Mets Defeat the Phillies

The Mets just defeated the Phillies 8-2 at Shea Stadium. It was an ugly game. Only two of the Mets 8 runs were earned, and Kyle Kendrick walked 6 Mets in his 2 1/3 innings. On a brighter note, Mike Pelfrey made the start for the Mets and lasted 5 strong innings. Sosa (2 innings), Feliciano, and Muniz finished out the game.

With most of the runs resulting from walks and errors, the only real offensive highlight for the Mets was an RBI double by Angel Pagan.

The most exciting part of tonight's game was probably the names in two matchups in the 8th and 9th innings: Pedro Feliciano vs. Pedro Feliz, and Carlos Muniz vs. Carlos Ruiz.


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Today's Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day was Phillies SS Eric Bruntlett, who filled in for the injured Jimmy Rollins. Bruntlett had 2 of the Phillies 4 errors, and they were costly.

Terrible Day; Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day

Today is a rough day for me in sports. Earlier, I listened in my car as the Mets fell to the Braves. Currently, I'm watching the Tar Heels get destroyed by Kansas in the Final Four. But I realize I said the "Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day" would be a daily feature, so instead of writing an angry piece about the Mets bullpen or anything like that, I'll just name that player for today and wait 'til tomorrow for some better news, hopefully.

Today's Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day was Aaron Harang of the Reds. Harang picked up a no-decision in his start today, but lasted 7 strong innings against the Phillies, keeping his team in the game before a Corey Patterson homerun and Paul Bako RBI groundout gave the Reds a lead and eventually a win. So congratulations to Aaron Harang for becoming the least-deserving Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day so far this season.

Daily Updates, including today's "Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day"

The Mets had a travel day today, and I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. I also had no classes today, and so instead spent my day reading through as many Mets blogs as I could, over and over again -- half hoping that if I did it often enough the Mets would have a game or something for me to be excited about. Of course that didn't happen, so I instead listened to the broadcast of the Phillies-Nats game (which was miserable to listen to -- THROW A FRICKIN' STRIKE! I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A BATTING PRACTICE PITCH OVER THE CENTER OF THE PLATE). Yeah, I'm not pleased about how that one turned out. So with the Nationals' bullpen obviously eliminated from contention for Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day, I had to wait to turn my attention to the Braves-Pirates game. In the 10th inning, Xavier Nady singled in the go-ahead run for the Bucs. Matt Capps came in for the save, and despite a 2-out triple by the incredibly fortunate Mark Kotsay, the lead held up. That makes former Met Xavier Nady a 2-time winner of the Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day.

Also in Atlanta, Mike Hampton was scratched about 10 minutes before the scheduled start of the game due to discomfort he felt during his warmups. This would have been Hampton's first Major League start in almost 3 years. Remember when he left the Mets to sign that 8 year, $120 million+ contract with the Rockies (which has since been transferred to the Braves)? I considered him as the Non Mets Player Mets Player of the Day, since that Braves rotation with him back in it was supposed to be the factor that would allow them to reclaim the East from the Mets and Phils. Now, who knows what his situation is... However, I like Xavier Nady much more, and he actually won the game for the Pirates.

Yesterday's and Today's "Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day"

I didn't have a chance to post this last night, and frankly I tried to avoid writing after Pedro exited the game with his injury (he'll likely miss 4-6 weeks with a strained hamstring). The "Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day" for yesterday, April 1, was Claudio Vargas. Currently a free agent, I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see the Mets go after Vargas to fill Pedro's spot in the rotation while he is out.


For tonight, though the Mets, Marlins, and Braves are still playing, I can announce the winner of the "Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day" is Washington Nationals starting pitcher Tim Redding, who pitched 7 scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. This is the 3rd selection for a member of the Washington Nationals organization, with the entire teaming winning the honors for two days in a row to start the season.


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"The Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day" is a daily feature on this blog which recognizes the player outside of the Mets organization who makes the greatest contribution that day to the Mets defeating the Phillies and Braves in the NL East. Based on those qualifications, it is possible for Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins players to win this award, as neither are considered serious contenders in the division.

Xavier Nady, still helping the Mets cause

I was a big fan of Xavier Nady for his half-season on the Mets. It was only due to the misfortune of Duaner Sanchez's taxi accident that the Mets traded Nady to pick up some bullpen help in Roberto Hernandez (and picked up Oliver Perez in the deal, as well). My fan-ocity (term still not trademarked) of Nady is still growing, as he just hit a solo homer in the 8th inning to put the Pirates ahead of the Braves.


On the subject of Nady, his story of finding out he'd been traded still amuses me. He dropped back 30-something (I could look up the exact number but I don't feel particularly motivated right now) games in the standings by going from the Mets to the Pirates in that deal. Here's the story, as I remember it: Nady said he didn't even know his name had ever come up in trade talks, and was at the beach with his fiancee all day. When he got back to his hotel room, he picked up his phone and saw there were over a dozen missed calls from Omar Minaya. "I knew that wasn't a good sign," Nady said. He then called Minaya and thanked him for allowing him the opportunity of being the Mets' right fielder for those previous four months.

"I knew that wasn't a good sign." It reminds me now of Bob Uecker's Hall of Fame Induction speech, where he listed the signs he noticed that he was possibly being released from a team: (1) Walking into the clubhouse on day one and having a coach tell you that visitor's aren't allowed; (2) Having management tell you they want you to consider joining the team as the 2nd Base Coach if they ever need one; (3) Being told by a manager to "Go grab a bat and kill this rally" or to "Go up there without a bat and try to work a walk." Oh, Bob Uecker. We all love you. But Xavier Nady is pretty good, too.


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Edit by Joe Cook at 11:53 PM:

Nady hit another 3-run homer in the top of the 12th inning to put the Pirates up 12-9. The Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, but were finally retired. Xavier Nady, with his 4-7, 2 HR, 4 Run, 4 RBI game against the Braves today, shares the honors with the entire Washington Nationals team (who defeated the Phillies [bullpen] handily today) for my daily "Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day." This is the Nationals' second selection this year, and second in a row, as yesterday they won the honor for knocking off the Braves in extras on an extra-inning blast by Ryan Zimmerman (who was teammates in AAU Baseball with David Wright).