First InningThe Mets fielders follow Mike Pelfrey onto the playing field, and applause scatters down from the home fans. If the Citi Field crowd seems lacking in enthusiasm for this Sunday Night Baseball matchup, perhaps it's because raindrops are falling as well.
Three thousand miles away, I'm sitting in my recliner fighting off beads of sweat, not because of the expected intensity from tonight's intradivisional competition, but because the late afternoon California sun shines through our apartment windows and turns the living room into a sauna.
From my long distance, high-def, tropical viewpoint, the field looks damp, but not exactly soaked, as Braves leadoff man Melky Cabrera steps into the batters' box. Stadium floodlights are reflected in the moisture on Cabrera's helmet, which features a glossy sheen not unlike a freshly polished bowling ball.
Pelfrey, the Mets' tall right-hander, retires Cabrera on two quick pitches, and sets down the next batter, Martin Prado, without much trouble. So far, so good.
Who but Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones should step to the plate with two out so get the Atlanta offense moving. Nicked up and aging but menacing as ever when facing the Mets, L-Dub draws a five-pitch walk.
That's fine. Let him on first. He can't run, which he shows by failing to score on a long double to right by the cleanup hitter Brian McCann. Pelfrey walks Troy Glaus to load the bases for Jason Heyward.
Uy.
Heyward, displaying a tremendous combination of plate coverage and plate discipline, works the count full and the fouls off several pitches before popping up harmlessly to end the Braves' threat in the first.
Phew.
Having stymied the Braves most talented young hitter, the Mets face off against Atlanta's top young pitcher, Tommy Hanson. Hanson sets down Angel Pagan and overpowers Luis Castillo. So far, so bad.
Jose Reyes bloops a single that falls eight feet in front of left fielder Cabrera, and then wastes little time taking second base off Hanson and McCann. When Jason Bay grounds a ball softly down the third base line, L-Dub shows his age, diving for a ball that a third baseman shouldn't have to, and short-arming his throw way off line. Amid the confusion, Jose Reyes scoots home, and the Mets nab their first run of the game.
Second Inning
ESPN's television broadcasters tonight are Jon Miler, Joe Morgan and Orel Hershiser. Two Hall of Famers and a Cy Young award winner -- hey, not bad.
Hershiser is almost certainly best remembered for that magical 1988 season, when he was not only the Cy Young winner but picked up some other serious hardware as the Dodgers' MVP in both the NLCS against the Mets, and the World Series against the Dodgers (although Orel's postseason brilliance may be forgotten by most fans in lieu of a particularly memorable Kirk Gibson-Dennis Eckersley encounter in Game 1).
Anyway, Hershiser's most famous and longstanding achievement from the '88 season was his streak of pitching 59 consecutive scoreless innings. It just so happens that Mike Pelfrey hasn't allowed a run since his first start of the season, a stretch of 19 innings going into tonight's content.
The streak seems destined to end, though, as Pelfrey has really labored to get through the first two innings, needing 60 pitches. Perhaps the rain can be blamed; I wouldn't say he's been wild, but Pelfrey has walked three through two, which doesn't bode well unless Hanson starts to slip as well.
Pelf works his way through two, though, with the streak intact, and Hanson answers by mowing down the first couple of Mets batters, then farting around with Henry Blanco and walking the punchless backstop.
Joe Morgan freaks out, calling it a sin to walk the No. 8 hitter with two outs, which ordinarily I'd agree with, since you'd love to have the opposing pitcher lead off the following inning. In this case though, bringing Pelfrey to the plate means you're tiring him out even more, and coming off two long innings, the last thing Pelfrey needs if he's already tired is to be digging in for an at bat against Tommy Hanson.
I'm not suggesting Hanson was pitching around Blanco intentionally, but I don't think it was actually that bad a move, all things considered. Maybe credit Bobby Cox for this one? Maybe a savvy Braves beat writer will ask him about it after the game.
For his part, Pelfrey doesn't go down without a fight. After working the count to 2-2, Pelf fouls off three straight Hanson offerings before grounding out to second base to end the inning. Way to go Pelf! I liked his effort. This could be a disastrous next half-inning in the field for him, but he showed me something.
Third Inning
The third inning isn't quite as disastrous as I predicted, as the Braves make three outs with a game-low 16 pitches. More importantly, the scoreless streak stays alive when Heyward comes to bat with men on first and second and one out but grounds a double play ball at Reyes to end the threat.
This makes five runners stranded by Heyward in his first two at bats. I'll take it, but just as John Maine was able to pitch around trouble early in last Sunday night's game against the Cardinals (also the ESPN Sunday Night game), the Mets' good fortune against the Jay Hey Kid can't continue all night long.
In the Mets' half of the third, Luis Castillo breaks for second with one out and Reyes batting, and after Brian McCann's throw sails into center field, Castillo alertly advances to third. Unfortunately, on the next pitch, Reyes' ground ball up the middle -- slowed by the wet infield grass, no doubt -- is gobbled up and amounts to the second out of the inning. Four-five hitters Bay and Wright are unable to plate Castillo, and the Mets fail to capitalize on McCann's error.
After Reyes' failure to drive in Castillo, Joe Morgan criticizes the Mets' new No. 3 batter for not hitting the ball hard up the middle, and characterizes Reyes' at bat as a misstep. Morgan seems to think that the job of a No. 3 hitter is to work the count until he can either hit the ball hard through the infield, or hit the ball deep enough into the outfield for a sacrifice fly. I'm not trying to pick on Joe Morgan, but I think he and I aren't watching the same game.
It's pretty obvious (to me, at least), that the wet grass has helped both teams so far (remember Heyward's inning-ending double play just a few minutes before), and Reyes' ball, which ordinarily would have scooted through for an RBI single, just happened to not be good enough tonight.
If not for the weather, Castillo wouldn't have even been on third base, and might have even been caught stealing. Do you really think McCann would have thrown the ball into center field if it weren't raining?
Also, is there something special about the third spot in the order that dictates a player should be more patient? Moreso than the leadoff spot, even? Ugh, Morgan, you're killing me...
Fourth Inning
I was so caught up trying to articulate my frustration with Joe Morgan that I miss the entire top of the fourth inning. Noticing that the score was still 1-0 heading to commercial, I decide to celebrate Pelfrey's active streak (and cool off) by grabbing a soda and sticking my head in the freezer for a minute.
I get back to the action with one out in the bottom of the inning just in time to see the wet Citi Field grass take away another grounder up the middle. This time the victim is Jeff Francouer. By the time Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar gets to it, Frenchy's ball is almost in shallow right-center field, the batter safely at first.
Even if Escobar hadn't flubbed the transition from glove to hand (a bungle leading to a non-out), Escobar might have been too far away to throw out Francouer anyway, and the play is ruled a "hit." Escobar sure looked pretty stupid on a ball he normally wouldn't have been able to get to anyway, but that's about all the damage the Braves suffer, as Hanson shuts down Blanco and Pelfrey to end the fourth.
Fifth Inning
Martin Prado drives a ball past Francouer in right for a double to lead off, but Pelfrey mans up to fan Chipper on a mean splitter away, and K-Zone treats us viewers to a replay of Jones' flailing two-strike swing. Nice work, Pelfrey. I don't care if he's hurt, old, retired, or dead, it always feels like an accomplishment when the Mets make that bastard Chipper look human.
Midway through his next at bat (facing Brian McCann), Pelfrey crosses the 100-pitch mark for the night, before walking McCann and bringing pitching coach Dan Warthen to the mound for a conference. As Jon Miller notes, ten men have reached base against Pelfrey so far tonight, and even though none have scored against him, this should probably be his last frame.
The high wire dance continues as Pelfrey magically induces a 5-4-3 double play from Troy Glaus. Huzzah! It's officially on!
Streak Watch: 24 innings Completed, 35 Behind Orel (BO).
After the commercial, Orel deftly points out that expectations have changed quickly for Pelfrey; we're not just expecting his outings to last more than five innings, we're also expecting Pelfrey to pitch cleaner innings. I know what he's saying, but I also am expecting Pelfrey to pitch zero innings more tonight. An ESPN camera picks up a lefty warming up in the Mets bullpen, so hopefully this is it for Pelf for tonight.
Pagan makes a quiet out to lead off the inning, and Castillo strokes a single to right. Once again, with Reyes batting, Luis takes second base. Unfortunately, McCann doesn't field the ball well enough to throw the ball into center field this time, so Castillo has to stay at second for now.
As it turns out, Castillo doesn't even get to third base this inning. Reyes chases a Hanson curveball that looks like it may have tagged the dirt five inches in front of the plate (for some reason, I didn't watch the K-Zone replay with quite as much interest as L-Dub's flail-job...) and Bay skies one to Escobar for the third out.
Sixth Inning
Even at first glance, it's clear that Pelfrey's night is over. The new Mets pitcher is a dark skinned lefty, and no sooner does Raul Valdez throws his first pitch of the game than the rapidly increasing rainpour, which has caused puddles to gather around various patches of the infield, leads the umpiring crew to call for the tarp squad.
Dinner time...
Some ninety minutes later
The game hasn't been officially called yet, but it seems like it's all over, and a near-complete game for Pelfrey, who threw all the Mets pitches but one tonight.
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