Mets 5, Cardinals 2: Three Up, Three Down
Turns out the Mets can score more than four runs in a game.
Three Up:
1. LHP Jon Niese: Niese spent the past week practicing his mechanics in front of a mirror, and it appears to have paid off. Neither of the two runs that Niese allowed was entirely his fault.
2. 2B Daniel Murphy: How’s this for streaky: since snapping his 0-for-17 skid last Sunday, Niese has gone 11-for-17 with four doubles, three RBI and four runs scored. Consistency is overrated.
3. 3B David Wright: What a steady producer Wright has been this season. He has not carried the Mets like he did in the first half last year, but the Mets will be fine with that as long as he remains steady throughout the second half.
Three Down:
1. 1B Ike Davis: He’s 0-for-22 since manager Terry Collins gave him a vote of confidence in the cleanup spot, and Collins has only promised him a run of games there through this weekend. After that, things could get ugly.
2. OF Rick Ankiel: The Mets claimed they signed Ankiel for his defense, but the newcomer has now cost the Mets twice in three games. Thursday’s misplay may have partially been Jordany Valdespin’s fault, but as the center fielder, Ankiel needs to call him off.
3. OF Jordany Valdespin: Can we give Ike two down here? No? Then this down goes to Valdespin for the aforementioned foul ball and for his inexplicable bunt attempt in the seventh inning. His drag bunt was nice, but the other stuff outweighed it.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+5
RHP Matt Harvey, C John Buck, 3B David Wright
+4
IF Justin Turner
+3
OF Marlon Byrd
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, RHP Jeremy Hefner, OF Mike Baxter, 2B Daniel Murphy
+1
OF Juan Lagares, LHP Scott Rice, LHP Jon Niese
-1
C Anthony Recker, OF Lucas Duda, OF Rick Ankiel
-2
LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Shaun Marcum, OF Jordany Valdespin
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Dillon Gee
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-10
1B Ike Davis
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Cardinals 4, Mets 2: Three Up, Three Down
CTRL+C, CTRL+V.
Three Up:
1. RHP Shaun Marcum: It was not pretty or perfect, but Marcum’s outing was by far his best of the year. A few more like that, and the Mets may yet see some return on their $4 million investment.
2. OF Rick Ankiel: The Mets signed Ankiel hoping for an offensive spark, and he gave them one with a game-tying, two-run homer in the seventh inning. Only problem was, the Mets could not turn that spark into fire.
3. 2B Daniel Murphy: What a sad state of things when Murphy’s 1-for-4 night with a double and a stolen base was the Mets’ third-best individual performance. The Mets need to take better advantage of Murphy’s sudden offensive hot streak.
Three Down:
1. 3B David Wright: Three whiffs at the plate and a critical error on defense made this a bad night for Wright. And when it’s a bad night for Wright, it’s usually a bad night for the Mets.
2. C John Buck: As usual, Buck is the first to admit he shoulda-coulda-woulda corralled Scott Rice’s wild pitch in the seventh. Buck also made an ill-advised stolen base attempt in the fourth inning, though he did single and score later in the game.
3. OF Mike Baxter: Something about the leadoff spot does not mesh with Baxter, who is now 3-for-29 in that role. Baxter’s poor relay throw in the fourth inning also forced Murphy to throw to third instead of home.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+5
RHP Matt Harvey, C John Buck
+4
IF Justin Turner, 3B David Wright
+3
OF Marlon Byrd
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, RHP Jeremy Hefner, OF Mike Baxter
+1
OF Juan Lagares, LHP Scott Rice, 2B Daniel Murphy
-1
C Anthony Recker, OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Lucas Duda
-2
LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Shaun Marcum
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Dillon Gee
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-9
1B Ike Davis
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Cardinals 10, Mets 4: Three Up, Three Down
How deep does this rabbit hole go?
Three Up:
1. 2B Daniel Murphy: The Mets officially have a nominee for Streakiest Hitter in Baseball. Since snapping last week’s 0-for-17 skid at the plate, Murphy has gone 6-for-9 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored.
2. OF Marlon Byrd: Something clicked for Byrd after he jammed his shoulder into the right-field wall attempting to catch a foul ball in the fifth. An inning later, he hit a two-run home run, one of Byrd’s two extra-base hits on the night.
3. RHP Greg Burke: Good for Burke, who has now given the Mets 2 1/3 scoreless innings since returning from Triple-A Las Vegas. Another inning or two, and this may take the form of real progress for the submariner.
Three Down:
1. RHP Dillon Gee: After giving up another six runs in four innings, Gee sounded like a pitcher who was completely out of answers. He’ll need to find some before his next start, or risk losing his grip on a rotation spot.
2. LHP Robert Carson: Like Gee, Carson has displayed an utter inability to get batters out with any sort of consistency. There’s certainly talent here, but Carson needs to figure out how to tap it if he wants to stay at this level.
3. 1B Ike Davis: Another forgettable day for Davis, who finished 0-for-4 at the plate and committed a (at the time) critical throwing error to spark a first-inning Cardinals rally. Considering how badly he has slumped offensively, Davis needs to be perfect on defense.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+6
C John Buck
+5
3B David Wright, RHP Matt Harvey
+4
IF Justin Turner
+3
OF Mike Baxter, OF Marlon Byrd
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, RHP Jeremy Hefner
+1
OF Juan Lagares, LHP Scott Rice
-1
C Anthony Recker, OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Lucas Duda, OF Rick Ankiel
-2
LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Scott Atchison
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Shaun Marcum, RHP Dillon Gee
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-9
1B Ike Davis
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Matt Harvey on the cover of Sports Illustrated
Image courtesy Sports Illustrated:
It did not take Harvey long to respond:
I guess there was a reason why I was batman for probably 6 years in a row as kid for Halloween! Haha very thankful and honored!
— Matt Harvey (@MattHarvey33) May 14, 2013
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Cardinals 6, Mets 3: Three Up, Three Down
Blame Jon Niese’s glove?
Three Up:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: Yet again, Hefner gave the Mets a chance to win, which is all they can ask out of their fifth starter. The Cardinals had Hefner on the ropes early, but he made the necessarily adjustments to provide six quality innings.
2. 2B Daniel Murphy: This guy is so streaky that even his streaks have streaks. Murphy is 4-for-5 since emerging from last week’s massive funk; who knows how far the second baseman will take this?
3. RHP Greg Burke: Somebody had to put out the fire at Busch Stadium. It happened to be Burke. We’ll see if this is an isolated outing, or an example of real long-term growth from the adjustments he made at Las Vegas.
Three Down:
1. OF Rick Ankiel: Catching Ty Wigginton’s double would not have been easy, but Ankiel took a somewhat circuitous route to the ball. Throw in his two strikeouts in three at-bats, and this was hardly the Mets debut that he wanted.
2. RHP Scott Atchison: As if allowing hard-hit balls to all three batters he faced was not enough, Atchison revealed afterward that he couldn’t feel his fingers thanks to a torn elbow ligament. Never a good sign.
3. LHP Scott Rice: The fact that Rice took his third loss was at least partially Ankiel’s fault. But Rice also committed a critical blunder, failing to cover home on the ball that kicked off his foot.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+6
C John Buck
+5
3B David Wright, RHP Matt Harvey
+4
IF Justin Turner
+3
OF Mike Baxter
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, OF Marlon Byrd, RHP Jeremy Hefner
+1
OF Juan Lagares, LHP Robert Carson, LHP Scott Rice
-1
C Anthony Recker, OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Lucas Duda, OF Rick Ankiel, 2B Daniel Murphy, RHP Greg Burke
-2
LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Dillon Gee, RHP Brandon Lyon, RHP Scott Atchison
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Shaun Marcum
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-8
1B Ike Davis
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Pirates 3, Mets 2: Three Up, Three Down
Meet the new lineup, same as the old lineup.
Three Up:
1. RHP Matt Harvey: Clearly pitching without his best stuff, Harvey still managed to hold the Pirates to two runs in seven innings. He is without question the ace of this staff.
2. OF Lucas Duda: Duda was the only one who could touch Pirates starter Jeanmar Gomez, homering in the second. And he nearly tied the game with a rocket ground ball off the first base bag in the eighth. Instead, an unlucky bounce led to the out.
3. OF Mike Baxter: Despite starting only two games over the past week, Baxter has come through with two game-winning and one game-tying RBI. Calls for increased playing time are not off-base.
Three Down:
1. 1B Ike Davis: Terry Collins put the onus on Davis when he moved him back to the cleanup spot. The first baseman responded with an 0-for-4 day, including a huge strikeout with a man on third base and one out in the ninth.
2. RHP Bobby Parnell: Collins put Parnell in a tough spot, bringing him in with the go-ahead run in scoring position in the eighth. All it took was a hard-hit single, which the closer allowed to Pedro Alvarez.
3. RHP Brandon Lyon: He and Scott Rice each faced two batters, walking one of them. But while Rice’s walk came against perennial All-Star Andrew McCutchen, Lyon’s came against Gaby Sanchez, a .167 hitter against right-handed pitching.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+6
C John Buck
+5
3B David Wright, RHP Matt Harvey
+4
IF Justin Turner
+3
OF Mike Baxter
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, LHP Scott Rice, OF Marlon Byrd
+1
RHP Jeremy Hefner, OF Juan Lagares, LHP Robert Carson
-1
RHP Scott Atchison, C Anthony Recker, OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Lucas Duda
-2
RHP Greg Burke, LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Dillon Gee, 2B Daniel Murphy, RHP Brandon Lyon
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Shaun Marcum
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-8
1B Ike Davis
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Banner Day winners at Citi Field
Here’s the winning banner, courtesy Kelly, Tim and Denise Betts of Farmingdale, N.Y., and Rebecca Waddington of Rockville, Md.:
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Pirates 11, Mets 2: Three Up, Three Down
What’s wrong with Jon Niese? The Mets would surely like to know.
Three Up:
1. OF Marlon Byrd: One of Byrd’s two hits (the RBI knock) may have been a cheapie, but there wasn’t much else to like about this offense on a dreary Saturday afternoon at Citi. At this point, the Mets will take their hits any way they can get them.
2. 1B Justin Turner: Cracking the starting lineup for a third consecutive game, Turner rebounded from Friday’s 0-for-4 to reach base twice. He continues to be a productive and versatile bat for the Mets.
3. SS Ruben Tejada: Another nice offensive rebound for Tejada, who finally gave the Mets a bit of production atop their batting order. His hustle to stretch a single into a double in a nine-run game did not go unnoticed.
Three Down:
1. LHP Jon Niese: Something is significantly wrong here, and it’s not clear if it’s physical, mechanical or something different. Niese has now given up 16 runs, 15 hits and nine walks over his last two starts, spanning 8 1/3 innings.
2. C John Buck: Not only was Buck helpless to stop Niese’s bleeding from behind the plate, he also finished 0-for-4 with the bat yet again. The Mets have received virtually no offensive production from their everyday catcher since mid-April.
3. 2B Jordany Valdespin: Valdespin’s right forearm will probably be sore tomorrow, after taking a Bryan Morris fastball off it. Most around baseball will say he got what he deserved, one day after showboating his homer in a five-run game.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+6
C John Buck
+5
3B David Wright
+4
RHP Matt Harvey, IF Justin Turner
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, LHP Scott Rice, OF Mike Baxter, OF Marlon Byrd
+1
RHP Jeremy Hefner, RHP Bobby Parnell, OF Juan Lagares, LHP Robert Carson
-1
RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Brandon Lyon, C Anthony Recker, OF Jordany Valdespin
-2
RHP Greg Burke, LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Dillon Gee, OF Lucas Duda, 2B Daniel Murphy
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Shaun Marcum
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-7
1B Ike Davis
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Pirates 7, Mets 3: Three Up, Three Down
In honor of Arrested Development’s return to the small screen, let’s call this show Arrested Momentum.
Three Up:
1. 3B David Wright: Leadoff hits in the fourth and sixth innings; it’s not Wright’s fault that the offense stalled behind him.
2. LHP Robert Carson: Solid work by Carson to record four outs, one of them on a nifty pickoff move to first. Carson hasn’t really pitched in many big spots this year, but on Friday he gave the Mets some must-needed work.
3. C Anthony Recker: Nice job by Recker to rap out two hits, including a home run, in a rare start behind the plate. With as little playing time as Recker has received, hitting even a little bit is difficult to do.
Three Down:
1. RHP Shaun Marcum: Marcum became the first pitcher in franchise history to fail to complete five innings in each of his first three starts with the team. That about says it all.
2. SS Ruben Tejada: Tejada avoided another 0-for-4 with his eighth-inning single, but furthered a second-inning rally by double-clutching a routine ground ball. Not the shortstop’s best stretch of the season.
3. 2B Justin Turner: Turner’s run as a do-everything utlityman took a hiatus Friday, when he cracked the starting lineup for a second straight day but finished 0-for-4.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+7
C John Buck
+5
3B David Wright
+4
RHP Matt Harvey
+3
Justin Turner
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, LHP Scott Rice, OF Mike Baxter
+1
RHP Jeremy Hefner, LHP Jon Niese, OF Marlon Byrd, RHP Bobby Parnell, OF Juan Lagares, LHP Robert Carson
-1
RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Brandon Lyon, C Anthony Recker, SS Ruben Tejada
-2
RHP Greg Burke, LHP Aaron Laffey, RHP Dillon Gee, OF Lucas Duda, 2B Daniel Murphy
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Shaun Marcum
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-7
1B Ike Davis
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Mets 3, Pirates 2: Three Up, Three Down
Meet Mike Baxter. He’s the walk-off singles guy.
Three Up:
1. OF Mike Baxter: If the Mets need a home run in the later innings, they call on Jordany Valdespin. If they need a single, they call on Baxter, who continues to be one of the more valuable left-handed pinch-hitters in baseball.
2. OF Juan Lagares: That catch in center field saved the game. Lagares is receiving regular playing time almost exclusively because of his defensive reputation, and he justified it in the ninth inning Thursday.
3. RHP Brandon Lyon: He may have given up the tying run, but he entered with the bases loaded and no outs and allowed nothing more than that. That makes him one of the most valuable players of this game.
Three Down:
1. 2B Daniel Murphy: Four at-bats, four ground balls to first base This is one streaky hitter, who is having miserable start to the month of May.
2. SS Ruben Tejada: An 0-for-4 from Tejada meant the Mets absorbed an 0-for-8 from the first two batters in their lineup. That’s typically a recipe for a loss, though the Mets managed to recover.
3. RHP Bobby Parnell: Sure he earned the win with a scoreless inning. He also gave up a leadoff hit and a rocket fly ball to center, which probably should have cost the Mets the game. It was actually one of his worst-pitched innings of the season, which says more about Parnell’s year than anything else. He’s been terrific.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+7
C John Buck
+4
3B David Wright, RHP Matt Harvey, IF Justin Turner
+2
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, LHP Scott Rice, OF Mike Baxter
+1
RHP Jeremy Hefner, LHP Jon Niese, OF Marlon Byrd, RHP Bobby Parnell, OF Juan Lagares
-1
RHP Scott Atchison, RHP Brandon Lyon
-2
RHP Greg Burke, LHP Aaron Laffey, C Anthony Recker, RHP Dillon Gee, RHP Shaun Marcum, OF Lucas Duda, 2B Daniel Murphy
-3
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
-4
LHP Josh Edgin
-7
1B Ike Davis
Follow me on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo.
Anthony DiComo
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