Last Night's Game Report...(Mets 10 Nationals 8).
The Nationals' loss to the Mets last night, coupled with the Phillies defeat at the hands (uh, fins?) of the Marlins, results in NY being 2.5 games ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the NL East crown heading into the second of two tonight with Washington in Shea Stadium, Flushing, Queens, New York...
On The Hill...
"Opening Night" Odalis Perez is (5-6) with a 4.11 ERA in 12 starts and 7 relief appearances against the Mets in the course of the 31-year-old lefty's 10-year major league career, with a (1-1) record and a 4.42 ERA against NY in 3 '08 outings in which he's allowed 25 hits, 9 ER, 3 HR's and 7 walks, while striking out 13 in 18.1 IP...New York's third-year right-hander, Mike Pelfrey, 24, has 6 starts against the Nationals, with a (1-1) record, and a 3.65 ERA in 37.0 IP so far in his career, but this season, in 2 starts, Pelfrey's dominated DC, allowing just 1 run on 8 hits and 5 walks with 8 K's, a 0.61 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and a .170 BAA.
Pelfrey's (0-1) in two NY losses since winning three straight, pitching back to back complete games in wins against the Astros and Braves, on August 25th and 20th, respectively, and throwing 7.0 scoreless against the Pirates, on the 15th day of the eighth month, ending August with 6 starts, a (4-1) record, and a 2.93 ERA in 43.0 innings pitched.
Odalis Perez had his best month of the '08 campaign in August, posting a (3-2) record in 6 starts and 36.0 innings pitched, and allowing 38 hits, 17 runs, 14 earned, 4 HR's and 15 walks, while striking out 21. In his last outing against Philadelphia, Perez left the game with a 4-3 lead after five, before Marco Estrada allowed a leadoff single and a two-run HR to give Philly a 5-4 lead in a game the Nationals would eventually come back to win 9-7...
Nationals' #'s Against Mike Pelfrey...
Ronnie Belliard - 3 for 15, .200 AVG, 1 2B.
Cristian Guzman - 2 for 7, .286 AVG.
Lastings Milledge - 1 for 5, .200 AVG, 1 2B.
Ryan Zimmerman - 4 for 17, .235 AVG, 1 RBI.
Mets vs "Opening Night"...
Marlon Anderson - 2 for 7, .286 AVG, 2 RBI's.
Carlos Beltran - 7 for 15, .467 AVG, 2 2B, 4 RBI's.
Carlos Delgado - 1 for 12, .083 AVG, 2 RBI's.
Damion Easley - 4 for 10, .400 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.
Jose Reyes - 7 for 10, .700 AVG, 1 2B, 1 3B.
David Wright - 5 for 12, .417 AVG, 1 2B, 2 HR's, 4 RBI's.
Quotes and Quotes and...
Impressed by DC lefty Mike Hinckley so far? Depressed by left-hander Charlie Manning's outing last night in which he gave up the lead on BIG back to back home runs by Beltran and Delgado in the sixth. Think Acta should have gone with Hinckley first? Someone asked the DC Manager that question after last night's loss, and according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson's article entitled, "Seesaw affair doesn't fall in Nats' favor", Mr. Acta responded:
"You know that Manning has [36 1/3] innings and Hinckley has only [5 1/3]. Don't jump on the bandwagon so fast," Acta said. "Let's just let the kid develop. I don't think if Manning had gotten those two guys out, you wouldn't have come up with that question. Save it."
I've heard it a few times now, and it's in print in Ben Goessling's Washington Times' article entitled, "Young returns after two month absence", where former DC reliever Luis Ayala, expresses the fact that he felt he was passed over for the closer role when the Nationals named Jon Rauch their stopper after Chad Cordero's injury, and it must have been even worse when "Wild" Joel Hanrahan was the second player chosen to fill that role over the Expos/Nationals veteran...
(ed. note - Game Time 7:10 pm EST from Queens, "I'll be in Shea live tonight from somewhere in the Mezzanine, but i'll be checking in via iPhone to see if anyone's watching the Nationals...My last trip to Shea? DC vs NY, Nationals vs Mets, "Opening Night vs The Mouthpiece" (I know he doesn't wear it anymore...Who's Going to Shea? Who's Watching The Nationals?