Johan falls apart in 9-3 Mets loss to Braves

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

“That really got out of hand fast.” That’s the only way to described last night’s Mets loss, which saw the home team fall behind 9-0 after just two innings of Johan Santana pitching.

In the first, Santana got hurt by a pair of dribbler singles by Michael Bourn and Reed Johnson. However, he appeared to settle down with strikeouts of Jason Heyward and Chipper Jones. For about one second it looked like Johan was “back,” but in the next moment he gave up a double to Freddie Freeman down the first base line. The score was 2-0 Braves, but Santana had still pitched a pretty solid first inning.

It was very difficult to say the same for the second inning. After Dan Uggla walked and Paul Janish singled, opposing pitcher Kris Medlen sneaked a ground ball through the infield for an RBI single. Now things were really getting frustrating, but Atlanta refused to yield. Bourn and Heyward each ripped line drives into the outfield to score a couple more runs, and Chipper Jones poked a base hit into right for one more.

Now Santana was being lifted with the score 6-0, even though he had only given up one extra base hit. Of the 10 balls hit into play against him, only two went for outs. I thought it would be better if Terry Collins just let Santana build his confidence and get a couple more innings under his belt. Unfortunately, Collins saw it differently and brought in Jeremy Hefner for a long relief effort. Hefner immediately gave up a three-run homer to Freeman and the game was all but over.

“Over three weeks not facing any hitters at this level and trying to command all your pitches, (it) wasn’t my best,” Santana said. “I think as I continue I’ll make some progress and improve my command. I think I left some pitches up in the strike zone and when you make mistakes like that that’s what’s going to happen.”

On the bright side, Santana didn’t give up a home run, and even Freeman’s first inning double wasn’t elevated much (the pitch was, the ball wasn’t). The long ball has been a major problem for Santana during this rough stretch, so it was nice to see that every Braves hit against him landed in front of an outfielder.

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Braves vs. Mets and the return of the Johan

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

He’s baaaaaaack! After three weeks on the shelf with a sprained ankle, Johan Santana makes his triumphant return to the mound tonight against the Atlanta Braves. Did anyone realize that Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake spells his first name the way it sounds instead of the way Santana does? Very interesting! Kind of.

Garrett Olson’s tenure with the Mets lasted only one-third of an inning. In his only appearance, he allowed four runs and only recorded one out on Wednesday versus Miami. He very nearly was sent off with an infinite ERA. Fun!

In the eight starts he made since pitching a no-hitter versus St. Louis on June 1, Santana has allowed 11 home runs and is sporting a 6.54 ERA. Hitters are hitting .305/.363/.575 over that span, so hopefully the rest will do Santana good.

Atlanta’s starter Kris Medlen has bounced back and fourth between starting and relieving throughout his major league career. This season, he started out in the pen, but was forced into the rotation because of a lack of healthy and effective starters. As a reliever, Medlen had a 2.48 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 13 walks in 54.1 innings. He hasn’t looked too bad as a starter either. In each of Medlen’s two starts, he’s allowed only one run, but neither went more than 5.1 innings.

The right-handed Medlen threw 57 pitches in his first start and 79 in his second, so he might just be able to approach 100 this time around. Meanwhile, Santana probably won’t throw more than 100 pitches either.

Hit the jump for tonight’s lineups.

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Harvey no match for Maholm, Mets lose to Braves 4-0

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Paul freaking Maholm. This is the man who is going to lead the Atlanta Braves into the playoffs. Seriously, look at the pitchers on their disabled list. Brandon Beachy, Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens are all out of commission, and yet the Braves just keep on ticking.

Yeah, they got really lucky with Ben Sheets (and yet, any team could have), but you have to give general manager Frank Wren credit for going out and getting a quality Cubs pitcher even after his plans to acquire Ryan Dempster fell through. Last night, Maholm spun a three-hit complete game shutout in which he allowed zero walks while striking out five.

Maholm did a tremendous job keeping his pitches low in the zone, inducing 14 ground ball outs including two double plays. Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez was impressed.

“Masterful performance. I mean, this guy’s throwing 88-90, in and out with his fastball. Threw some curveballs in on right-handers, made some nice pitches on change-ups and also curveballs. And we played some nice defense behnd him.”

Maholm only threw 95 pitches last night. Meanwhile, Mets starter Matt Harvey needed 101 pitches just to go six innings in his home debut.  The phenom walked five batters in the first three innings, and in the first he allowed a two-run homer to Jason Heyward.

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Harvey makes home debut vs. Braves tonight

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

There isn’t too much to get excited about as a Mets fans nowadays. Fortunately, Matt Harvey has pitched reasonably well in two of his first three major league starts, so it’s not completely insane to think he might be good tonight in his home debut.

The Mets will play a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves tonight starting at 7:10 p.m. The Braves just beat Philly in two out of three games, and they’re just 4.5 games behind division leading Washington with the Stephen Strasberg shutdown looming. Atlanta is also up 2.5 games on the wild card, so they’re certainly feeling like a playoff team right now.

The starter for Atlanta will be trade deadline acquisition Paul Maholm, who has been surprisingly effective this season. Following a blowup in Arizona on June 23, when he gave up seven runs in 3.1 innings, Maholm had six straight starts in which he pitched at least six innings and either allowed one or zero runs. That prompted a trade from the Cubs to Atlanta, who couldn’t get a deal done for the Cub they really wanted, Ryan Dempster. However, the lefty Maholm may turn out to be a better value. In his first start with the Braves, he gave up three runs (all on Justin Maxwell’s two home runs) in seven innings in a loss to Houston.

Harvey, as you may know, got hammered in his most recent start, so we’re looking for less meatballs this time around. Mark Simon of ESPN has some ideas on how Harvey can avoid getting blasted versus Atlanta. I would look for the rookie to throw high fastballs against Jason Heyward and fading away change-ups to Freddie Freeman. Brian McCann is more vulnerable on the inside, so Harvey should give his fastball and slider and workout when the Braves’ catcher comes to the plate. When faced with the public enemy Chipper Jones, there’s not much you can do but aim for the lower outside corner.

Against the lefty Maholm, Terry Collins is going with Jason Bay, Scott Hairston and Ronny Cedeño instead of Jordanny Valdespin, Mike Baxter and Ike Davis. I don’t love leaving Davis out of the lineup because his power is such a huge asset, but Cedeño has been raking lately, so you have to find a way to get him in there.

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Penn State Media Day features huge O’Brien conference

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Alright let’s get to it. Check out the video above by Tony Mancusco of GoPSUSports.com for some sweet player interviews. Before we get to the really long Bill O’Brien press conference, make sure you at least peruse this story about Penn State fan Kelsey Hirsch, who is raising a ton of money for RAINN even though she’s only 12 years old. Follow her cause on Twitter.

Now for the press conference. It was kind of ridiculously long. You can read the entire transcript here. I just made note of the more important things that were said:

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Barden, Bennett trying to shake underachiever status

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The Giants have a big vanacy at tight end thanks to the Patriots claiming Jake Ballard off waivers in the off season. They’re also pretty shallow at the wide receiver position, where the departure of Mario Manningham leaves a battle for the third receiver job.

Two guys with opportunities for playing time this season are Martellus Bennett at tight end and Ramses Barden at wide receiver. However, in order to hold off the competition, both players must prove that the best of their football hasn’t been played yet.

Since being drafted in the second round of the 2008 draft by the Dallas Cowboys, Bennett has shown that he’s more than capable of being a reserve tight end, but he’s unproven as a full time player thanks to being stuck behind star tight end Jason Witten. Bennett hasn’t caught a touchdown pass since his rookie season, and his career high for catches is just 33, set in 2010.

Now with the Giants, Bennett has a chance to shine, but will his eccentric personality get in the way? Bennett has already made it clear that he’s through with his former team.

“I just want to kick those guys’ asses,” Bennett said shortly after arriving at camp, when he was asked about playing the Cowboys. “That is what it is all about. I mean we are cool but we ain’t that cool, know what I am saying? I kind of got some ill feelings towards them overall. It is a game, I kind of hate everybody, honestly, in the NFL.”

So far in Giants camp, Bennett isn’t pleased with the way he’s performed. That’s probably good news for Giants fans, though, because Bennett’s aspirations for greatness might transform him into the producer he never was in Dallas. Despite being hard on himself for the way he’s performed, Bennett is making an effort to get on the same page as quarterback Eli Manning.

“It’s not like sometimes, with the wife, you never know what she wants,” Bennett said. “You’ll be like, ‘Well, do you want steak?’ And she’ll be like, ‘No, I don’t want steak.’ Eli knows if he wants chicken or steak. I’ll come back (and say), ‘Did you like that?’ ‘No, I didn’t like that.’ So the next time I do it, I just do it the way he likes it.”

I think it was a great move by the Giants to bring in Bennett, who still has upside at age 25. Plus, he seems to have a chip on his shoulder and a desire to prove his critics wrong. The other options are tight end are the rookie Adrien Robinson, the unspectacular Bear Pascoe and Travis Beckum, who is still recovering from his ACL tear in the Super Bowl. I really live Bennett’s chances of making an impact this season.

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Mets unveil 2013 All-Star logo, then lose to Miami

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

On Tuesday afternoon, the Mets showed to the world the logo of the first All-Star Game to be played in Queens since 1964. As you can see, there is a “Mets” version of the logo with the team script in front of the New York skyline. There’s also a version with the “Mets” script absent.

The “Mets” version is now prominently on display below the Citi Field scoreboard.

I think it looks really cool. The skyline at the top of the logo is a definite Mets distinction, even without the “Mets” script. It looks like the “All-Star Game” text is inspired by New York’s road uniforms, which is fine. Most importantly, the logo is entirely blue and orange, with respect to the toning down of the black era of team uniform history. I wouldn’t change the logo a bit.

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Penn State changes uniforms to include player names

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Rumors had been circling in the past week, but today changes to Penn State’s 2012 uniforms were finally announced. In addition to a blue ribbon that represents support for child abuse victims, player names will be added to Penn State jerseys this season for the first time in school history.

“We want our fans to know and recognize these young men,” O’Brien said. “They have stuck together during tough times, and I commend them for the leadership they have shown. Moving forward, I’m deeply committed to honoring Penn State’s traditions, while building a bright future for our football program.”

The blue ribbon is a nice gesture, but I don’t really see the purpose of putting names on the jerseys after they’ve been blank for so long. Is this something O’Brien and company would have done even if the Sandusky scandal never happened? Or is it an attempt to distance the school from Paterno? One also has to wonder if the names will eventually be removed from the jerseys again or if this is just step one of a complete overhaul of the PSU uniforms.

Also, where exactly is the ribbon going to be located on the jersey? Above the nameplate like on an NBA uniform or on the shoulder like with a bowl badge? Maybe the ribbon will end up on the helmet. Hopefully we’ll find out soon so that the stores of downtown State College can start selling these puppies.

Right now, all we know for sure is that we’ll be able to more easily tell Paul Jones from Stephen Obeng-Agyapong this fall.

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Penn State Football opens practice

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

On Monday morning, Penn State held its first of 29 football practices in advance of the September 1 season opener. While speaking with reporters, head coach Bill O’Brien said he was so jacked up for the start of practice that he couldn’t sleep on Sunday night. Even better, he arrived at practice at 4:45 a.m., which was somehow 15 minutes later than most of his staff got there.

Here’s some more from O’Brien’s little meeting with the media:

  • A reporter asked O’Brien how many players he has on scholarship right now. O’Brien says he doesn’t know
  • True freshman won’t actually start practicing until tomorrow. Today was an “acclimation period” for them.
  • With Silas Redd gone, there will be opportunities for tailbacks Bill Belton, Derek Day, Zach Zwinak and Curtis Dukes
  • O’Brien and his staff decided to make Belton a tailback because of his good feet, hands and instincts.
  • O’Brien is confident that the football team will continue to have a positive impact on the State College community and its children. “We know why we’re here,” he said.
  • O’Brien feels very good about team camaraderie
  • Just because Redd left doesn’t mean the whole offense is out the window. “We’re not retooling everything because one player left.
  • Bill Belton is the top back right now. He would have seen playing time even if Redd has stayed.

As far as the actual practice went, it was pretty ugly for the passing game. Bob Flounders of PennLive.com reports that Matt McGloin and Paul Jones combined to throw four interceptions within the first 10 minutes of practice. Two of the picks were made by projected reserve safety Stephen Obeng-Agyapong, and projected starters Malcolm Willis (safety) and Adrian Amos (probably cornerback) had one pick each.

Projected starting safety Jacob Fagnano and projected starting tackle Donovan Smith both sat out with hamstring issues, but O’Brien said the injuries were minor.

Penn State will practice once a day on Tuesday and Wednesday before media day on Thursday, so look for more reports in the future. Follow me on Twitter @apy5000

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Douglas, Hill, Thomas and big news at Giants training camp

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

David Douglas making noise at wide receiver position

With Hakeem Nicks and Victory Cruz being the only two significant contributors returning from last season, the wide receiver position is considered pretty wide open. Rueben Randle was just drafted in the second round out of LSU, so you have to figure he makes the team, but after that there are a lot of question marks.

Jerrel Jernigan was a third round pick out of Troy in 2011, but despite a career year from Eli Manning and an early season injury to Domenik Hixon, he failed to record even a single catch last season. He also struggled when asked to return punts, so it’s hard to see where Jernigan fits in right now if he doesn’t improve as a receiver.

Meanwhile, Hixon somehow still has a shot to make the team despite ACL tears in back-to-back seasons. It’s very admirable the way Hixon continues to come back and fight for a roster spot, but you have to wonder if at some point he gets beaten out by a younger, healthier option.

One of those options might be undrafted rookie David Douglas, who has raised some eyebrows in camp so far.

This might have been the crown jewel, but the undrafted free agent wide receiver from Arizona has been making plays ever since the Giants invited him to rookie camp. He has made enough in fact that on Wednesday Giants coach Tom Coughlin went out of his way to offer Douglas some unsolicited praise, saying “David Douglas has had a heck of a preseason.”

Douglas caught 66 passes for 666 yards at the University of Arizona last season. That doesn’t make him out to be much of a deep threat, but with Nicks and Cruz (and possibly Randle) the Giants aren’t really in need of another one. If Douglas can continue to outshine Jernigan, Hixon and the perpetually disappointing Ramses Barden, he might just have a shot of breaking camp with the Giants.

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