Air Claws and Errors: July 24, 2011

Just like yesterday, here are some random things that I witnessed or experienced during the day as I throw up an Air Claw for the cool shit, and score an error for the not so cool shit.

Claw– David Wright comes through with more late inning RBIs in the form of a two run jack in the seventh inning.

Error- The Mets drop a series to the effing Fish.  A series they should have won and had plenty of opportunities to do so.  They now find themselves below .500…..again.

Claw- Manny Acosta pitches two scoreless innings and was in line for the win.

Error- Bobby Parnell’s slider.

Claw- for Mother Nature, raining out my son’s baseball tournament shortly after I discovered it was an hour and a half behind schedule  and we likely would have been playing until midnight.

Error- for me, because for some unknown reason I can never spell the word eighth correctly and always have to rely on the automatic spell check to spell it properly.  Ironically, I spelled it right in that sentence after at least two months of always failing to do so.

Claw- goes out to John for sharing his Claws and Errors today, some of which made the list.  Thanks for contributing!

Error-  goes out to the very same John for suggesting we give a Claw for Emilio Bonifacio and his 23 game hitting streak.  A 23 game hitting streak is impressive, but I just couldn’t raise my arm up to claw a Marlin. 

And finally……

Claw- for nine-year old Jayden making that sweet catch.  Most nine-year old outfielders don’t even see that ball as they are too busy picking dandelions.

Error- for the guy operating the pitching machine.  Sweet baseball pants Coach!

Feel free to share your Claws and Errors by posting on our Facebook page wall, tweeting us @mdwestroplitan, or by leaving a comment below.

Fourteen Runs?!?

With 8,000 other Mets blogs out there surely you’ve read a riveting recap of the Mets 14-5 win by now. So, as always, I’ll take no part in that.

Anyway, the 14 run outburst had me wondering just how good the Mets offense is. Naturally I consulted the Midwestropolitan Research staff, and let’s just say I was surprised to find that the Mets are the highest scoring team in the division.

Ok, Atlanta, Washington and Florida are all pretty bad offensively. But I figured at least Philadelphia would be ahead of New York (the Mets hold a 12-run advantage, 329-317).

The difference? The Phillies lead the NL in ERA and the Mets are 12th, almost a full run higher. That’s why the Mets only (slim) shot is the Wild Card…unless another one of the fantastic four goes down to injury…

So who is to blame?

Well, the Mets team ERA of 3.99 would be pretty awesome any other year, but it is the year of the pitcher. Clearly Mike Pelfrey (4.78 ERA) is the one dragging down the starting staff. Capuano has picked it up, Gee has been great, Dickey gets no run support and Niese is solid.

Four names have really messed up any chance of the team having a lower ERA though – Carrasco, Misch, Boyer, and Acosta. All of them have 5 or more games pitched and an ERA ranging from 6 point something to 11 point something.

The Point?

There is none!

Beat Like A Rented Mule

Pretty much a pointless game tonight as the Mets got lit up like Tom at dollar beer night.  Fortunately, we have avoided this type of loss for the most part this season.

Here’s a run down of what I took from this game.  I’ve got to warn you, it isn’t pretty:

• This might have been Manny Acosta’s last appearance in a while.  If the Mets stay true to form, I could easily see him being designated for assignment.  I can’t say I’d be too heart broken if this were to happen.  He isn’t a viable option in the bullpen anymore.
• The Rangers reminded me of what power in a lineup can do to an opponent.  Three bombs with runners on sealed any hope of the Mets clawing back in this one.
• It seemed as if the Mets started this contest down six runs.  They just never appeared to be remotely close in this game.
• Mike Pelfrey was disappointing tonight.  His up and down 2011 continues.  Wave bye bye to his quality start streak which ended at three.
• On a positive note, Jason Bay went 3 for 4 (all singles).  Maybe he is slowly inching closer to the day when he will produce a few extra base hits.

Well, at least this means the Mets have only two more games remaining against the defending AL Champs.  I am still holding on to some hope that the Mets can steal one in Arlington tomorrow or Sunday.

Reds 3, Mets 2

Why do I get the feeling this is going to be an up and down year?  With this loss to the Reds, the Mets find themselves on a three game losing streak.

It took eleven innings for the game to be decided on a Lance Nix home run off of Manny Acosta.

PITCHING:

Oliver Perez pitched well for the Mets allowing two runs in six innings.  His fastball was reaching the low nineties consistently and it looked like it had some bite to it.

Hopefully this is  a sign that Ollie is feeling good and is going to get on a roll.

Of course, we couldn’t have a game without the obligatory Met walk of a pitcher.  This occurred in the fifth inning as Ollie walked Mike Leake with one out.  He would eventually wind up scoring.

The bullpen was able to produce four shutout innings prior to the Nix home run thanks to Jenrry Mejia, Fernando Nieve, and Pedro Felciano. Nieve looked particularly impressive in his two innings of relief.

THE LUMBER:

The most positive sign was Jose Reyes‘ effort at the plate.  He went 2 for 5 with an RBI, and hit the ball well all night.

Luis Castillo and David Wright were able to produce two hits a piece as well.

Jeff Francoeur was responsible for the other Met run with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

OUTLOOK:

The Mets faced the Reds’ best pitcher so far in this season in Mike Leake.  He was impressive as he kept the ball down all night and didn’t make any huge mistakes.

The Mets have the chance to play .500 baseball on this road trip with wins in the next two games against the Reds.  They will need the bats to warm up and the pitching to repeat its performance from the first game of the series.

After three losses in a row, the Mets still find themselves only a half of game out of first place thanks to the Cardinals win over the Phillies.

John Maine will take the mound to face Bronson Arroyo Tuesday night.

More on Monday’s Game:

Check out what my blog brothers are saying about the first game of the series against the Reds:

Mets Today

Metsmerized

MetsBlog

The Real Dirty Mets Blog