Washington Nationals (17-24) at New York Mets (20-18) 1:10pm
Jason Bergmann (0-1) vs. Mike Pelfrey (2-3)
TV: SNY Radio: WFAN
What to watch: This is another must-win game for the Mets. It’s not an option to lose three out of four games at home to the Nationals. Something like that might cost Willie Randolph his job considering the mediocre start to this season. Mike Pelfrey had a nice start last time out so let’s hope that he can keep that up.
Pitching was the story of this game. Claudio Vargas had a terrific first start for the Mets going 6.1 innings and gave up only only two runs. That was much more than the Mets expected from the journeyman pitcher just up from Triple-A New Orleans.
On the other end of the spectrum, Aaron Heilman was horrible again. I was dumbfounded when Willie Randolph brought in Heilman in the seventh with one out, one runner on base, and a tie game. Randolph said after the game that Scott Schoenweiss and Matt Wise were unavailable. Wise because he just pitched two days in a row, and Schoenweiss was sick.
Heilman threw gallons of gas on the fire by pitching .1 innings and gave up three runs plus let the inherited runner from Vargas score. He was booed mercilessly by the crowd throughout the inning. Randolph heard a lot of booing from the crowd too.
Earlier in the game Moises Alou was ejected for slamming his bat after being called out on strikes.
I feel like we’re watching this job slip away from Randolph before our eyes. The best that the Mets can do now is a split of a four game home series with the last place Nationals. There doesn’t seem to be any spark with this team. It’s becoming a problem.
WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog just discussed several roster moves for the Mets today:
The purchase of Fernando Tatis’ contract is a bit of a surprise. Luis Castillo must be hurt enough so that the Mets feel like they need some infield insurance. Tatis can provide that if Castillo is out for a week or more.
Claudio Vargas will pitch Wednesday against the Nationals. Who knows what we’ll get from him? He was released by the Brewers for a reason, so don’t expect miracles from him. We should be thrilled to get five innings out of him. He was on the street a month ago.
The Nelson Figueroa dream comes to an end for now. He was a great story but just couldn’t get major league hitters out consistently. He was fantastic the first time through the order and may have been more suited for a relief role.
I’m ecstatic that Omar Minaya designated Sosa. This is best for the team despite the fact that they may have to eat $1.5 million of his salary if he doesn’t accept a minor league assignment. Joe Smith earned the right to stay on the team. I would’ve been livid if Minaya kept Sosa instead of Smith. It would have displayed a lack of concern for winning now. Not to mention the fact that it may have adversely affected Willie Randolph’s ability to keep his job. Good job Omar!
I have to admit that when the New York Mets traded top prospect Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider I was unhappy. I thought this was another one of Omar Minaya’s misguided trades like Heath Bell to the Padres for nothing, or Brian Bannister to the Royals for Ambiorix Burgos. Wow… Have I been wrong!
Ryan Church, and to a lesser degree Brian Schneider, has been much more than the nondescript outfielder that I was expecting. Schneider has been hitting pretty well but without any semblance of power, and he does seem to provide some sense of comfort to the pitching staff. However, the catcher’s influence on a pitching staff is vastly overrated in my opinion.
Church has been a revelation, both in the field and at the plate, for the Mets. He’s currently hitting 34 points above his highest season average in 2005. His OBP is 18 points higher than his career high in 2006. His OPS is 13 points higher than his career high in 2006 as well. Without a doubt, he’s been the most consistent offensive performer for the Mets this season. He’s hit well in every spot in the order that Willie Randolph has put him in. He’s seemingly unaffected by changes that Randolph makes to the lineup. Continue reading “Overachiever Ryan Church Carrying Mets”
SNY post game video from the May 11th win over the Reds 8-3. Included are comments from Willie Randolph, Oliver Perez, Carlos Beltran, and Jose Reyes.
It wasn’t Johan Santana’s best performance but it’s typical for him this season. He can get into trouble, giving up 10 hits and a walk today, but he can work his way out. Santana got his fourth win of the season against an outmanned Cincinnati team.
There was a lot of offense on display for the Mets in the first game of today’s double header. Particulary, Carlos Delgado had three hits including a home run. He batted seventh in the order for the first time since 1995. Mets fans have been calling for him to be dropped in the order for weeks and Willie Randolph finally came to same conclusion. It seems like Willie is always the last one to figure these things out.
Brian Schneider also homered today. Surprisingly it was his first extra base hit of the season. I would guess that we’ll see Ramon Castro catching for the first time this season in the second game today.
Relief pitcher Matt Wise is in New York and ready to be activated from the disabled list. Reports from MLB.com state that Joe Smith will be sent to New Orleans. Willie Randolph was non-committal about whether Smith or Jorge Sosa would go when Wise came back if you listened to his interview on WFAN yesterday.
I’d prefer to see the Mets DFA Jorge Sosa. His $2 million salary and poor performance would most likely preclude him from being claimed from waivers. If he decided to become a free agent it would be fine with me.
Joe Smith has done a nice job with the Mets and doesn’t deserve to be sent down to New Orleans.
The Mets Report 