Thusday’s Mets News: Wags Blows 3rd Save
It’s tough to watch this ‘08 Mets team. After Pelfrey pitches the game of his life, they give it away and need Beltran to save the day. Shame on Willie for not allowing Big Pelf to try to get his first complete game shutout. How is young pitcher supposed to build up his resume, and confidence, when the manager pulls him after the best outing in his career? When else is he supposed to get a complete game shutout? Stuff like that may make an inconsistent, young pitcher more confident. That confidence may pay off in the long run. As for today, Santana pitched seven scoreless innings before handing it over to the Bullpen who blew it…again. What is wrong with Wagner? Three straight blown saves? The Bullpen was the biggest problem the team had in ‘07. The Bullpen was dominant until July, and then it was downhill from there. It just kept getting worse and worse until they were eliminated, and I saw it coming. I knew that even if they made the Playoffs that they weren’t going to do so well because the Bullpen was giving up way too many games. It is the same thing in ‘08 because it’s the same cast of characters. Sanchez returned, but I thought he would’ve been better than he has been so far. Omar brought in Wise who hasn’t been anything special. Otherwise, it’s the same people who couldn’t get it done in ‘07 so why would they be able to do it in ‘08?
Mets.com:
Mets suffer tough loss to D-backs - Anthony DiComo summarized today’s game between the Diamondbacks and the Mets.
Santana watches bullpen falter - Ain’t that the truth?
Return trip to DL possible for Alou - Anthony DiComo reported that Moises Alou had an MRI on Wednesday, and it revealed aggravation of a strained left calf. Alou said, ”I think that the DL is a possibility. Again.”
Day at Shea remains affordable
Beltran’s blast ends Mets’ long night - Anthony DiComo summarized last night’s Diamondbacks-Mets game.
Santana set to shake off ailing shoulder - Samantha Newman put together a pregame analysis for today’s game between the Diamondbacks and the Mets.
Return shortlived for ailing Alou - Alou explained that the soreness in his left calf would once again take him out of the Mets’ lineup less than 24 hours after his return from the disabled list. It really is a shame that he cannot stay healthy.
Mets add Aguila to outfield mix - Anthony DiComo reported that the Mets called up a hot-hitting prospect, Chris Aguila, to offset the losses of Church and Alou.
Newsday:
Wagner blows another save as Mets fall to D-Backs - Mark Herrmann summarized today’s game between the D-Backs and the Mets.
SNY talks fairly, quietly about Mets
Beltran’s blast in 13th saves Mets’ Wagner - Mark Herrmann wrote up a game summary for last night’s D-Backs-Mets game.
Alou ‘very embarrassed’ by latest calf injury
Turmoil doesn’t mean that Willie isn’t a winner - Shaun Powell wrote this about Willie Randolph, “It’s not that he forgot how to manage or suddenly became dumb. His team simply quit meeting the expectations of the fans, ownership, themselves and Randolph’s, and fair or not, that usually comes back to the manager.”
Marlon came up with ‘62′ as morale booster - Mark Herrmann informed us about how Marlon Anderson “came up with the magic number of 62 wins in the final 100 games, wrote it down and passed it out to teammates at the end of a club Players Association meeting Tuesday.” I’m loving the creativity Marlon. I just hope the Mets achieve the goal he set. Somebody really has to do something.
New York Daily News:
Billy Wagner blows 3rd straight save in Mets’ loss to Diamondbacks - The AP summarized today’s game between the D-Backs and the Mets.
Shaky relief pitching might be start of Mets’ problems - That is the problem, and it began in July of ‘07.
Carlos Beltran’s homer wins it in 13th for Mets, bails out Billy Wagner - Adam Rubin wrote up a game summary for last night’s game between the Diamondbacks and the Mets.
Mets have sympathy for Ron Santo and 1969 Cubs - Anthony McCarron sees similarities between the ‘70 Cubs and the ‘08 Mets.
Ailing Moises Alou’s leg and pride hurting because of injury
Billy Wagner blows game in ninth, win for Mike Pelfrey
Marlon Anderson gets into the flow with inspiration at players-only meeting
New York Post:
BELTRAN BLAST BAILS OUT BILLY - Mark Hale summarized last night’s Diamondbacks-Mets game.
MINAYA IS MAKING SAME OLD MISTAKES - Great article here by Joel Sherman. It’s the first article in a long time that I’ve seen putting some blame on Omar Minaya. Willie takes all of the heat which isn’t right. They are a tandem. I would love to see the press go at each of them equally.
IMPRESSIVE PELFREY ROBBED OF WIN
STRAW: METS CAN’T HANDLE PRESSURE OF NEW YORK - Darryl Strawberry believes that, “The talent is there with this group, no question. The curiosity is, how much do they want it? Everyone is puzzled, including former players. There’s a lot of questions about if it’s going to happen for them.”
New York Times:
Stuck in His Team’s Undertow, Santana Sees Another Win Slip Away - Ben Shpigel summarized today’s game between the Diamondbacks and the Mets.
Beltrán Saves the Mets, as Wagner Fails Again - Joe LaPointe wrote up a game summary for last night’s D-Backs-Mets game.
Mets’ Alou Is Left Discouraged After Hurting His Calf Again
The Star-Ledger:
Final: D-Backs 5, Mets 4 - Jeremy Cothran wrote up a game summary for today’s game between the D-Backs and the Mets.
Game 65: Diamondbacks at Mets - Jeremy Cothran provided the lineup for today’s game between the Diamondbacks and the Mets.
Pelfrey gets dose of confidence - And he would’ve built up more confidence if Willie let him get 3 more outs.
Blame players for state of Mets
Beltran delivers Mets victory in 13 - Colin Stephenson summarized last night’s D-Backs-Mets game.
Anything to help out - Colin Stephenson asked Scott Schoeneweis why he helped out the grounds crew putting the tarp on the infield.
After a four-game skid, the Mets have to figure out how to turn it around. Once the losing streak ends, I do believe that they will go on and win exactly that amount of games because that’s trend that they’ve set in May. Hopefully, the Mets can smack the ball all over Coors Field. In appearance, Coors Field looks exactly like Citizens Bank Park (except it is purple instead of red) so maybe the Mets will have success just like they did in Philly. Perhaps being a mile high and some thin air might do them right. Omar changed his plans for the weekend to go and be with his team. Hmmm…
I’m trying to remain positive with my boys from Queens. The Mets swept the Yankees which was fun, but Willie keeps talking and the media is over-doing the situation. It seems like each writer for each newspaper had to write their own article on Willie. That’s too much. Willie keeps making it worse though.
The 2008 Subway Series will begin tonight, if it stops raining. And man is it raining. Tonight’s game will probably get postponed. If you’ve followed what I’ve written then you’d know that I think the Subway Series is overhyped Interleague play. I’m not a fan of Interleague games at all. It wouldn’t bother me if they eliminated it from the schedule. If they did it at all, I think that it would be better if they did it like the NFL where each NL division plays a specific AL division per year and then it alternates annually. That way, each division plays the same opponents. For instance, if the NL East played the AL East in 2008, then if the NL East played AL Central in 2009, and so on. It seems like the Interleague play goes on forever. Or is it that the MLB season goes on forever? I don’t know. And then there is the difference in rules which is the dumbest thing in sports. That doesn’t happen in the NFL, NBA, or the NHL. The difference in rules is buch league. Anyway, here’s the probable pitching matchups for the weekend:
