Nieve mantas de Tampa Bay
Fernando Nieve (2-0) made his second consecutive strong start and picked up his second win of the season as the New York Mets defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3. Nieve (‘snow’ in Spanish) threw 102 pitches over 6 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits.
Brian "Mr. Incredible" Schneider
The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Gary Sheffield singled to center and moved to 2nd base on a walk to Ryan Church. Then Brian Schneider demonstrated surprising strength in hitting his 1st home run of the season off loser Andy Sonnanstine (5-7) into the bullpen just to the right of the 415 foot sign in right center field. The Mets extended the lead to 4-0 in the 3rd inning when Alex Cora led off with a single. Daniel Murphy singled Cora to 2nd base, but was erased on a double play grounder by Carlos Beltran which moved Cora to 3rd from where a 2 out double by David Wright drove him in.
The only run Tampa Bay scored off Nieve came in the 6th inning when B.J. Upton scored on a ground out by Carlos Pena. The Rays made it close in the 7th when Upton hit a 2-run double off Bobby Parnell, but Perpetual Pedro Feliciano came on to snuff the rally. The Mets added an insurance run in the 8th on a Church single which plated Beltran.
Murphy demonstrated a stout swing with a smooth finish by singling 3 times in 4 at bats. Murphy is starting to get hot, going 7 for 12 in his last 3 games. Also stout for the Mets was Sean Green who struck out 3 in 1 inning of work. The last time Green allowed a run was May 15th. Green has now made 15 consecutive scoreless appearances, striking out 15 batters over 15 2/3 innings. Francisco Rodriguez bounced back from his poor Thursday night outing by retiring the Rays in order in the 9th for his 18th save. The Baltimore Orioles did the Mets a favor by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 and so the Mets head into Saturday just 2 games out of first place and with Johan Santana (8-4) taking the mound.
For the box score please visit yahoo.com
26 comments
QnsNative718
6/19/2009-10:56pm at 10:56 pm (UTC -4)
Hmmmm.. Nieve means “snow” in spanish. I did not know that. This place rocks!
As far as the game, man what can I say about “The Snowman”? (Too soon for corny nicknames?) I was really looking forward tonight to see if his performance in the Bronx last week was just a fluke and he surely has me reassured. A little shaky at times but hey, the Rays lead thr league in runs scored.
Tomorrow we got Johan going up against Jamie ‘CoCo Ducked My Punch’ Shields. (Weather permitting)..
Lets get em, boys..
tkfj
6/19/2009-11:06pm at 11:06 pm (UTC -4)
I get it now. The Mets only win games I am not home to watch or pay attention too, lucky for you guys I probably won’t watch tommorow either.
Nieve apparently pitched well, just wonderful, good news is always welcome. The Philths lost, even better.
Strong performance from Johan the Great tommorow. LGM!
metsfan4decades
6/19/2009-11:09pm at 11:09 pm (UTC -4)
Ah, my friend TK, the most superstitious fan on our blog. But hey, if that’s what did it tonight, we all thank you!
metsfan4decades
6/19/2009-11:07pm at 11:07 pm (UTC -4)
Grave, you just keep out doing yourself with these post game wrap ups – and graphics!
Perpetual Pedro….good thing he appears to be up to the challenge of every day Pedro.
And what can you say about Nieve – a 1.85 ERA I believe? This is two very nice solid outings from Fernando and against two very good teams. I don’t know if this is lighting in a bottle – or he decided to change his game plan when given a fresh start with the Mets, but I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far. I’ve been saying for about 2 months now our SP depth is very shaky and we were ‘one more trip to the DL’ in trouble. And out of nowhere, Nieve steps up to the plate to fill that void for the time being. I couldn’t be more pleased.
Got the lead early tonight (thank you Brian) and actually got a big insurance run in the 8th which has been sparse for us lately too. Green looking better and better since his start at the beginning and KRod came right back with another save. Only shaky part of the game was Bobby’s outing – again. I hope he gets it together soon.
Mets win, Phils lose. 2 games out. Here we come….
smooth
6/19/2009-11:34pm at 11:34 pm (UTC -4)
I will say it once again, Nieve is going to be our new ace. book it!
dentulous
6/19/2009-11:39pm at 11:39 pm (UTC -4)
dont you think it is too soon to anoint him. Also, what happened to Santana (I know he hasnt been great, but he will bounce back)?
QnsNative718
6/19/2009-11:49pm at 11:49 pm (UTC -4)
Um, what?
GravediggerHebner
6/19/2009-11:50pm at 11:50 pm (UTC -4)
Time will tell if he’s an ace, but the one thing I know for sure is that I don’t run around yelling “garbage” any time Omar makes a scrub signing. Usually costs nothing but a little (in MLB terms) money and sometimes you catch lightning. Why anyone complains about these signings is beyond me. I’m not suggesting you ever did that Smooth, just saying it in general.
QnsNative718
6/20/2009-12:00am at 12:00 am (UTC -4)
Ditto that.. Hey, I know we havent had much to celebrate about and Im not trying to be Debbie Downer from Saturday Night Live but to even think of this guy as an ace or a possible ace is getting way too ahead of ourselves. The guy was mediocre in 2006 with the ‘stros where he started as an SP then was demoted to a relief pitcher. Missed the whole 2007 due to surgery and posted an 8.44 ERA in 11 games last yr out of the pen.. Like I said, not trying to burst anyones bubble or take anything away from Nieve but cmon man…
GravediggerHebner
6/20/2009-12:06am at 12:06 am (UTC -4)
Sort of like being in 1957 and saying “the Edsel is the car of the future?”
QnsNative718
6/20/2009-12:11am at 12:11 am (UTC -4)
Or a guy using a vcr for the first time and sayin, “Cant get better than this!”
QnsNative718
6/19/2009-11:50pm at 11:50 pm (UTC -4)
With all due respect, but you have got to be kidding me. Please tell me youre joking or atleast smokin some of that good stuff..
trs86
6/19/2009-11:56pm at 11:56 pm (UTC -4)
Ace, most likely not but stranger things have happen. Take a look at Ollie’s second half numbers last year or what was it his 2004 season? Hopefully we can just ride it while it’s hot and not get burned too badly.
QnsNative718
6/20/2009-12:05am at 12:05 am (UTC -4)
Ollie is the epitome of inconsistency. Can you think of anyone who has had a career like Ollies?
By the way, how was the game against Charlotte?
trs86
6/20/2009-12:18am at 12:18 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, believe it or not there are many pitchers who have had it, lost it, found it and lost it again.
baseballmercenaries
6/19/2009-11:45pm at 11:45 pm (UTC -4)
good win boys
trs86
6/19/2009-11:54pm at 11:54 pm (UTC -4)
Perfect night for me. Got to go with my family and enjoy the Bisons smashing the Knights, Mets win and Phillies lose. If every night could be that perfect. I will hopefully have a writeup and some pics on tonights AAA game sometime tomorrow. Tobi and the Stoners was pitching and looked very good most of the game.
Good night and LGM.
GravediggerHebner
6/19/2009-11:57pm at 11:57 pm (UTC -4)
Sweet. I know the last time I checked the Cyclones were beating the Staten Island Yankees too.
QnsNative718
6/20/2009-12:13am at 12:13 am (UTC -4)
Nice. On top of that, if the Yanks had lost I wouldve skipped down the hallway like a school girl to take the trash out but hey… beggers cant be choosers.
stickguy
6/20/2009-12:15am at 12:15 am (UTC -4)
every win is nice. Now see if they can string a few together, and get something rolling.
The cards for some reason don’t really scare me this week. I don’t think they are really that good, and we have them in citi cavern. Get on a roll, win some games, and smack the satans around this weekend.
Neive just might be for real. He was apparantly a pretty hot Astros prospect in the day, and it usually takes a couple years after TJ to get back fully. So, maybe he has finally figured it out and is ready to succeed?
Classic Omar pick up. FOrmer top prospect that had some strruggles, but still has “stuff”. The man loves his reclaimation projects.
trs86
6/20/2009-12:19am at 12:19 am (UTC -4)
I am not sure we will say the same about Broadway, he has looked pretty bad.
stickguy
6/20/2009-12:58am at 12:58 am (UTC -4)
he appears to just suck.
But, these waiver guys and small time trades are really a crapshoot, and broadway fills out a spot in Buffalo.
Besides, that was really about unloading Shrek and his contract.
metsinnats
6/20/2009-9:14am at 9:14 am (UTC -4)
But the Mets paid for Shrek’s contract in the trade – so it was unloading to satisfy the Santos roster spot while also taking a gamble on Broadway.
gategem
6/20/2009-1:57am at 1:57 am (UTC -4)
The Mets beat a better team tonight so this win goes in the column of the unexpected and much appreciated.
I’m not ready to send Neive to the hall of fame just yet. There is no definitive scouting report on him just yet and most players are seeing him for the first time. But as long as he pitches well lets take advantage of it. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Kingman 26
6/20/2009-3:01am at 3:01 am (UTC -4)
I am gone and look what happens!
I think I heard that the same Astro scout who signed Johan also signed Nieve…hmmmmm.
And Grave, that picture really DOES look like Schneider!
Damn, we are tantalizingly close to first place…..
QnsNative718
6/20/2009-12:20pm at 12:20 pm (UTC -4)
Yes it was, Brock. The same scout.