Frayed Knot

Four of the nine games last night were won via walk-offs and three separate saves were blown: Walden for Braves, Fieri for Angels (two solo HRs) and Chapman for the Reds (2R HR). Makes Parnell's somewhat shaky 9th ending with Giancarlo's ground-out almost seem like a walk in the park by comparison. Almost. - Jason Giambi's walk-off HR for Cleveland made him the oldest player ever to do that, breaking Aaron's mark by about six weeks. - The Braves finally won that game vs Colorado in the 10th on an Adrelton Simmons triple. A triple? When was the last time you saw a walk-off triple? Did he really get to 3rd before Uggla (running from 1st) got home? And on a hit to LF why are you even running to 3rd in the first place? - That Pittsburgh/StL series is a five-gamer, including a DH today. Last time those two teams met while having the two best records in the NL? ... 1971

Prior to the comeback last night I made a grouchy reference during the IGT about how bad the late innings have been for the Mets in games vs the Marlins this year. So I went back to look at the specifics of all the games we've lost - and it was even worse than I remembered. I mean, yeah, a lot of the losses had to do with our lack of scoring (at least we miss Jose Fernandez in this series) but check out how each of the eight losses have gone this season. April 5th -- Marlins 7 - Mets 5 Marlins scored 5 in the 7th and 1 more in the 9th April 29th -- Marlins 4 - Mets 3 Mets take a 2-1 lead into the 9th but can�t hold it, then score in the top of the 15th but manage to give up two to lose it April 30 -- Marlins 2 - Mets 1 Mets take a 1-0 lead into the 9th but never get an out and lose on a Wild Pitch May 31 -- Marlins 5 - Mets 1 Marlins score 4 in the 7th and 1 more in the 8th June 1 -- Marlins 8 - Mets 1 Our only real blowout loss to them and even here the Fish got half their runs in the 7th inning June 2 -- Marlins 11 - Mets 6 Looks like a blowout but the Mets were up 6-4 until the Fish scored seven runs from the 6th thru 8th innings June 8th -- Marlins 2 - Mets 1 You remember this one: the Marlins scored single runs in the 3rd and [u:2n75z5xi]20th[/u:2n75z5xi] innings while the Mets were busy leaving [u:2n75z5xi]22 runners on base[/u:2n75z5xi] including 15 from the 9th thru 18th innings. June 9th -- Marlins 8 - Mets 4 Another one where the game was closer than the score as the Marlins got one to tie it up in the 8th and then a 10th inning Grand Slam to win it

Some good series starting tonight. - Pittsburgh behind Francisco Liriano smacked around the Cardinals in what may be the biggest series for the Pirates in a couple of decades. That's four straight losses for the Cards who coming off a sweep by the Braves and they lead Pitt by just 1/2 game now. At some point this ridonculous BAw/RiSP that Cards have been putting up has to come down to earth; they're tops in the league by like 50 points or more!! - Rays beat the Sawx in what is just a one-game make-up from last week so they re-take 1st place. Those two have been trading places for the last few days. I think I'd find the Rays easier to root for if it wasn't for closer Fernando Rodney with his askew hat and his arrow-shooting routine if/when he closes out a game - Braves and Rox are locked in an 8-8 tie in extras. Rox led 5-0 at one point but had to get one in top 9 to send it on. Braves didn't use Kimbrel for the save in the 9th (and paid for it) I believe because he was used in all three StL games over the weekend. - Texas got 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to beat the Angels 4-3 in a series between two teams heading in the wrong direction. Starting today, Oakland had a 6 and 13 game lead on those two teams who were at the top of most pre-season picks. The news that Pujols will probably miss the remainder of the season is just piling on to what the Angels have been doing this year.

Darren Oliver

Edgy MD wrote: Pitch five, called a ball. Yeah, Recker caught that one a bit awkwardly which probably didn't help.

Walk him? (Stanton I mean)

That's why he's getting a steady diet of curveballs.

C'mon Bobby, this guy's only been in the big leagues for like 20 minutes

The entire Yanqui roster plus many of their minor leaguers

Mo Rivera

We were owed one from earlier so I'm not going to feel guilty about that one. Plus, anything that keeps Stanton from potentially coming up in the 9th inning is OK with me.

Nymr83 wrote: Thats another part of the OF discussion... who sits when Duda gets back? does Duda not play nearly full-time? Yeah, but not necessarily in the OF

Big job by Edgin getting through the heart of the order in order.

I was screaming send him all the way. And Byrd is a better runner than he's being credited for here.

Fman99 wrote: Plenty of time to come back. Maybe, but the run differential in Met/Marlin games this season after the sixth inning is like 146-3 and not in our favor.

Centerfield wrote: Hefner was clearly done way before he got the hook. Rare this season, but Collins has to take some of the blame for this loss. I would have yanked him after that last leadoff walk.

Just hand them the fucking game and get it over with. - can't get bunts down - can't close out innings - let runners run wild - 5 walks allowed plus a HBP (many with 2 strikes) - 100 pitches before the 6th inning - 5 runs allowed on only 4 hits

The Braves, who have been thin on LHPs in the bullpen since losing two guys to season-long injuries, shore up their relieving corps by trading for Scott Downs from the Angels. Going to Anaheim is RHP Cory Rasmus who pitched with Atlanta for a short time earlier this year.

And now there have been two calls that haven't gone our way.

If we could have gotten that call at 1B for EY (and/or the bunt down from Hefner) there's no telling how big that inning could have gone.

Yeah, the Ozuna timeline was a bit weird. First I heard he was sent down and it was several days later that he was DL'd and reported as likely done for the season. Would be pretty sneaky of the Marlins to demote him and then DL him in order to save on ML service time. Of course it would also be typical of a Loria-owned team but also illegal or at least subject to arbitration/union-action or of flat-out litigation so he probably is still accruing ML service days as he heals.

Houston closer Jose Veras dealt to Tigers in return for prospect Danry Vazquez The 32 y/o, well traveled Veras (NYY, CLE, PITT, MILW, FLA, HOU) has been having a good year closing for Houston when those rare closing opportunities come up -- 19 saves in 38 appearances, 1.00 WHiP, 2.93 ERA -- and Detroit is known to have been looking for back of the bullpen help since the Jose Valverde 2.0 experiment didn't work. Vazquez, a Venezuelan born 19 y/o OFer who originally cost the Tigers $1.2 mil in bonus money, is playing in the low-A Midwest Lg.

When you lose the season series to the Marlins you lose faith in the Mets When you lose faith in your team you run the risk of your children becoming Yankee fans When your kids become Yankee fans you are forced to enter the witness protection program. When you enter the witness protection program you move to Idaho and assume a new identity. When you assume a new identity in Idaho your neighbors are likely to be white supremacists When you neightbors are white supremicists you find yourself participating in neo-Nazi tupperware parties. DON�T participate in neo-Nazi tupperware parties, switch to winning series against the Marlins for a change. Having said all that, the Miami Marlins are, in my view, the best team I�ve seen all year (and, no, I�m not joking). Sure, they may be last in the NL in runs scored (by SEVENTY!!) in BA, in OBA, in Slugging (hell, they got shutout in three straight games vs Milwaukee last week), and have the worst record in the NL, but that doesn�t stop them from being a count-working, clutch-hitting, tough pitching, opportunity-taking team whenever I�ve seen them, who have gone 8-3 against the Mets even while missing Giancarlo Stanton for most of those games and going 10-21 against the rest of the NL East. Their RS/RA is -112 against everyone else, but +19 against the Mets They�ve hit .314 against the Mets vs .233 overall They OBA .362 against the Mets vs .292 overall They slug .400 against the Mets vs .337 overall And they hit Harvey like he�s some chump [.333/.365/.391] as opposed to his usual self [.192/.236/..275] We�ve lost the last five straight to them back in early June and, as mentioned, are 3-8 this year and that�s after winning two of the first three. So through all this bad hitting and lack of run scoring at least their hitting coach is a Florida native, has classy NYY breeding, is well-respected within baseball, popular with his fellow coaches and players, and has great hair ... oh wait, NONE OF THAT is true (except the Florida native and good hair parts). It turns out that hitting coach Tino Martinez was a source of conflict both with the players and the rest of the staff which led to his resignation on Sunday amid �published reports that outlined patterns of verbally abusive behavior� towards some of the young Miami hitters and was often �at odds with manager Mike Redmond, the staff and a number of players�. Tino�s view is, not surprisingly, a bit different. He claims that the most controversial tidbit which had Tino grabbing the neck of (since demoted IF-er) Derek Dietrich as merely grabbing him by the shirt and the torrent of four-letter words more akin to tough love. You know how it is ... Neck/shirt-collar, verbal abuse/constructive criticism; to-MAY-to/to-MAH-to. Tino was apparently owner Jeffrey Loria�s personal hire (and doesn�t that kind of move usually work out well?). Prior to this, Tino�s only �coaching� experience following his 16-year career was as the always popular �special assistant� with the Yankees. Recent changes to the roster. - Marcell Ozuna, the AA call-up who was such a pain in our collective asses earlier this year (.438/.455.594 vs Mets -- .265/.303/.389 overall), was demoted and DL�d last week. Also DL�d was Chris Valaika (.219 elsewhere, .400 vs Mets) Derek Dietrich and Casey Kotchman have been DL�d as well - Up are recent high draft picks Christian Yelich (1st round - 2009) and Jake Marisnick (obtained from the Jays in the massive Reyes/Buerhle deal). Those additions have sent Justin Ruggiano & Juan Pierre to part-time duty. Likely starting cast of characters: C - Jeff Mathis / Rob Brantly 1B - Logan Morrison 2B - Donovan Solano SS - Adeiny Hechavarria 3B - Placido Polanco / Ed Lucas LF - Christian Yelich CF - Jake Maransick RF - Giancarlo Stanton Monday 7:10 Hefner vs Jacob Turner (3-3; 2.49; 1.19) Turner shut the Mets out for 7 innings back in late May Tuesday 7:10 Wheeler vs Nathan Eovaldi (2-1; 3.54; 1.21 - over 7 starts) Wednesday 7:10 Mejia vs Henderson Alvarez (1-1; 2.64; 1.21 -- over 5 starts) Thursday 12:40 Harvey vs Tom Koehler (2-6; 4.67; 1.30 -- 12 starts + 6 relief outings) 1 start plus 1 relief vs Mets this year - 4 runs on 7 hits over 10 innings.

Maybe we can save some time and money by shooting him at the same time we're shooting Jordany Valdespin.

And a quick grand slam later and it's 8-0 Signing off.