Tag: Jeff Francoeur

Mets 8 – Phillies 0 May 25, 2010

Mets starting pitcher Dickey throws against the Nationals during the first inning of their MLB National League game in Washington

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets won their third straight tonight behind big-time pitching from R.A. Dickey and Raul Valdes. Dickey went 6 shutout innings getting out of trouble several times with the Phillies threatening. Valdes came in and threw 3 shutout relief innings. He’s really shown something this season out of the bullpen. Tonight’s game brought his ERA down to 2.86. You won’t get better than that for a long man in the bullpen.

The offense was really consistent throughout the game. The Mets were scoring single runs until they scored 3 in the eighth. The big story on offense was Jose Reyes, who went 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 2 stolen bases. It was like watching the Reyes of two or three years ago. Also Jeff Francoeur finally came alive going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.

The Mets seem to have stabilized with Oliver Perez and John Maine out of the rotation.

Box score

Braves 3 – Mets 2 May 18, 2010

New York Mets batter Wright reacts after striking out in seventh inning against Colorado Rockies in their MLB baseball game in Denver

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets got a great start from Johan Santana, as usual, going 7 IP and giving up 2 ER’s on a homer by Troy Glaus in the third inning. Santana seemed to get stronger as the game went on. Pedro Feliciano took over in the eighth and started the ninth out by giving up a hit to McCann that would eventually be the winning run.

The Mets had only five total hits in the game. The two runs were solo homers, both in the fifth inning by Ike Davis and Jeff Francoeur.

The Mets lost on a horrible bottom of the ninth. Jenry Mejia relieved Feliciano and looked scared. He fell on the mound after a pitch and walked Escobar when he was trying to bunt with a man on base. The game was lost when Melky Cabrera chopped a ball to third, David Wright picked it up and threw wide of first allowing the runner on second to score. It wasn’t a terrible throw and looked like Davis could have come off the base to get it.

Wright’s wild throw capped off a terrible night for him going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. It’s a rough way to lose a game.

The Mets split the two game series in Atlanta and head to Washington for two games.

Box score

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Marlins 10 – Mets 8 May 16, 2010

New York Mets at Cincinnati Reds

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets lost their fifth straight game as the Marlins finished off a four game sweep. Jon Niese started the game and wasn’t very sharp for the second start in a row. He left the game due to injury after fielding a ground ball. It looked like it might have been the same hamstring that ruined his season last year. He ended up going 2 IP and giving up 2 ER.

Hisanori Takahashi relived Niese and went 3 IP, which precludes his from taking Oliver Perez’ spot in the rotation. The Mets will have to dip into Triple-A Buffalo to replace Perez.

Fernando Nieve got rocked in the seventh inning for 3 ER on 2 hits a 1 walk. His ERA is up to 4.64 as he’s cooled off quite a bit from his hot start in the bullpen.

The defense was pretty sloppy in this one too. David Wright and Niese both had errors. But Wright had several plays that he didn’t make at third that were scored as hits by the Florida scorekeeper.

The Mets did have 12 hits and 4 walks in the game. The lineup featured Chris Carter hitting cleanup and playing right field. Jeff Francoeur got a “mental health” day off but he did end up pinch hitting. The big shock is that Gary Matthews, Jr. went into right field and went 2 for 2 with his first RBI of the year.

The Mets head to Atlanta for a two game series starting tomorrow night.

Box score

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Mets Links: Carlos Beltran, Phillies Cheating, More

New York Mets v Washington Nationals

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsOn the heels of a home series lost to the Nationals again, it’s time for some Mets links. The team is in Miami for four games and really needs to show something against a division opponent. It’s warm in Miami, so Oliver Perez doesn’t have the built in excuse for getting bombed. Anyway, here are the links.

Carlos Beltran started some light running in Port St. Lucie. He says that he feels fine and is hoping to avoid another knee surgery.

The Phillies were caught on camera stealing signs against the Rockies. The Rox filed a complaint with MLB and the Phillies were reprimanded. The Mets filed the same complaint with the league two weeks ago when they roughed up Johan Santana. And Santana seems to agree with the assessment.

Jeff Francoeur has cooled off and the stat guys are out for his head again. I’m really not liking what I’m seeing from Francoeur right now. It looks like he’s regressing to his pre-Mets days.

MLB gave the Phillies three extra home games to avoid the G20 Summit in Toronto. Francoeur told the Daily News that it’s “bullshit”. And I couldn’t agree more.

Yahoo’s Slumpbot .200 has some good stats on the not-so-graceful aging Santana. They recommend that he find his change-up again quickly.

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CitiFieldaphobia – Who Fears Hitting at Citifield?

New York Mets David Wright reacts to home plate umpire Paul Schrieber after striking out at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsRod Barajas can hit the ball out of Citi Field. So can Ike Davis. Citi Field does not seem to intimidate the new guys.

David Wright on the other hand has struggled to find his power stoke since leaving Shea Stadium behind. Last year we chalked up some of his power loss to playing in the World Classic and some to Citi Field. This year there are no excuses and I don’t think his power struggles are over just yet.

Although Wright will easily top last years home run totals, many fans I have spoken with seem to think Citi Field has gotten into his head.  Wright hit 4 of his 7 homers on the last 6 game road trip but he’s still going to have to find a way to hit homers at home.

Of course, I’m also worried about Wright’s strikeouts. He’s on a pace to strikeout over 200 times this year. With 14 strikeouts in the last 7 games I tend to think maybe David should have his eyes checked because he’s not seeing the ball correctly. Continue reading “CitiFieldaphobia – Who Fears Hitting at Citifield?”

Mets 8 – Nationals 6 May 11, 2010

MLB: Dodgerss vs Mets APR 27

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsJon Niese didn’t have his finest start tonight. It started poorly giving up a 3-run homer in the first inning and got bad again in the fifth inning. Niese only lasted 4.1 IP and gave up 6 ER’s. He was lucky to avoid the loss. We’ll talk about that in a minute.

Hisanori Takahashi did it again with 2 scoreless innings of relief. How good has he been? His ERA in down to 2.78, crazy good for a long reliever.

There wasn’t much offense to talk about before the eighth inning. Jeff Francoeur knocked in a couple runs in the second and the sixth but that was it. The Mets exploded in the eighth though for 6 runs. It could have been more because Ike Davis barely missed a grand slam that was just foul of the right field pole. Chris Carter got his first hit with a pinch-hit RBI double. It was a great inning offensively. Continue reading “Mets 8 – Nationals 6 May 11, 2010”

Reds 3 – Mets 2 May 3, 2010

New York Mets starting pitcher Perez delivers pitch to Cincinnati Reds during first inning of play in their MLB baseball game in Cincinnati

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets lost this one on a walk off in the 11th inning by Laynce Nix off Manny Acosta. It’s the Mets third straight loss and it’s something Braves fans are used to seeing from Acosta. The big positive of the night is Oliver Perez’ performance.

Perez gave up a leadoff homer and I thought we were in for another long night. Uncharacteristically, Perez kept it together and pitched a solid 6 innings only giving up 2 runs. His pitch count was good and he only gave up 4 hits and 1 walk. That was very positive.

The Mets had 9 hits including 3 doubles in the game and RBI’s from Jeff Francoeur and Jose Reyes.

Box score