Last night the Mets fell to the Cardinals 4-3 in St. Louis (box score/wrap) on the strength of a Felipe Lopez grand slam off of Raul Valdes in the 7th inning. I blame this loss on Jerry Manuel...
Why is this Jerry's fault? Simple. When you're trying to win a game and you're in jam situations you use your best pitchers. Now I understand that Lopez is a better left-handed hitter than righty, and I get that...BUT...why would you use your third best lefty reliever to pitch to him in a jam like that? Raul Valdes, my third favorite Valdes behind Ismael and Juan, should not have been the option to face Lopes with both Feliciano and Takahashi still available. At the end of a game the best a manager can say is that he made decisions to put his team in the best position to win. Although Valdes has been good so far, Takahashi or Feliciano would have been better options. I can't see Jerry lasting through the weekend. But on the bright side...
Oliver Perez threw a gem for the Mets going 6 and 1/3, giving up only 4 hits, 1 run (runner he left on base that 'pen allowed to score), walked 3 and struck out 4 on the night. Perez looked great, especially his slider, which when it's on makes a huge difference in his ability to control a game. Outside of David Freese (3 hits) and Felipe Lopez (2 hits, grand slam), the Mets held most of the Cardinal line up in check, allowing only one other hit to Yadier Molina.
The Mets had a tough night at the plate, which was expected considering Chris Carpenter started the game on the hill for St. Louis. Carpenter allowed one run in 7 innings of work, while striking out 10. And the Mets showed some fight in the 8th and 9th after the grand slam by Lopez, which was nice to see, but just wasn't enough.
The Mets seek redemption, and the stated goal of "one win in St. Louis" (moron), today at
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