(Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) via ESPN.com
See what I did there?
The Mets fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 5-4 tonight, in a very Metsian fashion, here is your totally awesome recap.
This game started off looking like another one of those nights, as Dillon Gee wasted no time allowing a second inning two-run home run to Cody Ransom, putting Arizona up 2-0. In the third however, the Mets would score four runs on a Scott Hairston double, and Ike Davis RBI-ground-out, and a base-hit for Andres Torres, who seems to be settling in quite nicely.
After that, the game went into a bit of a lull. Gee would pitch through the sixth inning, striking out six while walking three, not allowing another run.
In the 7th, Captain Fastball himself Bobby Parnell came into the game, and got a smooth 1-2-3 inning. Read more on him below, he is really starting to grasp how to be a pitcher and not a thrower. If he is able to do that, there is no good reason that he can’t be a good closer for this team.
In the 8th however, the Mets would encounter some trouble. with first and second with no one out, Tim Byrdak faced Miguel Montero. Some gutsy pitch calling and execution (two high fastballs in a row), would help them get that elusive first out, and Terry would go to Jon Rauch. On the first pitch Paul effing Goldschmidt (insert pun on his name here) would hit one into the gap to tie the game.
It wouldn’t end there, as of course with the Mets bullpen it has to be in sucktastic fashion. A Cody Ransom RBI single and the D-Backs had regained their lead. The bottom of the inning wouldn’t go without note, as the Mets would get first and third with two outs, and Thole would rip one to left-center that would hang up juuust long enough for Jason Kubel to catch it.
Does anyone else want to rip their hair out watching JJ Putz pitch? No? Just me? Don’t judge…
If Dillon Gee is going to make it as an MLB pitcher, he is going to have to keep striking out batter like has a the last few games, especially if he is going to pitch for a team like the Mets that is sub-par defensively. Dillon did a good job of mixing his pitches tonight, as his 4-seamer was his fourth most used pitch, after the two-seamer, the curve, and the change. Kudos to you Dillon.
Andres Torres seems to be settling into his role, and running with it. a very good 3-4 and a near home run is quite the night for our center fielder.
Not feeling particularly witty, but hey look on the bright side! Miguel Batista is in our starting rotation! Stop throwing things at me! Ow!
The Mets will try to snap this losing streak tomorrow as Johan Santana takes on Patrick Corbin at 4:05.
13 comments
Mr North Jersey
5/4/2012-11:31pm at 11:31 pm (UTC -4)
Bad loss tonight. Gee pitched good giving up just that 2 run HR and deserved a win for his efforts. The blame falls on Rauch tonight he had to get the job done and didn’t. that is now 2 appearances he failed to get the job done this season. I have liked his body of work overall as a Met but his last 2 appearances have been disappointing. I don’t know what more I can say about Ike that I haven’t said already. Need you to get going Ike your leaving a ton of men on base.
Positives for me are Gee and his pitching effort and Torres with his 3 for 4 1/RBI effort.
Need a win 2morrow to get back above .500. Santana on the hill.
LGM!!!
Stickguy
5/4/2012-11:58pm at 11:58 pm (UTC -4)
this one hurt. Just can’t lose games like this. really disheartening.
and IMO Ike needs to go down to sort out his crap down in AAA, where it can’t keep killing the team. This just ain’t working out.
and getting to be time to try some fresh blood in the pen.
Oh, and terry needs to stop overmanaging. Just leave parnell in after the 1st batter, if he was cruising in the 7th, and got a GB to start the 8th. Especially when your pen only has 1 lefty!
NJstuckinTX
5/5/2012-8:23am at 8:23 am (UTC -4)
When Ike swung horribly at that pitch that actually hit him, both my wife and myself said at the same time “you have to be kidding me”. Ike is lost and needs a rest in the minors for a week or so.
Just frustrating, because all those we hoped would be stepping up aren’t. Ike, Murph, Duda…
gategem
5/5/2012-12:03am at 12:03 am (UTC -4)
Thank you for the recap Spencer as I only was able to catch bits and pieces of the game. Unfortunately, I was able to see Ike’s error and the hits that tied and won the game. SNY displayed some stats showing the Mets bullpens performance and it wasn’t pretty. It’s hard to judge if the bullpen is overused or just regressing to their expected value since the track record of most of them is not all that encouraging. I think the answer is a combination of both and it’s only the beginning of May. If they’re tired now what happens in the dog days of August?
Stickguy
5/5/2012-12:12am at 12:12 am (UTC -4)
basically, replace as many parts as possible with the guys that are really getting the job done in the minors. Not much else they can do (though SP going deeper, and the offense actually scoring on occasion would certainly help)
Stickguy
5/5/2012-12:14am at 12:14 am (UTC -4)
after seeing how well Hefner pitched tonight (something like 2 hits and 1 walk, no runs, in 7 innings), seeing batista take the mound tuesday is really going to tick me off. It really better only be 1 start and he is gone (though I would be perfectly happy to skip the 1 start part of that equation.)
kingman 26
5/5/2012-2:12am at 2:12 am (UTC -4)
Well, unfortunately the team is beginning to look precisely like what some of us predicted–weak offense with no punch, terrible defense, terrible bullpen, and good enough starting pitching to maybe make a fight for .500.
4 days into the easy schedule month and we are 0-4.
It really was very easy to see this in the offseason. One rotation member goes down and we have nothing remotely close to any depth.
And regardless of what some say, having a really good team BA and OBP don’t mean much when you cannot score runs. Similar to last year, but worse, and aggravated by the glacial team speed.
I still support what it seems like the organization is trying to do, but if Niese and Dickey don’t pitch well most of the time, this could get ugly very fast.
srt
5/5/2012-8:46am at 8:46 am (UTC -4)
Hovering around. 500 is the best most predicted. So I guess what we’re seeing is what we’re getting.
Thing is, the reasons are a bit off. Offense was supposed to score runs but is not. Ike, Duda, Bay were producing next to nothing for most of April.
SP was for the most part, better than advertised. BP is far worse lately. Defense has been shaky.
With Pelf out, it’s probably going to be worse this month. If SP can’t make it until the 7th, BP is not likely to improve. And something needs to be done about Ike.
kingman 26
5/5/2012-12:22pm at 12:22 pm (UTC -4)
Nah; sorry to blow my own horn here, but this is, to me, precisely what the team appeared to be.
Good starting pitching with zero depth, terrible defense and no team speed, a bad bullpen and an offense that would be a watered down version of last year’s decent offense.
People like Ceetar predicted 30/100 from Duda and Ike, which was ridiculous, and last year’s decent offense lost Reyes and Beltran and did not replace them. They replaced KRod and Izzy with Francisco and Rauch. As I said all winter, it was a fantasy to think all of this was not a big step down. Still, if the starters stay healthy–and if we lose one more, it’s time to forget anything near 81 wins–the team can be .500.
Even with Wright hitting and getting on base every other at bat, the rest of the offense is devoid of even one really good player. Let’s hope Kirk is for real, because otherwise, this offense really bites.
Murph, even if he does hit .300, has zero power, zero speed, and is an atrocious fielder. Bay’s been done for two years, Tejada is a decent singles hitter, Thole’s a .280 hitter with zero power, and who knows about Ike.
But still, I look to the future, and with Johan, DIckey, Niese, Gee, Wheeler, Harvey, Mejia, Familia, etc., there is a chance of an excellent pitching foundation.
But Sandy must do something about the pen and the offense.
SaltyGary
5/5/2012-9:13am at 9:13 am (UTC -4)
Here was the set list from last night:
Ruben Tejada: “Intergalactic”
Daniel Murphy: “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
David Wright: “Brass Monkey”
Lucas Duda: “The New Style”
Scott Hairston: “Root Down”
Ike Davis: “Fight For Your Right (To Party)”
Andres Torres: “So What’cha Want”
Josh Thole: “Make Some Noise”
Dillon Gee: “Body Movin’”
NJstuckinTX
5/5/2012-9:24am at 9:24 am (UTC -4)
MCA passing has actually hit me kind of hard. It is odd as I normally am numb to celebrities doing anything but this one kind of put things into perspective. I was happy that they did that tribute.
My fav album by the Beasties is Check Your Head.
Stickguy
5/5/2012-11:03am at 11:03 am (UTC -4)
I had absolutely no idea who MCA was until someone mentioned the beastie boys. Then again, I never could stand listening to them, so that makes sense.
still a bummer for anyone to die that young.
kingman 26
5/5/2012-12:13pm at 12:13 pm (UTC -4)
Absolutely love Check Your Head; great, great album, and his passing hit me too. 3 Jewish kids from NYC become huge punk/hip hop/rap stars.
And the coolest part is, not only were they charitable, but they worked their asses off to become SO much better musically. Saw them twice in the Check Your Head time period. Really just an amazingly diverse and interesting group.
One of the most unique bands of the modern rock/grunge/rap era.
RIP Adam Yauch.