Friday, July 16, 2010

On the Night Beltran Returns, Pitching Is the Story as Mets Fall 2-0

Last night in San Francisco pitching was front and center in the Giants 2-0 win over the Mets (box score/wrap).

Last night R.A. Dickey went 7 innings giving up only 1 run on 5 hits, but that just wasn't good enough to win as Tim Lincecum threw a complete game shut out.  The only run Dickey gave up was on a rocket of a double by Pablo Sandoval, which would probably have been a homer anywhere else.  But outside of that Dickey was fantastic, unfortunately, so was Lincecum.

The only thing about last night's game I truly found infuriating was when, with 1 out and runners on first and third in the fifth, Manuel had Dickey sacrifice bunt to get two runners into scoring position.  This left runners on second and third with two outs, and Pagan at the plate.  Now, I know Pagan has been arguably the best Mets hitters with runners in scoring position, but COME ON...A GREAT major league hitter hits .300, that's 3 hits every 10 at bats.  Wouldn't you rather have two shots at driving in at least one run (mind you it was 1-0 at the time) rather than putting all your eggs in one basket and leaving it up to Pagan with two outs?  Yes, I understand that Dickey was up, and the double play would have killed the inning...but Dickey's been a pretty decent hitter so far this year, and more importantly, WHAT IF HE DIDN'T?  It would have tied the game. 

Jerry was frustrating last night, but on a lighter note, it was good to see Beltran back.  Tonight, the Mets look to even the series with Niese going up against Zito.  It will be interesting to see who starts in right for the team tonight, since Zito is a lefty.  Just something to think  about.

1 comment:

  1. Sacrifice bunt in 5th inning was indefensible. Run expectancy with 1st and 3rd 1 out is 1.24 and Manuel "sacrificed" this situation for at best-case 2nd and 3rd 2 outs (RE=0.63) compared to 1st and 3rd 2 outs (RE=0.54).

    Dickey furthermore seems like a decent hitter and poor bunter in brief time with Mets. Dickey is also at a risk of bunting into double play anyway.

    Also infuriating is the Mets treatment of Reyes injury. Being willing to let him risk his own career and team's season to come back sooner.

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