Ryan Howard is back. He now has hit safely in seven straight games, and he just blasted a homer to center field, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead. He’s also hitting .280 in the last seven games, not counting tonight. Counting tonight, he now has three home runs in the last week. If I’m facing Howard, I would be very afraid right now. The only thing that was in Howard’s favor in the last month was that he always starts poorly. It was the only fact we could all fall back on. Well, it seems to be true again. We may just have to get used to awful April’s from Howard.
After today’s loss to the Nationals, Mets closer Billy Wagner was being interviewed in the locker room when he went batshit on the media, his teammates, etc.
Per Adam Rubin:
He looked over toward the area of Carlos Delgado’s locker and blurted: “Someone tell me why the (expletive) you’re talking to the closer. I didn’t even play. They’re over there, not being interviewed. … I got it. They’re gone. (Expletive) shocker.”
Billy, Billy Billy…I love your intentions, but you have to calm yourself down. If you’re going to be an outspoken leader on this team, good, they need leadership, but you can’t criticize your teammates in front of, well, everyone. I’m frustrated by the loss, everyone is frustrated by the loss, but that’s no excuse for pulling this. Why are the media talking to the closer? Because they know that there’s a 50/50 shot that the closer will flip out and say something ridiculous. The media are ruthless, but come on man, control yourself.
What a great pitchers’ dual today, between two very unlikely hurlers. Mike Pelfrey had a no-hitter going for 6.2, and pitched a gem (7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 100 P). Jason Bergmann pitched out of his mind in his first start back with the parent club after a stint at Triple-A Columbus (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 103 P), combining with Luis Ayala (who picked up his 11th hold of the year) and Jon Rauch (who picked up his 9th save) to shut out the lifeless Mets offense.
Aaron Boone broke through for the Nationals in the seventh, and was promptly thrown out by Ramon Castro in a bid to steal second base. Jesus Flores subsequently hit his way on base and was driven home by Felipe Lopez.
The Mets looked to rally in the ninth, but were shut down on two great defensive plays. After Carlos Beltran singled to start off the inning, Ryan Church fouled a ball out to left. Willie Harris ran the ball down and made a spectacular catch for the first out. Next up was Carlos Delgado, who lined a ball directly to Rauch, who lined the ball back to third where he caught Beltran (who was running) for the last out.
David Wright and Jose Reyes combined to go 1-8 today. Some serious problems are afoot for the Mets, who are headed to the Bronx tomorrow to face as Johan Santana squares off with Darrell Rasner in the Subway Series. If there was ever a time for the stopper, it is now. Shawn Hill and the Nationals head to Baltimore to face Garrett Olsen and the red-hot Orioles in the Battle of the Beltway tomorrow night.
The main purpose of the website is to sell t-shirts for charity, but there’s also a blog and some interesting facts. I love how many inside jokes the three of them have. One of the best broadcast teams in baseball, if a bit quirky at times. Here are a couple of the shirts available:
Here are last night’s wrap-ups from the Phillies, Braves, and Marlins.
Braves 8-Phillies 6
Tom Glavine picked up his first Braves victory since 2002 as the Braves rolled over Brett Myers. The opening-day starter drops to 2-5 after surrendering home runs to Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar in the first, just a couple of the 6 earned runs he would give up on the night (4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO, 3 HR, 75 P). For the Braves, Kelly Johnson added a home run, Gregor Blanco drove in two runs, and Brian McCann added another.
The Braves bullpen could barely contain the Philadelphia offense, allowing two earned runs in the last two innings, including a 2-out Ryan Howard home run in the 8th. Chase Utley also homered for the Phillies (2 runs in the 6th off of Glavine), Jimmy Rollins drove in two runs on the night and Shane Victorino drove in one. The bright spot for the Phillies was their bullpen, with Ryan Madson, Clay Condrey and Rudy Seanez combining for 4.2 scoreless innings in relief of Myers.
Reds 7-Marlins 6 (F/10)
Rookie shortstop Paul Janish hit a walk-off single in his Major League debut as the Reds defeated the Marlins in the 10th inning. That came after Cody Ross tied the game on a three-run longball off of Reds closer Francisco Cordero in the ninth. Cordero’s first blown save of the year was an ugly one–the Marlins scored all six of their runs in the top of the ninth. Reds pitcher Mike Lincoln was charged with four runs, Cordero with two. This after Bronson Arroyo shut the Marlins down, going 7 full innings allowing no runs on 5 hits, striking out 5 and walking 3 on 111 pitches.
The Marlins were plagued by ineffective pitching all night, first from starter Ricky Nolasco (4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 97 P), then from relievers Logan Kensing, Justin Miller, and Renyel Pinto. NL Beast has said it over and over again, the Marlins are only as good as their pitching.
Ross, Luis Gonzalez and Matt Treanor drove in runs for the Marlins. Adam Dunn homered and Jerry Hairston Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Brandon Phillips, Edwin Encarnacion and Janish plated runs for the Reds.
The Game:Washington Nationals (17-24) at New York Mets (20-18)
The Matchup:Jason Bergmann (0-1, 11.68) at Mike Pelfrey (2-3, 4.86)
The Story:Aaron Heilman blew last night’s game for the Mets, surrendering three runs in one-third of an inning before being booed off of the field at Shea Stadium. Today, the Mets look to move on and go for the split against Washington. Mike Pelfrey got credited with the loss in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Reds, but has pitched better of late. He needs to be more aggressive and not get behind in counts in order to find success against the thin Washington lineup, which has the next to lowest batting average of any team in Major League Baseball.
Jason Bergmann returns to the Nationals after being demoted to Triple-A Columbus after a rough April 12 game against Atlanta. Bergmann pitches in the zone–his K/BB ratio this year is 6–so Mets hitters will look to attack the ball.
Should be interesting to see if Scott Schoeneweiss makes it to the game today; he was hospitalized after his arms turned blue and his hands went numb. According to Adam Rubin, this was just a complication from the flu-like symptoms that have been going around the Mets clubhouse lately. Scary stuff.
Late word that Nationals 1B Nick Johnson is being placed on the DL after an MRI revealed a tear of the tendon sheath in his right wrist (whatever that is). Dmitri Young will be recalled from his rehab assignment tomorrow.
For the Mets, Luis Castillo returns to the lineup after missing a couple of games with knee soreness. Marlon Anderson takes Moises Alou’s place in the day after night lineup despite Alou’s early exit after being ejected last night. Ramon Castro gets the start behind the plate for New York.
For the Nationals, Lastings Milledge shifts to right field after appearing to have lost his center field job. Austin Kearns replaces him. Rob Mackowiak gets the start in left today begging the question, where have you gone, Wily Mo?
The Nationals have recalled RHP Jason Bergmann, who will start today against the Mets. Bergmann started the year in the Nats rotation but was sent to Triple-A Columbus after inconsistent performance. He replaces Chris Schroder on the roster.
Jack Curry asks why the Marlins are winning games in an article in today’s New York Times.
How did this happen? The young, pressure-free Marlins have exhibited a lot of power and a lot of passion, and they have also displayed just enough pitching. When the Marlins thrive, it is usually because they overpower teams, and because they beat the teams they are supposed to beat.
“They can hit, man,” Manny Acta said Monday at Shea Stadium after being swept by Florida over the weekend. “They can slug with anybody.
“It all comes down to their starting pitchers,” said Washington’s Aaron Boone, who played for Florida last year. “Miller, Nolasco, Olson and Badenhop, are those guys going to become good pitchers?”
This comes down to what I’ve talked about numerous times in the past; Florida will only continue to win as long as their starting pitching keeps overachieving. But this is a team to be taken seriously, if not for this year, then for the next few.
After going to the Red Sox Orioles game yesterday at Camden Yards I couldn’t help but post this ridiculous video once I found it online. And they said “Meet the Mets” was lame.
