Marlins 7, Mets 5: Three Up, Three Down
That one got away from them quickly. Here are three reasons why, and three reasons why not:
Three Up:
1. RHP Jeremy Hefner: Once again, the Mets received a strong outing from their starting pitcher, leaning on Hefner for six innings of one-run ball. This loss was hardly Hef’s fault.
2. 2B Daniel Murphy: His three-run homer in the seventh proved that yes, as a matter of fact, the Mets did still have an offensive pulse. Murphy later grounded out with the tying runs on base, but we can’t hold that against him because he put the Mets in that position in the first place. Murphy saved another run with a nice defensive play in the ninth.
3. OF Jordany Valdespin: He was picked off first base once, nearly doubled off the bag twice, and took a horrific route to Giancarlo Stanton’s two-base hit in the ninth. But Valdespin did rap out two hits, steal a bag, reach base four times and draw an eight-pitch walk to set up Murphy’s homer. This is the least we can do for Valdespin, who was also plunked by the baseball twice (ouch).
Three Down:
1. SS Ruben Tejada: Tejada’s fielding error in the seventh inning opened the floodgates for the Marlins, who scored five runs in the inning. It was Tejada’s third error in four games. Somewhere, John Dewan shed a tear.
2. RHP Greg Burke: Of course, Tejada’s error would have been a footnote had Burke recovered to limit the damage. He didn’t, walking the next batter and allowing four runs (one earned) in 0.1 innings.
1B Ike Davis: Here we go again? Davis grounded into a double play (again), struck out (again) and finished 0-for-4 (again). He was robbed of a hit in the fifth inning, but stats are stats: he’s now 1-for-16 on the season.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+1
OF Collin Cowgill, LHP Jon Niese, RHP Matt Harvey, RHP Dillon Gee, C John Buck, INF Justin Turner, RHP Jeremy Hefner, 2B Daniel Murphy
-1
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP LaTroy Hawkins, RHP Jeurys Familia, 3B David Wright, SS Ruben Tejada, 1B Ike Davis
-2
RHP Greg Burke
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Padres 2, Mets 1: Three Up, Three Down
The Mets had their chances in a 2-1 loss to the Padres. For the first time this season, the list of “Down” candidates was significantly longer than the list of “Ups”:
Three Up:
1. RHP Dillon Gee: The Mets certainly would have signed up pregame for what Gee delivered: 6 1/3 innings and one earned run. That lone run against Gee was in part due to a one-out pop fly that fell for a hit.
2. 2B Justin Turner: Subbing for Daniel Murphy, Turner rapped out three hits in his first three at-bats. That made up for at-bat No. 4, when Mr. Call Me Maybe grounded back to the pitcher with two outs and the tying run in scoring position.
3. C John Buck: After snubbing Buck in this space yesterday, I was tempted to include him here even before he hit a rocket-fueled homer off Huston Street to open the ninth. More importantly, Buck has called three good games in a row behind the plate.
Three Down:
1. OF Lucas Duda: Not a good day for The Dude, who struck out in all three of his at-bats before the Mets double-switched him out of the game. The last of those came in the sixth, when he stared at strike three with the tying run on second.
2. RHP Jeurys Familia: Familia’s season debut went like this: walk, single, wild pitch, run scored. Familia faced three batters, recorded one out and allowed a critical insurance run in the eighth.
3B David Wright: Sorry, Captain, but three strikeouts in three at-bats ain’t going to cut it with the rest of the offense scuffling around you. There will be better days for No. 5.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+1: OF Collin Cowgill, LHP Jon Niese, RHP Matt Harvey, RHP Dillon Gee, C John Buck, INF Justin Turner
-1: OF Jordany Valdespin, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RHP Greg Burke, RHP LaTroy Hawkins, RHP Jeurys Familia, 3B David Wright
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Matt Harvey has a growing fan club
Matt Harvey earning props from current and former pitchers around the league:
Matt Harvey is my new favorite pitcher outside of current and former teammates!! He’s nasty
— David Price (@DAVIDprice14) April 4, 2013
Matt Harvey…. Wow
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) April 4, 2013
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Mets 8, Padres 4: Three Up, Three Down
Another game with lots of positives tonight for the Mets. But alas, in this space, only three players can be up and three must be down:
Three Up:
1. RHP Matt Harvey: He would be Three Up all by himself if it were not against the rules. But we’re a stickler for rules here, so Harvey goes +1 with a dominant seven-inning, one-hit, 10-strikeout performance.
2. OF Lucas Duda: Coming into the game, Duda had four home runs in 215 career at-bats against left-handers. He made that five in 215 with his two-run shot off Clayton Richard, adding a double and a walk later in the game.
3. 1B Ike Davis: The more impressive offensive stat line belonged to John Buck, but Davis sorely needed to snap his 0-for-the-season in Game 2. He did so with an absolute bomb, scraping the Shea Bridge with his two-run shot in the fifth.
Three Down:
1. SS Ruben Tejada: He struck out twice and hit two lazy flys in four hitless at-bats, then committed a throwing error in the ninth for good measure. Not good for a guy who spent his spring concentrating on hitting line drives and ground balls.
2. RHP Greg Burke: Burke relieved Harvey and gave up hits to the first two batters he saw — that’s twice as many as Harvey allowed all night, for those keeping track. To be fair, Burke did recover after that, generating consecutive ground balls to limit the damage to one run.
3. RHP LaTroy Hawkins: Same deal. Two straight hits to start the ninth, but recovered until Tejada’s error led to two more unearned runs. Say this about Burke and Hawkins: at least they didn’t walk anyone.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+1 OF Collin Cowgill
+1 LHP Jon Niese
+1 RHP Matt Harvey
+1 OF Lucas Duda
-1 OF Jordany Valdespin
-1 OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
-1 RHP Greg Burke
-1 RHP LaTroy Hawkins
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Citi Field food review: Pat LaFrieda Korean-style steamed buns
Stumbled upon a new Citi Field food item today: steamed Korean-style short-rib and chicken buns at the Pat LaFrieda location on the Promenade Level behind home plate. My take:
The three buns (two short-rib, one chicken) were delicious, packed with kimchi and other accoutrements, though for $15 I could have used a little more meat in each of them. It’s a great snack, but for the money I’d prefer something a bit heartier.
LaFrieda’s meat, according to a Mets press release last month, is “all marinated in a mouthwatering blend of ginger, soy, scallions and sesame oil.”
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David Wright has his own bus now
Gray Line New York, which runs a sightseeing service in Manhattan, dedicated a bus to Mets third baseman David Wright today. Here are two pictures of him at the Citi Field dedication ceremony, courtesy photographer Simon Russell:
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Mets 11, Padres 2: Three Up, Three Down
Going to try a new segment here for the 2013 season: Three up, Three down. We’ll take a look each day at three players who shined, and three who did not.
So without further ado, here are Three Up, Three down for the Mets’ Opening Day win over the Padres:
Three Up:
1. OF Collin Cowgill: Given plenty of rope as the center field starter, Cowgill doubled and scored in the fourth inning and hit his first career grand slam in the seventh. He said the day would have been better if he had not also struck out twice; we at Mets Cetera will not be nearly so critical.
2. LHP Jon Niese: 6 2/3 innings, two earned runs, four strikeouts, two walks. It was a solid-if-not-spectacular outing for Niese, who made it shine by going 2-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI at the plate.
3. SS Ruben Tejada: Tejada finished 2-for-4, doubling home a run in the second inning in what manager Terry Collins called the most important at-bat of the game. That was even more critical considering it was Tejada, who hit .096 this spring.
Three Down:
1. 1B Ike Davis: Here we go again? Davis finished 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, the only person in the starting lineup (pitcher included) not to reach base at least twice.
2. PH Jordany Valdespin: The Mets put Valdespin in a dream situation, allowing him to bat with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning of a five-run game. He responded by beating the first pitch he saw into the ground for a rally-killing fielder’s choice.
3. OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: To be fair, Nieuwenhuis does not really deserve to be on this list. But he struck out looking in his only at-bat, and no other Met did much of anything wrong in the blowout. So apologies to Kirk, but life’s not fair.
Three Up, Three Down Season Standings:
+1 OF Collin Cowgill
+1 LHP Jon Niese
+1 SS Ruben Tejada
-1 1B Ike Davis
-1 OF Jordany Valdespin
-1 OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis
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On the record: My 2013 MLB picks
Posting these here so you all can wave them in my face in September:
AL East
1. Toronto Blue Jays
2. New York Yankees
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Baltimore Orioles
AL Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Minnesota Twins
AL West
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Houston Astros
NL East
1. Washington Nationals
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. New York Mets
5. Florida Marlins
NL Central
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Chicago Cubs
NL West
1. San Francisco Giants
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Arizona D-backs
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres
AL Wild Card: Yankees over Athletics
AL Divisional: Blue Jays over Angels; Tigers over Yankees
AL Championship: Tigers over Blue Jays
NL Wild Card: Reds over Braves
NL Divisional: Nationals over Reds; Cardinals over Giants
NL Championship: Nationals over Cardinals
World Series: Tigers over Nationals
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander
AL Rookie of the Year: Brad Peacock
NL MVP: Joey Votto
NL Cy Young: Stephen Strasburg
NL Rookie of the Year: Wily Peralta
As for the Mets, I see them going 70-92, fourth in the NL East. Let’s see if they prove me wrong.
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Jay Horwitz, David Wright star in “The Citi Field Shake”
The Indians did it earlier this spring, now it’s the Mets’ turn:
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Jay Horwitz, professional butt-dialer
Never thought I’d see Mets PR director Jay Horwitz receive this much publicity for pocket-dialing the hundreds of contacts in his phone. But alas, click here for video of Matt Lauer and The Today Show gang profiling Horwitz’s odd communications issue.
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Anthony DiComo
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