Frayed Knot

McKinney completes his NYM cycle.

I have no idea who METPOLICE or 'Shannon' are (and frankly don't care) but the way I remember the story was that Cashen & Herzog were casually tossing around other names, probably based on the Cards looking for pitching, when Whitey first mentioned Hernandez ('Always have the other side bring up the name of the guy you want first' said Cashen later on). I don't think it was a case of the Mets not valuing Keith so much as it didn't occur to them that he'd be available. Cashen, a bit stunned but probably trying not to sound it, said he'd get right back to him with some names and the deal came together quickly after that.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I still find it hard to believe that the Cardinals made this trade. They traded Hernandez within their division and got so little in return. One of the secondary articles there mentions the reason: thin pitching on the StL end. These articles make it clear that Keith really didn't want to be a Met. I've learned that sometimes when the worst thing happens, it can turn out to be the best thing. Keith probably knows that feeling. "I'm stunned and disappointed. I'm going home to check my contract to see if I can veto the deal." Apparently he couldn't. Good for him, and for us. Keith made it clear in his book, IF AT FIRST, that he didn't want to be a Met. He went crying to his agent wanting to retire but was told he lacked the finances to do so. He could have left after the season (another reason for the lesser haul in return) but by then had started to change his mind and, in his own words, 'took a chance' at least in part based on his father calling some scouting connections who told him that the Mets had some good young players on the way.

First three pitches aside, this inning is going well.

You go Lou Geaux I didn't like the way that inning started -- not just the single but also the swings Profar was getting -- but a nice finish.

50th double digit K game for JdG It's his 192nd career start

Braves beat Kershaw and the Dodgers Marlins lose their 3rd straight to Pitt Phils beat Nats ... and the Yanx blow an early lead to lose to the Sawx

78 pitches, right about 5 inning's worth thru 6

Lefty Specialist wrote: Pillar looks like a Decepticon with that mask. That it's the same color as his beard makes it look like it's a full face mask.

I thought Nido could have gotten to 2nd there - but you gotta be almost 100% in that situation, so maybe a smart move not to try.

I hate that he wasted all of those pitches and had to pitch "under stress" b/c it will give Luis an excuse to take him out too soon. He's still at a below average P/I rate Musgrove, OTOH, is approaching 6 innings worth of pitches and he's not yet out of the 5th

Peraza hit that one so hard it turned his back pockets inside-out

NYM bats: where RBIs go to die

Because of the shift the Pads are using, BB-Ref described McKinney triple in Game 1 as resulting from 'a pop-up to 3B-man Machado'. This one was more of a liner but Machado was out there to fetch the double tonight too.

Or often enough

MLBN is picking up this game for those of you who might be otherwise shut out of TV coverage. This is not a game where MLBN uses their own guys to do a separate telecast, they'll just pick up one of the home or road feeds and broadcast it (mostly) nationally.

Frayed Knot wrote: ... I kept expecting Gary to bring up the timee when Pham got himself picked off as a rookie for the final out with Pujols at bat in a one-run playoff game ... until I remembered that that was Wong Checking on the details: it was a WS game [2013 vs Boston] and it was with Beltran at the plate, not Pujols.

'Strike 3' to McCann was a ball but reasonably close. By itself it wasn't all that bad. But I'm sure his frustration was more from a cumulative effect -- one of the guys Drew Smith walked to set up the Pads' 2nd run the previous half inning was struck out x2 but the Mets got neither the called strike nor the half swing both of which c/should have K'd him -- and then Rojas getting run was just a reaction to the McCann heave-ho. Rojas even seemed to point to the 3B ump at one point as if to say 'and he sucks too', iow, Luis wasn't out there to merely defend JMcC but to argue the call(s) also which is an automatic ejection and indeed he was gone from almost the second he opened his mouth.

Edgy MD wrote: ... there was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scdigGGuppUthe 3-5-4. And, if you go by the personal vis-a-vis their regular positions, that was a 3-2-4 DP I thought of that play last night and was almost surprised that neither Gary nor Ron brought it up. Smith obviously didn't have as far to go just to field the ball as Keith did (nor did he wind up in foul territory after making the throw) but Smith's quickness off the mound and the big late-game nature of the play was very similar otherwise.

Thoughts on the delayed viewing of the game (watched the first 6 live, the final 3 this morning). -- RO-BO-UMP! RO-BO-UMP! -- We get a (E7) gift with no outs then fail to manage even a fair ball [K, Foul-Out, K], They bunt into a rally-killing DP but then our hurlers don't even force three consecutive guys to make 2-out contact in order to score an insurance run -- RO-BO-UMP! RO-BO-UMP! -- I wonder if SDP reliever Pierce Johnson's nickname at any point growing up was 14-17, or maybe 14-36? -- Did I mention Robo-Ump? It's not that the umping screwed us one-sidedly or was the reason for the loss, but it would have been a more enjoyable game without all the ????s and !!!!!s, and &@#%'s -- I conflate Tommy Pham with Kolten Wong -- stocky guys with one-syllable Asian names who came up with the Cardinals just one year apart -- to the point where I kept expecting Gary to bring up the time when Pham got himself picked off as a rookie for the final out with Pujols at bat in a one-run playoff game ... until I remembered that that was Wong -- 2-0, 8-1/2 inning game with a total of 9 hits = 3:02

WE HAVE A BASERUNNER!! WE HAVE A BASERUNNER!!

Jerrid Kelenic: 75 ABs, .107/.202/.213, 21 OPS+

The Darling/Moyer story just related sent me to BB-Ref to look a few things up. Moyer's final season was 17 years after Ronnie's last (2012 vs 1995). Moyer is two years younger.

A six pitch 3rd inning for Louis Casey after throwing about six each to the seven batters he faced in innings 1 & 2

So it seems that, in addition to several other issues the Yanx have this year, that they're also probably the worst base running team in either league. -- Hitting into DPs: 2nd Most -- Outs made on bases: Most -- XB Taken %: Lowest -- SB: T-Lowest And they just lost to their rivals 5-2 (In under three hours!!!)