A little weekday baseball from Shea today. Staple here, manning the blog, Baumbach and co. at the yard, you there, hopefully pretending to work while keeping up to date and commenting like crazy.
Mike Pelfrey (2-3, 4.86) goes for the Mets today, and he needs to turn around the 0-3 record over his last four starts. Jason Bergmann (0-1, 11.68) was called up after last night's Nats win to start today for the visitors, and he's spent a month in Columbus after a couple of early-season uglies.
Luis Castillo returns to the lineup today for the Mets. Not exactly a must-win, really, but losing three of four to the Nats before heading to the Bronx? Oof.
Live blog to get rolling in a few...
Top 1: Three flyouts, with one excellent sliding catch by Carlos Beltran on Cristian Guzman's shallow fly. Good job by Pelfrey. With an 'f". 0-0, middle of 1.
Bottom 1: Castillo seems to be feeling OK, beating out a bunt single. But David Wright and Beltran pop out, stranding Castillo. 0-0, end of 1.
Top 2: Six up, six down for Pelfrey, including a three-pitch K of Aaron Boone. Kid looks sharp. Must be the absence of the mouthpiece. 0-0, middle of 2.
Bottom 2: Leadoff walk to Ryan Church leads to nothing -- Delgado whiffs rather weakly, then a couple fly outs. Bergmann hanging in. 0-0, end of 2.
Top 3: Couple of walks by the walk-prone Pelfrey, but he gets out of it on a bounced to Delgado by Guzman. Pelfrey needs good command to get deep into this one, obviously. 0-0, middle of 3.
Bottom 3: Good effort by Kearns to get the Mets on the board, but he can only misplay so many balls. You can say Castillo needs to be hustling there with two outs, but it just doesn't happen that often, so no gift run for the home side. 0-0, end of 3.
Top 4: Pelfrey still cruising, with Beltran tracking down Zimmerman's long drive to center the only threat so far. 0-0, middle of 4.
Bottom 4: What a snoozer this is... Not a ton of hustle on either side, some sloppiness and a grand total of two hits, a bunt single and a bloop single, both by Castillo. Yawn! We'll see if Pelfrey can keep the no-no going. 0-0, end of 4.
Top 5: Still no hits for the Nats. Pelfrey walks Jesus Flores again, but Bergmann is an easy two-out mark. Three walks and just 71 pitches for Pelfrey through 5. We'll see how long he can take this, and whether his teammates can actually provide a lead. 0-0, middle of 5.
Bottom 5: Mets still can't make a dent in Bergmann, despite Marlon Anderson's leadoff single. Castillo walked, but David Wright still can't figure out righthanders and pops to shallow left. Also, Jose Reyes whiffs and is now 0 for 12. Blech. 0-0, end of 5.
Top 6: Pelfrey continues, no hits through 6. Just 79 pitches too, with a fourth K, striking out Zimmerman to end the inning. Kid is looking sharp, and he's about the only one. 0-0, middle of 6.
Bottom 6: Alou is sitting today, but maybe it should've been Delgado... Another hideous AB from Delgado, who waves at Bergmann's curve to end a 1-2-3 inning. Pelfrey takes the no-hitter into the seventh, and Bergmann, who had an 11.68 ERA to start today, has been just as good. Howie Rose, in an SNY cameo, says today is Game No. 7,359 in Mets history. Just so you know. 0-0, end of 6.
Top 7: There goes the no-no, courtesy of Aaron Boone, a sharp single to right leading off the inning. But Pelfrey marches on, gets some help from Ramon Castro throwing out Boone on a steal attempt, and now it's a 1-hitter and still scoreless. 0-0, middle of 7.
Bottom 7: With Pelfrey's no-hitter done, Bergmann is officially pitching the better game. Just struck out the side in the seventh, giving him nine Ks on a better lineup. Pelfrey goes out for the eighth, but now a couple mistakes will not only cost him his great outing, but put the Mets in a hole. 0-0, end of 7.
Top 8: That's all for Pelfrey, and the scoreless game. Flores doubles to lead off the inning, moves to third on a sac bunt and scores on a sac fly. Great day for Pelfrey, but now we'll see if the Nats' bullpen can hang onto a 1-run lead. 1-0 Nats, middle of 8.
Bottom 8: That was... Ick. Reyes breaks his little slide with a 25-foot single, but ruins it by trying to take third on Castillo's sac bunt. Nice play by Mackowiak and Guzman, who makes the moving tag on Reyes; but still, you think Reyes might be able to score from second on a hit? Wright then pops to first, inning over. 1-0, end of 8.
Top 9: Matt Wise escapes trouble thanks to his deceptively slow pitches and his leg, which stopped Kearns' liner and kept a run from scoring. Still down one as Jon Rauch enters to save it for the Nats. 1-0, middle of 9.
Bottom 9: Well, uh... Wow. Mets should really have won this one, even after snoozing for eight innings. Willie Harris makes the diving catch of the year on Church's short fly to left -- if Harris can't get a glove on that, it's tied and Church is on third -- then, with Beltran on third and one out, Delgado lines to first and Boone starts a 3-5 DP to end it. 1-0 loss, despite Pelfrey's great outing. Mets head into the Subway Series at 20-19, losing 3 of 4 to the Nats. Carry on.
Comments (10)
fire willie
Time to designate Delgado for assignment. He may hit a homer once in awhile but the bottom line is that he's done.
Absolutely Horrendous....Fire Willie
I've never felt so shamed to wear the Orange and Blue.
The Softball Girls Strike Back!
WE SUCK
these types of losses happen to bad teams. plenty of season to turn it around, but they definitley need a change at the top. having two guys thrown out at third on rediculous plays doesnt bode well for the guy in charge. this feels very similar to last september doesnt it?
...and what about the lack of hustle by Castillo and Wright when the right fielder dropped the ball...no freakin excuse for that in the world...I don't care if the guy catches the ball 999 times out of 1,000...you hustle...you are being paid lots of money...and then the broadcasters (Hernandez did a little bit of finger pointing) don't make a big deal about it....it cost the team a run in a game they lost 1-0....
Reyes...well he was trying to do something...I really could conceivably give him the benefit of the doubt...but Beltran...on that play, you have to make sure the ball is through....even if it is short hopped, he is out at the plate......I have no idea what he was thinking.
But it all stems from the laid back attitude of the manager...the manager is simply out of his ballpark...he doesn't know how to handle the pitching staff (see last night) and his players doon't hustle for him.
Fire Willie....NOW
This team is a disaster. Not fun to watch and at times, downright frustrating. This team, for most of last year and now 1 1/2 months into the season, continually plays down to the level of its opponent. No fire, no hustle and brainless baseball play. Yeah we can all bitch about Heilman but how about this team's incredible lack of clutch run production! They make crap like Tim Redding, Jason Bergmann and plenty of other scrap heap hurlers look like Koufax. That's just incredibly poor scouting, preparation skills and focus. I said this the other day and I firmly believe it. I am not big on changes but it's time for Willie and every single coach to go. I am tired of accepting mediocrity. Yeah, the Nationals were cheering like schoolgirls during Monday's game. A real team would've made them pay for the embarasment. This team rolled over like a puppy afraid of its owner. Time for changes.
MetsFanInNC: Agree. Goodbye, Willie. Hello, Rudy.J.