The New York Mets unleashed a power surge (for them) versus the Cincinnati Reds Sunday with 3 doubles and 2 home runs, then hung on despite some dicey relief pitching to win 9-7. The power was so unexpected that it short circuited the fabled Home Run Apple.
"What do you mean 'another home run?'"
In the 7th inning Brian Schneider hit a home run that brought forth the apple as normal, but one out later the apple failed to rise for a home run by Fernando Tatis. Fans in the stands chanted “we want apple.” Viewers at home were then treated to a studio update from host Gary Apple. Fans at Citi Field had to wait ’til the last out of the inning for the apple to rise again, as apparently there is a 45 second recharge time between apple showings, but to raucous applause it did finally rise.
Apple avoids DL stint, will rest over break
The Mets broke the extra-base hit ice early. With one out in the bottom of the 1st Luis Castillo singled and David Wright doubled, scoring Castillo and giving the Mets and starter Mike Pelfrey a 1-0 lead. In the 3rd inning the surge continued.
Pass me a Surge
With one out Castillo started another rally with a single. Wright then singled moving Castillo to third. With Gary Sheffield at the plate, Red’s starter Aaron Harang threw a wild pitch allowing Wright to move into scoring position. Sheffield then singled driving them both in. One out later Daniel Murphy doubled in Sheffield, and after a walk to Schneider an Alex Cora RBI single made it 5-0 Mets.
Red Joey Votto ejected
In the top of the 4th inning, Cincinnati 1B Joey Votto led off and was called out on strikes for the 2nd time in the game. He slowly and carefully expressed his displeasure to home plate umpire Bill Welke who eventually ejected the young slugger. In the bottom half of the 4th, Castillo again started a rally with a single. He stole second and Sheffield drove him in. New Met Jeff Francouer singled moving Sheffield to third from where he was driven in by Murphy giving the Mets a 7-0 lead.
Must protect surge
Now all the Mets had to do was protect the surge. So of course Pelfrey walked the 1st 2 batters of the 5th inning, then Votto’s replacement Adam Rosales doubled to drive in a run, and Chris Dickerson and Willy Taveres followed with RBI singles making the score 7-3.
Must recover surge
In the 7th inning the Mets recovered the surge with the Schneider and Tatis solo home runs giving them a 9-3 lead. They would need those 2 runs.
Fulfilling it's role
The surge protector got burned but did it’s job. The Reds greeted Met reliever Sean Green with 3 straight singles to start the 8th. Pedro Feliciano was summoned from the bullpen, allowed a single and was replaced by Bobby Parnell who immediately allowed another single. These 5 consecutive singles gave the Reds 3 runs and cut their deficit to 9-6. In the 9th Met closer Francisco Rodriguez gave up a walk, a single and an RBI fielder’s choice to allow the Reds within 2 but held on for his 23rd save and the 9-7 victory.
Please visit yahoo.com for the box score.
13 comments
dentulous
7/12/2009-5:22pm at 5:22 pm (UTC -4)
Much needed series win. Lets keep it up until the big guys come back.
metsfan4decades
7/12/2009-5:24pm at 5:24 pm (UTC -4)
Needed everyone of those 9 runs. Good to see the offense again. Hopefully, they’ll come back after the break and pick up where they left off.
I just heard AReyes was option back to AAA. So…didn’t hear about a replacement so that’s curious.
stickguy
7/12/2009-5:40pm at 5:40 pm (UTC -4)
That is nice.
If Javier Castillo can play SS, call him up. He has been raking at AAA, and it would give COra a chance to get some rest, and also spell Slappy as needed.
asod75
7/12/2009-5:50pm at 5:50 pm (UTC -4)
He indeed can play shortstop, also third. Not sure if he’s played second for the Bisons, but if Tatis can be put there, I’m sure this kid can as well. This might be one of those under the radar moves by Omar that could pan out. He actually had a pretty good year (84 RBIs) for the White Sox organization last year, but he was blocked by guys like Beckham, Fields, Getz, Alexei Ramirez that Chicago obviously liked better. Abner Doubleday’s corpse could probably hit the ball harder than Argenis Reyes, so anything will be an improvement over him.
stickguy
7/12/2009-5:51pm at 5:51 pm (UTC -4)
then by all means, get him up here.
with Castillo and COra, they dont need any more 2Bs anyway.
asod75
7/12/2009-5:53pm at 5:53 pm (UTC -4)
Correction: Castillo had 76 RBIs at two levels for the Sox last year, but collected 27 doubles, 10 triples and eight homers. So it seems like he’s got good gap power and decent wheels.
GravediggerHebner
7/12/2009-5:57pm at 5:57 pm (UTC -4)
I sure hope you guys are correct and it’s J. Castillo, but given that this is the Mets and Omar we’re talking about, doesn’t the former rookie of the year we picked up off waivers from the Yankees yesterday whose name is escaping me at the moment seem more likely?
asod75
7/12/2009-6:00pm at 6:00 pm (UTC -4)
I sure as hell hope it’s not Angel Berroa. The guy sucks, slightly less than A. Reyes, but still a crappy player overall. Hasn’t done anything since his 2003 rookie campaign (when Hideki Matsui should have won the award anyway), but indeed this is Omar we’re talking about here.
sabermetrician
7/12/2009-5:34pm at 5:34 pm (UTC -4)
Very encouraging news on Reyes and Delgado. If we could get Reyes and Beltran back within a couple of weeks and Delgado, Maine, and Putz in the first half of August we might be able to put something together. I’d still like to see a solid trade (Preferably one that does not cost top prospects, just Murphy or something).
stickguy
7/12/2009-5:43pm at 5:43 pm (UTC -4)
depends on who is available. And, who is on the ~ 8/1 return track. Don’t expect anyone to fill a spot for them.
At least now, they seem to have a fairly set lineup (who woulda thunk Pagan was a big pickup?). So keep rolling that out, and see what happens.
I wouldn’t mind a solid move for a 2010 guy (rios, whatever), but for now, they should have enough offense to keep it up.
stickguy
7/12/2009-5:50pm at 5:50 pm (UTC -4)
Short version since dinner is almost ready (if the RDMB brass wants the 5K word elaboration, let me know!)
Hoepfully the FO takes a collective breath now that the ASB is here, then hunkers down in a conference room with a white board, to make a plan for the rest of this year (only 11 weeks left, hard to believe), and into next year.
It just seems that for the last last couple of months, they hav ealternated between some version of being 2 steps behind (chasing the train that just left the station), or sticking their heads in the sand. Danged if I know if they have any sort of warking plan or vision.
So, sort out the roster as best they can (get rid of the A Reyes of the world, and try to get the best collectin of players to make a decent, balanced roster). Then decide who is going to play every day, and play them.
Then, decide on a freaking pitching staff and rotation, and get thim in place. If Livan is done, unload him. FIgure out what to do with Redding.
Work from the rotation back. I would like to see 1 more AAA start from neise, and if it is good again, plug him in. Or decide 1 more from livan, and if he still stinks, bye bye.
See if there are any more church for frenchy type moves available, since like TRS said a few threads back, they really need to get younger and more upsideable (new word aleert!) going into next year.
Guys with no place on next years team, and not part of the current core? See if they can be converted into something more useful.
This even goes for Sheff, if Beltran is really, truly coming back, since he would be odd man out anyway.
asod75
7/12/2009-6:03pm at 6:03 pm (UTC -4)
A guy like Mark Teahen of the Royals would be a good guy to target. Relatively young (27 or 28 I believe), decent bat with loads of versatility (1B, 2B, 3B, LF, RF). Shouldn’t cost you the farm to get a guy like this, yet would be a decent piece to have in place for both this year and beyond….
stickguy
7/12/2009-6:50pm at 6:50 pm (UTC -4)
another random thought with guys like Teahan:
If you can get them cheap now, do it. Even if they becoe a bench guy when the “calvery” arrives, so what? As we have seen, a strong bench and capable replacements for fallen playes is a big deal to have!
Better though, it gives flexibility for next year. You can always have him start if needed, or you have a built in better bench.