Good morning and welcome to another edition of Metsmerized Today. What an impressive performance by Livan Hernandez last night. Let’s see what the buzz is around the web.
Jerry Manuel had a classic response when asked to comment on his fifth starters clutch performance. This quote comes courtesy of MetsBlog,
“Well, I’ll probably get him a recliner in the locker-room, probably get him a big soft chair, and put him in that. I call him Pops everyday, he gets a little upset, but I tell him, ‘We need ya, Pops,’ and he’s been delivering for us. It’s good to see a person at this point in his career, still be able to do the things that he’s doing, it’s really amazing.”
Eric Simon of Amazin Avenue reminds us that offensively, the Nationals are no easy pickings,
The non-F! story tonight was Livan Hernandez, who chucked 127 pitches en route to a complete game nine-hitter against the Nationals who, lest we underestimate them, came into the game having scored the third-most runs in the National League. Their pitching staff may be woefully inept but their lineup is anything but. Adam Dunn, Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson are all having terrific seasons.
Here are some interesting facts about Livan Hernandez…
He is now the only active pitcher to pitch a complete game for six different teams.
His 127 pitches were the most pitches thrown by a Mets starter since his brother El Duque did it for the Mets in 2007 when he threw 130 pitches. Livan later said if he had known that, he would have walked the last batter so he could break his brothers mark. (He has a sense of humor too!)
Fernando Martinez finally made his debut last night and went 0-3 and was hit by a pitch, but he did pick up his first Major League RBI. Keep this in mind though, Darryl Strawberry went 0-11 with 8 strikeouts before he picked up his first hit.
I’m going to set the under and over on F-Mart at 7 official at-bats. I’m taking the under and I will look for his first hit tonight, an opposite field double. In the words of Dirty Harry, “What about you, are you feeling lucky punk?”
Gary Sheffield reminds me of the Energizer Bunny, he keeps going, and going, and going. Our own game recapper Dave, penned a great blog on Sheff today and wrote,
When the Mets signed Gary Sheffield on April 3, most of the talk was about him having a limited playing schedule. “Limited” would not be the word to describe Sheffield’s impact for the Mets. The veteran outfielder has become the everyday cleanup hitter, filling the void left by the injured Carlos Delgado.
Rich Coutinho of 1050 ESPN says that the Mets have plenty of heart, or grit, or edge, or whatever you want to call it.
These days, the Mets have taken plenty of hits with the team’s medical staff working overtime but the Amazins have stood tall and that is a very good sign for Met fans. No team in baseball has had more injuries than the Mets but yet they stand at a very respectable 25-20 and sit a mere 1/2 game behind the first place Phils. They have done this with a laundry list of players on the disabled list including Oliver Perez, Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Ryan Church, and Alex Cora. In all fairness, they have at times looked shoddy and weak defensively but there is a bounce back in this Met team that I did not see in the past two seasons and that has been great to witness.
Why are the Phillies always talking about the Mets? The latest comments come from slugging first baseman Ryan Howard who spoke to a reporter from ESPN.
“To have the Mets right there, a half-game behind us, yeah, that’s definitely motivation,” Howard said. “When both teams get together and play, you know it’s gonna be a good series. The fans are gonna be in it, both teams are gonna be in it, and both teams are gonna go out and try and scratch, claw and do what they gotta do to win a game.”
Hey at least he didn’t take a pot shot at us like his teammates have. Actually, if not for the Phillies uniform, Howard is a very likable guy.
Okay when I start saying nice things about a Phillie, it means that it’s time for me to stop. Keep bleeding orange and blue!
