I was working when the game started and I listen with great interest as the Mets showed some life and attitude. What happened after last night's game is any one's guess, but maybe there is some pride in this team after all.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I absolutely love John Maine as a pitcher. He's been a favorite of mine since his call up in '06. He has a powerful arm and a brain to match. He is constantly learning how to pitch and never seems content to be average. I see a lot of Josh Beckett in him. He wants to shut the other team down and beat them to a pulp. It hasn't always worked out for John, but he never quits and never surrenders. And those traits are evident this year. While in earlier starts he hasn't had his best stuff, he worked his way thru the problems and gave his team a chance to win. Today, he was smoking and the Dodgers never had a chance.
John didn't strikeout a lot of hitters, but they were pounding the ball into the dirt and couldn't get anything going until the 9th inning. His fastball was constantly hitting 93-95 MPH and topped out at 97!!! His change-up has nasty and dropping across the plate at 78-82 MPH. He worked quickly and threw strikes. His pitch count was only in the low 80's in the 8th inning, and came out for the 9th. Then things got sticky. He allowed a bloop double to Andrew Jones, walked 1 and had another hitter give him a long at bat that turned into a RBI single. Once the 1st run scored, Willie pulled him after 117 pitches. John even managed to drive in 2 runs with a single to center. So not a bad day at all for John.
The offense finally played like we all hoped they would. They got 2 out hits and hit with runners in scoring position. Once they got Brad Penny reeling, they didn't let up. They kept their foot on his throat and scored 10 runs on him. That's what they needed last night, but failed to do. They need to be like sharks in the water. Once there's blood flowing, attack over and over. Don't allow other teams to hang around. Bury them and their hopes of victory as fast as possible. Ryan Church just continues to get better and better. He had 3 hits today and 1 was another long home run. I said earlier this month that I envision him as a left handed version of David Wright. Well so far he's proving me right. Castillo, Pagan, Casanova, Anderson and David had RBI hits also. Reyes went 0-3 with 2 walks, and Beltran mangled 3 balls and got 1 hit. Most importantly, Castillo, Wright, and Maine all got 2 out RBI hits. Those have been very rare for the Mets this year.
Overall is was a complete game. Great starting pitching that went deep into the game. Timely hitting with runners in scoring position and 2 outs. And good solid fielding. These things are the foundation of success on the field, and something that needs to happen more often.
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2 comments:
Church is really good offensively but he's not the left-handed David Wright. They're nothing alike. Wright is a very patient hitter and walks a ton. Church hardly ever walks and strikes out a ton. He swings at a lot of early pitches. Church is more like Ryan Howard. He has a really long swing so he either hits the ball well or strikes out.
David strikes out alot too. He has done it more than 100 times in each of his full years.I believe Ryan and David will have very similiar stats at the end of the year. .300+ ave., 25-30 HR, 40+ doubles, 100+ RBI. I don't know how much Ryan steals, but he should be able to swipe a few this year. I say 15-20 steals.
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