He Needs A Manuel: Giants 2, Mets 0

by Eric Simon on May 17, 2009 11:44 PM EDT

The Mets combined poor hitting with poorer managing to drop the series finale against the Giants, falling shy of the four-game sweep we were all clamoring for. The Mets somehow managed to leave only nine men on base, but that's a tad misleading because it only counts runners left on at the end of an inning. Run your finger down the LOB column of the boxscore and you've got a slew of crooked numbers.

Tatis: 2
Castillo: 1
Beltran: 2
Sheffield: 4
Murphy: 1
Pagan: 3
Reed: 4
Pelfrey: 2
Church: 1

As a team the Mets officially left nine men on base, but individually (and in aggregate) they actually stranded twenty baserunners in nine innings (actually eight since they went down like dogs in the ninth). Astonishingly, Omir Santos doesn't appear on this list anywhere, but he makes up for it by sucking at everything he does (case in point: his edgy .283 on-base percentage).

Jerry Manuel's Retarded Move of the Day: Already covered.

Overshadowed by the Mets' offensive ineptitude and Jerry Manuel's indefensible managing was Mike Pelfrey's outing which, despite three balks (?), was actually quite a success. He allowed just eight baserunners in six innings (one by intentional walk) and induced ten groundballs to just six flyballs. He struck out only two batters, but his strikeout rate of 5.88% should still go up as a result. The Giants aren't a particularly adept offensive machine, but you have to take your silver linings where you can get them.

Swag Contest

Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.

SB Nation Coverage

* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* McCovey Chronicles Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Carlos Beltran, +11.3% WPA, Mike Pelfrey, +5.0% WPA
Big losers: Angel Pagan, -26.0% WPA, Gary Sheffield, -20.1% WPA, Jerry Manuel, -INF %WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Beltran double in eighth, +18.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Pagan GIDP in eighth, -26.0% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +9.1% WPA
Total batter WPA: -59.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Bengie Molina

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by future; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	future	213
2	MetsGeek	135
3	meigs1414	112
4	Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright	93
5	squid92	85
6	jasondg	73
7	Greenpoint Ian	66
8	JADDENHOPKINS	56
9	Gina	55
10	Meddler	51

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Yeah, despite his discomfort

Pelfrey was definitely effective. Long-term, I take that as a positive sign, it almost reminded me of how John Maine gets when he starts getting himself on track. But Pelf was brutal to watch, he just couldn’t find a way to get himself comfortable. I almost thought it was the mound or some kind of groundskeeping issue for a while, though he didn’t mention anything like that in the postgame.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 17, 2009 11:51 PM EDT reply actions

Again

It’s really hard to bitch about a 3-1 start to this road trip, but it was just so painful to watch this game go down. I place a significant amount of blame on the seemingly neverending “leadership” discussion where Steve Phillips made Joe Morgan sound like an absolute genius.

"The definition of edge is going out there and getting a few wins, and then all of a sudden you don’t have to worry about anyone talking about edge anymore," Wright said. "That's a thing in the past. Go ask Omar about that."

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on May 17, 2009 11:56 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah definitely

My compulsive need for sound during sports broadcasts made the middle innings of this game completely unwatchable, and then once I saw Pagan in the on-deck circle, it felt like all the good feelings of the last two weeks had been washed away.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 18, 2009 12:03 AM EDT up reply actions

With all that

Bel-TRON comes within a few feet of tying the game, as did Reyes against Atlanta.

And the Phillies win on a crazy A-Hern error (called on the pitcher).

by Mount17 on May 17, 2009 11:59 PM EDT reply actions

This is unbelievable in the fact

that I actually like Pagan. I think, utilized correctly, he’d be a decent member of our bench. BUT NOT THERE JERRY, NOT THERE. WTF R YOU THINKING. GHERHJFDSLJKFDSLKJFS.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on May 18, 2009 12:08 AM EDT reply actions

another silver lining

Sean Green looked nasty in the 8th.

2009 Mets: maybe its the Phillies turn to have a terrible bullpen?

by Greenpoint Ian on May 18, 2009 12:08 AM EDT reply actions

Against the Giants lineup

But I’ll take the half-full glass

I will not allow the denigration of the life essence

by GenJackRipper on May 18, 2009 12:13 AM EDT up reply actions

From the producers of "The Idiots"

Comes “Jerry Manuel and all his Siblings”

I will not allow the denigration of the life essence

by GenJackRipper on May 18, 2009 12:10 AM EDT reply actions

Gotta let Murph hit there

Also, that’s a great picture. That’s one of the worst feelings in the world.

by gogomets on May 18, 2009 12:17 AM EDT reply actions

How bad did Church look pitch hitting?

I think he’s lost his LA privileges. That was the worst at-bat I’ve seen in a really long time.

I guess when you sit in favor of a guy old enough to be your father for a week, it messes with your timing.

by AnthonyR on May 18, 2009 1:09 AM EDT reply actions

who's the guy old enough to be his father?

I knew Gary Sheffield was manly and all, but I don’t think he was doing any fathering at the age of nine.

by anonymous on May 18, 2009 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions

The game was blacked out

on MLB TV in California, and I don’t get ESPN, but I must admit to scratching my head when I saw Murphy get switched for Pagan on the Gamecast display. There goes my four-game sweep. Guess I picked the right game to attend. Today was as scorching as yesterday, and it would have been far less rewarding to have to sit through that in the heat. Still, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad. :^)

If the Mets can win the World Series, America can get out of Vietnam – Tom Seaver, 1969

by yabanjin on May 18, 2009 1:16 AM EDT reply actions