Jul
31
2011

Parnell Blows Mets Comeback In 3-2 Loss To Nats

An article by Sean Kenny

Jonathon Niese went five and one-third innings, and Bobby Parnell ruined a comeback attempt in their 3-2 loss against the Nationals

Game Notes

Jonathon Niese looked very good for five innings, and then came unraveled in the sixth, allowing three straight doubles. Jonathon’s final line was five and one-third innings, allowing two runs on eight hits while striking out six. Niese looked good, but seemed to lose his location and that summoned his early exit. Niese was pulled only after 78 pitches, but sometimes the pitch count doesn’t matter.

Ryota Igarashi came out to clean up Niese’s mess, and struck out both batters he faced in his two-thirds of an inning. Pedro Beato went an inning and two-thirds, allowed one hit while walking one and striking out one. Beato has not had as good control as he did earlier in the season, so hopefully its just fatigue and not an injury. Byrdak came out to do his LOOGY duty and struck out ex-Met Alex Cora in his one-third of an inning of work. Bobby Parnell came out for the ninth, and gave up a hit, then hit Rick Ankiel, then threw a wild pitch and Rick Ankiel scored on a chopper right passed the pitcher.

The Mets offense was victimized by a bad baserunning play by Daniel Murphy in the third and an inability to get hits with RISP. Scott Hairston hit a solo HR that was scorched into the LF bleachers, which was his third pinch-hit HR of the season. The Mets spent too much time at the plate watching called third strikes. With Scott Hairston up, two outs in the bottom of the ninth, he sent another blast to LF to tie it up.

Willie Harris – 1 for 4 with two K’s (both looking)

Pagan & Bay – 1 for 8 with four strikeouts. Never good when your 5 & 6 hitters do this.

Daniel Murphy – 2 for 4. Bad baserunning play really stands out.

Josh Thole – 0 for 3 with a strikeout. Also fouled two balls of of his shin in two separate AB’s.

Turning Point

When Jonathon Niese fell apart in the sixth inning.

Game Ball

Scott Hairston – 2 for 2 with two HR, both solo shots in key situations

On Deck

The Mets will be returning home to face the Marlins on Monday. Mike Pelfrey will oppose Javier Vasquez, and game time is 7:10 P.M.

About the Author: Sean Kenny

Sean Kenny is a student/writer currently attending school at the City College of New York. For more Mets news, notes and thoughts follow him on twitter @TheSeanKenny

15 Comments + Add Comment

Midwestern Met July 31, 2011 at 5:12 pm

Should have won this one. Should have won this series too. We went 6-4 on the road trip, pretty good, but lost series in Florida and Washington. Could’ve done more.

http://midwesternmet.blogspot.com/2011/07/game-108-nationals-3-mets-2.html
JetsMets69 July 31, 2011 at 5:30 pm

They could have won this series and this game, but we still had a good road trip after the loss of two key players. Hopefully after another one of those famous Terry Collins pep talks and some home cooking we can back to our winning ways.
- pal88 July 31, 2011 at 7:40 pm
  
  Unfortunately the Marlins are coming in…
86mets July 31, 2011 at 5:58 pm

I’m glad they didn’t trade Jason Isringhausen. Had they done so they probably would’ve gone 4-6 on the road trip instead of 6-4 if Bobby Parnell was closing. Man, I love Parnell because he’s from my home state and his hometown is only a few miles from where I live and grew up. But he’s not showing me that he has the fortitude to close at the ML level or handle high leverage situations. I know he claims that K-Rod was somewhat of a mentor to him but apparently he isn’t applying lessons learned from his ‘mentor’. Looks like Sandy is going to have to add a closer to his offseason shopping list this year as I don’t see Izzy being counted on to come back next year in that role. I’m really rooting for Parnell to discover his “inner closer”, if you will, and step his game up a notch or two going down the stretch.
Connor from Up Along First July 31, 2011 at 6:55 pm

I don’t think Parnell is the closer of the future. He is too inconsistent. Personally, I think he’s got good “stuff,” but he just isn’t fit for the closers role. I like him better as a middle reliever, not a closer or setup man like he was today.
pal88 July 31, 2011 at 7:39 pm

Parnell needs more seasoning in the minore…So far, he looks to be a choke artist..
- Trufan July 31, 2011 at 7:57 pm
  
  And who’s replacing him on the roster? Pat Misch? Parnell is 26 and has logged 400+ innings in the minors. The only seasoning he needs is in the food he eats.
- alex68 August 1, 2011 at 7:46 am
  
  So far, he looks to be a choke artist..”
  
  lmao, wow..
  - alex68 August 1, 2011 at 11:59 am
    
    lmao, i see i got a dislike just for saying lmao, wow at a comment someone else made!!!! lmao… wow.. THIS system is going to be fun, the only thing missing joe D, is for you to actually put who likes and dislike the comments someone make, espn has it set up that way, but i guess you don’t want MMO to become a war zone for blogging..
Kranepool7 August 1, 2011 at 12:55 am

Those of you bashing Parnell need to relax. He’s not ready to close and he may never be, but he’s got a live arm and will do fine in 7th or 8th inning situations. Dont give up so easily on him, that’s what we did with Heath Bell.
rzanca August 1, 2011 at 1:15 am

Wasn’t aclose situation for BP.
Problem is he throws high 90s bu can’t get Ks.
That’s not going to help us win
He wasn’t bad today and clearly didn’t hit the batter, but
He just wasn’t too good.
Lifelongmetsfan August 1, 2011 at 3:11 am

Nats are just a tad better team than the Mets. BUt two evwen;y matched teams could have gone either way…
alex68 August 1, 2011 at 7:45 am

well, last 7 we went 5-2, problem is, we picked up a game 7.5 gb.. with that being said, we need to SWEEP the marlins and braves, to be part of something, but in a bullpen where you have parnell, igarashi, acosta and carrasco leads are hard to maintain.. our offense was good for most of the week except for the last 2 games.. sleep walk if ask me, it was pathetic at best, clearly some players in the lineup need a rest here and there..
there’s some games a team can afford to lose and some they don’t, we clearly let a team that sucks off the hook by losing 2 of 3 to them, it can happen if you trying to make some noise.. let’s hope they regroup and do better this week..
- MetFan Lou August 1, 2011 at 10:22 am
  
  You my fellow Met fan just described a 500 team to the tee. Congrats!
MetFan Lou August 1, 2011 at 8:37 am

Whoa Nelly-hold me down! Dare I say it, do we have Aaron Heilman’s twin brother disguised as Bobby Parnell? There I said it, now I must get to the Pepto Bismal quick!

Need Tickets To The Mets Game?

Check Out These Great MLB Links!

For wholesale prices on New York Mets gifts and equipment, check these stores out!
Mets Autograph Signings
Mets Fan Apparel
Mets Autographed Baseballs
Baseball Card Supplies
Baseball Equipment

For the best seats and lowest MLB ticket prices, go to PurchaseSeats.com. Get your Mets Tickets now and follow them on the road with Yankees Tickets, Phillies Tickets, Nationals Tickets and Braves Tickets!