The Mets lost to the Braves tonight by the score of 8-3 at Turner Field. This game was one of the ugliest games I can recall the Mets playing in a long time. Mike Pelfrey started for the Mets and once again was not very good. After falling behind 1-0 in the first, the Mets were able to take the lead on an RBI ground out by Carlos Beltran in the Top of the 3rd. Pelfrey however was unable to hold the lead for even a 1/2 inning, as he allowed back to back HR's by Mets nemesis Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, giving the Braves a 3-2 lead. The game would stay that way until the 5th inning. Leading off the Bot of the 5th was Braves pitcher Mike Dunn, who came on for starter Kris Medlen, after Medlen left with an apparent arm injury. Dunn hit a ground ball to SS Jose Reyes who fielded the ball and threw high out of the reach of Ike Davis at first base. Dunn was awarded 2nd base as the ball went into the stands. After recording outs on the next two hitters, Pelfrey walked Chipper Jones. Then with runners on 1st and 3rd, and two outs, McCann lined a 2B down the RF line to score the runner from third and set the Braves up with a 2nd and 3rd situation. Jerry Manuel then decided to walk Eric Hinske to load the bases for Matt Diaz. That move would backfire though as Pelfrey would wind up Plunking Diaz in the back to bring in a run while the bases remained loaded. That was the end of the night for Mike Pelfrey. Hisanori Takahashi would come on to get the final out of the innng.
Things did not fair much better in the Bot of the 6th. With 1 out, Melky Cabrera reached base on Jose Reyes' second throwing error of the game. Omar Infante would follow with a 1B to RF. Then with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, the Mets defense imploaded. First, Jason Heyward hit a ground ball to 1st that Ike Davis booted which would load the bases. Then, Chipper Jones hit a tailormaid double play ball to David Wright at 3rd, but Wright threw wide of Castillo at 2nd and the ball went into RF scoring two runs.
The Mets would add a run in the 7th on an Angel Pagan Sac Fly, and the Braves would do the same in the Bot of the 8th, on a Solo HR by Melky Cabera. That would be all the scoring on the night as the Mets went on to lose by the score of 8-3.
This game was the icing on the cake for what has been a disasterous 2nd half of the season. Mike Pelfrey was bad once again tonight, only lasting 4 2/3 innings, while giving up 8 H, 2BB, and 5 runs (3 ER).
Jerry Manuel once again made a very bad decision regarding his pitcher. With 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd in the 5th, Manuel chose to leave Pelfrey in the game to face left-handed hitter Brian McCann, even though Pelfrey just walked Chipper Jones on 4 pitches, and he had left-handed pitcher Raul Valdes ready in the pen. McCann would wind up with an RBI 2B and Manuel would then remove Pelfrey. I dont understand this move. How can you leave Pelfrey in the game in this situaion when you have a lefty warm in the pen? This game was the most important gam of the year. You cannot manage in this situation as if it is the first game of the year. This was just another example of Jerry Manuel's incompetency when it comes to making in-game tactical decisions.
In the 6th inning the wheels just fell apart for this club. The Mets made 3 errors, all on the infield, that cost them 2 runs. It was one of the most sloppily played innings I have ever seen by an infield.
Once again, the Mets came out in a very important game and could not get it done. This has been the teams M.O. all year. They look great one day, but when the season is on the line, they fail to get it done. This should be unacceptable by management and I hope they are paying attention.
The Mets have the day off tomorrow and will start a 3 game series with the Phillies in Philadelphia on Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment