Archive for the ‘Johan Santana’ Category

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

I dont know about any of you Mets fans out there, but Tim Hudson is a big time pitcher and he gets 2 quick outs in the first inning and it looks like things are gonna be the same as they have been ever since the All-Star Break.

Carlos Beltran has not being doing a whole lot from the left side of the plate this season, and yet he was able to get the Mets not only off the schnied and eventually on the board with what you would call a little league home run.

A Ball into the gap that Melky Cabrera took a horrific route too, eventually the ball was played backed in and as the ball went into the dugout, Beltran who was in with a stand up triple got to go the extra 90 ft and put the Mets in front.

They Mets didnt stop there, 3 Hits and a walk, all with 2 outs in the first after the Beltran LL HR led to another run and the Mets got to an Ace early, always key when trying to beat an Ace the talent of Hudson.

The Game was falling into pitchers duel mode with Johan and Hudson in a 2-1 game after 5 innings. But little did we know that the Duel ended right then and there. Johan was pulled from the game after 5 innings and 65 pitches and nobody knew why at first. It turned out to be a Pectoral Muscle issue and he is now Day-to-Day. Just like all Mets are it seems when they get hurt.

The Mets bullpen was brilliant coming in to back up Johan and the Offense tacked on some Runs and the Braves just couldnt finish off the Mets and get the Sweep in a 4 game series.

Will this game mean anything in the long run? Probably Not but you never know, but the Mets got a win tonight and if only for a little while before they take on the Cubs on Friday Afternoon, they feel good and so do we.

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BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

The Mets and Johan Santana will look to avoid the sweep against The Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of a 4 Game Series from Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia. The game will be broadcast live on SNY and on WFAN at 7:00 pm.

New York Mets Lineup
1. Luis Castillo- 2B
2. Lucas Duda- LF
3. Carlos Beltran- CF
4. Chris Carter- RF
5. David Wright- 3B
6. Ike Davis- 1B
7. Joaquin Arias- SS
8. Henry Blanco- C
9. Johan Santana, SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: The Mets have hit .204 and averaged 2.3 runs while going 2-6 at Atlanta this season. Wright is 2 for 22 in his last six games, and 4 for 50 against Atlanta in 2010, he is a lifetime .204 hitter against Hudson.

Atlanta Braves Lineup
1. Omar Infante, 2B
2. Jason Heyward, RF
3. Martin Prado, 3B
4. Derek Lee, 1B
5. Brian McCann, C
6. Matt Diaz, LF
7. Alex Gonzalez, SS
8. Melky Cabrera, CF
9. Tim Hudson, SP

Interesting Fact/Trend: Jason Heyward is 24 for 45 with 12 RBIs in his last 11 games while Omar Infante is batting .400 in his last 20. Infante has hit .442 against the Mets this season but is 1 for 6 lifetime versus Santana.

On The Bump:

Johan Santana (10-9, 3.02) is back on the mound for the Mets. In his last start versus Atlanta, he allowed four runs and struck out 11 in seven innings of that contest but fell to 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in three starts against the Braves in 2010. He is 2-6 with a 2.31 ERA in 11 starts lifetime versus Atlanta.

Though the left-hander pitched 16 1-3-scoreless innings to win his next two starts, he has a 3.91 ERA while losing his last three. His teammates have given him an average of 1.57 runs of support in those games. Santana, who last lost four consecutive starts in 2004, allowed four runs in seven innings of a 4-1 loss to Houston on Saturday.

Tim Hudson (15-5, 2.24 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Braves Tonight. In his last start allowed one run and struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings of a 12-3 rout of Florida on Saturday to improve to 6-0 with a 1.43 ERA in eight starts since losing to Milwaukee on July 17.

He is 12-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 18 starts versus New York, and has allowed five runs over 27 innings while winning his last four starts against the division rival. Hudson, 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA against the Mets this season. In his last start against the Mets, he gave up one run in six innings and outpitched Santana during a 4-1 home win on Aug 2.

Daily Stache’s Keys to the Game:

1. Try to work the Count against Hudson. Tim Hudson is canadate for the NL Cy Young for the reason, he is a very good pitcher and if the Mets want to come out of this game with a win, they need to force him to work hard, get his pitch count up and keep him in trouble all game long.

2. Make Hudson get the ball up, Hudson is a sinker ball pitcher and the Mets always seem to have major trouble against guys who are sinker ball type pitchers. The Mets need to be patient and try to force Hudson to work up in the zone, where they could be able to get some hits where if he is down in the zone, he will be a ground ball machine.

3. Johan needs to get over his issues in the first inning and get the Mets off to a solid start by putting up a zero right off the bat. Pelfrey last night put the team behind the 8 ball by allowing 2 runs within 3 batters and the Mets are a very bad team when they fall behind. Also the Mets are 9-53 all time in Turner Field when the Braves score first, which is not exactly gonna do us good if the Mets fall behind again.

LETS GO METS

BY SCOTT ILOWITE
STACHE WRITER

Coming off their 2-1 victory against the Astros last night, the Mets look to make it two in a row and get back over the .500 mark. 1st pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM. The game can be seen on WPIX channel 11 and heard on the radio on Sports Radio 660 WFAN.

New York Mets’ Lineup:
1. Angel Pagan LF
2. Luis Castillo 2B
3. Carlos Beltran CF
4. David Wright 3B
5. Ike Davis 1B
6. Jeff Francouer RF
7. Henry Blanco C
8. Rubin Tejada SS
9. Johan Santana LHP

Interesting Fact/Trend: Johan Santana is looking to tie a team record with his 4th straight complete game tonight. The last Mets pitcher to do so was Doc Gooden back in 1988.

Houston Astros’ Lineup:
1. Jason Bourgeois LF
2. Michael Bourn CF
3. Hunter Pence RF
4. Carlos Lee 1B
5. Chris Johnson 3B
6. Angel Sanchez 2B
7. Tommy Manzella SS
8. Humberto Quintero C
9. Brett Myers RHP

Interesting Fact/Trend: Brett Myers has an amazing streak of his own going tonight. He has 26 straight starts this year where he has gone at least 6 innings. That ties a team record set by Larry Dierker.

On The Bump: Mets ace Johan Santana (10-8 2.94 ERA) is coming off another complete game loss and is looking to avenge his previous complete game loss to the Astros. He will be facing Brett Meyers (9-7 3.08 ERA) tonight. Myers is 4-0 with a 2.38 ERA in his last five starts in New York.

Daily Stache Keys to the Game

Keep David Wright Rolling – David is hitting .395 with four homers in his last 11 games. He also has 7 RBI in his last 6 games.

Lay off the Junk – Myers has a very good curveball. The Mets need to make adjustments and lay off of it. That means YOU Mr. Davis. Wait for your pitch and deposit it into The Pepsi Porch.

Angel, be Angel – With Reyes out, Angel needs to just keep doing what he’s been doing all year. Be aggressive on the bases and force the Strohs to make a play.

LET’S GO METS

BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

It is really amazing how bad the Mets offense has looked the entire 2nd half this season. It is unreal that a guy with a 5 plus era taking on a guy who has been lights on in the 2nd half can beat him.

Its really something that the New York Mets can once again not put the hammer down on a team that should be renamed the Nails because they have been hammered all season long.

The Mets are a team that is clearly the kind of team where you can look back and say a swing here, a pitch there and they are in the pennant race. They are also the same team that if you look at it from the other side, they are a pitch or a swing from being 20 games under .500

The Mets today got off to such a fast start with Reyes doing his thing to get home to give the Mets the lead and yet the offense seemed to think the off day was Sunday and Monday. The Pirates think everyday was an off day and if it wasnt for the Mets lack of hitting ability they would have lost today as well.

The fact is that at the end of the day, when Lastings Milledge a punk and a terrible human being with no skills to be a human being takes Johan Santana deep and then makes a good catch to rob the Mets a chance to win the game in the 9th, you know its just not your day. Again.

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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

The Mets are going for the road sweep in Pittsburgh this afternoon. First pitch will be at 1:35 p.m. and delivered by Pirates lefty Zach Duke. The Mets own lefty Johan Santana will take the hill for New York. As usual, the Sunday afternoon tilt will be broadcast by both WPIX Channel 11 and WFAN.

By the way, Rod Barajas got picked up by the Dodgers. Huzzah. Jesus Feliciano is back in the majors as a result, and he’ll be playing for the Mets.

New York Mets Lineup
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Angel Pagan, LF
3. Carlos Beltran, CF
4. David Wright, 3B
5. Jeff Francoeur, RF
6. Ike Davis, 1B
7. Henry Blanco, C
8. Ruben Tejada, 2B
9. Johan Santana, P

Although Chris Carter was swinging the bat well, Jerry Manuel has removed him from the lineup in favor of Jeff Francoeur. Carter has not had the chance to hit vs. a lefty with the Mets, but with Buffalo, he was 10/27 against them… why not give the guy the opportunity (is Jerry is afraid to hurt Frenchy’s feelings)? Josh Thole is another lefty absent from the lineup, but it’s a day game after a night game, so that makes sense. We all love Hessman, but I’m glad Davis is getting the chance against Zach Duke.

Interesting Fact/Trend: Before last night, PNC park was one of two ballparks that David Wright had at least 30 ABs in and had not hit a home run. Of course, that did not count the All-Star Game. He’s got the monkey off his back anyway, and the only remaining 30 AB/no-homer park is Nationals Park.

Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup
1. Andrew McCutchen, CF
2. Jose Tabata, LF
3. Neil Walker, 2B
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Lastings Milledge, RF
7. Ronny Cedeno, SS
8. Chris Snyder, C
9. Zach Duke, P

It’s the same lineup as last night, except our old friend Lastings Milledge replaces Ryan Doumit in right field.

Interesting Fact/Trend: All 12 of Andrew McCutchen’s home runs this year have been sad solo affairs in which he only gets to high five the on-deck batter. Moving him down in the lineup would make sense to manager John Russell… if he had another player on his roster fit to lead off.

On The Bump:

Zach Duke (5-12, 5.33 ERA) takes on Johan Santana (10-7, 2.97 ERA) in a match-up that should favor the Mets. We all know how that usually works out. Still, the Mets should feel good after winning two in a row on the road. Duke’s rough season is the result of a wicked 14.5% home run to fly ball ratio (compared to 10% last season when he had a 4.05 ERA) as well as a .345 BABIP. That HR/FB rate is even more alarming considering PNC Park’s pitcher-friendly nature. Look for David Wright to go deep again.

Meanwhile, Johan is having the second half we all hoped he’d have and he’s quieted talks of his accelerated decline. The strikeouts are back, with at least 6 in each of four August starts, including a couple of double digit dandies vs. Atlanta and Colorado. He’s also sporting a 1.64 career ERA at PNC Park. Yummy.

Daily Stache’s Keys to the Game:

1. Score early again – This should be the key to every game, but it is especially so now that Santana is on the hill and the Mets have been scoring early with relative frequency. They’ve scored first in the last six games. Jose Reyes might have something to do with that.

2. Get Reyes around – Jose Reyes doesn’t have everything to do with it. They say “as Reyes goes the Mets go” but since the All-Star break, Reyes was the Mets best hitter, and… they didn’t score much at all. That’s because everyone else stunk. Now that Wright has come around, the scoreboard is getting a workout thanks to Reyes actually crossing the plate.

3. Just keep pitching – The Mets might be able to establish a respectable winning streak if their great pitching keeps up during this brief offensive renaissance. The Mets 3.25 staff ERA since the break is third best in the majors behind Oakland and Atlanta.

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

I wonder if those anti-smoking ads they play during Mets game — the ones with the clogged aorta — are meant to make Mets losses look better by comparison. Maybe they’re just there to remind us to change the channel during commercial breaks. I have no idea.

The Mets lost 4-3 tonight behind another good second half start by Johan Santana. If not for Hunter Pence, Santana might have had another shutout going. And if not for Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets would be less of a joke. Unfortunately, Rodriguez is here to embarass the Mets and Pence is there to ruin Santana’s evening.

In the first inning, after Fernando Martinez gave the Mets a 1-0 lead with a single up the middle, Santana allowed the first two Houston batters to reach base. Pence was the third Astro up, and he hit crushed a hanging change-up over the left field wall for a 3-1 lead.

Though it would be fitting, Nelson Figueroa could not hold the Mets down in this game. The Amazins would strike right back in the 2nd inning when Santana feigned a bunt attempt with a runner on first and one out. Instead, Santana chopped a hard ground ball past the drawn-in third baseman. The risky play set the table for a very mildly exciting Jose Reyes RBI ground out.

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BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

Tonight the Mets look to take Game 2 of a 4 game series in Houston after a 3-1 Win last night

TV- SNY 8 PM
Radio – WFAN 660

New York Mets Lineup
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Fernando Martinez, LF
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Carlos Beltran, CF
5. Ike Davis, 1B
6. Jeff Francoeur, RF
7. Josh Thole, C
8. Ruben Tejada, 2B
9. Johan Santana, P

Interesting Fact/Trend- Beltran has two home runs in 29 games this season, he is 8 for 18 in his last five contests. He is batting .319 with three home runs and seven RBIs in his last 11 games at Minute Maid Park.

Houston Astros Lineup
1. Michael Bourn, CF
2. Angel Sanchez, SS
3. Hunter Pence, RF
4. Carlos Lee, LF
5. Chris Johnson, 3B
6. Brett Wallace, 1B
7. Geoff Blum, 2B
8. Juan Castro, C
9. Nelson Figueroa, P

Interesting Fact/Trend – Rookie third baseman Chris Johnson is hitting .384 with 33 RBIs in 44 games since being recalled from the minors June 22.

On The Bump

For the Mets, Johan Santana (10-6, 2.89 ERA) will be on the bump looking to continue his 2nd half brilliance which he has made a habit of in his career. Santana is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in three starts against Houston. In his last start Santana, who tossed a four-hitter and struck out 10 in a 4-0 win over Colorado on Thursday,and is 5-1 with a 1.88 ERA in last nine starts

For the Astros, former Met Nelson Figueroa (3-1 3.38 ERA w/PHI and HOU) will be toe the rubber for his 2nd start in Houston and will look for a small measure of revenge against the Mets after they cut him after Spring Training. The right-hander, 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in eight appearances with Houston, was scheduled to start last Saturday but was pushed back after he underwent an arteriogram due to migraine headaches. Figueroa went 4-11 with a 4.53 ERA in 16 starts for the Mets in 2008-2009.

Daily Stache’s Keys to the Game

Score some runs nice an early off of Figueroa. I think the one of the many things the Mets have not done in a long time is carry over Momentum unless the pitching is dominating. Tonight they need to take what they did in the 9th inning last night and bring that positive energy to the plate right away and hammer Nelson back to the Minors.

Johan being Johan, I mean this guy has been clutch in the 2nd half, outside of the bad 1st inning he had against the Cardinals, he has been unreal so far. The offense hasnt done much for him and he needs to take this start as if he wont get any runs once again. He has thrown shutouts in his last two starts and a 3rd in a row would be fantastic

The Mets need to not allow the Astros to get any confidence. The one thing that a young team feeds off of is the little successes that teams give them. Dont allow Bourn to get on base and steal all night, dont let young guys like Wallace and Johnson get big hits and boost up their good feelings. Jump on these guys early and make things so hard on them, they will quit and mail the game in.

LETS GO METS!

BY ANTHONY LAFAMAN
STACHE WRITER

Yes the Mets are bad right now and yes there is a strong chance they will not make the playoffs but I’m trying to find a silver lining here and I think I got something.

The Mets starting pitching has been pretty good this year. Up until now the Mets have the league’s seventh best ERA (3.70) are 19th in WHIP (1.40) and 16th in K’s (825). Led by the saint of a man R.A. Dickey and his 2.54 ERA in 111 innings pitched the Mets have a pretty strong foundation set for 2011.

With Jon Niese really progressing alot better than some people thought the Mets have 4 pitchers pretty much set if they choose to re-sign Dickey. And why not. It’s clear he can pitch in the league, especially at home. 100 innings is nothing to sneeze at and traditionally knuckleballers bloom late in their careers.

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BY SCOTT ILOWITE
STACHE WRITER

With all the attention on K-Rod and the embarrassing events that took place last night, Johan Santana gave people something else to talk about today.  In one of his best performances in a Mets uniform, Johan pitched an efficient (only 115 pitches) complete game shutout of the Colorado Rockies, with the Mets winning by the score of 4-0.  Johan only allowed 4 hits on the afternoon and struck out 10 Rockies.

It was the Mets two most important players that dictated this game from the get-go.  Johan came out on fire, by striking out the side in the top of the 1st inning.  Leading off the bottom of the 1st, Jose Reyes dropped a beautiful bunt down the third base line and immediately stole second.  With Reyes at second,  and 1 out, Angel Pagan continued to be the Mets most clutch hitter, with a single to right field that scored Reyes.

It turned out that one run was all Johan would need.  The Mets got an RBI sacrifice fly from Carlos Beltran and Fernando Martinez, along with an RBI single by Jose Reyes.

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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

Tonight’s 1-0 Mets victory over Philadelphia was a sweet as can be, considering the Mets are eight games out of a playoff spot. The hard-fought win will be something Mets fans can point to next time they are accused of being too nice. Yes, the Phillies lineup was without Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino and Chase Utley, but the way Johan Santana was dealing, it would have hardly mattered. Besides, the Mets showed before they can shut out the Phils even with those guys in the lineup. It’s not as though the Mets are now a better team than the Phillies, but its wins like this one that help prove that the Mets aren’t missing some magical intangible quality that they need to win the division.

Besides Johan, the hero tonight was Jeff Francoeur, whose opposite field home run in the 7th inning gave the Mets the only run they would need. Should Frenchy have really been in the lineup though? If the Mets were playing for now, having Francoeur bat vs. lefties makes sense. For his career, he has an .826 OPS vs. lefties and only bats to a .699 OPS vs. righties. However, the addition of Fernando Martinez to the squad seems to indicate that the Mets are playing for the future. Martinez was batting .255/.321/.466 in Buffalo and would almost certainly not be called up if the Mets were in the thick of things. That’s what makes this platoon situation confusing. Martinez is a developing player. He should either be playing everyday in the majors or everyday in the minors. He should not be sitting on the bench at any level.

It’s cool that the Mets are giving Martinez another shot at the big leagues, but bringing him up only to sit him against lefties is sending mixed messages. The Mets should either play for 2010 or play for 2011; not try to do both at the same time. Even if the Mets decide Martinez is not part of their long-term plans, who is going to want to trade for him if the Mets show so little confidence in his ability to hit left-handers?