Posts Tagged ‘Luis Castillo’

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

Ah, doesn’t it feel good to be back in third place again? What, it doesn’t? Even if you don’t like third place, if you’re a Mets fan, you should like the way the Mets played tonight. They trailed late, but persevered and came out on top, just like a winning team should. At 63-62, the Mets are technically a winning team again, even if that winning team consists of a bunch of underachieving bums.

Seriously, though, the Mets played with pride tonight. They refused to fold when Gaby Sanchez crushed a 3-run homer with two outs in the 7th to ruin R.A. Dickey’s nice start. Even with two outs in their half of the 8th, the Mets did not quit. Angel hustled hard enough to turn a single into a double and was quickly rewarded when he rounded third and scored on Beltran’s single.

In the 9th, Ike Davis led off with a swinging-bunt infield single just past the pitchers mound. After Thole lobbed a broken bat bloop over short stop for another single, the Mets ended up with runners on first and second with two outs. Luis Castillo, who was switched into the lineup after Jesus Feliciano pinch hit for Ruben Tejada in the 7th, became the surprise hero by nubbing a soft liner into right field. Right fielder Mike Stanton was playing in, but his throw was off target and everything was good for one night.

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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

The Mets lost tonight by the score of 8-7 to the St. Louis Cardinals in a 13-inning game. It was another one run loss for the Mets and another extra inning loss as well. However, because the game was played at Citi Field, fans were spared another walk-off defeat. That didn’t make the experience any less painful, though.

Our evening started with Johan Santana on the mound, attempting to give the Mets back-to-back triumphs for the first time since June 22 and 23. Santana has been great lately, but tonight did not go according to plan. With two outs and a runner on first, the Cardinals began to attack. Matt Holliday appeared to be out in front of a change-up and lofted a long fly ball into left field that just did not come down to earth like it was supposed to. The score was 2-0, but the Cards were not prepared to settle. Yadier Molina roped a single. Colby Rasmus bombed a double into left-center. With the bases loaded, the pitcher Jaime Garcia battled Santana in a lengthy at-bat before finally singling up the middle to plate two more. Skip Schumaker’s infield single made it 5-0 and Felipe Lopez’s second single of the inning made it 6-0 Cardinals.

Our editor was not having a good time, but things soon lightened up for the Amazin’ faithful. Jaime Garcia’s control was not all it could have been, and he walked two batters en route to loading the bases, allowing the Metsies a golden chance to get back in the game. Freshly called-up Mike Hessman was happy for the two-out opportunity. He lined a double off the left field wall to make it a 6-2 game. Francoeur was walked pseudo intentionally to load the bases again, but Henry Blanco could only pop up to end the inning.
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Is Alfonzo coming back? (PHOTO BY ICON/SMI)

FRANK GRAY
STACHE WRITER

The New York Mets have long been without a presence of leadership and quiet consistent confidence. There are several players that exude those attributes in Mets lore. One of them is Edgardo Alfonzo. While with the Mets, he became a leader and an example. He was what is called, ‘clutch’. Not many players can claim that anymore, especially in Queens.

The team has been searching for quality back up players and all the while spending and wasting valuable money on starters that don’t belong in the major leagues. According to MLB Rumors.com, Alfonzo had recently expressed interest in playing in the MLB again and more specifically with the Mets. The team has a need on the bench and even more so, a need at second base.

That position is currently being patrolled by Luis Castillo, who is having a poor season. His batting average (.246)and on base percentage (.340) are lower than his career averages. He does have seven stolen bases and two triples this season so far, but he is not getting on base and doing what he was paid to do entirely.
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Zimmerman owned the Mets on both sides of the ball

The Mets stranded a lot of runners on base tonight. It’s not like the offense totally sucked. They just couldn’t get the right hit at the right time. This kind of madness makes for a far more entertaining game than if the bats are just shutdown completely, but it’s also longer and even more frustrating.

Somehow the Mets banged out 12 hits and only had two runs to show for it. If you take out Angel Pagan’s 9th inning solo blast, the Mets used 11 hits to score just one run. That’s crazy. Angel Pagan himself came up twice with a runner on third an one out, and both times he hit the ball straight back to the pitcher. In the bottom of the first, Pagan and Castillo reached base, but Reyes, Wright and Davis all struck out against Luis Atilano, who was making his fourth major league start and had just six career strikeouts. The Mets would go down on strikes eight more times against Atilano and a bunch of relievers who were neither Tyler Clippard nor Matt Capps. Yikes.
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Takahashi came to the rescue yet again

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

The Mets employed Zombieland’s rule #2 today versus Los Angeles. Johan Santana and the ensemble shut down the Dodgers in the afternoon with a 4-0 shutout, and then the orange and blue crew finished the job at night with a 10-5 thumping. That means it’s now six in a row for the Mets. It’s safe to say things have been going swimmingly for the past week.

In the opener, Johan Santana continued the theme of awesome Mets pitching by getting out of an early jam and then continuing to have another really good outing. Super Johan didn’t make things look exceedingly easy, but as we learned from Big Pelf on Sunday, not all shutouts are pretty. Johan struggled through six innings, throwing 115 pitches in the process. All three of his walks came in the second inning, but he got out of it by striking out his counterpart Hiroki Kuroda with the bases loaded. In the third, Reed Johnson blasted a triple to center with only one out, but Johan escaped trouble again with an Andre Ethier line out and a Matt Kemp ground out.
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What does this and the Mets have in common? They both Suck!!!!!

BY ZACHARY SCHULMAN
STACHE WRITER

For all the problems that have afflicted the Mets this year, I attribute it to one thing: the losing culture of this team. It doesn’t shock me in the least that this team has quit. It doesn’t shock me that we just got swept by the Nats, the Nats have had better players on the field than us for almost 4 months now and certainly have a brighter future.

When everyone talks about how Mike Pelfrey took a step back , it makes me scratch my head. If the Mets were whole this season Pelfrey would have 15 or 17 wins and be 10 games over .500 right now. But since the whole team is hurt and the healthy players have thrown in the towel, would do you expect.
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BY GREG BARRA
STACHE WRITER

Going into the month of May, the New York Mets were still trying to find themselves. They were 9 -12 and it looked as if the starting pitching wasn’t going to shape up. Well, they’ve shaped up big time. Since May 1st, which is has been 12 games, no Met pitcher has given up more than 3 earned runs on any start. The Mets are 9-2 during these 12 games and have improved their record to 18-14.

One of the reasons why the New York Mets have improved their record is because of the improvement of Mike Pelfrey. After his horrible performance against the Sad Diego Padres, which he let up 8 earn runs, Pelfrey has allowed 3 or less earned runs in his last 4 starts. Also in his last two starts Mr. Wichita State has gone 7 innings and only walked one batter in each of those games.

Also, the Mets have gotten tremendous hitting from Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Luis Castillo and have gotten help from Alex Cora, and Fernando Tatis on the bench. Luis Castillo has slowed down a bit but he has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. David Wright seems to finally be getting it right at the plate and he is currently hitting .317. Beltran has been nothing but spectacular thus far this season. He kept his bat on his shoulder to end the game tonight but it actually ended in a Met win this time. Beltran already has 46 hits on this young season. Great bench play from Cora and Tatis has also contrubited to the Mets hot streak in early May.

Tomorrow’s game is extremely important I feel because they need to take as many games from division rivals as possible.

Castillo seems like a man on a mission, and he has shown some value here in 2009.

BY GREG BARRA
STACHE WRITER

Could we be seeing the resurrection of Luis Castillo? Last year he was a dismal player and when he came to the plate you could say he’d be almost an automatic out. His fielding took a step back because of his ailing knees and he’s speed on the base paths also suffered. This is all true but in 2009 we are not seeing the same guy. He’s on fire at the dish and is doing a very good job patrolling second.

Through the first fourteen games of 2009, Luis has collected eighteen hits bringing his average to .383. In his last 10 games Castillo has had multiple hits in five games and was held hitless and only two. To go along with those numbers, his on base percentage is through the roof at .889. The most important number of them all is that he is hitting he’s batting .385 with runners in scoring position, which has been tough for most Mets thus far.

I’m glad to see the Jerry Manuel has placed Castillo in the second slot in the lineup because he has earned it. And a little side note – Carlos Beltran is now batting a cool .400 on the year, they need a big year from him if the Mets are going to go anywhere this season.

Carlos Beltran decided he was too good to slide, and he was thrown out at the plate.

BY GREG BARRA
STACHE WRITER

The season is still very young and there really is really no need to panic at all. The Mets have blown three games when they have lead by at least three runs. That’s not a good stat to have early in the season, but there are some positives.

One that really sticks out to me is that the New York Mets have not been blown out of any games thus far this season. Every game they could have come up in the win column but just didn’t have it all clicking. Some games the pitching is doing fantastic and the Mets can hit the baseball even if they had a barnyard door. Or there are games when they are getting the hits but the pitchers can’t find the zone. Once these two come together the Mets are going to be a tough team to beat.

Second positive is the Mets have seven starters hitting above .300 and one Luis Castillo at .400 (who’d a thought right?). So that
brings the first point out even more.

Third positive is the fact that the Mets have Johan Santana and he currently has a 0.47 ERA.

Although one thing that really bothers me in the early going are the amount of errors the Mets have committed through twelve games. Through the twelve games, they have committed 8 errors, which cannot continue if they want to be a championship contender.

I believe that these the starting pitching will settle down and that the Mets will make the big hits when it counts. We just haven’t seen it yet, so down get frustrated yet Met fans. We got a long, long way to go.

Carlos Delgado had a big day to help put the Mets back above .500.

BY MICHAEL GANCI
EDITOR

The Mets defeated the Marlins by the score of 8-4 in Miami tonight to give the Marlins their first loss of the season. It took a big effort from Livan Hernandez and some timely hitting for the Mets to get it done, and they got it from an unlikely hero tonight. Luis Castillo was an excellent 4-for-4 during the game, and it was especially important, considering the fact that Castillo is going to be facing the Mets’ faithful on Monday in Citifield. I think we should all greet him with a resounding cheer.

What can I say about Livan Hernandez? He was excellent tonight. Before the game was actually aired on television, and we were forced to look at the box score while watching a boxing match, Livan found himself in a jam. But, that is exactly where he seems to be comfortable. After putting runners on first and third with nobody out, Cody Ross popped out, and then Livan knuckled down and struck out Cameron Maybin and Ricky Nolasko. He ended up working into the seventh and got some nice support from Pedro Feliciano. My favorite thing about Hernandez tonight was the fact that he completed three sacrifice bunts.

Ryan Church has been on a tear. He had another two hits tonight, and he continues to tell Jerry Manuel to keep Gary Sheffield on the bench. It’s hard to argue with him right now, considering the fact that he seems to be hitting a double every other time up.

Jose Reyes gave us a scare when Cameron Maybin tried to break up a double play. Maybin’s knee and Reyes’ shin got to meet each other, and Reyes came up limping. But fortunately for the Mets, Reyes is alright. He contributed nicely to the cause tonight with a homer and three RBI.

Delgado is in mid-season form with three hits. Delgado is only hitting a whopping .421 so far on the season.

Tomorrow, we have one heck of a match up. Impressive right hander Josh Johnson goes for the Marlins against Johan Santana, who hasn’t lost a game since last June. Happy Easter everyone!