Lastings Milledge hit a game-tying solo homer off Johan Santana in the fifth inning, then helped preserve the win with a fine catch in the ninth. The Mets wasted a prime opportunity to leave Pittsburgh with a sweep, as Hojo's Motivational Serum wore off after just two days. The lineup accounted for just six hits and three walks. Although Met batters did seem to have bad luck all day, with David Wright, Ruben Tejada and Chris Carter among those victimized by poorly placed line drives.
Pirates starter Zach Duke has confounded the Mets throughout his career. He now has a 2.91 ERA in 46.1 innings against our heroes, with an excellent K/BB rate of 25:6. The image of a young Duke owning Cliff Floyd and co. in August 2005 at Shea Stadium will forever be ingrained in my memory, for whatever reason.
Johan was dominant, even considering the two solo homers he allowed (the second, decisive dinger was hit by Jose Tabata in the sixth). He tallied nine strikeouts, one walk and 18 swinging strikes in an eight-inning, complete game performance. That makes four home runs allowed in his last two games, which isn't a big surprise considering how low his home run-to-flyball rate is this season (5.0% entering today's action). His career rate is 9.0%. Regression happens.
I watched the last four innings on a treadmill at the gym. Three machines down from me was a guy wearing a black Pirates shirt. When the Pirates recorded the final out, he let loose a small, barely noticeable fist pump. No grunting, no screaming. I have to admit, I was sort of happy for him. Eighteen consecutive losing seasons must take its toll on a fan. Watching the Pirates salvage a win against Johan and the Mets probably made his Sunday.
The Metsies are 11.5 games behind the NL East leading Braves, and 8.5 games back of the Wild Card leading Phillies. The chance of making the playoffs, per Baseball Prospectus, is 0.95%. The Mets will try to raise that percentage this week at home against the Marlins and Astros. Monday is an off day, but Tuesday's pitching matchup is R.A. Dickey vs Josh Johnson.
Haiku by Howard Megdal
The homer reminds me: I miss Lastings Milledge
Though former Mets, now stars, could fill a whole village
Santana will take loss, but even with Thole
Met offense deserves blame for production unholy
SB Nation Coverage
* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bucs Dugout Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Johan Santana +9.0% (as pitcher), Ike Davis +9.0%
Big losers: Angel Pagan -14.3%, Jeff Failcoeur -11.4%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Ike Davis single +11.5%
Teh sux0rest play: Jose Tabata home run -19.0%
Total pitcher WPA: +9.0%
Total batter WPA: -59.0%
GWRBI!: Jose Tabata
Game Thread Roll Call
Nice job by MookieTheCat; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.
| Num | Name | # of Posts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MookieTheCat | 64 |
| 2 | BrockRocks | 51 |
| 3 | JetsMetsNets | 48 |
| 4 | Michkin | 45 |
| 5 | metsguy234 | 39 |
| 6 | NetsMets4Life | 37 |
| 7 | Mike Clemente | 35 |
| 8 | itsmetsforme | 31 |
| 9 | TMS | 28 |
| 10 | AnthonyR | 23 |