2016/04/09 IGT #4 Phils at Mets (Streakin!)

[Fman99]

7:10 first pitch, Colon vs Velasquez. Finally, games on back to back days, the way nature intended.

[Guest cooby classic]

Unless nature snows

[Ceetar]

the liklihood of this one being played seems slim.

but I have tickets. I also have a 2:00 pm 8 year old birthday party in Connecticut.

[Guest cooby classic]

Yikes. I'd be hoping to do the game. Why would you need to go to a bday party for a kid?

[Benjamin Grimm]

He's still hoping to meet Chuck E. Cheese in person.

[Ceetar]

cooby wrote: Yikes. I'd be hoping to do the game. Why would you need to go to a bday party for a kid?

..because it's his birthday? First cousin, once removed.


It's supposed to be pretty miserable out tomorrow, even if they do play.

[Guest cooby classic]

Well, a relative is different!

[Frayed Knot]

Weather check:
Rain/showers starting around 1 PM, high around 41
At first pitch time: 39 degrees, 55% showers, 19 mph wind
Rain ending around 9 PM, wind picks up, temps dropping through 30s

[Centerfield]

Sounds like perfect baseball weather. Let's play ball.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Weather check: Rain/showers starting around 1 PM, high around 41 At first pitch time: 39 degrees, 55% showers, 19 mph wind Rain ending around 9 PM, wind picks up, temps dropping through 30s

oof.

Okay, so I was planning to leave Shelton, CT around 5 to get there for game time, but if it's still on par to be raining towards 8 I might hold off another hour.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Philadelphia at NY Mets
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, April 9, 2016
Where: Citi Field, New York City, New York
SportsDirect Inc.

Vince Velasquez will make his Philadelphia Phillies debut Saturday on the mound at Citi Field, where he'll attempt to help the Phillies avoid an 0-5 start for the first time since 1934. The New York Mets opened the weekend series at home with a 7-2 triumph on Friday, shortly after they raised their National League championship banner.

New York will look to ride the momentum into Saturday's game, where Bartolo Colon will get the ball for his first start of 2016. The veteran right-hander pitched in relief on opening day in Kansas City - a game the Mets lost before posting victories in their next two outings. The Phillies, meanwhile, have scored exactly two runs in three of their four games, and they've been outscored 26-12 on the season. "We're not the best hitting team in the league, but we're certainly better than we're showing," manager Pete Mackanin told reporters. "We've got to get everybody going. It seems like they're trying too hard."

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, CSN Philadelphia, WPIX (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (2015: 1-1, 4.37 ERA) vs. Mets RH Bartolo Colon (0-0, 0.00)

Velasquez, who came over from Houston last winter in the Ken Giles trade, made his major league debut in 2015 and went on to make seven starts and 12 relief appearances for Houston. The 23-year-old Californian held lefties to a .214 average and limited opponents to a .240 average overall. "He pitched very well this spring," Mackanin said last month of Velasquez, who logged a 2.25 ERA in 20 Grapefruit League innings. "We like Velasquez�s power arm. We want to see him in the big leagues."

Colon gave up a hit over 1 1/3 scoreless innings last Sunday following a solid 2015 season in which he went 14-13 with a 4.16 ERA. The former Cy Young Award winner, who turns 43 next month, has faced six different members of the Phillies at least 10 times. Ryan Howard is just 5-for-24 with two homers against him, while Darin Ruff is the only other Philadelphia player with a lifetime homer against the burly right-hander.

WALK-OFFS:
1. Mets 2B Neil Walker has driven in a pair of runs in each of the last two games.
2. New York OF Curtis Granderson is 1-for-13 with five strikeouts on the young season.
3. Colon may only be in the rotation until late June or early July, when RHP Zack Wheeler (elbow) is expected to return from the disabled list.

[Frayed Knot]

Already cold-ed out in Washington (was to have been a 4:00 start) but of course they're wimps there.

Current Flushing forecast has the rain ending around first pitch time, then cold (38-40) and miserable and blustery after that.

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: Already cold-ed out in Washington (was to have been a 4:00 start) but of course they're wimps there. Current Flushing forecast has the rain ending around first pitch time, then cold (38-40) and miserable and blustery after that.

Shit. I really wanted a rainout tonight rather than sitting out in that mess.

[ashie62]

Colon. please do not blow.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Frayed Knot wrote: Already cold-ed out in Washington (was to have been a 4:00 start) but of course they're wimps there. Current Flushing forecast has the rain ending around first pitch time, then cold (38-40) and miserable and blustery after that.

Plenty cold and wet but probably not unbearable, at least for the players.

Good night to stay indoors with some warm paella and a television.

[Edgy MD]

Phils go scoreless in the first. Granderson gets the leadoff walk.

1. Granderson, RF
   
2. Cabrera, A, SS
   
3. Cespedes, CF
   
4. Duda, 1B
   
5. Walker, N, 2B
   
6. Conforto, LF
   
7. Flores, W, 3B
   
8. d'Arnaud, C
   
9. Colon, B, P

[Edgy MD]

Nice opposite-field drive to the track yields nothing for Cabrera.

[Guest cooby classic]

always good to hear Keith's voice

[Edgy MD]

Velasquez escapes on a walk, a hit, three fly ball outs (two pretty hard struck) and 27 pitches.

Colon has struck out the last two in the first, pursuing former Mets Pedro Martinez and Kenny Rogers, tied at 77th on the all-time win list at 219.

[Edgy MD]

Rupp gets the first hit for Philadelphia on a grounder that, well, it wasn't the sort of thing that will give you newfound confidence in Cabrera's range.

[Fman99]

Thanks to my annual FIOS screwing, I am once again shut out of WPIX coverage. Not really feeling the $100+ I'd have to spend for MLB.TV plus a DNS masking service, just to pick up 25 extra games on TV, many of which will be during family activities and other weekend things.

So for now, it's XM and the audio feed. Tonight it's Josh and not-Howie, some dude whose voice I do not recognize. Also hard to follow with the current [crossout:ml3az3rc]infestation[/crossout:ml3az3rc] in-laws visiting.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

This game was supposed to be on MLB network, but instead we get Braves and Cards. I'd forgotten how awful McCarver is. So far, he's whined about the catcher rule, the Utley rule and pitch counts.

[MFS62]

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: This game was supposed to be on MLB network, but instead we get Braves and Cards. I'd forgotten how awful McCarver is. So far, he's whined about the catcher rule, the Utley rule and pitch counts.

You're not missing much. The Mets are down 1-0 in the fifth. Ryan Howard went yard.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

This would be a good time for DE Aza to prove he's a Met

[Edgy MD]

Thus begins a nu season of hating the shift.

[ashie62]

Top of the 8th Phils 1-0.

Colon did his job as did Vince Velasquez.

[Edgy MD]

Goeddel looks like he's in over his hoead.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Here we go with our best hitter, Asdrubal Cabrera.

[Edgy MD]

No, Gary, and no Keith. Vertigo did not feature Mount Rushmore.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Discouraging treatment of a 3-0 count there.