Why Jerry Why?

Last night the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Mets by the score of 8 to 7 in 13 Innings.

The Mets fell behind by 6 runs before they even came to bat in the Bottom of the 1st. Johan Santana could not get loose and was getting hit hard all over the park by the Cards. He wound up giving up 6 runs on 8 hits in the Top of the 1st. The Mets however mounted a tremendous comeback. They got two runs back on Mike Hessman's first hit as a Met in the 1st. After the Cards scored a run in the 6th to push the lead back up to 5, Carlos Beltran blasted his first HR of the year to LF to make it a 4 run game again. Then in the Bottom of the 8th the Mets bats broke out. Angel Pagan hit a long HR to RF, his 9th of the year, a two run shot that cut the lead to 7-5. Then later in the inning with the bases loaded and two out, Ike Davis came off the bench to deliver a huge 2 RBI pinch hit 1B to tie the game at 7-7. The Mets at this point had all the momentum and had a few oppertunities later in the game to get the win, however, they could not capitalize. Then in the Top of the 13th, with 2 outs, runners on 1st and 3rd, Albert Pujols lined a single to LF to break the tie and put the Cards ahead for good. Ryan Franklin came in to close it with a 1-2-3 Bot of the 13th inning.

This game I feel has sealed Jerry Manuel's fate with the organization. I still do not think that they will fire him during this season but assuming this team does not make the playoffs, he will not be back next year. He made several wrong tactical decisions during this game and one huge mistake that wound up costing the Mets the game.

The first mistake he made was leaving Santana in 1 batter too long. He seems to make this mistake often. After 2 outs in the 6th and Santana already over 100 pitches, Santana gave up 2 straight singles to Jon Jay and Albert Pujols. It was obvious that Santana was laboring as he fell behind in the count to both players who singled. But as Jerry tends to do he left Santana in to face Matt Holliday who doubled down the RF line to bring in Jay. As soon as the play was over, Manuel did his usual trot to the mound to pull Santana as if he knew that he made a mistake and that he was going to get booed.

The second mistake came in the Mets 4 run 8th inning. Some people might not classify it as a mistake since it didn't hurt the team and Ike Davis eventually came off the bench to tie the game. However, I still think it was a glaring point in the game where Jerry had a mishap. With 1 out and 1 on Mike Hessman came to the plate as the tying run. Earlier in the inning, Pagan hit his 9th HR of the year to cut the lead to 2 runs. In this spot, with a RHP on the mound, you must use Ike Davis to try and tie this game with a HR. I understand that he eventually did get his shot and tie the game with a 1b, but this situation called for Davis, and Manuel failed to make the move.

Finally, the third and most crucial mistake of the night by Manuel was the obvious one. How can you pitch to the best hitter in baseball, with an open base and two outs. I understand Matt Holliday is a very good hitter. However, we are talking about the best hitter in the game. I was stunned when they did not intentionally walk him. Of course, Pujols went on to line a tie-breaking single up the middle to win the game. As I sat there, in Section 510, in my season ticket, I said to myself that this has to be the last straw. Jerry has to go. Cardinals fans around me (FYI there were a ton of Cards fans last night) could be heard screaming "thank you Jerry Manuel!". Even they knew that it was a huge mistake. Why Jerry, Why?