Mets Merized Online

Like a wounded prizefighter hoping to get one last chance at the title, the Mets fought their way through a difficult 2009 season.  They kept getting pushed aside, beaten down and left for dead.  The season might have ended much earlier than Mets fans expected (like July), but at least the Mets gave the hearty fans in attendance for this final series at Citi Field something to smile about.

Nelson Figueroa’s best pitching performance in a Mets uniform and Angel Pagan’s perfect day at the plate helped the Mets finish the season on an up note.  Today’s 4-0 victory completed a sweep of the equally disappointing Houston Astros and helped the Mets avoid their first under 70-win season since 2003, although it might have been somewhat appropriate had the Mets finished the season with 69 wins as one final (unwanted) tribute to the ‘69 Mets.

On a beautiful day at Citi Field, Nelson Figueroa took the hill and was masterful from start to finish.  In pitching his first career complete-game shutout, Figgy allowed only four hits and did not walk a batter.  He also struck out seven Astros while throwing 113 pitches.

Angel Pagan was equally impressive, going 4-for-4 with a single, two doubles and a triple.  The four-hit game boosted his average to .306.  He also showed his tender side when he politely brought the ball to Astros’ catcher Humberto Quintero as he slid across home plate with one of the two runs he scored on the day.  (see photo below for Pagan’s peace offering to Quintero)

Not to be forgotten was the three hit day by catcher Josh Thole.  His two singles and one double raised his average to .321 after his September call-up.  He showed that he could hit the ball to all fields and made good contact, as shown by his low strikeout total (only five strikeouts in 53 at-bats).

With the victory, the Mets finished the season with a 70-92 record.  Truth be told, even without all the injuries, this team was probably not going to compete with the Phillies for the division title.  However, if they could just bottle up the good pitching and hitting from this weekend series against the Astros, perhaps 2010 can serve up a few more happy recaps.

Tomorrow’s game will start 182 days from now when the 2010 season opens up at Citi Field on April 5.  Thanks to all the readers for making this season tolerable with all your comments and support.  I leave you with a short poem.  Happy recaps to all and to all a good night!

Two years ago in the season finale

The Mets fell short with nary a rally

When we Shea’d goodbye in 2008

The Marlins returned to seal the Mets’ fate

It’s been a year since Shea was razed to the ground

But with playoff hopes gone, no choke could be found

At least this year’s finale produced not a weep

As Angel and Nelson came through for the sweep!

It may have rained at Citi Field today, but Pat Misch still found a way to twinkle through the raindrops as he pitched five effective innings to help defeat the Astros by the final score of 5-1.

Following his first career complete game shutout on Sunday against the Marlins, Misch won his second consecutive decision.  Before rain put an abrupt end to his workday, Misch had thrown only 61 pitches entering the sixth inning.  He gave up one run and five hits while walking no one.

Following Friday night’s 14-hit outburst against Wandy Rodriguez and the Astros’ bullpen, the Mets banged out another ten hits on Saturday against Yorman Bazardo and his band of merry men. This barrage included multi-hit efforts by Daniel Murphy, Fernando Tatis and Josh Thole.  Although the Mets did not hit any home runs today, half of their hits went for extra bases (four doubles and one triple).

David Wright and Carlos Beltran were not in the starting lineup as Jerry Manuel wanted to give Wright a break and Beltran was feeling ill.  Manuel did expect to pencil both of them into Sunday’s starting lineup.  The Mets did not need their services today as their replacements, Fernando Tatis and Cory Sullivan, (Angel Pagan moved from left field to center field to play in Beltran’s stead) combined to go 3-for-7 with three runs scored, two runs batted in and two stolen bases.

The Mets were clinging to a 2-1 lead as the rain began to fall sporadically by the third inning.  Needing to play 4½ innings to make the game official, Misch carved his way through the Astros lineup quickly and effectively.  After the game became official when Miguel Tejada grounded out to Luis Castillo to end the top of the fifth inning, the rain began falling in earnest.  However, before the umpires decided they couldn’t swim, they allowed the bottom of the fifth inning to be completed.  The Mets added two insurance runs on a two-run single by Fernando Tatis.  The timely hit gave the Mets a 4-1 lead and brought the grounds crew out to cover the field.

After making us wait (by us, I mean me and the other thousand or so fans who are also Mets-ochists) through a 2 hour and 20 minute rain delay for a meaningless game to resume, the Mets gave us a special treat.  Fans were allowed to move down into the field level seats for the final four innings of the game.

Unfortunately, not much action happened after that.  The Mets did add another run in the seventh inning when Fernando Tatis hit a two-out double off the left field wall.  This was followed by an RBI single by catcher Josh Thole.  The latter hit gave the Mets a 5-1 lead.

After two Astros reached base in the top of the ninth inning,  Francisco Rodriguez was called upon to get the last out.  It was Frankie’s first appearance since his colossal meltdown on Wednesday in Washington.  This time, the results were much better as he got speedster Michael Bourn to fly out to Jeff Francoeur to end the game for his 35th save.

Pat Misch will probably not be in the starting rotation in 2010, but his last two starts have showed that he can be a serviceable fill-in should one of the Mets’ regular starters get hurt (Johan Santana), become ineffective (John Maine) or both (Oliver Perez).  It was a nice finish for Misch in the next-to-last game of the season.

Tomorrow’s season finale will not have everything on the line as the previous two seasons did.  That means the Mets might actually win the game.  Nelson Figueroa will face the Astros’ Wilton Lopez at 1:10 PM.  It’s almost time to say “th-th-that’s all, folks” to the 2009 season.  Hopefully, the Mets can go out with a sweep of the Houston Astros.

Useless stat of the day (because useless seems to go with the Mets this season): When Jose Thole tripled in the fourth inning, it was the Mets’ 48th triple of the season, setting a new franchise record.  The previous high of 47 was achieved by the 1978 and 1996 teams.  Why is this a useless stat?  Because the 1978 Mets finished the season with a 66-96 record and the 1996 team went 71-91.  It should come as no surprise that this Mets team will finish with a similar record to those triple-happy teams.

The Mets finally played some solid baseball and beat the Houston Astros 7-1 Friday night in the opener of their final series of the season.

John Maine (7-6) made his final start of the season and delivered one of his best performances in two years. He pitched seven solid innings and allowed just one run on five hits, and he didn’t walk a batter while striking out seven. It was just what the Mets needed at a time when there are so many questions about next season’s rotation. The start also marked the first time in 15 starts this season, that Maine was able to last through the seventh inning.

“It gives us a lot of hope,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “I haven’t seen his slider that good since he’s come back, and his fastball had late life. Very encouraging for all of us.”

Bobby Parnell and Sean Green finished the game in relief of Maine with two scoreless innings.

Offensively, Jeff Francoeur led the attack with three hits including a towering two run homer that broke the 1-1 tie and put the Mets in front for good in the sixth inning. For Francoeur, it was his 15th homerun of the season which leads all Mets batters.

Daniel Murphy also delivered a pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning, and David Wright had an RBI double among his three hits on the evening. For Murphy, it was his team leading 12th homer.

Omir Santos, Fernando Tatis and Angel Pagan each had two of the Mets’ 14 hits against the ‘Stros and Nick Evans hit New York’s 47th triple of the season in the seventh inning, tying the franchise record set in 1978 and equaled in 1996.

With only two games left to the season, the Mets will send Pat Misch to the mound this afternoon who will be searching for his second consecutive solid outing. You may remember that Misch pitched a complete game shutout against the Marlins his last time out.

Here’s to the Mets finishing strong…

Mets fans should be used to these types of games in 2009. If there is anything we’ve learned as fans this season it is to expect the unexpected. Francisco Rodriguez gave up 5 runs in the ninth inning on a bases loaded walk to Adam Dunn and a Grand Slam to Justin Maxwell to give the Nationals a victory in their last home game of 2009.

I’m not sure if K-Rod is a victim of not getting much work in the second half or if there is something wrong physically with him, but he seems off. He can not control his pitches right now and has me terrified every time he comes in in a close game. It is something worth watching for next season because if the Mets want to be playing in games that matter next season they are going to need him.

Lost in the Rodriguez debacle was a solid start from Tim Redding. Redding went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 4 hits. Redding passed the ball off to Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano and Sean Green who were able to bridge the gap to K-Rod.

Redding may be earning himself a fifth starter role on the team next year. At the very least he should be brought in for a competition in the spring.

The Mets offense got things started in the top half of the second inning when Fernando Tatis hit a sacrifice fly to Elijah Dukes. Omir Santos continued the rally with a base hit to give the Mets the early 2-0 lead. The Mets got their other runs on a 6th inning RBI single by Carlos Beltran and a ninth inning RBI single by Santos.

All in all it was another tough loss in a season full of them. I’m sure the entire team can’t wait until the offseason. Sunday can’t come soon enough.

The Mets start their final series of the year on Friday night against the Astros at 7:10 EST.

Editor’s Note: Drew Costello originally wrote this for Mets Fans Forever

It feels great to be back again after being sidelined for almost a week with a nasty flu and no internet service as well. However, it doesn’t feel all that good analyzing another ugly loss for the Mets, this time at the hands of the surging Nationals who won their second straight against the Mets. The Mets have made losing an art form. I’ll make this recap short yet not so sweet…

Mike Pelfrey started the game and was somewhat solid when you look at it in 2009 Mets terms. Pelfrey gave up just three runs on eight hits in seven innings, which classifies as a gem coming from the Mets rotation. It was vintage Pelfrey, a couple of ill-fated mental lapses sandwiched in between a few perfect innings. All three runs came in the fifth inning, with the big blow a two-run homer by shortstop Ian Desmond. It was a sinker that didn’t sink, otherwise known as a flat as a pancake fastball.

The Mets handed the victory to the Nats in the bottom of the eighth inning when Anderson Hernandez, who just came into the game to replace Wilson Valdez, made a costly throwing error which gave the Nats runners on first and second. The runner on second came around to score as Luis Castillo followed up with a throwing error of his own giving the Nationals the 4-3 lead.

Angel Pagan led the hit parade with two singles, a double, two runs scored and an RBI. As the season winds down, Pagan has shown no signs of slowing down and continues to make a strong case for the everyday leftfield job.

David Wright had a couple of hits, but was robbed of a third hit thanks to Elijah Dukes who made a spectacular grab of a deep drive to end the game with the tying run on first. Game over.

Speaking of Wright, I didn’t get a chance to weigh in on his lack of hustle last week. Shame on you David! I never expected an act like that from you. Have Omar, Jerry and the Mets broken your spirit too? Well that’s too bad! You, my friend, are getting paid millions to play the game, so play the game hard and play the game well.

The Mets will try to salvage the last game of their series today at 4:35 PM, when Tim Redding faces fellow New York native, John Lannan.

Nats rookie Ross Detwiler recorded his first win going 6 innings and giving up 1 run on 7 hits and only 1 walk. Nelson Figueroa was the tough luck loser going 6 innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and one walk.

It felt like the old days when the Mets could not beat a rookie pitcher to save their lives. Detwiler appeared to have good stuff and the Mets weak lineup was no match for them.

The Mets got their only run when Fernando Tatis singled home a run in the sixth inning. Other than that, Detwiler was in complete control and was able to get the victory when Mike Morse homered off of Figueroa in the bottom of the sixth. Morse’s homer ended up being the game winner.

It was difficult to watch the Mets struggle to score runs off of one of the worst teams in all of baseball. As a team the Mets had runners in scoring position in six different innings, and yet didn’t get one run to cross the plate. Even for this team that is bad. As Jon Heyman tweeted last night, “lengthen the season by 20 games, and the Mets would fall below the Nats.” Now that is just flat out embarrassing.

The good news is the season is almost over and we can soon turn our attention to how to fix what happened this year. Also keep this in mind, the Phillies are in the midst of a collapse. With their loss Monday the Braves are now only 4 GB. On September 21st the Phillies were leading the NL East by 8 games.

The Mets continue their series against the Nats when Mike Pelfrey takes on J.D Martin at 7:10 EST.

Editors Note: Drew Costello originally wrote this for Mets Fans Forever

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.

The air is getting cooler and the days are getting shorter as the horsehide is being replaced by the pigskin.  It sure felt like football was in the air at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Saturday night.  The Dolphins’ end zone was visible near the right field warning track (prompting Gary Cohen to exclaim “he hits it to the end zone…Touchdown, Francoeur!”).  The Mets also gave up a touchdown to the Marlins in the fifth inning to turn a lead into a deficit.  In the end, the Mets fell short by a field goal, losing to the Marlins by the final score of 9-6.

For anyone who hasn’t been watching the Mets this season, the recap of the fifth inning is all you need to know how this team has been doing.  That inning was a microcosm of the 2009 baseball season.

After David Wright gave the Mets a 3-2 lead with his latest “just short of a home run” double, he failed to hustle on Jeff Francoeur’s base hit.  When Francoeur was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double, Wright had not yet scored the potential fourth run.  Despite the fact that there were two outs at the time and David should have been running hard as soon as Francoeur made contact, Wright assumed he would score easily on the play and trotted home from second base.  Still, the Mets had the lead as John Maine took the mound for the bottom of the fifth inning.  That lead was very short-lived.

John Maine labored through the first four innings.  After the first inning, he appeared to have some kind of discomfort but continued to pitch and kept the Mets in the game.  Then he decided to play butler to the Marlins in the fifth inning by serving up fat pitches on a silver platter.

Maine gave up four hits and a walk in the fifth inning.  The final blow came off the bat of Cameron Maybin, a three-run homer to left field that gave the Marlins a 7-3 lead.  Interestingly enough, Maybin would not have been in the game had Maine not hit Cody Ross with a pitch in the fourth inning (the first of two consecutive hit batsmen by Maine in the inning).  When Ross was forced to come out of the game, Maybin came in as his pinch-runner.  Somewhere in the Marlins clubhouse, Cody Ross must have been smiling.

Elmer Dessens didn’t fare much better when he replaced Maine after the Maybin homer.  After walking Brett Carroll on four pitches, Dessens finally found the plate.  Unfortunately, he found too much of it.  He followed the walk by giving up back-to-back doubles to Brett Hayes and Chris Coghlan.  The latter two-bagger produced the last of the seven runs scored by the Marlins in the fifth inning.

The Mets tried to rally late in the game against the Marlins as they did in Friday night’s victory.  It started with Carlos Beltran’s long home run in the eighth inning and was followed by a two-run error on a ball hit by Luis Castillo.  Those plays cut the Marlins’ lead to 9-6.  However, David Wright and Carlos Beltran struck out to end the rally and the game.

One run taken off the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning was followed by seven runs put on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth.  That one inning summed up the Mets season.  Bad baserunning, bad pitching, bad results.  Are you ready for some football?

Before we completely switch over to football, there’s still a week of the season left.  Tomorrow’s pitchers for the 1:10 PM start will be Pat Misch, he of the one career victory as a starter.  He will be faced by Josh Johnson (15-5, 3.12 ERA), who owns a 7-0 career record against the Mets with a 2.30 ERA.  Good luck, Pat.

Update on Sunday’s starters: Josh Johnson will not be facing the Mets as I originally stated.  He has been scratched from his start because he has the flu.  Methinks he just wants to catch some football on the tube.  Chris Volstad will take his start.  In three career starts against the Mets, Volstad is 1-1 with a 1.86 ERA.  My original sentiments remain the same.  Good luck, Pat.

It was more of the same at Citi Field last night, in a season that just can’t get end fast enough for the Mets at this point.

With Mike Pelfrey on the mound, the Mets put themselves in a huge hole. They tried to climb out, but could never mount an extended rally and lost 5-2 in the final game of the series.

The Braves struck for three in the second, with the help of a David Wright error, and then tacked on another in the third. Everything came on a series of hits, but Adam LaRoche had two of the RBIs, one in the second and another in the third. And like that, the Mets were down 4-0.

In all, Pelfrey went six innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on nine hits.

New York got a run back in the bottom half of the third on a Luis Castillo single. They then cut the deficit to 4-2 in the fourth with the help of an error, but could get no closer in a 5-2 loss.

Perhaps most frustrating was that the Mets had runners on in every inning but the second but could only score two runs. In all, New York went 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

The Mets are off today before beginning a three game weekend series in Florida.

Editors Note: Paul Zinn originally wrote this for Mets Fans Forever

It was inevitable, but after some tense moments in the ninth inning that required the help of Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets finally did it.  They clinched fourth place in the National League East with their 6-2 victory over the Washington Nationals.  There were no mounted police present, making it easy for jubilant fans to run across the field.

Of course, those jubilant fans were just kids running the bases after the game in the Mr. Met Dash.  The mounted police and their horses were in the parking lot making sure to leave deposits behind for me to step in after I left the game (bingo…).  Despite the lack of pomp and circumstance, the Mets can still feel good about their latest victory, one that gave them only their second series victory since late July.

Another thing they can feel encouraged about is the performance by John Maine over his five innings of work.  Maine held the Nationals hitless through the first four innings and earned his first win since May 31.

The Mets got hits early and often, as they scored four runs in the first three innings off Nationals’ starter Garrett Mock.  Daniel Murphy played a big part in the early scoring.  He tripled to lead off the second inning and later scored on an infield single by Josh Thole.  In the third inning, Murphy hit a long double to center, scoring David Wright and Carlos Beltran.

The game remained 4-0 until the eighth inning, when Wilson Valdez tripled to right field, scoring Jeff Francoeur and Josh Thole.  In addition to Murphy and Valdez, Angel Pagan provided some offensive punch.  His three hits raised his batting average back over .300.  He is now hitting .304.

After being held to only two hits through the first eight innings, the Nats made one last attempt to prevent the Mets from clinching fourth place.  Two runs and three hits later, it was time to call in closer extraordinaire Francisco Rodriguez.  With the fans ready to continue the time-honored tradition of shooting silly string after their team clinches fourth place, Rodriguez froze Cristian Guzman on a 1-2 pitch and the party was on at Citi Field.

Not to be lost in today’s clincher is the second straight pain-free and effective performance by John Maine since his activation from the disabled list.  In his two starts, Maine has pitched eight innings, giving up one run on only four hits.  He has also exhibited better control, walking only two batters in the starts.  Since he kept his pitch count low (70 pitches in five innings), he was able to stick around long enough to qualify for the victory.

Just because fourth place is clinched doesn’t mean the Mets should play lackadaisically for the remaining two weeks of the season.  (Who was that in the back of the room who said “they’ve been doing that all season so why change now?”  Don’t think I didn’t hear you just because I have silly string stuck in my ear.)  The Mets can use this time to continue to see how the players who have come back from injury (Carlos Beltran, John Maine) fare and they can also use these last 12 games to see if Josh Thole is ready to be a major leaguer or if he needs more minor league seasoning.

The Mets will open up a series against the red-hot Atlanta Braves at Citi Field Monday night.  Although the Braves just lost two out of three to the Phillies over the weekend (after winning seven straight, including a three-game sweep over the Mets at Turner Field last week), they’re still mathematically alive in the wild card race.  They stand 5½ games behind the Rockies for the National League wild card berth.  If the Mets can regroup from their post-clincher hangover, they can put a serious crimp in the Braves’ run for the postseason.  Pat Misch will square off against Derek Lowe in the 7:10 PM start.

Useless stat of the day (because I didn’t get to run on the field during the Mr. Met Dash): Each of the last two times the Mets finished in fourth place in the five-team NL East (1996 and 2004), they recovered with winning seasons the following year.  In 1996, the Mets finished 71-91 and improved to 88-74 in 1997.  Similarly, in 2004 the Mets also finished 71-91 and followed that up with a 12-game improvement in 2005 (83-79).  None of this means anything when it comes to the 2010 Mets, which is why it’s the useless stat of the day.