Mets Chat Room: Stopping the Snakes with Santana and Church.
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- May
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This is why the Mets got Johan Santana, to stop losing streaks and to pull the team up after a stinker.
Santana pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and Ryan Church’s heads-up play and throw to nail a runner at third kept the game tied.
The Mets have now won 15 of their last 17 games here.
IN A NUTSHELL, Mets 5, Arizona 2.
Santana shows his mettle and Church’s hustle pays off.
IN THE CLUBHOUSE
Willie Randolph on winning two of three and moving on to LA: “(Arizona) is a very good team and the Dodgers are playing very well. You like to test yourself against the best competition around.”
Johan Santana on pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth: “You don’t want to get too up. You want to stay focused. You have to be aggressive, but you don’t want to do anything different.”
Ryan Church on being in position in the first place to make the throw to get Chris Burke at third in the eighth inning: “You have to keep running all the time. You never know.”
IN-GAME ANALYSIS
3rd INNING: Santana winning the pitcher’s duel. Mets 1, Arizona 0.
5th INNING: David Wright goes deep and Santana is still cruising for the Mets. Mets 2, Arizona 1.
6th INNING: Santana goes six. I would have liked more, but in comparison to what the Mets had been getting, be grateful.
8th INNING: Church makes a great play to keep the game tied.
9th INNING: The Mets take advantage of an error to score three in the ninth. Mets 5, Arizona 2.
Before you call it a night, tell us what you thought of the game and the Mets taking two of three from Arizona. Talk with you tomorrow from LA.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 4:10 pm by John Delcos.
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Beltran is the king of going down looking
In all fairness, for all the heat Carlos Delgado has taken, it should be pointed out he's outproducing Carlos Beltran.-JD
beltran is in a big slump right now, however, i'd rather he stay patient at the plate during a period like this then him going up there swinging at pitches outside the zone and getting himself out that way. Either way, he's not seeing the ball too well, but, we've all seen this before, and we've all seen him coming smoking out of a slump like this to carry this team for periods. Delgado looking better though, can't believe that shot wasn't a HR, how far do you have to it to dead center to get it out of this place?
that was weird!
That was the longest three minutes of my life, watching Moises run down that ball.
santana got lucky there to only give up 1, but hey, i'll take 1 run and 7 innings!
Santana is earning every penny today. This is exactly why they got him. Their offense hasn't done anything against Dan Haren, but even so they look crisper when they get pitching like this.-JD
It's corny but it really is "Santana & Maine, Pray For Rain."
Pedro is 7-5 since June 2006. Expect nothing.
metsfan May 4th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
"santana got lucky there to only give up 1, but hey, i'll take 1 run and 7 innings!"
Can we make it out of the 6th first before we give santana the credit for 7 innings 1 run. It looks like he won't even make 6 innings.
You would hope Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey were taking notes on how Santana got out of that inning.-JD
Well, it doesn't look like santana is going 7, another met pitcher who barely makes it to 6.
Can you find out why the only way I could see any of this game was by setting my TV to channel 2 and incrementing the channel until I saw baseball? The channel guide says TBS, but TBS is broadcasting a blank screen. SNY had rain-delay type filler. I called Comcast, and they didn't know. So, after I did some weeding, I engaged in a systematic search and found it on FOX61.
earning every penny? No offense to Santana, as I just tuned in, but before this guy got to New York he was the king of 7+ innings per start.. 6 innings? how many pitches did he throw?
JD,
A year a go that ball drops in front of Shawn Green. But you're right, Pelfrey and Perez need to learn how to push through when runners are on base.
He threw about 115 pitches.
Habs inside/out is offering a free finals set of hockey tickets in a trivia contest right now. Answer three questions from your computer, and win two sets of tickets to the Stanley Cup finals.
Roger: He did for six innings, anyway. If you have some time, could you prorate that for me?-JD
Tiffany: I miss going to Montreal. It was a great spot on the tour. Miss Toronto, too. But, I'll always have Houston and St. Louis.-JD
Unbelievable… Santana once again pitches well and leaves with a lead, and once again, our crappy bullpen blows it…
Josh: Amazing. And, to think some people think the Mets don't have any pitching concerns.-JD
smith got the ground ball he needed on jackson, but wright was playing up the line, so that found a hole, and then that last hit for an rbi was hardly well struck, just found a place to drop in. Bad luck, but Smith needs to get the out on the guy who he walked. He didnt pick up the team there.
The walks are always the killers. It's what did in Pelfrey and Perez in their last starts.-JD
Delcos, i know that was aimed at me, but you refese to read what i wrote before, i NEVER said the Mets don't have pitching concerns, never, i've prefaced my comments with that very comment, but what I HAVE said, is that the Mets problems are on par with other teams' problems, and that our pitching problems are not as monumental as some are making them out to be. But no, all you see is me saying, "its all good, the mets have great pitching, you didn't know?" You really know how to be a douche bag sometimes Delcos.
this is aimed at you: clean up your language or I will pull the plug on you in this blog. Understand?-JD
metsfan: You really need to chill out.
Way to be clutch David…
Josh: My sentiments exactly. He's typical of the rest of the team. Choke when there's men in scoring position
Great play by Church. Anybody care to guess where Lastings Milledge might have been if he were in right field on that play?-JD
Ryan Church is a scrub from a last-place team…
Way to argue Willie, he told that umpire off!!!!!
It wouldn't have changed the call.. which was completely awful…
Jorge Sosa in; do we have a chance to win this game?
Jackson totally let Delgado off the hook. He came up with his trademark grounder to the right side in a big spot there
All I can say as a met fan, THANK YOU JACKSON FOR THE GIFT, that was a 3-6-3 double play.
The good-Good teams take advantage of the other teams mistakes.
The so-so-Santana has not been on his A game and he still gets thru the game w/very few runs but hopefully he gets back to throwing more strikes so that he goes deeper into games since Maine, OP, Figgy and Pelf are not.
Hopefully this will be a catalyst to play some better BB vs. getting up for the competition and then letting up in the next series (ie., Cubs after Phils, Bucs after Braves).
It would also be nice to see if OP has had any of the comments directed his way sunk into his head and pitches w/some more focus (if things don't go perfectly).
JD "Great play by Church. Anybody care to guess where Lastings Milledge might have been if he were in right field on that play?-JD"
Milledge may have been riding the bench for being tardy since it was a day game and he does not have to be early or even on time.
Still waiting for Willie to not have Church batting 2nd when Alou plays and seeing where he and Delgado hit.
I bet that any game that Alou plays, Church will bat 2nd just so Willie does not have to decide who bats 7th (Church or Delgado).
Anxiously waiting for JD's post-game wrap to see if Jacket will speak to the media.
JD, do you think this could be Jacket's way of sticking up for Wagner after Willie told Wags to keep his comments in-house?
To RG: Didn't see The Jacket after the game. Was busy with Church and Santana and Schneider before they caught bus to airport. I will make a run at him tomorrow.
No, I don't think this is to stick up for Wagner. I think this is partly because Willie really doesn't want him to talk because it makes it appear he doesn't have control. If Randolph is telling the truth, then Peterson is coming up small by ducking us.-JD
We caught a huge break in the ninth on Serrano's ..aka, Carlos Delgado's tailor made double play ball that was thrown away allowing for two more runs to come in. Ask me if I feel bad….no way, we have been very generous to our opposition all year. They owed us one!
http://www.myteamrivals.typepad.com/mr_mets_daily
Church is just really showing off these first 30 games. The guy is a ballplayer and the Mets are fortunate to have him.
Today during the game Gary and Ron were talking about how the Haren trade worked out for both teams. I also think the trade that gave us Ryan Church and Brian Schneider is good for both teams right now. Eventually I think results will show the Mets got the better of the trade with the attitude Lastings has.
MetsGrrl94: I don't regret the Milledge trade for a second.-JD
Ryan Church has been a godsend.
I don't know where we would be without him?
He's fantastic in the field, and his bat is certainly doing great.
King Omar strikes again
JD, I posted this on your other thread. Is this true about the last 2 games last yr?
all anyone has to know about Peterson is the last 2 games of last yr.
Maine goes out and throws a gem and peterson is right there to talk to the press.
Glavine has a stinker and he is no where to be found.
If the last game of last yr is true, then your point of coming up small is spot on.
a good weekend of baseball taking 2 of 3 from the team with the best record in the NL.
hopefully they keep it up as they head to LA, where i get my first chance to see the '08 Mets in person. the first of 3 times this year (as i always make a point of taking the drive to San Diego, and they've got the Angels in interleague).
JD – let me know if you need any restaurant recs while you're in LA.
We always, always play well in Arizona, and it showed again this weekend. Great series, win, but we have to keep the momentum rolling and hope the D-Backs rebound and pound the Phils.
Restaurant recs? Heh. You just follow Marty Noble. That's the best rule of thumb in the business.
1 outing doesnt mean that Delgado is off the hook. Its consistency that counts. we can always count on the other players to either play the field/hit as expected. Since Last year Delgado has done neither. He isnt a real 1st baseman. Keith will tell ya that, he's there for the bat. and its only now starting to talk but it stuttters. he got a HR, so did the pitcher. He got lucky with the RBI on the bad throw.
I notice that when Endy comes in and Anderson comes in. things happen. what does that tell ya?
Regarding Santana, always remember that during his career he has been a phenomenal second half pitcher (except last year,) so I would expect his IP/9 will go up later on.
Steve C: It tells ya that they are both terrific bench players that any team needs to be a championship ballclub.
Sorry I missed the game. It looks like it was a good one. Here's a link to where Marchand further explores and explains his reasoning for why Willie should be fired. Again, I agree with some and not other points but it seems he has some valid points.
http://www2.nysun.com/article/75815
I agree that Santana does give you a feeling that things will be ok when he pitches. I don't like that he is not giving us a consistant 7 but he does pitch well enough to win.
I am glad we don't hear about the pair of boots and some socks comments about the LM trade. I think LM can become a good player one day but it seems he has the same issues at his new address as he did here. Perhaps they don't see it as an issue where the fundamental type of guy that Willie is makes it an issue. Remember, last year he also had an issue with Sanchez coming in out of shape before he hurt himself.
Church made a fine play yesterday. He was in position where LM probably would be no where to be found. I am impressed with his arm and the fact that so far I haven't seen him not be mentally ready for what the situation warrants. His bat may not stay as hot as it is, but I am down for saying I am glad Omar made the trade he did. We traded LM for an everyday catcher who can handle a young staff and we also received a fine everyday RF in the process.
Dave
This morning Boomer Esiason compared Church to Paul O'Neil.
I wonder who said the Church trade could turn into O'Neill for Roberto Kelly all over again?
Hmmmmmm?
To Keith: A very interesting comparison. I covered O'Neill for a long time and think he's a better player and athlete, but I can't discount that possibility.-JD
Plus, O'Neill's sister is a much better scribe than Church's.