What a display of pitching from our young ace in the making--8 innings of no-run baseball that can be described in one word: Dominating.
He has now won his last 6 starts in a row.
Every pitch was working, he was hitting 95-97 on the radar gun, and no one looked comfortable against him in the box. The Mets didn't field a ball in the air until the last out of the 6th inning....Pelfrey was that good.
He has taken the city by storm, and the Shea faithful rewarded him with ovation after ovation and chants of "Pel-Frey" as he finished the 8th inning before walking off to applause not seen around here since Dwight Gooden made Flushing his own personal cheering section.
There was absolute electricity (and a TON of noise) in the air at Shea, and Big Pelf responded to the moment by finishing in style. His curtain called was very well deserved...there seems to be a real mutual admiration society building between Big Mike and the Mets fans.
"I saw Lastings Milledge get a curtain call. It's something I always wanted to do. It was awesome. They started chanting, [Ramon] Castro looked at me, said 'Get out there.' I wasn't going to say no."
"He's been dominant against any team we play," the aforementioned Castro said of Pelfrey, who is 6-0 with a 2.56 ERA in this personal six-game winning streak.
"The few guys that made it to first [base] said this guy's absolutely nasty," Carlos Delgado said with a smile.
Over his last 9 starts (since his last loss) his stats are incredible: 6-0, 59.2 innings, 53 hits, 41 Ks, 21 BBs, 15 Earned Runs, 2.26 ERA, 1.239 WHIP, and, most importantly, the Mets are 8-1 over that span.
And he is getting better--let's look at his last three starts:
3-0, 22 IP, 14 H, 1 ER, 16 K, 2 BB, 0.41 ERA and a Cy Young-like 0.727 WHIP.
"I don't think I knew what to do, otherwise I would've taken advantage of it," Pelfrey said about the fans demand for a curtain call. "That felt awesome when they started chanting. I just looked around and needed one guy to say boom and I'm gone."
The Mets are now 51-44 and a half game back of the Phils in the NL East. It is only a matter of time before they put the competition in the rearview mirror and become the chased vice the chaser.
Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado combined for 900 feet of homeruns and 5 RBIs. Beltran's blast came in the first inning and the Mets never looked back. Delgado's blast was an absolute moon shot that had Jon Miller of ESPN positively delirious.
Jose Reyes, you know, the guy who is not an All-Star, drove in a run for the 5th consecutive game.
How good is Reyes in 2008? Well, he is the first player EVER to have more than 20 doubles, 10 triples, 10 homeruns and 30 stolen bases before the break.
Joe Smith, the other 24 year old pitcher on the team, closed out the 9th in fine fashion to continue the bullpen's scoreless streak, now at 19 2/3 innings on this homestand.
On the year Smith has a minuscule 1.070 WHIP. Moreover, MLB is batting .206 against him with a .294 OBP, .324 slg %, and a .618 OPS.
So here we are, at the break, with the Mets playing like the best team in baseball. They are 17-9 under "interim" manager Jerry Manuel, and all the signs for a great second half are there.
The schedule is favorable, Ryan Church is due back on Saturday, the team is playing loose and confident, and we are seeing our young players step up in a big way, while our older players are having the years we thought they'd have. Guys who we thought would be role players are pulling their weight and then some. A special kudos to Carlos Delgado for turning his season around and becoming the boomer in the middle we need, and to Damion Easley for being a solid professional who gives 110% on every play while coming up with key hit after key hit. Senor Titties? We love ya!
I could go on and on...Heilman, Castro, Schoeney, P2, Happy Endy, Johan, Schneider, Maine, etc....they are all doing their job and much more.
Mets Magic!
Enjoy your coffee my friends...you've earned it.
| Scoreboard |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Colorado (39-57) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| N.Y. Mets (51-44) « | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 7 | 11 | 0 |
What a display of pitching from our young ace in the making--8 innings of no-run baseball that can be described in one word: Dominating.
2 comments:
What a good feeling to wake up (the game started at 2 AM my central european time, just watched the 1st inning on NASN) and find out the final score, the box score and this article. Way to go, METS
Great to see you Slovak!
Life is good my friend!
Post a Comment