Tag: Jeff Francoeur

Preview: Mets at Phillies May 1, 2010

New York Mets (14-9)  at Philadelphia Phillies (12-10) 3:10 pm

Mike Pelfrey (4-0 0.69) vs. Roy Halladay (4-1 1.80)

TV: Fox   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets are going for their ninth straight win today in Philly. But they’re up against, possibly, the best pitcher in baseball. As great as Halladay is, he took a loss in his last start in San Francisco after giving up 5 ER in 7.0 IP. Pelfrey, on the other hand, has been incredible and hasn’t given up a run in his last three starts. I’ll be surprised in Jeff Francoeur plays today after getting hit by a pitch on his left elbow.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Facebook page during the game to chat with other Mets fans! Connect with The Mets Report on Twitter too.

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Mets 9 – Phillies 1 April 30, 2010

New York Mets starting pitcher Jonathan Niese throws against the Colorado Rockies in their MLB baseball game in Denver

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets put the beat down on the Phillies tonight led by an outstanding start from Jon Niese and two homers by Rod Barajas. Niese was in complete control through 7 IP, helped by having a lead from the second inning on. The Mets win their eighth straight game in a route. The best way to win one in Philly.

The offense really came alive in the bandbox Citizens Bank Ballpark. The Mets had 10 hits including four homers, the two by Barajas plus David Wright and Jeff Francoeur had one each.  And Angel Pagan was 3 for 5 with a triple and two RBI’s.

Francoeur was hit by a pitch pretty badly on the left elbow in the seventh inning. He ran the bases, and even scored, but had to leave the game. X-rays were negative though. I was disappointed that Niese didn’t go for payback in the bottom of the inning. Jenry Mejia did hit Chase Utley in the eighth but it was a breaking ball. Clearly, he wasn’t trying to hit him.

Overall, it was an excellent game. There were some great plays in the outfield including two by Francoeur and one at the wall by Jason Bay. The Mets are really firing on all cylinders right now. It’s exciting to watch again.

Box score

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Mets 2010 Locker Room Harmony Overrated

Dave Doyle writes that the Mets harmonious locker room is completely overrated. Don’t credit Jeff Francoeur. Winning games makes everyone happy and working well together.

Whenever the Mets go on a really good run or a really bad one the media comes out in force. The latest bandwagon jumper is Mike Lupica. He’s all over the Mets this week because they’re winning and doing it in style.

The focus of his latest column is how Jeff Francoeur saved the Mets locker room. Francoeur didn’t save anything. Winning a few games saved the Mets locker room.

It really doesn’t matter if everyone likes each other or not. It’s a job to these guys. Most people don’t go to work together and get along with everyone at their job. But most can work productively with others. It’s the same thing on a baseball team. It’s their jobs. They don’t have to get along with everybody and to expect them to do so is ridiculous.

Let’s save the talk about the harmonious locker room until the Mets raise the World Series trophy over their heads. That’s when we can talk about the love-fest in the clubhouse.

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Mets 7 – Dodgers 3 April 28, 2010

Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets completed the sweep against the Dodgers this afternoon, the second consecutive sweep amid a 9-1 home stand. It’s been an incredible week and a half for the Mets surging into first place in the NL East.

The pitching was good once again today with John Maine going 6 innings and giving up only two earned runs on a Russell Martin homer in the fifth. He got through six on 102 pitches, which is pretty good for Maine. His velocity doesn’t appear to have improved. His fastball was still in the high 80’s. But he was firing strikes right from the start and he ended up striking out 9.

The bullpen cleaned up the last three innings without giving up a run. Francisco Rodriguez did give up  1 hit and 1 walk in the ninth. Other than that, the bullpen was spotless.

On offense, Angel Pagan and Jeff Francoeur both had 2 RBI’s and the Mets, as a team, had 5 two-out RBI’s. That’s some serious clutch hitting. The new lineup with Jose Reyes batting third is definitely working right now.

Ike Davis continues to chip in on a daily basis. He was 2 for 4 with 1 RBI. He seems to add something on offense in every game. His season average is up to .355 with a .424 OBP and .980 OPS. Not bad for a rookie.

The first place Mets are off tomorrow before heading to Philly for a weekend series.

Box score

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Mets 5 – Cubs 2 April 22, 2010

New York Mets vs Washington Nationals

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe game was really defined by both starting pitchers going toe-to-toe for six innings. Then Tom Gorzelanny lost it in the sixth and gave up a couple of runs. Johan Santana had runners on much of his 6.1 IP as he gave up 8 hits. But he didn’t give up any walks and had 5 strikeouts and only allowed 1 run. It was a good battle of the starting pitchers.

The Mets only had 7 hits in the game but there was a key double by David Wright in the sixth that got the scoring started. He had been hearing the boo birds, deservedly so with a 3 strikeout night. But the RBI double was good to see and I’m hoping that he can get something going.

Jeff Francoeur broke out of his slump with a hit. And Ike Davis was 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored. It looks like he’s pretty comfortable.

Francisco Rodriguez came in for a 5-out save for the first time as a Met. He hasn’t been getting many opportunities and the Mets needed to take this series. That was a good call by Jerry Manuel.

The Mets finally win a series for the first time this season taking three of four from the Cubs before the Braves come to town for the weekend.

Box score

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Mets Links: Bobby Valentine, Jeff Francoeur, Mike Pelfrey

Mets v Cardinals X

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsHere are your Sunday morning Mets links covering the last week. The Mets have gone 2-4 over the last week which includes a home loss to Washington, a road series loss to the Rockies, and splitting the first two games in St. Louis. Along the way, we’ve speculated about Jerry Manuel’s job security, the players’ disdain for Manuel, Mike Pelfrey’s early success, and the possible return of Bobby Valentine.

Here are the links:

  • MetsBlog– Jon Heyman says the Mets aren’t considering firing Jerry Manuel at this time. If they do, Bob Melvin will get the call to take over the team.
  • Daily News– Mike Lupica writes that if Manuel gets fired, it has to be Bobby Valentine that gets the call to come back
  • ESPN– Bobby Valentine told Chris Russo on XM Radio that he doesn’t believe that managing the Mets is in his immediate future
  • On The Black-Kerel Cooper sums up my feelings about this team perfectly. They’re a very difficult team to watch over the last week. Exasperating, really.
  • Studious Metsimus– This is a good comparison to the Mets 1992 team. The worst team that money could buy.
  • ESPN– This is a good article about Jeff Francoeur and his unusually good start this season. Francoeur credits Howard Johnson for the hot start that he’s off to.
  • MetsBlog – Mike Pelfrey gives credit to Henry Blanco for his excellent game in Colorado this week. He went 7 shutout innings and struck out 6.
  • MLBTradeRumors– This is the whole story about how Joel Pineiro didn’t end up with the Mets despite everyone (including Pineiro) thinking that he would
  • ESPN– Rich Couthino writes a good piece about Jackie Robinson Day this week and it’s relation to the Mets

Those are the big stories for the week. Let’s hope for something better than the 2-4 record they put up this past week. Let’s go Mets!

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Mets 2 – Cardinals 1 April 17, 2010

Mets' Wright throws his helmet after striking out against the Cardinals in MLB game in St Louis

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThis game was so crazy I can’t even describe the whole thing without writing a novel. I’ll hit the highlights and make sure you check out the messy box score link at the bottom of the post. The game had a bunch of great defensive plays and sitting on the edge of your seat moments. If you didn’t put seven hours into watching this one, here are the highlights:

  • There wasn’t a run scored until Jeff Francoeur hit a sac fly to score Jose Reyes in the top of the 19th
  • Alex Cora had a game saving catch diving into the stands to catch a fly ball while he was playing first base, of all things
  • The Cardinals loaded the bases three times in extras without scoring
  • Of course, Yadier Molina singled home Albert Pujols in the bottom of the 19th to tie it
  • K-Rod blew the save in the 19th
  • Mike Pelfrey got the first save of his career by pitching the 20th inning
  • Two position players pitched for the Cardinals: Felipe Lopez and Jeff Mather

This game was wild. There’s usually one of these crazy games every few years. So it’s good to get it out of the way early in the season. They’ll play on national TV again tomorrow night on ESPN in the rubber game of the series.

Box score

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