2
2012
Niese Great In Mets 2-1 Win Against Giants
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Jonathon Niese had a great outing and Ruben Tejada notched his first homer of the season
Game Recap
Jonathon Niese struggled in the first inning, but after that seemed to get his bearings and really settled into a groove. Niese would wind up going seven innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking two and striking out five. The only downside to Niese this entire season has been giving up the long-ball to righties, as he gave up his 17th homer of the season to the batters who hit from the common-side.
The bullpen had a shorter day, with Tim Byrdak and Jon Rauch combining for a clean eighth inning. Bobby Parnell came out and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out one.
Offensively, the Mets started the scoring early with Ruben Tejada hitting a solo home-run, his first in over 600 at-bats. The Mets put a second run on the board on a Jordany Valdespin RBI groundout with the bases loaded. The Mets squandered many chances with runners on base, thanks to some poor base running and also getting caught stealing twice. The four through seven hitters had a struggle, and only David Wright and Ruben Tejada had more than one hit.
Player Of The Game
Jonathon Niese. Seven great innings, walking two batters both in the first inning and settling down after that.
Game Notes
David Wright went 2 for 3 with a walk, a strikeout, a steal and his 10th error of the season. While the error was charged to him, it was a throw that Ike could have gotten. Ike Davis drew his first walk since July 22nd, and did it twice. Jason Bay struck out twice while going 0 for 5 on the day. Over/Under on Bay being benched/platooned? Next Tuesday. The entire Mets offense was anemic in driving in runs, and being able to grab a win out of this was amazing in itself. The Mets stole four bases, and were caught twice.
On Deck
The Mets will look to win the series tomorrow, sending Chris Young (2-5, 4.58) to the mound to face off against the Giants and Barry Zito (8-7, 3.89). Game time is 3:45 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
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1 of 13 with RISP and somehow the Mets win 2-1? Thank you Niese, Byrdak, Rauch and Parnell on a well pitched game for the win.
Need to beat Zito 2morrow to take 3 out of 4.
Wright went 3-4. Best 3rd baseman in the league.
Really, really glad that this year’s NL All Star headhunting starter took the loss.
Niese was dominant.
We need a new starting catcher, or at least for 2013. For many, many reasons…
What should’ve been an easy win became difficult.”
Arias reached base twice?!!!
I was at the game. Bay has not only been non-productive this year, but had really bad luck on that ball he smoked in the 8th tonite. The ball found Penny’s glove and he didn’t even know it.
Even if Penny mossed it, replays showed Theriot near the bag for 4-3 double play.Bay is a strikeout/DP machine
need 1 five start left , 1 first baseman and 2nd bench player . ike is a poor procuctive guy ok is have 20 hr but how many is with RISP
Actually I thought early a lot of his home runs were coming with men on.
Opposing pitchers frequently make Spin look bad when he’s at bat now. Hopefully he can make some adjustments to stop lunging to handle outside pitches and offspeed pitches. Lefties who throw sliders are eating him up now. As an outfielder, Spin has great instincts and a nose for the ball. While Duda and even Bay sometimes look mechanical, Spin looks like a natural.
The more Spin plays the more he looks like trade fodder.Maybe he can be moved with someone else for a catcher.Thole is just god awful at the plate.What would a package of Thole, Spin and a prospect bring towards getting a catcher with a pulse in return??
Spin is awful, a classic example of why plate discipline IS important. He just goes up and swings hard. Flavor of the day…
I told you guys repeatedly when everyone was all hung up on Valdespins PH HRs that he was a free swinger even more than Murphy and truth is he is much more like Mookie who never saw a pitch he didn’t like!
He has better bat control than Mookie but not Murphy.
That doesn’t mean Vldespin can’t be tamed by the right coach but it was his aggressivness that made everyone fall in love and got you those HRs and now that he is getting regular ABs you see exactly what I was talking about.
Not often we agree on stuff but I don’t get the love for Vspin. I think his ceiling is Juan Uribe. .250, .296, .420 Slg with below average defense at multiple positions.
I think he is capable of being better than that but not as good as Murphy who everyone wanted to replace with Valdespin two weeks ago.
Valde’s constant up and down on the Buffalo shuttle and only being used sparingly helped him because he wasn’t getting exposed to MLB pitching often enough for Pitchers to get a handle on him.
And now that he is getting more playing time they will get that handle and figure him out.
He has a good swing and plenty of bat speed so he could be coached to be a better player.
Where we disagree maybe is you don’t want him to get too passive and lose some of that aggressiveness.
He does his best work on the second pitch of the PA!
And even if he plays to the numbers you suggest that still makes him a better option at CF than Torres.
Ike is still off-balance when he’s at bat. He’s the guy who hits 500 foot homers (thank goodness!) but who can’t seem to connect on lefty sliders and offspeed pitches. He’s much better than he was earlier in the season but still has a ways to go to. He’s just lunging or is ahead of the pitch too much. His offensive inconsistencies seem to be affecting his defensive play.
Call me crazy but I am starting to believe, if all the pieces fit and no trades hurt the staff during the off season that we have the makings of a REALLY GOOD staff going into the 2013 season. Our young guys are getting experience and the farm system is strong. I am talkin about the starting staff as the bullpen is a mess. We have Dickey, Niese, Gee (f he recovers and I think he will), Harvey and maybe Edgin or Young as a fifth starter, plus some minor league pitchers are getting close. I would try in the off season to get Parnell ready for a closer roll as I don’t see a lot of help in the off season trade market. The guy has a 99 mph fastball so the raw talent is there.
Crazy? No you’re not. I hope you’re correct.
I’d settle for a few MPH less and more movement of Parnell’s fastball. Seems like he’s throwing four-seamers but good two-seamers might be more effective if he improves his command.
With 3 wins in the last 4 games, we’re buyers! Oh, too bad the trade deadline just passed by LOL! When will SA make a move that actually pays off for THIS team?
When he makes the move to step down?