Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 11, 2008
The Comebacks

The Mets blew a 5-1 lead Tuesday night as the Diamondbacks scored eight runs over the last five innings to win 9-5. After a poor start by Owings, the Arizona bullpen allowed two hits and no walks over 4 2/3 innings. The loss for the Mets followed a team meeting in which a plan was mapped out for making the playoffs:

One player allowed the Daily News a quick glance at the sheet, which looked a lot like a flow chart with a series of arrows. At the top was the team's record entering Tuesday night's game, 30-32. Near the bottom was a circled final regular-season record of 92-70.

Below that was an arrow pointing to a single word: "Playoffs."

The sheet also had several phrases and motivational messages. One said "We B4 I." Another read "team above self." A third message was "we have time."

Players asked about the meeting said the only matter discussed was players' union business, the reelection of Aaron Heilman as team representative. One who was asked about the sheet he held said, "It's a team matter. I'm not talking about it."

There's a great sidebar at the link comparing this plan to the one in Major League.

The Texas Rangers trailed Kansas City 5-1 after six innings. They fought back, however, to take a 6-5 win with four runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. The Royals wasted an excellent outing by Gil Meche, who allowed just one run over the first six innings. Mahay, Tomko and Yabuta combined to allow five hits, two walks and five runs over 2 1/3 innings of work, three of those unearned. The Royals would not use Soria in the game:

The Royals turned to Yabuta and Ramirez once the game began slipping away because closer Joakim Soria was unavailable after pitching in three of the four previous days. Soria also reported some tightness in his backside, although Hillman indicated the concern was minor.

"It's just a little tight," Hillman said. "But it's something along with the (recent) pitch totals, I wasn't prepared to put him out there and risk injury."


The Dodgers didn't have a big deficit, but trailed the Padres 2-1 after six. They proceeded to score six runs in the final three innings once Maddux was out of the game. Greg's ERA at home is now 1.70 in seven starts, and all he has to show for it is a 1-0 record. Los Angeles picked up thirteen hits in the game, eleven of them singles.

The win comes as the Dodgers learn Furcal will spend longer on the DL than expected. Nomar will do a rehabilitation assignment and start playing shortstop again. Desperate times call for desperate measures.


Posted by David Pinto at 07:22 AM | Games | TrackBack (0)
Comments

And Willie Randolph still has job? Go Nomar ... their going to need a pitchback behind 1B.

Posted by: Bandit at June 11, 2008 09:24 AM

"Greg's ERA at home is now 1.70 in seven starts, and all he has to show for it is a 1-0 record."

Reminds me of those comments about Drysdale's great ERAs in Dodger Stadium in the 1960s, and why they didn't translate to more runs. Park effects are powerful things.

Oddly, Dodger Stadium is now pretty hitter-friendly, thanks to shorter fences and much less foul territory. But Petco...well, you know the story. Those four consecutive 2-1 games were no surprise.

Posted by: Casey Abell at June 11, 2008 11:35 AM

Should have said "translate to more wins", not "translate to more runs." Dodger Stadium in the 1960s didn't translate to many runs for anybody.

Posted by: Casey Abell at June 11, 2008 11:37 AM
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