Can a Met No-Hitter be Far Behind?
The Happy Recap: Mets 8, Phillies 0
35-Year old R.A. Dickey became the first Met knuckleball pitcher to ever win a meaningful game in a NY Met uniform, baffling Philly hitters for 6 innings with the help of a Mets offense where just about everyone in the lineup contributed something. Can a Met no-hitter be far behind?
THE GOOD: We have just 2 words for tonight's game: R.A. Dickey. Okay, well maybe that's three words, who knows? Dickey won as big a game the 46th game of the season could be for his first win as a Met, with Raul Valdes picking up a big "save" in the process (more on that later). Let's see... R.A. Dickey or Oliver Perez in the starting rotation... Dickey or Perez... hmmmm... tough decision there.
Jose Reyes was superb going 3-for-5 with a triple, an rbi, and 2 stolen bases. He's really showing signs of breaking out of his season long (2 month) slump, which surprisingly enough is about the exact time-frame of spring training, which he missed due to his thyroid condition. Maybe Jose's right on track now for a monster rest-of-the-season after getting his 1,000 career hit in the game.
Jeff Francoeur and Jason Bay both drove in 2 runs in the game, while Luis Castillo, Angel Pagan, David Wright, and Rod Barajas all had hits in the game as well. Bay even stole a base! The win put the Mets back at .500 and although they remain in last place, they're also only 4 games out of first! What a strange roller-coaster year this team is having so far.
THE BAD: When was the last time you watched a major league baseball game where both starters combined never threw a pitch faster than 85 mph? There's a reason why there's only two knuckleball pitchers left in baseball: the knuckleball doesn't work! Sure, we'll take the win, but think about this truism: there's never been a knuckleball pitcher that's ever won a really big game in the history of baseball. (or at least in the modern era which everyone knows started after the Mets inception in 1962). There's been a lot to lose big games (think Tim Wakefield for Boston against the Yankees - who could ever forget that one?), but let's face it: major league hitters NOT on the Phillies will knock you to tomorrow (to borrow a phrase from Rocky) hitting that junk. Shouldn't the score of tonight's game have been more like 14-10 or something?
THE UGLY: Raul Valdes came into the game and performed well in late inning mop-up duty, but does he really deserve a save? So he went the required 3 innings - a save? Really? In an 8-0 game where the Phillies were just going through the motions trying to get this game over with? Next time you hear someone talk about how ridiculous and meaningless the "save" stat is, think of this game. Ninth inning... Mets up 8-0... and the guy gets a save. That's just ugly!
35-Year old R.A. Dickey became the first Met knuckleball pitcher to ever win a meaningful game in a NY Met uniform, baffling Philly hitters for 6 innings with the help of a Mets offense where just about everyone in the lineup contributed something. Can a Met no-hitter be far behind?
THE GOOD: We have just 2 words for tonight's game: R.A. Dickey. Okay, well maybe that's three words, who knows? Dickey won as big a game the 46th game of the season could be for his first win as a Met, with Raul Valdes picking up a big "save" in the process (more on that later). Let's see... R.A. Dickey or Oliver Perez in the starting rotation... Dickey or Perez... hmmmm... tough decision there.Jose Reyes was superb going 3-for-5 with a triple, an rbi, and 2 stolen bases. He's really showing signs of breaking out of his season long (2 month) slump, which surprisingly enough is about the exact time-frame of spring training, which he missed due to his thyroid condition. Maybe Jose's right on track now for a monster rest-of-the-season after getting his 1,000 career hit in the game.
Jeff Francoeur and Jason Bay both drove in 2 runs in the game, while Luis Castillo, Angel Pagan, David Wright, and Rod Barajas all had hits in the game as well. Bay even stole a base! The win put the Mets back at .500 and although they remain in last place, they're also only 4 games out of first! What a strange roller-coaster year this team is having so far.
THE BAD: When was the last time you watched a major league baseball game where both starters combined never threw a pitch faster than 85 mph? There's a reason why there's only two knuckleball pitchers left in baseball: the knuckleball doesn't work! Sure, we'll take the win, but think about this truism: there's never been a knuckleball pitcher that's ever won a really big game in the history of baseball. (or at least in the modern era which everyone knows started after the Mets inception in 1962). There's been a lot to lose big games (think Tim Wakefield for Boston against the Yankees - who could ever forget that one?), but let's face it: major league hitters NOT on the Phillies will knock you to tomorrow (to borrow a phrase from Rocky) hitting that junk. Shouldn't the score of tonight's game have been more like 14-10 or something?
THE UGLY: Raul Valdes came into the game and performed well in late inning mop-up duty, but does he really deserve a save? So he went the required 3 innings - a save? Really? In an 8-0 game where the Phillies were just going through the motions trying to get this game over with? Next time you hear someone talk about how ridiculous and meaningless the "save" stat is, think of this game. Ninth inning... Mets up 8-0... and the guy gets a save. That's just ugly!
posted by Mets Fan Club @ 9:03 PM
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