10:24 -- Well that's it. The Mets touched Jon Rauch for a run, getting one back on a Marlon Anderson pinch hit homer. Reyes finally broke his hitless streak with a single, but was left stranded at third when Church flied out to center to end it. Perez gets handed the loss. Up tomorrow is a date with the hated Braves at Shea Stadium and the Mets limp in having lost four of their last five. Final: Nationals 10, Mets 5.
10:11 -- Pedro Feliciano comes in and holds the Nationals in their portion of the eighth.
10:02 -- Mets go down 1-2-3 in the eighth and the prospect of them finishing the road trip with a winning record is pretty much out the window. It's going to take a massive effort and we know the Mets' offense has slowed little sign of being able to come back from a six-run deficit.
9:52 -- Is it me or does it seem like Jorge Sosa pitches every day? The guy's arm is going to be Jello by the end of May at this rate. Anyway, Sosa didn't get any help. Fielding miscues by Reyes and Delgado helped open the floodgates and the Mets are getting pounded. Make that 10 straight runs scored by the Nats after falling behind by three. Nationals 10, Mets 4.
9:37 -- Guess the birthday boy got a present after all. Beltran hit a two-out big fly to right that landed in the first row for his second homerun of the season and No. 11 for the Mets. That's all they got and trail by three with two more turns to make something happen. Nationals 7, Mets 4.
9:27 -- Perez's struggles followed him in the sixth. He allowed back-to-back singles by Pena and Boone before getting two consecutive outs. Once Lastings Milledge was announced as a pinch hitter, Willie Randolph summoned Aaron Heilman from the bullpen. He walked Milledge to load the bases for Lopez, who cranked a 3-and-2 pitch into the stands in right for a grand slam. It looked gone as soon as it left his bat. That's another big blow surrendered by Heilman, the fourth in only 13 innings pitched, and seven unanswered runs plated by the Nats. Guzman and Zimmerman followed with singles, but Kearns struck out to mercifully end the inning. Nationals 7, Mets 3.
9:06 -- Mike O'Connor in to pitch now for the Nationals. Casanova hit the ball hard again and barely missed a homer for the second straight AB. But what was he doing stopping at first base? No way he should have not been on second. He was watching his work and almost missed the bag. Reyes remains ice-cold and is out on a slow roller to second.
8:58 -- Perez is starting to get a bit wild and is typically losing his control all at once. The Nats loaded the bases behind two walks and a single. Lopez made Perez pay for his wildness and drove in two with a hard hit up the middle, doubling his RBI total in the process. Beltran made a nice play going back on a rocket off the bat of Guzman, but the Nats wound up tying it up on Zimmerman's ground out to second. Wright made a spectacular diving stab and threw out Kearns for the third out. Back to Perez: He's fallen behind 10 of the last 13 batters. These control spells can be maddening because Perez seems to hit the wall without warning sometimes. Mets 3, Nationals 3.
8:40 -- What's gotten into Castillo? He singled to begin the fifth and went to second on a wild pitch. Wright struck out and Castillo bolted to third when he was drilled on a failed pickoff attempt (Looks like he got hit in the left leg). Beltran struck out as he was fooled on a Greg Maddux-type pitch that started inside and broke over the plate. Church picked them both up and rapped the Mets' third two-out RBI hit of the night by lacing a pitch to right. How did the inning end? One guess who made the final out. If you answered Delgado, Carlos you go straight to the head of the class although it should not be that hard to figure out. He's killing the Mets' lineup. Mets 3, Nationals 0.
8:27 -- Ryan Zimmerman beat Reyes' throw deep in the hole at short for an infield single. Good replay by SNY in HD (loves me some HD) to show that Zimmerman was out, though. Kearns lined out to center and Pena struck out on a nasty 1-and-2 slider. Boone popped up to second and no harm done in the Nats' portion of the fourth.
8:13 -- Mets made Hill throw more than 30 pitches in the fourth. Church walked and Delgado (surprise!) struck out. Pagan was in the batter's box when Church swiped second for his first steal of the season, and walked to put runners on first and second for Lover Boy, er, Casanova. Casanova filed out to the warning track in center and Perez helped himself out with a two-out RBI single to center. Reyes flied to right for out No. 3. Mets 2, Nationals 0.
8:00 -- Walks to Wil Nieves and Felipe Lopez sandwiched around a Hill sacrifice bunt had Perez in trouble. But he got Guzman to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and the Mets got out of the inning.
7:51 -- Raul Casanova, in for Brian Schneider, pulled a pitch to right for a leadoff single and Perez sacrificed him to second. Reyes extended his hitless streak to 14 at-bats with a weak grounder to first and Castillo came through, lining a base hit to center to drive in Casanova from third. Castillo, creaky knees and all, stole his sixth base of the season with Wright up and Wright walked before Beltran was retired 4-3 to end the Mets' half of the third. Mets 1, Nationals 0.
7:37 -- Perez struck out Austin Kearns, who came in batting 7-for-21 with three homers against him, and Wily Mo Pena back-to-back. Aaron Boone made sure to end any thoughts about a no-hitter early with a sharp single up the middle. But Willie Harris flied out to right for the third out and we move to the third.
7:30 -- Carlos Beltran is celebrating his 31st birthday today, but Hill didn't give him any presents to start off and struck him out on three pitches to begin the second. Ryan Church smoked an 0-and-2 pitch that bounced midway off the wall in left centerfield and was a few feet away giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. With Church at second, Carlos Delgado's horrific hitting with runners in scoring position continued as he tapped the first pitch he saw to second. Angel Pagan grounded to short and the Mets waste Church's one-out double.
7:22 -- Nothing doing for the Nats and Perez sets them down 1-2-3.
7:17 -- Christian Guzman snared a liner to short by Jose Reyes to lead off the game and Luis Castillo, back in the No. 2 hole again, struck out looking. David Wright is now 0 for his last 12 after a 6-3 put out. Time for the Mets to take the field. Wonder if we'll see the good Oliver Perez or bad Oliver Perez tonight. Any guesses?
Evening ladies and gents. Roderick Boone back here again tonight to take you through the final game of the Mets' quick two-game set with the Nationals. Oliver Perez (2-0, 2.49 ERA) opposes Shawn Hill (0-0 7.20 ERA) on the mound as the Mets look to finish their seven-game road trip with a winning record.
Comments (8)
I'll take Good Ollie for $500, Alex.
You people need to start to listen.
No staff, Old men, No clutch hitters, HEILMAN, CASTILLO, DELGADO,etc.
FIRE OMAR TODAY !!!!
Heilman again Willie enjoy your last year as manager of any team. You are just a good bench. Lousy manager and should be fired by the end of May.....Along with Heilman
add delgado too!
OK so we haven't ven entered May yet and Willie has burned out the Bullpen. How much more work can these guys take? Between Willie and Peterson there is no idea of how to work a pitching staff. WHY would you put Santana on a 5 day rest cysle and make sure that he misses every big series? Tell me the guy shouldn't be out there every 5th day! Who's brilliant idea is this, almost like the Willie and Peterson 6 man rotation idea. The bottom line is the starters can never get any rythym pichin 1 x per week, it is too much rest and the reason the bullpen has to be overworked is because the starters are never fresh. The two are linked together, too much rest for the starters equals too little rest for the bullpen, this is assine and the Mets have no chance as long a witless Willie runs the show. It is time to cut him loose other wise we are simply looking at a .500 baseball team and it has nothing to do with talent it has to do with managerial ignorance. Tell me how is that you win 5 in row and 6 out 8 with a lineup that has Church hitting 2nd and then you move him out and put Castilloback in the slot and immediately lose 3 out of 4
Excellent questions. Throw in the fact only Santana can even make it to the 7th inning.
Do you think Heilman is tipping his pitches? It's one thing to give up bombs to Teixeira and Howard, two of the best sluggers in the game. But Felipe Lopez and Gregg Dobbs??? It looks like hitters are just laying off his fastball and sitting on his changeup. This kind of reminds me of what happened to Doug Sisk, when the league stopped swinging at his sinker which was out of the strikezone. Of course, the difference between Heilman and Sisk is that Sisk only gave up walks, not 450 foot homers. Lucky for Heilman he is one of Willie and Peterson's favorites or he'd have been gone by now.
naturally,beltran homers in a lost cause.when the game is on the line its usually the weak grounder to 2nd or strikeout.can't anybody here hit?