Skip to main content

Same Old Mets: Pen, Defense and Hitting Cost Mets in St. Louis

CARDINALS 5
METS 4

Can we say it? The New York Mets are an average baseball team. No. Better yet; the New York Mets are a lousy baseball team. As has been the case for the past three seasons, and now in the first two and a half weeks of 2009, the Mets have a series of debilitating problems that cost them one game after another. (1) Bullpen, (2) Starting pitchers NOT named Johan Santana, (3) Lack of clutch hitting, (4) Poor defense.

The Mets had built a shocking 4-0 lead, shocking insofar as the lead came against the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that has haunted the Mets for over three seasons now;. nevertheless, the ghosts of 2006 NLCS past came back to bite the Mets ... as usual.

Oliver Perez lost total control of his pitches in the fifth inning. With two men on base, Albert Pujols lined a double to the left field corner to drive in two runners to cut the Mets lead in half. Then, Perez went wild, really wild. He walked Met killer Yadier Molina and surrendered a single to Chirs Duncan to load 'em up. Next, Perez walked Khalil Green to drive in Pujols to make it 4-3.

Jerry Manuel had no choice but to take Perez out of the game; in came Casey Fossum. As for Fossum, he did his job as if he were employed by the Cardinals: he walked Justin Thurston to tie the game at four, putting New York in a tenuous situation.

In the eighth, the Mets bullpen continued to spring leaks, this time from an unlikely scource ... J.J. Putz. Putz served up a triple to Brendon Ryan to start the inning, but it was not without major fault going to Daniel Murphy. Murphy misplayed the ball, falling down as the ball approached his head. Like they teach kids in little league, keep your eye on the ball; well, Murphy didn't get that memo. The ball glided over Murphy's head and rolled to the wall, allowing Ryan to sprint to third base. Rick Ankiel doubled to right to bring in Ryan with the game-winning run, making it clear that Putz just didn't have anything.

This is a horrendous loss for the Mets, but this is also painfully typical of this team. The Mets left 10 men on base, three of whom were runners in scoring position with two out in an inning. They just can't seem to get a big hit in a key situation. And for all the hoopla that the bullpen was improved, it was a main cuplrit in the loss tonight. There are only so many times during the course of a long season that a bullpen will be perfect; it needs the starters to help out a little, and that is where the Mets problems start. They have no starting pitching outside Johan Stantana and must address this issue sooner then the trade deadline if they hope to compete for a division title. BOX SCORE.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...
8 comments
Read more

Is Aaron Glenn in Danger of Getting Fired?

 According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio there is a "chance"   that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn could be fired at seasons end.  While Florio doesn't site any sources, the rumor has caught fire the last two days. The question is would it make sense? Let's examine this for a second?  Why it Makes Sense:  Glenn has not been great in his first year as Head Coach of this team. The talent has taken a major step backwards, granted two of those talented players were traded away in Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis and Quinnen Williams to Dallas.  The decision he and GM Darren Mougey made to give Justin Fields a two year deal proved to be a horrible mistake, and Glenn stuck with Fields for far too long before pulling the plug following the Jets loss to the Patriots on a Thursday night in mid November.  Glenn gave now former Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks too much power to run the defense, and the players couldn't stand Wilks. Reports indicated this week af...
Post a Comment
Read more

Same Ol' Jets! Gang Green Dropped by Ravens

 RAVENS 24 - JETS 9  In short the opener to the 2022 season for the New York Jets was a complete and utter disaster.  A team that came into the season with the promise of better days ahead, a team that had taken on so many kudos in the off-season for what so many in the media had claimed was an impeccable off-season and draft, came out flat as a pancake when it mattered the most.  If this was a debut of what is to come for the Jets in 2022, you better start preparing your 2023 draft boards.  Sunday's 24-9 loss wasn't just a defeat at the hands of a better team, it was a total indictment of the Jets current predicament.  The Jets offensive line, which has been battered and beaten this summer with the losses of Meckhi Becton and Duane Brown looked like a sieve on Sunday. Joe Flacco, who is not exactly fleet of foot, was under siege all afternoon. The fact he came out of Sunday's game having been sacked only three times was a miracle in itself.  George Fa...
Post a Comment
Read more