[tjkurita]

Mets rally late and Green scorches the ball, but right into the Wilson's glove. It was some ugly play out there today. But this is not a devastating loss. The unearned runs are terrible, though.

The Mets left 13 on base this game. That's not too good.

The reason they didn't win today was because Gary, Keith and Ron were not doing the announcing.

Let's hope the take the series tomorrow.

Let's go Mets!

 

[tjkurita]

A well pitched game, but another loss. This time Heilman spits the bit. Green seems to have discovered his stroke. hmmm... It looks like Milledge isn't going to get many starts before he goes to New Orleans.

Willie Randolph:

"We gave away a couple of games," the manager said. "When you play a good ballclub and don't execute the little things, that is what happens."

They're coming home. Anyone going to the home opener?

4-2 on a 6 game road trip isn't bad at all!

Let's go Mets.

 

[tjkurita]

Mets bounce back. The first come from behind win of the year. The first of many, I'm sure. People are on Willie for letting Burgos pitch to Howard. He showed faith in Burgos and I think it will do good things for his psyche. The Howard blast (A moon shot!) was inconsequential in the end.

The fans show a little passion. I was bummed they booed Burgos, though. No need for that.

Delgado bunted for a hit! Crazy!

Maine didn't have very good stuff at all. But he still only gave up two runs.

Phillies make some defensive flops and The Mets capitalize. This is good enough for me.

Let's go Mets!

5-2.

 

[karma]

Great comeback win. Horrible play by the Phillies. It's hard to believe that many writers picked the Phils to win the East this year. They are a mess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjkurita /img/forum/go_quote.gif People are on Willie for letting Burgos pitch to Howard. He showed faith in Burgos and I think it will do good things for his psyche.

I wasn't paying full attention, but from what I saw, the kid showed some good stuff. He hung a.. splitter, I think it was. It happens. Hopefully, he'll learn from it.

Quote:

Delgado bunted for a hit! Crazy!

That was brilliant IMO. Great to do that early in the season so that other teams will know that if they want to use that crazy shift, Delgado won't hesitate to lay down a bunt for an easy single.

 

[tjkurita]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karma /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wasn't paying full attention, but from what I saw, the kid showed some good stuff. He hung a.. splitter, I think it was. It happens. Hopefully, he'll learn from it.

I think he went to the well too many times. He threw two splitters that Howard whiffed. Then I think a breaking ball outside, then a fastball high in the zone that he fouled off then another splitter fouled off. Then the hanger. Howard was ready for that splitter. That pitch sequence might not be exactly right, but I distinctly remember Howard whiffing on those two splitters and I thought to myself "Well, he's going to keep going to that and Howard is due for a big hit." Darling and Cohen were saying "fastball in" and I agreed with that. But he threw that splittler instead. Maybe if he located it right Howard would have struck out.

But that's a lot of the same pitch to the such a good hitter.

 

[karma]

Yup, I remember Darling and Cohen talking about the pitch sequence too. That's what I meant when I said that hopefully he'll learn from it -- he needs to realize that hitters will adapt.

 

[mjg]

opening day was one of the most amazing days of my life... i got to sit in the payson box with a few of my dads partners. i was so close beltrans mole was practically in my face. Was a surreal experience... Our area was leading the jimmy rollins chant ; ).

best seats i ever had by far. Loved the come back win... maine didn't have his best outting... yet jimmy rollins error really helped the mets blow the door open. delgado finally showed his stuff. Ryan howard had a serious bomb... he really is an amazing player. This was a great game to watch, one of the best games i ever seen in person (even considering the playoff games i've been to as well).

 

[Jahn]

and of course this was the day I took Howard out of my fantasy lineup. i'm a bad Phillies fan.

 

[ShaolinRasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjkurita /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think he went to the well too many times. He threw two splitters that Howard whiffed. Then I think a breaking ball outside, then a fastball high in the zone that he fouled off then another splitter fouled off. Then the hanger. Howard was ready for that splitter. That pitch sequence might not be exactly right, but I distinctly remember Howard whiffing on those two splitters and I thought to myself "Well, he's going to keep going to that and Howard is due for a big hit." Darling and Cohen were saying "fastball in" and I agreed with that. But he threw that splittler instead. Maybe if he located it right Howard would have struck out. But that's a lot of the same pitch to the such a good hitter.

A big key was Utley's at-bat before -- 12 pitches, with 7 fouled off with two strikes. With Howard watching carefully from the on-deck circle, Burgos pretty much showed him everything he had. He no doubt had the fastball timed after seeing it so many times, so that may have contributed to the kid throwing so many splitters. That really was poor management by Willie. Burgos has really good stuff, but you can't ask him to throw that many pitches without getting hammered eventually. I think the one Howard ripped was the 38th or 39th one he'd thrown. The offense is really gonna have to step up this season to cover Willie's lack of tactical management skills.

Headed to Shea tomorrow, prepared for Arctic conditions (just like every April). Can't beat the $5 tickets though. I get to see Oliver Perez pitch, which should be a real pleasure. He reminds me a bit of Sid Fernandez, who could be unhittable one start then mediocre the next. When he was on though, he had the most wicked stuff on the staff.

 

[mjg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaolinRasta /img/forum/go_quote.gif A big key was Utley's at-bat before -- 12 pitches, with 7 fouled off with two strikes. With Howard watching carefully from the on-deck circle, Burgos pretty much showed him everything he had. He no doubt had the fastball timed after seeing it so many times, so that may have contributed to the kid throwing so many splitters. That really was poor management by Willie. Burgos has really good stuff, but you can't ask him to throw that many pitches without getting hammered eventually. I think the one Howard ripped was the 38th or 39th one he'd thrown. The offense is really gonna have to step up this season to cover Willie's lack of tactical management skills. Headed to Shea tomorrow, prepared for Arctic conditions (just like every April). Can't beat the $5 tickets though. I get to see Oliver Perez pitch, which should be a real pleasure. He reminds me a bit of Sid Fernandez, who could be unhittable one start then mediocre the next. When he was on though, he had the most wicked stuff on the staff.

hi,

not sure if you ready any of the interviews with willie about his decision... but you seriously think willie doesn't know what he's doing?

Ryan Howard was league MVP for a reason... it really wasn't burgos's fault entirely (or willies). It coulda been heilman just the same that gave up a home run ball. The guy struck out chase utley in a bases loaded situation i recall. Also the game wasn't a playoffs situation. He needs to test out guys like burgos in clutch situations. Sometimes running a team isn't always about making the best decisions, it's about taking chances also.

Alot of the mets' success if you noticed is been on taking chances. If burgos gives up homers to each and every lousy batter i'd be a bit worried if willie played him. The bullpen has a few question marks on it right now for sure, but i don't fault willie for letting the kid at ryan howard. Who else would you have against him? If maine hadn't already thrown 100 pitches by the 4th inning, burgos would've only pitched one inning. It was a bit of a crisis situation... it panned out quite well though as we saw ; ). Burgos very hard closer style pitching may have been just the ticket to get out of the jam just long enough for the mets to rip it open in the 8th. I do feel the mets did get kind've lucky in that respect (once cole hammals was out, their pathetic bullpen was exposed to be beaten up real bad). Burgos might of given howard a 3 run homer, but he only gave them a 2 run lead. That's not so bad really that bad i feel (though still bad right).

also just a note, shea wasn't too bad, the sun was beating down on us and it kept us warm... was a bit freezing standing outside in just a jersey and thermal underneath. You should be good, enjoy the game man!

 

[Febs]

You Mets fans can take solace in the fact that however bad the decision was to pitch to Howard*, your manager was not the worst manager in the stadium yesterday. With the Phillies nine-hole hitter scheduled to bat first in the top of the 8th, our intrepid skipper put in reliever Jeff Geary to face one batter in the bottom of the seventh, knowing that he was going to have Geary pitching the 8th, without making a double-switch. Idiot.

(*And I don't think that the decision to pitch to Howard was a terrible one. Howard is hitting just over .200. If you had put him on first with an intentional walk, you would have had to pitch to Pat Burrell, who (a) has been the Phillies most productive hitter this year and (b) has great numbers when hitting at Shea Stadium.)

 

[ShaolinRasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjg /img/forum/go_quote.gif hi, not sure if you ready any of the interviews with willie about his decision... but you seriously think willie doesn't know what he's doing? Ryan Howard was league MVP for a reason... it really wasn't burgos's fault entirely (or willies). It coulda been heilman just the same that gave up a home run ball. The guy struck out chase utley in a bases loaded situation i recall. Also the game wasn't a playoffs situation. He needs to test out guys like burgos in clutch situations. Sometimes running a team isn't always about making the best decisions, it's about taking chances also.

I like Willie, I really do, but game tactics aren't his strong suit. He's a professional and a winner and does a great job with motivation, but can easily be challenged on many of his calls. Pinch-running Endy for Green (who was the trail runner, behind the slow-footed Alou) was another head-scratcher -- would the attempt at the force-out at third on the bunt even have been made if the much faster Endy was running? Those two decisions would've sparked quite a lot of debate had they not come back. As it is, the NYC press has talked quite a bit about both of those decisions.

I fully support Willie's attempt at seeing what Burgos brings to the table, but Opening Day against the Philllies is a different situation altogether. It's a statement game, particularly after all the Jimmy Rollins talk -- the message has to be sent that coming into Shea isn't a cakewalk. Willie himself admitted that he's not managing every game like it's the World Series. I take that as an admission that the correct call in that situation is to bring in the fresh lefty (Feliciano). Not saying that would definitely have worked any better, coz Howard is greatly improved against lefties, but nine out of ten managers would've made that switch given the kid's pitch count. For me, the test for Burgos was getting Utley in that long at bat. Leaving him in to then face Howard was too much to ask of anyone.

Speaking of Heilman though, that's a situation that bears watching closely. He threw 40+ pitches the other day too. Until Mota gets back, the workload on the bullpen could become quite a big issue.

 

[ShaolinRasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs /img/forum/go_quote.gif You Mets fans can take solace in the fact that however bad the decision was to pitch to Howard*, your manager was not the worst manager in the stadium yesterday. With the Phillies nine-hole hitter scheduled to bat first in the top of the 8th, our intrepid skipper put in reliever Jeff Geary to face one batter in the bottom of the seventh, knowing that he was going to have Geary pitching the 8th, without making a double-switch. Idiot. (*And I don't think that the decision to pitch to Howard was a terrible one. Howard is hitting just over .200. If you had put him on first with an intentional walk, you would have had to pitch to Pat Burrell, who (a) has been the Phillies most productive hitter this year and (b) has great numbers when hitting at Shea Stadium.)

Manuel's real close to getting replaced with Davey Lopes. Whoever manages that team is in for a bum deal unless they manage to get bullpen help. I suspect that Lieber takes too long to get loose to be effective as a reliever. They're probably gonna have to go through with that rumored Rowand-Linebrink trade to get competitive.

As for walking Howard, no way do I do that. I just bring in the fresh lefty. Yes, I realize that if he can't get Howard, then he's facing Burrell in a clutch situation at Shea, but I take that matchup vs Howard, particularly since he's started slow. Over the last few years, we've seen enough of guys very similar to Burgos (Armando Benitez, Jorge Julio) to know that they're less effective the more pitches they throw. That's just the price you pay when you bring it at 95 mph. Mebbe that's the lesson learned yesterday, you gotta watch the pitch counts carefully.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaolinRasta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Manuel's real close to getting replaced with Davey Lopes.

God I hope so.

 

[tjkurita]

Not a pretty box score today... I guess I will watch the Encore on SNY at some point, but I have a feeling it won't be fun. It's frustrating when the team can't score more than a couple of runs against a so-so pitcher like Eaton.

The bigger issue to me is that the Phillies are not playing well. Looking at the box score, it seems clear to me that they don't take advantage of opportunities. They left 14 on base! They should have scored a lot more runs. Mets pitching walked 11!!! That's ridiculous.

Anyone who watched the game want to comment?

Any comments on the Hernandez one hitter in Boston? That is impressive. Ichiro is finished, by the way. For a while he was one of my favorite baseball players. It's a shame to see him drop off so quickly these past couple of years. If Matsuzaka thinks it means anything that Ichiro went 0-4, he is sadly mistaken. I wish he could have faced him when he was in his prime.