Bulllpen is not so Amazin', blows lead and game, 7-6.

Posted on 22 Sep 2008 by Danielle

Jeff Francoeur and the Atlanta Braves gave fans of the New York Mets yet another miserable memory at Turner Field.

Francoeur had an RBI triple, and Martin Prado drove in three runs as the Braves rallied for 7-6 win over the Mets in the season finale at Turner Field on Sunday.

Ruben Gotay and Omar Infante each drove in a run for Atlanta, which used a four-run eighth inning to beat New York for the eighth time in nine meetings here this season.

Meanwhile, Carlos Delgado homered and collected his 2,000th hit with a single in the first and David Wright homered for New York, which fell one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East Division. Philadelphia played the Florida Marlins later Sunday.

The Mets also had their lead in the wild card cut to 1 1/2 games after Milwaukee beat Cincinnati, 8-1, on Sunday.

They will certainly be glad to leave Turner Field - their personal house of horrors. The Mets have dropped 66 of 98 here since the ballpark opened in 1997.

Infante lead the eighth-inning rally with a double down the left-field line off reliever Scott Schoeneweis before first baseman Casey Kotchman knotted the game at 4-4 with a seeing-eye single to right.

Kotchman made contact on the 0-1 offering from Schoeneweis, partially offering at the pitch. But the check swing hit landed perfectly between Ryan Church and Carlos Beltran in right field, plating Infante with the tying run.

Francoeur followed with a triple to the left-center field to give the Braves a 5-4 lead. Two more Mets' relievers loaded the bases for Prado, who followed with a two-run double down the right field line.

Jorge Julio hurled a scoreless eighth for the win. Mike Gonzalez worked around a two-run homer to Delgado in the ninth to record his 13th save.

The shame of it all was that it cost Mike Pelfrey win number fourteen on the season. It wasn't that this start was the most impressive of them all and it was nowhere near the 1-0 losses he was handed against the Washington Nationals this season.

Instead, it was the fact that he didn't really have it tonight. Don't mistake that for "Pelfrey pitched terribly" because he didn't. But unlike the time that seems so long ago, even though it was just April and May of 2008, Big Pelf didn't fold, he didn't let the Braves blow it open. He used all 92mph of his fastball and as much movement in his array of pitches that he could find to hold the Braves to just two runs. Mike Pelfrey is a gamer... and it's a shame that the bullpen couldn't do more to help him.

So for The Wright Stuff... Big Pelf is our player of the game.

Notable performances:

Marlon Anderson, despite his long streak of hitless at-bats, was 1-1 in his pinch hitting role last night. And that deserves a notable. Despite the fact that he hasn't been the same since last year, at TWS, we still love this guy for the way he treats the fans during play and batting practice.

Carlos "Esta en Fuego" Delgado was 4-5 in last night's game! He smashed his 37th home run of the year, knocking in three RBI's to bring his season total up to 110 for the year. He also was plated twice.

David Wright was 2-3 with two RBI's and three runs scored. He also walked twice, in addition to doubling and cranking his 32nd home run of the year a mere 420+ feet.

Wright's averaged jumped to .297.

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Mets fall to Braves 4-2 and out of first place

Posted on 20 Sep 2008 by Danielle

Pedro Martinez surrendered four runs over six innings, but plated both runs for New York, which a half-game behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. Philadelphia defeated Florida, 3-2.

Turner Field has been the place of many epic battles between the Braves and their chief rivals from New York over the years, but the results have consistently favored the home team. Atlanta has taken 65 of 97 from the team from the Big Apple since Turner Field opened in 1997.

The Mets were able to reverse the trend in the series opener with a late-inning rally en route to notching their first win in seven tries at their division rival this season.

Atlanta, however, forced a rubber match tomorrow after defeating the Mets tonight.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner Martinez has struggled down the stretch for the Mets, losing each of his last three starts while allowing 14 runs and 24 hits over his last 16 frames.

The 36-year-old hurler entered this one hoping to help his team remain as pacesetters in the NL East while trying to avoid a personal three-game slide for the first time since the end of the 2006 campaign.

The Braves sent eight runners to the plate in a three-run first off Martinez and the Mets. Anderson led the onslaught with a single before stealing second on the next pitch from Martinez.

After Martin Prado walked, Kelly Johnson followed with a double into the right-center field gap, plating Anderson and extending his hitting streak to a career-best 18 games. Prado scored on Brian McCann's groundout to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Casey Kotchman capped the frame with a run-scoring single to right-center field, plating Johnson.

Campillo surrendered two runs on five hits while walking two and striking out a pair over six frames to record his first win since August 8 at Arizona.

Martinez provided New York's only offense against the Atlanta hurler, plating Carlos Beltran and Brian Schneider with a double into the right-center field gap. However the veteran was unable to keep the Braves offense at bay, allowing nine hits while walking three and striking out seven.

Atlanta added another run off Martinez in the sixth on Anderson's run-scoring single to restore a two-run cushion.

Will Ohman recorded the first out in the seventh before yielding to Jeff Bennett, who recorded the next five outs. Mike Gonzalez set down the Mets in order in the ninth to record his 12th save.

Notable performances tonight:

Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran were each 1-4 tonight. Only Beltran scored on Martinez's double.

Luis Castillo was 1-2 with a walk.

Pedro Martinez knocked in the only two runs for the Mets on his double on his 1-2 night, his 8th extra base hit of his career.

David Wright was 2-4 tonight, raising his average to .295.

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Murphy breaks it open as Mets beat Braves and take back first from Phils, 9-5!

Posted on 20 Sep 2008 by Danielle

Daniel Murphy has been lightning in a bottle for the Mets thus far. And tonight, lightning struck again.

Murphy rescued the Mets' bullpen by snapping a tie in the eighth with a pinch-hit, two-run double and Reyes hit another leadoff homer as New York posted a 9-5 victory over the crashing Atlanta Braves on Friday.

Jose Reyes hit his second leadoff homer in two games for the Mets, who moved one-half game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. The Phillies dropped a 14-8 decision to the Florida Marlins.

Rookie Nick Evans homered and David Wright snapped out of a 1-for-19 slump with an RBI double as the Mets posted their third straight win. It was a rare victory in Atlanta.

Turner Field has been less than hospitable to New York, as the Mets had lost a staggering 64 of 95 games at Atlanta's former Olympic Stadium entering Friday -- including six straight this season.

Luckily for the Mets, Murphy, who began the season in Class AA Binghamton, was oblivious to New York's dubious history in this ballpark.

Things started out great for the Mets, who quickly jumped out to their usual first inning lead.

Jose Reyes hit a solo shot to left in the top of the first to make it 1-0.

However, the Braves came back in the bottom of the second and made it 2-0 in a bizarre play that started on Wright's error and ended with Schneider throwing out Anderson at second as he was trying to advance.

In the top of the third, the Mets took their lead back. Reyes walked on four pitches, advancing to second on Castillo's ground-out. David Wright then doubled to score Reyes. Carlos Beltran also doubled to score Wright. Then Carlos Delgado singled to score Beltran. The Mets' lead was now 4-2.

In the bottom of the third, JoJo Reyes doubled to left, scoring after being advanced by Prado and brought home by Omar Infante's double. 4-3.

The team got the run back in a hurry in the fourth, as Nick Evans hit his second career home run to make it 5-3.

The lead was cut to a single run again after Gotay walked, Prado singled, and Infante hit a sacrifice fly. The score was then 5-4.

Oliver Perez held them off for another inning to hold onto the one-run lead. Ollie gave up three earned runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out six. He hurled 109 pitches in the game.

With Nelson Figueroa pitching in the seventh, Jose Reyes committed an error that allowed Brandon Jones to be safe at first. Prado then singled and Jones moved to third. On an error by Ryan Church, Jones scored. Ricardo Rincon and Pedro Feliciano then combined to keep the game tied.

But New York was able to overcome a shaky seventh in which its bullpen blew yet another save opportunity, by sending nine men to the plate in a four-run eighth.

With the game stuck in a 5-5 tie, Carlos Delgado led off the bottom of the eighth with a single up the middle off Atlanta reliever Julian Tavarez. Third baseman Martin Prado fielded pinch hitter Argenis Reyes' sacrifice bunt down the third-base line, but second baseman Kelly Johnson dropped Prado's throw.

Two batters later, Murphy smacked a double into the left-center field gap, scoring Delgado and Reyes to give the Mets a 7-5 lead. Jose Reyes knocked in Murphy with a two-out single and advanced to second on a base hit by Luis Castillo.

Wright capped the frame with an RBI single for the final run. By the time the inning was over, the Mets lead 9-5.

Last night's notables:

Jose Reyes was 3-4 with two RBI's and three runs scored on a home run, double, a single, and a walk.

Carlos Delgado was 2-5 with two singles, a run scored, and an RBI.

Nick Evans was 1-2 in the game, smacking his second career home run and garnering a walk.

Daniel Murphy continues to prove himself to be a significant part of the Mets' future, breaking the game open with his double in the ninth.

Ramon Castro was 1-3 in his first start since returning from the DL.

Carlos Beltran was 1-5.

David Wright broke out of his 0-10 slump, going 2-5 in last night's game with a double and a single, with two RBI's and a run scored.

David's average rose to .294.

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Site Update

Posted on 19 Sep 2008 by Danielle

Due to mechanical and technical difficulties, I was unable to update the site.

But now, I am back... and starting tonight, the recaps will be back.

Sorry if you came here and thought, "Where is everything?"

I promise it'll start up again after tonight's game. It took a day or two to fix.

Let's go Metsies!

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9/16 - What Wright Said...

Posted on 16 Sep 2008 by Danielle

(On hitting into a double play with the bases loaded)

"It was a good situation matchup-wise," Wright said. "But I got a little too aggressive and chased a pitch I probably should have taken."

Credit: Star Ledger

(On moving past the loss)

"You've got to forget about this one and go out and get them tomorrow. There's no panic," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "We know what's at stake. This is a time where these little bumps in the road, we've got to keep them to a minimum. We can't allow this to carry over the next couple of games."

Credit: AP

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Mets fall flat against Nats, lose 7-2.

Posted on 16 Sep 2008 by Danielle

The Nationals beat New York 7-2 on Monday night and cut the Mets' lead in the NL East to a half-game over idle Philadelphia.

"We didn't hit. We didn't pitch, as well. We didn't relieve. When we were coming back, we hit into a double play," said Mets manager Jerry Manuel. "It was just a lot of different things. It was just a bad game, period, for us, at this stage."

Manuel was New York's bench coach in September 2007, so he knows full well what this team went through then. Last season the Mets lost five of six to the lowly Nats in the final two weeks of the season, as their seven-game lead evaporated.

"We come in and need a game and don't play well," Manuel said. "That can happen, but it shouldn't happen at this time of the year."

Everywhere Manuel looked, he saw bad news, and it added up to his team's third loss in its past four games, eating into what was a 3 1/2-game cushion over the Phillies as recently as Wednesday. New York has 13 games left, Philadelphia has 12.

"You've got to forget about this one and go out and get them tomorrow. There's no panic," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "We know what's at stake. This is a time where these little bumps in the road — we've got to keep them to a minimum. We can't allow this to carry over the next couple of games."

While the Mets claim they aren't about to panic, Milwaukee showed signs of concern.
In an unprecedented move, the Brewers fired manager Ned Yost, hoping to pull out of another late-season slump that has jeopardized the team's chance of making the playoffs for the first time since 1982. Third-base coach Dale Sveum will take over for the remainder of the season.

The Brewers have lost seven of eight and fallen into a tie with Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead. It marked the first time in major league history — except the strike-split 1981 season — that a manager was fired in August or later with his team in playoff position, the Elias Sports Bureau said.

Trailing 7-1 Monday, the Mets threatened to make things interesting once John Lannan left the game. The rookie left-hander gave up a double in the third to Brian Schneider, who wound up scoring on Jose Reyes' RBI groundout — and that was it.

It was quite a contrast to Lannan's previous outing, also against the Mets: He allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings.

Garrett Mock entered for the eighth and immediately gave up Luis Castillo's double, a walk and Reyes' RBI single. Mock was replaced by Mike Hinckley, and Ryan Church greeted him with a single that loaded the bases.

That brought up Wright, he of the 31 homers and 114 RBIs and MVP candidacy. But Hinckley got him to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Pedro Martinez took the loss for New York, surrendering four runs and eight hits in six innings.

Wright went 0-4 in the game, his average dropping to .299.

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Article: Wright is doing everything he can

Posted on 15 Sep 2008 by Danielle

It would be hard to imagine anything in baseball more uncomfortable than the Mets' clubhouse yesterday after their ugly 7-4 loss to Atlanta. And no, we're not just talking about how the rookies felt after changing into Michael Phelps-like full-body swimsuits that the veterans were making them wear for the final road trip of the year.

Rather, we're talking about the general state of affairs as the team tried to process how they once again hadn't come up with enough offense to give their Billy Wagner-less bullpen enough margin for error, of which there was plenty.

The Mets' offense boiled down to two words yesterday: David Wright...

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Wright Watch: Blasts #30 and #31!

Posted on 14 Sep 2008 by Danielle

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9/14 - What Wright Said...

Posted on 14 Sep 2008 by Danielle

(On repeating last year)

"This team's been good all year at bouncing back," Wright said. "I think we'll do that on this road trip. We have bounced back, and I'm expecting it.

"Nobody in here is thinking about (last year). We all learned a valuable lesson last year, but nobody's concerned about one loss."

Star Ledger

(On bouncing back)

“We’ve had some tough losses, there’s no doubt about that,� Wright said. “Those last two losses against the Braves were two of the tougher losses. But it seems that the tougher the loss, the better we bounce back the next day.�

NY Times

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Wright's homers wasted as bullpen blows it in ninth inning, Mets lose 7-4.

Posted on 14 Sep 2008 by Danielle

Things for the Mets started off rather well.

Wright took Braves starter Jorge Campillo deep in the first and third innings. With two outs in the first, he knocked a solo shot into the Mets' bullpen, which tied the game at 1-1.

In the third, with Daniel Murphy on first, Wright smashed a two-run dinger to left, clearing the bleachers, to give the Mets the 3-2 lead.

Perez, meanwhile, went seven innings while allowing two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts. It was a nice turnaround from his start against Washington last Tuesday, when he lasted just 3 1/3 innings while allowing seven runs on eight hits in what became a 10-8 Mets victory.

The Mets' bullpen gave up five runs in the ninth inning Sunday afternoon to squander a two-run lead in a 7-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium.

Luis Ayala, who has assumed the closer's role in the wake of Billy Wagner's season-ending elbow surgery, entered in the ninth with a 4-2 lead and immediately surrendered a single to Casey Kotchman before allowing a single to Brent Lilllibridge.

Ayala then faced pinch hitter Greg Norton and got him to a 3-2 count before Norton unloaded on him, driving a three-run shot over the Mets' bullpen in right field for the 5-4 Atlanta lead.

Ayala walked off the mound to a round of boos as Pedro Feliciano came out of the bullpen to replace him.

Feliciano couldn't shut the Braves down, either. After walking Martin Prado and giving up a single to Chipper Jones, Feliciano allowed an RBI double to Gregor Blanco for the 6-4 Atlanta lead. He, too, was booed as he trudged off the mound.

Brian Stokes replaced Feliciano and intentionally walked Omar Infante to load the bases for Corky Miller, who then hit the ball deeply enough to Carlos Beltran in center field to score Jones on the sacrifice fly and put the Braves up, 7-4.

And the goat of the year, Luis Castillo came up with Wright on third and Delgado on second, but couldn't get it done in the bottom of the ninth.

David Wright was absolutely fantastic tonight. He was 4-5 with his 30th and 31st homers of the season, two singles, three RBI's, and two runs scored.

Wright's average SHOT up to .301 for the first time this season!

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