Tag: Billy Wagner

Video: July 7 Post Game- Manuel, Wright, And Wagner

Here’s the SNY video from the post game wrap of the Mets 10-9 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. I’m disappointed that they didn’t include the video of Carlos Beltran telling MLB.com’s reporter that he’s not a baseball player. That was the best! I think it was Jon Blau but it was hard to tell from the video. I like that Carlos is starting to show some emotion this season. Anyway, here are the videos:

Manuel Ejected As Mets Beat Phils 10-9

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Video Highlights

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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Mets Tatis Homer in 12th Downs Phillies 4-2

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Video Highlights

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.

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Billy Wagner Mets Only All-Star

image 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.

Pulling Santana After Eighth Was The Right Decision

The analysis of Jerry Manuel’s move last night to pull Johan Santana seems to have come down on the side of leaving Santana in to pitch the ninth inning. Hindsight is 20/20 but I would’ve made the same decision as Manuel.

There’s no need to leave Santana in a tie game for the bottom of the ninth inning. All he can do is hold or lose the game, he’s not going to win it for the Mets. Although he had thrown just 95 pitches Santana is going to be here for six more years so that has to be kept in mind. There’s no need to max him out in a game that he can’t win. If the Mets were up by one or two runs, I would’ve left Santana in there to close it out.

The only thing that I might have done would’ve been to pull the plug on Duaner Sanchez after Pedro Feliz doubled off him. Shane Victorino is a much better left handed hitter. So Manuel could have used Scott Schoenweiss or Pedro Feliciano to turn him around. Victorino hits .213 against lefties versus .289 versus righties.

Sanchez hasn’t given up a run since June 10th. That’s ten appearances since the last run he’s given up. He’s earned his spot at the end of the bullpen. So I don’t have a problem with him coming in for Santana in the ninth.

There’s no point in having your best pitcher, whether its Santana or Billy Wagner, pitch the ninth inning of a tie game. I’ve written about that before here. Santana or Wagner should be used to lock down a win at the end of a game not hold it for someone else.