Tempting fate
The last time Johan Santana and Jaime Garcia pitched against each other the game went 20 innings. The New York Mets tempted fate by juggling their rotation, bouncing Hisanori Takahashi from his scheduled start, to keep starter Santana on normal rest for tonight’s game versus the St. Louis Cardinals and their starter Garcia. Santana responded by throwing 38 1st inning pitches to 12 St. Louis Cardinals batters allowing them 6 runs before the Mets ever came to bat seemingly putting the threat of extra innings to rest. Garcia surrendered a 2-run double to Met reserve Mike Hessman in the bottom of the inning and after 1 it was 6-2 Cardinals.
Poppa Doo (snicker)
The saga continued and Santana remained in the game. He retired the first 2 Cardinals in the top of the 6th then surrendered consecutive singles to John Jay and Albert Pujols. Matt Holliday then doubled to drive Jay in and Santana from the game. He exited having given up 7 runs on 13 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Manny Acosta relieved and struck out Yadier Molina to end the threat. The Mets got that run back in the bottom of the 6th and may have had more if not for some poor base running by David Wright. He singled leading off the inning but slid past the 2nd base bag attempting to stretch the hit into a double and was tagged out. The next batter, Carlos Beltran, hit his 1st home run of the season but Garcia retired the next 2 batters. After 6 innings it was 7-3 Cardinals.
"Use the fours, Luke."
In the bottom of the 8th St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa used 4 pitchers in total and the Mets light-sabered their way to 4 runs to tie the game. Luis Castillo got it started with a single off reliever Mitchell Boggs. Angel Pagan followed with a homer to make it 7-5. Then Wright singled and 1 out later Hessman was hit by a pitch after which Jason Motte relieved Boggs. Motte induced Jeff Francoeur to fly out and was promptly relieved by Dennys Reyes. Reyes walked Josh Thole to load the bases for pinch-hitter Ike Davis who grounded a single in the hole between 1st & 2nd driving in Wright and Hessman with the tying runs. 7-7 after 8 and fans reminded each other of the 20 inning game.
The intervening innings have been canceled so that we may bring you to the 13th.
Flash Forward to the top of the 13th. Pedro Feliciano (2-6) was on the mound for the Mets having come in with 1 on and none out in the 12th and getting a fielder’s choice and double play to get out of it. Now in the 13th with 1 out he hit Skip Schumaker with a pitch then walked Felipe Lopez to put runners on 1st and 2nd. He induced Jay to ground into a fielder’s choice making it 2 outs with runners on 1st and 3rd and bringing Pujols to the plate. Having no right handed relievers left Jerry Manuel decided to have Feliciano pitch to Pujols who singled to left driving home Schumaker with the go-ahead run. Holliday was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Left handed reliever Raul Valdes came on for Feliciano to face pitcher Adam Wainwright pinch-hitting for pitcher Mike MacDougal (1-0) who had just made his St. Louis debut. Valdes threw a pitch that rolled away slightly from the catcher Thole and Jay tried to score. Thole picked up the ball and fired it to Valdes who tagged Jay out at the plate to end the top of the inning with the Cardinals leading 8-7. St. Louis closer Ryan Franklin threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning for his 19th save. Final St. Louis 8, New York 7 in 13 innings.
"Read all about it!"
18 comments
tkfj2
7/28/2010-11:51pm at 11:51 pm (UTC -4)
After Pujols hit the single, I pondered why I wasted 5 hrs on this team. Instead of getting blown out and losing, we fought back to tie the game. But in typical Mets fashion, and like the losers we are we could not finish the job. What a waste of time in my life this team is. There is a reason we have 3 walk-offs, and other teams have 13 against us.
Mr North Jersey
7/28/2010-11:55pm at 11:55 pm (UTC -4)
Use the fours? Nice….
Well at least site is up to allow the enjoyment of Grave’s posts b4 bedtime.
Here is to hoping tomorrow is a much smoother day.
Nite All.
metsfan4decades
7/28/2010-11:56pm at 11:56 pm (UTC -4)
Well….
I have absolutely no idea what Johan’s problem was in the first inning. Had he figured it out a tad bit earlier, all 6 runs don’t score and maybe the outcome is different. The less than stellar defense didn’t help either.
If Wright had of read that double coming off the wall in the 6th a bit better, realizing it was gonna be close and starting his slide before it was too late (as opposed to going in standing up as he obviously, initially was going to)…he doesn’t over slide the bag and he’s on second when Carlos goes long.
Had we had another pitcher worth his salt in the BP, other than Ollie taking up a spot, Jerry might have shuffled that BP differently and Pedro wouldn’t be in there facing the amount of batters he did.
There are other examples but I’m too tired to remember them all now.
Kudos to the guys though for NOT laying down and dying after the first inning, coming back and tying it up. Just fell that one more run short – and it wasn’t for lack of opportunities.
GravediggerHebner
7/28/2010-11:59pm at 11:59 pm (UTC -4)
So do we think Takahashi’s inning will just be “between-starts” work or will someone else make his Saturday start?
Barring a trade in the next 2 days I guess it’s worth noting that Pat Misch, who started Monday, would be on normal rest on Saturday.
metsfan4decades
7/29/2010-12:05am at 12:05 am (UTC -4)
Good question…..
whataputz
7/29/2010-12:00am at 12:00 am (UTC -4)
I’ll prepare myself for all the bashing I will take after posting this, but I will go ahead and do it anyway. Say all you want about how he had 3 hits, and whatnot, but can David Wright for once in his career actually hit a walkoff. I get it, it’s a lot to ask “hit a game winning home run!” I understand how that can look like a ridiculous demand. I really get that you will probably look at that as ridiculous and call me crazy and the usual, but I mean is it really too much to ask for your supposed best, franchise player to end the game for us in walkoff fashion one time?
How often do you see Howard, Utley, A-Rod, Ortiz, Puljos, guys that are suppossed to be the elite getting walkoff hr’s-hits!
Alright, let me have it.
whataputz
7/29/2010-12:01am at 12:01 am (UTC -4)
and let me point out that I am in no way blaming him for tonights loss, the game falls on Castillo, but all I am saying is can he for once actually step up and win one for “his” team.
GravediggerHebner
7/29/2010-12:06am at 12:06 am (UTC -4)
It would be a lose-lose thing even if he did do what you’re asking because then many people perhaps such as yourself would note that “he only did it once” and go on about how he didn’t do it in such-and-such a game and so on.
“It’s only July let me see him do it in September (or October),” would be quickly uttered by people perhaps such as yourself.
Clearly if he hasn’t won you over by now the only chance he has is a game winning hit in game 7 of a World Series and God help him if it takes him 2 opportunities to do that because people perhaps such as yourself will note that he’s only 1 for 2 in such situations.
metsfan4decades
7/29/2010-12:09am at 12:09 am (UTC -4)
Castillo? LOL. Of all guys you want to pin this on, you pick Castillo?
It was a team loss, IMO. From Johan, to Wright over sliding the bag, to Hessman not handling the throw, to intentionally walking a .190 hitter, to having overworked Pedro out there for too many batters b/c Ollie can’t be trusted, to Francoeur insisting on swinging at everything to…….I know there’s more but you get the idea. Many played a part in not getting the job done tonight.
whataputz
7/29/2010-1:04am at 1:04 am (UTC -4)
castillo came up multiple times with chances to win the game/put the team in a position to win and failed to come through. He also botched a potentially huge dp which allowed Holliday to come up with a man on. Yeah, Santana screwed us to, Santana and Castillo are the two biggest culprits IMO.
@ Grave. I can use the opposite argument on you. So you say I am too hard to impress, if he hit a ws winning hr I’d still complain (ridiculous statement, but I understand your exaggeration for the sake of argument). Well, I’m too hard to impress, and you’re too easy to impress. Like you said, he’s done it once in his career. One game winning hr in his entire 5+ year career, yet you are fine with anointing Wright the franchise, lifetime met, should-be captain.
06-08 David Wright looked like a top player. There is no denying that. With that said, he also had Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran, who were both putting up great numbers in the line-up with him. When ’09 came and delgado and beltran weren’t there for Wright he dropped off tremendously. This season, while Wright has been pretty good, I think we can all agree that he still doesn’t look anywhere near as good as those peak years.
Again, I wanna talk about the comment about how I’ll never be impressed by him and will always criticize him, but on the other side of the coin, what has he done to be pronounced face of the mets, and deemed untouchable/ immune to criticism? Fact is, he was very bad in the ’06 playoffs. In ’08, I will never forget his ab against the cubs with murphy on third and no outs. A huge, huge game they had to win, and he gets up with the pitcher clearly trying to walk him, wanting nothing to do with him, throwing him 3 pitches out of the zone to get the count to 3-0. David Wright swings at ball 4! and strikes out! The Mets in ’06-’08 ended the season on the last game. In all 3 of those games, David Wright did Jack sh**!! That is what builds a legacy!! I cannot forget those games, that at-bat.
’05 was his first full season. In ’06 he was nowhere to be found in the playoffs. In ’07 he failed in the biggets game of the season. In ’08, he failed again in the biggest game of the season. The three biggest games of his career, and he played poorly in all of them. 1 rbi in those 3 games combine.
Yet, you cannot touch David Wright. You cannot knock David Wright. O, sure you can call up WFAN one out of every 7 callers and bash Beltran, who carried the mets in the playoffs, and has been our clutch-est player by far. But, no, you cannot touch Wright.
I think Wright is a good player. He is a good hitter with 25+ Hr power, and drives in 100 rbi, and bats about .300. That is very good. HOWEVER, that is not keys to NY City, franchise player, superstar good. Fact is, he is a complimentary player, that should be a # 5 hitter, and is relatively expendable, whether you want to admit it or not. Yet, it is blasphemy to take his name in vein, or dare I say talk about trading him. This is my beef with Wright. It’s not even so much the player himself, but the praise he has been given, does not match his on-field achievements.
trs86
7/29/2010-1:23am at 1:23 am (UTC -4)
Wow well that’s something right now.
I am not sure why I am reading this much less at 1:20 AM. LOL.
Mr North Jersey
7/29/2010-2:29am at 2:29 am (UTC -4)
We get it, you think Wright is overrated.
Now that you got that off your chest we can move on.
How about them Buffalo Mets?
Ike Davis
Ruben Tejada
Josh Thole
R.A. Dickey
Bobby Parnell
Manny Acosta
Chris Carter
Jesus Feliciano
And now Mike Hessman
GravediggerHebner
7/29/2010-11:03am at 11:03 am (UTC -4)
I hear whata you’re saying (tee hee) but I hope you’re making those comments about Wright’s status just as general comments and not at me.
I am the person who took a lot of grief earlier this season for referring to Wright as “very good but not great.” I have never anointed him anything except one thing that is factually correct and you can choose to take this factually correct statement in any direction you wish
-David Wright is one of the very best hitters my favorite team has ever developed in it’s history.-
Whether that means he stacks up with Ted Williams or Babe Ruth, or more recently Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols, is not terribly relevant to me. I am a Met fan. I have been since the mid-70′s. Wright and Darryl Strawberry are basically the best offensive players I’ve ever seen come through my team’s system. And because of that he has a special place in my fandom.
If he doesn’t in yours then we disagree and my personal feeling about that is it’s sad that you spend so much time and energy hating the perceived image of one of the best players your favorite team has ever produced in it’s existence.
If he’s not good enough for you I hope you live a long and healthy life because it’s gonna be a while before the Mets produce someone that pleases you.
metsfan4decades
7/29/2010-12:04am at 12:04 am (UTC -4)
Oh and another point I forgot to mention – for the record Bobby O agrees with me….
Why in the hell does Jerry have Johan walk that 8th batter (Ryan?) in the 1st who is hitting .190? I don’t care that the pitcher was coming up next. Pitch to both of them, get both out.
Anyone who frequents the Dugout on a regular basis knows I hate the intentional walk except in very limited situations and sorry…..this was not one of them. Dumb Dumb move.
fongy2
7/29/2010-3:58am at 3:58 am (UTC -4)
I’m glad to see most of ya’ll not blaming this loss on Jerry.
ESPN’s duo of O’brien and Sutcliffe
dumped all over him AFTER the loss.
Strange, since BEFORE Pujols got the winning hit, they agreed that pitching to him was the right move.
I’m no great Jerry fan or supporter
BUT can the FO at least provide him
enough players in quantity if not
quality to give him a better chance
in a game like last nights???
Last word I hear on JBay was that the
Mets were gonna monitor him for another 48to73 hrs before making a
DL move or not. That would bring it to a week he’ll have been out.
Why not just DL him???… And if he’s fine in a few days, send him to St.Lucie, let him play in a simulated
game or two, get some extra work in
the cage and just rest in general???
It’s not like missing him in the lin-up might have any great negative effect! It seems almost unbelievable
that we’re not sure to enter August
with Bay having been healthy almost the entire first two-thirds of
the season and sitting on 6hr-47rbi.
w/ a .259ba..AND 91k in 348ab……
There has been no bigger disapointment to this Met season AND
no one person in the organization
has done less to earn his money….
including Omar!
That said I still believe!!!……
We ain’t dead yet!!!…Although if
the Phils do get Oswalt and NOT have
give up Werth which I’ve seen reported as late as 2am, we’ll be
close to dead. Also, here’s hoping Omar can…And will counter by gettin’ us Myers and Gregg……
And maybe a Kearns type bat off
the bench w/o having to give up
all that much….So that this team
which for the most part, really,
really has shown alot of guts can
make one more run at this WC!!!
fongy2
7/29/2010-4:02am at 4:02 am (UTC -4)
73 hrs???…Wow!..I of course
meant 72 hrs!…The pain killers i’m taking b/c of
a mouth operation I had wednesday morn are really
kickin’my ass!
…But hey!, at least no pain!
fongy2
7/29/2010-4:08am at 4:08 am (UTC -4)
WOW!… It looks like The Phils are getting Oswalt AND the package in return isn’t outrageous!……….
…..Well, we may indeed be dead now!
steveo
7/29/2010-4:55am at 4:55 am (UTC -4)
Can’t deny they want to win and win now .That’s the way you do it when you have all the pieces in place you add smart and go for it. To bad omar doesn’t get it, he had that chance a few years ago but slowly let it slip away.compile an ozwalt addition to a 7 game winning streak and their on fire.