There are wins, and there are WINS!
Last night was a WIN!
The Mets demonstrated a huge amount of intestinal fortitude and resiliency in coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Phillies 6-3.
It was a breathtaking, exciting win that left no doubt that these 2008 Mets will fight and claw and work with every ounce of strength until the end.
"This was a huge, huge win for us simply because of the way we lost last night," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "We could've afforded to (lose), but the way we lost last night, you never know where that's going to lead you."
The unabashed star of the game, Carlos Delgado, swatted two long flies and drove in 3 runs to continue his amazing production since June.
Delgado has 57 RBIs in his last 56 games and a .303 batting average and .991 OPS since the all-star break.
"He's been amazing," said Mets Manager JerryManuel. "When he hits we simply win because he just carries us."
How good has Delgado been? Since June 27 he leads the NL lead in home runs (19) and RBI (58).
Moreover, Delgado is talking and acting like a leader, heaping praise on his teammates, going out to the mound, playing a solid first base, and being the rock his club needs him to be.
"It shows that we have a lot of character and a lot of guys with short-term memories," said Delgado, who continued his remarkable hitting turnaround since late June. "We were able to put [Tuesday] night behind us and come back and play. That's important."
Delgado wasn't alone in shining for the first-place Mets. Rookie Daniel Murphy, who had been in an 0-16 mini-slump, had a clutch double in the 8th to score Beltran. His hit gave the Mets the lead for good. That he hit the double off of closer Brad Lidge was particularly sweet for the hard working Murphy.
It was one of those moments that get lost a bit in a 162 game schedule. After Carlos Beltran stole second, the Phils intentionally walked Ryan Church to get to "the Kid".
Manager Jerry Manuel could easily have pinch-hit for Murphy there--tie game, one of the best closers in baseball on the mound, and Murphy in a slump. But Jerry stuck with Murphy and the young hitter paid his manager back in spades.
“I feel very confident in him,” Manuel said later. “He’s a good young hitter. I never thought about pinch hitting for him or anything like that. He's a big part of what we're doing."
Murphy has been leaning on Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Damion Easley for advice--three pretty good role models. He spoke about Easley and some recent advice.
"'Murphy, come here,' " Murphy recalled Easley saying. "When you're scuffling, you just try to feel that swing, Easley told him. "Then what you do is you just try to unhook that train you've been dragging for along the whole time."
Consider the train unhooked.
Brian Schneider followed Murphy and promptly blooped a single to short leftfield to plate two more.
6-3 Mets and they never looked back.
The bullpen relieved starter Johan Santana and put zeros on the board--Brain Stokes, Pedro Feliciano, Joe Smith and Luis Ayala combined for 1-hit ball over 3 innings. Stoked got the win and Ayala got the save.
Santana didn't have great stuff, but he did hold the hot hitting Phils to 3 runs in 6 innings.
The Mets now get a day off before heading to Florida. Another day in which they hold onto to first place in what has become an incredibly exciting season in Met Nation.
This is why they play the games--this is why we're Mets fans--this is what baseball is all about!
Enjoy your coffee!
| New York Mets |
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jose Reyes, SS | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .306 |
| Luis Castillo, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .257 |
| David Wright, 3B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .291 |
| Carlos Delgado, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .263 |
| Carlos Beltran, CF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .273 |
| Ryan Church, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .307 |
| Daniel Murphy, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .328 |
| Endy Chavez, LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .270 |
| Brian Schneider, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .254 |
| Johan Santana, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .131 |
| a- Nick Evans, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .261 |
| Brian Stokes, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 |
| b- Damion Easley, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .270 |
| Pedro Feliciano, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Joe Smith, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Luis Ayala, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 37 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
|
|
| Batting |
| Fielding |
No comments:
Post a Comment