Scary Win in the Bright Left Field Sun

On Sunday, in the left field bleacher seats of Coors Field, we watched the Mets scare us a couple times over (including right in front of us on the warning track for the last out), only to squeak out a gutsy 6-5 win, taking the series and giving us a 2-0 Denver trip.

Johan Santana was fantastic, and as opposed to all his other starts this year, the Mets actually scored runs for him, and early. Before we were even in our seats, grabbing grub and drink, the Mets had scored 3 runs for Johan (on a David Wright double and a Scott Hairston single), eventually giving him a 4-0 lead. As we have learned this weekend (or have been reminded of) no lead is safe in that ballpark and against those Rockies. (Will Johan ever catch a break as a member of the New York Mets?!)

Jon Rauch was due to be off his game a little bit. He has pitched so well so far. How upset can we really be at his lack of control during this outing? And Byrdak, after a fantastic 8th inning the night before, just hung that slider up there for "Mr. Rockie" Todd Helton to crush, tying the game at 4. And while the bullpen did not hold a couple of leads (with Frank Francisco being very hittable right now), they would not have been the scapegoat if we had lost this game.

The offense was most certainly one of the heroes. They never quit when the going got tough near the end. They kept battling after every lead but the last one was given up. The Mets had, however, 22 base-runners in this game, and only plated 6 of those. They got the big hits when we needed them late in the game, but the LOB number has got to go down. It has plagued this Metropolitan franchise for way too long.

Nevermind when I said yesterday that Ike coming out of this slump might be thwarted by finesse pitcher Jamie Moyer. Ike had a fantastic day, going 3 for 6 and driving in the winning run. Clearly, Ike's resurgence the last few days has nothing to do with him shortening his swing and going with the pitch. It is not because he has a better approach at the plate than he had when he was reeling. It is because he met us Saturday night and signed my girlfriend's jersey. Obviously that is the only reason he went 3 for 6. Obviously...

Cap'n. Kirk. 
Amazing catch. And great piece of hitting.

We travel back to the East in a couple of hours. All in all, it was an amazing Colorado trip. I look forward to recapping it for all of you.

The Mets head to the Lone Star State and take on the future American League team, the Houston Astros. Tonight, my man, RA Dickey, takes on the right-hander Bud Norris. Game time is 8:05 PM EST. Let's keep it rollin', Metropolitans.

LET'S. GO. METS.


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A Signature From Ike to Go With a Great Night

In my first visit to beautiful Coors Field for a Mets game, the Orange and Blue pulled off a solid 7-5 victory to tie the series at 1 game apiece.

The even cooler part of the night was the signature you see there on my girlfriend's jersey from a certain Ike Davis outside the ballpark. AWESOME!!!!!

Speaking of Ike, the man looked as if he might be on his way out of this massive slump. He went 1 for 4, but drove the ball with authority in every one of his at bats. That is a good sign he is seeing the ball better and, with luck, the baseballs will start dropping as soon as today. Buuuuuut....Jamie Moyer is not the pitcher you want to be facing as you try to break out of a slump.....I'm sure Ike will be fine, though. Especially now that he has met my girlfriend and myself.

Dillon Gee struggled throughout but also battled very nicely for a 7-inning, 4-run line. It perturbed me when he allowed the pitcher to hit a single on a 3-2 count, scoring the go-ahead run in the 4th inning, but other than that I was very impressed with how he handled himself in the mile-high city. On a night when we desperately needed length (and for the pitchers to not give up 18 runs) Dillon Gee delivered.

As did Tim Byrdak in the 8th. Carlos Gonzalez lined out to The Duda, Troy Tulowitzki grounded out to Ruben, and "Mr. Rockie" Todd Helton struck out swinging. Fantastic inning from The Byrd (do people call him that?)

Another solid night from the offense. David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada and Lucas Duda all had multi-hit games, with two others collecting one hit apiece. I was most impressed with the team's ability to rally with 2 outs. We plated 4 runs with 2 outs on the board. Pet Peeve of mine when it happens against my team, big fan when it's my team that does the hitting (I know that's an obvious statement, but still.) Also, after starting out slowly, Mike Baxter has been hitting the ball solidly off the bench lately, and the run he scored on a wild pitch was clearly needed, with what we saw Friday night and the fact that Frank Francisco is just a little off right now. His fastball is hittable, and even on that last out of the 9th, the Rockies drove the baseball with authority in his inning of work. But, hey, a save is a save and a win is a win, right? Still, it is a little concerning.

We will close out the Mets part of our Colorado trip today at 1:10 PM local time, 3:10 PM New York time. Johan is on the mound for the Metropolitans, and, as I mentioned earlier, the Freak of Nature Jamie Moyer will start for the Rockies. Let's head to Houston with a series win, guys.

LET'S. GO. METS.


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The Err of Their Ways

Uh.....Let's never talk about the Mets 9-18 loss to the Rockies again, you guys.

I was riding at 30,000 feet, on my way to Denver while surfing the World Wide Web, reveling in a recently gained 6-2 Mets lead. Then, Chris Schwinden threw an easy comebacker high to first and.....YADA YADA YADA...Scott Hairston got a cycle, the Mets made 6 errors and the Mets lost 9-18. 

That all the recap deserves. YADA YADA YADA.







But Hey, at least I took this awesome photo on the runway of JFK.  

I have been to Coors Field but never for a Mets game. Looking forward to them putting that disaster behind them and Dillon Gee locking it down tonight.

LET'S. GO. METS.


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Absolutely NO WAY We'd Let Reyes High-Five on Our Field

An unbelievably thrilling 9th inning led to a 3-2 Homegrown-Mets win, sweeping the Store-Bought Marlins out of town.

What can you say about Turner's At-Bat? I was pacing back and forth at work, exclaiming after every foul ball. He laid off all the breaking pitches and didn't let the strikes go by him. Fantasic. I went to softball with a smile on my face rather than an "Oh Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad." I woulda been lying to myself, however. In this instance, coming off of that Giants series and with the heightened emotions of Reyes returning, I feel it was sweep or bust. Awesome.

Niese is solid once again, and Cap'n Kirk keeps it up. 

And props to Ramon Ramirez for 2 scoreless innings.

I am traveling to Denver this weekend to see some friends, some family, and some Mets. Saturday and Sunday I will be at Coors Field. I want a 14 on the left side of the column by the time I get home. Keep it up, Orange and Blue.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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Hey, Reyes! Remember When YOU Were Breaking Mets Records?

In one of the faster-paced ballgames of the year, the Mets defeated the Marlins 5-1 on a historic night for Mets baseball.

Before any of us knew it, it was the eighth inning and less than two hours had passed since the first pitch. The fast pace of both Mark Buehrle and RA Dickey was thoroughly discussed before the game, and sure enough, both pitchers lived up to those expectations. At one point, I counted only 10 seconds for RA between knuckleballs. And boy, was that knuckleball knucklin'.

In yesterday's game post, I completely forgot to mention how awesome Johan was, so there was no way I could go another game without mentioning the great starting pitching. RA was excellent, and after a bad go-around through the rotation for just about everybody, it's nice to have stoppers who can rebound and get everyone back on track. Dickey had a great feel for his signature pitch, and other than one he left up to Omar Infante, who absolutely crushed it, he had the entire Marlins line-up off-balance all night long. He's also got some fantastic reflexes.

My fist pumped so high while at work when David Wright hit the go-ahead home run, passing Darryl Strawberry to become the all-time Mets leader in RBIs. The small crowd on another chilly night loved it as well, and they got raucous after the home run, their loudness amplified over my headset. Listening on the radio, I was picturing how fitting the image must be watching David Wright trot by Jose at short while on his way to taking that record.  It took me a while to get on the David Wright bandwagon, but I now fully understand what he means to this organization. After 8 years in the league, he is exactly the veteran leadership this team needs, and I see no scenario where David Wright doesn't get an extension with this ball club.

Other takeaways from this game:

• He didn't get a hit and struck out twice, but Kirk Nieuwenhuis keeps factoring into decisions. It was his takeout slide that aided in Jose Reyes overthrowing 1st on a double play attempt, leading to an extra out and Wright's home run. Love it.
• You knew Reyes was bound to get a hit against us at some point, but luckily his speed was rendered obsolete as Bobby Parnell struck out Hanley Ramirez with Jose running. It was a funny image watching Thole's ball sail past a slowed down Reyes into center field while the rest of the Orange and Blue began their trot back to the dugout.
• It was noticeable a little bit ago, but The Duda is starting to come out of his early season funk. The swing is shorter, he's having great at-bats and look for him to really heat up soon.
• Just when I say Mike Baxter doesn't belong, he looks like a hitter. He may never be the most talented guy on the field, but he will always give everything he's got, and that particular play was a nice piece of hitting.

Jon Niese will look to continue this great starting pitching when he takes on Ricky Nolasco and the Marlins today at 1:10. 

There's some smelly Fish on the floor, you guys. Let's sweep them up.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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