Batista amazes as Mets beat Brewers 3-1

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Some things are best left misunderstood. One of those things is Miguel Batista’s performance last night at Citi Field against the Milwaukee Brewers. After a couple of cringe-inducing starts that had Mets fans like myself begging for Jeremy Hefner to be called up, Batista wove a gem last night with seven shutout innings against the Brewers.

Batista had his sinker working with great movement last night, which resulted in a bunch of ground balls and five strikeouts. Perhaps most surprising was that Batista only issued one walk for the entire outing.

The Mets struggled quite a bit on offense against Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo, but just as they have all season, they made big plays when it mattered. In fact, the Mets only had three hits for the entire game, but the one of the most patient teams in the majors managed to walk eight times against Milwaukee pitching.

It was Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda drawing walks in the first inning that set the table for Daniel Murphy’s RBI single. In the sixth, the Mets added another run when Ronny Cedeño pulled off a perfect suicide squeeze. Murphy came home on the play after he doubled and moved over to third on an Ike Davis fly out.

In the ninth, David Wright led off with a double and moved to third on Duda’s ground out. Although Wright got caught in a rundown between third and home when Murphy grounded to second base, he miraculously scored when Milwaukee third baseman Aramis Ramirez dropped the ball while trying to move it from his glove to his throwing hand.

If you’ve been keeping track, the Mets were able to score in every inning in which they had a base hit. That’s pretty resourceful (and a little lucky).

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Frank Francisco is going to get better

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Frank Francisco has been really bad this season so far, but his past performance shows that he’s likely to bounce back and be a decent relief pitcher for the rest of the season. That’s why, no matter what Mets manager Terry Collins decides to do with him, the decision will likely be viewed as the right one.

Because Francisco’s ERA is not going to stay at 8.56, Terry Collins will be praised no matter what he does. Leave Francisco in the ninth, and Collins’ faith will be rewarded. Move Francisco to the seventh or eighth, and he’ll pitch better in the new role. The only thing Collins shouldn’t do is move someone who isn’t Bobby Parnell into the closer’s role.

I wrote about Francisco, as well as Bobby Parnell and Jon Rauch, over at The Daily Stache today. Check it out, or don’t.

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Wright extension would be a win for both sides

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

There’s a good chance that they Mets do not need to see another homegrown super star leave in free agency this year like they did last winter with Jose Reyes. That’s because Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Mets front office is preparing to offer David Wright a contract extension soon. In this case, soon may come before the regular season ends.

Wright currently has one $16 million club option left for 2013, which the Mets will certainly pick up if their third baseman even comes close to producing what he is on pace for this season. After that, though, Wright’s future with the team is uncertain.

That would change if the Mets choose to lock him in to an extension. However, with Wright playing at an MVP level right now, it would behoove the front office to hold off on an offer until he cools down at least a little bit. The early speculation is that the Wright offer could resemble the extension fellow third baseman Ryan Zimmerman signed with Washington this winter. Zimmerman’s deal doesn’t kick in until 2014 (when Zimmerman will by 29 years old) and goes for six years and $100 million. Then there’s an $18 million club option for a seventh year.

Wright will be 31 years old at the start of the 2014 season, so it’s possible the Mets could get away with only five years with a club option for a sixth. However, Wright has proven to be more productive at the plate than Zimmerman, and if he can keep playing like he has so far this season, it’s hard to imagine him signing for less than five years and $100 million.

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Mets experience awesomeness and then agony in Miami

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Rooting for a so far successful but ultimately flawed team like the Mets can be very frustrating. On one hand, the team is 19-15 with the fifth-best winning percentage in the National League. On the other hand, only four teams in the NL are worse than the Mets in run differential (New York is at -17 on the season).

On one hand, the Mets offense has really started to come alive during this road trip. On the other hand, in might be the bullpen that keeps the Mets from every realistically calling themselves a contender this season.

After the relief corp blew a 5-3 lead in the first game against Miami, the Mets bounced back on Saturday afternoon for a 9-3 victory in which David Wright and company beat up on Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. Wright was 4 for 6 with a home run and three RBI, while Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy had three hits each. R.A. Dickey didn’t strike out anyone in his six innings of work, but he only allowed one walk, nine hits and two runs before exiting with 95 pitches thrown.

Dickey might have lasted a little longer, but he experienced discomfort in his wrist after being plunked by Nolasco in the fifth inning.

“It was a real fight today,” Dickey said. “I threw a lot of tumbleweeds up there, balls that were just kind of rotating on me. I didn’t have my swing-and-miss knuckleball tonight, but they were hitting enough pieces of it to give me some ground balls in a couple of bigger situations. I was able to make a good pitch occasionally when I needed it.”

The Mets were fortunate that Dickey came away uninjured, but the good vibes did not last through the weekend. Today, the Mets saw a 2-0 disappear when Ramon Ramirez let up a two-run homer to John Buck in the bottom of the seventh. However, the Amazins came right back with a two spot of their own in the ninth against disgraced Miami closer Heath Bell. With two outs and the bases loaded, Justin Turner stepped in and drove in two runs with a double down the right field line to make the score 4-2.

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Rangers outlast Caps in Game 7, win 2-1

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

For the third time this postseason the Rangers played in an elimination game, and for the third straight time, they prevailed.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced on Saturday night, including all 12 shots in a second period that saw the Capitals pin the Rangers deep in their own zone on multiple occasions. Washington goaltender Braden Holtby once again did a great job in net, but the Michael Del Zotto snap shot that he let through halfway through the third period turned out to be the difference in a 2-1 Rangers victory.

With the Blueshirts up 1-0 and in search of an elusive second score, Marian Gaborik rushed into the Capitals zone against three defenders. With the numbers in Washington’s favor, it wasn’t surprising that Gaborik’s shot attempt was blocked. It was surprising that Del Zotto, who was trailing the play, scooped up the loose puck between the circles and whistled it past Holtby to put New York up 2-0.

The game wasn’t over, though. Less than a minute later, Roman Hamrlik entered the attack zone late and received a great feed from Brooks Laich. The defenseman patiently got in position and whipped a wrist shot past Lundqvist to put the game’s outcome back in serious doubt.

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Rangers face Game 7 Armageddon tonight

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

It all comes down to this… again. For the second time already in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Rangers will play Game 7 at home with the entire season hanging in the balance. For the Washington Capitals, it will be a second straight Game 7 on the road, so they’re unlikely to be intimidated by a Madison Square Garden crowd that will surely go crazy at the slightest provocation.

The Caps won Game 7 in Boston to finish off their Quarterfinals series, and they plan on ending round two in similar fashion.  Says defenseman Karl Alzner:

“I don’t think there are too many more hostile environments than Boston for a Game 7. We know that, we know what it’s going to be like and not to pay attention to the fans and what’s going on besides what’s happening on the ice. It’s just remembering exactly how we prepared and how we had to play it. I think last game was pretty much a Game 7 for us; that’s the way we played. I think we have to bring that back. You don’t want to overthink it, just go out and play hockey.”

I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard “just go out and play hockey” this playoff season, but it’s something that I don’t seem to tire of… kind of like those Ticket Oak commercials.

Just pure advertising genius right there.

Anyway, the increasingly indestructible Caps goaltender is sure to be ready with his “A” game tonight. That’s because he just faced the only thing scarier than a Game 7.

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Mets amaze fans again, still lose in Miami 6-5

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Not tonight, boss.

That’s the attitude I had to take with tonight’s Mets loss. Just like during the sweep in Philly, New York treated the other team’s bullpen like a piñata and came back from a multi-run deficit. However, a happy recap was not in store for tonight, as the Mets could not hang on to the lead that they stunningly created.

Trailing 3-1 entering the seventh inning, the Mets got a little closer to their South Florida rivals when Mike Nickeas ripped an RBI double to score Ronny Cedeño. The next inning, Kirk Nieuwenhuis doubled home David Wright to tie the game, and later, with the bases loaded, Mike Baxter came up with yet another big hit when he came off the bench to hit a line drive off of Miami reliever Ryan Webb. The double scored another pair of runs and the Mets had amazingly come from behind yet again to take a 5-3 lead with just six outs remaining.

Unfortunately, New York’s bullpen didn’t fare much better than Miami’s. Jose Reyes reached on an error when first baseman Ike Davis booted an in-between hop on a routine ground ball induced by Bobby Parnell. A perennial thorn in the Mets’ side, Omar Infante, followed that up with an RBI double into the right-center field gap. Parnell just managed to escape the inning with the lead intact, thanks to some help from Tim Byrdak.

In the ninth, Frank Francisco got ahead of Giancarlo Stanton 0-2, but he left a fastball a little too far over the plate, and the immensely talented Stanton smoked the stray pitch for a lead-off double. After Gaby Sanchez moved Stanton to third with a fly out, Emilio Bonifacio hit a sharp grounder through the drawn-in infield to tie the game.

Francisco did a good job to not get completely rattled. Although Bonifacio stole second base, Francisco struck out catcher John Buck to bring left fielder Greg Dobbs to the plate. On the first pitch from Francisco, Dobbs lobbed a soft liner into right field for the game-winning hit. With the speed of Bonifacio, there was no chance to stop him from crossing the plate and ending the game.

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Mets play 8,000th game in Miami tonight

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Yes, the Mets play the franchise’s 8,000th game tonight, and it will be the first they have ever played in Marlins Park. New York shouldn’t feel too out of place, though. The gigantic new digs have frustrated the Miami offense much like Citi Field did to the Mets when it opened in 2009.

Since getting swept by the Mets in Queens from April 24 to 26, the Marlins have finally gotten their act together. Miami is coming off of an 8-1 road trip in which they beat up on the Giants, Padres and Astros. Those aren’t the most killer opponents, to be sure, but the Marlins may be one of the only teams in the majors feeling as confident as the Mets right now.

The good news is that momentum is only as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher. The bad news is that Mark Buehrle, Miami’s starter tonight, has been really good so far. With a 2.83 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 22 strikeouts and only six walks, Buehrle is feeling the effects of switching from the American League to the National League. He’s also been hanging out in some pitcher-friendly parks, with his last three starts coming in San Diego, Miami and Queens.

Buehrle’s last start was a complete game win over San Diego last week. His last start versus the Mets was a loss, but Buehrle pitched quite well in that one, with four strikeouts, one walk and two runs allowed in seven innings. Although Buehrle’s velocity only tops out in the mid-80’s, he throws a variety of pitches to fool his opponents. The Mets are a patient team, though, and their approach matches well with a pitcher who doesn’t try to overpower batters.

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Mets complete the sweep, deflate Philly 10-6

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

I was too consumed by hockey to watch a minute of it, but the Mets won a baseball game last night 10-6 over Philadelphia. It was New York’s third straight win over the Phillies and their first sweep in that city since 2006. The winning pitchers in that series were Chad Bradford, Darren Oliver and Steve Trachsel. Yeah, it’s safe to say the Metsies were overdue for some success in Philadelphia.

In my pre-game report for The Daily Stache, I mentioned that Phils starter Cliff Lee would be limited to around 85 pitches because last night was his first start since hitting the disabled list with a strained rib cage muscle. That turned out to be pretty important, because the Mets trailed 4-2 after six innings, and Lee was lifted after those six innings with only 84 pitches under his belt.

In the seventh, Kyle Kendrick came on in relief and completely messed everything up for Philadelphia. Kirk Nieuwenhuis pinch hit for utility man Vinny Rottino and led off with a walk. Then, Justin Turner lobbed an 0-2 fastball over center fielder Shane Victorino’s head for an RBI double. After Ike Davis and straight-outta-Buffalo catcher Rob Johnson reached to load the bases, Kendrick hit Lucas Duda with a pitch to tie the game at 4-4.

Amazingly, Kedrick stayed in the game and allowed the Mets to take the lead on an Andres Torres RBI ground out. In the eighth, David Wright and Scott Hairston hit back-to-back doubles to make the score 6-4 and finally get Kendrick to hand over the ball to Jose Contreras. After the pitching change, Nieuwenhuis struck out and Justin Turner hit a fly ball that was dropped by Hunter Pence. That set the stage for a three-run bomb from Ike Davis that made the score 9-4 and effectively ended the game.

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The Mets are going for the sweep in Philly tonight

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Hey, the Mets are a sports team in New York that is in action tonight. Unfortunately, the Mets won’t be playing a playoff game, but they will be trying to sweep the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park, and that is pretty exhilarating.

Dillon Gee is on the hill for the Mets and Cliff Lee returns from the disabled list to make the start for the Phillies. Read the preview that I wrote at The Daily Stache, or don’t. Either way Terry Collins has already put Vinny Rottino and Rob Johnson in the lineup. That is cray.

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