This was a stinker. Another day, another game where a mediocre pitcher baffles the Mets. Kaz Ishii was awful, the Mets hitters were awful for the first eight innings, though there is one piece of really good news that I'll touch on below.
- As a follow-up to his solid last start, Kaz Ishii returned to form by allowing six walks, six hits, and five runs in five innings. He was inconsistent at best, awful at worst. He looked positively timid facing the top of the Phillies' order in the first, giving up a leadoff single to Rollins and walks to Polanco and Abreu. He got a groundball out of Pat "The Bat", but that just turned into an RBI single to left. Then a switch must have gone off in Kaz somewhere, because he went hard after Jim Thome, striking him out on some tough pitches.
- Jose Reyes went 1-for-4, dropping his average (and, again, his OBP) to .276.
- Kaz Matsui had a nice bounceback game, going 2-for-4 and making a couple (at least one that I saw) solid plays in the field.
- David Wright continues to sputter, though he raised his average slightly by going 1-for-4.
- Though Floyd hit that massive three-run bomb in the ninth inning, the real impressive offensive performance last night was by Mike Piazza, who is finally hitting the ball with authoritah.
- Here's a little stat that shows us what we already knew about the Mets' offense: In the first six innings of games this season, the Mets are hitting .229/.279/.335 with 19 runs scored (3.2 R/Inn). In the seventh inning on, the Mets are hitting an ungodly .308/.374/.493 with 30 runs (~10 R/Inn). The Mets have faced some tough starting pitchers this year, but they've also faced some average-to-poor ones, yet they fare equally badly against each set.
- Now for the good news I mentioned earlier: Heath Bell (he of the FREE HEATH BELL campaign), is on his way to Philadelphia to be with the Mets. If Felix Heredia, who will undergo tests today, is placed on the disabled list, Bell will be the reliever to take his place! Not that I like rooting for injuries, but this one could greatly benefit the team.
- Middle Infield Questions Redux (Jeremy Heit)
- Staying Power (Michael Oliver)