Man of La Mancha
Met fans dreamed the impossible dream, and Met pitcher Livan Hernandez reached the impossible star Tuesday night as he became the first Met starter of 2009 to throw a complete game as the Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 6-1.
Hernandez’ unlikely feat was the top tale of a story filled night, which also featured the Major League debut of 20 year old Met prospect Fernando Martinez, and a prodigious 3-run homer by Gary Sheffield, his second 3-run shot in as many nights.
Other noteworthy items from the game include the Nationals’ right fielder Adam Dunn’s 1,000th career hit, a single to left field in the 2nd inning.
A different Adam Dunn hit
A particularly odd play occurred in the top of the 5th. Nats catcher Josh Bard attempted to score from 2nd base on a single by rookie pitcher Craig Stammen, but he slid around and missed home plate as Met catcher Omir Santos attempted and missed the tag. As both players realized there had been no resolution to the play, Bard lunged for the plate as Santos lunged for Bard. Bard’s palm hit the dirt next to the plate and while his fingers fought to make the final inch down onto the plate Santos slapped his glove onto Bard’s fingers, tagging him out.
Not that Omir Santos play
The final odd sequence of the night began in the bottom of the 7th. After Sheffield’s homer, Nats reliever Jason Bergmann threw a 79mph breaking ball over the head of batter Fernando Tatis. Home plate umpire Dan Iassogna warned the pitcher and both managers, so it was odd when later in the at bat Bergmann hit Tatis with a pitch but was not ejected from the game. He was however removed from the game by his manager. In the top of the 8th, when Livan Hernandez hit pinch hitter Jason Maxwell in the knee with a pitch, he was not ejected either. So much for warnings.
Neither of those batters being hit by a pitch
Now a quick look back at Fernando Martinez’ first night at the plate in the major leagues.
In Martinez’ first at bat, he looked childish striking out swinging on a pitch up and in.
In his second at bat, he looked a little more confident, driving in his first major league run on a fielder’s choice grounder.
By his third at bat, his maturity was beginning to show and he stoically got hit by a pitch.
By his fourth plate appearance, he was clearly a fully formed major league veteran who knew exactly what to do with the stick in his hand, so he struck out on his own.
Box score courtesy Yahoo.com
| Washington | |||||||||
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | Season Avg | ||
| C. Guzman ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .348 | |
| N. Johnson 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .329 | |
| R. Zimmerman 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .339 | |
| A. Dunn rf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .284 | |
| J. Willingham lf | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .224 | |
| W. Harris cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .265 | |
| J. Bard c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .179 | |
| A. Hernandez 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .280 | |
| C. Stammen p | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | |
| J. Bergmann p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| K. Wells p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| J. Maxwell ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | |
| J. Tavarez p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |
| Totals | 31 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | ||
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| NY Mets | |||||||||
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | LOB | Season Avg | ||
| A. Pagan cf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .296 | |
| L. Castillo 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .283 | |
| D. Wright 3b | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .349 | |
| G. Sheffield lf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .291 | |
| J. Reed lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .304 | |
| F. Tatis 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .278 | |
| F. Martinez rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .000 | |
| O. Santos c | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .268 | |
| R. Martinez ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .100 | |
| L. Hernandez p | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .111 | |
| Totals | 33 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 14 | ||
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| Washington | |||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Season ERA | ||
| C. Stammen (L, 0-1) | 5.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5.56 | |
| J. Bergmann | 1.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.40 | |
| K. Wells | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.73 | |
| J. Tavarez | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.68 | |
| NY Mets | |||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | Season ERA | ||
| L. Hernandez (W, 4-1) | 9.0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4.28 | |
| WP – J Tavarez. |
| HBP – F Martinez (by C Stammen); F Tatis (by J Bergmann); J Maxwell (by L Hernandez). |
| Pitches-strikes – C Stammen 95-57; J Bergmann 31-17; K Wells 5-5; J Tavarez 24-10; L Hernandez 127-83. |
| Ground balls-fly balls – C Stammen 8-5; J Bergmann 1-1; K Wells 2-0; J Tavarez 2-0; L Hernandez 14-6. |
| Batters faced – C Stammen 25; J Bergmann 7; K Wells 2; J Tavarez 5; L Hernandez 34. |
| Game Details |
| Umpires: HP–Dan Iassogna. 1B–Sam Holbrook. 2B–Adrian Johnson. 3B–Larry Vanover. Time: 2:40. Attendance: 39,376. Weather: 56 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 12 mph, in from right. |
12 comments
kingman26
5/26/2009-10:33pm at 10:33 pm (UTC -4)
Grave, that is a truly great postgame post! Thanks for it! The pics are perfect!
Damn, Verizon and Pepsi are going to combine their resources and try to send us Mike Nichols from the other site and a few million bucks for you!!
metsfan4decades
5/26/2009-10:34pm at 10:34 pm (UTC -4)
Great post and accompanying graphics, Grave.
What a game! Livan is The Man and Sheff just continues to get it done.
dentulous
5/26/2009-10:47pm at 10:47 pm (UTC -4)
Santana tomorrow, great chance for a sweep if the offense continues to show up. But Livan was awesome.
Mr North Jersey
5/26/2009-10:53pm at 10:53 pm (UTC -4)
Grave that post was awesome keep up the great work. I loved the 4 stages of evolution in his at bat. It reminds me of this old riddle,
“What walks on 4 legs in the morning 2 legs in the afternoon and 3 legs in the evening?”
answer: Man, he walks on 4 when he is a baby 2 when he is an adult and 3 in his senior years with the use of a cain.
gategem
5/27/2009-12:45am at 12:45 am (UTC -4)
lol Ah, The Riddle of the Sphinx. Yes it is old. It dates back to Greek mythology.
CaseStreet
5/26/2009-11:09pm at 11:09 pm (UTC -4)
Glad to report I was at the first complete game at Citi Field. I hadn’t thought about it until I heard the Schmooze say it earlier, but Livan has been pitching like a #2. I hope he continues to pitch well and give the bullpen some rest.
Overall good game by the entire team.
Who will pitch the first complete game shutout at Citi?
mrose
5/26/2009-11:15pm at 11:15 pm (UTC -4)
I was there too…great game!
Very happy to see it… happy to see Sheff keep goin…time to hit the bed…
great writeup too!
Mr North Jersey
5/26/2009-11:48pm at 11:48 pm (UTC -4)
[img]http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww117/IIKRAZEII/GOW3GIF.gif[/img] Can images be embeded here?
CaseStreet
5/26/2009-11:53pm at 11:53 pm (UTC -4)
don’t know but It’d be great to have space for fans to put up their photos.
gategem
5/27/2009-12:53am at 12:53 am (UTC -4)
Heb, the post game wrap-up at Metsblog pales when compared to yours. Excellent work.
dirtysanchez
5/27/2009-8:40am at 8:40 am (UTC -4)
lmaooo great wrapup grave
QnsNative718
5/27/2009-9:22am at 9:22 am (UTC -4)
Nice, Grave!