Tag: Jose Reyes

Wright’s 2 HR Leads Mets Over Mariners 8-2

David Wright appeared to make the most of his day off yesterday. He hit two home runs in his first two at-bats to put the game out of reach early. Jose Reyes chipped in with a three run homer of his own in the third inning. From there the Mets cruised to a win.

John Maine was solid but not spectacular tonight going six innings giving up two runs on five hits and two walks. He also had three strikeouts. The bullpen worked three clean innings giving up only one hit.

The Mets avoid a sweep at the hands of the lowly Mariners tonight before beginning a series with the Yankees on Friday.

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King Felix, Mariners Over Mets 5-2

Felix Hernandez looked unstoppable for the Mariners into the fifth inning. He only gave up two hits and one run. More importantly, he hit a grand slam in the top of the second inning off Johan Santana. It was the first grand slam by an American League pitcher in 37 years before the designated hitter rule was instituted.

In the fifth inning Carlos Beltran doubled, stole third and came in to score on a wild pitch. His slide went into King Felix covering home and Felix had to leave the game with an ankle injury. Surprisingly, the Mariners bullpen shut the Mets down for the final 4.1 innings of the game.

The Mets did rally in the ninth with a couple of hits but it was too little too late. The Mets really had very little offense going all night. Beltran and Jose Reyes had two hits each and that was it for the team.

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Pelfrey Leads Mets To 3-1 Win Over Rockies

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Mike Pelfrey went 5.2 innings for his fourth win of the season. He gave up no runs on three hits and five walks to go along with five strikeouts.

Jose Reyes led off the game with a triple for the second consecutive game, then scored on a single by David Wright. Carlos Beltran hit a long two run home run to right field into the second deck in the third inning. That was all of the scoring the Mets needed to get the win.

The Mets go home with a new manager after a 4-2 road trip and move to 3.5 games behind the first place Philadelphia Phillies.

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Stat: Jose Reyes Baseball’s Best Leadoff Hitter

If you’re into heavy statistical analysis, you probably already read Cyril Morong’s excellent baseball blog “Cybermetrics”. Yesterday he posted an in-depth analysis of baseball’s best leadoff hitters and to little surprise the Mets’ Jose Reyes is tops on his list.

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The basic concept of the analysis is which leadoff hitters have the best statistics in terms of getting themselves into scoring position without creating outs most frequently. There were two variations that you can see in the chart above, one penalizing the player for hitting home runs and one without the penalty. In both cases, Reyes is statistically the best leadoff hitter.

I can’t say that I’m surprised by that because watching Reyes play everyday is a real treat for Mets fans. It’s interesting to see that Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez jumps from number 9 to number 2 on the list when the home run penalty is removed.

The blog post is a good read with heavy mathematical analysis.

Pedro Shelled As Mets Lose To Rockies 7-1

image Pedro Martinez cruised through the first four innings but got clobbered in the fifth giving up six runs and effectively ending the game.

His final line was 4.1 IP/ 9 H/ 6 E/ 6 ER/ 1 BB/ 5 K/ 2 HR. It was a really bad start including home runs on back to back pitches by Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe.

All of the Mets offense happened in the first inning on a Jose Reyes triple and a Luis Castillo sacrifice fly. The Mets did manager to load the bases in the ninth inning but it was too little too late.

Ubaldo Jimenez was on fire tonight pitching eight innings for the Rockies and gave up only two hits and one run. He also chipped in two hits and a run scored.

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Manuel’s New Strategy Pays Early Dividends For Mets

New York Mets shortstop José Reyes during a Mets/Devil Rays spring training game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Image via Wikipedia

For three and a half years we’ve been watching Willie Randolph bring in his closer, Billy Wagner, to pitch the ninth inning of tied or close games.  Jerry Manuel’s second game as manager of the Mets showed us a much needed strategic shift.  Manuel’s intestinal fortitude was tested by his star shortstop in his first game as well, and he passed with flying colors.

Willie Randolph followed the modern “book” for closers as Mets manager. Billy Wagner nearly always pitched the ninth inning of games that the Mets led or were tied. I always disagreed with pitching Wagner in the ninth inning of a tied game. I wondered: Why not hold onto that weapon until you really need it? Apparently, Jerry Manuel agrees with me. Duaner Sanchez pitched the ninth inning, and when the Mets took the lead Billy Wagner shut the door in the tenth inning. That’s the way to play that situation! Wagner is the pitcher to close out a win, not hold over a tie.

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