29
2012
Young Outduels Capuano In 3-2 Victory Over The Dodgers
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Recap:
Coming off an offensive explosion to avoid the sweep against the Chicgo Cubs, the Mets headed West to open up a three game set in LA. This game wasn’t quite as lopsided, but the Mets still did end up with the “W”, taking the opener of the Dodgers series by a final score of 3-2.
Chris Young took the hill for his fifth start of the year and had the Dodgers number. Young was perfect through the first three nnings with a trio of punchouts already under his belt. The second time through the batting order however, presented some difficulties to Young as he started off the fourth allowing a double, triple and a single to tie up the ballgame at two a piece before regaining his composure to retire the side. After that it was all goose eggs as Young finished with a final line of 6 1/3 innings pitched allowing two runs on six hits while walking none and striking out six, taking his second win of the season to improve to 2-1 on the year and lowering his ERA to 3.30.
The offense was all-Wright today as he accounted for two of the three Mets runs, proving key in the win. Wright went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the first and a solo shot in the fourth. Nearly at the halfway point in the season, Wright is now batting .361 with 26 doubles, nine home runs and 49 RBIs on the year.
The go ahead run for the Mets came in the fifth when Mike Nickeas hit a one-out single and would come around to score on yet another two-out Mets run, this time in the form of an Andres Torres double to right, to put the Mets on top for good.
After that the bullpen came on and dominated –yes, you read that correctly– the weakened Dodger offense, allowing just one hit over 2 2/3 shutout innings. Parnell came on for his first save opportunity since being given the closer role in the absense of Frank Francisco, and pitched a perfect ninth, putting the Mets within 3.5 games of the NL East with their 41st victory of the year.
Hero Of The Game:
David Wright, for his 2-3 performance that proved to be the difference in today’s game.
Notes:
-With last night’s outing, Chris Young has now started more games this year than either of the prior two seasons. He looks as good as ever, going deeper into ballgames, great command, and above all, looking healthy.
-Wright, besides his 2-3 night, also had a walk. This walk represented Wright’s 581st walk of his career, breaking Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record of 580 free passes in a Met uniform. Congrats to Wright as he continues to set almost every Met offensive record.
-Andres Torres had his seventh double of the year and his eighth stolen base aswell.
-Mike Nickeas is starting to pick it up offensively as of late as he is batting .292 in his past ten games.
Up Next:
R.A. Dickey looks to rebound from his nightmare of an outing in the finale of the Subway Series today against Aaron Harang and the Dodgers starting tonight at 10:10pm Eastern.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 22 | 18 | .550 | - |
| Nationals | 22 | 19 | .537 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 19 | 22 | .463 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 15 | 23 | .395 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 30 | .268 | 11.5 |
Last updated: 05/17/2013
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Great win by the mets, first of all, congrats DW, So far he’s broken the Walks record and RBI record for the mets franchise this season.. Job well done, Most likely he’ll be the NL Starterd this year, i was amazed that somehow sandoval almost caught up with him in the ballot..
I would like to apologize to xtreemicon, back a while ago he said the mets needed to sign Chris young, that it was a must, while i wholeheartedly disagree with him i see now his point… The problem was not that the man can pitch or not, his injury status is alwys a concern.. So far he’s pitching very well for the mets and i hope it continues that way… Good job Xtreemicon
Thank you. That was big of you. His ability to pitch was never a question, which is why a minor league contract or even a very low-base salary seemed a no-brainer to me.
The CORE keep it real at all time… I mann’ed up if i am wrong… Unlike some others who deviate from their wrong as hell prediction and pre celebrations and coronations… But again, i do agree, the skill and talent where there.. He’s a guy who knows how to pitch.. but often injured.. Hope he stays healthy all year
Yes it was a nice win by the Mets. Congratulations to David Wright and Chris Young. Now that both are healthy, we witness how good both can be.
Props to the Bullpen!
The pitched 2 2/3 scoreless with just a couple of hits I think. Bobby P. saves game by setting down enemies 1-2-3 in ninth. I mean, wow!
Just hoping it isn’t a fluke. Good job, pen!
RZ, best thing about parnell was his calmness and composure….
You said it, Bro’.
I was thinking confidence but your description applies too.
Wonder how much has to do with that new pitch he added to his repertoire that Izzy taught him?
He was really dealing in the 9th last night. Some of those fastballs reached 100 mph. Not that it’s probably needed but good to see he’s not one of these pitchers that seems to lose velocity in their late 20s.
Parnell commented after the game that he was a little ‘amped up’.
Parnell commented after the game that he was a little ‘amped up’”
Thing is, as a closer, you’re supposed to be amped up.. But the thing was, he did not look anxious or anything, if he was he hid it very well, and that is what a closer is supposed to be, a guy with confidence as you pointed out in the mound, he’s got to have that “i’ll get you out somehow” mentality.. show no weakness while in the mound so the pressure falls on the hitter to hit your pitch, don’t overthink the situation, just go out there and KNOW you’re better than your opponent.. I LOVED parnell last night, hopefully is a sign of things to come…
You’ll get no arguments from me Alex, on your comments.
If he can keep showing this going forward – and he’ll have opportunities with FF on the DL – hopefully they’ll seriously consider Parnell taking over the closer role.
Quite frankly, i’ve been wanting him to get that spot… FFF can be our set up guy if this man keeps doing what he did last night…
Parnell is not the same Parnell we saw lose it last year. Something is different and it is more than just learning a new knucklecurve…
He is not overthrowing the way he did last year, He is also showing better control because of it. He is not trying to throw 105 MPH every pitch and dialed it back to get that control.
And it’s working.
The games where he gave up runs this year were mostly due to bad fielding extending innings which is why his ERA is not sitting on the roof like all the other pen arms are.
And this injury to Francisco may just be the opportunity Parnell needs to become a closer at some point.
It has never been a question about his pitches they are fine, it has always been his confidence and ability to locate that has been his achillies heel in the past.
It is a good bet he will be the closer until the All Star Break and perhaps if he does well and gets a few saves under his belt that might be enough to build on and take the next step.
A good closer needs to be nasty and stubborn but to be that you need the high confidence level almost to the point of arrogance.
If he has some success in his short stint as closer it could just be the stepping stone he needs to get where he should be to be the future closer for this team.
He’s pitching smarter and while I don’t expect him to pitch Francisco out of the role before FF gets back any positive steps taken by Parnell towards being a closer would be a KEY fix for the future.
Cause trading for a closer is the one deal thats going to cost more in kids than you truly get back considering they only pitch one inning a game in a game your already winning.
Metsie — Parnell really looks better this year. He seems smarter and actually dominant. Your view is on the money. Let’s remember that Bobby is only 27.
Heath Bell didn’t do a lot until he was 29. Then he had five really good years but he seems to be sliding this year. I’d take five good years from Bobby in a heartbeat.
Well also look at Isringhausen and Heilman for other examples.
It was said yesterday but it bears repeating…
There is a lot more to being a good pitcher than just throwing the ball hard and having good stuff.
And most guys under the age of 29 don’t get that because all they focus on is the radar gun and thier natural talent.
But as the age comes in and the MPHs start ticking off your radar, you realize you don’t have it and you have to start relying on what is actually mucyh more important than velocity and stuff!
Guys like Dickey (maybe not rhe best example here due to the novelty), Reed, Ojeda and Gee never had that plus fastball to get by with. Never had that youthful abundance of talent that was good enough to allow them to not think about what and where just throw your best stuff and hope for the best.
They learned early (to get to the MLB) that if you locate well, set up the batter change speeds and keep him off balance you can get someone out even with a 85 MPH fastball!
In Dickey’s case he throws a fastball in the mid 80′s. Why does it work?
Because the pitch before it was at 69 MPH!
As pitchers get older and more experienced they learn how to do that.
My problem has always been that the MiL Coaches and scouts have not ever seemed to have learned that lesson the pitchers eventually do!
Plus Fastball = Prospect
Not Plus = Not worth even talking about or considering.
Why don’t they get taught these things in the Minors?
Why is it all about pounding the zone and learning new pitches? I get teaching them control but what good is control if you son’t really know where or how to use that control to your advantage and where to control the ball to go to set yup batters for the pitcvhes you already have?
It baffles my mind that the most important thing for a pitcher to learn is not taught in the Minors and he is left to figure this out on his own later on in life!
“A good closer needs to be nasty and stubborn but to be that you need the high confidence level almost to the point of arrogance.”
Hi Metsie,
If that’s what it takes, I suggest most of us fly out to Los Angeles for a try-out!
Well worth the decision to stay up late watching this game.
Not much offense but then again, not much was needed.
Props to Young and the BP.
Congrats to DWright for breaking yet another franchise record.
Just sign him so he can go right on doing that.
Great win and what we should be doing to struggling teams that are missing key ingredients(Kemp, Ethier).
I think Bobby Parnell can be a ML closer. At times I am reminded of a gunslinger; like Wyatt Earp. His demeanor last night was that of a closer. What he has to do is really work on the new pitch to perfect location and balance with the blazer. His risk is always going to be the long ball, however, if he can throw the right blend of pitches and groove the knuckle/curve learned from Izzy he can get some outs.
Right now I would rather see him close than Francisco. Franky has not been terrible and his save #’s show it. It’s the throat clenching drama that we don’t need. This team puts it all on the field and can withstand only so much drama late in the game never mind heartbreak. We need a 1-2-3 guy and that is seeming more and more like “The Gunslinger”.
Tonight we have our resident knuckle baller and sound philosopher on the hill. He is a great story and probably the only one capable of handling the attention. He is a team guy for sure. I wonder if he threw a knuckler on top of Mt. Everest. He should be asked. Did it knuckle? It is amazing that we have a few SPs right now that can NO DOUBT keep us in games. Who knew?
We feature our Lefty line up tonight v. Harang. Need Duda and K NU to snap out of it.
LGM!!!!!!!!
Nice win and I hope to see this trend continue tonight. I was out cold after the 5th and I missed it, but it was a pleasant surprise to read Parnell picked up the save without any hiccups.
K Maxx — During my gallivanting days, I found that a few cold ones worked that way for me too. LOL. Now I mostly stay at home and watch our surprising Mets. I hope RA Dickey works his magic tonight.
I would think that Chris Young should have been the star of the game considering he did most of the heavy lifting.
When Chris Young was first signed by Sandy Alderson I admitted it was a good risk taking based on Young’s past performance. My only hesitation was automatically handing him a slot in the starting rotation instead of letting him battle it out in spring training due to the question of not only how effective he could be after coming back from multiple years of injury but whether those injuries would come back and bite him once more.
That concern proved legit and it was for that reason that Dillio Gee was called up.
But I’m glad that a year later, it seems to be working out. This time there was no risk other than a minor league contract because Young was not automatically being counted upon as a starter – he was called up to fill a spot in the rotation instead vacated by Pelfrey after rookie call ups couldn’t fill the void.
The only question is fatigue setting in too quickly and suddenly as we saw against the Yankees and his starts before. Last night was a good sign for even though they are in a major batting slump, the Dodgers are still major league hitters and could have teed off on a tiring Young in an instant.
If Young comes back, this is a real bolster to the starting rotation along with Parnell starting to show he might have it as a closer.
LGM
Didn’t get to watch the game in it’s entirety but one of the things I did get to see was the nice double play turned by Murphy & Tejada in the 8th behind Rauch. Tejada with the nice spin & throw move at 2nd to get the out at 1st. Very nice.