IGT 8/19/12 -- Mets @ Washington

[Frayed Knot]

Trying to win an actual series. Mets are 4-6 in condom games this year.

Coming off scoring a total of six runs against their 4th & 5th starters, today we get Gio Gonzalez [15-6; 3.29; 1.14] but, hey, at least we're countering with Jeremy Hefner.

Tune in at 1:35 EDT (if your TV provider lets you)


Our lineup vs the lefty-thrower is:
Torres - CF
Turner - 2B
Wright - 3B
Hairston - RF
Davis - 1B
Cedeno - SS
Bay - LF
Shoppach - C
Hefner - P

[bmfc1]

Cedeno at #6 doesn't speak well for the lineup... or for Bay.

Them:
1. Jayson Werth ® RF
2. Bryce Harper (L) CF
3. Ryan Zimmerman ® 3B
4. Adam LaRoche (L) 1B
5. Michael Morse ® LF
6. Ian Desmond ® SS
7. Danny Espinosa (S) 2B
8. Kurt Suzuki ® C
9. Gio Gonzalez ® P

[Ceetar]

Of Mets with at least 100 AB, Cedeno is 4th in OPS. .798. He's actually having a really good year.

[Guest Kong76]

So we get NFL network now, but can't watch baseball on a lazy
August Sunday afternoon. Thanks, you suck.

(and would it be that hard to just show game on SNY as well as
PIX or whatever they call themselves these days?)

[bmfc1]

Ceetar wrote: Of Mets with at least 100 AB, Cedeno is 4th in OPS. .798. He's actually having a really good year.

But 6th? He'll take a walk and Bay will hit into a DP. Don't you want some pop there? You could put him 2d but that means Turner at 6 so it's not an improvement.

[Ceetar]

bmfc1 wrote: Ceetar wrote: Of Mets with at least 100 AB, Cedeno is 4th in OPS. .798. He's actually having a really good year. But 6th? He'll take a walk and Bay will hit into a DP. Don't you want some pop there? You could put him 2d but that means Turner at 6 so it's not an improvement.

well, do you want Bay in front of him? second's probably better since Turner doesn't do so well against lefties. put Turner 7th.

[bmfc1]

I'd prefer a different LF and 2B. It probably doesn't matter considering the caliber of the players.

[G-Fafif]

Rain in our nation's capital, Cablevision won't be able to not show game starting on time.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Just not a channel 11 rain delay without Felix and Oscar.

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: condom games

I thought it was determined earlier in the year that we always tend to lose when this term is used.

[bmfc1]

I think it was determined that the Mets lose when Hefner starts. What a nothing pitcher he is.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

That may be a LITTLE harsh. He's had something like 2 bad starts out of 6; the others have ranged from "good" to "technically a quality start."

OE: And Harper and Zimmerman rebut as I type this.

[bmfc1]

LWFS--perhaps, but I see him as useless. He should go work for Chik-Fil-A and leave us alone. I'm dreading hearing his name as a rotation candidate next spring.

[Frayed Knot]

Gwreck wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: condom games I thought it was determined earlier in the year that we always tend to lose when this term is used.

Yeah, we also determined that it was the cause, right after lousy pitching, lousy hitting, and lousy fielding were all eliminated as factors.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

OK, so it's one of four factors. We're working with a pretty slim margin of error here. Can't take any chances.

[Frayed Knot]

Strike outs and pop outs with runners on 3rd and <2 outs in front of the pitcher - which in turn puts more of a premium on the need for the 2-outs hits that have kept us totally out of last place - was also eliminated as a cause in favor of words used on a website.

Edited August 19, 2012 by Guest

[bmfc1]

Runner on 3B, no one out--the Nationals had the Mets just where they wanted them.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Leadoff triple? Guaranteed runs?

NOPE. This, friends, is SHaMball.

[G-Fafif]

Harper not so slumpy.

Hefner not so...anything.

[Frayed Knot]

Six hits and a walk equals ... no runs.
The only good news is that they made Gio Gonzalez work hard enough to where it took him 90 pitches to navigate these five innings - so maybe be get an inning or two against their weaker pen before hitting their end-game guys.


Of course if we're going to be out-XBH'd at about a 10/1 ratio none of this will matter.

[Frayed Knot]

bmfc1 wrote: But 6th? He'll take a walk and Bay will hit into a DP. Don't you want some pop there? You could put him 2d but that means Turner at 6 so it's not an improvement.

Pop from whom?
The Mets have a total of nine HRs in August spread among eight different players. Ike (2) is the only guy with more than one.

[bmfc1]

Valid point FK. It shows how weak the lineup is and how badly they need Bay to do what he's being paid to do.

[Frayed Knot]

The larger point being that arguments about the specific order of the lineup these days brings to mind the analogy about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
We need a change of crew for the boat, not a new decorator.

[bmfc1]

Frayed Knot wrote: We need a change of crew for the boat....

Hear Hear!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Give 'em hell, Hairy.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

fffffuuuuck

[bmfc1]

Despite that DP, doesn't SF want Hairston to replace Cabrera? Perhaps SF only offered an trifle which insulted Sandy who would rather lose a player for nothing than receive minimal compensation.

[bmfc1]

Murphy flips his bat and gets tossed by the ump that made a lousy call. TC weakly defends his player by politely questioning the ump instead of showing any passion.

[Frayed Knot]

And, in the end, Cedeno had the majority of the Mets' extra-base hits.
Maybe he should hit clean-up?

[bmfc1]

FK--can't hurt.