When the Mets' season began, I'm guessing most of the team's fans would have signed up for a 46-45 record at the All Star break. Having said that, the first "half" of the season ended with a whimper.
For most of first six innings, the Mets put quite a few runners on base, but they couldn't bring any of them home to score. Cain threw six innings, struck out four, walked three, and allowed no runs.
Much like Cain, Mike Pelfrey got into trouble by putting runners on base, but unlike Cain, Pelfrey allowed a couple of them to score. It was in the third inning that the Giants' light-hitting lineup got to Pelfrey. Andres Torres began with a double, and one out later, Pablo Sandoval hit a very deep double to score Torres. Nate Schierholtz followed up with a single to score Sandoval, and the Giants had a lead that appeared insurmountable.
Pelfrey wound up throwing six innings, striking out the side in the sixth to finish with five striekouts, two walks, and two runs allowed in his outing. All in all, that's not so bad, but after another half-season of Pelfrey's usual performance, I can't imagine Sandy Alderson will tender him a contract after the season ends.
With the starting pitchers out of the game, Terry Collins chose to get Jon Niese some work by putting him in the game instead of sticking with his relievers in a close game, and it didn't go well. Niese allowed a single to Mike Fontenot and a double to Schierholtz one out later before he was pulled in favor of D.J. Carrasco. Miguel Tejada and Aaron Rowand each single to make it 4-0 Giants.
The Mets finally got on the board in the eighth inning, when Nick Evans hit a pinch-hit solo home run, and they scored once again in the ninth after a one-out double by Willie Harris and two-out double by Justin Turner. Brian Wilson struck out Carlos Beltran to end the game.
The Mets begin the second "half" of the season on Friday at Citi Field as they host the Phillies.
SB Nation Coverage
* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* McCovey Chronicles Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Justin Turner, +11.0% WPA
Big losers: Jason Bay, -10.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Lucas Duda triple in the fourth, +7.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Pablo Sandoval rib-eye double in the third, -12.4% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -9.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: -40.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Miguel Tejada
Game Thread Roll Call
Nice job by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.
Num | Name | # of Posts |
---|---|---|
1 | Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan | 364 |
2 | astromets | 125 |
3 | MetsFan4Decades | 93 |
4 | Evan_S | 85 |
5 | Russ | 77 |
6 | TKFJ | 77 |
7 | fightoffyourdemons | 75 |
8 | NetsMets4Life | 75 |
9 | aparkermarshall | 68 |
10 | santana9237 | 67 |