In-game blogger, MLB Gameday style

One problem with the fact that I won't be back in New York for another three weeks is my somewhat-diminished credibility when I talk about the Mets in the early going. I can refer to all the initial indicators for this season and look for any positive or negative signs in the Mets' play in these first few games, but ultimately, I still haven't had the chance to watch a game, and I won't for another couple of weeks. Perhaps if I was going to be gone longer I'd invest in MLB.tv. Nahhhhh.

That said, I'm going to continue passing partially uninformed judgment for as long as I have to - gotta do whatcha gotta do, right? Tonight I'll be picking the rubber game of the Mets/Phillies series up in the top of the fourth inning, in-game blog style. I won't actually be watching a single pitch, but I'll still be able to bring you most of the action while it happens. Sort of, anyway.

MLB Gameday

For those of you who aren't familiar, the free pitch-by-pitch running scoreboard at MLB Gameday can be pretty useful in a pinch. Back in the day, a young burnsie fresh and I used to get on the computers at school and use Gameday to help track opening days and playoff games with funky start times. To the kids: just say you've got to go to the bathroom, and you've got a good ten minutes before the teacher starts to ask where you went and your classmates start making jokes.

It's only gotten more high-tech over the years. Used to be that all you had was a new window in your web browser, slow to refresh and with limited info beyond the line score, who's pitching, who's at the bat, who's on base, and other scoreboard standards...balls, strikes, outs, the whole bit. Now I can check out stuff in real time that I'd be at the mercy of the boys in the SNY truck for if I were watching this game on TV. For example, I can tell you right now that John Maine has throw 53 pitches - 34 strikes - through four innings. Four groundouts and eight flyouts; no K's yet for the Maine event. It also makes up for the lack of visuals by giving a pretty vivid description of what's going on on the field. Who writes this stuff? Do they get paid much?

Right now, John Maine just threw a fastball for a strike to Shane Victorino. That put the count to Victorino at 2-2. Since that happened, Maine threw another ball, before Victorino fouled off two pitches and took another ball for a walk. Leadoff free pass to the leadoff hitter...never good. (We're now in the top of sixth inning, by the way...quick break) It's sort of okay, because stand-in Phillies shortstop Eric Bruntlett flies out to right fielder Ryan Church for the first out of the inning just after that, before Shane Victorino is caught stealing on a throw from Brian Schneider to Jose Reyes on the following pitch. With Chase Utley batting. Now Utley's connected on a single, which will bring Ryan Howard to the plate here with a man on and two out. Full count on Howard...what does Maine do here? Foul ball on a 95 mph fastball...is Maine throwing a little harder? Utley was running with two outs and a 3-2 count.

Maine delivers more heat...another foul. Next pitch yields a walk to Howard. Not a bad idea to pitch around the big fella in this situation. Here comes Pat Burrell. Another walk, and the bases are loaded (yikes) for Geoff Jenkins (Not so bad). Good thing Brian Schneider's got a solid arm.

One thing about Gameday is that I have no sense of what any of these at-bats look like. I can see the outcome, but I can't watch how the Maine event is going after these Phillies hitters right now. You take what you can get...ahhh beautiful. Geoff Jenkins grounds out to first to end the inning; Maine's out of trouble.

I should note that the Mets took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a two-run single by Ryan Church. Angel Pagan (continues to impress) singled to lead off, before Carlos Beltran walked and Carlos Delgado did something useless. Actually, I guess he advanced the runners with a groundout: that's how Church was able to single home both Pagan and Beltran. At least he hit a weak, slow, non-double play groundball, I suppose.

Angel Pagan has just doubled on a line drive to left fielder Pat Burrell. David Wright's struggling a bit; he followed with a groundout, though it did advance Pagan to third.

All I know right now is in play-run(s), but in Gameday jargon, that's always good news if the Mets are up. More to come.

Beltran singled to right, scoring Pagan. He's on first now, still with one out. Pickoff attempt 1B fails. A few pitches and some weak swings by the Met first baseman later, Carlos Delgado strikes out swinging. Ryan Church to the dish. It's just a 1-1 count, but Carlos Beltran is caught stealing second. And a good day to you, Chris Coste (Phillies catcher - I hadn't heard of him either). Church will lead off the seventh.

This break in the action provides a nice opportunity to hail Mike Pelfrey for a solid effort last night. He only pitched five innings, but he was solid, and most of all, he didn't look like a loser on the mound the way he often did last season. He did all he had to do, and gave up just two runs to hold the Phillie offense at bay while four Phightin' errors helped the Mets pound out eight runs. Go Big Pelf. I actually saw game highlights on Baseball Tonight while I was out last night, and they helped put me in quite a good mood.

Here come the Phillies in the seventh: after a leadoff homer by Pedro Feliz and a double by the aforementioned Coste (he's the Phillies' catcher, by the way), Maine gets the hook in favor of Pedro Feliciano, who's now is facing Jayson Werth with Coste still on second. Walk to Werth. Jesus Christ.

Shane Victorino strikes out swinging for the first out. The potential inning-ending double play is set up right now, with Eric Bruntlett up. Just sayin'.

Eric Bruntlett's out on strikes. Looking. It's Utley time. Come on now, Pedro (the other one). 2-2 on Utley aaaaandd STRIKE THREE, inning over! Feliciano does it again. Stretch time.

This whole Gameday thing is actually working out alright. If I'm doing an in-game blog, my take is already coming secondhand. No different with Gameday: I can still give a delayed, fractured play-by-play. Like I said, my context just isn't quite as good without, you know, getting to watch the game.

But Gameday still does a pretty solid job picking up the slack. Brian Schneider lines out softly to second baseman Chase Utley. Two out. Marlon Anderson at the plate. Damion Easley is on second base after hitting a double following a lead-off flyout by Ryan Church.

Eight pitch at-bat going to Marlon Anderson. He's a gritty, tenacious, player - part of a solid bench for the Mets, in my view at least. According to MLB Gameday, he's really working Ryan Madson right now, fouling a lot of pitches off. I'm glad he's on the Mets. Nine pitches. Groundout to second. Oh well. End of the seventh.

Aaron Heilman gives up another gopher ball - this one to Ryan Howard to close the gap to 3-2. Jeeeez. Pat Burrell then walks, nobody's out and Geoff Jenkins is at the plate.

Aaron Heilman, you suck

Heilman got out of trouble in the eighth without giving the Phillies the lead, but he still managed to single-handedly screw things up and allow the Phils to tie the game. After the Howard homer (I didn't know this, but Gameday DOES have a video component and the title of the video was "Howard Kills Baseball"...christ) and the walk, a single by Jenkins and a groundout scored the always dangerous So Taguchi, who was running for Burrell. Heilman managed to retire the next two hitters on a K and groundout, but not before the damage had been done. Aaron Heilman, you suck. The Mets may want to consider finding, you know, a real set-up man. I wonder what Willie will have to say about Heilman after the game tonight, particularly if the Mets go on to lose.

...Billy Wagner's on in the ninth after the Mets failed to score in the bottom of the eighth...I really hope the Mets find a way to win this game...

Two quick outs in the ninth, but Chase Utley just worked out a walk to conclude an eight pitch at-bat. Howard at the plate. Glad Aaron Heilman's not pitching.

AHHHH SUCKA SUCKA. Wagner strikes out Howard, inning over. Even though he's an idiot, you've gotta love Billy Wagner - contrast that with my profound feelings of disgust whenever I see Heilman's stupid expression after giving up a late home run in a key spot. That's three now in 8 games on the year.

Even when he succeeds, he still kind of reacts like a loser

Ryan Church leads off the bottom of the ninth for the Mets. Come on now, L Millz...damn. Swinging strikeout. Brad Lidge is on his game tonight?

Damion Easley grounds out softly, 2 outs. Thanks Gameday.

Wouldn't it be something if Brian Schneider cranked a walk-off shot off Brad Lidge right now? You know, Albert Pujols in the '05 NLCS style...I know you've got it in you, Brian...aaaand it's a two-out walk for the Schneid. Gotta start somewhere I guess. Endy at the bat, pinch hitting for Wagner.

We're going to extras, as Endy lines out to Eric "vaseline hands" Bruntlett. Joe Smith comes on for the tenth inning.

Smith's out of the tenth, working around a walk and getting Chris Coste (who?) to line out to first to end the inning...top of the order's coming up in the bottom of the tenth. Come on, now...

For all the talk about Jose Reyes getting his crap together during the off-season, he's really played like a chump this year. He's called out on strikes to start the tenth, in just the situation where the Mets probably could have used a leadoff baserunner. Angel Pagan pops to short for out number two. Bruntlett manages to hold onto the ball.

David Wright walks, then steals second with Carlos Beltran at the plate. We already know he's got his head on much straighter than Reyes, but that's exactly what Jose needed to do and didn't to lead off the inning. 1-2 count now to Beltran. 3-2.

Strike three, as a key Mets player fails once again to get a big hit in a big spot. You only get so many chances...on to the 11th.

Leadoff single for Jayson Werth, followed by a "single" by Cole Hamels on a soft bunt ground ball to catcher Brian Schneider. Eric Bruntlett fails to lay one down, and it's a foul bunt strikeout. Scott Schoeneweis (gulp) is on to replace Joe Smith.

That's also not necessarily fair. I might have more confidence in Schoeneweis than Heilman at this point; that's not saying much but the Scho pitched his worst in his first few months in blue and orange.

Four 88 mile-an-hour fastballs later, Scho's got a 2-2 count on Chase Utley...another foul. Still 2-2. 2 on, 1 out. AH YES - Utley hits into a double play to end the inning. Scott Schoeneweis will grow on me if he can do this sort of thing with relative regularity. He pitched big in a big spot there. Now let's hope the Met offense can take up the cue...it's on you, Carlos Delgado.

It's on you, Ryan Church. Carlos "I'm still worthless" Delgado just struck out swinging...MLB Gameday won't tell me this, but I'll BET it was on a high inside fastball. Lord have mercy.

Ryan Church is also out on a swinging strikeout. Tom Gordon, just mowin' em down. Christ have mercy. Here's Damion Easley...1-2-3 go the Mets in the eleventh inning as Easley flies out to center.

...It's sort of funny, because the ebb and flow of checking and refreshing MLB Gameday is allowing me to blog, while reading the New York Times online at the same time. I'm alternating between reading calmly about politics and reacting emotionally when I come back to the Gameday page...

Scott Schoeneweis is now out of the game; he got two quick outs and should have been out of the inning but Geoff Jenkins was allowed to reach base on an error by Damion Easley. Where's Anderson Hernandez when you need him?

Jorge Sosa is on to replace Schoeneweis, and gets Pedro Feliz to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning. The bottom of the twelfth inning beckons.

Two quick outs by Brian Schneider and Brady Clark - Jose Reyes is up, looking to stay above the Mendoza line with a hit, potentially. We'll see. A walk would also prevent any further slippage in his batting average. YES. Jose's on second base after hitting a double on a fly ball to center fielder Jayson Werth. Way, Jose.

WOW! THE METS FINALLY GET IT DONE, AS ANGEL PAGAN COMES THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH ONCE AGAIN AND SCORES JOSE REYES ON A SINGLE TO CENTER FIELD.

METS WIN!

Where did this guy (Pagan) come from? I don't know, but he's getting it done.

*************************************

This was an important game for the Mets to win. A really really really important game for the Mets to win. In September 2007 and home opening day 2008-like fashion, they blew a late lead to the Phillies - this one was three runs, and that's bad - and if they had lost, it would have reinforced some really negative vibes that, like a bad cold, or something worse maybe, might linger, stubbornly, with the wrong combination of circumstances. Like blowing leads and losing in really painful and avoidable fashion. Those kinds of circumstances.

Add to the blown lead the fact that the Mets blew a few opportunities after giving up the lead, but with some clutch pitching in the ninth (Wagner) and in extras (Smith, Schoeneweis, Sosa) were able to hold the Phightins best asset (offense) back long enough to take advantage of their greatest weakness (pitching). And they came away with a victory in the game tonight - important, sure - but less important than the bigger picture series win that they grinded out tonight after that ugly home opener on Tuesday.

In other news, Jose Reyes was totally out at home plate. A little luck can certainly go a long way, and this was, once again, a huge, huge win for the Mets.

Great stuff. Bring on the Brewers...


(Photos courtesy jerseysandhockeylove.com, mlb.com)