Results tagged “carlosbeltran”

Mets 6 St. Louis 4: Off the field, the Mets lost Carlos Beltran to the DL. On the field, they looked just fine, getting a huge start from Tim Redding and getting the big hits when they needed them. Redding pitched seven innings that set the team up for the win, but Brian Stokes deserves credit for coming into the eighth inning and getting the dangerous Albert Pujols to ground into a double play. Omir Santos got four hits and Alex Cora added two RBI’s. F-Rod pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save.

Yankees 15 Mets 0: Johan Santana had the worst start of his career, giving up nine earned runs and the Yankees pounded their way to a Subway Series win. While the game ended in a blowout, it was the bottom of the second and the top of the third that proved critical. In their half of the second, the Yankees scored four times, all with two outs to jump out to an early lead. The Mets loaded the bases with no outs in the third, but failed to score when Alex Cora was called out on a bad call, Fernando Martinez struck out and Carlos Beltran hit a liner to short.

• Mets 6, Phillies 5: Who says Citi Field suppresses home runs? Ryan Church, Carlos Beltran and David Wright all went yard as the Mets overcame a shaky start by Johan Santana, who allowed four Philadelphia home runs. Santana, who squandered a 3-0 lead, helped himself with a game-tying double in the sixth, and Alex Cora drove in the go-ahead run. Francisco Rodriguez worked around a Jimmy Rollins single in the ninth to get his 16th save in 16 chances. He then pointed to the sky three times -- once for each out he got? The Mets trail the Phillies by two games in the National League East.

Start with the offense. The loss of Carlos Delgado was huge and it exposed a mediocre squad. Beltran and Wright are having great years, Gary Sheffield has been a nice addition, but everyone else disappointed this year. Jose Reyes was having a bad year before he got hurt. Daniel Murphy looks like a player who played only one game in AAA before coming to the majors. Luis Castillo is Luis Castillo. There are too many dead spots in the lineup. And don’t blame the ballpark, the Mets actually hit better at Citi Field than on the road.

After two straight losses to the Pirates, anything's possible. An SNY associate producer was sent home and put in isolation with what could be a case of swine flu. Carlos Beltran missed his third straight game and stayed at the hotel with what was called a stomach virus but is now being considered something more serious. Associate producer Dan Barr drove back from Pittsburgh after doctors told him not to fly on a commercial flight. "We've been told it's not a type of illness that's transmitted through the air," assistant general manager John Ricco said. "It's something that's more droplets, shaking hands or sneezing. So we're not too worried." He's right, the Mets shake hands or produce "droplets" of spittle. Rizzo went on to say that the symptoms are not consistent with what Beltran and starting pitcher John Maine have shown. Maine, looking on the bright side said, "I'm going to go out with a winning record."

• Yankees 3 Minnesota 2 (10 innings): The Twins must be getting tired of seeing the same thing everyday. For the third-straight time the Yankees won the game in their last at bat. This time the hero was Johnny Damon who lofted a 3-2 pitch into the rightfield stands for the win. Damon’s heroics capped a comeback by New York. Down 2-0, the heroes of Friday and Saturday got the game tied when A-Rod homered and Melky added a RBI . In the 8th, both teams turned outstanding defensive plays to keep the game tied. Mark Teixeira made a great throw at home to nail a runner and Joe Mauer made a superb lunge to the plate to nail Brett Gardner. Alfredo Aceves pitched an inning of relief to earn his second win of the year.

• Yankees 8 Toronto 2: New York had a great night at the plate, despite missing four starters from their Opening Day lineup. Brett Gardner had a triple and a home run while driving in three runs. Mark Teixeira had two hits and two RBI’s and Johnny Damon continued his hot hitting with two more hits. All of the runs supported Andy Pettitte, who pitched six innings of up and down baseball. Pettitte only allowed two runs, but he walked four batters and gave up five hits. If Toronto had been able to get a clutch hit, this would have been a very different game. But, they didn’t and now the Yankees have a chance to climb back to .500 tomorrow.
• Atlanta 8 Mets 7 (12 innings): Should Jose Reyes have been running? Absolutely, but his play isn’t the only reason they lost. Down by a run, Reyes led off the 11th with a shot to left field that he thought was out of the park. But, the ball stayed in and Reyes’ lack of hustle left him on second, when he probably should have been on third. Still, the Mets got him to third with one out and had two chances to tie the game. But, Carlos Beltran took three-straight strikes for the second out and Gary Sheffield was called out on strikes to end the game.

• Mets 4, Braves 3: Down 3-0 entering the eighth and 3-2 entering the ninth, the Mets didn't give up. Jose Reyes doubled home two in the eighth -- he got thrown out trying to make it a triple -- and then scored the winning run in the tenth. The Mets benefited from a missed call in the ninth that let Carlos Beltran steal third -- he was out -- and then score on a Luis Castillo sacrifice fly. Beltran walked in the winning run in the 10th, capping a rally that started with two out and no one on.

• Mets 7 Philadelphia 5: Things got a bit dicey, but the Mets got the sweep in an abbreviated series. Beltran, Wright and Reyes all homered and Pelfrey pitched seven solid. They are over .500 and on a four-game winning streak. The Mets are only a ½ game back of the division lead and with Pittsburgh in this weekend, they have an excellent chance to move into first.

• Mets 6 Atlanta 4: Baseball gives you 162 different days to shine and while Carlos Beltran had a tough Saturday, he had a great Monday. Beltran smacked two homers to lead the Mets out of a 3-0 hole to victory. David Wright hit a homer as well and added a hit. John Maine was shaky, walking six, but thanks to the New York offense he earned the win.

Green wasn’t the worst Mets’ pitcher as Oliver Perez was terrible again, walking 6 in just over two innings of work. With his ERA sitting almost at 10, it is time to take a page from the Yankees’ playbook and get Perez on the DL so he can work out his problems in the minors.

• Red Sox 16, Yankees 11: Just a reminder that no lead is safe at Fenway Park. The Yankees led by 6-0 and 10-9 and still lost this one. A.J. Burnett could not hold the early cushion, allowing eight runs in five innings. Ex-Yankees farmhand Mike Lowell also had a big three-run homer. This game went back and forth long after Burnett left. Not even Robinson Cano's two homers were not enough. Boston won for the second straight night, and the Yankees try to avoid the sweep on Sunday night on ESPN. Andy Pettitte will be charged with that task. He'll face Justin Masterson.
• Mets 8, Nationals 2: This game was anticlimactic. A dropped fly ball in the first inning all but sealed Washington's fate. Mike Pelfrey got a solid start under his belt after skipping his turn due to forearm tendinitis, and Carlos Beltran, who went 3-for-5, continued his hot hitting and is now batting .415 on the season. Does beating the lowly 3-13 Nationals count? It certainly did for the Marlins, who lead the National League East with an 11-6 record and are 6-0 against Washington. Oliver Perez takes on top prospect Jordan Zimmerman in Sunday's series finale.

The Mets have squandered a chance at the postseason in consecutive Septembers. The 2007 version capped a massive collapse. The 2008 version capped a generally disappointing and underachieving season.

      

Amid rain and wind, the Mets opened their new ballpark with a 4-3 Spring Training win over the Red Sox on Friday. Livan Hernandez had the honor of throwing the first pitch at the park, which saw a decent but not great crowd after a day of poor weather. Carlos Beltran scored the first run for the Mets. The wide concourses that everyone has been raving out got a workout. Between the rain delay and people trying to walk around the park rather than watch the game, they held up well. Every concession stand had a line around it. And Francisco Rodriguez got the first save. He even gave a restrained fist pump. Is that a good omen?

As baseball fans wait for the free agency period to begin (November 14th) baseball starts handing out postseason awards. First up, the gold gloves which were announced for the NL yesterday and appear to have been announced early for the AL today.

But, the Mets were not done. They scored a single run in the seventh and then two in the eighth with a two-out rally to tie the game. Jose Reyes led off the ninth with a single, but Daniel Murphy struck out trying to bunt him to second and David Wright struck out. Reyes stole second on the play and the Cubs chose to intentionally walk Carlos Delgado. That brought Beltran to the plate and after taking two pitches, he lashed the game-winning hit off the first baseman's glove.

Don’t blame the bullpen. They held the Mets in the game inning after inning, it was the offense that blew this one. Time after time, the Mets couldn’t get the big hit, no more so than the bottom of the ninth. David Murphy led off the inning with a triple, putting the team 90 feet from victory. But, David Wright struck out and after intentional walks to Delgado and Beltran, Ryan Church grounded into a force out at home. Ramon Castro struck out to end the inning and the Mets never threatened again.

It’s time for the Mets to go shopping and Omar Minaya needs to find a bat to bolster the lineup. With the Mets in first place and finally living up to their potential, their GM needs to patch the biggest remaining hole in the team and a corner outfielder would do that.

Andy Petitte led the Yankees to victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Mets' Mike Pelfrey shut down the Giants (the Amazin's are a game-and-a-half behind first place!).

It seemed like such an innocent play at the time. Willie Blumquist grounded to third for what should have been an easy out, but David Wright bobbled the ball and the bases were loaded. But, the pitcher was due up and pitchers can’t hit, especially American League ones, right? Wrong, Felix Hernandez became the first AL pitcher in 37 years to hit a grand slam as he connected off of Johan Santana and sent the Mariners out to a 4-0 lead.

The rumors swirled viciously before the game. Willie Randolph was safe for at least the week, but some of his coaches would be fired shortly. Randolph and some of the coaches were about to be axed. There were even erroneous reports that Rick Peterson had been fired.

Two and a half weeks ago, Willie Randolph appeared to be on the precipice of being fired. The Mets, especially general manager Omar Minaya stood by him, and Randolph lived another day. Now, another poor stretch of play has prompted perhaps the strongest rumors yet. If SI.com's Jon Heyman is correct, and his sources are usually reliable, Randolph -- and half his coaching staff -- could be gone by the end of the weekend.