Gay Dame IGT, Zito v. Maine, 7/10/08

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Jerry talking as if Argenis Reyes and Nick Evans will get starts this afternoon. Zito we all know has been awful this season but coming off a good start.

I'm a little bit worried about Maine, hopefully the O makes this an easy day for him and he enjoys a nice break.

[stevejrogers]

Beat me to it Johnny DickCouguarBucket!

Heading over actually. Got a modest one game Met win streak going!

[Benjamin Grimm]

It would suck if the Mets beat the Giants' two best starters, and then lost to the awful one.

Argenis Reyes has played well enough that I won't begrudge him a start, but having him and Evans in the lineup on the same day might weaken the lineup too much. Hopefully Castro starts instead of Schneider.

I think I'd put Argenis in the second slot, so we don't have a relative dead zone of A. Reyes/Evans/Maine.

[Frayed Knot]

DGANG almost certainly means Schneider.
Both yesterday and today were LHPs so I was thinking going in that it's just a matter of which game Castro got and which Schneider did.

Be nice to get the sweep. I thought 4 of 6 was pretty much a minimum for these final two series before the ASB. Taking the first 3 puts us ahead of the game.

[Guest AG/DC]

I kind of hate Schnedier against lefties, relative to Castro. And I hope with the relative amount of rest Castro has gotten, one DGaaNG won't kill him.

[soupcan]

="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]I'm a little bit worried about Maine, hopefully the O makes this an easy day for him and he enjoys a nice break.

He doesn't seem to be...

]The right-hander John Maine plans to start Thursday�s series finale against the Giants although he left his last start, a 9-4 victory Saturday over Philadelphia, with pain in his left elbow. �It�s my left arm, so I don�t care,� Maine said Wednesday, laughing. Maine said he might have hurt his arm while swinging a bat against the Phillies. He threw a side session Monday and he said he felt little pain in his left arm � but not enough that he would consider it a handicap. He had not swung a bat since Saturday. �If I�m out there, I�m not babying it,� he said.

I also saw last night on one of the myriad of post-post-game shows that Jerry said that Castro will not play today.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This smells like a pretty weak lineup then.

My guess, as of 10:30 a.m.:

J.Reyes ss
Chavez rf
Wright 3b
Beltran cf
Delgado 1b
Schneider c
A. Reyes 2b
Evans lf
Maine p


Not too imposing. I guess the saving grace here is that the Mets are playing a team that tends to score zero runs per game.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm going with the Scrub Special:

JReyes SS
AReyes 2B
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Tatis 1B
Evans LF
Aguila RF
Schneider C
Maine P

[bmfc1]

Zito says that it will be "fun" to pitch today and also says that the Mets "badmouthed" him.

I found this in today's Chronicle:

All week, the tabloids here have gone cuckoo over the impending divorce of Alex Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia, as well as their alleged love quadrangle with rockers Madonna and Lenny Kravitz. Wednesday's New York Post, for instance, wrote about a stripper who supposedly had an affair with A-Rod. The story quoted friends of the woman describing Rodriguez as "beautiful," "very attractive" and "well-endowed."

Barry Zito, who pitches in today's series finale at Shea Stadium, acknowledged that stuff such as that played into his decision to sign with the Giants rather than the Mets, who also pursued him.

"I knew that would be a factor, the media markets," Zito said. "You get exposed and you don't really have a personal life anymore. It becomes so much more inflated than the reality is, which is, we're just playing ball. I think buying into the lie that we're doing something so important, I think it hurts our performance because we feel our performance is determining the fate of the world. A lot of times in huge media markets you can start to think that."

Zito has seen the A-Rod stuff in the papers and said, "It's just a shame. I don't know what the real story is. Only a limited amount of people do. It's just a shame that society is geared this way where we put someone's details of their lives or problems on the front page. It's a shame that people are entertained more with the downfalls and struggles of certain peoples in the spotlight than they are with their successes."

Zito can only imagine how he would have been treated in New York if he signed with the Mets for $126 million and started a season 4-12. Last year, Zito was 11-13, with two of his wins against the Mets. In fact, he pitched seven shutout innings in a victory at Shea and acknowledged he throws with a little extra motivation against the Mets because he believes team officials bad-mouthed his abilities two winters ago in a bid to lower his signing price. He noted he won his first 11 decisions against the Rangers, who drafted him in 1998 but, in Zito's mind, tried to lowball him.

"It's always fun to go out and pitch well against the team that said certain things about you," he said. "Now that I'm kind of pitching the way I should be, it will be fun."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/09/SPIF11ME2P.DTL (emphasis added)

[Guest AG/DC]

Translation: Barry prefers a city where he pitch terribly and bed muscle-bound strippers in relative anonymity.

Couldn't. Resist.

Bad Edgy.

[Gwreck]

Mets lineup (source):

Reyes SS
Reyes 2B
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Tatis RF
Delgado 1B
Evans LF
Schneider C
Maine P

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Damn, I knew my insertion of Aguila and sitting of Delgado was too aggressive. Still, I got the first 5 right and therefore deserve a cold frosty beer.

[Guest themetfairy]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Damn, I knew my insertion of Aguila and sitting of Delgado was too aggressive. Still, I got the first 5 right and therefore deserve a cold frosty beer.

Fine, but at least wait until noon to drink it!

[Guest Number 6]

They should bring up Jose A. and bat him 3rd.

That is, if he's still with the organization, which I'm too lazy to look up.

[Guest AG/DC]

The Reyesest team you can field:

1. Jose Reyes, ss, New York Mets


2. Argenis Reyes, 2b, New York Mets


3. Raul Reyes, cf, Savannah Sand Gnats


4. Julio Reyes, 1b, Olmecas de Tabasco


5. Rene Reyes, lf, Pericos de Puebla


6. Leonardo Reyes, rf, Tri-City Dust Devils


7. Guillermo Reyes, 3b, Mobile BayBears


8. Jose A. Reyes, c, Esterellas del Oriente


9. JoJo Reyes, sp, Atlanta Braves

Dennys Ryes, rp, Mnnesota Twins
Anthony Reyes, rp, St. Louis Cardinals
Al Reyes, rp, Tampa Bay (Devil) Reyes

[Guest Number 6]

I couldn't even be bothered (arsed?) to look up where Jose A. landed. Meanwhile, you're looking at the roster of the Tri-City Dust Devils. I just can't compete in this league.

[Frayed Knot]

AG/DC wrote: The Reyesest team you can field: Jose Reyes, ss, New York Mets Argenis Reyes, 2b, New York Mets Raul Reyes, cf, Savannah Sand Gnats Julio Reyes, 1b, Olmecas de Tabasco Rene Reyes, lf, Pericos de Puebla Leonardo Reyes, rf, Tri-City Dust Devils Guillermo Reyes, 3b, Mobile BayBears Jose A. Reyes, c, Esterellas del Oriente JoJo Reyes, sp, Atlanta Braves Dennys Ryes, rp, Mnnesota Twins Anthony Reyes, rp, St. Louis Cardinals Al Reyes, rp, Tampa Bay (Devil) Reyes

The sport of kings!

[metirish]

Tha way Zito is jawing I might think he's 12 - 4 , STFU.

[Gwreck]

metirish wrote: Tha way Zito is jawing I might think he's 12 - 4 , STFU.

No kidding. Also, this is not the first time Zito has faced the Mets since he signed the big money deal. Surprising to see him doing this now.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is, I think, the third blue-cap day in a row.

No pinstripes, though.

[Guest holychicken]

Maine a little wild. . . 3 walks already and about even on strikes to balls. . .and that is with 2 strikeouts in a row to end the second.

Hopefully he has settled down.

BTW, how the hell am I supposed to work with a game on?

[Guest AG/DC]

Schneider vs. lefties going into this at-bat:

.204 / .259 / .204 // .463

It's not Wagner got Willie fired.

(Naturally, Schneider sticks it to me by getting a walk and at least clearing the pitcher. Good man.)

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Zito says badmouthing drove him away from an East Coast team he had no intention of signing with, but would use as leverage to drive up the price of a contract for a team in California, where he wanted to be all along.

He should be sending flowers to whoever he thinks did the badmouthing, because he got exactly what he wanted.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Ralph Kiner in the booth!

He's looking dapper in his SNY shirt.

[Guest AG/DC]

Argenis Reyes, hitting .400.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Beltran, for some reason, does the unorthodox and instead of taking a called third strike, like he does in EVERY OTHER AT BAT, singles home the go-ahead run.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Two run double for Tatis! 3-0 Mets!

(Beltran ignores Aguayo's stop sign and scores the third run.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Radio guys say Wright's reaching by error was a tough score and that he prolly deserved a single.

Wayne Hagin forgot to tell me what base Wright wound up on after Beltran's RBI single (it was 2nd). I hate when that happens.

Hagin and Rose seemed in disagreement over wether Beltran would be caught had the throw not been cut. Hagin called it like Beltran ran through and would've been meat had it not been cut, Howie was like he had it all the way and was right to ignore the sign.

[Benjamin Grimm]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Radio guys say Wright's reaching by error was a tough score and that he prolly deserved a single.

TV guys agreed. Wright really smacked that pitch.

Maine's up to 80 pitches with 2 out in the fourth.

[Centerfield]

Damn. There goes the shutout streak. Still 3-1 good guys.