Intermission: Mets 9, Reds 7

by Eric Simon on Jul 12, 2009 10:33 PM EDT

In two games since the trade:

Jeff Francoeur: 4-for-9, 2 RsBI, 29 pitches seen
Ryan Church: 1-for-9, 1 RsBI, 32 pitches seen

We win!

Even though the Mets are still 6.5 games back in the NL East, they finish the traditional first half of the season on a good note, winning their last two games against a slightly better opponent in the Reds. Mike Pelfrey pitched well enough to pick up his seventh win of the season, allowing three runs on five hits -- four singles and a double -- and two walks, striking out four and getting eleven groundouts to six flyouts. He certainly wasn't overpowering, getting just five swinging strikes out of 115 pitches thrown (4.3%). Pelfrey did commit his sixth balk of the season, and is quickly creeping up the Mets' all-time list for most balks in a season:

Num	Player	Balks	Year
1	David Cone	10	1988
2	Sid Fernandez	9	1988
3	Bob Ojeda	7	1988
4	Dwight Gooden	7	1984
5	Jerry Koosman	7	1975
6	Roger Craig	6	1963

The Mets' top-heavy offense got meaty contributions from its lesser half, as the lineup combined for sixteen hits and two walks, scoring early and often against Aaron Harang and the Reds' bullpen. Every starter had at least one hit with Luis Castillo's three hits (and a walk) leading the way. Quietly, Castillo has had a pretty decent season and his .386 on-base percentage is second among qualifying Mets. Francoeur picked up a single and a double, though he saw just 12 pitches in five times to the plate. It's hard to complain when he's getting his hits, but when he hits the skids his lack of patience will come up again and again.

The Mets' bullpen provided a bleak contrast to the lineup's lustre, as Sean Green and Pedro Feliciano tried to give the game away in the eighth before Bobby Parnell came on and shut things down. Francisco Rodriguez had another tough ninth, allowing two of the first three batters to reach before getting Brandon Phillips to hit an RBI groundout to David Wright and then striking out Laynce Nix to end the game.

The next Mets game is Thursday in Atlanta. Monday night is the homerun derby and we'll be running a little contest to make it a bit more interesting, so look for that around noon tomorrow.

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
* Red Reporter Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Mike Pelfrey: +20.4% WPA, David Wright, +15.5% WPA
Big losers: Pedro Feliciano, -5.0% WPA, Sean Greenn -4.9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Wright RBI double in first, +10.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Hernandez RBI single in eighth, -8.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +22.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: +28.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Brian Schneider

Game Thread Roll Call

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

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	Jadden Hopkins	57
2	wrightnumber5	46
3	Chickendirt	33
4	Pat Andriola	28
5	MetsFan4Decades	25
6	AnthonyR	24
7	Michkin	23
8	firejerrynow	19
9	Schmidtxc	18
10	Prince	16

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Comments

Ouch

against a slightly better opponent in the Reds.

That hurts. Can’t say it’s not true though.

by acerimusdux on Jul 12, 2009 10:43 PM EDT reply actions

Maybe it's selective memory

but it seems like every time the Mets jump out to a big lead early like they did today, they make it interesting by the end of the game. It seems like teams like the Phillies have had a lot more laughers over the past two and a half seasons than the Mets have, b/c the Mets just don’t let laughers stay laughers. Maybe my perception is wrong, but I don’t remember the ’99 or 2000 Mets having nearly as many big leads cut down to close calls as the more recent teams have.

by cjmulrain on Jul 12, 2009 11:49 PM EDT reply actions

Duh.

It’s because of the lack of grission. Have you not been paying attention?

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

by squid92 on Jul 13, 2009 1:08 AM EDT up reply actions

That's actually the only nice thing about fielding a shitty team.

When they start coughing it up in the 7-8-9th my heartrate only goes up about 25% higher than normal, instead of 150%.

Also, I should point out that Francoeur “hitting the skids” implies he’ll be getting contact on something, which we all know he won’t.

by DonGately on Jul 13, 2009 2:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Big win for the Mets,

but I’m not sure if you can group Feliciano with Green as far as awful relief performances today go. Green was awful, and Feliciano only faced one batter, and he reached base on a chopper to the pitcher. Not much more Feliciano could have done.

by njmetfan12 on Jul 13, 2009 1:44 AM EDT reply actions

Church has 1 RBI

Frenchy: SLG is the one thing to keep an eye on.
He won’t accept the idea of walking (ever), he won’t become a proficient baserunner, he won’t keep a high average. His range can improve, but not by much. So, if there is anything you want to hope for, is power.

by Michkin on Jul 13, 2009 7:52 AM EDT reply actions