Mets Finish Off Sweep of Marlins

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Final Score: New York Mets: 5 Miami Marlins: 1

Mets Finish Off Sweep of Marlins

With the 5-1 win Sunday afternoon, the Mets won their third straight series and seven of their last eight games.  They have moved to six games under .500 with a record of 64-70.  It was the first series sweep for the Mets since they took three straight from the Orioles June 18-20.  The Mets also swept the Marlins earlier in the season in April, but this is the first sweep on the road of the Marlins since 2007.  The Mets also improved their record in day games to 28-21 on the season.

Jason Bay enjoyed his best day of the season, going 2 for 4, driving in four runs thanks to a first inning grand slam.  The homerun was Bay’s first since August 16^th.

It was literally a month’s worth of production for Bay, who accumulated only one homerun and for RBI from August 3^rd through September 1st.

A key to the Mets recent success has been how well the bullpen has performed.  Saturday they had a 16 2/3 innings scoreless streak snapped, but got back to building a new one Sunday, as they threw four scoreless innings.  They have allowed one earned run in the past 22 2/3 innings.

The Mets bullpen has been a disaster all season, compiling a 15-25 record with a 4.83 ERA.  The Mets as a team are a disastrous 22-56 when a reliever allows a run.

A reason for the sweep this weekend against the Marlins was the Mets keeping Marlin slugger Giancarlo Stanton in check.  In the first two games of the series, Stanton went 2 for 8 with his only RBI coming on an infield hit.

That was a great success for Stanton compared to Sunday, as the Mets held Stanton hitless.  Stanton went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Sunday afternoon, as the Mets held the Marlins most dangerous power hitter more than in check for the weekend.

Manager Terry Collins gave some insight into the Mets plans coming down the stretch of the season.  Zach Lutz is expected to get a start sometime this week at one of the corner infield spots; he is also being considered for instructional ball this winter to learn a corner outfield spot to increase his value and playing potential in the majors next season.  Collins also said that Matt Harvey will make two or three more starts before being shut down and that Zach Wheeler’s season is done as they do not want to increase his inning total any more.  Jenrry Mejia is expected to make some starts for the major league club in September though Collins said.

Next up for the Mets is a three game series against St. Louis starting Monday.  Collin McHugh (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will return to the team to make the start Monday afternoon against Joe Kelly (4-6, 3.61 ERA).

Johan Santana Throws First No-Hitter In Mets History

Friday, June 1st 2012
Final Score: St. Louis Cardinals: 0 New York Mets: 8

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Johan Santana had to wait what was an excruciating 19 months in between MLB starts, but that seems like a blink of an eye for Mets fans after seeing Santana pitch tonight.  Santana tonight pitched the first no-hitter in New York Met history.  The record lasted for more than 50 seasons, totaling 8,019 games without a no-hitter.  This leaves the San Diego Padres as the only team left in the majors without a no-hitter.

It was a career night for Santana, who has never thrown even a one or two hitter but throwing a three hitter on five different occasions.  In addition to being his first no hitter as well as the first in Mets history, Santana set a career high for pitches thrown with 134.  The original plan, according to manager Terry Collins, was to have Santana on a 115 pitch limit.  Those plans had to be tweaked with history within reach as Santana finished off the 8th inning at 122 pitches.  A reason for the high pitch count was the five walks in addition to seven strikeouts Santana accumulated throughout the game.  The raucous crowd of 27,069 could be heard chanting “Johan” as he came to bat in the 8th inning before finishing off the game in the 9th.

Much like anything in history, more than one person plays a part in the outcome.  Tonight, the Mets defense stepped up behind Santana.  In the 7th inning on a hard hit ball my Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, left fielder Mike Baxter crashed into the wall with his arm outstretched preserving the no hitter.  Baxter would have to leave as a result of the play with a left shoulder contusion and will undergo further testing.

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Another play in question involves former Met Carlos Beltran, who was returning to Queens for the first time since being traded last season, and 3rd base umpire Adrian Johnson.  Beltran ripped a line drive down the 3rd base line which was ruled foul by Johnson.  The Cardinals argued that the ball was far, as Beltran would eventually ground out to end the at-bat.  Replays later proved to be inconclusive, but could be argued as either hitting the chalk or missing it.  “I saw the ball hitting outside the line, just foul,” Johnson is quoted as saying to reporters after the game.  After being shown the replay, Johnson was asked what he thought and he replied with, “No comment.”

In addition to Santana’s sterling performance, the 3-4-5 hitters David Wright, Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy, the heart of the Mets lineup, delivered big time production knocking in all eight Met runs.  Duda had four R.B.I. including a 3-run homerun on the 6th inning of Cardinal starting pitcher Adam Wainwright.  Murphy added two 2-our R.B.I., with three total with Wright getting his R.B.I. on a bases loaded walk in the 7th inning.

Up next for the Mets and Cardinals is the second game of their four game series at 4:15 P.M. ET.  R.A. Dickey (7-1, 3.06 ERA) takes the mound for the Mets versus Lance Lynn (8-1, 2.54 ERA) of the Cardinals in a match-up against two of the most surprising and top pitchers in the majors this season.