.  Santana is just not on his game today - he had Eckstein down 1-2, pushed it to a full count, and now allows the game-tying double.   Headley pops up to left for the 2nd out, keeping Mr. Grit on second.  A poor decision from Jerry to pitch to Gonzalez in my opinion leads to Gonzalez hitting the first pitch to right for his third hit of the day, and the Pads now have a 3-2 lead.  I really don't understand pitching to Gonzalez there, one of the best hitters in the game, when you have Scott Hairston on deck, especially with the way Latos is pitching.  Drives me crazy.  Hairston grounds out to Wright, and the Mets will try to take another shot at the big Padres righty in the 5th.

Bot 5th - No one can tell me that pitching to Gonzalez there was the right decision.  The opposing pitcher is dominating your lineup, it's a tie game, Gonzalez has two straight hits against Santana, and the guy on deck is hitting .222.  Terrible.  Alex "Wonderboy" Cora looks at three straight strikes and sits down.  He's seriously below replacement level for AAA at this point.  Blanco strikes out on a breaking ball for the 9th straight Met retired by Latos, and that's now 8K's, and 4 in a row, for the Padres' righty.  Johan at least puts the ball in play with a lazy fly to left, but it's an easy play, and the Mets go down in order for the third inning in a row.  Latos needed 46 pitches to get through the first two innings, but has needed only 39 in the last three.  This game can't end soon enough right now.

Top 6th -  Hundley leads off the top of the 6th by smoking a lined single to center.  It's time to get someone up in the pen.  Hairston Jr. goes first pitch swinging and just gets under one to fly out to Bay in left.  And as soon as I call for the pen, Santana gets Denorfia to swing at the first pitch as well, and he grounds to Cora for an easy double play.  Maybe the Mets will get a runner on base in the bottom of the 6th.

Bot 6th - Reyes flies out to shallow center.  He's pressing so hard right now I'm surprised the bat doesn't snap in his hands.  Pagan at the plate as the rain starts to fall a little at Citi Field, maybe this can snap the spell Latos has the Mets under.  Pagan gets 8 pitches out of Latos, but hits a soft liner to short for the 2nd out of the inning.  12 Mets in a row retired by Latos, I'd put good money on Bay not breaking that little streak.  Bay flies out to center on 4 pitchers, and that's 13 Mets in a row for Latos.  Bay is now 1 for his last 18, and worth every penny.  Kill me please.

Top 7th - Tony Gwynn Jr. drops a perfect bunt up the 3rd base line to reach on a single.  That's 4 straight innings that Santana has allowed the leadoff man to reach.  For some reason, Bud Black pulls Latos after 99 pitches and 13 straight retired.  Hope returns for the Mets.  Luckily the pinch hitter Zawadzki grounds into a 5-4-3 double play.  Latos probably couldn't have done that himself.  That brings up Eckstein for some more dry humping.  The grittiest no talent man in baseball draws a walk, since right now Johan couldn't find the strike zone with a map, and the Padres have a runner on with two out.  The walk to the player with the least offensive talent in the game leads to a grooved fastball that Headley drives to deep right and scores Eckstein.  4-2 Padres.  With their bullpen, this game feels over.  It says something about how bad the Padres are that Johan could pitch this badly today and only allow four runs.  He's done for the day after 6 and 2/3.  Feliciano comes in and strikes out Gonzalez to end the inning.  Johan's final line is 6.2IP, 8H, 4 ER, 4 BB, and a measly 1K on 108 pitches.  That line doesn't really do justice to how much he struggled to find it today.  Let's see if the Mets can take him off the losing side against the terrific Padres 'pen.

Bot 7th - Gregerson comes on for the Padres, which is great cause he's pretty much unhittable.  See ya at 7.  He did give up a run 12 outings ago though, so there's hope.  Like clockwork, Ike strikes out on a breaking ball.  He's good at that.  Wright just struck out on 3 pitches, which shouldn't be surprising, considering Gregerson is right handed.  The called 3rd strike was clearly outside, but Reynolds has been calling that one all day.  Francoeur provides a terrible at bat, striking out on a 3-2 pitch that never looked remotely close.  I love Frenchy as much as the next guy, but his inability to take a walk makes him such a huge liability late in games, especially when the Mets are behind.  16 Mets in a row have come up without reaching base, and 11 K's for the Padres now.

Top 8th - Jenrry "Why am I not in the minor leagues working on being a starter" Mejia comes out for the 8th.  Scott Hairston hits a tailing liner to right center, and he's on with a single.  That's 5 straight innings now with the leadoff man on for the Padres.  You just cannot win baseball games falling behind 2-0 to every leadoff hitter and then putting them on.  WOW!  David Wright with a terrific play at third, and Cora with a solid turn at second for the 3rd 5-4-3 double play of the day for the Mets.  They've been amazing in the field today, and it's kept them in the game.  Mejia drilles Hairston Jr in the back with a 97 MPH fastball.  Interesting considering Henry Blanco was set up outside.  Can someone please talk some sense into Omar and let this kid get stretched out as a starter?  Chris Denorfia looks kind of like Adrien Brody.  That's not a good thing.  He hits a sharp grounder to Wright, who pulls a Roger Dorn and ole's the ball instead of getting in front of it, and now there are runners on 1st and 2nd.  At least he's pretty.  Tony "I hit like my Dad did when he was 6" Gwynn Jr grounds out to Reyes to end the inning.  Do you think that if you got Tony Sr. really stoned, he could eat Tony Jr whole in one sitting?  I lean towards yes.

Bot 8th - Handsome Mike Adams comes out for the bottom of the 8th, and he feels like a lottery winner when he sees the first "hitter" he'll face is Alex Cora.  Cora grounds out to first, but he can take pride in knowing that he got the ball almost halfway into the OF earlier today on a fly out.  Jesus Feliciano comes  to the plate after 13 years in the minors, and looks completely foolish on 3 pitches and chases a high 0-2 fastball to strike out.  Next.  Oh, goody, next up is Feliciano's counterpart on the "career minor leaguers no one else in basbeall wants" squad, Chris Carter.   Carter becomes the 19th straight Met to take a seat on a fly ball to right.  Yawn.

Top 9th - The Mets will bring in Fernando Nieve for the top of the 9th and Barajas comes on to catch.  Nieve's thrown once in the last 12 days, so I have a good feeling about this one.  Will Venable is the pinch hitter in the 9 hole.  Venable pops out to first base, and for the first time since the 3rd inning, the Padres do not have the leadoff man on.  I can hear the champagne corks from Manhattan.  Eckstein is up, so I'm just going to change the channel before I lose my lunch.  Wright makes a diving stab on Eckstein's grounder, and despite tremendous hustle from mini-me, he's out at 1st.  Headley grounds out to Cora to end the inning, and the Mets have their first 1-2-3 inning since the 3rd.  The Mets will now have the top of the lineup bat for one last chance against Heath Bell.


Bot 9th - Heath Bell comes on, and hopefully the Mets will keep up the McDonalds advertisements they had behind the plate during Headley's at bat to distract his fat ass.  It may be their only hope.  Great stat from Gary as Reyes steps to the plate, via Elias Sports Bureau.  Of the 25 players on the roster of the 2003 Mets the day Reyes came up 7 years ago, only Reyes, Ty Wiggington, and Pedro Feliciano are still in the majors.  Those were some glory days.  Reyes grounds out to third and that's 20 Mets in row.  This is fun.  Pagan flies out to shallow right, and the Mets are down to their final out.  Considering Jason Bay is at the plate, this should only be another 30 seconds or so.  Bay flies out to right field, and the game is over.  22 straight Mets retired to end the game.  Pathetic.

An ugly day at Citi mars the landmark debut of our first ever running diary, as the Mets are limited to a season low 2 hits, and Santana gives one of his worst performances of the year.  Rest assured, I'll be back tonight with some thoughts on the 2nd half of this doubleheader, which we can only hope will net a better result.  It takes a special type of performance to have 22 straight players fail to reach base, and that, my friends, is why being a Met fan sucks.

5 comments:

  1. Brad Lincoln got beaten up last night. You should start a blog about him.

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  2. I will start a blog for him if you can name for me the last homegrown Pirates pitcher to win 100 games for the franchise.

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  3. Drabek was a Yankee who was traded to the Pirates - and he didn't even win 100 games for them. Bob Walk played for Philly and Atlanta before Pittsburgh.

    The actual answer is John Candelaria. NYC pride baby!

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  4. The only thing that could have gone worse, is if K-Rod came into the game with a 10 run lead and blew it.

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