Phew. And I mean that. You have no idea how relieved I am to be talking about a Mets win but don’t worry doomsday fans, I have some negative Nancy stuff too but worry not optimists, nothing too much like the last few days.
– First things first and much kudos and respect goes to Mike Pelfrey. 7 innings, 6 K’s, and 0 walks. Ok, so he had one balk*, but to his credit he didn’t lose his marbles and kept his cool. Let’s be honest, the Mets needed this like the Houston Astros needed a win.** Maybe this is what the Mets needed to get to start things going and get a winning streak started.
*= Here’s a guy that led the league last year with 6 and threw 3 in one game. But this time the balk wasn’t his fault, Melvin Mora called time and the umpire didn’t grant time and Pelf stopped in mid pitching motion. He saw a sports psychologist in the offseason to fix whatever was ailing him and for two starts it seems as though its paying off. Remember a few nights ago that someone called in and asked if the Mets need to see a sports psychologist? Well I think that answers that doesn’t it? LET THE HEALING BEGIN!
**= I had a few dirty analogies but I figured I’d stay away from them. Who knows if the kids are reading this?
– The Mets made Pelfrey add a pitch to his repertoire and I know I’ve been saying over the last few days about going away from the strength of the pitcher. But Pelfrey mixed in the split finger effectively. Its becoming an out pitch instead of solely relying on the sinker. The sinker I suppose is a very useful pitch in the air with the humidor effect as Rockies hitters were getting good slices on the ball later on, but the hits either hung up there or just died at the warning track. It seemed as though that luck that had eluded the Mets were repaying them back.
– The last two nights the Mets have been terrorized by really athletic Rockies pitchers who flashed some power. Well today Mike Pelfrey did it all even getting a hit and drawing a walk. Not only that, Pelfrey scored a run* and drove in a run which of course always helps. I suppose it was all in the cards for him today.
*= Last night Aaron Cook took advantage of Mike Jacobs’ mental error and scored a run as Jacobs forgot to check him at 3rd. So it was nice to see some shoddy defense by the Rockies which benefited the Mets. Its about time some bad stuff happened to another team. Geez!
– Don’t mean to be a negative nancy but during the 3rd inning after Pelfrey scored to make it 2-0, David Wright came up to bat with Jose Reyes on 2nd and Luis Castillo on 1st and no outs. Well, you’d think that Wright drew a walk or grounded into a double play right? No. Would you believe that Wright somehow made 3 outs?* Well, not exactly but let me explain. Its not quite sure what happened but based on the field it looked like Reyes faked the steal and Castillo jumped thinking he was stealing and tried to go double steal which is a great idea given both of their speed. Unfortunately Reyes wasn’t going and just stood there as Castillo got caught in a run down. That is one out. The second out came when Reyes tried to steal 3rd and got caught**. Which of course makes two outs and Wright struck out three pitches later. Yes. Somehow Wright put a cap on that rally with a punch out. ***
*= I know I’m tough on him but come on. COME ON! He’s the franchise, if he doesn’t like it, too bad.
**= Its clear Reyes still isn’t at full speed and while the Mets like to see him run and try to steal a base its clear he isn’t going all out and i’m noticing the drastic reduction in his speed which is troubling. Its not like he’ll lose it completely but as he gets older, it only gets worse.
***= No, I refuse to be nice. I hate watching Wright in situations like this because I feel bad looking at him struggling through it. Its as if he is hearing the entire Met fan base screaming at him to come through and him worrying about letting them down. He plays so tight in these situations and it s sad and frustrating all at the same time to see it happen.
– It was the Rockies B-team with Melvin Mora playing 2nd and Giambi playing 1st but a win is a win and I’ll take it.
– The best thing about today’s game was how patient the Mets were. Once again, they didn’t let a guy who clearly didn’t come out with his A stuff to beat them. They were patient at the plate, especially David Wright who’s OBP right now is somewhere in the ridiculous .500 range. He’s still striking out a lot but he comes up and makes sure to see a lot of pitches. That plays well because if most of the line up is starting to be patient then the Mets can get quicker to the bullpen and take their chances with them in a close game. The Mets have been using that approach this season and its helped a lot. The best thing about this is that its been happening all season for the Mets, not just today so its a habit that’s sinking in and more often than not the Mets will be successful.
– You’re not going to believe me if I told you but Fernando Nieve, Hisanori Takahashi and Ryota Igarashi never stepped foot into the game. That’s right. It was Pelf for 7 shutout 5 hit innings and then Pedro Feliciano with a scoreless 8th and then K-Rod for a solid ninth. Yes sir, if the season continues to go like this the Mets will be fine.
– The Mets desperately needed this victory for morality more-so than anything else. You can talk about this being the beginning of the season but playing here, in NYC, its a completely different ball game and to be honest those who aren’t from here will never understand it. The season is young but the seat that Jerry Manuel is sitting on didn’t get that much cooler with today’s victory. His job is on the line this early in the season and obviously if the team doesn’t produce the Mets will end up replacing him and while I don’t completely agree with it, I think that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. His job, GM Omar Minaya’s job is also on the brink of being lost had the Mets lost this game which would’ve made it 5 straight. But this victory cemented in the Mets heads that they do have some semblance of pitching and can beat good teams. Good teams battle adversity and live long enough to tell about it. Again, last year who knows how this game would’v ended, but it seems as if the team unity and all the bonding that guys did and having a better, more lively clubhouse has something to do with it. I like this group because they seem to like each other genuinely and support each other the same way. Can’t wait to see how this victory helps Pelfrey gain some confidence and also for the Mets.
– Tomorrow’s game will be the first regular season on WB 11 so make sure you get tuned in for that. While there was some debate over whether to put Johan Santana tomorrow night the Mets instead decided to stick to script and have Santana pitching the national game on FOX on Saturday. It doesn’t get any easier for the Mets as they are slotted to face both Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright this weekend which always is interesting. The Mets need this momentum to keep going.
SEASON: 3-6
MY PREDICTION: 5-4
acebook
witter
The Lazy Eye of Sports 