Read from the bottom up...
4:15 PM, 7-4 Mets Final score
Ok, so what do I put in the books? My happy recap would include...
* The Mets are now 26-35 against the Yankees, 1-0 this season.
* It's the first time that the Mets ever got HR from David Wright and Jose Reyes in the same inning.
* The superstars were pretty good: Wright, Carlos Beltran and Derek Jeter each had 3 hits.
* Wright is now 24-for-70 against the Yankees. His .343 batting average ranks 6th-best among active players, minimum 75 plate appearances. Marlon Anderson, with his 0-for-1, still leads with a .382 batting average against the Yankees.
* Johan Santana: Now 4-0 career against the Yankees in the regular season. The only active pitcher to match that is Dan Haren, also 4-0.
* The Mets are now 7-2 in Johan Santana's starts this season.
4:11 PM- 7-4 Mets, bottom 9th ongoing
Billy Wagner in 1st 8 saves: 2 hits allowed
Saturday so far: 2 hits allowed
In fact, Wagner had not allowed a hit in 16 road at-bats this season, entering the 9th inning.
4:09 PM, 7-4 Mets, bottom 9th ongoing
The only current Yankee to homer against Wagner is Bobby Abreu.
4:05 PM, 7-4 Mets, headed to bottom 9th
The Mets are 14-3 all-time when scoring 7+ runs against the Yankees.
4:01 PM, 7-4 Mets, 9th inning ongoing
Quick re-calculation: Derek Jeter cannot bat in the 9th inning unless the Mets lead, 7-6, the bases are loaded, and 2 are out.
(fingers crossed).
A chance to give a plug to the great website of Bill James: http://www.billjamesonline.com/
Carlos Delgado has driven in Carlos Beltran 7 times this season. He's driven in Ryan Church 5 times, himself 5 times, and David Wright once.
3:52 PM, 6-4 Mets, 9th inning ongoing
Quick calculation: Derek Jeter cannot bat in the 9th inning unless the score is tied, the bases are loaded, and 2 are out.
(fingers crossed).
3:50 PM, 6-4 Mets, end of 8
Let's answer the trivia question:
My trivia question: Name the 2 players who have the longest Mets hitting streak, against the Yankees. Derek Jeter's streak is 16. Theirs was 8.
The answer is: Mike Piazza (twice) and the other Matsui, Kazuo.
3:49 PM, 6-4 Mets, end of 8
One thing never to question Willie Randolph on: Where to position his 2nd basemen.
3:44 PM, 6-4 Mets, bottom 8th ongoing
4-out save try. I approve.
Billy Wagner's gotten big outs in Yankee Stadium before. Remember he closed a 6-pitcher no-hitter here for the Astros.
3:43 PM, 6-4 Mets, bottom 8th ongoing
Johan Santana has only won 1 game in his career in which he's allowed 3 home runs (August 24, 2007 against the Orioles.
(ugh!)
3:40 PM, 6-3 Mets, bottom 8th ongoing
Speculation about the Braves series: Tom Glavine more likely to pitch at night...3.75 ERA career in day games, including 7.62 last season. His career night ERA is 3.41.
Hey Ron....you were saying...guess who got Nate McLouth in his fantasy draft?
3:35 PM, 6-3 Mets, end of 7 1/2 innings
That last play didn't make sense to me (2 on 1 out, hit and run with 2 strikes)
Especially with Wright 3-4, sitting on deck.
Santana, as they just noted on the broadcast, now ranks 9th in homers allowed since 2004, with the 2 today included.
3:30 PM, 6-3 Mets, top of 8th ongoing
Gary Cohen: "As they learned with Watergate: The cover-up is worse than the scandal."
Nice...
From http://www.garykeithandron.com/ (buy your t-shirts for charity): Gary's heroes growing up: Marv Albert and George McGovern.
3:27 PM, 6-3 Mets, end of 7
Gary...Johan Santana entered the day ranked 8th in MLB in most HR allowed since 2005, and tied for 12th since 2004.
He asked...I answered...and if I had Ron Darling's e-mail, I would have let him know :) (so I wasn't the frustrated fan telling him to shut up).
3:25 PM, 6-3 Mets, bottom 7 ongoing
0-2 pitch HR is a fine in Kangaroo Courts across baseball.
That's the first such fine in Kangaroo Court for Santana since September 27, 2005 (Matt Diaz, Royals).
3:21 PM, 6-2 Mets, bottom 7 ongoing
That's the first time that Reyes and Wright have homered in the same inning.
Agree with Keith Hernandez on both counts: Dallas Green was the toughie on the AFLAC trivia (Stengel, Torre, and Berra). And let Johan go 9.
And then of course, a Yankee homers.
3:10 PM, 6-2 Mets, end of 6 1/2
49 pitches for Santana in the first 3 innings
22 pitches for Santana in the last 3 innings
The Mets are 63-32 in games in which Wright homers. Not quite Reyes territory.
3:05 PM, 4-2 Mets, 7th inning ongoing
Jose Reyes homered at Yankee Stadium last year too...against Roger Clemens.
More fodder for: As Jose goes, the Mets go:
The Mets are 32-10 all-time in games in which Jose Reyes hits a home run.
3:02 PM, 3-2 Mets, 7th inning ongoing
The Mets are 19-1 when leading entering the 7th inning. The Yankees are 1-20 when trailing entering the 7th inning.
Could we just end the game now, then?
3:01 PM, 3-2 Mets, 7th inning ongoing
We'll pause 10 seconds to allow all blogs to identify themselves. This is http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com
3:00 PM, 3-2 Mets, end of 6
My trivia question: Name the 2 players who have the longest Mets hitting streak, against the Yankees. Derek Jeter's streak is 16. Theirs was 8.
2:55 PM, 3-2, bottom 6th ongoing
Name the 4 managers to manage the Mets and Yankees
I'll rate this question a B-minus. I got 3 names in 15 seconds. The 4th name took another 15, and is significantly harder than Gary Cohen is making it out to be, I think.
Better than "Who was the last out of the 1969 World Series," which got asked the other day.
2:50 PM- 3-2 Mets, end of 5 1/2
With this being a 1-run game.
The Mets have 10 wins in Yankee Stadium in Subway Series play. None of them have been by 1 run.
"Do you think the novelty of interleague play has worn off?"
My answer: No. I like interleague play. I like natural rivalries a lot. I'd like it more if they balanced things out, as I griped the other day, in regards to not playing the Rays since 2001.
2:45 PM- 3-2 Mets, end of 5
For lack of having something better to post: Johan Santana has only allowed 1 fifth-inning run all season.
2:40 PM, 3-2 Mets, end 4 1/2
Mets let Andy Pettitte off the hook. He entered the day having allowed 9 runs in the fifth inning of his 8 starts.
Get the feeling that Delgado could have been given 50 strikes there and not made contact. He's now 6-for-41 with runners in scoring position this season. Maybe he should be dropped to the 8 spot.
2:30 PM, 3-2 Mets, end 4
Johan Santana = Best fielding pitcher the Mets have ever had...
(I've said that before)
2:25 PM, 3-2 Mets, end 3 1/2
(some rally...)
* Carlos Beltran a lot better with runners in scoring position lately...He's 1-for-2 today
He's 6-for-his-last-11 (.545 BA) with a sacrifice fly with runners in scoring position after starting the season 7-for-38 (.184)
* Carlos Delgado: 1-for-last-12 with the bases loaded, dating back to last season, now 0-5 in 2008 after that out.
* Mike Reilly, for what it's worth, is considered to be a good umpire, though Damion Easley may not think so. He's worked 4 World Series', 3 All-Star Games, 8 LCS's, and 6 LDS's.
* Brian Schneider has a good eye. He drew 4 bases-loaded walks last season and 3 in 2006. Of his last 8 bases-loaded walks, 5 came on a 3-2 pitch.
In fact, when Schneider gets a 3-2 count, he has 62 strikeouts and 92 walks for his career. He entered the day with a .442 on-base percentage, but a .164 batting average on 3-2 counts.
* Luis Castillo: 5th time this year he reached on an infield hit to the "3rd-base area."
1:59 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 3
Phew...
(by the way: Yankees 0-2 against Santana with runners in scoring position, 2-2 otherwise)
Ryan Church, by the way, career fielding percentage in right field: 1.000 in 78 games and 3 innings.
1:51 PM, 2-0 Yankees end of 2 1/2
Quick inning...Grr...
Andy Pettitte has allowed 4 earned runs in his last 30 innings as a Yankee, against the Mets.
Reason for optimism:
Andy Pettitte in 2008
1st 3 innings- 8 total runs allowed
innings 4-6- 18 runs allowed
1:44 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 2
If Johan Santana could be as dominant in every situation as he's been with runners in scoring position, his numbers would probably be closer to expectations.
Johan Santana
With Runners in Scoring Position, 2008
(includes 1st 2 innings)
BA .195
H-AB 8-41
K 14
HR 1
Johan Santana
Otherwise (in notable categories)
BA .230
HR 8
1:35 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 1 1/2
This is depressing...
More on the hitting streaks, since there's not much else to say.
5 players have had a 20-game hit streak against the Mets:
Matty Alou 22
Steve Finley 21
Gary Templeton 21
Jack Clark 20
Joe Torre 20
Alou also had a 14-gamer AND a 13-gamer. Torre also had a 13-gamer.
1:25 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 1
Derek Jeter homered. Not good. They mentioned the .381 batting average and the now-16-game hit streak. With the hit, he maintains his status as the all-time batting average leader against the Mets.
Highest BA vs Mets
Minimum 200 plate appearances
Derek Jeter .383 (would have been .379 with an out)
Rico Carty .380
Tony Gwynn .356
Gene Richards .355
Todd Helton .355
Last year, Johan Santana allowed 10 home runs in the first inning. The Jeter one was his 2nd of 2008, and his 9th overall.
Jeter's 16-game hit streak against the Mets...not THAT big a deal...
The record for the longest against the Mets is 22 games, held by Matty Alou, 1971-1973. Alou, as it turns out, was a .333 career hitter against the Mets. Matt Holliday has the longest current streak, 19 games, and will have a chance to tie Alou this coming week when the Mets go to Colorado.
1:10PM End of 1/2 inning, 0-0
Wright singled. Reverse jinx successful. The stolen base was only his 2nd of the season that came in the first inning. Last year he had 11.
Since we're in reverse jinx mode: Did you know?: Andy Pettitte is the only pitcher to throw a shutout for the Yankees against the Mets. I was there: June 30, 2002, an 8-0 Yankees win.
That's the 2nd time that Andy Pettitte has struck out the side in an inning against the Mets. The first time: Zeile, Agbayani, Ventura, in the 2nd inning of an 8-3 Yankees win on July 6, 2001.
Coming up: Why Derek Jeter's first at-bat is of great historical significance.
1:05 PM- Top 1st
One thing to look at regarding the top of the first inning.
We picked on Jose Reyes for his lack of first-inning production, but David Wright hasn't been good either:
BA: .188
HR 2
Last year in the first inning
BA: .408 (.479 on-base percentage)
HR 7
1:00 PM
OK, so I'm taking another shot at my "Brain-Function demo" (liveblogging without breaking any MLB rules), albeit on Saturday afternoon, when I get no hits, but that's okay, because it's an experiment for me more than anything.
Let's start with this. There are a lot of fans who want to tell Willie Randolph to take a walk right now. He's got a lot of experience with that.
Willie Randolph drew 1,243 regular-season walks, 45th-most in major-league history. In fact, he's one of 5 players to draw more than 1,000 walks for the Yankees (1,005), along with Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and Bernie Williams.
Randolph had one of the best batting eyes in baseball history. Take a look at this list...
Fewest Strikeouts
1,200 Walks or More
Tris Speaker 220
Eddie Collins 286
Ty Cobb 357
Luke Appling 528
Willie Randolph 675
Stan Musial 696
Ted Williams 709
I guess what the fans are actually doing is telling Willie to walk-off, not take a walk. He's done that too. August 16, 1985, Willie drew his only walk-off walk, against Bob Stanley and the Red Sox.
4:15 PM, 7-4 Mets Final score
Ok, so what do I put in the books? My happy recap would include...
* The Mets are now 26-35 against the Yankees, 1-0 this season.
* It's the first time that the Mets ever got HR from David Wright and Jose Reyes in the same inning.
* The superstars were pretty good: Wright, Carlos Beltran and Derek Jeter each had 3 hits.
* Wright is now 24-for-70 against the Yankees. His .343 batting average ranks 6th-best among active players, minimum 75 plate appearances. Marlon Anderson, with his 0-for-1, still leads with a .382 batting average against the Yankees.
* Johan Santana: Now 4-0 career against the Yankees in the regular season. The only active pitcher to match that is Dan Haren, also 4-0.
* The Mets are now 7-2 in Johan Santana's starts this season.
4:11 PM- 7-4 Mets, bottom 9th ongoing
Billy Wagner in 1st 8 saves: 2 hits allowed
Saturday so far: 2 hits allowed
In fact, Wagner had not allowed a hit in 16 road at-bats this season, entering the 9th inning.
4:09 PM, 7-4 Mets, bottom 9th ongoing
The only current Yankee to homer against Wagner is Bobby Abreu.
4:05 PM, 7-4 Mets, headed to bottom 9th
The Mets are 14-3 all-time when scoring 7+ runs against the Yankees.
4:01 PM, 7-4 Mets, 9th inning ongoing
Quick re-calculation: Derek Jeter cannot bat in the 9th inning unless the Mets lead, 7-6, the bases are loaded, and 2 are out.
(fingers crossed).
A chance to give a plug to the great website of Bill James: http://www.billjamesonline.com/
Carlos Delgado has driven in Carlos Beltran 7 times this season. He's driven in Ryan Church 5 times, himself 5 times, and David Wright once.
3:52 PM, 6-4 Mets, 9th inning ongoing
Quick calculation: Derek Jeter cannot bat in the 9th inning unless the score is tied, the bases are loaded, and 2 are out.
(fingers crossed).
3:50 PM, 6-4 Mets, end of 8
Let's answer the trivia question:
My trivia question: Name the 2 players who have the longest Mets hitting streak, against the Yankees. Derek Jeter's streak is 16. Theirs was 8.
The answer is: Mike Piazza (twice) and the other Matsui, Kazuo.
3:49 PM, 6-4 Mets, end of 8
One thing never to question Willie Randolph on: Where to position his 2nd basemen.
3:44 PM, 6-4 Mets, bottom 8th ongoing
4-out save try. I approve.
Billy Wagner's gotten big outs in Yankee Stadium before. Remember he closed a 6-pitcher no-hitter here for the Astros.
3:43 PM, 6-4 Mets, bottom 8th ongoing
Johan Santana has only won 1 game in his career in which he's allowed 3 home runs (August 24, 2007 against the Orioles.
(ugh!)
3:40 PM, 6-3 Mets, bottom 8th ongoing
Speculation about the Braves series: Tom Glavine more likely to pitch at night...3.75 ERA career in day games, including 7.62 last season. His career night ERA is 3.41.
Hey Ron....you were saying...guess who got Nate McLouth in his fantasy draft?
3:35 PM, 6-3 Mets, end of 7 1/2 innings
That last play didn't make sense to me (2 on 1 out, hit and run with 2 strikes)
Especially with Wright 3-4, sitting on deck.
Santana, as they just noted on the broadcast, now ranks 9th in homers allowed since 2004, with the 2 today included.
3:30 PM, 6-3 Mets, top of 8th ongoing
Gary Cohen: "As they learned with Watergate: The cover-up is worse than the scandal."
Nice...
From http://www.garykeithandron.com/ (buy your t-shirts for charity): Gary's heroes growing up: Marv Albert and George McGovern.
3:27 PM, 6-3 Mets, end of 7
Gary...Johan Santana entered the day ranked 8th in MLB in most HR allowed since 2005, and tied for 12th since 2004.
He asked...I answered...and if I had Ron Darling's e-mail, I would have let him know :) (so I wasn't the frustrated fan telling him to shut up).
3:25 PM, 6-3 Mets, bottom 7 ongoing
0-2 pitch HR is a fine in Kangaroo Courts across baseball.
That's the first such fine in Kangaroo Court for Santana since September 27, 2005 (Matt Diaz, Royals).
3:21 PM, 6-2 Mets, bottom 7 ongoing
That's the first time that Reyes and Wright have homered in the same inning.
Agree with Keith Hernandez on both counts: Dallas Green was the toughie on the AFLAC trivia (Stengel, Torre, and Berra). And let Johan go 9.
And then of course, a Yankee homers.
3:10 PM, 6-2 Mets, end of 6 1/2
49 pitches for Santana in the first 3 innings
22 pitches for Santana in the last 3 innings
The Mets are 63-32 in games in which Wright homers. Not quite Reyes territory.
3:05 PM, 4-2 Mets, 7th inning ongoing
Jose Reyes homered at Yankee Stadium last year too...against Roger Clemens.
More fodder for: As Jose goes, the Mets go:
The Mets are 32-10 all-time in games in which Jose Reyes hits a home run.
3:02 PM, 3-2 Mets, 7th inning ongoing
The Mets are 19-1 when leading entering the 7th inning. The Yankees are 1-20 when trailing entering the 7th inning.
Could we just end the game now, then?
3:01 PM, 3-2 Mets, 7th inning ongoing
We'll pause 10 seconds to allow all blogs to identify themselves. This is http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com
3:00 PM, 3-2 Mets, end of 6
My trivia question: Name the 2 players who have the longest Mets hitting streak, against the Yankees. Derek Jeter's streak is 16. Theirs was 8.
2:55 PM, 3-2, bottom 6th ongoing
Name the 4 managers to manage the Mets and Yankees
I'll rate this question a B-minus. I got 3 names in 15 seconds. The 4th name took another 15, and is significantly harder than Gary Cohen is making it out to be, I think.
Better than "Who was the last out of the 1969 World Series," which got asked the other day.
2:50 PM- 3-2 Mets, end of 5 1/2
With this being a 1-run game.
The Mets have 10 wins in Yankee Stadium in Subway Series play. None of them have been by 1 run.
"Do you think the novelty of interleague play has worn off?"
My answer: No. I like interleague play. I like natural rivalries a lot. I'd like it more if they balanced things out, as I griped the other day, in regards to not playing the Rays since 2001.
2:45 PM- 3-2 Mets, end of 5
For lack of having something better to post: Johan Santana has only allowed 1 fifth-inning run all season.
2:40 PM, 3-2 Mets, end 4 1/2
Mets let Andy Pettitte off the hook. He entered the day having allowed 9 runs in the fifth inning of his 8 starts.
Get the feeling that Delgado could have been given 50 strikes there and not made contact. He's now 6-for-41 with runners in scoring position this season. Maybe he should be dropped to the 8 spot.
2:30 PM, 3-2 Mets, end 4
Johan Santana = Best fielding pitcher the Mets have ever had...
(I've said that before)
2:25 PM, 3-2 Mets, end 3 1/2
(some rally...)
* Carlos Beltran a lot better with runners in scoring position lately...He's 1-for-2 today
He's 6-for-his-last-11 (.545 BA) with a sacrifice fly with runners in scoring position after starting the season 7-for-38 (.184)
* Carlos Delgado: 1-for-last-12 with the bases loaded, dating back to last season, now 0-5 in 2008 after that out.
* Mike Reilly, for what it's worth, is considered to be a good umpire, though Damion Easley may not think so. He's worked 4 World Series', 3 All-Star Games, 8 LCS's, and 6 LDS's.
* Brian Schneider has a good eye. He drew 4 bases-loaded walks last season and 3 in 2006. Of his last 8 bases-loaded walks, 5 came on a 3-2 pitch.
In fact, when Schneider gets a 3-2 count, he has 62 strikeouts and 92 walks for his career. He entered the day with a .442 on-base percentage, but a .164 batting average on 3-2 counts.
* Luis Castillo: 5th time this year he reached on an infield hit to the "3rd-base area."
1:59 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 3
Phew...
(by the way: Yankees 0-2 against Santana with runners in scoring position, 2-2 otherwise)
Ryan Church, by the way, career fielding percentage in right field: 1.000 in 78 games and 3 innings.
1:51 PM, 2-0 Yankees end of 2 1/2
Quick inning...Grr...
Andy Pettitte has allowed 4 earned runs in his last 30 innings as a Yankee, against the Mets.
Reason for optimism:
Andy Pettitte in 2008
1st 3 innings- 8 total runs allowed
innings 4-6- 18 runs allowed
1:44 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 2
If Johan Santana could be as dominant in every situation as he's been with runners in scoring position, his numbers would probably be closer to expectations.
Johan Santana
With Runners in Scoring Position, 2008
(includes 1st 2 innings)
BA .195
H-AB 8-41
K 14
HR 1
Johan Santana
Otherwise (in notable categories)
BA .230
HR 8
1:35 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 1 1/2
This is depressing...
More on the hitting streaks, since there's not much else to say.
5 players have had a 20-game hit streak against the Mets:
Matty Alou 22
Steve Finley 21
Gary Templeton 21
Jack Clark 20
Joe Torre 20
Alou also had a 14-gamer AND a 13-gamer. Torre also had a 13-gamer.
1:25 PM, 2-0 Yankees, end of 1
Derek Jeter homered. Not good. They mentioned the .381 batting average and the now-16-game hit streak. With the hit, he maintains his status as the all-time batting average leader against the Mets.
Highest BA vs Mets
Minimum 200 plate appearances
Derek Jeter .383 (would have been .379 with an out)
Rico Carty .380
Tony Gwynn .356
Gene Richards .355
Todd Helton .355
Last year, Johan Santana allowed 10 home runs in the first inning. The Jeter one was his 2nd of 2008, and his 9th overall.
Jeter's 16-game hit streak against the Mets...not THAT big a deal...
The record for the longest against the Mets is 22 games, held by Matty Alou, 1971-1973. Alou, as it turns out, was a .333 career hitter against the Mets. Matt Holliday has the longest current streak, 19 games, and will have a chance to tie Alou this coming week when the Mets go to Colorado.
1:10PM End of 1/2 inning, 0-0
Wright singled. Reverse jinx successful. The stolen base was only his 2nd of the season that came in the first inning. Last year he had 11.
Since we're in reverse jinx mode: Did you know?: Andy Pettitte is the only pitcher to throw a shutout for the Yankees against the Mets. I was there: June 30, 2002, an 8-0 Yankees win.
That's the 2nd time that Andy Pettitte has struck out the side in an inning against the Mets. The first time: Zeile, Agbayani, Ventura, in the 2nd inning of an 8-3 Yankees win on July 6, 2001.
Coming up: Why Derek Jeter's first at-bat is of great historical significance.
1:05 PM- Top 1st
One thing to look at regarding the top of the first inning.
We picked on Jose Reyes for his lack of first-inning production, but David Wright hasn't been good either:
BA: .188
HR 2
Last year in the first inning
BA: .408 (.479 on-base percentage)
HR 7
1:00 PM
OK, so I'm taking another shot at my "Brain-Function demo" (liveblogging without breaking any MLB rules), albeit on Saturday afternoon, when I get no hits, but that's okay, because it's an experiment for me more than anything.
Let's start with this. There are a lot of fans who want to tell Willie Randolph to take a walk right now. He's got a lot of experience with that.
Willie Randolph drew 1,243 regular-season walks, 45th-most in major-league history. In fact, he's one of 5 players to draw more than 1,000 walks for the Yankees (1,005), along with Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and Bernie Williams.
Randolph had one of the best batting eyes in baseball history. Take a look at this list...
Fewest Strikeouts
1,200 Walks or More
Tris Speaker 220
Eddie Collins 286
Ty Cobb 357
Luke Appling 528
Willie Randolph 675
Stan Musial 696
Ted Williams 709
I guess what the fans are actually doing is telling Willie to walk-off, not take a walk. He's done that too. August 16, 1985, Willie drew his only walk-off walk, against Bob Stanley and the Red Sox.
Comments