Forget the fact that this is the Mets ninth consecutive victory at home, their second consecutive winning streak of such a kind. Let’s forget that instant replay was used properly in baseball for a second. Let’s focus on the fact that a day after the Mets drafted in the top 10 for the second time in the last 5 years, two of their better draft decisions came through for them in the clutch.
– As always the pitching is at the forefront: Mike Pelfrey, not the future ace but the ace right now, went 9 innings giving up 5 hits letting up one earned run striking out 6, and walking none on 103 pitches (78 for strikes- 76%). This was about as well as I’ve seen Big Pelf perform all year. He went into the ninth with a very low pitch count and there were doubts in my head as to whether Jerry Manuel was going to butcher this decision but alls well when Pelf ends it. Going into the ninth he let up a double, and usually Jerry shoots out of the dug out like someone pressed a button and is motioning to the bullpen half way there but this time he came to the mound and he allowed Pelf to stay in, basically going Anti-Maine. Pelfrey pitched through the inning and struck out Nick Hundley, and then got Will Venable to hit a weak grounder to Pelfrey who fittingly finished it by himself. Unfortunately for the Mets they were countered by one of San Diego’s best starters Clayton Richard, who in his last start went 6 innings against the Mets and gave up only one earned which he did tis time around too, only he went 7 innings giving up just that one earned run on a disputed Jose Reyes home run.
The maturation of Pelfrey has been the main story this season and has been source of much discussion among New York baseball fans. While the Mets have Pelfrey, the Yankees have had Phil Hughes who is settling nicely into his role on the team as the fifth starter. But Pelfrey to his credit has squared off against many aces and out dueled them, with that one bad outing in Philadelphia against Roy Halladay being the exception. Since that start, here’s been his composite numbers for an average start:
7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K’s. Let’s not even forget that prior to that one start in Philadelphia in which he allowed a season high 6 earned, he had a streak of consecutive scoreless innings that was mounting up pretty high. Taking that start in Philadelphia out of his record, and his ERA stands at 1.65. We won’t even get into what Johan Santana’s ERA would be had he not had that one inning in Philadelphia as well.
A critical point in this game had to do with something I related back to Philadelphia for. In Philly, it was Met errors that got Pelfrey to go back to old Pelf and let his emotions get hte best of him and lose his concentration like he did much of the last few years. But even in that start he had good enough stuff to get out of the inning but was hamstrung by bad defense in that game. Scott Hairston got on base because of a bad throw by David Wright and he hustled to second and slid in safely because Jose Reyes couldn’t handle a one hop throw by Ruben Tejada. So understandably Jerry came out but I had no doubt it was to see where Pelf was emotionally. Right then and there was a turning point as Pelf was able to put that error behind him and get the final two guys out to end his outing. Not shabby for a first round pick, picked ninth overall from Wichita State.
– Speaking of home grown stars, let’s talk about the two runs scored on home runs by Jose Reyes who had to have video replay to get the correct call and Ike Davis’ mammoth no doubter of a walk off. The theme here is building through the draft and reading much of the early analysis from these games, its become patently clear that the new age of thinking among GM’s of even big market teams is to steer clear of 30 something free agents who can inject drugs into their bodies and play for another few years. No, baseball is moving away from that era and is constantly looking to stay younger and fresher and trying to keep younger stars on the home front. Think about Evan Longoria getting locked in to 7 years by Tampa only days after he made his big league debut. A huge leap of faith that could still bite them in the butt but a risk worth taking considering the numbers he’s putting up. Also, let’s not forget the Johan Santana trade in which Yankee GM Brian Cashman famously decided NOT to trade Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain to get the Minnesota ace, something they would’ve done years earlier. Its working out for both teams (on the most part-if only the Mets scored runs for their aces). So on this night, their first following the draft, the Mets behind their home grown stars showed return on the drafting of really good home grown stars can look like.
– Reyes’ home run wasn’t something to be disputed but it does bring up some stadium oddities that need to be addressed in the near future. The orange rubber that runs along the top of the wall is the home run marker. If the ball hits it, and runs back into the field of play in the corner, I’m told its a home run yet I saw in one particular instance that it wasn’t. Unfortunately I can’t off the top of my head remember when but I can tell you it was against the Yankees and the ball definitely hit the marker and fell back in and it was ruled a double yet the broadcasters were repeatedly saying during replays that stadium rules say that if it hits the marker its a home run yet it was never reviewed or anything. The other one are the low foul poles which in the Rod Barajas walk off game against the Giants, Ike Davis hit a long enough deep enough shot, but since it was over the foul pole it was a judgement call and it was ruled a foul ball. Its hard enough hitting home runs here, but making it even tougher with these vague calls aren’t helping Mets FO, let’s get these problems addressed in time for next season.
– I don’t just like Ike, I love Ike. I’ve said it time and time again and perhaps the comparison to John Olerud is spot on. Only he has much more power than Olerud. When Ike makes contact with a ball like he did on that hanging change up, its lights out, game over even with his one hand swing. He has enough power to muscle it over the wall even in Citi which makes you wonder what kind of damage he could do playing 81 in Citizens Bank. The best stat I’ve heard is that he hasn’t gone more than two days without a hit which tells you that he can make adjustments on the fly and he can correct whatever mechanical flaw he has on his swing which seems about as pure and sweet and the follow through is impeccable. He said it was his first walk off, ever. Well, I’m loving it and I hope that he has many more.
– So, MLB decided against bringing up any mess over Ollie Perez’ fishy medical report. He must have frustrated Major League Baseball’s Commissioner’s office as well.
– Thank you Ike for not pulling a Kendry Morales on us. Not trying to poke fun of such a horrific and unfortunate situation but just be careful.
In case you were wondering:
METS RECORD: 31-27
MY PREDICTION: 34-24
Mets go for their 10 straight win at home with Johan Santana vs. Matt Latos.
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