MVN - Most Valuable Network

Game 40 Open Thread: New York Mets @ New York Yankees

This abbreviated first round of the Subway Series also marks the end of the first quarter of the 2008 season, making it a good time to look back and get an idea of where the Mets are right now. The team is 20-19, which is exactly where they “should” be based on their run differential, and while they are fourth in the National League in ERA, they are just ninth in the league in runs scored per game. This early-season mediocrity, coupled with the perception of clubhouse unrest, has put Willie Randolph on the hot seat, and it’s not hard to imagine a poor performance this weekend costing Willie his job.

After a rainout allowed the latest Billy Wagner outburst to fester in the media a little while longer, it will be nice to get back to real live baseball this afternoon. Hopefully, the team got the baserunning blunders out of its system on Thursday, because Andy Pettitte’s pickoff move can still nip a rally in the bud. Pettitte has struggled lately, allowing five runs in three of his last four starts, and hopefully the Mets can buck their recent trend of helping opposing pitchers break out of a rough stretch.

Johan Santana will look to continue his road dominance. While Santana’s three starts at Shea this year have been somewhat underwhelming (a 4.42 ERA and six home runs allowed in 18 1/3 innings), he’s been pretty damn dominant everywhere else (a 2.38 ERA , 33/7 K/BB ratio and just two home runs allowed in 34 innings). Historically, he has pitched quite well at Yankee Stadium (a 1.17 ERA in 23 innings), and the Mets will need him to keep that going this afternoon.

Damion Easley will be the DH today against a lefty; he’s batting seventh. Ryan Church moves back to the number two slot in the order, with Luis Castillo batting ninth.

Let’s Go Mets!

Links:
MLB Gameday
Baseball-Reference Game Preview
Fangraphs Live Scoreboard

Mets at Yankees Postponed; No Make Up Date Scheduled Yet

Tonight’s Subway Series opener at Yankee Stadium has been cancelled due to rain. Michael Kay told me on My9 that the game will NOT be made up Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. There has not been an announcement yet as to when the game will be played, but it seems possible we could be in line for another Intra-Stadium doubleheader with one game in the Bronx and another in Queens.

I have not heard any updates on how this rainout affects the pitching matchups, but I will post them when I find out.

Update at 8:12pm:

According to espn.com, Johan Santana gets pushed back to tomorrow afternoon. Oliver Perez gets pushed a day as well, and will now pitch Sunday night. So they have the matchups right now as scheduled:

Saturday- 1:05pm: Johan Santana vs. Andy Pettitte

Sunday- 8:05pm: Oliver Perez vs. Chien-Ming Wang

The Opposing Viewpoint: New York Yankees

Welcome back to The Opposing Viewpoint, the place to learn more about the Mets’ opponents from the bloggers who write about them. Coming off an embarrassing series loss at home to the Nationals that culminated in a 1-0 heartbreaker and a postgame outburst by Billy Wagner, the Mets head to the Bronx for a weekend of hype beyond hype and media scrutiny beyond its usual level of excessiveness. Once again, this introductory paragraph must include the “series is scheduled to start tonight, but the rain may interfere” line because New York City is being treated to more fantastically lousy weather. Given the way that both New York teams are playing right now, the next three games have the feel of two wounded beasts clawing away at one another. To get a sense of what’s going on with the Yankees, I asked Brent Nycz of MVN’s The Bronx Block a few questions:

Read the rest of this entry »

Game Recap: Wagner Rips Team After Another Loss: Nationals 1- Mets 0

Mike Pelfrey pitched the game of his life, carrying a no-hitter into the 7th inning, but he ended up with the tough luck loss in a 1-0 game. The bid for the first no-hitter in Mets history was broken up by Aaron Boone, who led off the inning with a legit single. Then in the 8th, with Pelfrey still pitching, the Nationals got the only run of the game. Jesus Flores ripped a double off the left field wall, and he later scored on a sac fly from Felipe Lopez.

The 9th inning was as painful as possible from a Mets fan point of view. Carlos Beltran led off with a single that got through the infield and into right. Ryan Church then flared one the other way, and it looked to be a sure base hit that would put the Mets in business to not only tie but win the game. But left fielder Willie Harris made possibly the catch of the year, diving headlong and robbing Church and the Mets.

Beltran would then steal second, and go to third on an errant throw from Flores. Once again the Mets were threatening, and still there was only one out. But that one quickly became three, when Carlos Delgado lined out to first and Beltran was doubled off to end the game.

Jason Bergmann got the win, tossing 7 shutout innings and striking out 9.

After the game things remained tense, as Billy Wagner snapped at the media and criticized his teammates.

““Hits, we’re not getting consistently. Pitching, today, Pelfrey pitched a fantastic game. We had our chances, we didn’t get that hit. The other day, we’re coming back and we don’t get that hit and we don’t make the pitches. It’s a culmination of just not getting it done. We’re not earning our money.”

When pushed further, Wagner apparently looked towards Delgado’s locker and said,

“Can somebody tell me why the (bleep) the closer being interviewed and I didn’t even play, while they’re over there not getting interviewed? I get it, they’re gone. (Bleeping) shocker.”

The clip can be seen here on metsblog.

Rizzi’s Rant:

There is certainly one big positive to come out of this game, and that is obviously Mike Pelfrey’s performance. He was superb, and this was easily his best start as a pro. He was throwing first pitch strikes with consistency, and did not seem to have much of a control issue at all. Pelfrey deserved a win today. Hell, he deserved two wins with the way he pitched today. But the offense just was not there.

If we cannot get one run off a guy who came into the game with an ERA near 12.00, then maybe we just aren’t that good of a team. Each day I am starting to think more and more that this just isn’t the year. And as if the bad play wasn’t worrisome enough, the post-game comments trouble me even more.

The fact that these type of comments have been happening for more than a full year now tells me two things:

1) This clubhouse is divided, and it does not seem to be a healthy environment. When one of your team leaders is bashing his teammates on a consistent basis (see Wagner’s reaction to Ollie Perez’s flop against the Pirates) it is just not a good sign for team chemistry, which I have always thought was very important in baseball. Everyone needs to be on the same page, and these guys don’t even appear to be in the same book.

2) Willie Randolph does not have control of this team at all. I have been a staunch supporter of Willie since day one of 2005, even after losing his first 5 games as manager. I have always said other than Bobby Valentine he is my favorite Mets manager in my life as a fan. But I am starting to think a change might be needed. I am certainly willing to give him the rest of this season; after all there are still 123 games left. But if we are the same team on October 1 that we are today, the Willie Randolph era should be swept away, and a new reign should be brought in.

A few breaks here and there and the Mets are probably in first place, so I am not on the ledge or anything. But anyone who is a die hard Mets fan can see that this team lacks the passion, fire, and cockiness it had all of 2006. The funk needs to end real soon, so maybe the energy of the Subway Series is just what the doctor ordered…

Game 39 Open Thread: Nationals at Mets

The Mets have lost two of three to Washington this week, and will try to salvage a split of the 4-game set Thursday afternoon for a matinee at Shea. New York remains just 2 games behind 1st place Florida, but is now just 20-18 on the year after Wednesday night’s tough loss.

Pitching Matchup: Mike Pelfrey (2-3, 4.86 ERA) vs. Jason Bergmann (0-1, 11.68 ERA)

Mike Pelfrey had arguably his best outing of the year in his last start. He went 6 innings and gave up just 2 runs Saturday night against the Reds. Unfortunately for him his opponent Bronson Arroyo was even better, and Pelfrey ended up taking the loss. He needs to be just as good today, as the Mets definitely do not want to lose 3 of 4 to the last place Nationals at home.

Pelfrey’s counterpart is Jason Bergmann, who as you can tell from his earned run average has not had a great start to the year. Bergmann made three terrible starts in April before getting sent down to the minors. He now gets another chance to earn a spot in the rotation, replacing the innefective Mike O’Connor. A lot is riding on this start for Bergmann, so don’t expect this to be a cake-walk for the Mets lineup.

Rizzi’s Rant:

The way the Mets have been playing I am very happy to see a guy on the mound with a double digit ERA. We need to score a bunch of runs today, that’s all there is to it. We have a very good lineup on paper, but so far it’s only been on paper and that needs to change.

Pelfrey is a real wild card today. Which “Big Pelf” is going to show up today? The one who has made 3 very effective starts, or the one who has thrown 3 stinkers? Hopefully it’s the former. I am not sure of the lineup, but I am hoping Brian Schneider is behind the plate day game after a night game. Pelfrey is 2-0 pitching to Schneider, and hasn’t gotten to work with him in a few weeks.

There is no such thing as a “must win” in May, but this is a “really really really need a win.” My goal for the Mets today (besides winning) is to have a game at Shea that has no booing from fans. Let’s see if we can reach that goal… LET’S GO METS!!!!

Game Recap: Heilman Implodes Again: Nationals 5- Mets 3

Aaron Heilman gave up 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning to give Claudio Vargas the tough luck loss and spoil a great Mets debut, as New York lost 5-3 to the Nationals. This game was a pitcher’s duel between Vargas and Washington starter Tim Redding, until Brian Schneider ripped a solo homerun over the right field wall in the 5th inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The Nationals tied it quickly in the 6th when Ryan Zimmerman connected on a Claudio Vargas fastball and ripped it deep into the mezzanine section in left field for a solo shot.

Vargas left the game after 6 1/3 innings, haven given up just 1 run and 3 hits, while striking out 6. Heilman came in on relief in the 7th, and proceeded to let the game get out of hand. Jesus Flores singled to left to allow the lead runner to score. After Willie Harris walked, Felipe Lopez then pulled a single to right that scored another run, giving Washington a 3-1 lead. Christian Guzman followed with a 2-RBI single, and the game was all but over.

The Mets made things interesting by getting RBI’s by Schneider in the 7th and Carlos Beltran in the 8th to make it a 2-run game at 5-3, but they went down 1-2-3 in the 9th to end the game.

Rizzi’s Rant:

What more can I say? This was another classic bullpen implosion, and I am starting to get sick of defending this pen.

Claudio Vargas threw a spectacular game in his Mets debut, but Heilman just didn’t have it. I hate to agree with “Mike in Miami,” but Aaron “Homerun” Heilman was out in full force tonight. I don’t know if this guy is just waiting for a starting spot to open up somewhere else in the Majors, or if he is hurt, or whatever, but this man has just not been the same since Yadier Molina took him deep that fateful night in October of 2007.

Ok, we lost, but let’s try our hardest to focus on the positive. Claudio Vargas was phenomenal. Yes, I am aware that most random Mets’ starters come up and throw a few gems before coming back down to Earth (see: Nelson Figueroa, Jorge Sosa, Jae Wong Seo, Alay Soler, etc), but still it is nice to see Vargas show signs of talent when given an opportunity.

Aaron Heilman has obviously hit a career-low point, but Joe Smith continues to be on point night in and night out. He threw another scoreless frame tonight, and he should be exempt from booing at least until the All-Star break.

Citi Field has stopped several Mets homeruns from leaving the park so far this year, and it prevented another one tonight, halting a shot from Carlos Beltran in the 7th inning. Shea has been void of homeruns all year so far, and I expect this trend to continue.

Moises Alou was ejected in the 5th inning after being called out on an apparent outside pitch. This offense needs Alou, but he had a legit argument and it’s good to see from this often complacent ballclub.

Willie Randolph heard a lot of boos for the first time in a while when he took Heilman out of the game. Randolph is hearing it more and more lately at Shea, and while I am a Willie fan, I can’t say I blame the Shea faithful for voicing their displeasure. This team is simply not putting out their best effort, and the manager is a logical fall-guy.

I can only continue to hope that the next series is the one that gets this team going. Outside of Ryan Church no one in the Mets lineup has ben consistently solid, and until another player steps up we are not going to solidify ourselves as the class of the division. Hopefully we win tomorrow afternoon, and it catapults us into a dominant Subway Series…