In St. Louis, the Mets slipped below .500 as Daniel Murphy flubbed another fly in left field. How many more misplays will Murphy have to make before the Mets return him to the infield?
Further south, another Mets team did much better. In St. Lucie, that Mets team won 5-1 behind the stellar pitching of 24-year-old Nicholas Waechter. In five innings he gave up four hits, a run, and no walks while fanning six batters. In support of Waechter, Reese Havens had three hits, including a homer (his third), to lift his average to .333; Ike Davis got two hits, including a double, to up his average to .277; and cleanup hitter, Zach Lutz, drove in three runs on two hits. He's now batting .342.
On a day when the Mets melted down, St. Lucie's performance was even more appreciated.
In Buffalo, starter Dillon Gee pitched a better game than the boxscore gives him credit for. Entering the bottom of the sixth against Scranton, Gee had only surrendered one run on three hits. Then, after getting the first Scranton batter to fly out, he surrendered two singles. At that point, the Bisons made a pitching changing, bringing in Ken Takahashi, who's pitched well this season. Against the first batter he faced, Takahashi threw a wild pitch, advancing both runners into scoring position. He walked the next batter, filling the bases. Then, he gave up a single, scoring the first runner Gee had put on base. An infield forceout plated the other runner that Gee had put on base. So, because of one of those quirks in baseball's scoring system, Gee got charged for two runners who Takahashi couldn't prevent from scoring.
It might be fairer if Gee and Takahashi shared responsibility for the two runs scored, with each charged one run; however, that's as likely to happen as it is for the bases to be dyed pink.
No comments:
Post a Comment