Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wild Throws Help Nats
Anderson Hernandez and Luis Castillo each committed errors in the eighth inning as the Nationals scored the tiebreaking run in a 4-3 loss.
With one out and the scored tied at 3, Mike Morse walked against Sean Green (1-4) and Justin Maxwell ran for him. Cristian Guzman grounded to shortstop, but former Nationals infielder Anderson Hernandez’s toss to second was off target, allowing Maxwell to advance and Guzman reached first.
Ian Desmond, who had earlier hit a two-run homer, then grounded to shortstop. Hernandez threw to second baseman Luis Castillo to force Guzman, but Castillo’s relay to first landed in Washington’s dugout and Maxwell scored.
Mike Pelfrey was charged with three runs in seven innings in his final 2009 start. Pelfrey will leave the team to be with his grandfather, who is suffering from cancer. Pelfrey finished the season at 10-12 with a 5.03 ERA.
Pitcher Pedro Feliciano appeared in his 86th game, tying the club record he set a year ago.
The Mets, who were considered a championship contender when the season started but had their year wrecked by injuries, matched the 2004 team with their 91st loss. New York hadn’t lost more than 79 games since then.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Mets Back To Losing Ways Against Nats
The Mets will tinker with one of their home uniforms next season.
Nelson Figueroa got the loss for the Mets on Monday, dropping his September won-lost record to 0-5. Two others pitchers are 0-5 this month (Aaron Laffey and Felipe Paulino) after only two pitchers had an 0-5 month over the first five months of the season (Armando Galarraga in May and Virgil Vasquez in July).
David Wright's batting average has dropped 19 points from .324 to .305 and is hitting just .220 since returning from a concussion on September 1. Wright has played 25 games in September and the Mets record is 7-18.
He has struckout 33 times in 95 official at bats in September with 2 home runs and 14 RBI. Wright is on pace to strikeout 143 times this season in 140 games. His previous high was 118 strikeouts in 160 games in 2008.
The Mets will tinker with one of their home uniforms next season, the New York Daily News reported. While pinstripes will remain, the background color will change to an off white from a brighter shade. The revised look will be more consistent with the team’s 1960s-era uniforms.
Pat Misch’s shutout of the Marlins on Sunday came on the one-year anniversary of the last shutout by a Mets pitcher. Johan Santana blanked Florida at Shea Stadium on Sept. 27, 2008.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Brain Dead In Miami
You're no Charlie Hustle, Dudley D-Wright. “Just a mental mistake. That’s my fault,” Wright said. “I’ll take responsibility and it won’t happen again.”
Maybin ran for Cody Ross in the fourth inning after Ross was hit on the left hand by a pitch from John Maine (6-6).
Maine allowed seven runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out three, walked two, threw two wild pitches and hit consecutive batters in the fourth.
The Mets scored two runs in the ninth against Matt Lindstrom, who helped New York with a one-out throwing error. Lindstrom then struck out David Wright with a runner on second before being replaced by Brendan Donnelly, who fanned Carlos Beltran for his first save.
Wright had a tiebreaking RBI double in the fifth but the Mets missed out on a chance to add to their lead. Wright was a couple of steps from scoring when Jeff Francoeur was out trying to stretch a single into a double, ending the inning.
Wright appeared to let up as he neared home plate.
“Just a mental mistake. That’s my fault,” Wright said. “I’ll take responsibility and it won’t happen again.”
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Braves Complete Sweep
Familar scene, meeting on mound with Mike Pelfrey.
Hours after announcing Bobby Cox will retire as manager following next season, the Braves won for the 11th time in 13 games. Clinging to playoff hopes, Atlanta moved within four games of Colorado for the NL wild card when the Rockies lost 6-3 to San Diego.
The Braves, who won their seventh straight road game and finished 13-5 against New York this year by winning the final eight meetings. It was their first sweep on the road against the Mets since July 2003 at Shea Stadium.
Mike Pelfrey (10-12) gave up four runs—three earned—and nine hits in six innings for the feeble Mets, limping to the end of a miserable season. They’ve lost nine of 11 and 13 of 16.
David Wright played his 835th game at third base for the Mets, tying hitting coach Howard Johnson’s club record. Who Cares?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Braves Pound Mets Again
Chipper Jones homered and drove in four runs to power the Atlanta Braves to an 11-3 victory over the New York Mets.
Garret Anderson and Matt Diaz also connected for the Braves, who have won nine of 11. They moved within five games of idle Colorado for the NL wild-card lead with 12 games left.
Atlanta opened a six-game trip with its most runs since it set a season high in a 15-2 win at New York on Aug. 19. Martin Prado had three hits, Nate McLouth scored three times and Derek Lowe (15-9) pitched five innings to help the Braves improve to 11-5 against the Mets this season.
Daniel Murphy homered and Luis Castillo had two hits for New York, which has lost seven of nine. Castillo was replaced by Anderson Hernandez with Atlanta leading 11-1 in the fourth and All-Star third baseman David Wright was taken out in the sixth.
Murphy, who doubled and scored in the second, is batting .358 (19 for 53) with three homers and 12 RBIs in his last 14 games.
Anderson Hernandez hit New York’s 46th triple of the season in the fifth inning, one shy of the franchise record set in 1978 and equaled in 1996
Friday, September 11, 2009
Must End The Season
The Mets bench looks on during the ninth inning against the Florida Marlins as the Mets lost the game 13-4.
Johnson had a pair of two-run singles Thursday night and the Florida Marlins beat the listless New York Mets 13-4 to gain ground on the NL East-leading Phillies.
Hanley Ramirez and Cody Ross each had three hits and two RBIs for the Marlins, who completed their first sweep of the Mets since taking four straight Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2004, in New York. Dan Uggla hit his 27th homer in the third inning.
Florida has enjoyed its September trips to New York the last couple years. Spoilers in 2007 and ’08, the Marlins twice dashed the Mets’ playoff hopes on the last day with victories. This year they came to the Big Apple with postseason aspirations of their own.
The Mets (62-78) fell 16 games under .500 for the first time since finishing 71-91 in 2004.
Playing in front of a Citi Field crowd that was about half the announced attendance of 37,620, the Mets showed why they’ve come apart this season.
Bobby Parnell walked consecutive batters with the bases loaded after an error by shortstop Anderson Hernandez and Angel Pagan forgot how many outs there were while running the bases. Luis Castillo had another adventure at second base and New York pitchers didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning until the ninth.
The Mets lead the majors with 19 bases-loaded walks—three by Bobby Parnell—two more than Texas. They’ve also hit two batters with the bases loaded, according to STATS LLC.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Mets Keep Tanking Season
Cody Ross slumped into a cozy chair in the visiting clubhouse and, with many of his Florida teammates, watched the ninth inning of the NL East-leading Philadelphia’s game.
No matter the first bus back to the hotel was leaving in 20 minutes, the Marlins are in a playoff race. And boy, is it fun.
Ross hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning, Ricky Nolasco shut down the Mets into the seventh and the bargain-basement Marlins kept pace in the division with a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets.
In 6 1-3 innings Nolasco allowed three runs, four hits and two walks. He struck out four in improving to 5-1 since the All-star break after getting off to such a bad start that he was sent to the minors in late May.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Reyes Hopes To Play For Mets This Season
Jose Reyes is the modern Rickey Henderson.Sitting in front of a locker he rarely has used since going on the disabled list May 26, the speedy shortstop on Wednesday expressed his frustration over how long it has taken him to recover from what began as tendinitis in his right calf only to escalate into a tear that might require surgery.
“I’m going to still try to come back. I’ve been working so hard to come back, so right now I don’t want to say when but I’m still trying,” Reyes said on team picture day and before the Mets played the Florida Marlins. “I missed so much time. I’d like to come back to get my confidence back and go into spring training with a better idea.”
Reyes has played in only 36 games this season and is hitting .279 with 15 RBIs and 11 steals in 147 at-bats. When he went out the Mets were in second place, one-half game back of the first place Phillies in the NL East.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Cubs Go Deep In Citi Field
Derrek Lee went deep twice and drove in three runs in his return to the lineup, leading Rich Harden and Chicago to a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday.
Harden struck out 10, all swinging, and Aramis Ramirez also had a two-run homer for Chicago, which scored its most runs since beating the Mets 11-4 last Saturday. Jeff Baker had two hits and is batting .330 (38 for 115) since he was acquired from Colorado on July 2.
Cory Sullivan homered for the second straight day and David Wright also drove in a run for New York. Josh Thole went 2 for 4, giving him four hits in his first two major league games.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Former pitcher Koosman given 6 months in prison
Koosman goes to the joint.The decision was handed down in Madison, Wis.
Federal prosecutors accused Koosman, 66, of not paying his federal income taxes for 2002, '03 and '04, costing the government as much as $90,000. Koosman contended that he had researched tax laws and concluded they applied only to federal workers, corporate employees and District of Columbia residents. He pleaded guilty in May to misdemeanor tax evasion for '02 in a deal with prosecutors.
Koosman played in the Majors for 19 seasons, from 1967-85, his first 12 with the Mets. He had a 222-209 record and a 3.36 ERA. Koosman was 17-9 on the '69 Mets team that also included Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan on its pitching staff.
Koosman and Seaver also pitched for the '73 Mets, who lost a seven-game World Series to the A's.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Stokes Chokes
Brian Stokes surrendered a tiebreaking, two-run single to Rockies pinch hitter Jason Giambi with the bases loaded in the eighth to give the Rockies a 5-2 win.
Tim Redding limited Colorado to two runs in 6 2/3 innings and has a 2.45 ERA in his past three starts.
Beltran Plays
Carlos Beltran began a rehab assignment with short-season Class A Brooklyn on Wednesday as a designated hitter. He went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk and was picked off first base.
Beltran is expected to man the outfield with the New York-Penn League team on Thursday. He has been on the disabled list since June 22 with a bone bruise in his right knee.
David Wright wears his new protective batting helmet, influenced by the Great Gazoo.Mets Keep Losing Despite Wright's Return
Carlos Gonzalez and Todd Helton both homered off Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey into the smoky sky as the Colorado Rockies snapped a five-game losing streak with an 8-3 win over the New York Mets on Tuesday night.
Pelfrey required 96 pitches and lasted only four innings. He was charged with seven runs (six earned) on six hits and five walks.
Win One For The Mischer
Pat Misch has no wins major league career. Misch was in position to earn his first major-league win when he departed after seven innings with a 2-1 lead against the Cubs on August 28.
Brian Stokes allowed four eighth-inning runs to hand Misch a no-decision and keep him at 0-8 lifetime.
Misch has the fourth-most losses in major-league history without a win, behind Terry Felton (0-16 from 1979-82), Steve Gerkin (0-12 in 1945) and Charlie Stecher (0-10 in 1890).
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Mets Activate David Wright From DL
David WrightWright sustained a concussion when he was hit in the head by a pitch from San Francisco’s Matt Cain on Aug. 15. At the time of his injury, Wright ranked fourth in the NL with a .324 batting average.
Catcher Josh Thole joined the Mets after being recalled from Double-A Binghamton on Monday. Thole was hitting .328 with 29 doubles at Binghamton.
Thole had the third-highest batting average in the Eastern League at the time of his promotion.
Santana, Perez Have Surgery
Mets pitchers Johan Santana and Oliver Perez have undergone surgery and are expected to ready for spring training.
Santana had bone chips removed from his left elbow Tuesday. Perez had scar tissue cleaned up in his right knee. Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek did both procedures in New York.
The left-handed Santana was 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA. The two-time Cy Young winner made 25 starts.
Perez was 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA in 14 starts.