5
2012
Wild Game, Bullpen Blows It In 7-6 Loss In Extras To Nationals
An article by 
Chris Young looked good in his first start since May of 2011, but a comedy of errors lead to a thrilling game that was decided in the twelfth in the Mets 7-6 loss.
Game Recap
Chris Young coming back to the Mets in his first start in over a year pitched admirably, going five innings while giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits, walking one and striking out two. Young consistently coaxed weak contact, and was only victimized in the fifth inning, when a serious of mistakes that ended in an Omar Quintilla throwing error lead to an unearned run. Young maintained the velocity he had pre-operation, pitching around 84-86 MPH with his fastball. The key factor to remember with Young is that it isn’t about velocity, but it is about location and sequencing.
With the short bullpen today due to Jon Rauch getting a few days off and the Mets going with a six man rotation, Miguel Batista fresh off his DL stint came out and pitched two very effective innings, allowing no hits while walking one and striking out two. Tim Byrdak came out for one-third of an inning, and allowed one hit. Byrdak just barely missed getting a double-play, but the transition was fumbled by Murphy and only turned into one out. Frank Francisco came out for a five-out save and after getting one out, gave up an RBI single that was charged to Tim Byrdak to tie the game in the eighth. Francisco pitched a solid ninth after blowing the save, getting two strikeouts and allowing one hit. His final line would read one and two-third innings, allowing two hits and striking out two. Bobby Parnell came out in the tenth to save the game, and his defense was very unkind to him. Parnell gave up an unearned run, allowing a hit and a walk, striking out two. Elvin Ramirez came in and after allowing a leadoff walk, struck out the next three hitters. Ramirez had much more trouble in the twelfth, giving up two doubles including one for an RBI, a wild pitch and a walk-off RBI single.
The Mets offense was quiet until the sixth inning, when Jordany Valdespin had his third hit of the season, which was also his second pinch-hit home run on the season. David Wright hit his seventh home run of the season shortly after, bringing the Mets to within one run. Andres Torres hit a two-RBI triple in the eighth to put the Mets ahead. Scott Hairston got a leadoff single in the tenth, stole second, advanced to third on an out and scored on a wild-pitch. Scott Hairston would come through with another heroic blast in the eleventh inning.
Game Changing Moment: Elvin Ramirez losing any effectiveness in the twelfth inning.
Player Of The Game: Scott Hairston, coming through in a huge way today going 2 for 2 with three runs, a home run and a stolen base. Scott had his best performance as a Mets player today.
On Deck
The Mets will continue the series against the Nationals tomorrow at 7:05, and will send RHP Jeremy Hefner (1-2, 5.60) to the mound against RHP Edwin Jackson (1-3, 3.17).
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
30 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 25 | 18 | .581 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 21 | .523 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 23 | .477 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 24 | .415 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 12 | 32 | .273 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/19/2013
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What a comedy of errors tonight.
Quintanilla, Murph,Spin,Ike I mean cmon are you serious tonight?
Francisco yes I know 5 out save attempt but gotta get it done when the manager wants the win so bad he calls you in for the last 5outs.
Speaking of managers Collins I mean like what was going on tonight? Not going to Parnell in the 8th? Wasting Nickeas as a pinch hitter after we took the lead?
The Nats kept giving us the lead and we was like no that’s OK you take it.
Just an ugly loss.
The positive for me is that this game is mercifully over.
I am done for the night. Nothing to do now but to come back and try to even up the series 2morrow.
LGM!
Yep, Last night Murph, Ike, ‘Nilla & ‘Spin co-authored the book, “Losing Baseball”.
My 10-year old son said, “Dad, my Little League team doesn’t even play that bad.” And he’s right.
The worst part was the obvious choke factor. They played to lose, which is the MOST disturbing characteristic and label any team can have.
I have a big issue with Quintanilla – he doesn’t make plays when the game is on the line. He missed Gee’s low throw against the Cards and came up short twice against the Nats. All miscues led to runs.
As much as I am pissed off that he didn’t make clean plays, I kind of fell bad for Valdespin. He’s spent much of his time in the minors cultivating his outfield skills. His limitations in the infield are known issues. His hitting was tremendous. In all, it was probably a healthy humbling experience for him.
Not quite sure what TC’s reaction will be, but I’d like to see some punishment meted out.
Last night, the New York Mets played to lose.
I agree.It was a comedy of errors.Collins made one bad move after another tonight.Valdespin is not a ss.I do not blame him for the errors,I blame Collins for putting him at ss.Murphy is a butcher at 2nd base.If he turns a routine ground ball into a DP it’s a diferent game.I like his effort and his ability to slap singles, but he is not a MLB second baseman.I wish they could find someone whi thinks he is and trade him.Davis cost them big on his blown DP and is becoming almost as lousy in the field as he is at the plate.One more thing before i take something for the headache this game gave me.The ss’s on this team have made 4 errors the last 2 games leading to 2 losses in games we should have won.We let a batting champ and an all star ss by the name of Reyes walk who makes those plays with his eyes closed because we were too cheap to pay him.Alderson, you are not even close to an allstar GM.I hope u choked on that box of chocalates of yours tonight when the game was over.
Never, ever want to see Valdespin at SS again. Don’t care how many SSs we have on the DL. Take his SS mitt away and burn it.
Not sure why we went into this game down 2 BP arms with a Young start. Not like Chris was going deep in that game. Yes, they had Batista to back him up but short 2 men in the BP, resulted in Elvin having to pitch 2 innings in a high leverage situation.
And to add to more misery for the evening, Tejada went back on the DL.
Ugly does not describe this game that Nat were trying to give to Mets but we didn’t want it that bad, what a joke in the BP, 3 blown saves right? Byrdak/FF, Parnell, Ramirez?
When Ramirez came in you could just sense that he was over matched, overwhelmed, over rated, etc.
He just kept trying to throw the ball harder, whether it was in the dirt, over everyone’s head, etc.
Murph kills us again, how long will this experiment last since he has not been hitting since the 1st month of the season?
Valdespin is not a SS, Mets know this, TC knows this but you take out your only “real” SS and put a 2b in that promptly proves that he can’t play SS, he is a 2B TC!
This was a statement game for Mets especially after trailing 3-0, then going up 4-3 but once again the BP and defense let the team down.
What a downer of a game, I had to watch Nats broadcast on MLB and the lead man is such a homer, putting Harper to be the next coming of Hamilton or something, sheesh.
Rauch had lost the last two games in between the Cards wins and then now he has bad elbow, when did this come up plus what matters is that there is no solution for Terry in BP now, he is stuck with whom SA gave him and he has no choice but to continue to send them out there and hope one works.
Only when our starters go 7 do we even stand a chance of winning so Young going only 5 every game is like playing with fire, cause you have to bring in BP to finish; where does this look like a good idea knowing that your BP comes into games with a gas can!
Defense let the team down, but the bullpen is going to sink this ship sure! What options are available out there realistically? Go get em tomorrow Hef!
I am so pissed that SA and TC maybe to some extent have now put Young into rotation while not having enough BP arms to follow him, how many starts did he go past 6 when he was pitching in 2010?
You know that Young is pitching and Rauch can’t pitch, not that he has helped with the last two losses on him, but this is un-acceptable for a Major League Team, which we are supposed to be.
How many errors are enough to keep a current singles hitter at 2B?
How long before you send Ike down cause he apparently has taken his hitting to the field.
You mean we can’t find a SS ANYWHERE that can at least field his position?
Why don’t we have another option in minors SA?
When Ruben went down then Cedeno, what was the FO plan going forward after Quintanilla?
When you don’t have a player to play a position good then you don’t take out the only one that can’t and put a 2b in his stead.
I am so angry over this loss and am hoping that Mets come out angry tomorrow and just blow Jackson out of the game.
I knew this season was just a hope for good things but when you have control over your destiny and you kick the ball around and walk, wild pitch and butcher balls then that is another matter, this is the Majors Mets, lets play like it.
The bullpen did NOT blow it.
That kid we drafted from high school probably makes those plays at ss tonight.Collins proves again tonight why he didn’t manage in the bigs for 10 years.He’s a leader, but his in game stuff is horrible.You cannot remove Q from ss for Valdy.Keep Q at ss take Murphys iron glove out of the game and we get a win tonite.Starting the inning with Byrdak to face a righty was assinine and being 2 arms short against the 1st place team in the division was some brilliant work by Alderson tonite
Ok, so you pull ‘Spin and the Mets go into the bottom of the sixth down 3-1…different situation entirely, especially with a short bullpen.
It is hard to micromanage a game where key errors from Spin (2) and mental errors from Ike and Murph, in addition to Thole not being able to block a few pitches in the later innings. The game was just sloppy. From the sixth on, it was sloppy.
Can someone please tell Sandy to sign Derrek Lee. A 1 year, 4 million contract is not that bad. If Lee agrees then send Ike down and when Ike turns everything around and stays consistent and producing in AAA then platoon him and Lee (Ike vs righties and Lee vs lefties) and then when Ike shows us what we missed in 2011 then leave Lee in the bench as a right power bat alongside with Scotty. I am not putting the blame on Ike for the lost today because literally everyone didnt come up big and it happens atleast once every season. We still have 2 more games at Washington so 1st place is still there for us, we just need to take it, not hope for it. All this said, LETS GO METS!!!!!!!
Truly an outstanding suggestion. Derek Lee is a Gold Glove caliber quality right-handed hitting first baseman. His insertion into the Met infield and line-up would solidify this team as Don Clendennon did for the Miracle Mets in 1969.
Ike would then be able to sort through his issues in Buffalo without causing any further harm to the parent club. There’s a point where merit supersedes all loyalties. Ike has reached that point.
Apart from Ike’s troubles, opposing teams are able to load up on lefties and shut us down cyclically every other inning or so. That’s simply poor planning on Alderson’s part.
Two of Daniel Murphy’s primary deficiencies were exposed last night: his lack of power and limited defensive capability. His trade value will never be higher. We should move him now to an AL club with a quality minor league prospect for a blue-chip prospect, such as Toronto’s Jake Marisnick, a slugging outfielder with burner speed.
I do not think this is our year, nor should it be. Last night exposed virtually every weakness in our organization.
I like this suggestion also except for fact that Lee is probably not playing right now and would need two to three weeks to get ready. We need someone like him that is playing now and available.
Thank you for your opinion (Tommy2cat & Metstheory22). I was doing research and on ” mlbtraderumors.com ” the writers said the Brewers were talking with Lee because their future 1st baseman Mat Gamel is injured and out for the season. The author of that article wrote that Lee has been working out and is in great shape. I understand doubt with Lee because of the time that passed but the same can be said about Oswalt and more importantly Pettite. Andy has been really good since his comeback; I know hitting and pitching is as different as a cat and dog but I believe Derrek can change this team completely.
I really do like Ike alot as a Mets fan but I just cant watch him anymore and the FO just had to demote him before the 11 game homestand. However long it would take Ike to get it going is equal time Lee could start being a Met. Lee is basically what Ike should be at 1st for us but only left handed. Also Lee is a very strong persistent righty bat and he fits amazing in this line up which is so lefty heavy on the spots that count (Kirk, Duda, Murph, Thole). During that span where we only faced lefties, our lefty bats were silenced for the most part.
Now this is how I would do it “if” I was Sandy and Terry (Kirk, Murphy, Wright, Lee, Duda, Bay, Thole, Quintanilla, Pitcher) and the bench is (Hairston, Torres, Nickeas, Rottino, Valdespin). Now everyone healthy would be (Kirk, Murphy, Wright, Lee, Duda, Bay, Tejada, Thole) and bench (Hairston, Torres, Nickeas, Baxter, Cedeno).
Not so sure this one really was on BP despite the fact that it sucks and continues to suck. Too many rookies not always the best formula. Ugh!
It is amazing how things change from 1 game to another. Win 3 straight v. Cards and we’re high as a kite. Lose in ugly fashion last night, and this is not our year, trade this guy, get rid of this guy etc.
Ugly game. They didn’t deserve to win but you know what? From 09 through last year that game ends in 9 innings.
There is no Hairston single, steal score on wild pitch
There is no leadoff HR by Hairston or late double by Torres.
They didn’t quit. They made mistakes, but they didn’t pack it in. You can’t win every game, and sometimes you will have bad losses.
Sometimes you have a 4-3 in 10 loss to the Giants. Or a 5-4 loss to Arizona thanks to Goldschmidt. The drubbing in Toronto. The Marlins rally to win 6-5 in the 9th or the Pirates rally to a 5-4 win.
It’s how you respond to those games and so far the Mets have responded well to tough losses.
So I’m not ready to start trading players away or acting like last night ended the Mets season. When I woke up this team pegged at 100 losses by some was tied for a playoff spot.
True, while losing causes one to focus on the things that lost the game had they won the things being said would probably be how the Mets fought back. The Torres double, The Spin, Wright and Hairston HR’s. During one of the innings where the Mets scored I forget now which, Keith Hernandez said “everybody’s been contributing to this club’s success” and this season it seems that has been the case. Baxter, Nieunwheis, Quintanilla, Valdespin, Johnson, Hairston, Torres, etc etc etc. It has made for me at least so far a very enjoyable season.
No, this team does not give up (offensively at least!).
When I woke up this team pegged at 100 losses by some was tied for a playoff spot.”
june 6th 2012…..
With this young team we should expect speed bumps along the way like last night. How we bounce back from them is the key. Lets go Mets!!
I know he hasn’t been terrible but I just cannot warm up to Francisco. Fact is, though, the team was short last night. why isn;t Rauch on the DL and Mejia here? Ramirez is a 1 inning guy, and he was popping the ball when he struck out the side. I would say he had nothing left. We were just victimized by being 2 short in an extra inning game.
This bullpen blows!!!!!
I thought sandy alderson had a good day no??
There you go again.
You root against Francisco don’t you?
Oh please…No one roots against him…It’s just that rooting for him doesn’t seem to help!
Francisco isn’t the goat yesterday!
Neither is Parnell!
The Fielding cost us that game, Right down to the error in the 5th that gave them free runs!
Despite the feel good wins last night’s game shows that this team is terrible fielding the ball as as shown in that fateful inning last night you can’t give a team 7 outs in extra innings and then expect to win.
Q needs to stay in game and forcing Spin to take groundballs doesn’t take away from the fact that SS is not 2B, which is why he is at 2B and not SS so stop removing your only reliable middle infielder, Q, and leave in your most un-relaible infielder, Murph, when the game gets tight and late.
Wow that calf injury originally diagnosed as day to day has sure morphed into a DL move
I’m going to give Terry a knock here and say he should have let Parnell come into the 8th and left Francisco for the 9th.
That game was as much lost due to Roster management than anything else!
Down two pitcher spots due to 6 man rotation and Rauch being hurt.
You knew once ramirez got in the game was pretty much an inning away from being over one way or the other.
I’m just gald Terry let Ramirez finish it to avoid messing up the rotation anymore than it has been due to the No-Hitter.
I think Terry wanted to find out if FF had a 3+ out save in him. He needed it tonight and he may need it in the future. Naturally, FF disappointed. He will probably save his next 4 opportunities now. It just seems that when you want something special out of FF, you can forget about it. It is not a crime. He is just not special.
Truth is Jdon, and why it’s not a very big knock I’m giving to Teryy here…
BOTH Parnell and Francisco seem to be sketchy under pressure!
Parnell may be worse than Francisco in that regard which is why he probably went to Frank for 5 outs instead of Bobby.
I don’t really blame either for the loss either…
We lost it with the glove not the pitching!
AS SOME OF U MAY RECALL I PRIVATELY POST MUY SELECT ANALYSIS TO ARTICLES & FORWARD THEM TO SELECT FRIENDS & FAMILY WHO’VE REQUESTED I DO SO. RECENTLY I POSTEWD MY OPINION I BELIEVE WORTHY TO SUBMIT HERE AS…
HAVING A FULLY STOCKED BULLPEN IS PARAMOUNT; NEGOTIATING ON A DIME THIN BUDGET, U CAN ALLOW FOR SOME FINGERCROSSING & CORNER CUTTING; BUT WHAT THE MNGT TEAM ALLOWED TO HAPPEN FOR THIS TRIP TO BATTLE NATS FOOR FIRST WAS OUTRIGHT CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT I(N A SPORTS ENVIRONEMENT) DUE TO THE SANTANA PROTECTION PROGRAM THEY WERE FORCED TO ACTIVATE CHRIS YOUNG ONLY 14 MOS. AFTER THE SAME SHOULDER RECONTRUCTION SURGERY EXPERIENCED BY SANTANA, WANG & PRIOR.
ALLOWING FOR THE DESTINCT POSSIBILITY OF YOUNG’S SHORT DUABILITY THEY ALSO ACTIVATED BAUTISTA, ONE OF THE COST CUTTING PITCHING DEPTH, LONGMAN, #6 SP OPTIONS WHO HAD BEEN ON TE D/L TO PIGGYBACK AS NEEDED THEY ALSO RELEASED A MiLB CALLUP PITCHER (JACK EGBERT http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=455090) THROUGH A DFA TRANSACTION ON JUNE 5th, YESTERDAY AT THE SAME TIME THE D/L’d RAMON RAMIREZ FOR HIS CELEBRATORY HAMSTRING ISSUE WHILE REPORTS OF DEBRIS IN RAUSCH’S TROUBLED ELBOW SURFACED SIDELINING RAUSCH.
SO, THE MNGT TEAM TRAVELS TO WASHINGTON FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON, PLANNING ON STARTING A REHABING SP UNLIKELY TO GO DEEP INTO THE GAME, WITH A LONGFMAN OFF THE D.L AS PRIMARY SUPPORT WITHOUT 3 OF IT’S BULLPEN PITCHERS[RAUSCH,R. RAMIREZ,, EGBERT) AVAILABLE LEAVING EMPTY CHAIRS DUE TO NON-CALLUPS TO WHICH THEY, OF COURSE FOUND THEMSELVES IN A DOGFIGHT OF A BATTLE OVER 12 INNINGS WHERE WRIGHT & HIS POSITIONAL COHORTS, VALIENTLY SUPPLIED LATE LEADS IN THE 8th, 9th,11th ALL TO BE SURRENDERED AFTER THEY WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR LAST AVAILABLE RELIEVER, ROOKIE ELVIN RAMIREZ IN BEYOND PHYSICAL & EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION.
THERE WAS ALSO CULPABILITY ON THE PART OF TC WITH SOME OF HIS CURIOUS MOVES THAT INSTEAD OF THEIR USUAL MAGIC SUPPLIED TASTLESS ASHES LIKE DOUBLE SWITCHING OUT HIS CLEANUP HITTER, DUDA, IN THE 5th INNING WHILE DUDA HAS BEEN RIDING ONE OF HIS LEGENDARY(FROM MINORS) POWER STREAKS. IN ADDITION IT WAS OBVIOUS AFTER 2 MUFFED PLAYS QUINTENILLA WAS HEARING THE RETURNING TEJADA FOOTSTEPS[TEJADA SINCE REVEALED TO HAVE WITHDRAWN FROM LAST REHAB GAME DUE TO TIGHT QUAD, INJURY THAT SIDELINED HIM INITIALLY WEEKS AGO] AND, HAVUING SEEN TOO MUCH, OBVIOUSLY, COLLINS PINCH HIT FOR HIM LATE IN THE GAME LEAVING 2B,LFer JORDANY VALDESPIN AS THE ONLY AVAILABLE SS WHO IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING OUTSTANDING OFFENSE (PH-HR)+2B, SHOWED THAT DESPITE BEING FROM THE SS MECCA OF LATIN AMERICA, SAN PEDRO de MARCORIS, DR IT TAKES MORE THAN A MERE BITRTH CERTIFICATE TO WARRANT PLAYING SS IN THE BIG LEAGUES 2E LATER & 2 LEADS SURRENDERED LATER, THE GAME MERCILESSLY ENDED AS IT WAS DESTINED TO WITH BOTH BULLPENS EXHAUSTED ALONG WITH A COMPLETELY UTILIZED MET BENCH AS COLLINS USED ALL 25 ROSTERED ACTIVE PLAYERS, DAVEY JOHNSON , ALSO WITH A DEPLETED BULLPEN HAD BATTERS IN BOTH B/O CATCHERS AS NEEDED
AS IT STANDS ALDERSON, COLLINS & COMPANY SHOULD HAVE A MORE HONEST EMPATHY FOR GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER, WHO SIMILARLY ENTERED THE LITTLE BIG HORN CHOOSING TO ;LEAVE 2 GATTLING GUNS BEHIND BELIEVING THEY WOULD SLOW HIS PROGRESS, CAN ANYONE WONDER HOW MANY TIMES REGRET CROSSED HIS MIND AS ALDERSON ALLOWED HIS TROOPS TO TRAVEL INTO BATTLE IN DC LEAVING BOTH BEATO & MEJIA FOR THEIR LAST REHAB APPEARANCES IN BUFFALO/BINGO REPECTIVELY. COULD THEY NOT HAVE BEEN USED SIMILARLY IN DC?
WHILE IT’S TRUE THAT A FIRST PLACE BERTH IN EARLY JUNE IS WORTHLESS OVER THE COURSE OF A SEASON, IT MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR THAT CASUAL BASEBALL FANS MAY BE INDUCED INTO CITI OUT OF CURIOSITY FOR WHAT THEY ARE MISSING AS THE BACKPAGES PROCLAIMING THEM #1 IN JUNE ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE IN NYC.
BESIDES, THE CASUAL FAN, THEY RUN THE RISK OF LOSING THE EMOTIONAL HIGH OF THE PLAYERS WHO MUST BE EQUALLY AWARE OF ALL I’VE LAID DOWN ABOVE. FRONTOFFICE BETRAYAL, INCOMPETANCE OR NONCHALANCE? TAKE YOUR PICK EITHER WAY IT DOESN’T BODE WELL!