Image by Getty Images via DaylifeThe Philadelphia Phillies announced today that relief pitcher Tom Gordon was going on the 15-day disabled list with elbow inflammation in his throwing arm. He’s been pitching this season with a partially torn rotator cuff, but apparently the elbow injury has become too much for him to pitch in back to back games.
Read the full story at Philly.com.
Not only was this a 12 inning game but there was a three hour rain delay in the eighth inning with the Mets leading 2-0 and the Phillies with a man on base.
Oliver Perez had his second consecutive excellent start. I have to think that the work that pitching coach Dan Warthen is doing with him is working. Perez has commented publicly that he felt like he was being forced to be a different pitcher under Rick Peterson. Warthen has said that there isn’t any one philosophy that’s right for every pitcher. Each one has to find what works for them. Apparently, Perez has found it. Perez went seven innings giving up no runs. He did give up four hits and two walks but was able to work out of situations with men on base.
Carlos Beltran was one of the offensive stars hitting a solo homer in the third inning to right field. In the ninth inning his RBI single scored Jose Reyes to make it 2-0 after the lengthy rain delay.
Billy Wagner came in for the save in the ninth. Shane Victorino singled and Jayson Werth homered with two strikes and two outs for Wagner’s sixth blown save of the season. After playing nine innings and waiting out the rain for hours, the Mets and Phillies went to extra innings.
The extra inning hero was Fernando Tatis hitting a two run homer with Carlos Delgado on to take a 4-2 lead. Joe Smith shut down the Phillies in the bottom of the 12th for the win. The Mets take the third game of the four game series to go up 2-1 in this critical division rival series.
In the field, Jose Reyes also had two great plays in the field ranging to his left. Marlon Anderson missed an easy fly ball to left that he should have caught. Carlos Delgado couldn’t get the ball out of his glove on a pickoff throw from Perez that caught Werth stealing.
Image via WikipediaThe second place Milwaukee Brewers decided to go for it this season. Major news outlets are reporting that they’ve completed a trade with the Cleveland Indians for C.C. Sabathia. He’s considered the best pitcher available for a trade prior to the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline. Look out Chicago Cubs, the Brew Crew is making a run.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays were also considered contenders for Sabathia until recent days.
The Indians will receive Double-A Huntsville prospect Matt LaPorta plus other players. LaPorta is a masher, hitting .288 with 20 HR and 66 RBI’s in 84 games.
Sabathia turned down Cleveland’s offer of 4 years/$72 million to play out this season and become a free agent. This season Sabathia is 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA after a bad start.
Sabathia is 27 years old, a three time All-Star, and 2007 Cy Young Award winner. Baseball Reference defines similar players to Sabathia at his age are Dennis Eckersley and Greg Maddux among others. Nice deal for the Brewers.
Billy Wagner was selected to the 2008 All-Star game to represent the Mets. He’s had a great season, minus the one week that got Willie Randolph fired.
David Wright is one of five finalist for the last spot on the roster. Voting is available at MLB.com. He’s up against Pat Burrell of the Phillies, Corey Hart of the Brewers, Carlos Lee of the Astros, and Aaron Rowand of the Giants.
I’m surprised that Johan Santana wasn’t selected. Despite his 7-7 record he’s fifth in the league in ERA at 2.96 and seventh in WHIP at 1.19. He’s been really good without receiving much run support from his teammates.
Click here for the complete list of All-Star selections.
Image via WikipediaOrlando Hernandez began his rehab games today according the NY Post Mets Blog. He hasn’t pitched this season because of a bunion and a ligament problem in a toe.
Today he went four innings on 62 pitches giving up two runs (one earned). Hernandez gave up four hits and a walk to go along with six strikeouts.
After he left the game El Duque went to the bullpen and threw 15 more pitches.
What a shot in the arm it would be to get El Duque back! It seems to be so long since we’ve seen him pitch that I went back to look at his 2007 season stats. He started 24 games and pitched in relief in 3 more. He was 9-5 with a 3.72 ERA.
The only problem when (if, I should say) he comes back is which pitcher goes off the roster. Joe Smith and Mike Pelfrey are the only pitchers with options and Pelfrey isn’t going anywhere. The likely choice to be designated for assignment would be Tony Armas. He’s the last man in, so he’ll probably be the first one out. Not that he’s pitched that badly but he could be replaced by El Duque as the long man/spot starter rather easily.
Image by Getty Images via DaylifeThe Philadelphia Phillies announced that they’ve signed a three year contract extension with closer Brad Lidge today. He’s having a great season so far for the Phils. Hopefully, the Mets won’t see him today. He’s sure to be in a good mood after signing his new 3 year/ $37.5 million deal.
The Phillies obtained Lidge in a trade with the Houston Astros prior to this season. He’s currently playing under his last available year of arbitration for a 1 year/ $6.35 million contract that was signed to avoid arbitration.
Image via WikipediaAs the Mets prepare to face the Phillies today at 1:35pm, there are several stories circulating the newswire:
The Mets Report 