Giants 3, Mets 1: Done In By Grounders

by Eric Simon on Jul 10, 2011 12:23 AM EDT

Despite collecting three doubles and four walks off Tim Lincecum tonight, the Mets managed to push just one batter past second base all night — Carlos Beltran, who scored on Daniel Murphy's one-out single in the first — and dropped the second game of the series to the Giants, 3-1.

Chris Capuano pitched well enough to win on most other days, and while the four walks allowed are more than you'd like to see, both runs charged to his account scored on an infield grounders.

With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the first, Nate Schierholtz send a ground ball up the middle which might have been a double play given a different defensive alignment, became an infield single when Ruben Tejada was unable to tag Pat Burrell between first and second and fired to first too late to get Schierholtz. Miguel Tejada scored to knot the game at one.

The next batter, Aubrey Huff, bounced a 2-2 pitch to Justin Turner at second base. Turner quickly forced Schierholtz at second, but the return thrown from Tejada was a hair tardy and Huff was safe at first with Pablo Sandoval scoring on the fielder's choice.

The Mets' bats were mostly silent the rest of the way, meekly threatening a couple of times but ultimately failing to recreate the run-scoring magic from the first inning.

Mike Pelfrey and Matt Cain square off at 8:05 EDT tomorrow in the final game before the All-Star break.

Unintentionally sexual quote of the game: "The first time Capuano and Lincecum hooked up, Lincecum looked very vulnerable at first." --Gary Cohen (via @juliaaquadrinoo).

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* McCovey Chronicles Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Carlos Beltran, +11.7% WPA, Josh Thole, +3.8% WPA
Big losers: Jason Bay, -10.3% WPA, Angel Pagan, -9.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Murphy RBI double in first, +11.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Murphy GIDP in eighth, -11.8% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -4.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: -45.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Aubrey Huff

Game Thread Roll Call

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

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	BobbyV_Incognito	127
2	NetsMets4Life	114
3	MetsFan4Decades	105
4	astromets	92
5	ScottfromPeekskill	76
6	fxcarden	68
7	fxcardenJR	63
8	santana9237	61
9	Russ	44
10	Steve Schreiber	43

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Comments

Cappy wins pitching duel, Mets defeat Lincecum 1-0

. . . should be the line

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf. "

– Tug McGraw when asked about his preference for grass or astroturf

by Terry_is_God on Jul 10, 2011 12:26 AM EDT reply actions

Mets have to find a way to score more than one run

They could’ve had a shutout if they played better defense, but ifs don’t mean anything.

That being said, I think I’ve seen enough of Tejada, Duda and Turner for a while.

There is no hope.... there is no future....there is only GRISSIONZ

The 2011 Mets- Rock bottom: We haven't reached it yet

by Syler on Jul 10, 2011 12:35 AM EDT reply actions

I think Murphy's

Bat has earned him the starting job @ 2nd when/if Reyes and Wright return, so why not play him there every game so he can get fully acclimated to the position? Seems a waste to me not starting him there every game.

by keepcoolbutcare on Jul 10, 2011 12:41 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Because Turner has proven

he can’t play third. I suspect Murph will start at second if or when everyone returns.

by graves9 on Jul 10, 2011 12:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Agreed:

Murphy: .306/.348/.428, .335 wOBA, 13.0 UZR/150, 2.1 WAR
Turner: .257/.322/.342, .301wOBA, -19.2 UZR/150, 0.5 WAR
Tejada: .270/.351/.297, .298 wOBA, 4.6 UZR/150, 0.7 WAR

SSS all of them, but Turner seems the odd man out. His wOBA isn’t much better than Tejada’s, while his defense at second is far below Tejada’s. No reason to sacrifice so much defense for a slight, marginal upgrade offensively. Turner can also play third, but so can Murphy and some other guy who is on the roster right now. When more regulars come back, I don’t see too much of a reason for Turner.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 10, 2011 1:11 AM EDT up reply actions

I think you keep Turner up because Tejada needs to bat everyday

if he can just find a way to add some pop to that bat he would be money.

I LIKE IKE!

by astromets on Jul 10, 2011 1:19 AM EDT up reply actions

This.

Tejada has to go back to Buffalo.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jul 10, 2011 1:48 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't think serving as a defensive back-up for the rest of the reason is going to upset his development that much

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 10, 2011 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions

But if he doesn't get AB's

how is he going to continue to develop?

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jul 10, 2011 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Send him back

Riding the bench does him no good. But what realistic ceiling does Tejada actually have?

__________________________________________________________________
Really good kid.A very good player.Not a superstar. #BlameWilponz. Never Forget

by ScottfromPeekskill on Jul 10, 2011 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Somebody threw out Orlando Cabrera (in a negative way)

but I think it might actually be a realistic ceiling and a positive one at that. A useful player but not a star.

Save Jenrry Mejia!
Keep Reyes, Trade Wilpon.

by Ogre39666 on Jul 10, 2011 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Agree on those three

Tejada puts together good at bats from time to time, and will draw and walk, but he’s really a bunch and Judy hitter. He just isn’t ready to hit at the major league level. Turner hasn’t hit a lick in the past five weeks at least partly due to his thumb injury. Duda had a good game or two the last road trip, but hasn’t been able to build on it. Bay is another guy not getting it done at the plate. He trolled us last Sunday with the game winning hit and the two homer game, but he’s fallen right back into the abyss. Beltran is killing it and Murph has been a very productive hitter the past few months. He did ground into a big DP tonight, but you can’t always come through. I’m looking forward to Wright and Reyes and possibly Ike returning even if the mongos out there aren’t.

by graves9 on Jul 10, 2011 12:43 AM EDT up reply actions

Punch and Judy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_and_judy

Other than that, I don’t have any problem with what was written, lol.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 10, 2011 1:13 AM EDT up reply actions

This was a crappy game

It dragged, too.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 453 posts (10/03/10)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jul 10, 2011 12:37 AM EDT reply actions

Battlestar Galactica season 3 finale > watching the Mets

I am really out of the baseball habit, I saw the first inning and stopped there.

by Shevshevy on Jul 10, 2011 1:46 AM EDT reply actions

You missed a fine pitcher's duel then.

Yeah the defensive miscues sucked, but I thoroughly enjoyed this game. Watching Lincecum and his funky delivery is always a treat. Capuano got roughed up at first, but then matched him for 5 innings afterwards. And our hitters, though they hit balls right at the defense worked the counts, hit tons of foul balls and honestly, I never felt the game was out of reach. How often could you say that last couple years down 2 runs? Yeah, they eventually lost, but I think the process was sound.

by chakrabs on Jul 10, 2011 8:24 AM EDT up reply actions