Aftermath: Game 18 - Mets vs Cubs

by Eric Simon on Apr 22, 2008 1:22 AM EDT

Oh what a wretched game that was. Carlos Zambrano was pretty good, but the Mets put seven runners aboard against him in seven innings only to watch four of them be erased on double-plays. Still, the offense was mostly terrible, especially against Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood in the 8th and 9th innings, who faced the minimum six batters and only had to throw 15 pitches in the process. Their impatience against Wood was at least somewhat understandable given the way Aaron Heilman and Jorge Sosa pitched the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth.

Thanks to those four double-plays -- including one strike-em-out, throw-em-out -- the Mets sent just 31 hitters to the plate in nine innings, four more than the minimum. Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado can't buy hits right now, so three of the Mets' top five hitters are basically automatic outs. Jose Reyes is finally hitting well and David Wright is, well, you know, but the rest of the lineup is dogshit with the exception of Ryan Church, who may be an anti-semite (or just an ignoramus) but at least he can hit.

The pity of this game is that John Maine made his first good start of the season and it went right into the crapper thanks to the Mets' offense. He made a bad pitch to Aramis Ramirez in the fourth that accounted for the only two runs he allowed, but otherwise had a very strong game despite Mets' nemesis and part-time Lucifer henchman Angel Hernandez calling balls and strikes last night.

The Mets' desperately need Moises Alou back (or even Angel Pagan!), because a 7-8-9 of Raul Casanova, Endy Chavez and Pitcher is giving me nightmares and quite possibly E.D.

Met savior Nelson Figueroa goes tonight against Ted Lilly as the Mets look to salvage this two-game series.

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Comments

yes, that sucked it the butt

but losing to c-zam isnt the end of the world. that bullpen tho – theyre are starting to stink up the joint. what the f, i hate all bullpens.

by kendynamo on Apr 22, 2008 2:52 AM EDT reply actions

Sosa + Lefty = Armageddon

by SQUAD on Apr 22, 2008 8:18 AM EDT reply actions

If Casanova-Chavez-Pitcher are giving you E.D...

maybe you shouldn’t think about them while you’re in bed.

by JoshNY on Apr 22, 2008 10:07 AM EDT reply actions

Huge Heilman Fan Here

So take my comments with a grain of salt. Still, I can’t really fault him for last night. Yes, he hit a batter and gave up a base hit, but I still thought he pitched fairly well. Reyes botched that first grounder, and Fukodome’s single was a grounder that got between Reyes and Wright. And even with the bases loaded and no outs, Heilman still nearly got out of the inning unscathed.
Let’s not let a couple weeks of iffy performances determine Heilman’s role in the bullpen. I’m much more comfortable evaluating him based on his performance over the last few years. Heilman is a great reliever and will perform well this year.

by ams258 on Apr 22, 2008 10:57 AM EDT reply actions

I don't disagree

I’m a Heilman fan as well, but he was not especially effective last night.

by Eric Simon on Apr 22, 2008 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Heilman

Has been iffy this year and the later part of last year. I won’t pin all the bullpen problems on him, be he needs to start pitching like he did his first two outings this year.

He’ll get plenty of chances to fix himself, Willie will run him out there all year regardless of how good or bad he is doing, because he’s become one of “Willie’s guys”. We saw that last year with Mota.

It's time someone put their foot down... and that foot is me.

by sireric on Apr 22, 2008 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions