In this week’s Mets Weekly Report Kerel Cooper of OnTheBlack.com poses an interesting question about baseball legacies. Is it more impressive that Jason Isringhausen got his 300th save this week or that Jim Thome hit his 600th home run?
It’s interesting because both players have accomplished these feats due to longevity in the game more so than consistently outstanding play, especially in recent years. Thome is one of the oldest players to get to 600 and Izzy went three years without getting a save before this season.
Check out the video below and let me know in the comment which feat you think is more impressive.
The Mets went into the ninth inning leading 3-2 and lost the game on a Justin Turner throwing error for their fourth straight loss. The SNY crew is doing their best to pretend that these games have some meaning in the wild card race but we know better watching the Mets lose game after game.
Chris Capuano had a very solid start going 6 innings and allowing 2 runs. He would have gotten his tenth win if Turner hadn’t thrown the game away. It didn’t help that Jason Isringhausen gave up 2 hits and a walk in the ninth. He thew gas on the fire for the second straight night and showed why he hasn’t been closing games for three years.
On offense the Mets had 9 hits and 2 walks. Jose Reyes hit a shot of a homer to left in the third inning and went 1 for 4 lowering his season average to .339. Scott Hairston got the start in right field and went 2 for 4.
The Mets will try to avoid the home sweep tomorrow night before an off day on Thursday.
The Mets lost this one on a grand slam, of all things, in the tenth inning off Jason Isringhausen. Mike Pelfrey and Javier Vazquez both pitched really well, especially Vazquez.
The game was a thriller and even included a bomb of a home run by Jason Bay, if you can believe that. Then in the bottom of the ninth Lucas Duda hit a huge home run to center field to tie the game and send it to the tenth.
In the tenth, Daniel Murphy made a ridiculous bonehead play at first base allowing a runner caught off base to get back safely. His fielding and instincts continue to be pathetic. But he was 2 for 5 again and is still hitting .320 this year.
Izzy couldn’t get anyone out in the tenth and gave up a shot to left field by Mike Stanton that effectively ended the game. Tough way to lose on a grand slam.
So with Carlos Beltran pretty much gone and the Mets having almost no shot at the wild card, there’s not much left to watch the Mets for. At least for the rest of the season. Especially since I don’t see a massive fire sale going on. Beltran’s trading may be the last big story for a while.
I am curious as to who gets to 300 saves first, Jason Isringhausen or Francisco Rodriquez. Izzy has 296 career saves, KRod has 291. KRod should have more save chances but Izzy is the guy I want to see get to 300 first. Wouldn’t you?
So let’s watch this little race to 300 saves. I’m really rooting for Izzy to have a better year than KRod. I feel like Izzy is homegrown talent who’s come home to finish out his career. It may be the only bright spot to the rest of an irrelevant year.
Let’s hope the Mets do the right thing and acknowledge the achievement. Do they even know it’s coming up? This save race may be the only race interesting enough to watch for the rest of the year and of course, 4 saves could take less than a week if the Mets get on a roll but who knows…
If the Mets are out of the hunt, what other milestones will you be watching for this year?
What a game! R.A. Dickey pitched really well going 6.2 innings and allowing only 2 runs. He had 7 K’s and only 1 walk too. Although he gave up 8 hits, he was pretty sharp. It was one of his best starts of the season.
The Mets scored all 4 runs in the seventh inning when they strung several hits together. Even in a pronounced hitter’s park, they didn’t have any home runs tonight. But they did have a lot of traffic on the bases with 11 hits and 3 walks. Daniel Murphy and Jason Bay had the run scoring doubles in the seventh inning.
It was an exciting finish as Jason Isringhausen got a save the hard way. He loaded the bases. Although one runner was on by a David Wright error. Then Izzy struck out Brandon Phillips to end the game. It was a real thriller!
The Mets take the first game of the series in Cincy and go again tomorrow night.
The Mets are taking to their role of spoiler for the NL Central’s second place Cardinals. Dillon Gee put together an excellent start going 7 innings and allowing only 2 runs. He didn’t give up a hit until the fifth inning. I have to admit that I was thinking about a no-hitter. Gee is the kind of pitcher that could finally do it for the Mets. Bobby Parnell was shaky in the eighth inning giving up two hits and hitting a batter but he got out of trouble. Jason Isringhausen finished the game and got his first save since 2008.
The Mets had some serious offense going with 14 hits and 3 walks. But they left 13 runners on base. Ronny Paulino and Carlos Beltran led the team with 3 hits apiece. It was a nice return game for Beltran and Jose Reyes coming back from the disabled list.
We’ve been speculating about it for months and it finally happened. The Mets were able to find a team to dump trade K-Rod to. He was quickly closing in on his $17.5 million vesting option for 2012 if he finished 55 games this season. The Mets couldn’t take a chance that the option would vest and they would be stuck with K-Rod at that price next season.
We also have to assume that the Brewers were not on K-Rod’s 10 team no trade list in his contract. The Brewers, in all likelihood, won’t use K-Rod to close games and chance that option vesting.
The Mets included cash ($5 million) in the deal to help defray K-Rod’s current $12 million salary for this season and the Mets will receive two players to be named later.
K-Rod spent two and a half years with the Mets but will be remembered for the ugly incident at Citi Field last year when he assaulted his girlfriend’s father in the stadium after a game. He was arrested and charged with assault and ended up suspended for the rest of the 2010 season.
I’m assuming that the Mets will use a closer by committee role for a while until someone in the bullpen establishes themselves. Most likely Bobby Parnell, Jason Isringhausen, and Pedro Beato will get a shot at closing.
This is also likely the start of a sale on high-priced players that the Mets will be doing over the next couple of weeks including Carlos Beltran and, possibly, Jose Reyes.
The Mets Report 