Nieve Say Die: Mets 11, Cardinals 0

by Eric Simon on Jun 24, 2009 11:42 PM EDT in Aftermath Comment 30 comments

The legend of Fernando Nieve continues for at least another game, as the 26-year-old righty improved to 3-0 with the Mets, beating the Cardinals 11-0 to go along with victories over the Rays and Yankees. Nieve allowed just three hits -- none for extra bases -- while walking four and striking out five in six innings. Nieve seemed intent on not allowing Albert Pujols to do anything of consequence with is bat, issuing half of his four walks to the St. Louis slugger (the other two were given to the less imposing Jared Michael "Skip" Schumaker).

Brian "Socks" Stokes struck out two in a scoreless seventh while Patrick Misch and Bobby Parnell contributed a perfect inning apiece to close out the Mets' merciless drubbing of the Cards. David Wright went 4-for-4 with exactly zero runs batted in; all of the "run-producing" came from the four-through-eight spots. Ryan Church went 3-for-4 with two RsBI; Fernando Tatis side-stepped another GIDP to go 2-for-4 with three rib-eye steaks; Nick "The Stick" Evans went 2-for-3, knocking in two runs with a homerun in the fourth; Brian Schneider had just one hit in four at-bats, but it was a two-run double off the right-field wall with two out in the sixth.

Heck, the offense was going so well that even Argenis Reyes collected a single as a pinch-hitter. Not so fortunate was Fernando Martinez, who went 0-for-4 and saw his slash line drop to .174/.260/.246. On the plus side, he did look pretty decent in centerfield, so, there's that.

In other news, does Josh Kinney look a helluva lot like Morgan Spurlock, the sadistic mastermind behind the brilliant documentary Super Size Me?

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

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Viva El Birdos Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Fernando Nieve, +29.3% WPA, Ryan Church, +15.9% WPA
Big losers: Fernando Tatis, -9.9% WPA, Alex Cora, -4.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Evans two-run homerun in fourth, +12.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Tatis GIDP in first, -9.9% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +30.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: +20.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Ryan Church

Game Thread Roll Call

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

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	aparkermarshall	68
2	Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright	56
3	Michkin	46
4	He'sGotPotential	40
5	All Shook Down	39
6	Chickendirt	33
7	EMSfan9	27
8	keepcoolbutcare	25
9	Zwill	14
10	HotChipWillBreakYourLegs	12

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Comments

Nice to see a WPA

that isn’t completely all over the place.

"We have to find a way to play better, there's no doubt. Overall. I'm not pointing fingers at anybody. Offense, defense, pitching -- we have to find a way to play better. The reality of this is, coming here to Pittsburgh and being swept -- personally, I feel embarrassed." -- Carlos Beltran

by EMSfan9 on Jun 24, 2009 11:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Awww.

Poor Ryan Church

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

by squid92 on Jun 24, 2009 11:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The correct answer was obviously...

…Wilson Valdez. :D

by Jonathan. on Jun 25, 2009 1:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seriously Dub

Where the hell were you while Church and Tatis were driving in all those runs? Oh wait….

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

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 24, 2009 11:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Clogging the bases

as usual.

by Eric Simon on Jun 25, 2009 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But he has 19 SBs!

Does that make the infield hit seem like more of a legit BABIP booster? No? Okay :(

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

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 25, 2009 12:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He has been a lot more proficient stealing bases of late

I could actually see him steal enough to break even at some point this season.

by Eric Simon on Jun 25, 2009 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hah

67% success rate now? Up a whopping 21% from his low point May. 6:7 SB:CS through May 17 but has gone 12:2 since. He’ll still have to outpace his career rate by quite a bit to break even. Does the fact that he started actually being good at stealing bases after Reyes and Delgado went down make him more clutchy?

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

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 25, 2009 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Think about it this way though

The caught stealings are already in the book. While it would be nice for Wright to “break even” by bringing up is overall rate to 75%, does it really matter? What I see as important is if he steals 75% for the rest of the season (which he should be able to do.)

by Sokojoe on Jun 25, 2009 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great point

If he had been thrown out on his first ten attempts, but followed that up with 30 consecutive successful steals, it’s not as if the stolen bases ceased to be productive until he hit the break-even point. The ten caught-stealings are already on the ledger; if he figured something out after that point then he should continue to steal bases regardless of his overall success rate.

I’m not convinced he’s “figured something out”, but if he keeps stealing and not getting caught, I won’t argue with the results because I’ll confess to general ignorance about the process.

by Eric Simon on Jun 25, 2009 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's true

Insofar as a season is kind of an artificial beginning and end point. Talking about it the way Eric and I were is kind of like talking in retrospect about things that haven’t happened yet.

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

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 25, 2009 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

WOOOOOO CANT WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW

I HAVE TICKETS FOR THE GAME.
CARPENTER VS SANTANA, SHOULD BE GREAT.

Lopez wants it away, and it's hit deep to left center, Andruw Jones on the run, this one has a chance... home run!!, Mike Piazza!, and the Mets lead 3 to 2!!
-Howie Rose
Gary Thorne=Simply the Best!

by The American Mr.Hockey on Jun 25, 2009 12:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Josh Kinney’s goatee is thicker…and he has the soul patch going!

by agbayanifan on Jun 25, 2009 1:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Eric M. Simon, your headline puns are getting to be too clever

leave something for the rest of us to do.

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Jun 25, 2009 3:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

nieve say nieve again

if he ever actually loses

by hotspur on Jun 25, 2009 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just trying to keep up with the Joneses

and the Shpigelses and Davidoffses.

Also, it’s Eric S. Simon, for future reference.

by Eric Simon on Jun 25, 2009 9:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i just assumed it was "M" for "Mookie"

everyone hasn’t got this middle name?

I.M. Forme
"When you get yourself into trouble is when you feel you have to do something, and then you get yourself in trouble." --Omar Minaya

by itsmetsforme on Jun 25, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nice to See

roland prezbylewski look a like Brian Schneider get another 2 RBI’s with a double. Note to Jerry: Play Schneider more

"Put it in the books. The Mets are the 2006 National League Eastern Divison champions"--Howie Rose

by firejerrynow on Jun 25, 2009 7:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So I am going to guess that Evans gets benched today?

by meigs1414 on Jun 25, 2009 8:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Of course! Let's punish good hitting, right Jerry?

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

by squid92 on Jun 25, 2009 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gotta go with the hot hand

and when I say go with, I don’t mean play them, I mean go with them to get some cheeseburgers after the game.

by cjmulrain on Jun 25, 2009 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

mmm shake shack cheeseburgers...

by meigs1414 on Jun 25, 2009 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

mmmmm

Sunday night I was out drinking and happened to stumble past Shake Shack on my way back to the subway. Let me tell you, Shake Shack burgers are AWESOME when you’re drunk.

by JoshNY on Jun 25, 2009 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well I am incorrect

Today’s lineup: (via metsblog)
Cora SS
Castillo 2B
Wright 3B
Church RF
Tatis LF
F! CF
Evans 1B
Santos C
Johan P

by meigs1414 on Jun 25, 2009 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Game Notes (amateurish point of view)

- Parns control is not quite there yet. A pitch supposed to go outside/low ended up inside/high. He got away with it.
- Pujols hit 400ft (flyout) certain that he got a HR (against Misch)
- In the 4th, Fernando Tatis grounded out to shortstop, RBI. Would be another GIDP, except there were men on 2nd and 3rd this time.
- Nieve had 100 pitches in the 5th. For ~~my swagcontest~~ the team’s sake he completed the 6th, with 108 pitches.
- From the 6th inning, the Cards played a very typical-error-prone-metsie-like defense.

by Michkin on Jun 25, 2009 8:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You could argue that

All of Tatis’ hits were potential DPs if a guy had been on first and the Cards were positioned right. Still, good for him that he got off the schneid.

by David G on Jun 25, 2009 11:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Situational baseball

And yet, I’m sure Harold Reynolds would love to heap praise upon the ones that were successful.

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

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 25, 2009 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Something like:

“You gotta understand that Tatis knew the fielders were playing in and, even though he hit a couple of balls that the fielders would have gotten to if they were playing back, they got through the drawn-in field. Tatis did a great job of hitting to the situation.”

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jun 25, 2009 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And add to that:

“Except the first couple times when he hit the ball to the exact same spot, the fielders were playing there, and he knew that, so that was a bad job of hitting to the situation.” Then he’d be dangerously vulnerable to going off on a rant about how Wright’s BABIP is all part of his plan.

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

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 25, 2009 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs