Tag: Oliver Perez

Billy Wagner Calls Out Teammates After Loss

Oliver Pérez 02:45, 19 July 2007 . . Metsfan7 . . 590×700 (374,826 bytes)Image via Wikipedia

Adam Rubin from the Daily News is reporting that Billy Wagner had some tough comments for the Mets and Oliver Perez, in particular, after his poor start today.

“You’ve got to have that willpower and that desire to go back out there and fight,” Wagner said about responding to the Mets’ early deficit. “This guy (Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny), he wasn’t throwing the ball that well to shut down our offense. Perez has honestly got to step up and know that we’ve just used every guy in our bullpen the night before. He can’t come out there and decide that gee, he hasn’t got it today, and so be it.”

Wagner added: “When you have games like this, it’s very easy to say, ‘Hey, yeah, you’re going to have these games.’ And you will have these games. But when there’s not a lot of effort and desire, that’s when you worry. You definitely want to play a little bit better than we did, but I know everybody is out there doing what they can. As a pitching staff, we have to show up. We can’t go out there and get beat 13-1 by Pittsburgh.”

Wagner is easily one of the best closers in the game, if not of all time. But sometimes he’s a little too “old school” for me. Oliver Perez is an easy target for analysts both professional and amateur because he’s erratic. I don’t think Perez wasn’t giving a full effort today. He just is what he is, sometimes wild and completely without control.

I don’t like that Wagner is calling Perez out after a rough loss like that. It smacks of piling on. Likewise, I thought that Wagner was too tough on Lastings Milledge when he was here. Wagner needs to concern himself more with his own game than with anyone else. Let the coaches deal with the other pitchers. No good can come of alienating teammates, much less this early in the season.

Pirates Drub Mets 13-1

Oliver Perez had one of his occasional terrible starts only going 1.2 innings giving up seven runs but only two were earned. The defense was horrible with errors by David Wright, Luis Castillo, and Angel Pagan.

Nelson Figueroa did a nice job of eating some innings in a bad game. He just pitched on Sunday but came in to throw 3.1 innings giving up one run.

This was just one of those bad, bad games that can happen on once in a while. I wouldn’t take too much from it. It’s over and the Mets have a day off tomorrow before leaving for their West coast swing.

Box score

On Deck: Wednesday April 30, 2008

Pittsburgh Pirates (10-16) at New York Mets (14-11) 1:10pm

Tom Gorzelanny (1-3) vs. Oliver Perez (2-1)

TV: SNY Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets went into extra innings last night so expect to see several regular starters out of the lineup. Willie Randolph typically rests some regulars on a day game after a night game. The Mets have a good chance to sweep the lowly Pirates at home before a day off and a West coast road trip.

Video: Post Game April 24, 2008

The depressing post game video contains comments from Oliver Perez, Aaron Heilman, and Willie Randolph.

Oliver Perez wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t his best night but he should’ve been given the opportunity to get through the sixth inning. That’s Willie’s mistake. The poor performances of Jorge Sosa and Heilman, and the over-work of Joe Smith, and Pedro Feliciano should force Willie to re-think his strategy.

Willie needs to give the starters more leeway to work out of trouble. The best pitchers on the team are the starters (except for Billy Wagner). He needs to keep his best pitchers in the game longer considering the state of the bullpen.

Nats Smoke Mets 10-5

Oliver Perez didn’t pitch well but it certainly wasn’t as bad as his line shows. He went 5.2 innings and gave up three runs but left two on for Aaron Heilman in the sixth. Heilman promptly walked Lastings Milledge and then gave up another grand slam to Felipe Lopez, and the game was over.

The Mets bullpen has given up three grand slams now. The entire National League has only had four grand slams.

Jorge Sosa got knocked around again in the seventh inning giving up three runs but only one was earned. Jose Reyes made an error and then Carlos Delgado let one go right past his glove on the ground in what should’ve been scored an error too.

Delgado went 0 for 4 again and his average is down to .198 now. There have been so many columns and blog posts about what the Mets can do with him. This is now his second season of not hitting. I think he may be “done”.

Box score

Video Highlights

On Deck: Thursday April 24, 2008

New York Mets (11-9) at Washington Nationals (6-16)   7:10pm

Oliver Perez (2-0) vs. Shawn Hill (0-0)

TV: SNY    Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets need to continue beating up on the weak sisters of the league like the Nationals. Every start for Oliver Perez is important to maintain his consistency as much as possible. It would be nice to get another win in Washington with a tough home series this weekend against the Braves coming up.

Mets Win 4-2 in Philly

Philadelphia, PA- Seven Met pitchers combined to finish the game and get the win for starter Oliver Perez (2-0).  Perez pitched 5.2 innings giving up no runs with seven strikeouts, but allowed five walks.  This was a classic Perez game, brilliant and unhittable at times and completely losing his command at others.Once again, David Wright was the offensive catalyst going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s in the first inning off Jamie Moyer. Jose Reyes hit a two run homer in the seventh, his second of the year as part of a 2 for 4 day, scoring  2 runs, and stealing a base. His home run was celebrated in classic Reyes style with extended handshakes and a dance in the dugout. It’s great to see the “old” Reyes back!

Chase Utley hit a solo homer in the  seventh off Scott Schoenweiss. The eighth inning was pretty intense with Aaron Heilman coming in with one out and two men on. He gave up a hit to left by Carlos Ruiz to load the bases. I was hoping that Heilman wouldn’t implode in a key situation again. He came through with flying colors striking out pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins and Jayson Werth to leave the bases loaded.

Watching on TV it sounded like there was a pretty sizable Mets contingent in the stands. The game was halted briefly in the ninth inning while a scuffle in the right field stands was dealt with by stadium security. Of course, Fox didn’t show any of it on TV so I’ll have to check YouTube to see if there’s any video of what actually happened.

The Mets win the first two games in Philly to win the series and go for the sweep tomorrow. They’ve got a five game winning streak going and really look to be hitting their stride early in the season.

Box score 

Video Highlights