Hernandez stellar in Mets' sweep of Braves

Posted on 06 May 2009 by Danielle

Carlos Delgado was proud of his performance during Tuesday night's final inning in one respect. "Game-winning RBI," he said about his two-run single in the ninth, which gave closer Francisco Rodriguez a three-run cushion.

Of course, the Mets would have been perfectly content if those runs weren't needed.
Delgado's drop of a routine pop-up by Omar Infante on what would have been the game's final out ultimately led to two unearned runs.

The Mets survived for a 4-3 win and completed a two-game sweep of the Braves when K-Rod overcame the flub and notched his seventh save by retiring Chipper Jones on a lineout to Ryan Church in right field that stranded Infante at third.

Despite the late scare, the Mets got back on track at a stadium that no longer serves as an annual burial ground. Livan Hernandez (2-1) took a scoreless effort into the seventh inning, and David Wright and Ramon Castro hit RBI doubles as the Mets (12-13) moved within a game of .500 entering another meeting with the Phillies, and a seeming mismatch between Johan Santana and Chan Ho Park tonight in Flushing.

Until Delgado's error, the most anxious moment came in the seventh, when Bobby Parnell tried to protect a two-run lead after inheriting two runners from Hernandez with one out. Parnell, a starter in the minor leagues, had been called upon only twice before in his professional career to enter a game with a runner on base. But the hard-throwing rookie has demonstrated he is ready for that challenge while serving as the primary seventh-inning reliever.

Parnell struck out pinch-hitter Greg Norton looking, but pinch-hitter Martin Prado followed with an RBI double to left field. Still, Parnell escaped with the Mets maintaining a 2-1 lead. With two runners in scoring position, Parnell retired Infante on a hard grounder to shortstop, although there was an anxious moment as the ball rolled up Jose Reyes' arm before he recovered and threw to Delgado.

Rodriguez entered the game in the ninth with a three-run cushion thanks to the two-run single by Delgado. It came after a throwing error by Jones put two runners in scoring position and Carlos Beltran was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Beltran and Wright, who combined for three homers and six RBI in Monday's win, didn't go deep Tuesday night but provided key contributions.

Beltran opened the third inning with a single off Kenshin Kawakami (1-4) to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games. He then stole second, and Wright's one-out double drove him in as the Mets struck first. Wright scored and gave the Mets a 2-0 lead when Castro, starting a third straight game, also doubled.

Beltran has reached base in each of the Mets' first 25 games, surpassing Kevin McReynolds' 1989 streak for the second-longest in franchise history to open a season. John Olerud, who reached base in the first 30 games of the '99 season, owns the team record. Beltran is the only player in the majors this season to reach base in every game now that Baltimore's Nick Markakis failed to do so Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Hernandez looked spry in a 75-pitch effort while limiting the Braves to seven hits and two walks in 6-1/3 innings.

In the third, Church was unable to make a sliding catch on No.8 hitter David Ross' shot, turning the sinking liner into a double. Kawakami then tried to bunt Ross to third base, but Hernandez pounced off the mound and threw to Wright, who tagged out Ross. The Braves still loaded the bases that inning with ensuing singles by Infante and Yunel Escobar. But Hernandez had good fortune, too. Jones lined out to Luis Castillo, who doubled a retreating Infante off second base to end the inning.

Notables:

Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy had identical days, going 1-4 with a run scored and a walk.

Carlos Beltran continues to be on fire, going 2-4 with a run scored and a walk. His average, in case you were wondering, is .404. Yeah. You read that right.

Carlos Delgado, despite dropping a popup, went 2-5 with two RBI's.

Ramon Castro also continues to perform, going 3-5 with an RBI.

David Wright is still getting back into the swing of things, going 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored after a double. He also stole a base. Wright is just under the .300 mark at .299.

0 Comments

HR's by Beltran and Wright propel Mets over Braves

Posted on 04 May 2009 by Danielle

Carlos Beltran slugged a pair of two-run homers and David Wright also had a two-run shot as the Mets beat the Braves, 6-4, Monday night at Turner Field.

Beltran's 26th multihomer game extended his hitting streak to 15 games, which he also accomplished in 2004 spanning a trade from the Royals to the Astros.

The Mets rallied from a 3-0 deficit and avoided dropping four games under .500 for the first time since Sept. 17, 2005 - when a loss to Atlanta capped a 3-14 stretch that removed them from wild-card contention during the first season under Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph.

Minaya, the GM who joined the team in Atlanta Monday and dispatched Oliver Perez to the bullpen, had suggested last week that the Mets lack a champion's "edge," only to backtrack when he realized how the statement played publicly.

Monday night, Braves starter Javier Vazquez overcame a pair of two-out walks in the third by striking out Beltran. An inning later, Vazquez surrendered his first hit, a one-out double by Wright. He took a 3-0 lead into the sixth, before Beltran and Wright each slugged two-run homers. In the seventh, Beltran drilled a second two-run shot to give the Mets a 6-3 lead and chase Vazquez.

The Mets had entered the day ranked 27th in the majors in homers with 16. Wright, who participated in an early batting practice session with hitting coach Howard Johnson Monday afternoon at Turner Field, homered for just the second time this season, his other longball coming off San Diego's Walter Silva on April 13.

John Maine, pitching for the first time in a week after his start was delayed a day by Sunday's rainout in Philadelphia, issued six walks and three hits in six innings. He surrendered all three runs charged to him in the second inning, after the Braves loaded the bases with none out on consecutive walks to Brandon Jones and David Ross.
Maine nearly wiggled out of the predicament unscathed. After striking out No. 8 batter Jordan Schafer, he got Vazquez (2-3) to send a slow grounder to Jose Reyes at shortstop, too slow to turn a double play.

Reyes threw to Luis Castillo for a forceout, and the second baseman attempted a desperation double-play turn to keep Atlanta off the scoreboard. Ross had a hard but clean takeout slide, forcing Castillo's throw to go wide of first baseman Carlos Delgado. Not only did Jeff Francoeur score, but Jones scampered home, too, as the ball bounced off the fence in front of the home dugout. Yunel Escobar's broken-bat single to center later in the inning scored Vazquez as the Braves took a 3-0 lead.

Maine then cruised into the sixth, when he ran into difficulty a half-inning after the Mets took the 4-3 lead. He issued his sixth walk, a one-out free pass to Jones, which pushed Casey Kotchman to second base. Ross then tried to catch the Mets off-guard with a bunt for a base hit down the third base line, but Wright charged in, barehanded the ball and retired him at first.

With two runners in scoring position, Maine completed a 101-pitch outing by striking out Schafer. Beltran's two-run homer in the seventh gave Bobby Parnell a three-run lead with which to work.

J.J. Putz surrendered a solo homer to Chipper Jones in the eighth as the Braves (11-14) pulled within two runs, but Francisco Rodriguez notched his sixth save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Notable performances:

Jose Reyes and Daniel Murphy each went 1-4 with a run scored and a walk.

Carlos Delgado also went 1-4 with a run scored.

Alex Cora also added a hit in his pinch hitting performance.

Player of the day, Carlos Beltran, was on fire, going 2-3 with a walk and four RBI's on two home runs.

David Wright went 2-4 today with a two-run home run and a double, scoring once and knocking in two RBI's.

0 Comments

Condolences

Posted on 03 May 2009 by Danielle

Last night, Adam Cook, the brother of American Idol's David Cook, passed away after a decade-long battle with brain cancer.

Adam's illness inspired David to continually give back to the community through his work with various charities, both before and after his time on American Idol. This past November, David Cook joined David Wright at the Fourth Annual Do the Wright Thing Gala to benefit the David Wright Foundation as a performer, even offering time away from his schedule to the winning bidder of an auction package.

Adam Cook is survived by his wife, Kendra, and his seven-year-old son and daughter.

Here, at The Wright Stuff, we send our condolences out to the entire Cook family and want you to know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.

0 Comments

Takahashi takes Bad Ollie off hook, but Green blows it

Posted on 03 May 2009 by Danielle

Come Thursday, when the Mets return home from this Philadelphia-Atlanta excursion to engage the Phillies at Citi Field, someone other than the pitcher on whom the Mets bestowed a $36 million contract in February will be the starting pitcher. The Mets don't know the identity of the replacement.

Jon Niese? Ken Takahashi? But that's where Perez is at his juncture. His work has been so poor, the Mets feel obliged to eliminate him from their plans even though they don't know how they will replace him.

Oliver Perez saw to that in a remarkably imprecise 18-batter performance that covered merely 2 1/3 innings. Eleven batters reached base -- six on walks, one of which went to the opposing pitcher with the bases loaded.

Some 3 1/2 hours later, Sean Green repeated that awful performance, forcing in the decisive run in a 6-5, 10-inning loss. But it was Perez who was regarded as the primary offender on this day; Green was merely an accomplice by comparison.

Perez has sufficient service in the big leagues -- five years is the threshold -- that he can reject assignment to the Minors.

The club suspects Perez's problems go beyond the usual lack of command and lack of control, beyond the fairly new issue of diminished velocity that now are in his head.

That Ollie survived for 18 batters was surprising. He threw 77 pitches, 41 for balls. Even when he walked his counterpart, Jamie Moyer, to force in the Phillies' third run, in the third inning, one of the called strikes was well above the strike zone. Four of the five batters he faced in the third walked. And he already had surrendered two runs in the first and one in the second. One of the seven outs he did achieve was a well-struck fly ball that scored a run.

And the Phillies are the team Perez regularly dominated last season -- an 0.35 ERA in 26 innings.

The lefty's inadequate performance followed five days of intense work with pitching coach Dan Warthen and, at times, Johan Santana. If anything, Perez was less effective, less in control Saturday than he was in his previous start against the Nationals on Sunday in Citi Field. Then he allowed nine hits and seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. That start put his ERA at 9.31. It now is 9.97.

Perez has pitched 21 2/3 innings in five starts, allowing 49 baserunners.

As poorly as the game started, the ending was only slightly less vexing for the Mets. After they had overcome all that Perez had wrought and taken a lead -- albeit short-lived -- they endured their third loss in four games. The bullpen was responsible for the loss. Green surrendered the bases-loaded walk to Shane Victorino. Green had been undermined by a infield roller by Pedro Feliz after one out. But then Green hit pinch-hitter Matt Stairs. After a fly ball out, he walked pinch-hitter Chris Coste to load the bases. The walk to Victorino was the Phillies' 11th with the bases loaded this season.

The loss was the sixth for the Mets' bullpen -- the 'pen was responsible for losses Tuesday and Wednesday as well, the team's sixth in 10 one-run games. It was the Mets first extra-inning game. The Phillies, 4-1 in one-run games, won in their final at-bat for the sixth time.

A home run by new Phillies fan favorite Raul Ibanez against Pedro Feliciano had tied the score at 5 in the sixth. Pedro Feliciano had allowed a home run to another left-handed hitter, Chase Utley, on Friday night as well. The Mets nearly scored in the eighth when Carlos Beltran singled to left with pinch-runners Omir Santos and John Maine on second and first base. But Jayson Werth threw out Santos at the plate.

The Mets had scored three times in the sixth against Moyer to lead, 4-3. Moyer, taking his first run at his 250th career victory, retired he first two batters of the inning before Daniel Murphy and Ramon Castro hit home runs in successive at-bats, a Mets first this season. And before manager Charlie Manuel could remove his starter, pinch-hitter Alex Cora tripled to center field. Reliever Scott Eyre walked Jose Reyes before Luis Castillo finished off a contentious at-bat with a run-scoring single through the right side.

But the Mets had been at a deficit after two Phillies had batted and even though they took the lead for a mere inning, Green failed to hold it together.

Notables:

Luis Castillo was 1-3 with a walk, a single, a RBI, and a run scored.

Carlos Beltran was 2-5.

Sheffield, Ryan Church, and Ollie each had a hit in the game.

Daniel Murphy was 1-2 in the game, with two walks, and two RBI's on his home run in the sixth inning.

Ramon Castro was 2-3 with a run scored and an RBI, as well as a walk.

Alex Cora was 2-2 with a run scored.

David Wright was 0-2 with an RBI and two walks. His average is now .284.

Mets' bats come alive in 7-5 win over Phillies

Posted on 02 May 2009 by Danielle

Marching into a raucous Citizens Bank Park, the Mets bore little resemblance to the team that appeared, at times, to sleepwalk through the season’s first month. Jumping out to a 5-0 lead, the Mets steeled for the Phillies’ inevitable charge, weathered it and soldiered onward.

Carlos Beltran was a big part of an offense that scored three runs on sacrifice flies and two on a first-inning homer by Daniel Murphy. The Mets, who have had trouble scoring add-on runs, tallied two more on fifth-inning singles that impaired the Phillies’ chances at mounting another of their patented comebacks.

One of those run-scoring singles was from the struggling David Wright, who finished with two hits and a run batted in. The other was from Mike Pelfrey, who pitched five and one-third adequate innings that paled beside his performance at the plate. Pelfrey also drove in the Mets’ third run on a sacrifice fly that was caught at the left-center-field fence.

The Phillies’ resilience stands in stark contrast to the Mets, who are 0-10 when trailing after seven innings. By tacking on those two insurance runs Friday, and by watching their bullpen limit the Phillies to one run (a Chase Utley homer in the seventh) in the final three and two-thirds innings, the Mets showed signs of progress.

The Mets were undeniably better than the Phillies in one category: pitching. As poorly as the Mets’ rotation has looked this season, the Phillies’ pitchers have been worse. The Phillies’ staff began Friday with a National League-worst 5.63 earned run average and was tied with Baltimore for allowing the most home runs in the majors (40).

The Phillies returned four of their five starters from last season, but Friday’s starter, Chan Ho Park, was not one of them. He spent part of 2007 with the Mets, making one awful start for them in April, and the Mets pounded him Friday as if they knew what pitches were coming. Alternately showing patience and aggressiveness, the Mets battered Park for seven runs in four and two-thirds innings, drawing six walks.

Another poor showing with runners in scoring position (2 for 8) was mitigated by the Mets’ surge in productive outs, hitting three sacrifice flies in the second and third innings that gave them a 5-0 lead. Their lineup, still without Carlos Delgado (sore right hip) and Luis Castillo (back spasms), had a flow not seen recently, as every starter but Jose Reyes and Ryan Church reached base.

Notables:

All batters, with the exception of Reyes and Church, had a hit.

Carlos Beltran was 1-2 with three walks, a double, and two runs scored.

Fernando Tatis went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored on a double.

Omir Santos continues to impress, going 1-2 with a double, an RBI, a run scored, and an RBI.

Even Mike Pelfrey was 1-2 with two RBI's on a single.

David Wright broke out of his slump, going 2-4 with an RBI and a walk, and no strikeouts. His average is up to .291.

0 Comments

Bullpen blows it for Livan, Mets drop game to Florida

Posted on 28 Apr 2009 by Danielle

Sean Green allowed four runs in the seventh inning, three on the second home run of the night by Jorge Cantu. As a consequence, the Marlins ended their losing streak at seven games and, for the fourth time in 20 games, the Mets lost a game in which they had led by at least three runs.

Cantu provided the Marlins' first two runs, hitting his fourth home run against starting pitcher Livan Hernandez in the fourth, following a leadoff walk to John Baker. The fifth home run Hernandez has allowed in what now is 21 1/3 innings moved the Marlins within one run at 3-2. David Wright drove in Alex Cora with a single in the fifth inning, affording Hernandez a 4-2 lead.

Florida scored in the sixth after Hernandez departed with a runner on first. A soft single to left by Cantu off Bobby Parnell moved Baker to second base, and a bad-hop ground ball off Wright -- it was scored an error -- produced the run. Then Green (0-1) took the bullpen's fourth loss, allowing a leadoff walk to Alfredo Amezaga and a one-out chopped single to right by Emilio Bonifacio. After Cameron Maybin drove in Amezaga with a soft roller, Green walked Baker on four pitches and allowed Cantu's second home run.

The Mets had scored twice in the first against Ricky Nolasco on a triple by Gary Sheffield. Cora drove in Omir Santos in the second with a single. The Mets managed five more baserunners, but couldn't score them.

Notables:

Carlos Beltran, Sheffield, and Santos each had a hit in today's game, with Santos scoring once.

Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy also added a hit to the Mets' total.

The best performance of the day was from Alex Cora, who was 2-4 with two runs scored, an RBI, and a walk.

David Wright went 1-4 with an RBI. His average is now .282.

0 Comments

Mets' bats come alive against Marlins in series opener

Posted on 27 Apr 2009 by Danielle

Omir Santos hit his first big league home run, the Mets' first grand slam and Citi's first grand slam, as well. The remaining eight innings were staged for the benefit of John Maine who gained his first victory in a long time.

Santos and Maine were foremost in a 7-1 victory that must be characterized as battery-powered. Santos is the 27-year-old catcher in the process of making a strong first impression. And Maine is a primary reclamation project, a pitcher the Mets need to perform at a high level if they are to extend Citi's inaugural season beyond early October.

Their contributions left little for the others to handle. Santos' slam and the two runs that preceded it eliminated all sense of drama, which is not to say what followed was unimportant. Maine produced a long-awaited renaissance start -- he hadn't won in six starts, four this season, and hadn't completed the sixth inning in eight. And David Wright made contact in each of his four at-bats; nary a strikeout. Of such elements is progress made.

The Mets still didn't look quite like the team they believe they are. Left field produced another error -- though not by Daniel Murphy -- and the offense catnapped between their first and final turns at-bat. But they asserted themselves against a team that now has lost seven successive games after beginning the season with 11 victories in 12 games and beat a pitcher, Anibal Sanchez, who had tamed them 17 days earlier.

Maine decelerated his delivery and accelerated his fastball, which he used almost exclusively in the early innings. He surrendered an unearned run in the first when Gary Sheffield misplayed a mostly routine fly ball to left. A single by Jorge Cantu, the lone hit Maine allowed, followed three batters later, but it wasn't as if Maine bowed to the adversity as Oliver Perez appeared to Sunday following a Murphy muff. Maine followed Cantu's hit with two of his four strikeouts. Aside from three walks, Maine was in control until his removal after 94 pitches. He won for the first time since Aug. 13, the first time since his offseason shoulder surgery.

He wasn't flawless. His last two batters reached the warning track and the walks unsettled him. He had worked to slow his delivery between starts after finding rush-hour mechanics were undermining his pitches.

But tonight, it didn't matter.

Santos' well-struck home run cleared the left-center-field wall by a healthy margin and allowed Maine to throw most of his pitches with room for error. The rookie hit a 1-1 fastball and became the third player in franchise history to hit a grand slam as his first career home run. Pitcher Jack Hamilton did it in 1967, and Jose Reyes notched his six years ago.

He received a curtain call, a personal first, after his teammates explained the phenomenon.

Santos started for the third successive game. For now, as manager Jerry Manuel makes evaluations, he has displaced Ramon Castro as the primary catching understudy. Manuel said before the game he might face a difficult decision when regular catcher Brian Schneider ends his assignment to the disabled list, which will be Sunday at the earliest. After the game, the manager reinforced that thinking.

Santos, who turns 28 Wednesday, spent seven seasons in the Yankees' chain then signed with the Orioles last year and made his big league debut. A Minor League free agent again in the winter, he signed with the Mets at his family's urging, choosing them rather than the Braves, Marlins or Orioles.

Lucky us.

Notable Performances:

Luis Castillo went 1-2 with a run scored and a walk before being pulled after experiencing back spasms. He will be back in the lineup after a few days rest.

Both Carlos Beltran and Gary Sheffield went 1-4, with Sheffield knocking in a run.

Ryan Church also added a hit and an RBI today.

Fernando Tatis was 1-4 as a substitute for Delgado, scoring once.

Hero of the day, Omir Santos went 1-4, but the one was a BIG one. His grand slam, the first ever at Citi Field, helped the Mets jump out to a quick lead.

Daniel Murphy also got a hit in his pinch hitting appearance.

David Wright burst out of his slump with his new haircut, going 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. He didn't strikeout once. His average is up to .284.

0 Comments

Introducing: The David Wright Sandwich!

Posted on 27 Apr 2009 by Danielle

Foley's New York, a baseball-themed pub in midtown that has long been a fan of sports writers, announced yesterday a new menu item: The David Wright Sandwich.

The DWS is grilled chicken in Buffalo sauce with lettuce, tomato and blue cheese dressing on a club roll, according to the press release.

Why that sandwich? I have no clue, but it does sound tasty!

The pub will donate two dollars from each sandwich sale to the David Wright Foundation, which raises awareness to multiple sclerosis.

Foley's is located across the Empire State building at 18 W. 33rd St.

0 Comments

Nats beat Mets 8-1 as Bad Ollie rears his head

Posted on 27 Apr 2009 by Danielle

Jesus Flores finished 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, three RBI and scored twice, as Washington routed the New York Mets, 8-1, in the final installment of a three-game set at Citi Field.

Austin Kearns homered among his two hits and scored three runs for the Nationals, who salvaged a game in the series and halted a three-game losing streak.

Alberto Gonzalez, Ronnie Belliard and Justin Maxwell all contributed two hits and an RBI for Washington, which picked up just its fourth win of the season and earned its first road victory.

Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann (2-0) allowed six hits and one run over 5 1/3 innings, striking out five with two walks.

Carlos Delgado tripled and drove in the only run for the Mets, who have dropped five of their last seven outings.

Oliver Perez was charged in the loss for nine hits and seven runs over just 4 1/3 frames, walking three with three strikeouts.

Washington broke away for good with a four-run fifth inning.

Kearns lofted a one-out solo shot to center and the Nats led 5-1, then Flores singled and Gonzalez doubled. Perez exited for Casey Fossum, and after fanning Zimmermann, gave up a single to Maxwell which scored Flores; a throwing error on David Wright caused a second run to come in.

Maxwell stole second then Belliard followed with a single up the middle to score him and the visitors went up 8-1.

Zimmermann allowed a one-out single to Ryan Church in the sixth before giving way to Mike Hinckley, who induced an inning-ending double-play grounder from Omir Santos.

Hinckley retired the side in order in the seventh, then Garrett Mock and Kip Wells recorded scoreless frames to end the contest.

The Mets had an early edge, as Carlos Beltran reached on a fielder's choice with one out in the home first, then scored when Delgado followed with a triple.

Kearns started the second with a double, made possible when Mets left fielder Daniel Murphy tripped in the outfield before the ball landed, then came home on a two-run shot to left by Flores.

Washington's lead stretched to 4-1 in the third on back-to-back RBI singles from Flores and Gonzalez.

David Wright struggled this afternoon at the plate, going 0-4 with 3 K's.

0 Comments

Pelfrey returns and earns win as Mets beat Nats 8-2

Posted on 25 Apr 2009 by Danielle

Saturday's win over the Nationals, unlike the victory that preceded it, offered at least temporary relief for many of the problems that have plagued the Mets throughout this young season. They hit with runners in scoring position, particularly with two outs. They played -- aside from a few hiccups -- superlative defense. And they won.

For just the third time this season, they have won multiple games in a row.

Critical for the Mets is the success of Mike Pelfrey, who entered this season as the team's No. 2 starter, and whom the Mets hoped could provide the type of consistency that Oliver Perez and John Maine have not. A leg injury in Spring Training and, more recently, the forearm tendinitis, put those hopes on hold. But Pelfrey (2-0) returned to the mound Saturday for the first time in 12 days, mostly achieving what the Mets wanted him to achieve.

Stellar defense was the key to this game. David Wright, in particular, shined on the defensive end, starting a ground-ball double play in the fourth inning and making a diving stop of Josh Willingham's grounder in the second. Shortstop Jose Reyes made a barehanded pick of Wil Nieves' ground ball in the ninth inning, and Daniel Murphy made a sliding catch of a fly ball in the first, turning that into another double play.

Ryan Church, who contributed two-out RBIs in the first and sixth innings, could say the same. And so could Carlos Beltran, whose two-out ground-ball single knocked in a run in the second.

Notables:

Reyes, Murphy, Santos, and Castillo each had one hit for the day.

Carlos Beltran continues to flame through innings, going 3-5 with two runs scored and a RBI. His average is now .415.

Ryan Church also had an excellent day, going 2-4 with three RBI's to bring his average up to .358

While David Wright was 0-3, he walked once and reached on an error, each one allowing him to score. His average dipped to .288.

0 Comments