MLB: Pelfrey short of inspiration as Mets go down
NEW YORK: Mike Pelfrey stood at his locker while being interviewed, offering responses in hushed tones.
Mike Pelfrey
On this day, Pelfrey was the subject of the Mets’ 8-5 loss to Philadelphia. He displayed dominance, such as the eight in a row retired batters between the third and fifth innings, with two hits allowed to Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (5-4) and a one out, three-run homer to Michael Martinez in the fifth. Martinez’s first in the major leagues.
“I don’t know”, Pelfrey said when asked, “I wasn’t sharp again. I made a mistake and he hit it. Have to go out there and execute pitches which I didn’t do very well.”
Mike Pelfrey. Courtesy: AP PHOTO
Pelfrey threw a 93 MPH sinker that Jimmy Rollins watched fly into Ronny Paulino’s glove on the game’s first pitch, the Mets had lost two-of-three in the series to fall to 47-47 on the season.
The Mets didn’t have David Wright, Carlos Beltran or Jose Reyes in the lineup. Wright is in rehab from a lower back stress fracture last night in Single-A St. Lucie. Beltran missed the last two games of the series. He arrived at the park, according to Terry Collins, and received an IV. But the manager “was not sure he’ll be in there”.
Reyes, who has not played since July 2, ran the bases before the game and reported that he was fine. He will play for Single-A Brooklyn tonight and, depending on how he feels, could return to the Mets’ lineup Tuesday for the start of their three-game series against the Cardinals.
Mike Pelfrey. Courtesy: Reuters
The Mets have won 42 of its last 75 games and are still .500. They are good enough to compete on a game-to-game basis. Twenty-two of the sport’s 30 teams won’t compete in October.
To judge this campaign negatively because the Mets won’t be a playoff team is short-sighted. What the 2011 season has been is a chance to determine the on-field personnel to rebuild the franchise around while establishing standards of play for future editions.
Presumably, those standards don’t include being pulled after allowing four runs on six hits in five innings as happened to Pelfrey, or a slugging outfielder going 0-for-4 and leaving five runners on base as Jason Bay did.
Over the course of the first four months, Alderson and Collins have learned that they might have useful competitors in Justin Turner and Daniel Murphy. Now they have to decide if there is a closer.
Collins announced after Tuesday night’s trade of Francisco Rodriguez that he would try out with Pedro Beato, Bobby Parnell and Jason Isringhausen. Beato walked three and yielded three unearned runs in the eighth. Isringhausen struck out two in the ninth but gave up a hit and a walk.
“I’m going to cut a little slack. It’s been seven days since Beato has been out there, it’s been seven days since Izzy has been out there. I’m going to go on the fact that they haven’t pitched much,” Collins said. “But as I said (Saturday) I don’t care who you are. When you take the field, people are watching. You have to go out and get the job done. There are times when you have to shut the door to give yourself a chance to win. That was one of those opportunities and we didn’t shut the door. I’m a little disappointed.”
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