The home team was playing their last game in their ballpark this season. They were fighting for their playoff lives after losing the Friday opener before coming back to win the Saturday game. It was a Mets-Marlins matchup. Sound familiar?
Just as the Marlins took two out of three to keep the Mets out of the playoffs each of the last two years, the Mets got some payback today. By taking the series against Florida, the Marlins were eliminated in the National League East race and are all but eliminated in the wild card race as well.
Pat Misch pitched the first complete game shutout by a Mets pitcher this season, retiring the last 13 batters he faced and Jeff Francoeur hit one out of the park (two-run homer) and kept one in the park (robbing Chris Coghlan of a potential shutout ending homer). That combination helped the Mets to a 4-0 victory over the Marlins.
Things didn’t start off so well for Misch, but he kept getting out of jams that he created. After wiggling his way out of a second and third, no-outs situation in the first inning, he continued to put men on base. He gave up eight hits and three walks in the first five innings, but none of the baseunners scored. It was a far cry from his previous outing Monday night against the Braves when he gave up eight runs in 1 1/3 innings.
Although Misch got the only run he needed when Josh Thole hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning, it wasn’t until Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run homer in the third inning that Misch got a little breathing room. The home run was Francoeur’s 14th of the season and ninth as a Met.
After Francoeur reached home plate, Anderson Hernandez promised he’d hit one as well, eliciting a giggle from Jeff Francoeur (see photo above). Channeling the spirits of Joe Namath and Mark Messier, Hernandez made good on his guarantee and homered in the fifth inning. That blast gave the Mets a 4-0 lead.
Francoeur still had one last moment to upstage Hernandez and he did so in the bottom of the seventh inning when he robbed Chris Coghlan of a home run in front of the 385-foot sign in right field. The Marlins players and their many dozens of fans couldn’t bear to watch as Jeff helped preserve the shutout for Misch.
However, the day truly belonged to Pat Misch. He did not cave in when the Marlins kept putting men on base against him in the early innings and got stronger as the game progressed. In doing so, he picked up his second victory of the season and helped the Mets put a huge dent in the Marlins’ fleeting playoff chances.
The Mets will now enter the last week of the season by opening their final road series against the Washington Nationals on Monday. Nelson Figueroa will take the mound against Ross Detwiler in the 7:05 PM start.
The Mets might not be going to the big dance in October. It looks like the team that prevented them from doing so in 2007 and 2008 will also not have a date to the baseball prom in 2009. It may not erase the sting still felt by many Mets fans, but the Mets did exhibit a modicum of revenge this weekend against the Marlins. It’s nice to have a feel-good moment every now and then.
Misch is apparently making a big play to redeem himself. He has been a serious competitor in the Golden Horns race for the GOAT of the year trophy. But today’s performance will keep that trophy under lock and key for Pelfrey and Parnell to duke it out during the final week.
Perhaps there is a place on the Mets for Misch next year. Here’s a novel idea: how about having Misch in the starting rotation, but only pitch every other time around the rotation and having him in the pen during his off week? During his off week from the rotation, he could pitch an inning in a couple games to keep crisp. This could actually be a real strategy for him, if the starting workload is too much for him to recover for his next start. Let him start a game and then let him rest the 2nd week with only a couple innings out of the pen and then come back to start for the 3rd week. This is a novel approach that might work. It’s revolutionary and imaginative ideas that are needed to allow the Mets to perform in a world of small budgets. Let’s introduce innovation and creativity to baseball. I suggest alternative work week schedules for starting pitchers! Using this strategy, we would also alternate Ollie with Misch to minimize the heartache from the number of Ollie starts (and Ollie would be happy working part time for $36 mil).
Let’s see what this would look like. Assuming the rotation for next year is: Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Redding, Misch. (Wow, is that bad or what?). For Misch’s off week, Ollie gets a start. We could let Ollie party during his off week as he has been doing all year anyway. So it would look like this:
Week 1: Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Redding, Misch
Week 2: Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Redding, Ollie (Misch in pen)
Week 3: Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Redding, Misch (Ollie doing the Town)
Week 4: Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Redding, Ollie (Misch in pen)
The benefit is we get a good game out of Misch every other week, some reduction in workload for the pen during Misch’s week in the pen, and Ollie out of our face for half the season. Sounds good to me.
UMMM? MASK, I BELIEVE YOU’VE FINALLY TRIPED OVER THE EDGE. HOW ‘BOUT A MORE CONVENTIONAL APPROACH OF MISCH IN THE PEN AS THE EARLY LOOGEY WE STRUGGLED TO FIND EFFECTIVLY ALL YR?
MISCH USED A GLUT OF OFFSPEED JUNK EFFECTIVLY JUST AS THE HERNANDEZ BROS(LIVAN & DUQUE) DID EFFECTIVLY AGAINST THE FASTBALL SMASHING LINEUP OF FREE-SWINGERS. AGAINST A MORE MATURE, WELL ROUNDED ONE, HE’LL GET KILLED
WHOSE DRIVING YOUR UNHITCHED BANDWAGON?
62, Face it, we live on separate planets. If you don’t have a sense of humor, what good is life? That’s all I’ll say, if you can’t figure it out, that’s you’re problem.
dude above me has lost it ^. oh my the wear and tear of a horrific season
Frenchy’s catch has to be one of the best plays by the Mets this season. Right up there with Murphy’s flip to the pitcher, and Santan’s kick saves.
Also great job by Misch, his secon career win is a shoutout against the Marlins.
Yesterday was the game that I’ll remember all winter. I’m sure we all thought it would be just another so-so experience in an empty stadium. However, it evolved into something else – the most memorable game of the season.
Pat Misch made that memory on the mound for us. Carefully doing his job, he pitched a complete game shut out, assisted by Francoeur who made the catch of his life to save it.
Two youngsters, playing the game as it should be played. You gotta love it.
Thanks guys -
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
CAUTION, ANNIE, MISCH DIDN’T MORPH INTO A PHENOM; BUT WAS LED IBTO A PERFECT APPROACH TO A POWERFUL,IMPERFECT LINEUP. HE FINESSED IMPATIENT FREESWINGING POWERHITTERS ALL NIGHT. A MORE PATIENT LINEUP OF MORE VERSATILE HITTERS LIKELY WOULD CREAM HIS SAME OFFERINGS, aka A BRAVES REMATCH OR CARDS, OR DODGERS, OR YANKEES. IT WAS WHAT IT WAS A SINGULAR EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE USING THE PROPER EFFECTIVE STYLE/APPROACH. THE FISH HAVE A LONG ESTABLISHED REPUTATION AS BEING SUSCEPTIBLE TO OFFSPEEDERS. MISCH WAS THAT TO A TEE. MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE USE OF TOOLS WAS EARLIER WHEN MAINE ONE-HIT THEM WITH POWER OFFERINGS, THEIR USUAL PREFERRED DIET.