Over the past four years or so, baseball's best pitcher has resided in the American league - the city of Minnesota to be specific. Pending a physical and a contract extension, the Minnesota Twins have agreed to trade Johan Santana to the New York Mets for minor leagues pitchers Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey along with outfielder Carlos Gomez. Humber is a top prospect, but the others are still developing. If you're a Mets fan, you have to be happy with this trade as it effectively amounts to getting Santana for next to nothing.
As for the fans in Minnesota, well I don't think any of them can be too happy at the moment. They signed Justin Morneau to an $80 million, six year deal after posting an abysmally bad three home runs, 26 RBI's and a .237 batting average in his final 63 games. Is he injured? Was he pressing? Are the bone spurs in his elbow acting up again? If healthy, he could produce a 40 home run season easily, but if not, this could turn out to be a HUGE mistake for the Twins. They also gave outfielder Michael Cuddyer a three year, $24 million contract after posting 16 home runs, 81 RBI's and a .276 batting average last year. After his career year in 2006 (24 homers, 109 RBI's, .284 BA), maybe he was worthy of this kind of money, but after last year's numbers? No. As any fantasy leaguer will tell you, those 2007 stats put up by Cuddyer are very average. The Twins would have been a lot wiser in spending their money to either resign Torii Hunter or give Santana a contract extension.
Just how good has Santana been the past four years? In 134 games started, he's got a 70-32 record (including 15-13 last year when he got very little run support). His other numbers: a 2.89 ERA a 0.9996 WHIP and 983 strikeouts in 912 1/3 innings (9.7 per 9 innings). Simply put, these numbers are FAR and AWAY the best in baseball over that time. Now that he's moving to the National League, where there is no DH, guess what? The numbers are going to get BETTER! If you have him in a keeper league like I do, consider yourself very blessed. When it comes to draft day in your fantasy leagues, you better bump him up about $3 in auction leagues and 2-3 spots in your snake draft.
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Showing posts with label Mets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mets. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Johan Santana to the Mets!
Yes, it's happening and I have a couple of friends who are going to be extremely pleased when they hear the news. In Johan Santana, the New York Mets have landed baseball's best pitcher. More on this tomorrow, but I just had to post this before I hit the sack for the night.
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Nats Sweep Mets @ Shea!
Who woulda thunk it??? With a two game lead and seven home games left - three against the Washington Nationals, a makeup game against the St. Louis Cardinals and three against the Florida Marlins, many were conceding the National League East race to the New York Mets. As I've been preaching for awhile now though, their pitching has been nothing short of bad lately. Pedro Martinez has been fine of late as has Oliver Perez, but outside of that the entire staff has underachieved.
The Nationals admittedly got a little bit of a break in missing Pedro and Perez these past three days. Last night they took on Mets prospect and 2004 first round draft pick Philip Humber. For three innings last night the Nats were humbled by Humber and the rest of his Mets teammates. Nats starter Mike Bacsik got off to a very rocky start, giving up a two-run homer to Carlos Beltran and a solo shot to Moises Alou (who extended his hitting streak to 30 games) in the first... a Luis Castillo single plated another run in the second inning to make it a 4-0 Mets lead. Beltran struck again in the third inning, hitting another homer and knocking Bacsik out of the game. You have to admire manager Manny Acta's managerial ability - it's very rare that you'll see him leave his young pitchers in the game if they are getting pounded. Of late, his skillful managing has probably been the key to the Nats recent success. Joel Hanrahan then took over for Bacsik and escaped further damage in the inning.
For three innings, Humber was masterful in limiting the Nats to three hits. Things began to unravel for him in the fourth though. Austin Kearns walked to lead off the inning and Ryan Church then clubbed his 15th home run of the year deep into the right field stands to trim the Mets lead to three. Humber was able to regroup after that, retiring the next three batters in order. In the bottom of the frame, the Mets got to Hanrahan for a run as an Alou single plated David Wright. In the top of the fifth, the Nats offense took over the game. Ryan Langerhans walked and Felipe Lopez singled to right to end Humber's night. Joe Smith was then brought in to relieve Humber and was completely ineffective. Ronnie Belliard doubled, Ryan Zimmerman singled and Austin Kearns singled. Suddenly, it was a 6-5 game. Mets manager Willie Randolph then pulled Smith and inserted Pedro Feliciano. Feliciano struck out Church, but left a ball right in Wily Mo Pena's wheelhouse and he didn't miss it, doubling into the gap in left center field to score Zimmerman and Kearns. The resilient Nats had come from five runs down to take a 7-6 lead!!
And the Nats wouldn't look back. They would add two runs on a Church double off the struggling Mets closer Billy Wagner in the ninth. Chris Schroder, Jonathan Albaladejo, Saul Rivera, Jon Rauch and Luis Ayala each pitched an inning of scoreless relief. For the Nats, the 9-6 win was their fourth straight victory. A 5-2 Philadelphia Phillies win over the Atlanta Braves last night drew the Phils within just a single game of the Mets in the NL East race.
Speaking of that Phillies/Braves game, did any of you see what Jeff Francoeur did to the Phillie Phanatic prior to the game last night? Well, Francoeur appears to still be very young at heart - he took the keys to the Phanatics little buggy that he uses to travel around the stadium in... the Phanatic soon found his keys were missing and that Francouer had them in his possession. Francoeur would only give the keys back after the Phanatic did the Braves' "Tomahawk Chop!!!" Finally, the Phanatic relented, doing a couple of very weak little chops with his right hand. With that Francoeur gave the Phanatic his keys back and everyone was happy... :) It was definitely one of the more fun, and lighter moments that I'll remember from the 2007 season.
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The Nationals admittedly got a little bit of a break in missing Pedro and Perez these past three days. Last night they took on Mets prospect and 2004 first round draft pick Philip Humber. For three innings last night the Nats were humbled by Humber and the rest of his Mets teammates. Nats starter Mike Bacsik got off to a very rocky start, giving up a two-run homer to Carlos Beltran and a solo shot to Moises Alou (who extended his hitting streak to 30 games) in the first... a Luis Castillo single plated another run in the second inning to make it a 4-0 Mets lead. Beltran struck again in the third inning, hitting another homer and knocking Bacsik out of the game. You have to admire manager Manny Acta's managerial ability - it's very rare that you'll see him leave his young pitchers in the game if they are getting pounded. Of late, his skillful managing has probably been the key to the Nats recent success. Joel Hanrahan then took over for Bacsik and escaped further damage in the inning.
For three innings, Humber was masterful in limiting the Nats to three hits. Things began to unravel for him in the fourth though. Austin Kearns walked to lead off the inning and Ryan Church then clubbed his 15th home run of the year deep into the right field stands to trim the Mets lead to three. Humber was able to regroup after that, retiring the next three batters in order. In the bottom of the frame, the Mets got to Hanrahan for a run as an Alou single plated David Wright. In the top of the fifth, the Nats offense took over the game. Ryan Langerhans walked and Felipe Lopez singled to right to end Humber's night. Joe Smith was then brought in to relieve Humber and was completely ineffective. Ronnie Belliard doubled, Ryan Zimmerman singled and Austin Kearns singled. Suddenly, it was a 6-5 game. Mets manager Willie Randolph then pulled Smith and inserted Pedro Feliciano. Feliciano struck out Church, but left a ball right in Wily Mo Pena's wheelhouse and he didn't miss it, doubling into the gap in left center field to score Zimmerman and Kearns. The resilient Nats had come from five runs down to take a 7-6 lead!!
And the Nats wouldn't look back. They would add two runs on a Church double off the struggling Mets closer Billy Wagner in the ninth. Chris Schroder, Jonathan Albaladejo, Saul Rivera, Jon Rauch and Luis Ayala each pitched an inning of scoreless relief. For the Nats, the 9-6 win was their fourth straight victory. A 5-2 Philadelphia Phillies win over the Atlanta Braves last night drew the Phils within just a single game of the Mets in the NL East race.
Speaking of that Phillies/Braves game, did any of you see what Jeff Francoeur did to the Phillie Phanatic prior to the game last night? Well, Francoeur appears to still be very young at heart - he took the keys to the Phanatics little buggy that he uses to travel around the stadium in... the Phanatic soon found his keys were missing and that Francouer had them in his possession. Francoeur would only give the keys back after the Phanatic did the Braves' "Tomahawk Chop!!!" Finally, the Phanatic relented, doing a couple of very weak little chops with his right hand. With that Francoeur gave the Phanatic his keys back and everyone was happy... :) It was definitely one of the more fun, and lighter moments that I'll remember from the 2007 season.
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Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Nats Spoiling Mets Party!
The Washington Nationals playoff hopes were doused long ago, but they've been playing for something else all season long after their 9-25 start - R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Many were saying they would have a good chance at tying the 1962 New York Mets and their record for futility of 40-120. Some of us that have followed the team for some time knew better, and manager Manny Acta made sure that nothing like that was going to happen. Since that awful start, the Nationals have quietly become one of baseball's most pleasant surprises, putting up a 61-62 record over their past 123 games. Another win last night over those same Mets would get them to an even .500 mark over the past 4 1/2 months.
The Mets had a seven game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks ago in the National League East race, and many conceeded them the division title at that time. Not me though... Back on September 8th, a poster on my favorite fantasy baseball site, Ron Shandler's Baseball HQ made the following statement:
"6 game lead w/ 22 to go, with apologies to Howie Rose I think it's safe to say "Put it in the books"!!!
To which I responded:
That would be a grievous error to make, given the following...
Some numbers since 8/1/07:
Oliver Perez: 5.22 ERA, 1.64 WHIP (and only a 25/22 K/BB ratio the past 5 starts)
John Maine: 7.07 ERA, 1.77 WHIP (finally coming back to earth)...
Tom Glavine: 2.87 ERA, 1.43 WHIP (that ERA should be A LOT higher)
El Duque: 4.17 ERA, 1.15 WHIP (got torched last time out)
Billy Wagner: 6.43 ERA, 2.21 WHIP (a tired arm???... these are very un-Wagner-like #'s)
Not to mention Delgado's out for 10 days or so... Unless these guys can suddenly turn it around, the Mets 6 game lead is anything but safe especially with three games against both the Phillies and Braves next week. If I were a betting man, I'd say their lead is no more than 4 games by the end of next weekend (Sept. 16).
The key to their success (or failure) the coming three weeks may indeed be the effectiveness of Pedro Martinez.
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As we know, the Mets increased their lead to seven games by September 12th, but then lost five straight. By September 18th, their lead shrunk to 1 1/2 games as the Phillies won six straight games themselves. And who has been one of the few bright spots for the Mets the past few weeks? Well, Pedro Martinez, of course! Pedro's allowed three runs or fewer in all four of his starts since he came off the disabled list. The only other pitcher on their staff to pitch decently over that time is Oliver Perez. Indeed, the effectiveness of Pedro and Oliver the past few weeks has basically kept the Mets in first place.
Early in the season, the Mets dominated the Nats, winning eight of their first 12 contests. The Nats though took two out of three against them in their last homestand and took game one of this weeks three game series at Shea Stadium on Monday.
Yesterday, the Mets had their ace, Tom Glavine going. For his second straight start though, he was pounded. Austin Kearns slugged a three-run homer in the first and Tony Batista then added a solo blast to give the Nats a quick 4-0 lead. Jason Bergmann pitched an effective 5 2/3 innings for the Nats, giving up three runs and seven hits. By the time he left, the Nats had a fairly secure 6-3 lead. Galvine only last five innings, giving up six earned runs and nine hits. The Nats tacked on four additional runs in the final three innings to take a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
The unthinkable then almost happened... the Mets rallied, and rallied, and rallied... Paul LoDuca singled to lead off the ninth against Nats reliever Jesus Colome. After pinch hitter David Newhan struck out, Chris Gomez walked. Jose Reyes then crushed a ball deep into the right field stands for a three run homer. Suddenly it was a 10-6 game. Luis Castillo then singled, and "the Chief," Chad Cordero was brought in to close things out. Chad just didn't have it last night as David Wright singled and Carlos Beltran walked. The ageless wonder, Moises Alou then smacked a ball down the right field line for a 3-run double. Suddenly we had a 10-9 game. Jon Rauch then came in to try and save the game. He got the dangerous Carlos Delgado to strike out swinging and then ended the game on a harmless LoDuca pop out to right field. WHEW!!!
With the win, the Nats are now at .500 (62-62) over their past 124 games, and are starting to finally earn some much-deserved respect amongst their peers... As for the Mets, they were fortunate that the persuing Phillies lost. At the moment their NL East lead is two games over the Phils and three games over the "never say die" Atlanta Braves.
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Also of note, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers slugged two homers yesterday in a 9-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals to give him 50 on the year. At age 23, he becomes the youngest player ever to hit 50. Additionally, I believe he now becomes part of the first-ever father/son duo to hit 50 homers. Prince's father, Cecil "Big Daddy" Fielder, hit 51 homers for the Detroit Tigers in 1990. Congratulations to Prince on this HUGE accomplishment!
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The Mets had a seven game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks ago in the National League East race, and many conceeded them the division title at that time. Not me though... Back on September 8th, a poster on my favorite fantasy baseball site, Ron Shandler's Baseball HQ made the following statement:
"6 game lead w/ 22 to go, with apologies to Howie Rose I think it's safe to say "Put it in the books"!!!
To which I responded:
That would be a grievous error to make, given the following...
Some numbers since 8/1/07:
Oliver Perez: 5.22 ERA, 1.64 WHIP (and only a 25/22 K/BB ratio the past 5 starts)
John Maine: 7.07 ERA, 1.77 WHIP (finally coming back to earth)...
Tom Glavine: 2.87 ERA, 1.43 WHIP (that ERA should be A LOT higher)
El Duque: 4.17 ERA, 1.15 WHIP (got torched last time out)
Billy Wagner: 6.43 ERA, 2.21 WHIP (a tired arm???... these are very un-Wagner-like #'s)
Not to mention Delgado's out for 10 days or so... Unless these guys can suddenly turn it around, the Mets 6 game lead is anything but safe especially with three games against both the Phillies and Braves next week. If I were a betting man, I'd say their lead is no more than 4 games by the end of next weekend (Sept. 16).
The key to their success (or failure) the coming three weeks may indeed be the effectiveness of Pedro Martinez.
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As we know, the Mets increased their lead to seven games by September 12th, but then lost five straight. By September 18th, their lead shrunk to 1 1/2 games as the Phillies won six straight games themselves. And who has been one of the few bright spots for the Mets the past few weeks? Well, Pedro Martinez, of course! Pedro's allowed three runs or fewer in all four of his starts since he came off the disabled list. The only other pitcher on their staff to pitch decently over that time is Oliver Perez. Indeed, the effectiveness of Pedro and Oliver the past few weeks has basically kept the Mets in first place.
Early in the season, the Mets dominated the Nats, winning eight of their first 12 contests. The Nats though took two out of three against them in their last homestand and took game one of this weeks three game series at Shea Stadium on Monday.
Yesterday, the Mets had their ace, Tom Glavine going. For his second straight start though, he was pounded. Austin Kearns slugged a three-run homer in the first and Tony Batista then added a solo blast to give the Nats a quick 4-0 lead. Jason Bergmann pitched an effective 5 2/3 innings for the Nats, giving up three runs and seven hits. By the time he left, the Nats had a fairly secure 6-3 lead. Galvine only last five innings, giving up six earned runs and nine hits. The Nats tacked on four additional runs in the final three innings to take a 10-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
The unthinkable then almost happened... the Mets rallied, and rallied, and rallied... Paul LoDuca singled to lead off the ninth against Nats reliever Jesus Colome. After pinch hitter David Newhan struck out, Chris Gomez walked. Jose Reyes then crushed a ball deep into the right field stands for a three run homer. Suddenly it was a 10-6 game. Luis Castillo then singled, and "the Chief," Chad Cordero was brought in to close things out. Chad just didn't have it last night as David Wright singled and Carlos Beltran walked. The ageless wonder, Moises Alou then smacked a ball down the right field line for a 3-run double. Suddenly we had a 10-9 game. Jon Rauch then came in to try and save the game. He got the dangerous Carlos Delgado to strike out swinging and then ended the game on a harmless LoDuca pop out to right field. WHEW!!!
With the win, the Nats are now at .500 (62-62) over their past 124 games, and are starting to finally earn some much-deserved respect amongst their peers... As for the Mets, they were fortunate that the persuing Phillies lost. At the moment their NL East lead is two games over the Phils and three games over the "never say die" Atlanta Braves.
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Also of note, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers slugged two homers yesterday in a 9-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals to give him 50 on the year. At age 23, he becomes the youngest player ever to hit 50. Additionally, I believe he now becomes part of the first-ever father/son duo to hit 50 homers. Prince's father, Cecil "Big Daddy" Fielder, hit 51 homers for the Detroit Tigers in 1990. Congratulations to Prince on this HUGE accomplishment!
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Dodgers, Mets Attacked By Rockies, Nats!
This is the time of year where a game or two or a series or two can define a season. In the case of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, the past several days might just be remembered historically for both teams as the time the 2007 season got away. It's kind of ironic both of these teams are faltering at this crucial stretch considering that the two teams were 2006 first round playoff opponents - the Mets winning their best of five series in three straight games.
The Dodgers came into yesterday's day-night doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies three games behind the San Diego Padres for the N.L. Wild Card spot. The Rockies hopes were even slimmer coming in to the series, starting the day five games back of the Padres. Given the history of Colorado's Coors Field, this figured to be a very high scoring series. Home plate umpire Tim Welke did his best to make sure that game one would not be your typical scoring fest at Coors, employing a very generous strike zone throughout. Starting pitchers Jeff Francis and Chad Billingsley were almost constantly in trouble, allowing baserunners in practically every inning. Thanks to some fortuitous double-play grounders and questionable third strike calls, only four runs would be scored in game one. Billingsley allowed only two runs in his 5 1/3 innings of work - Matt Holliday singled in Cory Sullivan in the fourth and Todd Helton scored Sullivan with a single of his own in the sixth. The Dodgers managed ten baserunners against Francis, but only scored once - a solo home run by Olmedo Saenz with two out in the seventh knocked Francis from the game. Francis was the big beneficiary of Welke's big strike zone, fanning a career high ten batters. Joe Koshansky quickly erased Saenz' run, scoring Brad Hawpe in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-1 Colorado lead. LaTroy Hawkins, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas kept the Dodgers in check the final 2 1/3 innings to seal the victory in game one.
The second game of the twinbill was much more typical of what we've become accustomed to over the years at Coors Field. Each team tallied three runs in the first inning. It was the beginning of what would be an epic see-saw battle. Matt Kemp plated Juan Pierre with a double in the third off of Rockie starter Mark Redman to give the Blue Crew a one run lead. Matt Holliday then slammed a one out two-run homer deep to left-center field off of David Wells in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Rockies their first lead at 5-4. The Dodgers would strike right back in the next inning. James Loney homered to deep right off of Rockie reliever Matt Herges to tie the game. Herges was pulled after giving up a single to Ramon Martinez and a Mike Lieberthal walk. Jeremy Affeldt quickly retired the first two batters her faced, but Tony Abreu then lashed a triple into the left field corner to make it a 7-5 Dodger lead. Russell Martin hit a solo off of Jorge Julio in the top of the eighth to increase the Dodger bulge to three. In most places a three run lead with Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito is just about as sure a bet as you can have, but this is Coors Field we're talking about so as we have known for a very long time now, the normal rules don't apply. Addtionally, Broxton had been quite shaky coming into last night's outing, allowing five earned runs in his prior eight appearances coving 5 1/3 innings for an 8.44 ERA. Broxton's slump continued into last night as Ryan Spilborghs homered deep to center after a Garret Atkins single to trim the margin to one. Unlike Broxton, Saito had been nothing short of incredible for the Dodgers of late, allowing only TWO hits and not a single earned run in his previous 15 appearances covering 15 innings. With a 1.21 ERA, he was within an inning of eclipsing Eric Gagne's Dodger record 1.20 ERA set back in 2003. Saito quickly retired the first two Rockie batters before Holliday singled to right. That brought up the dangerous and very hungry Todd Helton to the plate. Helton only had one hit in his first eight at bats of the twinbill - an RBI single in game one. Saito quickly got two strikes on Helton, but then left a pitch out over the left inside part of the plate. And Helton didn't miss it, crushing the ball into the right-center field stands for a dramatic 9-8 Rockie victory. With a Padres win, the Dodgers and Rockies now both lie 4 1/2 games back of them for the N.L. Wild Card.
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Back in our nation's capital, the Washington Nationals are definitely trying to close old RFK Stadium out in style - and they are also doing their best to spoil the Mets title run. Just a week ago, the Mets held a seemingly commanding seven game lead over the Philadelphia Philles in the N.L. East race. A few days earlier, I had told a few people on Ron Shandler's BaseballHQ site that the Mets pitching beyond Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine was very tenuous at best and that I wouldn't be at all surprised if they lost several games off their lead down the stretch. Flash forward to a week later. The Phillies went into last night winners of five straight games, while the Mets had lost four in a row, including a humiliating 12-4 loss to the Nationals on Monday night. That big seven game lead now was only 2 1/2 games for the Mets.
Early on, it looked like the Mets would finally put an end to their losing skid as they pounded Nats starter Joel Hanrahan for four runs in the top of the first inning. Hanrahan continued to struggle and was pulled after only pitching three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, while walking two. Mets starter John Maine continued his post-July struggles, giving up three runs to the Nats in his first four innings. The Mets tallied two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to give Maine a 7-3 lead. The gritty Nats finally got to Maine in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. After a Nook Logan single and a Felipe Lopez walk, Ryan Zimmerman was caught looking at a called third strike. Wily Mo Pena continued his heroics for the Nats, plating Logan with a single to center. Austin Kearns singled to right to score Lopez to cut the margin again to two. Ronnie Belliard then delivered the knock-out blow, slamming a three-run homer deep into the left field seats to give the Nats an 8-7 lead. Maine mercifully was pulled after that pitch. D'Ángelo Jiménez added an insurance run for the Nats in the bottom of the sixth to give them a 9-7 lead. Several times, I've commended Nats manager on the job he's done this year. Since their 9-25 start, the Nats had played very respectable .500 ball (58-58) going into last night's game. Acta may have done his best managing job of the season last night, employing NINE pitchers! Chad Cordero quickly recorded two outs in the ninth and then got into trouble as the Mets plated Shawn Green on a Jeff Conine single. "The Chief" ended the game in style for the Nats, striking out Ruben Gotay to end the game and sending the 19,966 in attendance home very happy. With a Phillies win, the Mets once gaudy seven game lead in the N.L. East race is now only 1 1/2 games.
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The Dodgers came into yesterday's day-night doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies three games behind the San Diego Padres for the N.L. Wild Card spot. The Rockies hopes were even slimmer coming in to the series, starting the day five games back of the Padres. Given the history of Colorado's Coors Field, this figured to be a very high scoring series. Home plate umpire Tim Welke did his best to make sure that game one would not be your typical scoring fest at Coors, employing a very generous strike zone throughout. Starting pitchers Jeff Francis and Chad Billingsley were almost constantly in trouble, allowing baserunners in practically every inning. Thanks to some fortuitous double-play grounders and questionable third strike calls, only four runs would be scored in game one. Billingsley allowed only two runs in his 5 1/3 innings of work - Matt Holliday singled in Cory Sullivan in the fourth and Todd Helton scored Sullivan with a single of his own in the sixth. The Dodgers managed ten baserunners against Francis, but only scored once - a solo home run by Olmedo Saenz with two out in the seventh knocked Francis from the game. Francis was the big beneficiary of Welke's big strike zone, fanning a career high ten batters. Joe Koshansky quickly erased Saenz' run, scoring Brad Hawpe in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-1 Colorado lead. LaTroy Hawkins, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas kept the Dodgers in check the final 2 1/3 innings to seal the victory in game one.
The second game of the twinbill was much more typical of what we've become accustomed to over the years at Coors Field. Each team tallied three runs in the first inning. It was the beginning of what would be an epic see-saw battle. Matt Kemp plated Juan Pierre with a double in the third off of Rockie starter Mark Redman to give the Blue Crew a one run lead. Matt Holliday then slammed a one out two-run homer deep to left-center field off of David Wells in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Rockies their first lead at 5-4. The Dodgers would strike right back in the next inning. James Loney homered to deep right off of Rockie reliever Matt Herges to tie the game. Herges was pulled after giving up a single to Ramon Martinez and a Mike Lieberthal walk. Jeremy Affeldt quickly retired the first two batters her faced, but Tony Abreu then lashed a triple into the left field corner to make it a 7-5 Dodger lead. Russell Martin hit a solo off of Jorge Julio in the top of the eighth to increase the Dodger bulge to three. In most places a three run lead with Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito is just about as sure a bet as you can have, but this is Coors Field we're talking about so as we have known for a very long time now, the normal rules don't apply. Addtionally, Broxton had been quite shaky coming into last night's outing, allowing five earned runs in his prior eight appearances coving 5 1/3 innings for an 8.44 ERA. Broxton's slump continued into last night as Ryan Spilborghs homered deep to center after a Garret Atkins single to trim the margin to one. Unlike Broxton, Saito had been nothing short of incredible for the Dodgers of late, allowing only TWO hits and not a single earned run in his previous 15 appearances covering 15 innings. With a 1.21 ERA, he was within an inning of eclipsing Eric Gagne's Dodger record 1.20 ERA set back in 2003. Saito quickly retired the first two Rockie batters before Holliday singled to right. That brought up the dangerous and very hungry Todd Helton to the plate. Helton only had one hit in his first eight at bats of the twinbill - an RBI single in game one. Saito quickly got two strikes on Helton, but then left a pitch out over the left inside part of the plate. And Helton didn't miss it, crushing the ball into the right-center field stands for a dramatic 9-8 Rockie victory. With a Padres win, the Dodgers and Rockies now both lie 4 1/2 games back of them for the N.L. Wild Card.
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Back in our nation's capital, the Washington Nationals are definitely trying to close old RFK Stadium out in style - and they are also doing their best to spoil the Mets title run. Just a week ago, the Mets held a seemingly commanding seven game lead over the Philadelphia Philles in the N.L. East race. A few days earlier, I had told a few people on Ron Shandler's BaseballHQ site that the Mets pitching beyond Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine was very tenuous at best and that I wouldn't be at all surprised if they lost several games off their lead down the stretch. Flash forward to a week later. The Phillies went into last night winners of five straight games, while the Mets had lost four in a row, including a humiliating 12-4 loss to the Nationals on Monday night. That big seven game lead now was only 2 1/2 games for the Mets.
Early on, it looked like the Mets would finally put an end to their losing skid as they pounded Nats starter Joel Hanrahan for four runs in the top of the first inning. Hanrahan continued to struggle and was pulled after only pitching three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, while walking two. Mets starter John Maine continued his post-July struggles, giving up three runs to the Nats in his first four innings. The Mets tallied two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to give Maine a 7-3 lead. The gritty Nats finally got to Maine in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. After a Nook Logan single and a Felipe Lopez walk, Ryan Zimmerman was caught looking at a called third strike. Wily Mo Pena continued his heroics for the Nats, plating Logan with a single to center. Austin Kearns singled to right to score Lopez to cut the margin again to two. Ronnie Belliard then delivered the knock-out blow, slamming a three-run homer deep into the left field seats to give the Nats an 8-7 lead. Maine mercifully was pulled after that pitch. D'Ángelo Jiménez added an insurance run for the Nats in the bottom of the sixth to give them a 9-7 lead. Several times, I've commended Nats manager on the job he's done this year. Since their 9-25 start, the Nats had played very respectable .500 ball (58-58) going into last night's game. Acta may have done his best managing job of the season last night, employing NINE pitchers! Chad Cordero quickly recorded two outs in the ninth and then got into trouble as the Mets plated Shawn Green on a Jeff Conine single. "The Chief" ended the game in style for the Nats, striking out Ruben Gotay to end the game and sending the 19,966 in attendance home very happy. With a Phillies win, the Mets once gaudy seven game lead in the N.L. East race is now only 1 1/2 games.
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