In the immortal words of the Four Seasons, "Oh What a Night!"
Where to start? How about with Mr. Oliver Perez.
All Ollie did was step up and pitch 7 innings of 2-hit ball. He added 8 strikeouts for good measure and lowered his season ERA to 3.90.
Simply put, Ollie Perez is a big game pitcher.
How big? He's started 4 games against the Phils and only given up one earned run in 26 innings. Against the Marlins he is 3-0 and has only allowed one earned run.
That's not just "big", it's downright amazing. Amazing Ollie....I like it.
"(Perez) was as good as I've ever seen him," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Velocity. Life on the fastball. He was good."
Tonight he dug deep and went deep--he came into the 7th already having thrown 106 pitches, but he managed to get through the inning and end his night at 120 pitches. The Shea faithful were extremely appreciative of his effort and gave him a standing ovation--something Ollie is getting used to these days.
Ollie had a bit of help to from the surging David Wright, the young Mr. Daniel Murphy, and the second half slugger supreme Carlos Delgado.
DW came to bat in the first with rookie sensation Daniel Murphy on first--something we're getting used to seeing--and sent a Ricky Nolasco fastball up and over the picnic area...a monster shot that set the tone for the game.
David Wright is one of those special players that can absolutely carry a team on his back...he looks fresh, he is swinging well and in balance, and it sure looks like he's woken up from his mini-funk.
How about this Daniel Murphy? All he did was go 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored...he is hitting .500 thus far and has been a terrific shot in the arm for the Mets.
Carlos Delgado closed out the scoring in the 4th with a flick of the wrist homerun to centerfield. Carlos leads the team with 24 dingers and appeared fresh after his day off yesterday.
The biggest "assist" of the night came from Aaron Heilman.
All Mets fans have been holding their collective breaths of late whenever anyone from the bullpen is called into the game, but especially so with Heilman. After a stunningly effective June, Aaron was up and down in July, and his August has been absolutely dreadful.
Tonight he was terrific. He had a lively fastball, seemed to stand a bit taller on his slider, which increased both movement and velocity, and he looked downright confident. I was rooting like hell for him to pitch well, and he certainly didn't disappoint, fanning three and holding the Fish hitless over two well pitched frames.
Heilman is a key over these next few weeks, when the Mets play every day until August 27th....a streak of 23 games in 23 days. If he can close, and admittedly it's a big if, the Mets stand a good chance of regaining the lead in the NL East.
His manager agrees. “Aaron’s the guy who has everything it takes to get us through this period,” Jerry Manuel said.
For right now the Mets are back in second place, and only one game behind the Phillies thanks to the Pirates. Keep chipping away, keep winning, take care of business and win ballgames.
Sounds simple doesn't it? Enjoy your coffee!
| Scoreboard |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Florida (61-55) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| N.Y. Mets (61-54) « | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| New York Mets |
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jose Reyes, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .303 |
| Daniel Murphy, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
| Aaron Heilman, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| David Wright, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .288 |
| Carlos Delgado, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .264 |
| Carlos Beltran, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .269 |
| Fernando Tatis, RF-LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .303 |
| Damion Easley, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .269 |
| Brian Schneider, C | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .257 |
| Oliver Perez, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .139 |
| a- Argenis Reyes, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 |
| Endy Chavez, RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .269 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
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| Batting |
2 comments:
Boy, hasn't Perez looked good? It seems like he is starting to realize he's got great stuff and is just throwing strikes instead of painting corners and giving up walks. The one tough inning he had was when he gave up two walks.
I've always though Heilman was the man for the job. Great velocity, filthy changeup and can get both left and right handed hitters.
Church will be a great addition. What's the time table for him in the minor leagues?
Thanks again for the fantastic post!
Hey Dylan!
Yeah, no doubt about Ollie's big game performances....just amazing.
I am hearing next weekend for Church, pending how he feels after 5 games in St Lucie.
I think he comes back Friday.
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