PHILADELPHIA _ Willie Randolph slipped into serious tone mode when asked about the mentality of his team.
A few hours before first pitch, the topic on Randolph’s plate was the possibility of sweeping the Phillies and winning five straight against them. Randolph spoke of the importance of winning the division, and eventually addressed what everybody wanted to hear.
“There’s nothing psychological about it,’’ Randolph said. “We know we can beat the Phillies.’’
And, the Phillies know they can beat the Mets, but who really beat Randolph’s team, 5-4, last night?
Chase Utley drove in four runs on a pair of homers, but in the end the Mets lamented their lost opportunities.
“We had a golden opportunity to pick up three games on them,’’ David Wright said. “But, we let it slip through our fingers.’’
When a team loses by a single run, there are a lot of places to look.
“It was a good ball game,’’ Randolph said of the tenseness of the game and rivalry.
“But, we didn’t execute the way we needed to.’’
Mike Pelfrey looked in the mirror and pointed a finger at a lousy pitch he threw to Utley for a three-run homer in the fifth.
“The first one was a sinker down and away and I got it a little up,’’ Pelfrey said. “I tip my cap to him on that one.’’
And the second?
“I was going inside and I left it out over the middle of the plate,’’ Pelfrey said. “He’s such a great hitter. You can’t make mistakes with him.’’
The Mets sniffed sweep again when they came back with four in the sixth off Adam Eaton to tie the game, 4-4.
“In this ballpark, with this line-up, you’re never out of the game,’’ Wright said. “I’m excited about the way we bounced back.’’
Jose Reyes, who hit a game-winning homer Saturday, tripled to lead off the inning and scored on Luis Castillo’s single. Wright followed with a double to give one the feeling this one was going to the wire.
Carlos Beltran singled home two runs to chase Eaton in favor of Chad Durbin.
Beltran, who hasn’t been able to run as much as he’d like coming off knee surgery, stole second which put him in position to score on Ryan Church’s bloop single to shallow right-center.
“I thought we were going to steal one there,’’ Church said.
The Phillies came back with Pedro Feliz’s seventh-inning homer off Pedro Feliciano for the game-winner.
Still, the Mets had their chances, and by that, one should be able to guess the ugly numbers: They went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.
They wasted Raul Casanova’s double in the eighth, then watched in frustration as the game slipped from them in the ninth.
Damion Easley walked to lead off against closer Brad Lidge and Reyes reached on an infield single.
Castillo, however, couldn’t deliver a sacrifice. After Wright fouled out, the game ended when Phillies shortstop Eric Bruntlett snagged Beltran’s grounder up the middle and threw him out by a step.
Close, but there wasn’t a Met who didn’t believe it never should have come down to that one play had they pulled off one or two earlier.
You can reach me at jdelcos@lohud.com.
PHOTO: MLB
4 Comments
2/3 from Phils on road, 4/6 overall equates to 12-6 for the yr. If they did that, nobody should be upset.
5-6 to Phils, Braves, Mil is fine as long as Mets go 5-1 to Marlins, Nats and other bad teams.
1-1 to Cubs and even 1-1 to Nats gives a 4-3 road trip. Good enough if you go 6-3 on homestands.
Note to pelfrey-don’t call up your buddies and tell them you are on national TV. It makes you overthrow.
Note to Willie-keep pelfrey out of National TV games.
Wagner has a 0.14 WHIP. Unreal.
His transformation has had amazing results so far. I wonder how much of it should be credited to Peterson. I suspect a lot.
JD, if you get a chance, maybe you can ask Wagner about the changes in his mechanics and repertoire this year, and how much of it can be attributed to The Jacket—both in terms of the actual mechanics as well as whether he was the impetus for the change.
The Mets have signed 21–year-old German Catcher Kai Gronauer to a two-year minor league contract. Just by taking a look at his stats, you can tell the kid is quite the athlete. While playing for Germany in multiple tournaments and things of that sort, Kai has excelled in every category.
Now obviously, I can’t tell you what the competition was like, because I simply don’t know. But, as I look through his stats, he really reminds me of Dodger catcher Russel Martin.
To go along with his hitting abilities (who knows if that will transfer over) Gronauer showed a rare ability from catchers, the ability to steal bases. Also, while playing for Germany, Kai showed great defensive skills behind the plate, as he leaves Germany with the highest fielding percentage of any player in the history of their National team at .992. Not to mention the absolute cannon for an arm he has, gunning down nearly 50% of runners who attempted to steal off of him.
I am so excited Roger….. I’m more excited that manager Willie has kept the loser lineup in tact!!!!!!