Amazin' Avenue

Mets 2, Padres 0: Dickey Sparkles, Bullpen Shines

2012-05-27T20:25:05Z

R.A. Dickey allowed just three hits and one walk over 7.1 innings, striking out ten Padres and keeping San Diego off the scoreboard altogether. His only bit of trouble came in the eighth, when he hit Nick Hundley and walked Chris Denorfia to put the tying runs on base with just one out. Terry Collins relieved Dickey with everyday Tim Byrdak, who got pinch-hitter Alexi Amarista to line out to center and then struck out Will Venable to end the inning. Frank Francisco set the Padres down in order to lock up the victory, throwing nary a chair in the process.

The Mets scored their first run in the first frame on an RBI single by Daniel Murphy which plated David Wright; their second run came in the fifth when Mike Baxter, who had doubled and advanced to third on an Edinson Volequez wild pitch, scored on a passed ball by Hundley. They didn't get much more offense to speak of, but those runs coupled with a fine pitching performance and a lousy Padres lineup were enough to give the Mets their second straight shutout.

We knew it was over when...

Dickey arrived at the ballpark. He had no-hit stuff today.

What else?

Wright went 0-for-3 with a walk and his average plummeted to .382. Embarrassing.
Justin Turner went 2-for-3, raising his on-base percentage to .310. Uh huh.
Francisco is now tied for second in the NL with thirteen saves. Saves are meaningless piffle, of course, but if the Mets fall out of the race there are surely some credulous general managers out there who'd love to have a Proven Closer™ for the playoff push.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by CTRefJay; that effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	CTRefJay	114
2	MetsFan4Decades	105
3	Russ	48
4	Shinjo Is God	46
5	Terry_is_God	46
6	graves9	45
7	dbanbahji	43
8	TKFJ	38
9	santana9237	37
10	Otter8	33

Open Thread: Mets vs. Padres, 5/27/12

2012-05-27T16:15:04Z

R.A. Dickey

#43 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-2

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Oct 29, 1974

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - R.A. Dickey	6-1	9	9	0	0	0	0	57.1	51	23	22	8	16	51	3.45	1.17

Edinson Volquez

#37 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-0

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 03, 1983

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2012 - Edinson Volquez	2-4	10	10	0	0	0	0	59.1	49	24	23	3	31	50	3.49	1.35

Chipping Away At That Run Differential Applesauce: Johan Santana CG Shutout + Mike Nickeas Grand Slam = Blowout Victory

2012-05-27T13:00:28Z

Meet the Mets

In Saturday's Applesauce, I stated that the tenets of winning baseball organizations include hitting well, pitching well and defending well. It was a purely tongue-in-cheek line. But then, the Mets went out and did just that on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Padres 9-0 on the strength of awesome pitching from their ace, a trio of home runs, and some sound defense. So, who deserves the credit for Saturday's victory? Well, mostly the players on the field, who did a great job at playing baseball. Also Terry Collins, for putting the right guys in the lineup and for motivating them to play the game the right way or something. Finally, let's thank the doctor who performed the surgery on Johan Santana's left shoulder. Johan has been spectacular so far this year and yesterday, he tossed his first complete game shutout since 2010, a four-hitter in which he struck out seven Padres and only threw 96 pitches. Now that's efficiency! The Mets got on the scoreboard early, as Scott Hairston ripped a 3-run bomb to left center off of Clayton Richard and just two batters later, Vinny Rottino followed with his first big league bomb. That was the end of the scoring until the bottom of the eighth, when an Ike Davis pinch double knocked in the fifth run of the day. Soon thereafter, that fearsome Canadian-born slugger Michael James Nickeas ("Mike" for short) strode to the plate and poured icing on top of the cake with a grand slam, his first home run of the year. Just for reference, all three bombs wouldn't have been home runs a season ago, meaning that we can give Sandy Alderson and his fence moving abilities credit for this victory. And that's probably it.

(Did you really think I was going to selfishly demand credit for the Mets obviously reading and taking to heart what I wrote here a day ago?)

Choose Your Recap: MLB.com, ESPN NY, Daily News, New York Times, Associated Press, Star-Ledger

The Mets look to take three out of four from the Padres in this afternoon's series finale. It'll be R.A. Dickey on the hill for the Mets and he'll face off against former Cincinnati Red Edinson Volquez. Game time is at 1:10 PM and you can catch all of the action on SNY.

With Ruben Tejada taking a bit longer to return than initially hoped, the Mets have been fortunate to receive solid play at shortstop from Ronny Cedeno. The team got a bit of a scare when Cedeno left for a pinch-runner in Saturday's eighth inning but luckily, it looks like he just had a leg cramp and he should be fine.

It was a big day for Vinny Rottino, who hit his first major league home run in the first inning. Personally, I'm kind of disappointed that Vinny doesn't speak in a stereotypical Super Mario Italian accent and walk around the dugout flipping pizzas and such, but I guess I'll just settle for him getting on base three times.

Terry Collins is looking to get some extra days off for Johan Santana, while he's also trying to get David Wright a day out of the lineup.

In the Post, Steve Serby interviewed David Wright and they spoke about all sorts of David Wright things, like being team Captain and his contract and hitting .400. My favorite part: in answering the question "what would it take for you to hit over .400", David said "A whole lot of luck." #TrueSABR?

Tim Bontemps took a look at 2B prospect Reese Havens, who's healthy and playing down in Binghamton but is off to a really slow start with the bat. The 25-year old typically hits when he's on the field but of course, that whole "on the field" thing is still the big issue.

Around the NL East

Dominating ace starter Kyle Kendrick shut down the Cardinals in a complete game shutout, as the Phillies won 4-0. Wait, what?

Oh Heath Bell, what are we going to do with you. Actually, for the sake of the standings, Mets fans hope the Marlins do nothing with him. Bell entered with a three run lead and made things interesting before he was relieved, the second night in a row this happened. Randy Choate closed it out, though, and the Marlins beat the Giants 5-3.

Oh yeah, how about this: the Mets are in second place now! That's because the Nationals defeated the Braves for the second day in a row, this time by an 8-4 score. Yippee! Also, Chipper Jones is back on the DL for the Braves with a leg contusion.

Around the Majors

Josh Hamilton may be heating up again. The Rangers' outfielder hit a walk-off home run in the 13th inning to defeat the Blue Jays 8-7. It was Hamilton's league leading 20th bomb of the year.

Joe Maddon had some choice words for the Red Sox regarding Friday evening's Sox/Rays on-field scuffle.

Brandon League is out as the Mariners' closer at the moment. Remember, he's the guy the M's once dealt away Brandon Morrow for.

This isn't a MLB highlight but still, this is easily one of the greatest catches I've ever seen. It's from a college game and what makes it even more incredible was the fact that it came with 2 outs in the ninth and the tying run on base.

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report- 5/27/12: Shrimp Alert!

2012-05-27T11:00:18Z

*All results from games played on Saturday, May 26th

Send all of your questions about the Mets farm system to AAProspectMailbag@gmail.com to see them answered here!

AAA - Buffalo Bisons (28-21)_______________________________________

BUFFALO 8, SCRANTON- WB 7 (Box)

Another 8-7 slugfest in Buffalo, but this time the Bisons came out on the winning end. Fred Lewis hit a three-run home run to help stake Garrett Olson to a 6-0 lead, but the southpaw gave it nearly all back on three home runs during a five run fifth for the Yanks. Justin Hampson couldn't hold the lead, giving up the fourth home run for the Yanks, but the Bisons struck back for two of their own, and then Fernando Cabrera nailed down his tenth save of the season.

2B Jordany Valdespin: 1-4, RBI, K, CS
1B Josh Satin: 1-3, R, BB, K;
PH Brad Emaus: 1-1
RHP Elvin Ramirez: 1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K; No really, he pitched for real this time.

AA - Binghamton Mets (22-25)_____________________________________

NEW HAMPSHIRE 8, BINGHAMTON 2 (Box)

The Granite State continues to be unkind to the B-Mets. Last night's loss drops Binghamton to 5-7 against the Fisher Cats for the year. Greg Peavey set a season high, going 7 innings, but that was about the only thing impressive about his start. Meanwhile, the B-Mets offense continued to struggle with men in scoring position, going 1-8 against...wait, Brett Cecil is in AA now? Yeesh, poor guy.

RF Juan Lagares: 1-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K; Note, when you only above average tool is the hit tool, 30 K in 43 games is a problem.
CF Matt Den Dekker: 1-4, 2 K
3B Jefry Marte: 2-4, RBI
2B Reese Havens: 0-2, R, 2 BB, K
C Juan Centeno: 1-4,
RHP Greg Peavey: L, 7 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR, WP

Hi-A St. Lucie Mets (38-11)________________________________________

ST. LUCIE 5, CHARLOTTE 4 (Box)

What's the best way to erase the memory of a three game losing streak? Well, a four game winning streak doesn't hurt. St. Lucie came from behind last night to improve to 27 games over .500, which is tops in professional baseball, and probably better than most stacked AAU teams. Angel Cuan got the start and was just okay, but Jack Leathersich and John Church held the Stone Crabs at bay, and then St. Lucie tied it in the eighth off a wild pitch and won it with a walkoff walk. Just like the MLB Mets!

3B Wilmer Flores: 0-3, RBI, 2 BB, 2 E (8); Tough to say how well the transition to 3B is going without actually seeing him, but 8 errors is probably not exactly ideal.
CF Darrell Ceciliani: 1-5
SS Wilfredo Tovar: 1-3, BB
RF Cory Vaughn: 0-3, RBI, 2 BB
C Blake Forsythe: 2-3, 2B, R, BB, E (3)
2B Robbie Shields: 2-3, 2B, R, RBI, BB, K
LHP Angel Cuan: 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 R, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 K, HB
LHP Jack Leathersich: 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K; That's more like it.

INJURY REPORT: Cesar Puello officially hits the DL with a broken hamate bone.

Lo-A Savannah Sand Gnats (29-19)__________________________________

SAVANNAH 7, AUGUSTA 4 (Box)

Fresh off a mention in this week's Baseball America Hot Sheet, Rafael Montero went seven solid for the Sand Gnats. Montero continues to demonstrate his plus control, issuing zero free passes to the GreenJackets. For the season he has walked a mere 6 batters in 51.1 IP. The 12 groundball outs tonight are nice to see as well, as Montero has been predominantly a flyball pitcher this year. On the offensive side of things, LF Dustin Lawley knocked out three extra base hits and scored each time, while RF Charley Thurber added three hits of his own.

C Cam Maron: 2-5, 2B, R, K
3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-3, R, RBI, BB, K
CF Travis Taijeron: 2-5, 2B, RBI, 2 K
RHP Rafael Montero: 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 K, WP; Just keeps doing his thing. Do wonder if he will miss enough bats at higher levels, but that's a ways away. Plenty of time to refine the secondary stuff.
LHP Carlos Vazquez: 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

INJURY REPORT: The dreaded oblique strain plague has spread to Savannah. Brian Harrison is its latest victim. He heads to the DL and is replaced by 2011 7th round pick Cole Frenzel.

★ Star of the Night ★

I'm not great at math, but 2 doubles, a triple, and a HBP in five plate appearances? That's like a .750/.800/1.750 line for Dustin Lawley. Not too shabby.

Goat of the Night

Greg Peavey didn't pitch THAT badly, but only one affiliate lost last night, and someone has to wear the horns. Kind of surprised he started this year in AA and the 51 H in 39+ IP does suggest the stuff isn't good enough to get advanced hitters out.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who noticed JT's sweet new batting music. *from this week's issue...

2012-05-27T02:14:34Z

Glad to see I'm not the only one who noticed JT's sweet new batting music.

*from this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly

The View From Your Seat: Mets vs Padres, 5/26/12

2012-05-26T23:00:12Z

BlueChill snapped this photo from Section 123, Row 8, Seat 7 during this afternoon's game between the Mets and the Padres at Citi Field:

(click to embiggen)

--
Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

Role Players Play Role to a Tee, Slam Padres

2012-05-26T20:07:26Z

Role players rarely play roles so perfectly. On Sunday, the Mets were led by a star -- Johan Santana pitched a complete-game shutout after all -- but they were powered by the lesser-known players on the roster.

Scott Hairston murders lefties and plays good defense at any outfield position. He took lefty Clayton Richard deep in the first for the only runs the Mets would need.

Vinny Rottino can play passably anywhere on the diamond that isn't the middle infield, and is similar at the plate -- he has a little patience, a little pop, and a little speed. He took Richard deep just a few batters later.

The calls for him to be the next backup catcher quieted just a bit when another role player, Mike Nickeas, took Padres interim closer Dale Thayer deep for a grand slam. It was the first grand slam for the player, and the first grand slam for the team since last year. Nickeas has a little pop, sure, but if Rottino's glove can actually handle the catcher position, it's a legitimate conversation to continue.

Backup shortstop Ronny Cedeno had two walks and played decent defense. Rottino got on base four times. Justin Turner had two hits and played some shortstop. The Mets emptied out their bench and scored nine runs.

They couldn't have won without their ace, who was ace-like. Santana breezed through his 27 outs in only 96 pitches. He struck out seven, and didn't walk any. His velocity hasn't come back, but he's shown that his excellent changeup and slider are still there. In a way, he pitched backwards -- his ~10% whiff rates on the slider and changeup on Saturday were a little below league average, but they set up his 89 MPH fastball for 16.7% whiffs during his shutout, well above league norms. In any case, the Padres lineup wasn't much of an impediment, and the bullpen got a day off.

This win, which showcased some of the depth that the front office built, also will help the teams run differential. So there's that! Happy holiday weekend.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Gaslamp Ball Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Johan Santana, +25.6%; Scott Hairston, +16.5%
Big losers: Justin Turner, -3.2%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Scott Hairston's three-run homer in the first, +16.9%
Teh sux0rest play: Chase Headley's single to lead off the second, -2.8%
Total pitcher WPA: +25.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: +24.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Scott Hairston

Mets 9, Padres 0: Johan Pops Padres

2012-05-26T19:34:13Z

Scott Hairston hit a three-run home run in the first, Vinny Rottino followed with a solo job, and Johan Santana mowed em down. Complete game shutout with seven strikeouts, no walks, and only four hits.

We knew it was over when...

Johan Santana came out for the second inning and saw the "heart" of the Padres order. And mowed em down.

We really knew it was over when...

Mike Nickeas hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning -- the first Mets grand slam of the year -- to finish the scoring.

What else?

Andres Torres got a hit and a walk, mostly batting from the right side, and generally looked a little better at the plate than he has recently. David Wright wronged the Mets with a hitless day, but still got a walk and is now hitting a paltry .390. The Mets bench performed admirably.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by astromets; that effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	astromets	97
2	MetsFan4Decades	80
3	ackbar7	79
4	painiac	65
5	KeithsMoustache	63
6	sj10689	57
7	Joveoak	40
8	Spike Davis	37
9	graves9	36
10	Gina	19