Mack Attack: July 13, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Sunday, July 13, 2008

Pennant: Phils: 44 losses - Mets: 44 – Marlins: 44 - Braves: 50 – Nats: 59

Wild Card: Milw: 43 losses - St. Louis: 43 - Mets: 44 - Marlins: 44

-reflections on Saturday’s game…

1. it was interesting to see Pedro Martinez pulled after 4 innings of scoreless, one-hit ball… Pedro only had 66 pitches, but was pulled with a neck/shoulder injury… his fastball never got over 85 after the 2nd inning… you might be seeing the start of changing him to the ‘long man’. Orlando Hernandez is due back (minus a fast ball, btw), and Pedro has not been able to pitch effectively past 4 innings this year…

2. Carlos Muniz has always been used as a closer at AAA, yet the Mets put him in the ‘long man’ role in the 5th inning…

Now that the Mets know Moises Alou isn’t coming around the corner, they can turn their attention to trading for a replacement before the July 31 non-waivers deadline. One name on the Mets’ radar, according to a baseball official, is Seattle leftfielder Raul Ibañez. The lefthanded hitter can become a free agent after the season; the Mariners are looking to dump anyone they can in the middle of a miserable season, so the price tag for a rental could be to the Mets’ liking. Ibañez, 36, is hitting .273 with 10 homers and 53 RBIs. He’s a Manhattan native and friend of Carlos Beltran, a teammate from their Kansas City days. Beltran sounded very much as if he would love to see Ibañez walk into the Mets’ clubhouse before the end of the month. “He’s a great guy,” Beltran said. “Love him as a person, as a player. Great guy, great guy. I think he’s a great, great player. A player no one really talks about, but he always does his job. Driving in 80, 90, 100 runs, hits 25, 30 home runs, plays hard.” – Newsday

“…hope this week wasn’t the last we’ve seen of Mark Mulder and Moises Alou, but if it is, then they each had very nice careers. If you would have quizzed me a decade ago how long Alou had left, there’s no way I would have had him lasting this long. It has always seemed as though he’s a fragile player. And while he’s always been a very good hitter, he didn’t seem as though he was so good as to be able to last long term with injuries constantly wearing away at his skill set. With Alou, there is an outside chance that he could work his way back and play one or two more years. Leg injuries are something he’s dealt with for a long, long time. On the other hand it looks almost 100 percent certain that Mulder is toast. Ten years ago, Mulder was a Michigan State Spartan. He’s the classic pitcher who burned very bright, but for a limited amount of time. I was an early adopter so to speak, picking him up in one fantasy league almost immediately after he was called up and owning him in a couple others. I benefited a lot from his Oakland years as with all fantasy owners, I saw this as a sign of my own brilliance. As such, I’ll always have fond memories of him.” – THT

Ryan Church returned from two days of medical consultations in Cleveland and said doctors there concurred that his latest bout of fatigue and dizziness primarily was due to migraines. He said he now is doing exercises to relieve tension in his neck and jaw that could trigger migraines. Church predicted he wouldn’t be lost for the year, but any info like this should be treated cautiously because of the number of times the symptoms have recurred since a May 20 concussion. - AdamRubin

Zephyrs

Brian Stokes pitched six shutout innings and silenced the Nashville Sounds as the Zephyrs defeated the Sounds 7-0 on Saturday night.
The scheduled doubleheader was interrupted by heavy rain and lighting. New Orleans manufactured a run in the third with a Stokes single, wild pitch to advance to second, sacrifice bunt to third and sacrifice fly by Andy Green to score the run. New Orleans got back to back doubles in the fourth inning by Michel Abreu and Valentino Pascucci to score the second run. Derrick Turnbow entered the game in the top of the seventh and proceeded to allow four runs on four walks and one hit. Luis Pena followed and allowed a hit and a pair of walks. The Z’s scored five runs in the inning off of six walks. The game was halted during the seventh inning stretch when a power outage knocked out the stadium lights. Heavy rain continued to fall and the game was declared an official game and the second
game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

B-Mets:

The Binghamton Mets took advantage of three walks and an error in the ninth inning, pulling out a 3-1 victory at Waterfront Park Saturday. Binghamton’s win evens the series at a game apiece.

The B-Mets (51-44) struck first. Emmanuel Garcia reached with a one-out single off Chase Wright and Mike Nickeas followed with a double to right, scoring Garcia for a 1-0 B-Mets lead.

Trenton (57-37) didn’t push a run across against B-Mets starter Jonathon Niese, who allowed six hits over seven shutout innings. The Thunder tied the game in the eighth on Edwar Gonzalez’s run-scoring single off Tim Lavigne (2-1).

Caleb Stewart started Binghamton’s ninth-inning rally with an infield single off Brian Bruney (0-1) before the righthander walked Garcia and Nickeas, loading the bases. Michael Gardner came onto face pinch-hitter Salomon Manriquez who hit a groundball that was thrown away by Trenton second baseman Walter Ibarra for an error, allowing Stewart and Garcia to score.
Eddie Kunz tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 25th save in 28 chances.

Lucy:

Roster moves:

Add C – Luis Alen to roster

Send C – Jordan Abruzzo to Brooklyn

Remove OF – Angel Pagan from ML Rehab

Remove OF – Orlando Hernandez from ML Rehab

-interesting move… St. Lucie is going nowhere, playoff wise, and Abruzzo is a serious bat… plus, he just may get more time behind the plate in Brooklyn…

Gnats:

Greg Veloz lofted a game-winning single to center with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Sand Gnats a 3-2 triumph over the Legends before 1,954 at Historic Grayson Stadium on Saturday night. Nick Giarraputo began the ninth with an infield single, his third hit of the night. Michael Parker replaced Giarraputo as a pinch runner and took second on Richard Pena’s sacrifice bunt. Carlos Guzman struck out swinging, setting the stage for the heroics of Veloz. The second baseman delivered the hit off right-hander Jay Pacella (1-3), scoring Parker from second for Savannah’s third walk-off win of the season. The Sand Gnats (9-14, 42-51) struck for a pair of runs in the second off Lexington starter Leandro Cespedes. Sean McCraw walked before Francisco Pena and Giarraputo each singled to load the bases. Richard Pena lifted a two-run double to the warning track in right field for a 2-1 Savannah lead.
The Legends (5-17, 26-65) tied the game at two in the fifth on an RBI double from Craig Corrado. Junior Guerra (1-0) worked three scoreless innings for the win, striking out 4 while allowing just 1 hit. Gnats starter Josh Stinson permitted 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits in 6.0 effective innings. Giarraputo led the way with three hits while Richard Pena and Francisco Pena offered two hits apiece.

GCL Mets

The GCL Mets won Saturday, 4-2, against the Nationals. SP Julio Bello (3.55) pitched 4.1 innings of 1 run ball, but it was RP Luis Rojas (2-0, 1.59) who got the win… key hit was LF Mark McGonigle’s (.370) 2-run single in the 2nd inning.

DSL Mets:

Team Leaders:

LF Julio Concepcion - .322/.412/.432/.844

DH Jeyckol DeLeon - .315/.373/.407/.780

SP Gonzalez Germen - 2-0/1.16/0.72

SP Ismael Mendez - 1-1/1.10/1.04

VSL Mets:

Team Leaders:

LF Adrian Pirela - .291/.393/.464/.857

SS Jose Bellorin - .291/.368/.362/.730

SP Orlando Tovar - 0-1/1.54/1.07 – 52 Ks in 41.0 IP

RP Jhoan Burgos - 1-1/0.42/0.80 – 1 ER in 21.1 IP

Minor League Bios:

Nicholas Giarraputo 3B R R 6-4 194 5-29-88 Simi Valley H.S. (CA.)

Giarraputo was drafted straight out of high school, in the 12th round, of the 2006 draft, by the Mets. He was signed and immediately assigned to their rookie team, the GCL Mets (.215 with 11 RBIs in 47 games).

In 2007, Giarraputo played the entire season for Kingsport (.274/.298/.365 in 263 at bats, 24 doubles, 34 RBIs), where he hit safely in 14 of 15 contests from July 17 to Aug. 4, batting .391 (27-for-69) with nine-multi games and raised his average from .261 to .318. ‘Puto’ also batted .387 (12-for-31) in the ninth inning and later.

Ex-Mets:

Right-hander Deolis Guerra gave Fort Myers 6 1/3 scoreless innings Friday night as the Miracle opened their four-game set against the Jupiter Hammerheads with a 1-0 victory at Hammond Stadium. Guerra (9-4) allowed all five Jupiter hits while walking two and striking out three. Jose Lugo and Anthony Slama, who earned his 19th save, each pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief to preserve the victory. – NaplesNews

Indians recalled RHP Matt Ginter from Triple-A Buffalo.

This Day in Mets History:

1977 - At Shea Stadium, the Cubs' game is suspended due to a major black-out which darkens New York City. The Mets' players amuse the crowd by performing antics in front of the headlights of cars which they drive onto the field.

1999 - At Fenway Park, hometown favorite Pedro Martinez strikes out five of the first six batters and two All-Star pitching squads combine for a record 22 strikeouts as the American League tops the NL in the 70th Mid-summer classic. Prior to the game, the players from both teams pay an impromptu emotional on-field tribute to an aging Ted Williams.