Category: Game Results

Mets Ten Game Streak Is Dead, Hope Lives On

The Mets ten game winning streak came to an end in Cincinnati last night at the hands of Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo. He threw a terrific eight innings giving up only two runs. The four hits he gave up were all the Mets could muster after Reds closer Francisco Cordero, last night’s losing pitcher, came in to shut the door in the ninth. That happens sometimes. A hot starting pitcher can be a buzz saw for a team, and Arroyo sure was- leading the Reds to a 5-2 victory.

The bigger question is John Maine. After his dazzling spring training, he hasn’t lived up to the hype during the regular season. I expected him to have a break out year but it’s been anything but that. His start last night was a microcosm of his season. He had way too many pitches, 102 through 4.2 innings. That’s no way to pitch successfully. The killer was that he walked five. The Mets bullpen didn’t help either walking four more Reds for a season-high-tying nine walks.

Carlos Beltran had a nice game going 2 for 4 with a double and a triple but he didn’t get much help from his teammates.

We knew the streak would end sometime. But I really hoped the 2008 version of the Mets would at least tie the team record 11 game streak of the 1969 version of the Mets. After such a gloomy start to this season, it would’ve been a nice feat for this team to hang their hat on. It wasn’t meant to be and that’s okay because the season has turned around so dramatically over the last month. Hope lives on.

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Mets Streak To 10 With Win Over Reds 10-8

It wasn’t pretty but the Mets got a win, mostly due to some late inning heroics by David Wright & Co. They needed some late inning help because Johan Santana didn’t give them any help early in the game. He only pitched four innings and gave up five runs. Cincinnati is a tough park to pitch in, but he needs to do better than that. Call me a Santana apologist but it had been eight days since he pitched in a game. The Mets should have tried to work him into a relief outing before the All-Star break. Hindsight is 20/20.

The Mets kept coming from behind to tie and take the lead in this one. That’s a great sign about this team! It’s still hard to believe that this is the same team that played the first couple months of the season.

Carlos Delgado, Fernando Tatis, and Wright all had huge home runs. Especially Wright with a two run job to tie the game in the ninth off Cincy closer Francisco Cordero. Then the hits kept coming in the ninth inning.

That’s a great way to win a game for the Mets. They would certainly like to see more from Santana and the bullpen seemed to backslide. But they’ve been so good leading up to the break it would be impossible to maintain the same level of performance. So having the offense take the load in this game was fantastic. Winning streak goes to ten games, the longest since 1991.

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Mets Sweep Rockies With 7-0 Win

The Mets won their ninth game in a row tonight, the longest winning streak in eight years as they head into the All-Star break. Mike Pelfrey was dominant again, going eight shutout innings and getting a curtain call by the Shea crowd. He gave up six hits and no walks along with five strikeouts.

Carlos Beltran got the party started with a three run homer in the first inning. He finished the game going 3 for 4. Carlos Delgado hit a monster shot off the scoreboard that was estimated at over 500 feet.

But the story of the night was Pelfrey continuing his run of complete domination and five wins in his last five starts. Incredible.

The Mets don’t gain any ground on the Phillies today but go into the break as baseball’s hottest team and only a half game out of the NL East lead.

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Great Eight- Mets Over Rockies Again 3-0

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The Mets are on fire! They won their eighth in a row today behind astounding three hit pitching by five pitchers. Pedro Martinez started the game but left after four innings giving up only one hit due to injury. There’s some confusion about exactly what the nature of the injury is. Some reports state the he left because of a stiff shoulder, which appeared to be the case by his attempts to loosen the shoulder on the mound. Manager Jerry Manuel said that Pedro suffered a groin/hip strain running the bases in a prior start. I’m sure we’ll hear more in coming days, but the injury doesn’t appear to be serious.

The offense came from Fernando Tatis (again) with an RBI single in the fourth inning scoring Carlos Beltran. Beltran doubled, stole third, then scored on Tatis’ single. Tatis is constantly in the thick of the Mets scoring innings.

Jose Reyes hit a solo homer in the fifth off the scoreboard in right-center. Brian Schneider hit an RBI double in the sixth to score Carlos Delgado.

The Mets move to .5 game behind the Phillies after the D-Backs beat the Phils 10-4. The Mets could take over first place by the end of the day tomorrow.

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Easley’s HR Lifts Mets Over Rockies 2-1

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Damion Easley’s eighth inning solo home run extended the Mets winning streak to seven games. That’s the longest streak for the franchise in nearly two years.

Oliver Perez only allowed one run over six innings but he did yield six walks. The only run he allowed was a solo homer by Brad Hawpe in the top of the fifth inning. His velocity was consistently in the mid-90’s. He’s responded so well to new pitching coach Dan Warthen.

Once again, the bullpen got through the final three innings without allowing a run. Generally speaking, the pitching staff has been sensational since Dan Warthen took over the coaching duties. Four relievers combined on the final three innings.

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Surging Mets Complete Sweep of Giants 7-3

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The Mets win their sixth game in a row to complete the three game sweep of the San Francisco Giants.  John Maine wasn’t very sharp today lasting only 4.2 innings. He only gave up two hits but walked five and gave up two runs.

Fernando Tatis was on fire today going 3 for 4 with a huge two run homer to break a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning. He also had a double in the fifth inning. Jerry Manuel’s practice of playing the hot hitter paid off again.

The bullpen success was big today. The final 4.1 innings were worked without allowing a run by Carlos Muniz, Scott Schoenweiss, Duaner Sanchez, and Billy Wagner.

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