What a game, as two of the division’s great young pitchers dualed in a matchup that stretched into the 12th inning today at Nationals Park. Both Shawn Hill and Jair Jurjjens left the game without decisions, but both pitched extremely well. Hill went 8 full innings, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits, an RBI single to Yunel Escobar in the 6th inning. Jurjjens also impressed, going 7 full innings and also allowing just 1 run on 2 hits with no walks and 3 strikeouts.
For the Nationals, Felipe Lopez continues to play extremely well, driving in a run on a fielder’s choice in the 6th and hitting a long fly ball to win the game in the bottom of the 12th off of Buddy Carlyle after Manny Acosta loaded the bases and walked a run home.
The Braves lose their 14th straight one-run decision (going back to last year) and the Nationals have won 6 of 8 going into this weekend’s series against the also-mediocre Pirates. Suddenly things are looking up for Manny Acta and the Nats (not so much for Bobby’s Braves).
By the way, Saul Rivera, the most used releiver in baseball last year, pitched again today in the 11th and 12th and picked up the win. He is 3-1 on the year.
Categories: Braves · Nationals
Tagged: Braves, Buddy Carlyle, Felipe Lopez, Jair Jurjjens, Manny Acosta, Manny Acta, Nationals, Saul Rivera, Shawn Hill, Yunel Escobar
The Mets blew it big time today, losing 12-1 to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates as nothing went right for the Amazin’s. Oliver Perez got rocked, going just 1.2 with seven runs scored on him (just 2 earned, though, as shoddy defense took care of the rest). Oliver’s line on the afternoon: (2 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO). Nelson Figueroa came out of the bullpen for mop up duty and went 3.1 before handing the ball over to Jorge Sosa. We all know how that went. Sosa’s line: (1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO).
Here’s my rant of the day. When you have an extra starter who’s been as good as Figueroa has, you can afford to pitch him for more than 3.1 innings. Willie obviously gave up on this game along with the rest of the team. What happened to the Mets of two years ago, the team that could be down 7 runs and still come back to win by 3. That team? They play down the road in the City of Brotherly Love. You know what else is a shame? I’d bet a lot of money that Omar decides to send Joe Smith back to AAA when Matt Wise comes back, giving the nod to the veteran Sosa. I’ll save that full rant for when that happens, but it still kills me to see our second most efficient reliever get no respect from the organization.
Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny came into today’s game with an ERA over 8, and the Mets let him eat them up before he left after 5 with an apparent injury. Apparently the Pirates are stacked with pitching talent because they two-hit the Mets. That’s right, the Mets could only manage two hits off of Gorzelanny, John Van Benschoten, and Evan Meek. I can’t wait to see how they do against Micah Owings, Brandon Webb, and Dan Haren this weekend.
By the way, that Gold Glover on the hot corner? He has five errors on the year and went 0-2 with 2 BB today. The only Met with an RBI was, once again, Ryan Church, who seems to be the only one on the team with any desire to win.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, David Wright, Evan Meek, Joe Smith, John Van Benschoten, Jorge Sosa, Matt Wise, Mets, Micah Owings, Nelson Figueroa, Oliver Perez, Pirates, Ryan Church, Tom Gorzelanny
Phillies
Werth (CF)
Bruntlett (SS)
Utley (2B)
Howard (1B)
Burrell (LF)
Jenkins (RF)
Feliz (3B)
Coste (C)
Moyer (P)
Padres
Giles (RF)
Iguchi (2B)
Gonzalez (1B)
Kouzmanoff (3B)
Greene (SS)
Hairston (LF)
Edmonds (CF)
Bard (C)
Young (P)
Categories: Phillies
Tagged: Padres, Phillies
Mets catcher Brian Schneider was released from the hospital today and is expected to return to starting duty this weekend in Arizona.
Braves ace John Smoltz says that he would be willing to become the team’s closer, again, when he comes off of the DL. Smoltz recorded an NL-record 55 saves as the Braves closer in 2002.
Nationals closer Chad Cordero will be sidelined 4-6 weeks with a torn muscle under his shoulder (sounds like he tore it while compensating for tendonitis in his shoulder).
Categories: Braves · Mets · Nationals
Tagged: Braves, Brian Schneider, Chad Cordero, John Smoltz, Mets, Nationals
Pirates 13-Mets 1
No excuse.
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Mets, Oliver Perez
The Game: Atlanta Braves (12-14) vs. Washington Nationals (10-17)
The Matchup: Jair Jurjjens (3-2, 3.45) vs. Shawn Hill (0-0, 5.40)
The Story: The Nationals remain hot, having won 3 in a row. Last night’s win was a gem, sparked by Ryan Zimmerman’s hot bat and good pitching from starter Tim Redding and the bullpen. Shawn Hill gets his third start since coming back from his annual rehab stint at the begininng of the season.
He’ll be opposed by Jair Jurjjens, the young man from Curacao who came over from the Tigers in the Edgar Renteria trade. Jurjjens has arguably been the Braves most effective starter this year, posting a 3.45 ERA and pitching into the 6th inning in each of his starts, which is important when your bullpen is missing two key pieces (Rafael Soriano, Peter Moylan).
Note: Kelly Johnson a last minute scratch
Lineups:
Braves: Blanco (LF), Escobar (SS), Jones (3B), Teixiera (1B), McCann (C), Francoeur (RF), Kotsay (CF), Gotay (2B), Jurjjens (P)
Nationals: Lopez (2B), Guzman (SS), Zimmerman (3B), Johnson (1B), Milledge (CF), Kearns (RF), Estrada (C), Mackowiak (RF), Hill (P)
Categories: Braves · Nationals
Tagged: Braves, Edgar Renteria, Jair Jurjjens, Nationals, Peter Moylan, Rafael Soriano, Ryan Zimmerman, Shawn Hill, Tim Redding
The Phillies have the best bench in the National League.
By the numbers, they are hitting .311, have hit 3 HRs, and have a .982 OPS on the season.
The next best PH batting average is Atlanta at .228. The Braves’ pinch hitters have a collective OPS of .714.
Much of this success has to be attributed to Greg Dobbs (.343, 9 RBI, 2 HR, .982 OPS) in 35 at bats.
Categories: Braves · Phillies
Tagged: Bench, Braves, Greg Dobbs, Phillies, pinch hitters
Guess Nelson Figueroa will actually be getting his “start” this week, despite getting skipped over in favor of Johan Santana this weekend. Figgie came out of the pen to relieve a completely ineffective Oliver Perez, who gave up 7 runs (only 2 earned though) in an inning and two-thirds. Ouch. Just one of those days.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Johan Santana, Mets, Nelson Figueroa, Oliver Perez
The Matchup: Jamie Moyer (1-1, 4.05, 11 SO, 1.73 WHIP) vs. Chris Young (1-2, 3.77, 27 SO, 1.40 WHIP)
The Story: Moyer is coming off two strong 6 inning outings, while Chris Young hasn’t won a game in his last four appearances. Moyer’s ability to give the Phillies innings is obviously key to the team’s success. With the Phils’ potent offense, a respectable outing for Moyer may be all the Phillies need to win the game. That said, lowering expectations for Moyer, because of his age compared to any other pitcher, is a dangerous proposition. But, I would argue that his contribution to the team goes well beyond his work on the mound. Myers and Hamels have both commented frequently on Moyer’s coach-like presence in the locker room and in the dugout.
Back to that potent offense. The Phils go into the last game of April having scored the third most runs in the National League at 131, behind Arizona (157) and Chicago (152). Still, that is without Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino for most of the month, and with Ryan Howard slumping. Considering the Phils’ typical April woes and improvement as the year goes on, they should be racing to the top of this category in the coming months.
Lineups won’t be out until later, but the Jason Werth/Geoff Jenkins/Shane Victorino question still remains. Victorino did not start last night, so Manuel was not forced to make any tough decisions. Looking at Manuel’s comments, expect Werth to continue starting as long as he’s hot.
Categories: Phillies
Tagged: Chris Young, Jamie Moyer, Padres, Phillies, Pregame
2:07 pm: Carlos Beltran hurt? Willie Randolph and the Mets trainer headed out to the batter’s box after an odd turnover by Beltran. Beltran stayed in the game and walked during the at bat in the 1st.
UPDATE: The Mets finally get the game underway after a 40 minute delay. Guess the Mets are so focused on Citi Field they forgot to take care of the old place. Oops.
UPDATE: Water Main break at Shea. Oliver Perez hasn’t even started warming up yet.
The Game: Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Mets
The Matchup: Tom Gorzalanny (1-3, 8.46) vs. Oliver Perez (2-1, 3.62)
The Story: The Mets are coming off of an 11th inning win that should have only taken 9 last night against Ian Snell and the Pirates. Shoddy defense and unreliable bullpen pitching blew the game for the Mets in the 9th and forced Willie Randolph to use almost every bullpen pitcher, including 2 innings of Billy Wagner.
Oliver Perez comes off of a shaky start last Thursday night in Washington, when he helped load the bases, allowing Aaron Heilman to give up a grand slam in the 5th. The common theme with Oli this year (and last year as well) has been to pitch well until the 5th before losing confidence and missing the zone. With a depleted bullpen, he needs to go at least 6 today.
Carlos Delgado went 0-5 last night. Expect plenty of boos.
The Lineups:
Pirates: McLouth (CF)Sanchez (2B), Bay (LF), Doumit (C), Nady (RF), LaRoche (1B), Bautista (3B), Gomez (SS), Gorzelanny (P)
Mets: Reyes (SS), Castillo (2B), Wright (3B), Beltran (CF), Church (RF), Delgado (1B), Pagan (LF), Molina (C), Perez (P)
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Mets, Oliver Perez, Pirates, Tom Gorzalanny, Water main
After throwing only 13 pitches last night, Chad Cordero is headed to the DL with a strained lat muscle behind his throwing shoulder. “It hurts really, really bad,” he said. Not good news, obviously.
Categories: Nationals
Tagged: Nationals, Chad Cordero
This is an unbelievably well written guide to PitchFX on Son of Sam. PitchFX uses different pitches variables and statistics to create graphs that analyze pitch selection and results.
Click here for Cole Hamels’ data from last night. Click here for Johan Santana’s data.
To get the data for any pitcher of any game click here.
Categories: General
Tagged: Cole Hamels, Johan Santana, pitchfx, Statistics
Mets 5-Pirates 4 (11)
W: Sosa (3-1) L: Van Benschoten (0-1)
With their ace Johan Santana on the mound, the New York Mets did not score enough runs to finish off the mediocre Pirates in nine, waiting until the bottom of the 11th before walking off on a David Wright shot to deep right field.
Santana pitched well but couldn’t keep his pitch count down, going only 5.2 (2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO), giving up both runs on solo shots to Nate McLouth (on the first at bat of the game) and Jason Bay.
Pirates starter Ian Snell wasn’t great, going 4.1 (5 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO) before getting into a jam. The Bucs pen held up very nicely until the 11th when John Van Benschoten (who?) gave up the winning hit to David.
Jose Reyes broke out of his slump, going 3-3 with 3 walks and a triple and providing the momentum the Mets needed on the bases, especially late in the game. This is what the Mets need–like I’ve said time and time again, when Reyes gets on base, the Mets win.
Ryan Church continued his hot streak, homering off of Ian Snell in the 4th. Carlos Delgado received a huge ovation for his first at-bat but was booed for the rest of the game as he went 0-5 and killed many a rally. Delgado continues to look dead at the plate. He has flashes of his old self, which was clearly evident the other day. But he is clearly just a shadow of what he used to be.
The real story tonight is the Mets bullpen, which blew this game for Johan. Sure, Billy Wagner takes the bulk of the heat with his first blown save of the year. But each reliever tonight got into a sticky situation before getting bailed out. Duaner Sanchez is obviously Willie’s new choice for a set up man, but could barely get the ball over the plate tonight. Aaron Heilman continues to struggle mightily and got a nice round of boos tonight. Joe Smith was nowhere to be found, even though he has been the team’s second most consistent reliever this year. It’s not my intention to go on a rant, but I’ll say this. Willie needs to understand that relievers are inconsistent. If they were more consistent, they’d be starters (or elite relievers like Wagner, who is the only elite reliever on the team). Therefore, when you’re in a tight situation, you go with your “hot” relievers. Also, why Willie didn’t bring Wagner in for the 8th when Duaner was stuck in a tight situation in the middle of the Pirates order, I have no idea. It’s incredibly frustrating.
Oh and by the way, Raul Casanova’s defense is subpar, to say the last. Get well soon, Brian.
Check out the Liveblog I kept for more information on the game (until I got too frustrated to write, anyway).
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Aaron Heilman, Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Duaner Sanchez, Ian Snell, Jason Bay, Joe Smith, Johan Santana, Jorge Sosa, Jose Reyes, Mets, Nate McLouth, Pirates, Ryan Church
Nationals 6-Braves 3
W: Rivera (2-1) L: Boyer (0-3)
Ryan Zimmerman led the Nationals with 3 RBIs, bringing runs home on a solo shot and a 2-run RBI double. The Z-Man provided the spark that the Nats offense has been lacking. Nick Johnson also homered for the Nationals and Lastings Milledge drove two in as well.
Tom Glavine returned to the hill for Atlanta and pitched well, going 6 full innings (6 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 BB, 2 SO) but did not get the run support he needed to defeat the last place DC club. Glavine came away with a no-decision (the loss was awarded to Blaine Boyer) For the Braves, Mark Kotsay, Chipper Jones, and Kelly Johnson drove in runs, with Chipper going yard in his return to the lineup.
For the Nats, Tim Redding continued to pitch well, also going 6 full innings (4 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 BB, 2 SO), but did not pick up the win. The bullpen was mostly flawless, with Saul Rivera picking up the win, and combining with Luis Ayala, Chad Cordero, and Jon Rauch for 1 earned run over three.
The Nationals have now won five of their last seven and have reason to be celebrating tonight (NL Beast may have spotted Ryan Zimmerman at a DC bar after the game).
Categories: Braves · Nationals
Tagged: Blaine Boyer, Braves, Chad Cordero, Chipper Jones, Jon Rauch, Kelly Johnson, Lastings Milledge, Luis Ayala, Mark Kotsay, Nationals, Nick Johnson, Ryan Zimmerman, Saul Rivera, Tim Redding, Tom Glavine
