June 12, 2009, Philadelphia Phillies-New York Mets game story, sidebar, notes and Subway Series preview for Metro (NY) Newspaper
Crushed: Extra-inning long ball dooms Mets, again
MLB.
It was supposed to be different this time. No such luck, the bullpen failed the Mets once more against the Phillies.
Ken Takahashi closed his eyes and dropped his head.
A 1-1 sinker that was supposed to be outside ended up over the middle to Raul Ibanez, the league leader in RBIs. As the ball disappeared into the cold night, so, too, did the tension in what had been a throwback game in a throwback series.
Ibanez's three-run homer in the 10th inning, which gave the Phillies a 6-3 win and the series, was just the first of a combination of body shots to a team that has a three-game main event awaiting them in the Bronx this weekend.
After the game, general manager Omar Minaya announced that an MRI showed “fatigue” and “weakness” in John Maine’s shoulder and that the starter was retroactively placed on the 15-day disabled list. Maine will miss Saturday’s start against the Yankees, and the Mets did not name a replacement. Losing Maine may stretch an already thin team to its breaking point, a fact that the organization’s decision maker and on-field leader are acutely aware of a month away from the All-Star break.
“We’re just going to have to find a way. We have to find a way. We just finished three games, a close series, and we ended up winning one and could have easily won two or three. We’ll have to find a way,” said Minaya. “We have to continue to stay close and win as many games as possible.”
The Mets won the opener against Philadelphia before dropping the next two. Chase Utley's homer in the 11th inning doomed them Wednesday night.
“What we have to do, to be honest with you, we have to kind of remain over .500 at some point until we get the rest of the guys back,” said manager Jerry Manuel. “At that point, I think we’re capable of running off 15 out of 20. We have to keep above water.
“We’re just not the same group that came out with spring training. It’s just the way that it is at this point.”
When informed of Manuel’s comments, first baseman/outfielder Daniel Murphy snapped, “The mindset is winning baseball.”
It would help if the Mets could score runs. Thursday night, Carlos Beltran drove in all of the Mets’ runs with sac flies in the first and fifth, and a RBI double in the third.
Minaya and Manuel both expressed their concern about the Mets’ inability to tack on runs and score runs in the later innings. The Mets were held scoreless after the fifth inning Thursday and after the fourth inning on Wednesday. In both instances, the Mets had opportunities to increase leads against the reigning world champions.
“We weren’t able to add runs. Even though we’re getting hits, we seem to be struggling late in games,” Manuel said.
Starter Tim Redding went seven innings, scattering six hits and three runs before giving way to the bullpen. Pedro Feliciano threw a scoreless eighth. Bobby Parnell (2-2) was charged with his second loss in as many days. Parnell went an 1 1/3 innings, only allowing a Pedro Feliz single in the ninth and a Victorino single in the 10th. Following Victorino’s single, Manuel, who said he “did not have any other choices at that point,” called on Takahashi to pitch to the heart of the Phillies order. Takahashi walked Utley and struck out Ryan Howard before giving up Ibanez’s 21st homer of the season.
Takahashi, a lefty, was signed to shut down left handed hitters. Instead, lefties are hitting .400 off of him. A starter in Japan, Takahashi admitted after the game to struggling in adjusting to his role in the bullpen.
Pointing to the 21 pitches he threw in two innings on Wednesday, Manuel said that he did not want to use closer Francisco Rodriguez in anything less than a “save” or “win” situation in the rubber game. While understanding Manuel’s rationale, Rodriguez said he could have pitched an inning or more.
“You know, I would (have). When you’re in the game, you don’t think. You’re out there trying to pitch,” Rodriguez said. “An inning, inning plus, two innings, I would do it.”
Bombs away
Mets ready to rip new Yankee Stadium
David Wright has been the only consistently healthy slugger in the Mets’ lineup all season. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Serving it up
Two of the three scheduled Yankees’ starters for this series, Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett were shelled in their first interleague matchups this season. The Phillies combined for five home runs against the two last month.
If new Yankee Stadium had been around 20 years ago, hitters never would have needed steroids.
The Mets are next in line to abuse the Yankees’ palace, and the Subway Series comes at just the right time. Prior to Thursday night’s series finale against National League East rival Philadelphia, the Mets were ranked 28th in the majors with 37 homers. Only Pittsburgh (33) and San Francisco (31) have hit fewer home runs.
Yankee Stadium provides the perfect slumpbuster for power-challenged offenses. There have been a league-high 105 homers hit in just 29 games at the Bombers’ new digs.
“You know going into that series at the Stadium, the ball is flying out,” Mets right fielder Ryan Church said. “You could get a cheap home run here or there. It probably puts your mind at ease a little bit, but you just barrel the ball and hit it solid. And all the results, all that stuff will happen, take care of itself.”
Right field at Yankee Stadium has taken care of most of the long balls this season. Sixty-three of the 105 dongs have been hit over that wall, which measures up to nine feet shorter in spots than old Yankee Stadium.
Still, the Mets aren’t about to start aiming for the right-field hot spot.
“I go up there trying to take the same approach.” Mets third baseman David Wright said. “That’s the last thing on my mind. When you go up thinking about home runs, it rarely happens.
It’s rarely happened for Wright this season. The Mets slugger leads the league with a .360 batting average but is just third in homers with four. Wright had 12 homers at this time last season.
“I think you have a swing and you stick with it. If you hit a home run, you do it. If not, try again next time.”
He and his teammates will get plenty of opportunities to do just that this weekend. The team, though, still understands you can beat the Yankees without smashing balls over the fence. Just look at the last struggling slugging team to visit the Yankees. The Oakland A’s are the only team ranked in the bottom 10 in home runs to visit Yankee Stadium this season. The A’s won a two-game set in April on just one home run.
“I think you can’t get outside of the box and (try to) hit home runs there,” Church said.
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 1:31 PM
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