Pedro the Great made a magnificent return to the mound last night, throwing 6 innings to beat the San Francisco Giants on a blustery night.
He pitched well; he hit better; his energy and enthusiasm were on display for everyone, and his teammates responded.
What is it about Pedro that brings out the best in the Mets?
His teammates love him:
"Coming into this season, we were going to lean on Pedro," David Wright said yesterday afternoon, "so tonight, we get an opportunity to do that. It was good to see him work his butt off to get back here and I'm excited about it because Pedro is an integral part of our team. We need him because we need to solidify that No. 2 spot in the rotation."
"It was a big shock to all of us when he got hurt," Ryan Church said. "Now it's a big shot in the arm for us that he's back. Everything he does, he just makes it fun and keeps everybody loose."
"Just the day itself is big and it's something that we've been waiting for," Moises Alou said of Martinez's return. "We hope he throws a no-hitter. But just the fact that he's going out to pitch is huge. To get him back and to have Pedro pitch every five days is really a big positive for our team. We as players get as excited as the fans. It's a great feeling to have your horses rejoin the team. We're going to need every single one of our guys to fulfill out goal."
In a piece by Steve Popper, he tells how before the game Pedro was fully-dressed while teammates bustled about, already in uniform, Martinez watched quietly as the Yankees game played on the clubhouse televisions. Without a word he watched Joba Chamberlain struggle through an arduous first inning.
Finally, he called out to a few reporters and said, “When you want to ask me about velocity, look at him. He’s got all the velocity he needs.” What was left unsaid was that velocity wasn’t helping Chamberlain on this night as his location failed him and his pitch count rose.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N.Y. Mets « | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 2 |
| San Francisco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 3 |
|
Pedro had really good stuff last night, touching 93 on the radar gun with decent control and plenty of movement on his pitches. He threw 109 pitches in all, and gave up 7 hits and 3 walks (one intentional), while striking out 3.
"I felt real good, just like I expected to feel," Martinez said. "I got my feet wet a little bit today."
He also added, "It's not over until the season's over, but I would say I feel really good, really confident now," Martinez said. "(The weather) was really uncomfortable, especially for my changeup, my feel pitches. I threw more fastballs than normal and I got away with it."Pedro helped his own cause at the plate, going 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored."I told the guys I was going to get a hit, and I've always got to give them the 'double guns' and a little shake when I do that," he said, smiling.
The Mets hit well last night and erupted for an 8 run inning that sealed the deal early. Damian Easley was the hitting star, going 3 for 4 with a walk and 3 RBIs.
All told the Mets got 10 hits and 5 walks with a balanced attack. In fact, they managed those 9 RBIs with Easley as the only batter to have more than one hit.
Read more about Pedro in the NY Daily News here.
Here's a piece about Pedro's quality start.
In other Mets news....
There's some speculation going on that Castro and Schneider are now part of a platoon. I'm not buying it. What I am buying is the fact that Castro is a backup who is going to get 40 starts a year. He was hurt for a while and has a hot bat against lefty's, so he has some catching up to do (love the pun!).
More on the alleged platoon by Adam Rubin.
Here's a piece on the struggles of Ollie Perez and his arm slot.
OK Mets fans, enjoy your coffee and remember to Vote for Pedro!
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