Tag: Aaron Heilman

Mets Streaking Again, Lose Second In A Row

Despite a good effort by Oliver Perez the Mets lost their second straight game to the Cincinnati Reds 7-2. Perez went six innings giving up three runs, two of which were earned. The story of the night was the Mets having tons of opportunity to score against Reds starter Josh Fogg and not taking advantage of it. The Mets had ten hits and only scored two runs in the game!

In the seventh inning Mike Lincoln came in with the bases loaded and struck out David Wright and Carlos Beltran, both looking.

Pedro Feliciano came into the game in the seventh inning and got rocked for four runs in .1 innings. Ouch. It didn’t help that Aaron Heilman relieved Feliciano and gave up a bases clearing triple to Joey Votto.

The most surprising part of the game was watching Beltran kick the ball around the outfield. He’s always such a consistently good fielder. I know there are some balls that he doesn’t come in on very well. But it just seems like he never makes a mistake in the field. Last night he kicked two balls around. One he was charged with and error, only his third of the season, and the other he misplayed on the fly then kicked on the ground but wasn’t charged an error.

The Mets try to even the series in the final game before coming home for an off-day and then the Phillies at home.

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Manuel Ejected As Mets Beat Phils 10-9

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The Mets had a 10-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning and the bullpen did the best they could to give the game up. Jerry Manuel was ejected for arguing a disputed home run call in the seventh inning. But the Mets end up taking three of four games from the Phillies on the road for a huge win. They also go over .500 for the first time in more than a month.

Pedro Martinez pitched pretty well tonight which was a nice change from his previous three starts. He ended up going 5.1 innings giving up two runs. He threw 105 pitches though, way too many for five innings. He still needs to get sharper.

David Wright was the offensive star going 2 for 5 with 4 RBI’s and his 17th home run. Damion Easley, Endy Chavez, and Fernando Tatis had three hits apiece. Interesting that these bench guys are going hard for more playing time. Jerry Manuel’s “reward system” is definitely having an impact on the team.

Tony Armas, Aaron Heilman, and Billy Wagner were all giving up runs at an alarming rate after Pedro left the game. Notably Wagner had his second shaky outing in a row. He needs to get his game together. He already has six blown saves and almost added another tonight.

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Cards Glaus Walks Off Against Mets 8-7

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There were a lot of good things that happened for the Mets offense. The same Mets offense that’s struggled for consistent production all season. But for all of the good that the Mets did on offense, it was undone by bad pitching.

Pedro Martinez was bad again. Tonight was his third consecutive bad start and it raised his ERA to a whopping 7.39. It’s time to be concerned about his long term viability as a starter. His line tonight was 5 IP | 7 H | 5 R | 5 ER| 1 BB| 4 K| 2 HR. Pedro did come back after a rain delay in the fourth inning. But the damage was done by giving up four in the first inning on an RBI single by Rick Ankiel and a three run bomb by Troy Glaus. More on Glaus later.

In the eighth inning Aaron Heilman hit Ryan Ludwick with his first pitch of the inning. Then Chris Duncan hit a two run bomb off Pedro Feliciano on his first pitch to tie the game at seven. Troy Glaus hit his second homer of the game off Carlos Muniz in the ninth. Muniz is clearly overmatched by big league hitters. He’ll probably be sent back to Triple-A New Orleans after tonight’s game.

The Mets had some great offense tonight that went for naught. Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Damion Easley all had three hits in the game. Easley also had 3 RBI’s in his second consecutive start at second base. He may become the starting second baseman as there’s talk of Luis Castillo going on the disabled list.

Tough game tonight.

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Mets News Today: June 23

There’s plenty in the news today as the Mets come home to face the dreadful Seattle Mariners.

  • Jerry Manuel says that he has to prepare to go the rest of the season without Moises Alou.
  • Luis Castillo won’t play again tonight after aggravating the quadriceps injury he suffered earlier this season.
  • Brian Schneider will probably get a couple more days off after bruising a finger on his glove hand in Colorado.
  • Ryan Church plans to take batting practice with the Mets tonight and play a couple of games this week in Brooklyn. The plan is for him to return to the big league team for the Yankees series this weekend.
  • Goose Gossage says that the Mets didn’t treat Willie Randolph fairly.
  • The Mets seem to have a new trend with pitchers staying on the mound to hand the ball to the incoming pitcher. Manuel said he thought it would be a one-time thing with John Maine until Pedro Martinez did it on Saturday. Now they’re all doing it.
  • Jerry Manuel joked about Mets fans booing Aaron Heilman at Shea Stadium to fertilizer.
  • John Harper of the Daily News writes that the Mets are in good hands with Manuel. He even addressed the perception of a racial divide with the team.
  • Adam Rubin of the Daily News writes that Manuel’s comment about fertilizer was made in reference to Aaron Heilman using the fans booing him at Shea as a source of growth, not calling Mets fans “manure” as the NY Post reported.

Rick Peterson Speaks To XM Radio About Mets Firing

PORT SAINT LUCIE, FL - FEBRUARY 17: (L-R) Manager Willie Randolph and Pitching Coach Rick Peterson #51 of the New York Mets watch players work out during Spring Training at Tradition Field on February 17, 2008 in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson spoke to XM radio yesterday about being fired by the Mets.  He said that Omar Minaya delivered the news of his firing with sympathy.  He said the he hopes that the Mets can get things turned around.  About the Mets he said:

I don’t have any animosity or vindictive or angry thoughts. I’m sad, you’re always sad when you leave a home that you felt very comfortable at.

Too much Zen and too little pitching from Peterson this year.  John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Aaron Heilman regressed this season and the Mets can’t have their young pitchers moving in the wrong direction.  If you’re a regular reader, you know that my opinion is that Peterson deserved to be fired for recommending the Scott Kazmir trade.  So if anything else that he did went South, he was probably on thin ice with the Mets front office.

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Beltran 2 HR Powers Mets 9-6 Over Angels

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Carlos Beltran hit two solo homers, one in the first and one in the third inning. Mike Pelfrey got his first win since April 15.

Pelfrey’s line was six innings pitched giving up eight hits and two walks. He had no strikeouts. He gave up six runs but he was shaky in the seventh and didn’t get any outs. Pedro Feliciano came in to relieve in the seventh and was terrible giving up two RBI hits. He only got one out in the seventh.

Aaron Heilman came into the game in the seventh after Feliciano was ineffective. I thought that the Angels would break it open at that point but Heilman locked down the inning with two strikeouts.

Billy Wagner was a little shaky in the ninth inning again. He gave up a hit and a walk but got out of the inning with a line drive to Jose Reyes for a double play at second base.

Reyes was 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored and a stolen base as well.

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Wagner Blows Third Straight Save; Mets Lose To D-Backs 5-4 in 10 Innings

Another great game by Johan Santana was wasted today. He went seven shutout innings giving up three hits and three walks with ten strikeouts. Joe Smith was terrible in the eighth inning giving up two walks and two hits in .2 innings. Two runs scored on him.

Billy Wagner blew the save in the ninth inning allowing two runs to score on two hits and two walks. Then Aaron Heilman threw gas on the fire in the tenth inning. Justin Upton doubled off him, moved to third on a sacrifice, then scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Mets offense came on a solo homer by Ramon Castro in the second inning off Dan Haren. David Wright doubled in Endy Chavez in the third inning but was thrown out going for third base. Fernando Tatis hit a two run single in the seventh inning.

The Mets lose the home series to the struggling D-Backs and have the Texas Rangers coming to town for a weekend series.

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