Mets Lose to Nationals, On Verge of 2007 Replay?
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The New York Mets, losers of 2 of their 3 games against the Atlanta Braves, saw their starter Pedro Martinez pounded by a 5 run onslaught in the sixth and seventh innings by the Washington Nationals who held a 2-1 lead after five. Martinez was chased in the sixth as the Braves scored 2, and reliever Duaner Sanchez was pummelled for 3 more runs in the seventh enroute to a Nationals 7-2 win on Monday.
The Phils are now within 1/2 game of the Mets for 1st place in the NL East division race as the Mets followed their series final loss to Atlanta by having their ears pinned back by the Washington Nationals. The 3rd place Marlins, who also had Monday off, are now 6 games behind in the division. The 4th place Braves, also off on Monday are now 16 1/2 behind. Meanwhile, the NL Wildcard race between the Phils and the Brewers remained deadlocked as the Brewers were off on Monday as well.
AP Sports Writer Howard Fendrich describes the game for Yahoo sports;
[Manager Jerry] Manuel saw Nationals rookie John Lannan (9-13) limit the Mets to one hit over seven innings.
He saw the heart of his lineup— David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado—combine to go 0-for-11 with four strikeouts.
He saw Wright ground into a bases-loaded double play in the eighth.
He saw Pedro Martinez (5-5) allow four runs in six innings.
He saw reliever Duaner Sanchez turn a 4-1 deficit into a 7-1 deficit by allowing Elijah Dukes’ homer in the seventh.
“We didn’t hit. We didn’t pitch, as well. We didn’t relieve. When we were coming back, we hit into a double play,” Manuel said. “It was just a lot of different things. It was just a bad game, period, for us, at this stage.”
Last season, the Mets led the Phillies by seven games with only 17 to play before a historic collapse ceded the division title and kept New York out of the playoffs altogether.
Trailing 7-1 Monday, the Mets threatened to make things interesting once Lannan left the game. The rookie left-hander gave up a double in the third to Brian Schneider, who wound up scoring on Jose Reyes’ RBI groundout—and that was it.
It was quite a contrast to Lannan’s previous outing, also against the Mets: He allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings.
But this time, based on advice from Nationals starter Odalis Perez, Lannan decided to try throwing more changeups to left-handed hitters.
“That was one of the keys for him tonight,” catcher Wil Nieves said. “It looks like a fastball.”
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Monday’s games, click here.
On Tuesday, the Phillies travel to Atlanta for 3 games with the Braves followed by 3 games in Washington vs the Nationals. Starters for Tuesday’s opener are young James Parr vs 45 year old phenom lefthander Jamie Moyer looking for his 15th win of the season.
On Wednesday, there is quite a discussion as to who will start for the Phils between young lefthander J.A. Happ, the regularly scheduled starter Kyle Kendrick, or Cole Hamels again on 3 days rest, or Adam Eaton who many Phillies fans hoped not to see again this season. Whoever goes for the Phils will oppose Jair Jurrjens for the Braves. As things stand now, Hamels is slated for a lefties duel with 36 year old veteran Mike Hampton in Thursday’s series final.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.
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